I Alone Level-Up

The Shadow Soldiers quickly closed the gap!

However, the ferocious movements of the ice bears were far faster than the Shadow Soldiers.

Boom!

Crack!

A single swipe of the bear"s claw obliterated a Shadow Soldier. If it was a human in that pitch black armor and not a shadow, it would"ve been a gruesome sight.

"Hmm…"

Jinwoo furrowed his brows.

"As I thought, was it too much?"

Whether it was strength or size, it unfortunately looked like it was too much for Shadow Soldiers to face the ice bears.

But suddenly, something surprising happened.

"What the!"

Jinwoo"s eyes widened.

The body of the Shadow Soldier that was destroyed by an ice bear turned to black smoke before it fully hit the ground.

shooooo-

The black smoke gathered at some distance away, then reformed into its original shape.

"Oh s.h.i.+t!"

Jinwoo"s face lit up.

Undead.

He had forgotten about the true nature of these shadows and was now reminded.

Realizing its attack had no effect, the ice bear panicked and roared.

Roooaaaar!

While the Shadow Infantry kept the ice bears busy, the Shadow Mages had finished their casting.

Flaaaare-!

Bang!

Kaboom!

The fireb.a.l.l.s released from the mages" hands exploded here and there. While the Shadow Infantry caught by the explosion regenerated immediately, the ice bears caught on fire and thrashed about.

"Kuwaaaah!"

"Kuwuuh!"

The Shadow Infantry continued their attacks, swinging and stabbing their swords at the burning bears.

slas.h.!.+

stab!

At first, the ice bears looked like they had the advantage, but they were slowly being pushed back by the combined attack of the infantry and the mages.

"Whoa…"

Jinwoo watched the battle with great interest.

The infantry"s fast regeneration.

The mage"s powerful firepower.

The might of Shadow Soldiers exceeded his expectations. The ice bears were soon overwhelmed and were pushed all the way back to the caves. It seemed like the battle was over-

ROOOOAAAAR!

With a roar that shook the eardrums, something giant appeared from the cave.

"That"s…"

Jinwoo"s eyes widened. It was an ice bear a head taller than the rest and also much wider.

ROAR!

At a single swipe of its claw, many Shadow Soldiers were swept away.

BOOM!

Craaaaack!

Even their quick regeneration speed could not keep up.

Crack!

Smas.h.!.+

"Looks like the alpha made his appearance…"

Of course, he had expected that a den of bears would have an alpha bear. But the thing"s size and power surpa.s.sed his expectations.

ROOOOAR!

The giant ice bear slapped away the Shadow Soldiers and ran toward Jinwoo. Suddenly, a message appeared,

ring~

You are out of mana. The Shadow Soldiers cannot regenerate.

You are out of mana. The Shadow Soldiers cannot regenerate.

What?

He checked his mana in panic. Just as the System said, his mana was at zero.

MP: 0 / 1,860

With his mana gone, the Shadow Soldiers no longer regenerated after being destroyed. Instead, they turned into shadow and returned to Jinwoo"s shadow. Jinwoo realized that it was his mana that allowed the soldiers to regenerate.

"That G.o.dd.a.m.n mana…"

He found yet another reason to raise his intelligence stat. Jinwoo scratched the side of his head. The appearance of the alpha had completely turned the tide of the battle. However, Jinwoo still had a trump card up his sleeve.

"If their boss came out, I should send mine out as well."

With his arms crossed, Jinwoo called for the one who was worthy to be called the Shadow Soldier"s boss.

"Ygritte!"

A single shadow slid out from Jinwoo"s shadow. From the shadow rose a knight wearing a helmet adorned with a plumage. Jinwoo raised a chin at the alpha. Ygritte bowed his head to Jinwoo then shot forth towards the giant ice bear.

step, step, step, step!

Ygritte dodged the alpha"s swipe and slid between the ice bear"s legs. While in motion, he quickly took out the daggers at his side and cut the tendons of the beast"s legs.

"Kuwwaaah!"

This was only the beginning.

Unsheathing his long sword, Ygritte skillfully dodged the torrent of attacks from the alpha while carving it up like a sculpture.

Tendons, claws, paws, legs. Bit by bit, the alpha"s flesh was being cut off like being worked by a butcher.

"Huh…"

Jinwoo watched Ygritte"s flowing, artlike movements with great admiration.

The head was the last to go.

Slas.h.!.+

The giant ice bear"s head was cleanly separated from its body. Before it could hit the ground, Ygritte s.n.a.t.c.hed it from the air. The knight approached Jinwoo then knelt before the Hunter.

drop

Ygritte placed the bear"s head in front of Jinwoo feet, as if offering a trophy to his king. Jinwoo stared at the knight and gulped,

"If he used his sword from the start back then, could I have defeated him?"

The remaining ice bears were thrown into chaos after losing their leader and were quickly routed by the soldiers. The battle was over. The results greatly satisfied Jinwoo.

Shadow Infantry (Lv. 2)

Shadow Infantry (Lv. 3)

Shadow Infantry (Lv. 2)

Shadow Mage (Lv. 2)

The soldiers had leveled up here and there. Since the Shadow Soldiers themselves were Jinwoo"s skill, the Hunter had also gained 3 levels. And above all else,

"Arise."

