I Alone Level-Up

Oh, right!

An idea flashed across Jinwoo"s head.

"I can"t waste another second."

He just saw the power of the new skill. He could turn a slain monster into an undead soldier. If that was the case, there was a monster nearby that he had to quickly turn into his own! Jinwoo went up on the pile of armors that made up the golem. He was able to see the entire room from the top.

"..."

His eyes scanned across the room and found his target.

Found him!

Jinwoo quickly ran towards the direction.

step, step, step, step!

Even without "Sprint", he immediately reached his destination with antic.i.p.ation.

gulp

Jinwoo stared at the extraction target and gulped. The monster"s corpse was exactly where he had left it.

"...Blood-red Ygritte."

Looking at the headless body half buried in the wall, Jinwoo remember just how fierce their battle was.

He stood before Ygritte.

Just a few hours ago, he was an enemy that threatened his life. But now, the fallen knight was a top cla.s.s ingredient for his skill. Thankfully, like the other knights, there was black smoke coming from Ygritte"s body.

It"s a possible target for Shadow Extraction.

Jinwoo"s face brightened.

"Good."

He remembered the command phrase. After taking a breath, Jinwoo quietly spoke the words,

"Arise."

That was the activation phrase he had chosen. But the skill did not activate.

"...?"

Jinwoo tilted his head in confusion and was about to try again when the System rang.

You"ve exceeded the maximum number of Shadows allowed.

To extract another Shadow, use "Extraction Cancel" to send one or more Shadow Soldiers to the World of Nothingness. [1]

The Shadow Soldiers sent to the void cannot be summoned again.

Oh, right. He did remember that part of the skill,

Maximum Shadows: 30 / 30

The "Shadow Extraction""s limit was 30. That meant the number of soldiers he made was exactly 30… Jinwoo turned around. The Shadow Soldiers had followed him and were standing at attention.

"When did they follow me?"

As fitting of their name, the Shadow Soldiers had moved without a sound. Anyways, to extract Ygritte"s shadow, he had to get rid of one of them.

"But…"

Even after meeting them only moments ago, it felt regrettable to get rid of one of his soldiers. Had he gained a familiarity in that short time? With a sorrowful look, Jinwoo scanned each of the Shadow Soldiers. As he moved from one to the next, their names and level appeared.

Shadow Infantry (Lv. 1)

Normal Grade

Shadow Infantry (Lv. 1)

Normal Grade

They all had the same name and level.

"Well, I guess their base was all same."

However, he did discover three soldiers that were not infantry.

"Those are…?"

Unlike the armor-clad infantry, those three wore robes.

Shadow Mage (Lv. 1)

Veteran Grade

"Ah."

He knew where these had come from. The three mages that controlled the iron golem had also risen under his command.

"27 infantry and 3 mages."

He determined that the small number of mages would have to be kept, so Jinwoo selected the nearest infantry.

...I"m sorry.

"Extraction Cancel."

vanish-

The soldier turned to smoke and scattered into nothingness. Not a trace of it could be found.

"..."

Jinwoo took a moment of silence for it, then turned to Ygritte. He was ready. He had sacrificed a valuable soldier to make room for Ygritte, this better be worth it. Time to strike while the iron"s hot. Jinwoo attempted the skill,

"Arise."

Compared to his previous attempt, the shadow beneath Ygritte began to quiver and move as if it was live. It was the same phenomenon he saw when extracting the other soldiers.

"It"s working!"

Jinwoo clenched his fists. He had a good feeling about this.

Shadow Extraction has been attempted.

Extracting...

What would Ygritte look like when he rose again? Sweat gathered in Jinwoo"s hands.

However.

Crack!

With a sound of metal breaking, a message appeared,

Shadow Extraction failed.

"What?"

2 attempts remaining.

"Phew-"

He sighed in relief after seeing that he still had a chance.

"Now that I think about it…"

The skill"s description did tell him that the success rate was dependent on the target"s abilities. Seeing that in action was rather surprising. His first extraction failure. It was like being slapped in the face. On top of that, there was a limit on the number of attempts.

"Two attempts remaining…"

If he failed those 2 attempts, would Ygritte"s shadow return to the void like the sacrificed soldier? Jinwoo shuddered at the worst case scenario. He shook his head,

"Let"s not be pessimistic."

Be optimistic. If he believed, perhaps the universe would help out. Feeling a mix of dread and antic.i.p.ation, Jinwoo tried the second attempt.

"Arise."

His expectations were off.

Crack!

Shadow Extraction failed.

1 attempt remaining.

"..."

Ygritte was a pain in the a.s.s while living, and he was equally annoying in death. He thought of the worst case scenario again. After the second failure, the outcome looked bleak.

Whew-

Jinwoo took a deep breath. There was only one chance left. The last chance. Jinwoo closed his eyes and organized his thoughts.

