Solo Leveling - Chapter 46

Chapter 46

I Alone Level-up: Chapter 46

gulp

Even after all of his progress, Jinwoo could not help but be wary of what was to come .  Still, his excitement in the anticipation of growth eclipsed his fear .

A moment ago, while he was looking for a suitable spot to start the quest, Jinwoo had used his phone to look through various video game wikis on classes .

[New skill . ]

[Growth benefits . ]

[Class-specific weapons . ]

[Class-only quests]

[ . . . Etc]

One thing was common across different video games: class advancement had many great benefits and rewards .

‘And it became possible for me at level forty . ’

Of course, not everything he found was positive .  There were forum posts here and there complaining:

[I’m worried that I picked the wrong class . ]

[F***, if I knew, I would’ve picked a different class . ]

[I messed up on my build . I think I’m done with this game . ]

[Do I have to delete my character?]

. . . Well, they were still talking about video games .

Jinwoo wasn’t that worried about what class he would pick .  He had solely used a dagger up until now, and even his skills were all related to an assassin class .

‘Dagger skills and something like ‘Stealth’ . ’

On top of that, his attributes were largely focused on strength and agility .  Because of this, Jinwoo couldn’t think of obtaining a class other than Assassin .  Thinking about the idea, Jinwoo summoned Casaka’s Poisoned Fang from his inventory .

shooo-

The dagger’s grip felt perfect in his hand .  He nodded to himself .

‘Yep, this is what I’m used to . ’

With the dagger in hand, Jinwoo moved his gaze towards the quest screen .

‘Well then…’

He began planning for as many possibilities as possible .  After taking a moment to prepare his heart, Jinwoo replied to the message .

‘Accept . ’

The moment he spoke the word in his mind, a messaged followed .

ring~

‘A Dungeon… will be created?’

Before he could fully grasp the meaning of the message, a change occurred in the space in front of him .

wooooong-

A tiny black hole appeared before his eyes, but that was just the start .

woo wooooong-

The hole that was as small as a bean grew to a size of a coin, then a volleyball, then finally became large enough for a man to enter .

‘This is…?’

Jinwoo’s eyes were wide open .  After accepting the quest, he had expected another information screen with the quest’s information would follow but not this…

A Gate had formed before his eyes .

‘To think that it would even make a Gate…’

The phenomenon in front of him was exactly the same as the Gates that appeared in the world .  Only difference was that it was a bit smaller than the one he had seen . The System’s message continued, beckoning him in .

‘Let’s be calm . ’

Jinwoo calmed his heart .

Yes .

If he thought about it, whether he entered using a key or through a Gate, a Dungeon would be waiting on the other side .  He was just surprised at the creation of an artificial Gate in front of his eyes . While he had entered many Gates before, he had never seen one being created .  When he reached that line of thought, an idea appeared in his head,

‘Wait… Could other Hunters enter this Gate?’

Well, there was no time to experiment .  There weren’t any other Hunters in the vicinity, nor did he know of any Hunters that would come running if . . he . . . called… .

Jinwoo erased Yoo Jinho’s face from his mind and shook his head .

‘What would I do if something went wrong . ’

The System’s message blinked as if reminding him,

ring~

Jinwoo was snapped back to reality by the electronic tone .  He slapped his cheeks to focus .

‘Now’s not the time to get distracted . ’

Success here would mean obtaining a class and other rewards .  He dreaded what failure would entail . He had to be focused .

“Whew-”

After a deep breath, Jinwoo held Casaka’s Poisoned Fang in a reverse grip and entered the Gate .

‘Huh?’

To be honest, he had entered the Gate with a great anticipation .  Contrary to his expectations, there was not much to be surprised at inside .  It was just a simple cave Dungeon .

“It’s the same as always…?”

He had heard that high-level Dungeons would connect to different types of interiors and expected something similar but was disappointed .  A special message did appear, however,

ring~

Jinwoo put away the dagger after confirming that there were no magic beasts around .

‘ . . . Looks like this won’t be easy . ’

Since this was a special Dungeon for class advancement, it seemed that there were a few conditions .  The fact that he could not heal himself through potions or level-ups was particularly troubling .

‘That means even small damage will accumulate over time . ’

An injury would spell the end here .  Without means of recovery, he would have to be cautious of every move he made .

‘I really, really have to be focused . ’

Jinwoo closed the message box .  As he always did, he checked the exit of the Dungeon .

The moment he placed his hand on the Gate, that message appeared .  He put his back into it, but the exit did not budge .

“ . . . ”

He retracted his hand .

‘So the path to retreat is blocked . ’

He had yet to figure out the difficulty of the Dungeon .  Additionally, he could not recover his health here . Finally, there was no leaving until he was finished .

The risk this time was very high .  Even the bravest of Hunters would hesitate before entering with such conditions .

‘But a high risk doesn’t necessary mean that it’s bad . ’

High risk equaled high rewards .  He had learned as much from his experiences .  If all these conditions made the quest harder, perhaps an equally great reward waited at the end .

Well, there was only one way to find out .

‘Time to go . ’

Jinwoo began to walk deeper into the cave .  He could not see the end of the tunnel and at the same time did not see or sense any magic beasts .

‘Wait, since this is the System’s territory, should it be “monsters” and not “magic beasts”?’

Eh, in the end, they were both dangerous beings .

There was one difference in this place compared to the normal cave Dungeons .  The cave’s walls were decorated with torches, placed evenly across the path .

‘Torches instead of glowing rocks . Hmm . . . ’

The torches were not an effective source of light .  Even if there were many of them, it was not enough to completely illuminate the dark tunnel .  As such, the flickering light produced many shadows here and there . The combination of the shadows and the silence produced a very dreary atmosphere compared to a normal Dungeon .

