I Alone Level-Up

On the drive home.

zooom-

The face of the van"s driver was clouded with disappointment.

"Sigh…"

Was it because the extraction target"s abilities were far greater than his own? Unfortunately, Jinwoo had failed in the Shadow Extraction of the ice elf boss.

"Shame, but what can I do…"

Surely, the opportunity to take down another high-level boss would come again someday. The important thing was that when that opportunity came again, he would be strong enough to not fail.

Level-up.

It was something he was quite good at.

Still, the Raid wasn"t all for naught. He took his left hand off of the steering wheel; an elegant, curved dagger appeared in it.

Baruka"s Tanto [1]

Rarity: A

Type: Dagger

Attack Power +110

Agility +10

It is the tanto wielded by the great warrior, Baruka. A magical enchantment makes both the dagger and the wielder more agile.

Jinwoo had not left the Dungeon empty-handed. While one of the twin daggers wielded by the boss was destroyed by Knight Killer, he had claimed the unbroken one as his own.

"Baruka"s Tanto."

It had the highest attack power out of all the daggers he had found so far; on top of that, it even had an effect of increasing his agility. It was obviously better than the C-rank Casaka"s Poisoned Fang, and even the B-rank Knight Killer, bought with gold, could not compare to it. An rank dagger! It was the perfect weapon to replace Casaka"s Poisoned Fang, which was gradually losing its effectiveness in battle.

"The grip doesn"t feel bad either."

While he was going over the events of the Red Gate, the van had arrived in front of Han Songyi"s house.

screech.

The student, who was silent throughout the entire ride, bowed her head to Jinwoo,

"Then, take care."

"Okay."

Watching the girl walk back to her house with sunken shoulders, Jinwoo felt like he had accomplished his mission.

"Things got a little complicated, but the original goal was to convince Han Songyi."

It looked like the girl would not be continuing as a Hunter anymore. Well, anyone whose first ever Dungeon was a Red Gate would do the same. Jinwoo was about to drive away in satisfaction when the pa.s.senger door opened.

"...?"

He turned to see Han Songyi holding the door open.

"What"s wrong with her?"

His curiosity only lasted for a brief moment. The girl deeply bowed her head again,

"Thank you for today, oppa."

Now that he thought about it, her t.i.tle for him had changed from "ahjussi" to "oppa".

"Oh, yeah, no problem."

"So…"

"Hmm?"

"I"ll see you tomorrow- I mean, few hours from now."

Few hours from now?

Before he could ask her what she meant, Han Songyi ran inside. After she disappeared into her home, Jinwoo realized,

"Oh right."

It was already dawn, but the Raids with Yoo Jinho would resume today. As Han Songyi was still part of their raiding party, they would see each other again.

"That"s what she meant."

Oh s.h.i.+t… If Han Songyi completely retired from anything related to Hunters, Yoo Jinho"s team would"ve lost a team member, and it would"ve delayed their plans. Thankfully, it looked like the girl would at least finish the remaining Raids.

"Thank G.o.d..."

With the Shadow Soldiers, the clearing speed of the C-rank Dungeons would rise a level higher. Jinwoo was confident he could complete the remaining Raids in a record time. He was also looking forward to Yoo Jinho"s reaction when the young man saw the Shadow Soldiers.

"That man, Yoon Gijoong, his reactions were top notch."

Jinwoo grinned widely while turning the steering wheel.

-

Few hours later.

"Yawn-"

Jinwoo arrived at the lobby of his apartment while yawning. When he opened his eyes after a brief nap, it was already the promised time.

"Good morning, hyungnim!"

A familiar voice filled with energy greeted him. Yoo Jinho was already waiting for him.

"I took the car. How"d you get here?"

Jinwoo had borrowed the workhorse of their raiding party, "Bongo", for last night"s events. The van was parked nearby.

"A taxi, hyungnim."

"Ah, taxi."

Jinwoo had hoped to flip their positions for once and go pick up the young man.

"It"s okay, hyungnim. I"m the one receiving your help. I should be the one accommodating you."

Yoo Jinho spoke while chortling. After a one day break, their morning exchanges had resumed as normal.

"Huh?"

Yoo Jinho discovered something. Jinwoo was holding something cylindrical in his hand. The young man asked curiously,

"Hyungnim, what"s that?"

"What, this?"

