Chapter 78

Alone Leveling: Ragnarok Chapter 77

"Huh."

As Soo-ho stopped his attack, a heavy silence fell.

The moment the life of Im Myung-sung, who had been so stubbornly persistent, was cut off, the surrounding contaminated ghouls collapsed like marionettes with their strings cut.

The contaminated wasps that had filled the ominous sky also vanished.

'What in the world...'

Baek Mi-ho, who had rushed over to help Soo-ho, stood there, staring at Soo-ho in a daze.

An unbelievable scene.

No matter how much they had fought together, a C-rank Hunter had just overpowered an A-rank Villain.

'So, that person really is...'

Baek Mi-ho was making her own guesses about Soo-ho's true identity.

Meanwhile, amidst this suffocating silence, Soo-ho himself was busy reading the system messages that were flooding in.

Ding. Ding. Ding.

[You have defeated the Queen's Lancer.]

[Your level has increased!]

[Your level has increased!]

[Your level has increased!]

'Wow.'

To rise three levels at once, it was worth the effort.

Now Soo-ho's level was 32.

But surprisingly, the messages didn't end there.

Ding.

[The player has reached the required level.]

[You have met the completion conditions for the 'Secret Quest: Qualifications of a Legion Leader'.]

[You have unread messages.]

'Required level? Qualifications of a Legion Leader?'

Soo-ho, who was about to check the message, suddenly swayed.

Rumble!

"!"

The ground began to shake as if it were about to collapse.

No, the entire space itself was collapsing.

[Young Lord! You must leave this place immediately!]

Berga urgently urged Soo-ho.

Crack! Crack!

The sky was also tearing apart at that moment.

[If you are not quick, you may be trapped here forever!]

Im Myung-sung had sacrificed countless lives to forcibly bring this incomplete dungeon, the sanctuary of the insects, to Earth.

Unbeknownst to him, he was fulfilling the role of a high priest that the queen bee Arsha had wanted from him.

However, with Im Myung-sung's death, the force that had kept the sanctuary in place disappeared, and it was now returning to the dimensional gap from which it had come.

"Let's get out of here."

Soo-ho put off checking the messages and looked at Baek Mi-ho and Im Tae-gyu.

At his words, Im Tae-gyu, who had been staring intently at Im Myung-sung's dead body, closed his eyes tightly and turned around.

He then glanced at Soo-ho with a complicated look and spoke.

"I have a lot of questions, but let's talk after we get out of here."

"Me too."

Baek Mi-ho also had a lot to say.

Thus, the three of them hurriedly escaped from the sanctuary of the insects.

Just before leaving the sanctuary, Soo-ho suddenly stopped and glanced back.

'It's a shame to leave behind something I worked so hard to get.'

He then extended his hand toward Im Myung-sung's body, which lay there alone.

'Power of the Dominator.'

Whoosh.

An invisible hand lifted the arm Soo-ho had cut off from Im Myung-sung.

It was already a grotesque shape, no longer resembling a human arm.

The arm of the Lancer, with a long spear instead of a hand, was drawn to Soo-ho like a magnet.

Afterward, Soo-ho smiled meaningfully and escaped from the sanctuary.

* * *

The aftermath was handled swiftly.

The moment Im Myung-sung, the mastermind, died.

All the ghouls causing chaos in the city stopped moving, and the entire disaster came to an abrupt end.

This was the result of the contaminated royal jelly that had been infiltrating their bodies losing its power.

Afterward, Im Tae-gyu immediately called a detox specialist healer for treatment and managed to escape the poisoning.

"Phew. I almost died this time. Maybe I should hire a geomancy expert. From now on, my secretary must be a detox specialist healer."

Im Tae-gyu, with a drained expression, repeatedly made this resolution.

Meanwhile, Baek Mi-ho mobilized all the resources of the White Tiger Guild to secure the casualties and missing persons.

On the other hand, the Death Guild was in no position to do so.

Although the incident was somehow resolved, the Death Guild had lost too much in this affair.

Fortunately, most of the elite members above B-rank were still alive, but the loss of most of the C-rank and below Hunters was a significant blow.

Of course, new members could be recruited, but...

'Who would want to join our guild now? I'm worried that even the existing members might leave. Sigh.'

Im Tae-gyu lifted his head and stared blankly at the sky where Im Myung-sung's hive had existed.

For some reason, he had the illusion of seeing Im Myung-sung, who was dead, raising his middle finger at him from the sky.

'You bastard.'

This is why his mother always told him to make good friends.

"Ah, right. Secretary Oh!"

Im Tae-gyu suddenly remembered Secretary Oh, who had betrayed him and stabbed him with a poisoned needle, and looked around urgently.

But no matter how much he searched, Secretary Oh was nowhere to be found.

'This leaves a bad taste in my mouth.'

He felt strange.

Secretary Oh was a secretary he had personally hired.

He was a diligent and capable person.

When did he become a traitor?

Or, was he even human to begin with?

* * *

At that moment.

