Chapter 29

I will level up alone: Ragnarok Chapter 28

"Hold on."

Suddenly, Suho felt a sense of déjà vu.

Looking back, all the recent events were connected.

The Gwanak Mountain field.

The Hyena Guild.

The Seoul Station field.

And they all had one thing in common.

"…All these places appeared a year ago."

[Kehe? Now that you mention it! It seems the extraterrestrial bastards have been sneaking into Earth for a year!]

"A year ago…"

Suho decided to start from here.

"Then, let's try to trace it in reverse. If we investigate the dungeons, fields, and guilds that appeared a year ago, we might find something, right?"

If he found the devil, he could further enhance Vulcan's horn, and if he discovered other traces of the extraterrestrials, that would be good too.

[Oh! As expected, our young master is truly clever! Kehe. It feels like just yesterday when I was teaching you addition and subtraction…]

Suho ignored the fussing Ber for a moment.

He had just thought of something.

"Yeah. That place was there."

The most famous area in Korea a year ago.

The site of that tragic disaster.

"Magok."

Suho's eyes sparkled.

* * *

Hunter Association Surveillance Department.

"…No matter how many times we search, there's always more."

Team Leader Han Jae-hyuk found it absurd as he investigated the base of the Hyena Guild, which had been annihilated.

The list of the evil deeds committed by the Hyena Guild over the years would fill more than 100 pages.

The criminal cases were all handed over to the police hunters.

The Association focused on investigating things outside the law.

For example, things like 'stardust.'

…Actually, stardust wasn't strictly a drug.

So using it wasn't illegal.

But it couldn't be left unchecked, given its unknown nature.

The Hunter Association had been investigating how stardust was made and who made it, and this time they finally found a clue at the Hyena Guild's base.

A ledger.

It recorded when and how much stardust the Hyena Guild bought and to whom they resold it.

This confirmed that the Hyena Guild was one of the distributors of stardust.

By following this lead, they might discover who was producing stardust.

"Yet, there are people who even borrowed money to buy stardust."

"This is a kind of debt investment. If they used stardust to enter higher-level dungeons, they could pay off their debts quickly."

"Then they would come back to the Hyena Guild to buy more stardust with the money they earned?"

"Ultimately, the Hyena Guild would keep raking in the money. It's a real creative economy."

However, the real problem was that most of the hunters in the ledger were 'missing persons' from the past year.

Most of them were likely prey for the boss monster that controlled the Hyena Guild from behind.

While investigating the ledger, they found something strange.

Some of the missing persons were marked with red lines.

Among them were many non-awakened debtors.

"What about these people? Are they different?"

"Hey, Team Leader! Look at this!"

A subordinate showed Team Leader Han Jae-hyuk some data.

"See, the dates when the Hyena Guild received large shipments of stardust match the dates when these marked missing persons disappeared. Not a single one is missing."

"…That's true."

"Is there a connection?"

"Hmm."

The only thing that came to mind was one possibility.

"…Could they have exchanged stardust for these people?"

"People for stardust?"

Han Jae-hyuk re-examined the ledgers from the beginning.

And he finally discovered a fact that made his eyes widen.

"It's certain. The ledger shows the amount of stardust the Hyena Guild bought, but not how much they paid for it. It means they didn't pay money."

"…Really? Could they have paid with people instead of money? Why?"

"We need to find out. If the Hyena Guild didn't make the stardust themselves, then the ones who made it…"

At that moment.

An urgent call arrived at the Surveillance Department.

"Team Leader! We received a report!"

"What report? I'm busy…"

"Someone found a stardust factory…"

"Get me there immediately!"

* * *

By the time Team Leader Han Jae-hyuk arrived at the Seoul Station field, everything was already over.

"What exactly happened here!"

There, the survivors who had been captured in the factory and the hunters who rescued them were sitting exhausted.

"To put it simply…"

The raid leader explained everything that had happened to Team Leader Han Jae-hyuk.

"Factory? You mean stardust was being made inside? Who? Devils?"

As he listened, the pieces of the ongoing investigation began to fit together in his mind.

But now wasn't the time to sit and ponder.

"Really? You mean someone is still down there fighting the devils alone?"

"Yes. They said they would buy us time to escape… Please, go in and save them!"

For a long time, Assistant Im had been pacing anxiously, worried about Suho's safety.

To him, it seemed Suho could barely defeat the first devil he encountered.

But the factory contained no less than ten devils.

'Suho said he would get out on his own and not to worry, but that was just to reassure us. He's doing it again…! Just like in the Korea University dungeon, he's sacrificing himself for us!'

After hearing the entire explanation, Team Leader Han Jae-hyuk took a fierce expression and gripped the weapons he brought.

"I understand. We will go in immediately."

Bang!

Team Leader Han Jae-hyuk's weapons were two massive steel shields, each large enough to cover half his body.

The moment he held the shields, a transparent aura enveloped his entire body.

