The Shadow Soldiers quickly closed the gap!
However, the ferocious movements of the ice bears were far faster than the Shadow Soldiers .
Boom!
Crack!
A single swipe of the bear’s claw obliterated a Shadow Soldier . If it was a human in that pitch black armor and not a shadow, it would’ve been a gruesome sight .
‘Hmm…’
Jinwoo furrowed his brows .
‘As I thought, was it too much?’
Whether it was strength or size, it unfortunately looked like it was too much for Shadow Soldiers to face the ice bears .
But suddenly, something surprising happened .
‘What the!’
Jinwoo’s eyes widened .
The body of the Shadow Soldier that was destroyed by an ice bear turned to black smoke before it fully hit the ground .
shooooo-
The black smoke gathered at some distance away, then reformed into its original shape .
‘Oh shit!’
Jinwoo’s face lit up .
Undead .
He had forgotten about the true nature of these shadows and was now reminded .
Realizing its attack had no effect, the ice bear panicked and roared .
Roooaaaar!
While the Shadow Infantry kept the ice bears busy, the Shadow Mages had finished their casting .
Flaaaare-!
Bang!
Kaboom!
The fireballs released from the mages’ hands exploded here and there . While the Shadow Infantry caught by the explosion regenerated immediately, the ice bears caught on fire and thrashed about .
“Kuwaaaah!”
“Kuwuuh!”
The Shadow Infantry continued their attacks, swinging and stabbing their swords at the burning bears .
slash!
stab!
At first, the ice bears looked like they had the advantage, but they were slowly being pushed back by the combined attack of the infantry and the mages .
‘Whoa…’
Jinwoo watched the battle with great interest .
The infantry’s fast regeneration .
The mage’s powerful firepower .
The might of Shadow Soldiers exceeded his expectations . The ice bears were soon overwhelmed and were pushed all the way back to the caves . It seemed like the battle was over-
ROOOOAAAAR!
With a roar that shook the eardrums, something giant appeared from the cave .
“That’s…”
Jinwoo’s eyes widened . It was an ice bear a head taller than the rest and also much wider .
ROAR!
At a single swipe of its claw, many Shadow Soldiers were swept away .
BOOM!
Craaaaack!
Even their quick regeneration speed could not keep up .
Crack!
Smash!
“Looks like the alpha made his appearance…”
Of course, he had expected that a den of bears would have an alpha bear . But the thing’s size and power surpassed his expectations .
ROOOOAR!
The giant ice bear slapped away the Shadow Soldiers and ran toward Jinwoo . Suddenly, a message appeared,
ring~
You are out of mana . The Shadow Soldiers cannot regenerate .
You are out of mana . The Shadow Soldiers cannot regenerate .
What?
He checked his mana in panic . Just as the System said, his mana was at zero .
MP: 0 / 1,860
With his mana gone, the Shadow Soldiers no longer regenerated after being destroyed . Instead, they turned into shadow and returned to Jinwoo’s shadow . Jinwoo realized that it was his mana that allowed the soldiers to regenerate .
‘That goddamn mana…’
He found yet another reason to raise his intelligence stat . Jinwoo scratched the side of his head . The appearance of the alpha had completely turned the tide of the battle . However, Jinwoo still had a trump card up his sleeve .
‘If their boss came out, I should send mine out as well . ’
With his arms crossed, Jinwoo called for the one who was worthy to be called the Shadow Soldier’s boss .
“Ygritte!”
A single shadow slid out from Jinwoo’s shadow . From the shadow rose a knight wearing a helmet adorned with a plumage . Jinwoo raised a chin at the alpha . Ygritte bowed his head to Jinwoo then shot forth towards the giant ice bear .
step, step, step, step!
Ygritte dodged the alpha’s swipe and slid between the ice bear’s legs . While in motion, he quickly took out the daggers at his side and cut the tendons of the beast’s legs .
“Kuwwaaah!”
This was only the beginning .
Unsheathing his long sword, Ygritte skillfully dodged the torrent of attacks from the alpha while carving it up like a sculpture .
Tendons, claws, paws, legs . Bit by bit, the alpha’s flesh was being cut off like being worked by a butcher .
“Huh…”
Jinwoo watched Ygritte’s flowing, artlike movements with great admiration .
The head was the last to go .
Slash!