‘Well, I don’t have any problems seeing . ’

What bothered him was the impact it had on his mood .

Jinwoo went over and removed the closest torch from the wall .  The way forward became slightly brighter .

‘This is better . ’

Jinwoo smiled in satisfaction .  He took a brief look behind him, then started forward again, torch in hand .

How long did he walk in this straight path?

After some time, he finally came across a turn .  Around the corner, he felt several presences .

‘Finally . ’

He carefully dropped the torch on the ground .

shooo-

In the place of the torch, his right hand now held a dagger .  He briefly considered using ‘Stealth’ to gain a preemptive advantage but decided to conserve his mana; potions could not be used after all .  If he carelessly spent his mana, he might not be able to use a skill in a pivotal moment .

‘ . . . They’re coming this way . ’

Jinwoo hugged the wall with his back, then waited for the enemies to come around the corner .

clang, clang

A metallic sound rang while they were walking towards him .  The sound came closer and closer .

clang, clang

At the rambunctious sound, Jinwoo wondered,

‘Are they holding some sort of a chain weapon?’

He was curious but did not worry .  He would find out in a moment .

‘5, 4, 3 . ’

He held his dagger in a reverse grip and held his breath .  He did not want the sound of his breathing to be heard .

‘2, 1 . ’

clang, clang .

Finally, their shadows appeared around the corner .

‘ . . . 0 . ’

As Jinwoo finished counting down, the thing showed itself .  Jinwoo immediately went for its neck .

Clang!

The sound of metal striking metal rang loudly .  His dagger did not pierce the target .

‘Armor?’

Jinwoo was surprised .  Confirming the identity of his enemy, he quickly backed way .

“Human?”

It was a knight equipped with a full set of armor .  Even its face was covered by a helmet . Just in case, Jinwoo called toward it,

“Oy!”

The knight reacted by charging toward Jinwoo .

clang, clang, clang!

The knight vigorously used his shoulders to try and tackle Jinwoo, but the Hunter easily twisted his body to dodge the attack .  The knight could not stop its momentum and ran forward for a bit before stopping .

‘Not human?’

After expanding his sense a bit more, Jinwoo was sure .  The knight did not have a heartbeat . It was a magic beast, or rather, a monster that he had never seen before .  To think that there’d be a monster covered from head to toe in armor .

‘So…’

It was almost as if he was fighting another human .  

shiing!

The knight turned around and unsheathe the sword at its side .  As Jinwoo thought, it had no intention of letting him leave alive .  Confirming each other’s hostility, Jinwoo’s eyes became a level sharper .

‘Sprint!’

The first to strike would be the victor!

Before the knight could reach him, Jinwoo entered its range first .

slash!

The Hunter dodged its panicked swing and stabbed its armor here and there .

Clang! Clang!

But he could not do any damage .

‘The armor’s too thick . ’

Not only that, it could almost be described as slippery .  His dagger helplessly slid off and was deflected everytime he struck the armor .  The knight swung its sword in a horizontal line .

slash!

Jinwoo lowered his head to dodge .  The blade of the sword passed just inches above his head .  As its attack was powerful, the opening created after missing was equally huge .  Jinwoo did not miss the opportunity . Still in melee range, Jinwoo focused all of his power into his dagger .

‘Vital Stab!’

Crack!

The dagger pierced through the armor .

‘Did it work?’

However, as if it didn’t do any damage, the knight ignored the dagger sticking out of its side and brought down the sword in a vertical line .

Slash!

Jinwoo threw his body backwards .

Clang!

Sparks flew from the ground the sword struck .

“ . . . ”

Jinwoo straightened himself after taking few steps back .  Casaka’s Poisoned Fang was still stuck to the knight’s side .

Che .

Jinwoo clicked his tongue .

‘He’s not exactly strong . ’

It was true .  Because of its armor, the knight was slow .  Not only that, its attack pattern was rather simple .  The primary obstacle was its tough resistance to bladed weapons .

Jinwoo rolled up his sleeves .

‘If it’s a tough armor a blade can’t get through, I’ve already got some experience . ’

His maintained his composure .  He recalled the scales of a boss that effortlessly broke a magic power infused steel sword .  He remembered how he took down that giant snake .

‘Compared to Casaka, this bastard’s nothing…’

Thinking of the first boss he ever won against, Jinwoo smiled in nostalgia .

clang, clang, clang!

The knight, confident in its armor, charged at Jinwoo once more .

‘As expected, it’s not that smart . ’

Jinwoo easily dodged the knight’s shoulder tackle and maneuvered behind its back and put it in a headlock .  

craaack!

Of course, its neck was also armored; it probably would not be choked just by this .

craaaaaack!

Jinwoo’s arms flexed and showed their veins .  He was not trying to choke the knight . He clenched his teeth, and his eyes flared open .

CRACK!
 

With a sickening sound, the helmet was removed .  This was the power of the strength stat that had reached above 100 .  Having lost its head, the knight knelt to the ground .

Clang!

The welcoming sight of a message signaled the end of the fight .  While there was a light indicating a drop coming from the knight’s corpse, Jinwoo was focused on something else .  

‘What the, it’s empty?’

There was no head in the helmet he was holding .  He also looked inside the kneeling armor but found it just as empty .

‘Then was I fighting with a moving armor?’

As he reached that conclusion, two more knights appeared around the corner .  It appeared that they had finally realized that there was a fight going on .

clang, clang .

Having discovered Jinwoo, the two knights took out their swords in unison .

shiing-

shiing-

Jinwoo threw aside the helmet and stretched his neck and shoulders .  He knew the method of defeating them now .

‘Shall we begin?’

clang, clang, clang, clang!

Jinwoo smiled at the approaching knights .

The quest was going smoothly so far .

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