You"ve succeeded in Shadow Extraction.

You"ve succeeded in Shadow Extraction.

You"ve succeeded in Shadow Extraction.

He had earned new friends.

ROOOAR-!

Including the alpha, Jinwoo had selected several ice bears. From their shadows, a large black ma.s.s rose.

"I expected a bear wearing an armor…"

The reality was a little different.

The "Shadow Beasts"[1] that arose maintained some semblance to a bear but at the same time had a form that seemed to s.h.i.+ft between solid and gas. A black steam continuously spewed from their figures.

"The visuals are a bit lacking, but still, it"s those ice bears" shadows."

Their strength and capacity for destruction. He would surely have a use for it. Suddenly,

rooooar

Jinwoo"s ears perked up at a cry sounding from a distance. It was not just one or two.

"Looks like there are more dens in the area."

It was getting a little late in the day. He"ll check it out tomorrow.

A bright smile appeared on Jinwoo"s face.

-

"Uwaaaaak!"

"Kuk!"

His teammates were screaming left and right. Kim Cheol"s eyes were wide open.

"There is no way!"

That he, Kim Cheol, would fail like this! He was someone would become Baekho"s elite. He had even received special training for that goal. And now, he was going to fail?! The ranker could not accept it.

Their party had endured the cold and hunger and fought with yetis. After that were the ice giants. They had lost two of their members but managed to prevail against them too. The Raid appeared to be going smooth.

But.

But!!!

The moment they had triumphed over the ice giants, the White Walkers ambushed them from all directions, as if they had been waiting. Those b.a.s.t.a.r.ds had been watching their party, waiting for their stamina to hit rock bottom. What followed was a ma.s.sacre. The Hunters fell, one after another, in an instant.

"L-leader!"

A fallen Hunter stretched a bloodied hand toward Kim Cheol. Kim Cheol stepped backwards. A White Walker appeared out of nowhere and slit the throat of the Hunter on the ground. While the man gurgled and choked on his own blood, the White Walker raised his head towards Kim Cheol. The ranker screamed,

"U-uwaaaah!"

He turned around and ran into the forest. The forest had ice bears? Those bears were nothing compared to the yetis, ice giants and the White Walkers. Kim Cheol ran with all of his might. Watching his figure disappear into the distance, the White Walkers raised their bows and took aim. But before they could fire, a White Walker raised his hand and stopped them. It was an ice elf with hair flowing down to his waist. The other White Walkers lowered their bows.

"..."

The long hair pointed and gestured to follow Kim Cheol. One by one, the other White Walkers disappeared from sight.

-

Kim Cheol leaped through a bush.

"pant, pant, pant."

His lungs felt like they were on fire. The image of the White Walkers that smiled while slaughtering his teammates was still fresh on his mind. The man looked down at his hands. The frostbitten hands were losing their sense of touch. His toes had long since lost all feeling. He could not fight properly in his current condition.

"This d.a.m.n cold… No, if we just didn"t starve for the past few days, we would"ve won."

To the bitter end, Kim Cheol could not acknowledge his failure. While muttering to himself, Kim Cheol raised his head.

"Anyways, how deep am I into the forest?"

He looked around. The smell of blood poked at his nose from somewhere. The man followed the smell. It was close. Moving through the trees, he came upon a clearing and could not believe his eyes.

"How is this possible?"

In front of the caves were over 20 ice bear corpses. He had wondered why he hadn"t come across a single bear!

"What the?"

He studied the corpses. All the corpses had traces of being cut with something. Some of them also had traces of being burned. Sung Jinwoo and his party flashed across Kim Cheol"s head.

"It can"t be... those b.a.s.t.a.r.ds did this?"

No. Kim Cheol shook his head. The wounds on the corpses of the ice bears were made with a sword. To his knowledge, Sung Jinwoo"s party did not have a sword user.

"The two E-rankers didn"t even have a weapon."

There was no way they had survived here. Then there was only one other conclusion,

"The White Walkers are also here!"

His heart sank. He had thought that he managed to get away from those elves. To think that he had wandered into another group of them. With a great fear in his heart, Kim Cheol held his breath and turned back to the direction he had come from.

Further. Faster.

He wanted to get out of the White Walker"s territory.

-

At the same time.

"Wuwaaaaang!"

An ice bear fell with a death rattle. The Shadow Soldiers swarmed its body and made sure it was dead.

You"ve leveled up!

"Alright."

Jinwoo was in a different bear den. It"s been five days since they had entered the Gate. He had gone through three different bear dens since then.

"Looks like I"ve taken care of every bear in this forest."

Thanks to that, both he and his army"s levels had risen quite a bit. At first, it required two soldiers just to hold back an ice bear. Now, a single soldier was capable of winning one on one against the beast. Jinwoo was satisfied. As the abilities of his soldiers rose, he started a.s.signing them different roles. His current limit was 30 shadows. 28 of them would be a.s.signed to combat, while 2 of them would be a.s.signed to the collection of magic cores and meat. Now that he didn"t have to lift a finger to fight or collect drops, life became incredibly convenient for the Hunter.