The giant ice bear’s head was cleanly separated from its body . Before it could hit the ground, Ygritte snatched it from the air . The knight approached Jinwoo then knelt before the Hunter .
drop
Ygritte placed the bear’s head in front of Jinwoo feet, as if offering a trophy to his king . Jinwoo stared at the knight and gulped,
‘If he used his sword from the start back then, could I have defeated him?’
The remaining ice bears were thrown into chaos after losing their leader and were quickly routed by the soldiers . The battle was over . The results greatly satisfied Jinwoo .
Shadow Infantry (Lv . 2)
Shadow Infantry (Lv . 3)
Shadow Infantry (Lv . 2)
Shadow Mage (Lv . 2)
The soldiers had leveled up here and there . Since the Shadow Soldiers themselves were Jinwoo’s skill, the Hunter had also gained 3 levels . And above all else,
“Arise . ”
You’ve succeeded in Shadow Extraction .
You’ve succeeded in Shadow Extraction .
You’ve succeeded in Shadow Extraction .
He had earned new friends .
ROOOAR-!
Including the alpha, Jinwoo had selected several ice bears . From their shadows, a large black mass rose .
‘I expected a bear wearing an armor…’
The reality was a little different .
The ‘Shadow Beasts’[1] that arose maintained some semblance to a bear but at the same time had a form that seemed to shift between solid and gas . A black steam continuously spewed from their figures .
‘The visuals are a bit lacking, but still, it’s those ice bears’ shadows . ’
Their strength and capacity for destruction . He would surely have a use for it . Suddenly,
rooooar
Jinwoo’s ears perked up at a cry sounding from a distance . It was not just one or two .
‘Looks like there are more dens in the area . ’
It was getting a little late in the day . He’ll check it out tomorrow .
A bright smile appeared on Jinwoo’s face .
“Uwaaaaak!”
“Kuk!”
His teammates were screaming left and right . Kim Cheol’s eyes were wide open .
‘There is no way!’
That he, Kim Cheol, would fail like this! He was someone would become Baekho’s elite . He had even received special training for that goal . And now, he was going to fail?! The A-ranker could not accept it .
Their party had endured the cold and hunger and fought with yetis . After that were the ice giants . They had lost two of their members but managed to prevail against them too . The Raid appeared to be going smooth .
But .
But!!!
The moment they had triumphed over the ice giants, the White Walkers ambushed them from all directions, as if they had been waiting . Those bastards had been watching their party, waiting for their stamina to hit rock bottom . What followed was a massacre . The Hunters fell, one after another, in an instant .
“L-leader!”
A fallen Hunter stretched a bloodied hand toward Kim Cheol . Kim Cheol stepped backwards . A White Walker appeared out of nowhere and slit the throat of the Hunter on the ground . While the man gurgled and choked on his own blood, the White Walker raised his head towards Kim Cheol . The A-ranker screamed,
“U-uwaaaah!”
He turned around and ran into the forest . The forest had ice bears? Those bears were nothing compared to the yetis, ice giants and the White Walkers . Kim Cheol ran with all of his might . Watching his figure disappear into the distance, the White Walkers raised their bows and took aim . But before they could fire, a White Walker raised his hand and stopped them . It was an ice elf with hair flowing down to his waist . The other White Walkers lowered their bows .
‘ . . . ’
The long hair pointed and gestured to follow Kim Cheol . One by one, the other White Walkers disappeared from sight .
Kim Cheol leaped through a bush .
“pant, pant, pant . ”
His lungs felt like they were on fire . The image of the White Walkers that smiled while slaughtering his teammates was still fresh on his mind . The man looked down at his hands . The frostbitten hands were losing their sense of touch . His toes had long since lost all feeling . He could not fight properly in his current condition .
‘This damn cold… No, if we just didn’t starve for the past few days, we would’ve won . ’
To the bitter end, Kim Cheol could not acknowledge his failure . While muttering to himself, Kim Cheol raised his head .
‘Anyways, how deep am I into the forest?’
He looked around . The smell of blood poked at his nose from somewhere . The man followed the smell . It was close . Moving through the trees, he came upon a clearing and could not believe his eyes .
‘How is this possible?’
In front of the caves were over 20 ice bear corpses . He had wondered why he hadn’t come across a single bear!
“What the?”
He studied the corpses . All the corpses had traces of being cut with something . Some of them also had traces of being burned . Sung Jinwoo and his party flashed across Kim Cheol’s head .
“It can’t be . . . those bastards did this?”
