Jinwoo picked up a stone from the ground . It also disappeared from sight .
‘What about this?’
He went and put his hand on the shoulder of a dead hobgoblin, but it did not become invisible . Bit by bit, he was beginning to understand the limits of the skill . It seemed that it applied to something that he was wearing and something that he could hold in his hands . Suddenly,
You are out of mana . ‘Stealth’ will be cancelled .
“What?”
The ‘Stealth’ skill had been cancelled .
‘It’s only been a few seconds, but my mana is already gone?’
He had been trying to get used to the invisible form, testing out its effects here and there . Jinwoo opened up the skill listing with a dumbfounded expression .
Skills
Passive Skills
-(Unknown) (Lv . Max)
-Unyielding Spirit (Lv . 1)
Active Skills
-Sprint (Lv . 1)
-Bloodlust (Lv . 1)
-Stealth (Lv . 1)
What he wanted was the ‘Stealth’ information . The words appeared in the air before him .
ring~!
Stealth (Lv . 1)
Active Skill
Mana Cost: 200 (+10/Second)
Activate to disappear (sight, sound, smell)
Costs 10 mana per second to maintain .
“Become invisible and hide the traces of your existence . ”
The activation cost is 200 and it uses up 10 mana per second?
“Sigh…”
No wonder his mana ran out so fast .
MP: 7 / 548
His remaining 7 mana seemed to laugh at him .
‘It really hit rock bottom . ’
With his current mana, he could maintain ‘Stealth’ for a little under 35 seconds . However, if he factored in other skills into calculation, it would be far less than that .
‘Now that I think about it, even Kang Taeshik released the skill after few seconds . ’
It was clear that the B-rank Hunter did not do so out of some dramatic flair . He probably did not have the magic power to maintain the skill for long . If the high-ranker Kang Taeshik was like that, low-rankers probably couldn’t even activate the skill .
“Looks like mana is the problem . ”
He had invested points in every stat except for intelligence so far, but his mana did not increase . This told him that to increase his mana, he had to raise the intelligence stat…
‘Do I have to start putting points into intelligence?’
But it felt a little wasteful to invest his valuable points just so he could use a skill for a little longer . Especially because Jinwoo felt that intelligence was not a stat directly usable in combat .
‘Compared to the others, intelligence really feels lacking . ’
Strength, constitution, agility, sense .
As each of those stats rose, he became noticeably stronger . But even when he had raised the intelligence stat through level-ups, he did not gain any worthwhile powerup . Compared to when he was level 1, his intelligence stat had nearly quadrupled, but the only thing it gave him was increased mana . That was it . To invest valuable points into the stat just for that was…
‘Too wasteful . ’
Using those points in the other four attributes equaled to directly strengthening his flesh and blood . In the end, Jinwoo decided that he would just increase his mana through level-ups . The stat points would be distributed into the other, more useful stats .
‘Stat points…’
He remembered that he still had 5 points received from the emergency quest . After thinking about putting them into intelligence, Jinwoo instead put 3 points into strength and 2 points in to constitution .
Stats
Strength: 75
Constitution: 45
Agility: 82
Intelligence: 39
Sense: 69
(Available stat points: 0)
Physical Damage Reduction: 20%
‘Yep . Multiples of five are a good thing . ’
As Jinwoo smiled in satisfaction,
SHAAAAAKE!
The Dungeon’s interiors shook as if the world was ending .
‘Has it already been one hour?’
There was no time to delay anymore . Jinwoo closed his stat screen . He had purposely waited inside until right before the Gate would close . Staying here any longer would mean that he would never be able to leave . Jinwoo did a final check before leaving the boss room .
‘Let’s see, I got all the magic cores…’
There was nothing he had forgotten . After going over every detail, Jinwoo quickly ran through the Dungeon .
SHAAAAAAKE!!!
As if telling him to leave, the Dungeon shook intensely again .
Right on time, the Association’s investigators and employees had arrived . They watched Jinwoo exit the Gate just as it closed and asked,
“H-Hunter-nim! Are there any other survivors?”
“No . ”
“Oh no!”
The employee’s expressions hardened . 9 people had entered the Dungeon; only 3 had come out alive . This would be yet another major incident for the Association in the area . Faced with the prospect of a second incident, the Association employees assigned to this sector grimaced . They wanted to enter the Dungeon themselves to check for survivors, but the Gate had already closed . This was the reason why Jinwoo had purposely waited until the last minute to exit .
‘Can’t let them know there was another survivor . Was . . . ’
Now, the only witnesses were the three that had survived . An employee started talking hesitantly,
“Just now . . . we’ve received the confession of Gold Mountain Company’s president over the phone . ”
Song Chiyeol stepped forward,
“The president of Gold Mountain Company?”
