Solo Leveling - Chapter 28

Chapter 28

I Alone Level-up: Chapter 28

Jinwoo’s heart began to race .  It was because the size of the box was familiar to him .  He quickly unwrapped the box and opened it,

‘It is!’

His eyes opened wide .  There was a golden key inside of the box .  An Instant Dungeon key that he had been wanting for a long time .  The information box popped up on the key .

ring~

“S-rank?”

His voice was raised .  Of course, there was no guarantee that the rarity of the key indicated the difficulty of the Dungeon, but it would not be an unusual conclusion to have .  After all, the Instant Dungeon he had entered with the E-rank key was as easy as an E-rank Gate’s Dungeon .

What if this key’s Dungeon was S-rank? It would be difficult to clear it even with a team composed of only S-rank Hunters .  The probability of success would be 50% .

Above the B-rank, the difficulty of a Gate increases at a geometric rate .  In the past 10 years since the Gates first started appearing, only a handful of S-rank Gates had opened across the world .

‘And Jejudo[1] was one them…’

After South Korea’s Hunters failed to clear the Dungeon on the island, the S-rank Gate underwent a Dungeon Break, and the island became uninhabitable and was now abandoned by the country .

Jinwoo looked at the key in his hand .

‘This is something that I wanted?’

There was one potential silver lining .  Compared to the first key, which “moved” him into the Dungeon, this key stated that he could “enter” the Dungeon[2] .  Jinwoo concluded that the difference in the wording meant that he could move in and out of the Dungeon . Even if the key disappeared like last time, he still had the return stone in his inventory .  He would not be imprisoned by an invisible wall again .

‘Well, I shouldn’t throw away a rare opportunity like this . ’

He would confirm the Instant Dungeon with his own eyes .

-2 . The Demon Castle-

Jinwoo stood in front of the Daesung Tower .  With exactly hundred floors, the building reached high towards the sky .  Fitting of a skyscraper, even looking up at it from the ground gave a sense of vertigo .

It was currently night, and there was practically no one in the area .  The absence of humans created a gloomy atmosphere .

‘But just in case…’

Jinwoo looked around and lowered the hood over his head tightly .  If someone saw a man disappear into thin air without a Gate in sight, it would surely cause a disturbance .  In the case that he gets caught on the surveillance cameras here and there, a little anonymity would be useful .

As matter of fact, there was someone who was watching Jinwoo .

‘What’s he up to?’

The security guard that was posted in the lobby of the building looked at the shady, hooded man who was loitering in front of the building .  The guard rose from his seat and walked over to take a closer look, then was caught off guard in shock .

“W-what?!”

The hooded man that was walking towards the building suddenly disappeared without a trace .  No matter how long the guard stared at the spot, not even an insect could be found .

“Er… Must’ve been seeing things…”

The man turned to go back inside but then saw something in the corner of his eyes .  He screamed and fell to the ground .

“Ah! What the hell?!”

The hand that was floating in the air disappeared again .

Jinwoo retracted the hand that he was holding out .

‘It’s connected to the outside . ’

Unlike last time, there was no invisible wall blocking his exit .  The key also did not disappear but remained in his pockets . Jinwoo confirmed that he would be able to exit and come back whenever .

‘Alright, the path to retreat is secured…’

As he did not know if the rarity of the key corresponded to the difficulty, Jinwoo was being a lot more careful than usual .  He took off his hood and turned around .

“…”

It was a scenery that invited despair .

Moments ago, when he took few steps towards the Daesung Tower, the world before his eyes changed in an instant .

Could this even be called a Dungeon?

In front of him was an entirely new world .

In place of the Daesung Tower stood a massive tower .

‘Can’t tell if it’s a castle or a tower . ’

The tower that stretched towards the sky was surrounded by a crimson flame .  Instead of being on fire, it was more like the tower was holding the fire back .

“A tower on fire…”

This felt like a more fitting description of the place than a Demon Castle .

Jinwoo took steps toward the tower .

flare!

As he got closer, the sound of the fire roaring became louder .

‘Could I even get inside?’

Even if he could, there was another problem .  The last Instant Dungeon used the subway station as the template for its levels .  If this one used Daesung Tower as its, Jinwoo would have to clear a hundred different levels of monsters .  He could not imagine just how long that would take .

‘Hmm?’

He stopped, feeling a powerful presence near the tower’s gate .  Taking a closer look, he saw a black beast, the size of a bull, rolled up on the ground sleeping .  Jinwoo took out the Casaka’s Poisoned Fang .

ring~

Although its attack power wasn’t that high, its special effects had already proved themselves in battle .