Jinwoo smiled widely,

"I"m going to use it in the Dungeon today."

Holy… Yoo Jinho"s stomach fluttered.

"Is it a weapon to be used in the Dungeon?"

Hyungnim always showed off something crazy in Dungeons. Just what kind of a terrifying weapon was he holding now? Yoo Jinho already began to feel anxious.

gulp

Yoo Jinho gathered his courage then raised his head,

"Hyungnim, let us go."

"Hold on."

Jinwoo put up a hand, then took out his phone.

"We"ll be picking up someone on the way."

"Huh? Who?"

Jinwoo ignored him and spoke into the phone,

"Yeah, Songyi, it"s me. We"ll pick you up and take you to the Gate."

Songyi… That Songyi? When Jinwoo hung up, Yoo Jinho asked,

"Hyungnim, is the person we"re picking up our team"s highschool student?"

Jinwoo nodded. Since she lived really closed to his house, he felt like it would be efficient to just pick her up before leaving the area. However, as he had done in the past, Yoo Jinho completely misread Jinwoo"s intents.

Han Songyi.

A cute-looking girl with short hair falling just below her ears.

"If hyungnim knows her number and talked to her with such familiarity… Is their relations.h.i.+p like… that?"

As he had always known, hyungnim was an amazing man.

"Especially when I watch him go to work on giant magic beasts with a single dagger…"

The young man was sure his hyungnim had no interest, but it made sense that the female student would fall for his hyungnim. Yoo Jinho nodded to himself. If that was the case, there was something he had to clear up,

"Hyungnim, so should I be addressing Ms. Han Songyi as "missus" from now on?" [2]

What the f.u.c.k.

Was what Jinwoo"s eyes were saying. Even Yoo Jinho, who was terrible at taking hints, was able to read as much from the man"s expression.

"Er… Were you two not dating?"

"She"s just my little sister"s friend."

"Oh. Oooooh."

So that"s what it was. Yoo Jinho finally understood the situation. To think that he accidentally almost called her his sister-in-law. The young man"s face turned red with embarra.s.sment.

Soon, Hang Songyi came down from her apartment. Compared to their previous meetings, the girl appeared to have paid a little more attention to her looks this time. Yoo Jinho smiled,

"She"s just like a teenager who wants to show off before her friend"s oppa."

Yoo Jinho was about to act like a leader and compliment the girl"s clothes when Jinwoo greeted her first,

"Did you get some sleep?"

Yoo Jinho"s face froze.

"..."

Han Songyi smiled and shook her head,

"I couldn"t sleep a wink."

"You must be tired, get some shut-eye in the car."

At the pair"s conversation, Yoo Jinho"s mind became more and more chaotic.

"Huh? Huuuuuh?"

Han Songyi asked Jinwoo a question,

"Oppa, did you get any sleep?"

"Just a quick nap. It was already 4AM when I got home."

"Right…"

Couldn"t sleep? Must be tired? 4AM? Yoo Jinho"s confusion turned to horror. Jinwoo was heading toward the Bongo and turned around,

"Yoo Jinho, are you coming?"

"Err… Hyungnim?"

"...?"

"That"s er… Ms. Han Songyi is underage, hyungnim."

What the f.u.c.k.

"So?"

"...Nevermind, hyungnim."

As expected, hyungnim was the manliest of men. Yoo Jinho was in awe of Jinwoo"s personality that gave no thoughts to society"s rules.

"He"s truly not a normal man."

Yoo Jinho berated himself for judging his hyungnim with laws of ordinary people. [3]

-

At the same hour.

Baekho Guild"s Meeting Room.

"-And that"s pretty much all I saw."

Park Heejin finished recounting the events of the Red Gate. Before she began, Baek Yoonho had asked if she needed some rest out of concern, but the woman insisted that they complete the investigation. She explained that she was relatively comfortable(?) in there.

"..."

"..."

The two upper management members who conducted the interview, Guildmaster Baek Yoonho and Chief Ahn Sangmin, were at a loss for words. The one who was in charge of the training, Hyun Gicheol, was sent to the a.s.sociation to argue about the incident. As such, only three people were gathered in the meeting room. Ahn Sangmin broke the silence,

"Was all that really true?"

"You can contact Go Myunghwan and Yoon Gijoong. They"ll tell you the same story."