“Yes, he’s one of the prisoner’s victim’s father who had contacted HSD Hunter Kang Taeshik for an assassination . ”
“Ah…”
The employee explained that once he had heard that Kang Taeshik had succeeded in killing the prisoner, the president of the company had confessed to everything .
‘Well, it wasn’t Kang Taeshik, but me…’ Jinwoo thought .
The police had gone to the company president, and the Association had come to the Gate .
After a moment of silence, Jinwoo asked,
“So there are no problems, right?”
The employee responded embarrassingly,
“Yes, I suppose so . ”
Kang Taeshik’s crimes had a clear evidence, and the three survivors had fought him for their own lives . As Jinwoo said, there was indeed no problems . Except one .
The employee asked something that was troubling him,
“Who killed the B-rank Hunter Kang Taeshik?”
Having just arrived, the employees had not heard this part of the story yet . The distance to the Association HQ was far from here, and the employees had hurriedly made efforts to arrive before the Gate closed . They all looked very tired .
Jinwoo decided to tell the truth, then thought of Yoo Jinho .
‘It’s unfortunate but looks like I won’t be able to help him anymore . ’
If he told the truth, he would have to undergo a retest and have his rank raised . Once that happened, his part in Yoo Jinho’s plans would be over . After all, what the young man needed was not only a skilled Hunter, but a low ranking one . Once he received his new rank, Jinwoo would no longer qualify .
‘Hmm… what’s with this feeling?’
Jinwoo imagined Yoo Jinho’s disappointed face . Instead of feeling sorry, he actually felt like laughing . Still, it was a shame that he wouldn’t get that building .
‘Well, what could I do…’
Determined, Jinwoo started opening his mouth but was interrupted,
“It was me . ”
Jinwoo turned towards the voice . Lee Juhee was staring at Song Chiyeol in shock .
“Ahjussi…?”
Before Jinwoo could stop him, the old man stepped forth .
“I was the one who killed Kang Taeshik . ”
The employee looked suspicious,
“Hunter Song Chiyeol-nim was the one?”
That was impossible . Song Chiyeol was a C-ranker; on top of that, he was missing an arm . His opponent was a B-ranker, whose existence would be called a high-ranker . Their strength exceeded imagination . The difference between a B-ranker and a C-ranker was incomparable to the difference between a C-ranker and a D-ranker .
Song Chiyeol laughed and replied,
“You all know who’s standing behind me, right?”
“Ah!”
All eyes fell on Lee Juhee, who lowered her embarrassed face .
Lee Juhee was also a B-rank Hunter . She may not be a combat-class Hunter, but she was still a high-ranker like Kang Taeshik . If a B-rank Healer supported a C-rank Hunter, there just might have been a chance that they prevailed . The employees all nodded understandingly . While they were thinking about the possibilities, Jinwoo went up to Song Chiyeol’s side and quietly asked,
“Why did you lie?”
Song Chiyeol replied with a subdued voice,
“I felt like Sung-ssi had a reason to hide your abilities . Should I not have?”
Of course not . Thanks to the elder, Jinwoo would be able to avoid a thorn in his side for a bit longer . Jinwoo was impressed by the old man’s ability to take a hint .
“No, no . I’m grateful . ”
“I’m the one who has to be grateful . I’m just glad I was able to help out a little . ”
An Association investigator approached the pair .
“Song Chiyeol-ssi, could you please come with us? We just have to wrap-up the details . ”
“Yes, let’s . ”
Song Chiyeol left with the investigator to the Association, along with the rest of the employees . Soon, only Jinwoo and Juhee remained . The sun had already set a while ago . Feeling awkward near the changed Jinwoo, Juhee shyly approached him and asked,
“Could we walk together for a bit?”
‘Is this about the dinner promise?’
Jinwoo was hungry after moving around for a while and felt that it was a good timing . He happily agreed,
“Sure . ”
Under the streetlights, the pair walked, side by side, in silence .
“ . . . ”
Juhee stared at her feet as they walked . Everytime she looked up, she peaked a glance at Jinwoo . She wanted to ignore it, but she could not ignore the fact that the man felt a lot stronger than before . She had found him more comfortable to be near in the past . Now, it was hard to even strike up a conversation with him .
‘Just what happened to him…?’
Not just the fact that he had easily defeated a B-rank Hunter . The man’s presence felt completely different than before . He had asked for her silence, so she did not want to press the issue .
But his abrupt change bothered her for some reason .
Sponsored Content
I Alone Level-up: Chapter 35.
.
Jinwoo picked up a stone from the ground . It also disappeared from sight . .
.
‘What about this?’.
.
He went and put his hand on the shoulder of a dead hobgoblin, but it did not become invisible . Bit by bit, he was beginning to understand the limits of the skill . It seemed that it applied to something that he was wearing and something that he could hold in his hands . Suddenly,.
.
You are out of mana . ‘Stealth’ will be cancelled . .
