Chapter 50

Leveling Up Alone: Ragnarok Chapter 49

“Surely you don’t… plan to hunt those scorpions?”

Leo Singh’s eyes widened.

He had just seen Suho suddenly listen to the scorpion’s scream and lick his lips.

There was a hunter’s aura in his expression, as if he was eyeing his prey.

“Suho, are you really going to do it?”

“Maybe it’s possible inside here?”

The conversation between Eshil and Suho.

Suho had already made up his mind.

“Wait a moment! Dealing with scorpions is more dangerous than fighting the Scavenger Guild!”

Leo Singh urgently tried to stop Suho.

A hunter’s death often comes from recklessness.

He had seen many talented hunters like Suho die tragically due to their arrogance.

“Why don’t you do this instead? If we rest for a few hours, our healers will recover their mana. Then we can team up to deal with the Scavengers.”

“There’s no time for that.”

Suho firmly rejected his suggestion.

He raised his gaze to look at the ceiling where stone fragments were falling.

“We don’t know when the pyramid might collapse.”

Suho then proposed to the Asura Guild.

“Why don’t you escape now? Leave this place to me.”

“I can’t do that. I can’t return empty-handed.”

Leo Singh got up to follow Suho but then winced and staggered.

“Guh.”

The shock from Randolph’s attack was still affecting his body.

Berga clicked his tongue at the sight.

[You’re as weak as a worm. Recklessness is what kills hunters.]

Leo Singh’s face turned red.

Though he couldn’t understand Berga’s words, he could sense the contempt in his gaze.

To be looked down upon by a mere summon.

For someone who had been a promising figure, receiving much expectation, it was a disgrace.

“You just stay here and rest. We’ll go ahead.”

“Shameful.”

At Suho’s words, Leo Singh finally slumped to the ground, catching his breath.

He had realized that not only himself but also his guild members were injured and unable to move easily.

“Grr.”

Thinking of the culprit, Randolph, Leo Singh gritted his teeth.

‘We’ll see. This revenge is inevitable…!’

His eyes burned with a desire for revenge as he looked at Suho.

“Can I ask you for one favor?”

“What is it?”

“If you run into the Scavengers, can you give them a taste of your power?”

“Two hits are also possible.”

“That’s reassuring.”

Leo Singh’s face lit up with satisfaction at Suho’s immediate response.

He then took out a ring from his pocket.

“Here, take this.”

“…?”

Suho’s eyes sparkled as he took the ring.

[Item: Ring of Horus]

Acquisition Difficulty: B-Rank

Type: Accessory

Intelligence Stat +10

-Effect ‘Wisdom of Horus’: Mana recovery speed increased by 30%

“This is a relic I found while exploring the labyrinth. It might help.”

Leo Singh, who couldn’t see the item’s information like Suho, didn’t realize how valuable it was.

‘This is exactly what I need right now.’

During the fight with the sand scorpions, Suho had realized his lack of mana.

While he had gained immense strength by focusing all his remaining stats on Strength, the importance of other skills had increased, making him realize the need for Intelligence.

The Ring of Horus, which boosted his Intelligence by 10, was an incredible treasure.

‘Moreover, with increased Intelligence, the number of Shadow Soldiers will also increase.’

To defeat the sand scorpions, a numbers game was the answer.

He needed to maximize his Shadow Soldiers to have a chance of winning. With the Ring of Horus, his chances would improve.

“Thank you. I’ll use it well.”

Suho quickly put the ring on before Leo Singh could change his mind.

‘Status Window!’

He immediately checked his status window.

[Status Window]

Name: Seong Suho

Level: 26

Class: None

Title: Wolf Slayer

HP: 6,350/6,350

MP: 1,235/1,235

[Stats]

Strength: 54

Health: 35

Agility: 35

Intelligence: 35 (+10)

Senses: 35 (+5)

(Available Stat Points: 0)

‘Jackpot.’

Suho’s eyes widened.

His mana, which was 635, had increased to 1,235.

It had doubled!

This meant the duration of the Giant’s Armor would also double.

Moreover…

[Extractable Shadows: 1/20]

‘Now, I might really have a chance.’

Suho smiled and turned his gaze to where he could sense the sand scorpions.

“Let’s go.”

[There are other monsters on the way.]

Berga, wiggling his short antennae, guided Suho.

Since he needed to increase his soldiers, encountering more monsters on the way was beneficial.

Suho bid farewell to the Asura Guild and plunged into the labyrinth.

* * *

Meanwhile, the Scavenger Guild members, who had fled from the sand scorpions deep into the labyrinth, were struggling.