"I don"t sense any more magic beasts."

It seemed that he had cleared the entire forest.

Then.

"Is it time to go for the boss?"

There was still about a month to go, at worst several months, until the Dungeon Break. He had no intention of waiting for that to happen.

"Gotta kill that arrogant elf too."

A mere magic beast that taunted a Hunter. Its arrogant smile still annoyed Jinwoo.

-

Kim Cheol"s nose detected the smell of cooking meat from somewhere.

sniff sniff

The man"s sense of smell had become sensitive due to his hunger. After entering the Gate, all he had to eat for the past few days was a single rabbit. His mouth watered at the smell of food.

gulp

The White Walkers might be eating somewhere.

"But if there"s only few of them…"

He was confident he could take care of them and steal the food. It was a misguided confidence born out of hunger.

"Let"s check it out."

Kim Cheol did his best to quiet his footsteps and carefully approached where the smell was coming from. Finally, he came upon a clearing where Jinwoo"s team was. Kim Cheol"s eyes widened.

"What?"

The smell of meat was coming from their campfire.

"How are they still alive?"

However, he did not see one of the E-rank Hunters.

"Pft. He took the lead with such confidence. Must"ve died first."

That much was obvious. But what wasn"t obvious was the scene in front of him. How to… a.n.a.lyze all this? Something was weird.

"Wait, their clothes…?"

Warm clothes, blankets, tents and other equipment entered his eye. They were clearly prepared for the environment.

"How the h.e.l.l?"

While fl.u.s.tered, Kim Cheol"s gaze became affixed on something.

It was a piece of bread next to the meat. There was no way they had found or made bread here. It must"ve been prepared beforehand. His confusion quickly turned to anger.

"These f.u.c.kers…"

grind

Kim Cheol grinded his teeth. These f.u.c.kers had all of this with them and walked away on their own.

"If my hands weren"t frozen, no, if only I wasn"t hungry, I could"ve easily taken care of those ice elves."

Thinking about how they greedily h.o.a.rded something that should"ve been shared with the Raid team, Kim Cheol could not help it any more. He leaped out into the clearing.

"You b.a.s.t.a.r.ds!"

Park Heejin jumped in surprise and stood up.

"Kim Cheol? How are you here?"

To be honest, it was hard to say that he was a welcoming sight. It was because the man"s eyes were filled with murderous intent. Kim Cheol did not hide his hostility.

"Our party failed in clearing the Dungeon because we lacked proper equipment and food. Then how the h.e.l.l are you sitting here with those equipment and food?"

"That"s…"

Park Heejin could not answer. She feared that bringing up Jinwoo would turn Kim Cheol"s wrath towards Jinwoo. She did not want to turn in the savior of her life.

"From the start, I didn"t like the way that man looked at Sung Jinwoo."

Park Heejin closed her mouth. Seeing her defy his will, Kim Cheol"s rage increased.

"I don"t consider every one of you an accomplice. Who hid all this? I"ll spare the rest of you."

The veins in his neck bulged.

"WHICH ONE OF YOU h.o.a.rDED ALL OF THIS AND ENDANGERED THE LIVES OF YOUR COMRADES?!!!"

His shouting echoed loudly throughout the forest. Kim Cheol realized he would have to up the ante.

"I"m going to count to three. If no one speaks up, I"ll consider all of you equally guilty."

Han Songyi tugged at Park Heejin"s sleeves.

"U-unni…"

Park Heejin hugged Han Songyi. Go Myunghwan and Yoon Gijoong also gulped while sweating. Kim Cheol was an ranker. Even if they combined their powers, they could not hope to win against him. Still, not one of them betrayed Jinwoo.

"One."

Kim Cheol unsheathe the sword at his side.

schiing-

"Two."

The Hunters still held their silence.

Mere low-level Hunters dare to disobey him? Kim Cheol"s anger flared.

"How dare you look down on me…"

His eyes turned red with murderous intent.

First would be this woman. The one who betrayed his team and decided to join the weaklings. Park Heejin will be the first to die.

"Yes. She must"ve been hiding something. That"s why she left my team."

That was the only reason he could think of. Kim Cheol stepped up to Park Heejin and finished his countdown.

"Three."

Park Heejin closed her eyes.

Suddenly.

"Four."

Bam!

Something struck Kim Cheol on the back of the head, and the man fell face forward onto the ground and slid forward for a few feet.

All the Hunters" eyes opened wide.

"Raid Leader!"

Jinwoo had struck with such a force that his fist was still smoking.

He spoke, appalled,

"Who"s the f.u.c.ker that really endangered the lives of his comrades?"

Translator"s Notes:

[1]: "Shadow Beast" (그림자 마수병): Lit. "Shadow Magic Beast Soldier". I"ve removed "magic" to distinguish them from magic beasts. The reason was because in the context, "magic beast" was clearly referring to the shadow"s bear-like b.e.s.t.i.a.l form, but in the general story, "magic beast" refers to any otherworldly ent.i.ties found in Dungeons. I wanted to avoid the confusion. Also took out the word "soldier" because it felt redundant in most context cases.