.
“What?”.
.
The ‘Stealth’ skill had been cancelled . .
.
‘It’s only been a few seconds, but my mana is already gone?’.
.
He had been trying to get used to the invisible form, testing out its effects here and there . Jinwoo opened up the skill listing with a dumbfounded expression . .
.
Skills.
.
Passive Skills.
-(Unknown) (Lv . Max).
-Unyielding Spirit (Lv . 1).
.
Active Skills.
-Sprint (Lv . 1).
-Bloodlust (Lv . 1).
-Stealth (Lv . 1).
.
What he wanted was the ‘Stealth’ information . The words appeared in the air before him . .
.
ring~!.
.
.
Stealth (Lv . 1).
Active Skill.
.
Mana Cost: 200 (+10/Second).
.
Activate to disappear (sight, sound, smell).
Costs 10 mana per second to maintain . .
.
“Become invisible and hide the traces of your existence . ”.
.
The activation cost is 200 and it uses up 10 mana per second?.
.
“Sigh…”.
.
No wonder his mana ran out so fast . .
.
MP: 7 / 548.
.
His remaining 7 mana seemed to laugh at him . .
.
‘It really hit rock bottom . ’.
.
With his current mana, he could maintain ‘Stealth’ for a little under 35 seconds . However, if he factored in other skills into calculation, it would be far less than that . .
.
‘Now that I think about it, even Kang Taeshik released the skill after few seconds . ’.
.
It was clear that the B-rank Hunter did not do so out of some dramatic flair . He probably did not have the magic power to maintain the skill for long . If the high-ranker Kang Taeshik was like that, low-rankers probably couldn’t even activate the skill . .
.
“Looks like mana is the problem . ”.
.
He had invested points in every stat except for intelligence so far, but his mana did not increase . This told him that to increase his mana, he had to raise the intelligence stat….
.
‘Do I have to start putting points into intelligence?’.
.
But it felt a little wasteful to invest his valuable points just so he could use a skill for a little longer . Especially because Jinwoo felt that intelligence was not a stat directly usable in combat . .
.
‘Compared to the others, intelligence really feels lacking . ’.
.
Strength, constitution, agility, sense . .
.
As each of those stats rose, he became noticeably stronger . But even when he had raised the intelligence stat through level-ups, he did not gain any worthwhile powerup . Compared to when he was level 1, his intelligence stat had nearly quadrupled, but the only thing it gave him was increased mana . That was it . To invest valuable points into the stat just for that was….
.
‘Too wasteful . ’.
.
Using those points in the other four attributes equaled to directly strengthening his flesh and blood . In the end, Jinwoo decided that he would just increase his mana through level-ups . The stat points would be distributed into the other, more useful stats . .
.
‘Stat points…’.
.
He remembered that he still had 5 points received from the emergency quest . After thinking about putting them into intelligence, Jinwoo instead put 3 points into strength and 2 points in to constitution . .
.
Stats.
.
Strength: 75.
Constitution: 45.
Agility: 82.
Intelligence: 39.
Sense: 69.
(Available stat points: 0).
Physical Damage Reduction: 20%.
.
‘Yep . Multiples of five are a good thing . ’.
.
As Jinwoo smiled in satisfaction,.
.
SHAAAAAKE!.
.
The Dungeon’s interiors shook as if the world was ending . .
.
‘Has it already been one hour?’.
.
There was no time to delay anymore . Jinwoo closed his stat screen . He had purposely waited inside until right before the Gate would close . Staying here any longer would mean that he would never be able to leave . Jinwoo did a final check before leaving the boss room . .
.
‘Let’s see, I got all the magic cores…’.
.
There was nothing he had forgotten . After going over every detail, Jinwoo quickly ran through the Dungeon . .
.
SHAAAAAAKE!!!.
.
As if telling him to leave, the Dungeon shook intensely again . .
.
.
.
Right on time, the Association’s investigators and employees had arrived . They watched Jinwoo exit the Gate just as it closed and asked,.
.
“H-Hunter-nim! Are there any other survivors?”.
.
“No . ”.
.
“Oh no!”.
.
The employee’s expressions hardened . 9 people had entered the Dungeon; only 3 had come out alive . This would be yet another major incident for the Association in the area . Faced with the prospect of a second incident, the Association employees assigned to this sector grimaced . They wanted to enter the Dungeon themselves to check for survivors, but the Gate had already closed . This was the reason why Jinwoo had purposely waited until the last minute to exit . .
.
‘Can’t let them know there was another survivor . Was . ’.
.
Now, the only witnesses were the three that had survived . An employee started talking hesitantly,.
.
“Just now . we’ve received the confession of Gold Mountain Company’s president over the phone . ”.
.
Song Chiyeol stepped forward,.
.
“The president of Gold Mountain Company?”.
.
