Académique Documents
Professionnel Documents
Culture Documents
‘Of course!’
Jinwoo clenched his fists. The path to victory of this battle was a puzzle. And the last piece of
that puzzle just fell into place. The black knight that rose from Kim Cheol’s shadow was much
bigger and thicker than his base. One hand wielded a giant hammer. The other hand held a
shield the size of an adult. The knight gave off an incredible sense of danger.
‘Man, I know Kim Cheol was a musclehead, but this thing is…’
Even in the tense situation, Jinwoo could not help but be amazed.
Jinwoo took a quick glance at side. Ygritte was being pushed back by the boss; his
regeneration was the only thing keeping him in the fray.
slash!
Name.
Should he just use the man’s name? Jinwoo shook his head. No, it was rather distasteful to use
the human being’s name on his undead form.
He decided on the name. The moment he made his decision, the newly born shadow earned its
name.
Iron (Lv. 1)
Knight Grade
Knight grade! It was the same as Ygritte, but now was not the time to celebrate.
“Iron!”
Its giant body was filled with power, but there was no way that this lumbering thing was going to
face that nimble boss. However, Iron exceeded Jinwoo’s expectations. The giant knight thrust
out his chest and roared,
WAAAAAAH-!
‘What?’
ring~
“A taunt skill!”
Kim Cheol was an A-rank Tanker. As expected, he maintained a powerful aggro management
skill, and Iron, his shadow, perfectly imitated that skill. The boss’s head sharply turned to the
giant knight. Leaving behind Ygritte, who it could’ve easily finished, the boss ran towards Iron
as if possessed by a ghost. Iron followed up with ‘Strengthen’ and endured the boss’s attacks.
‘Good job!’
Jinwoo nodded in approvement. Meanwhile, Ygritte’s arm regenerated. Black smoke seeped
from the wound then reformed into the knight’s arm. The boss was still focused on Iron. Jinwoo
and Ygritte began their combination attack.
‘...’
Park Heejin was at a complete loss for words. The scene unfolding before her was outside of
reality. She lost the strength to be even curious at this point. At her side, Han Songyi asked a
question with a tiny voice,
“Unni…”
“Huh? Hmm?”
The girl’s voice filled with fear was shaking. Park Heejin’s response was a little curt,
“...If that was the case, do you think I would’ve gotten my license?”
If this was a dream, it was definitely a nightmare. Park Heejin could only watch the magic
beasts fighting “something” clad in pitch black with an open mouth. At the same time, a worry
appeared in her mind,
As survivors, they’ll be thoroughly interviewed and investigated. How would she explain all of
this? Thinking about the things Sung Jinwoo had shown them in this place, she could not
imagine how the brass will react. She voiced all of this to her fellow Hunters.
Trembling while sitting on the ground, Yoon Gijoong opened his mouth with difficulty,
“The fact that we’re worrying about what we’ll do “once we get out”... Isn’t that amazing?”
The party members nodded in unison.
They were in a high-level Dungeon, a Red Gate on top of that. The moment they were thrown
aside by Kim Cheol, they were only dreading their deaths. But now, they were actually worrying
about the outside as if leaving here alive was guaranteed. This was all thanks to one man.
Park Heejin turned her gaze to Jinwoo,
Stab!
Lately, because his opponents had become a lot stronger, Casaka’s Poisoned Fang’s special
effects did not take most of the time. Still, leaving a wound was good enough.
‘Good!’
As more and more wounds appeared on its body, the boss’s movements began to slow down.
[“Kwaak!”]
The smile had long since disappeared from the ice elf’s face. It had taken on Jinwoo, Ygritte
and Iron on its own and was now panting.
“Now!”
At Jinwoo’s signal, both Jinwoo and Ygritte fell back. The boss’s eyes widened,
BANG!
KABOOM!
BOOM!
[“COUGH!”] [3]
For the first time, the boss betrayed signs of its pain. The ice elf twisted his body and Iron’s
arms were blown off.
crack!
[“KWAAAAK!”] [4]
‘Even with that much damage, he’s still able to pull out this much power!’
It was truly the boss of a high-level Dungeon. However, the scales of the battle had already
tipped towards Jinwoo.
‘Dagger Throw!’
Just like how he took care of that arrogant White Walker, Knight Killer flew towards the boss.
Jinwoo even used the ‘Ruler’s Hands’ to supplement its speed.
woosh-!
Realizing it could not dodge, the boss deflected the dagger with its tanto.
Crack!
As a testament to the Knight Killer’s speed, a large crack appeared in the blocking tanto.
Having closed the gap to the boss using ‘Stealth’ and ‘Sprint’, Jinwoo stabbed the ice elf’s ribs
with Casaka’s Poisoned Fang.
Stab!
[“COUGH!” ]
Even still, the ice elf grabbed Jinwoo’s wrist. Its eyes screamed that it would not die without
leaving a mark.
[“KAAAAH!”]
The boss raised its tanto over Jinwoo’s head. Jinwoo sneered brightly in its face.
CRASH!
With a sickening crunch, the boss’s head was slammed into the snow. Behind it was Iron with
his giant hammer, his arms already regenerated. The giant knight raised his hammer again and
brought it down.