'Secretary Oh' was standing in the crowd, watching everything with a blank expression.

The moment he turned to leave the scene.

Buzz.

The sound of bees' wings filled the air, and his face suddenly changed into that of Queen Bee Arsha.

However, Arsha's expression looked even more disheartened than Im Tae-gyu's.

"So meaningless."

The high priest was dead, and the ritual had failed.

All the plans she had prepared over time had crumbled in a single day.

"The plan was perfect."

Indeed.

Looking back, her plan was flawless.

Hiding in the shadows and building a base.

Gradually increasing the number of worker bees.

Devoting herself to creating a high priest.

Offering sacrifices to perform the ritual for the deceased Quereza.

Although the high priest had run away at one point, it was not a significant issue.

In fact, it had even served as a catalyst to accelerate her plans.

The only flaw was...

'Letting that human slip away.'

Arsha fixed her gaze on Soo-ho, who was visible in the distance.

She had felt a sense of foreboding from the moment she first saw him.

She should have killed him somehow, but instead, her worker bees were all taken by him.

Revenge... was not an option now, as she was struggling to survive.

"Is this the power of a successor?"

A strong desire filled Arsha's eyes as she looked at Soo-ho.

Yes, let's admit it.

From the moment she became involved with that human, she had no chance of winning.

That human is...

"The successor of Lakan."

Indeed, he was worthy of being the successor to the King of Beasts, the Lord of Fangs.

With her current strength, which was not yet at the level of a Lord, it was natural that she could not match him.

That's why she wanted it even more.

"If I become a Lord, I will have such power."

Fortunately, the succession of the insect Lord did not occur today.

She had confirmed this crucial fact with her own eyes.

"I will withdraw for today, King of Beasts, Crow."

But someday, she would...

Swallowing her words, Arsha's body dispersed on the spot.

* * *

When Soo-ho returned home, he held two business cards in his hand.

The owners of these cards were Baek Mi-ho and Im Tae-gyu.

He had received the business cards of the president and vice president of a large guild, which any Korean Hunter would desperately want to join.

- I'm busy today, so I'll just send you off!

- Contact me tomorrow! Definitely!

Despite the chaos of dealing with the aftermath and the barrage of questions from the reporters, they had forced Soo-ho to take their business cards.

They even took Soo-ho's phone number, just to be safe.

"It feels like I was scouted on the street."

[Not an inaccurate feeling.]

Squish!

Berga, with an incredibly proud expression, responded to Soo-ho's comment.

[If one's appearance is too outstanding, they get phone numbers on the street. Similarly, Young Lord, your combat skills are also outstanding! Heh. When did you become so excellent...]

"Overdoing it."

Leaving Berga, who was shedding tears of emotion, Soo-ho casually threw the business cards on his desk.

'Joining a large guild isn't bad.'

There was a reason people talked about large corporations.

Even without a high salary, the benefits of a large guild were truly immense.

They lent expensive, high-quality equipment based on rank and experience.

They had wide and sturdy training grounds where one could freely release their mana without causing damage.

Other Hunters, unlike Soo-ho, who grew through leveling up, needed even more training to efficiently and strategically use their given powers.

"To use their given powers more efficiently and strategically."

"But I already have all of that."

That was the problem.

Good weapons? Soo-ho had the shop window.

He could buy any equipment he wanted, as long as he had the gold.

A wide training ground?

Was there another Hunter who had a personal training ground as large and wide as Soo-ho's?

Soo-ho immediately inserted a key into his shadow.

[Are you going in right now?]

"Yeah. I need to check something."

Click.

[Do you want to enter the Shadow Dungeon?]

(Y/N)

"I'm going in."

[Entering the Shadow Dungeon.]

Whoosh!

In an instant, Soo-ho's vision turned black and white.

He was now standing in the Shadow Dungeon's Body Strengthening Training Ground, the Pyramid of Ammut.

Ammut, who had been waiting for Soo-ho, rose with a wicked smile.

[You finally came. Let's start the training.]

Roar!

"Wait! Not yet!"

Soo-ho urgently stopped Ammut, who was about to start the Body Strengthening training as soon as he saw Soo-ho.

Ammut, who had been about to materialize, frowned.

[Do you have something else to do?]

"Yeah. I do. Something important."

Soo-ho let out a sigh of relief and checked the message that had been hovering in front of his eyes.

[You have met the completion conditions for the 'Secret Quest: Qualifications of a Legion Leader'.]

[You have unread messages.]

Soo-ho took a deep breath and immediately checked the message.

[Secret Quest: Qualifications of a Legion Leader]

The player has reached the required level and proven their worth.

Become a Shadow Legion Leader and raise your own army.

"Could this be..."

Soo-ho's eyes widened.

And at that moment.

Whoosh!

The shadows under Soo-ho's feet began to boil and emit a silent scream.

The sound was majestic, like the war songs of brave soldiers heading to the battlefield, or eerie, like a grand requiem.

Ding.

[You have learned the skill: Shadow Storage.]

"Shadow Storage?"

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