“Yes, he’s one of the prisoner’s victim’s father who had contacted HSD Hunter Kang Taeshik for an assassination . ”.
.
“Ah…”.
.
The employee explained that once he had heard that Kang Taeshik had succeeded in killing the prisoner, the president of the company had confessed to everything . .
.
‘Well, it wasn’t Kang Taeshik, but me…’ Jinwoo thought . .
.
The police had gone to the company president, and the Association had come to the Gate . .
.
After a moment of silence, Jinwoo asked,.
.
“So there are no problems, right?”.
.
The employee responded embarrassingly,.
.
“Yes, I suppose so . ”.
.
Kang Taeshik’s crimes had a clear evidence, and the three survivors had fought him for their own lives . As Jinwoo said, there was indeed no problems . Except one . .
.
The employee asked something that was troubling him,.
.
“Who killed the B-rank Hunter Kang Taeshik?”.
.
Having just arrived, the employees had not heard this part of the story yet . The distance to the Association HQ was far from here, and the employees had hurriedly made efforts to arrive before the Gate closed . They all looked very tired . .
.
Jinwoo decided to tell the truth, then thought of Yoo Jinho . .
.
‘It’s unfortunate but looks like I won’t be able to help him anymore . ’.
.
If he told the truth, he would have to undergo a retest and have his rank raised . Once that happened, his part in Yoo Jinho’s plans would be over . After all, what the young man needed was not only a skilled Hunter, but a low ranking one . Once he received his new rank, Jinwoo would no longer qualify . .
.
‘Hmm… what’s with this feeling?’.
.
Jinwoo imagined Yoo Jinho’s disappointed face . Instead of feeling sorry, he actually felt like laughing . Still, it was a shame that he wouldn’t get that building . .
.
‘Well, what could I do…’.
.
Determined, Jinwoo started opening his mouth but was interrupted,.
.
“It was me . ”.
.
Jinwoo turned towards the voice . Lee Juhee was staring at Song Chiyeol in shock . .
.
“Ahjussi…?”.
.
Before Jinwoo could stop him, the old man stepped forth . .
.
“I was the one who killed Kang Taeshik . ”.
.
The employee looked suspicious,.
.
“Hunter Song Chiyeol-nim was the one?”.
.
That was impossible . Song Chiyeol was a C-ranker; on top of that, he was missing an arm . His opponent was a B-ranker, whose existence would be called a high-ranker . Their strength exceeded imagination . The difference between a B-ranker and a C-ranker was incomparable to the difference between a C-ranker and a D-ranker . .
.
Song Chiyeol laughed and replied,.
.
“You all know who’s standing behind me, right?”.
.
“Ah!”.
.
All eyes fell on Lee Juhee, who lowered her embarrassed face . .
.
Lee Juhee was also a B-rank Hunter . She may not be a combat-class Hunter, but she was still a high-ranker like Kang Taeshik . If a B-rank Healer supported a C-rank Hunter, there just might have been a chance that they prevailed . The employees all nodded understandingly . While they were thinking about the possibilities, Jinwoo went up to Song Chiyeol’s side and quietly asked,.
.
“Why did you lie?”.
.
Song Chiyeol replied with a subdued voice,.
.
“I felt like Sung-ssi had a reason to hide your abilities . Should I not have?”.
.
Of course not . Thanks to the elder, Jinwoo would be able to avoid a thorn in his side for a bit longer . Jinwoo was impressed by the old man’s ability to take a hint . .
.
“No, no . I’m grateful . ”.
.
“I’m the one who has to be grateful . I’m just glad I was able to help out a little . ”.
.
An Association investigator approached the pair . .
.
“Song Chiyeol-ssi, could you please come with us? We just have to wrap-up the details . ”.
.
“Yes, let’s . ”.
.
Song Chiyeol left with the investigator to the Association, along with the rest of the employees . Soon, only Jinwoo and Juhee remained . The sun had already set a while ago . Feeling awkward near the changed Jinwoo, Juhee shyly approached him and asked,.
.
“Could we walk together for a bit?”.
.
‘Is this about the dinner promise?’.
.
Jinwoo was hungry after moving around for a while and felt that it was a good timing . He happily agreed,.
.
“Sure . ”.
.
Under the streetlights, the pair walked, side by side, in silence . .
.
“ . ”.
.
Juhee stared at her feet as they walked . Everytime she looked up, she peaked a glance at Jinwoo . She wanted to ignore it, but she could not ignore the fact that the man felt a lot stronger than before . She had found him more comfortable to be near in the past . Now, it was hard to even strike up a conversation with him . .
.
‘Just what happened to him…?’.
.
Not just the fact that he had easily defeated a B-rank Hunter . The man’s presence felt completely different than before . He had asked for her silence, so she did not want to press the issue . .
.
But his abrupt change bothered her for some reason . .