'Impenetrable Aura?'

At that moment, Assistant Im recognized who Team Leader Han Jae-hyuk was.

He was the C-rank tank, Han Jae-hyuk, whose skills were so recognized that he had received offers from several famous guilds.

Now, he noticed that the hunters lined up behind him all looked formidable.

'It's settled! Suho will be fine!'

Team Leader Han Jae-hyuk led the Association hunters into Seoul Station with a reliable demeanor.

Then, he suddenly turned around at the entrance and asked one last question.

"By the way, what rank is the hunter who stayed behind?"

"Ahem. Well…"

The raid leader looked awkward and hesitated to speak.

"E-rank Gatherer."

"…What?"

"…"

The raid leader felt wronged.

Suddenly, the Association hunters were looking at him as if he were the worst scoundrel in the world.

He really felt wronged.

* * *

"I need to find out more about Magok when I get back."

Suho finished his business and left the factory.

But as he was about to head back to the surface, he felt a bit reluctant.

It was because of Broki.

"It's a shame to let such a strong creature go after extracting it as a shadow soldier."

The maintenance time for an extracted shadow soldier is roughly one day.

After that, the extraction will automatically be canceled, and it will return to nothing.

Since it's uncertain when he might find another creature of this level, he wanted to use it as effectively as possible.

[Then, let's make one more round? There are still many lizards around.]

"That's a good idea."

He decided to clean up this field while he was at it.

"Broki."

[Growl!]

Broki, now a shadow soldier, had lost his ability to speak.

But his intelligence remained, so there was no need for a long explanation.

"Bring them all."

[Roar!]

Broki had an excellent sense of smell.

As soon as Suho gave the order, Broki found and killed all the lizards hiding in the field.

Then, he brought their corpses to Suho, piling them up neatly.

Although Suho's level was now so high that the experience from lizards was minimal, it still added up.

"And this is all money."

[Chomp. Young master, if I may, there are so many, can I have a bite…]

"A bite…"

[I am a worm, after all.]

Ber tilted his head at Suho's joke.

With Broki leading the way, Suho hunted lizards.

Before long, he was wearing the crow mask again.

Earlier, he wore it to pretend to be a young devil in front of the devils, but this time it was for a different reason.

In fact, this item had a small but useful function.

[Item: Crow Mask]

Acquisition Difficulty: E

Type: Miscellaneous

A suspicious mask used by devils.

When worn in a dark place, it brightens your vision.

You can store it in your inventory or sell it at a shop.

'It's better than night vision goggles.'

Thanks to his increased sensory stats, he could identify objects in the dark, but the crow mask made it even more comfortable.

Since each devil had one of these items, Suho had collected all the masks from the devils in the factory.

But the problem started from there.

"Devil!"

"Huh?"

[Screech?]

The Association hunters who had just entered the field encountered Suho, who was wearing the crow mask.

They had just learned from the hunters on the surface that devils wore crow masks.

Moreover, right next to Suho stood the giant, extremely sinister-looking hyena, Broki.

"Attack!"

"Wait, hold on…"

Before Suho could say anything, the hunters' attacks started raining down on him.

Ding!

[An urgent quest has arrived.]

Ding!

[Emergency Quest: Defeat the enemies!]

'…There are people around who are hostile to the player…'

"Ah, no, this is a misunderstanding. Reject, reject."

The urgent quest appeared due to their hostility.

Suho quickly rejected the quest and tried to take off the mask to reveal his identity.

Whoosh!

"I'll take care of this one!"

Team Leader Han Jae-hyuk, who had approached from nearby, swung his shield at Suho.

At the same time, the other hunters rushed at Broki.

"Wait, listen to me…"

"Impenetrable Aura!"

Flash!

A transparent shield aura rushed towards Suho like a massive wall.

[Young master!]

Ber's urgent cry.

Suho clenched the hand that was about to take off the mask.

'First, I need to subdue them.'

Whoosh!

Instantly, a black aura enveloped his fist.

And he delivered a powerful punch.

He slammed it into the transparent shield that was pressuring him.

But with that one punch.

[Strength: 45]

Smack!

"Huh?"

Team Leader Han Jae-hyuk, who had charged at Suho, was thrown back in a straight line, his body bent at a right angle with his shield.

And.

Bang!

He crashed into the wall far away.

"…Huh?"

Suho, who had thrown the punch, was also taken aback and stopped in that position.

The Association hunters, who witnessed the scene, had their eyes wide open.

"Team Leader…?"

"What was that…?"

Crack.

The wall where Team Leader Han Jae-hyuk had crashed crumbled, revealing his unconscious face.

He had fainted on the spot.

[Hmm. This is about the level for humans. After all, you've invested all your stats into strength.]

Beside him, Ber nodded, considering it a natural result.

Suho awkwardly took off the crow mask.

"Let's talk this out."

"…"

At his words, the hunters quickly nodded in agreement.