‘It’d be nice if I could just kill after paralyzing it . ’

Jinwoo slowly approached the beast, quieting his footsteps as best as he could .  But he could not hide from the monster’s sense of smell . The beast soon started to rise, sniffing the air .

‘Shit . ’

Jinwoo clicked his tongue .  The beast’s form, standing up fully, raised three separate heads towards Jinwoo .

‘Gatekeeper of Hell, Cerberus’

A vicious looking hound with three heads .  Its heads were adorned by its name in red letters .  This meant the monster’s level was high .

‘If it’s red, does it mean it’s the same as the centipedes from the penalty zone?’

He recalled running for his life from the centipedes .  After all, he was just level 1 back then .

‘I’m different now . ’

In a short period, Jinwoo had experienced an explosive growth .  The monster before him was definitely strong, but it did not give off a feeling of overwhelming pressure .  This was ascertained with Jinwoo’s sense stat .

He had not raised the attribute thoughtlessly .  Valuable points were invested into it so that it could help him determine whether to fight or run from an enemy .

Grrrrrl!

The Cerberus registered an enemy and bared its teeth .  The beast’s tail caught Jinwoo’s eyes momentarily . The long, whip-like tail decorated its tip with powerful flames .

‘Fangs and tail . The thing’s attack pattern will have at minimum two moves . ’

Jinwoo gulped .  The Cerberus slowly closed the gap between the two, then stopped right before the Hunter and stared .

‘Is it looking for an openi-’

The Cerberus suddenly leaped towards him .

Woof!

Jinwoo was caught off guard .

‘It’s fast!’

Jinwoo quickly slid underneath the Cerberus’ body and dodged its bite .  Landing on the ground, Cerberus immediately turned around and bared its teeth across all three heads .

Bark! Bark Bark!

The fangs between its jaws shone in the light .

ring~

Jinwoo felt his body becoming lighter .

‘I can feel it!’

The Cerberus charged at Jinwoo .  Jinwoo rapidly took backward steps, trying to distance himself from the Cerberus’ advances, and repeatedly blocked its bites with his dagger .

slash, slash, slaaash, slash!

clang! clang clang! clang!

The sound of the metal clashing against the fangs rang loudly .  Although he was swinging the dagger with an incredible speed, it was all he could do to block the Cerberus’ attacks .

‘I’m being pushed back even with the title buff!’

The Cerberus’ agility had surpassed his expectations .  Jinwoo tried to turn the tide of the battle with a skill .

Jinwoo was shocked .

‘It didn’t work?’

The Cerberus’ whipped its tail at Jinwoo .

snap!

Jinwoo reflexively lowered his head to dodge, but this stopped his legs temporarily .  The Cerberus did not miss the opportunity; one of its heads bit down on Jinwoo’s left shoulder .

“Uwaaaaak!”

Jinwoo stabbed its forehead with all his strength .

stab!

whimper!

The Cerberus yelped and backed away .  Thankfully, Jinwoo managed to drive it off before the other heads could also bite down, but the damage was done to his left shoulder .  His left arm hung limp at his sides, the joints mangled . The beast’s jaws had a terrifying bite .

Jinwoo furrowed his brows .  Compared to the small damage he had inflicted on the Cerberus, his own injury was far greater .

‘If only paralysis or bleeding had stuck…’

Jinwoo glared at Cerberus with disappointment .

Suddenly, the beast’s eyes started turning red .

‘Huh?’

grrrrrl

A frightening pressure washed over Jinwoo .

‘What?’

Jinwoo cried out in frustration,

“What?!”

A magic beast, no, a monster using a skill?!

The Cerberus kicked the ground and charged .

‘Shit!’

Jinwoo could not react in time; his swinging dagger bounced uselessly off the beast’s head .  All three heads bit down on Jinwoo .

crack!

“Argh!”

Jinwoo clenched his teeth .  The beast had simultaneously clamped down on Jinwoo’s neck, sides and thigh .  It continued its momentum and slammed Jinwoo into the castle’s gates .

slam!

Jinwoo’s health plummeted to the ground .

“Cough!”

ring~

Thanks to the Unyielding Spirit and his physical damage reduction, Jinwoo managed to avoid an instant death .

“Kuh…”

His eyes shot open .

Translator’s Notes:

[1]: “Jejudo” (제주도): An island province of South Korea .  Considered the “Hawaii” of South Korea, it is a popular destination for tourists (both domestic and foreign) and honeymoons .

[2]: Sorry, in my attempt to be concise in the translation of the first key, I didn’t really emphasize the difference between “moved into” and “enter” .

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