“Hold them off! More mummies are rising from the sarcophagi!”

The monsters appearing, as if to mock the pyramid, were in the form of mummies.

At first, the Scavenger Guild members had underestimated the mummies, thinking they were slow-moving.

But when they actually engaged them, they realized these were not easy opponents.

Bang!

“Sir Randolph! No matter how many we kill, they keep getting back up!”

“Break their limbs so they can’t get up again!”

“B-but… guh!”

“…!”

Randolph was shocked.

His subordinates, who were fighting the mummies, were one by one turning pale and collapsing.

“Poison?!”

He noticed that every time they hit the mummies, a rotten poison seeped out from the bandages.

‘What’s going on?’

Randolph had experienced many monsters during his time in the Scavenger Guild.

But this was the first time he had encountered such a monster.

‘Monsters that keep resurrecting! Usually, there’s a summoner behind them, but why isn’t there one here?’

Randolph had been searching for a summoner, but he couldn’t find any trace of one.

“Find them! We must find the summoner! They must be hiding somewhere nearby to control these things!”

Randolph was growing desperate.

Swish, swish, swish!

The sound of the sand scorpions approaching from behind was getting louder, and the mummies were surrounding them in front.

“Healer! Haven’t you recovered your mana yet?!”

“I-I’m sorry. Just a little more time….”

“What useless people!”

Bang!

The healers’ faces turned pale as Randolph, enraged, kicked the stomach of a mummy charging at him.

But no matter how desperate they were, depleted mana wouldn’t recover quickly.

“It’s no use! Ignore them and charge through!”

“Sir Randolph! What about the poison?!”

“Just hold your breath and run, you brats!”

Crash!

With Randolph’s relentless charge, the mummies’ bodies flew like bowling pins.

“There’s no point wasting time on these weaklings! Just run!”

The mummies would be eaten by the sand scorpions following behind.

If the mummies’ poison also killed the scorpions, it would be even better.

In the end, the Scavenger Guild members, driven by Randolph’s harsh words, began to run, determined to break through the mummies’ encirclement.

* * *

[Decayed Mummy]

[Decayed Mummy]

Suho and Eshil, who had entered the labyrinth, were also surrounded by numerous mummies.

Eshil, who had been attacking the mummies with her spear, soon realized the problem.

“Suho! These things have no weaknesses! No matter how many we kill, they don’t die!”

[That’s because they are already dead bodies.]

Berga, floating in the air and watching the battle, sneered.

“Moreover, they release poison!”

[That’s because they are decayed bodies.]

Berga, who was explaining in a matter-of-fact tone, seemed particularly annoying.

Berga was flying around the mummies with a look of great interest.

[Young Master, these are not normal monsters.]

“What else could they be?”

[They are artificially created by someone using magic.]

“Magic?”

A name came to mind at the mention of magic.

The Great Mage Candiaru.

[There are not many who can create monsters of this level. Undying soldiers, it almost seems like they are imitating Shadow Soldiers.]

Berga stroked his chin, thinking of the designer who created the leveling system.

[Candiaru, the Great Mage who dreamed of eternal immortality. Perhaps this place was his laboratory. But it seems he ultimately failed and could only create half-formed beings.]

Suho nodded at Berga’s words and looked at the mummies.

[Extractable Shadow Target.]

[Extractable Shadow Target.]

[Extractable Shadow Target.]

….

The messages that had appeared in front of him since encountering these creatures.

That’s right.

These beings existed as the dead.

And the power of the Shadow Overlord was to control the dead.

Suho grinned and stretched out his hand toward the mummies approaching him.

“Rise.”

At that moment, black shadows began to ripple beneath the feet of the approaching mummies.

The shadows wrapped around the white bandages, turning them black.

Swoosh!

[Shadow Extraction Successful.]

[Shadow Extraction Successful.]

[Shadow Extraction Successful.]

….

The mummies, now wrapped in black bandages.

A new name tag appeared above their heads.

[Shadow Mummy Lv.1]

Common Rank

“Huh.”

Eshil’s face showed a moment of disappointment.

All her efforts in the battle so far had been in vain.

It was a matter of synergy.

“Rise.”

Suho continued to walk calmly among the mummies attacking him, stretching out his hand.

[Shadow Extraction Successful.]

“Rise.”

[Shadow Extraction Successful.]

[Kehehehe!]

The mummies, now wrapped in black bandages, began to howl in awe at Suho, who had truly given them the baptism of death.

Their numbers increased, and the howls turned into a grand chorus, like a majestic choir.

Berga smiled sinisterly at the miraculous sight.

[Life born from death… That prophecy is quite pleasing.]