CRASH!
Ygritte was also preparing to attack but then put away his sword. Jinwoo also returned his
daggers to the inventory.
ring~
CRASH!
You’ve defeated the boss of the Dungeon.
You’ve leveled up!
CRASH!
You’ve leveled up!
CRASH!
Jinwoo sighed in relief. It was a difficult fight. He was about to collect his breath but then
noticed Iron.
Jinwoo quickly stopped the newest member of his army. Iron was about to bring down his
hammer again and stopped. Just like his base, it seemed like the giant knight was… slow in
more ways than one.
Jinwoo smiled widely again. His reward after a difficult fight was waiting beneath his feet.
“Arise.”
The faces of the four men guarding the area were dark. Unable to take it any longer, Hyun
Gicheol spoke up,
“We’ll keep watch here, why don’t you turn in for the night, Guildmaster?”
“The members of my Guild are in there. How could I rest in a time like this?”
Baek Yoonho was determined. As a master of the Guild and as an S-rank Hunter, he could not
leave this spot. Suddenly, Ahn Sangmin shouted in surprise,
The four men all ran to the Gate. Unable to hide his excitement, Baek Yoonho looked for Kim
Cheol’s face among the survivors. However, even after everyone had exited the Gate, he could
not find Kim Cheol.
Even Joo Sungchan, who told everyone to believe in Kim Cheol, lost his confident attitude and
put on a confused expression.
Seeing Jinwoo follow Han Songyi out of the Gate, a smile bloomed on Ahn Sangmin’s face.
‘As I thought!’
Joo Sungchan and Ahn Sangmin’s moods had completely flipped from hours ago. However,
the smile quickly disappeared from Ahn Sangmin’s face. After the five Hunters, including Sung
Jinwoo, came out of the Gate, the Gate quickly disappeared into oblivion.
With a defeated face, Jinwoo nodded. Hyun Gicheol, who had asked the question, froze.
With tears forming in his eyes, Hyun Gicheol began to cross off the names of the deceased in
the party list. It was a sad job, but someone had to do it. Baek Yoonho was dumbfounded,
‘Only the low-rankers came back? Not even the A-ranker and only one B-ranker?’
It was impossible. Just what happened in there?
Jinwoo was about to leave the scene of the incident with Han Songyi when Baek Yoonho
grabbed his wrist.
woosh!
Jinwoo threw aside the S-ranker’s grip, and Baek Yoonho’s eyes turned sharp.
“I’m a little tired right now. If you have anything to ask, talk to your Guild members.”
Baek Yoonho could not take it anymore. He revealed his identity to Jinwoo,
“So what?”
At Jinwoo’s cold reply, Baek Yoonho’s irises flickered and turned into that of a magic beast’s.
They were an inhuman, beastly eyes.
“We’ve just lost nine Guild members because of this incident. As the Guildmaster, I have the
right to ask you some questions.”
An order.
In a way, a threat.
No matter what, Baek Yoonho had no intentions of letting Jinwoo leave that easily. But
suddenly, Jinwoo flared his eyes. He was not pushed back in any way by the S-ranker’s
genuine hostility.
“And I just saved three of your Guild members. If you’re their leader, shouldn’t you be thanking
me before anything else?”
At the stifling pressure the E-rank Hunter was giving off, the S-rank Hunter retracted his hostility.
The man was right. Baek Yoonho had no room to argue.
“...I apologize.”
“Okay.”
The student carefully followed after Jinwoo while making glances at Baek Yoonho. Soon, the
pair got in the van they had arrived in and left the scene of the incident.
His thoughts in chaos, Baek Yoonho quickly ran toward the sole high-ranker of the survivors.
The woman was warming her body with some tea provided by Hyun Gicheol and raised her
head.
Their party had overcome all odds and should’ve left the Gate happily with their lives, so why
was Jinwoo filled with so much anger? Park Heejin shook her head,
“I’m not sure… He took down the boss and yelled something three times in front of the corpse…
Then he got really mad after that…”
Park Heejin looked over to Go Myunghwan and Yoon Gijoong. The two men nodded in unison.
Baek Yoonho uttered while staring off into the distance where Jinwoo had disappeared off to.
Ahn Sangmin approached his boss as if Jinwoo’s bad mood was his fault,
“I apologize, Guildmaster. I’m sure he was just tired after everything. In my eyes, he’s not a bad
person.”
“Sir?”
“S-sir?”
Ahn Sangmin could not hide his embarrassment. But his embarrassment paled in comparison
to Baek Yoonho’s.
‘Against me…’
The S-ranker recalled meeting Jinwoo’s eyes moments ago and gulped.
gulp
If they had fought just now, Baek Yoonho was sure that he would have to be prepared to lose
an arm.
Sung Jinwoo.
“From now on, the full support of the Guild is at your disposal. You must bring that man into our
fold.”
Translator’s Notes:
[1]: It’s straight up noted in the context but “Cheol” (철) means “Iron/Metal”.
[2]: “Taunting Shout” (도발의 함성): “provoke/taunt” 도발 + “cry/shout/roar/yell” 함성
[3]: “coughing in the language of the magic beasts” :P
[4]: “screaming in the language of the magic beasts” :P