The two C-rankers had returned to their homes, stating that they wanted to see their families. Park Heejin could confidently say that their statements would not differ from hers.

"All I did was explain what I experienced in person."

How the forest that man disappeared off to rang with screams of ice bears, or how that man was doing push-ups while everyone else was sleeping. She didn"t dare to include any hearsay from the other teammates, only what she had seen with her own two eyes.

"Huh…"

Ahn Sangmin made a strange noise with his mouth. Knocking out an rank Hunter in one hit. Freely using spatial magic. Wielding dozens of summons. Each one of them alone would be an unbelievable thing. And the man in question had done it all. But the most shocking fact was,

"So he solo cleared a high-level Dungeon."

Baek Yoonho uttered after a long period of silence. It was because he was an S-ranker that he was able to say,

"That is an incredible feat."

Although the man had fought with summons, those summons were not comrades but Hunter Sung Jinwoo"s skill. It was the same as solo clearing the Dungeon.

"No matter how high one"s rank is, it is difficult for a Hunter to solo clear a high-level Dungeon."

A Red Gate on top of that.

What if he himself was there? Could he solo clear a B-rank Red Gate? It was possible for Hunter Sung Jinwoo, who wielded not one or two but dozens of summons. Ahn Sangmin spoke with amazement,

"With this, it is clear that he"s an Awakened Being with special powers."

Baek Yoonho agreed,

"Among Hunters, those that can use summoning are rare. And to think that he"s a Hunter that can wield multiple summons…"

Having worked as an S-rank Hunter, Baek Yoonho had met and conversed with many different Hunters. Not one of them ever spoke of a Hunter wielding that many summons.

"An Awakened Being with a special power in a different dimension than the average special power…"

Baek Yoonho was amazed. Ahn Sangmin thought of something and asked,

"If you had to put a value on Sung Jinwoo-ssi"s abilities, how much do you think he"s worth right now?"

"..."

Baek Yoonho could not easily reply. But one thing was for sure, regardless of what the value of Sung Jinwoo was right now, it would multiply explosively once the man underwent the retest. They had to act before that happened. Baekho had just lost an rank Hunter and multiple B-rank Hunters. If they were not able to obtain the power known as Sung Jinwoo, their losses from this incident would be too great.

"I trust you, Chief Ahn."

Baek Yoonho sent a look of faith towards the man. Ahn Sangmin replied with a determined expression. Suddenly, the two men turned toward Park Heejin. The woman was raising a hand.

"Do you have something to ask?"

Succeeding in grabbing the two men"s attentions, Park Heejin lowered her hand,

"Please allow me to help."

"With what?"

"Raid Lead- I mean, Hunter Sung Jinwoo-nim"s recruitment."

Baek Yoonho and Ahn Sangmin exchanged glances. The Recruitment Specialist Ahn Sangmin tilted his head,

"Why would Hunter Park Heejin-nim be…?"

"Of the members of our Guild, I"m the one who spent the most time with Hunter Sung Jinwoo-nim. I believe I can be of great a.s.sistance."

6 hours outside of the Gate. Nearly a week inside. Baek Yoonho and Ahn Sangmin thought Park Heejin"s words made sense. On top of that, the woman was a beauty. Her appearance wouldn"t exactly be a hindrance in their efforts to obtain Sung Jinwoo. Realizing her suggestion was moving the minds of the Guildmaster and the chief, Park Heejin continued,

"But I have one condition."

Baek Yoonho asked,

"What is it?"

"Once Hunter Sung Jinwoo-nim enters Baekho, please be sure to place me in his raiding party."

Translator"s Notes:[1]: "Baruka"s Tanto": Tanto was covered before; it is a word for a j.a.panese dagger/knife. Baruka (바루카): "ba" + "ru" + "ka". Translating the "r" or "l" sound from east asian languages often is shortened to remove the vowel sound, but in this case, I kept the "ru" as it was. If it was "르" (reu) instead of "루" (roo), I might"ve shortened it to Balka.

[2]: "missus" (형수님): I chose not to do the usual and put this in korean. I don"t think it"s a word that"ll come up that much throughout the story. The korean word here means "wife of older brother". More commonly used in actual blood relative situations, but jokingly/friendly used by non-related people as well to their hyung"s wife/girlfriend.

[3]: What the f.u.c.k.