"It might just be based on a probability, but…"

He considered that maybe his desire for Ygritte"s shadow was not showing enough. Jinwoo slowly opened his eyes. The black smoke coming from Ygritte looked like it was holding out a hand towards him, asking him to rescue the knight. Jinwoo"s eyes became focused. As if to take the hand in rescue, Jinwoo also held out his right hand.

"Arise."

Something happened that Jinwoo did not mean to do. Nor did he realize that it happened. But in that moment, the word he spoke echoed and vibrated with power.

And following his command!

Waaaaah-!

A deep scream rang forth from somewhere and a chilling wind followed.

"This is?"

Jinwoo"s face lit up. He remembered this phenomenon. It was the same as when the soldiers rose earlier.

Aaaaaah-

As expected, when the scream ended, a hand rose from Ygritte"s shadow.

The moment the hand was placed on the ground, a message appeared.

You"ve succeeded in Shadow Extraction.

Jinwoo yelled in celebration.

"Alright!"

He clenched his fists. Because he had failed twice, the success was all the more sweeter. The good news did not stop there,

The Monarch"s voice pulled forth the fighting spirit of the fallen one.

You"ve succeeded in Shadow Strengthening!

The Shadow"s level will start at 7.

"Succeeded in strengthening?"

Did this mean that they did not necessarily start at level 1? Jinwoo"s eyes were wide open. As the message told him, the pitch black knight that rose from the shadow was level 7.

"Mhmm!"

Jinwoo yelped lightly. Ygritte"s form was exactly as he remembered. The plumage that decorated its helmet. The nimble looking body covered from head to toe in armor. It even maintained the cla.s.sy cape it had taken off before the fight. Only difference was that instead of the blood-red color, it was pitch black all over. Other than that, it was the same boss that he had defeated earlier. You could almost say that Ygritte had come back to life.

However,

"..."

Compared to before, there was not a shred of hostility coming from the reborn Ygritte.

It stood at attention, waiting for an order.

ba dum ba dum

Looking at Ygritte, Jinwoo"s heart beat vigorously. A smile decorated his face. At the same time, a question appeared in his mind. Jinwoo looked above the knight"s head.

"Why doesn"t he have a name?"

??? (Lv. 7)

Knight Grade

Curiously, question marks appeared where his name should be.

"The grade is different, too."

He had expected it to be stronger because of his level, but there was a few more difference between him and the other soldiers. As if reading his mind,

ring~

You may a.s.sign a name to soldiers at or above the knight grade.

The given name will be maintained until the soldier is released.

Please choose a name for the soldier.

"Name?"

He was unsure at first, but then realized this soldier did have his own name. It wouldn"t be a problem if he called him by that name.

Please choose a name for the soldier.

As if asking him to hurry, the message was blinking rapidly. Jinwoo opened his mouth,

"Blood-red Ygri-..."

Wait.

If he a.s.signed a name, he would have to constantly call it by that name. That meant that if he a.s.signed the name was thinking of, he would always have to start with "Blood-red" something. He shuddered at how lame that sounded.

"...Too lame."

And so, Jinwoo decided to shortened the name a bit.

"Ygritte."

Would you like to pick "Ygritte"?

"Yes."

The moment he confirmed, the question marks in the knight"s name disappeared and were replaced with Ygritte.

Ygritte (Lv. 7)

Knight Grade

Even though it was the knight"s original name, seeing his name officially decorate the information box gave Jinwoo a sense of pride. It was as if the idea that the boss was now his soldier had solidified.

"My soldier…"

Jinwoo turned around.

The 29 Shadow Soldiers awaited his command. Right now, his army"s numbers were little.

"Only thirty soldiers…"

It could"ve been because the "Shadow Extraction""s level was too low, or it could"ve been that his intelligence stat was too low. Still, Jinwoo was sure that the number of his army would only increase going forward.

"I really obtained an army."

And contrary to what he had feared earlier, an army made of shadows, not bone and corpses.

Only one problem remained. How would he walk around with these soldiers? It gave him a headache imagining walking down the road with the pitch black humanoids following.

"Whether it"s skeletons or shadows…"

He would surely be noticed if these things were surrounding him. Not only noticed… This ability was beyond Reawakening. If he was placed under special surveillance, people may even ask him to cancel the summoning.

"Hunter a.s.sociation HSD Chief Woo Jincheol…"

He imagined those military-looking ahjussis swarming him and felt stifled at the headache that would follow. Thankfully, he had another skill.

"Skill."

Jinwoo opened up his skill screen.

Cla.s.s-specific Skills

Active Skills

-Shadow Extraction (Lv. 1)

-Shadow Storage (Lv. 1)

The one that he hadn"t checked yet.

Shadow Storage.

It seemed like something that would be used in situations like this.

Translator"s Notes:

[1]: "World of Nothingness" (무(無)의 세계): "nothing/zero" 무(無) + world (세계).