No . Kim Cheol shook his head . The wounds on the corpses of the ice bears were made with a sword . To his knowledge, Sung Jinwoo’s party did not have a sword user .
‘The two E-rankers didn’t even have a weapon . ’
There was no way they had survived here . Then there was only one other conclusion,
‘The White Walkers are also here!’
His heart sank . He had thought that he managed to get away from those elves . To think that he had wandered into another group of them . With a great fear in his heart, Kim Cheol held his breath and turned back to the direction he had come from .
Further . Faster .
He wanted to get out of the White Walker’s territory .
At the same time .
“Wuwaaaaang!’
An ice bear fell with a death rattle . The Shadow Soldiers swarmed its body and made sure it was dead .
You’ve leveled up!
“Alright . ”
Jinwoo was in a different bear den . It’s been five days since they had entered the Gate . He had gone through three different bear dens since then .
‘Looks like I’ve taken care of every bear in this forest . ’
Thanks to that, both he and his army’s levels had risen quite a bit . At first, it required two soldiers just to hold back an ice bear . Now, a single soldier was capable of winning one on one against the beast . Jinwoo was satisfied . As the abilities of his soldiers rose, he started assigning them different roles . His current limit was 30 shadows . 28 of them would be assigned to combat, while 2 of them would be assigned to the collection of magic cores and meat . Now that he didn’t have to lift a finger to fight or collect drops, life became incredibly convenient for the Hunter .
‘I don’t sense any more magic beasts . ’
It seemed that he had cleared the entire forest .
Then .
‘Is it time to go for the boss?’
There was still about a month to go, at worst several months, until the Dungeon Break . He had no intention of waiting for that to happen .
‘Gotta kill that arrogant elf too . ’
A mere magic beast that taunted a Hunter . Its arrogant smile still annoyed Jinwoo .
Kim Cheol’s nose detected the smell of cooking meat from somewhere .
sniff sniff
The man’s sense of smell had become sensitive due to his hunger . After entering the Gate, all he had to eat for the past few days was a single rabbit . His mouth watered at the smell of food .
gulp
The White Walkers might be eating somewhere .
‘But if there’s only few of them…’
He was confident he could take care of them and steal the food . It was a misguided confidence born out of hunger .
‘Let’s check it out . ’
Kim Cheol did his best to quiet his footsteps and carefully approached where the smell was coming from . Finally, he came upon a clearing where Jinwoo’s team was . Kim Cheol’s eyes widened .
‘What?’
The smell of meat was coming from their campfire .
‘How are they still alive?’
However, he did not see one of the E-rank Hunters .
‘Pft . He took the lead with such confidence . Must’ve died first . ’
That much was obvious . But what wasn’t obvious was the scene in front of him . How to… analyze all this? Something was weird .
‘Wait, their clothes…?’
Warm clothes, blankets, tents and other equipment entered his eye . They were clearly prepared for the environment .
‘How the hell?’
While flustered, Kim Cheol’s gaze became affixed on something .
It was a piece of bread next to the meat . There was no way they had found or made bread here . It must’ve been prepared beforehand . His confusion quickly turned to anger .
‘These fuckers…’
grind
Kim Cheol grinded his teeth . These fuckers had all of this with them and walked away on their own .
‘If my hands weren’t frozen, no, if only I wasn’t hungry, I could’ve easily taken care of those ice elves . ’
Thinking about how they greedily hoarded something that should’ve been shared with the Raid team, Kim Cheol could not help it any more . He leaped out into the clearing .
“You bastards!”
Park Heejin jumped in surprise and stood up .
“Kim Cheol? How are you here?”
To be honest, it was hard to say that he was a welcoming sight . It was because the man’s eyes were filled with murderous intent . Kim Cheol did not hide his hostility .
“Our party failed in clearing the Dungeon because we lacked proper equipment and food . Then how the hell are you sitting here with those equipment and food?”
“That’s…”
Park Heejin could not answer . She feared that bringing up Jinwoo would turn Kim Cheol’s wrath towards Jinwoo . She did not want to turn in the savior of her life .
‘From the start, I didn’t like the way that man looked at Sung Jinwoo . ’
Park Heejin closed her mouth . Seeing her defy his will, Kim Cheol’s rage increased .
“I don’t consider every one of you an accomplice . Who hid all this? I’ll spare the rest of you . ”
The veins in his neck bulged .
“WHICH ONE OF YOU HOARDED ALL OF THIS AND ENDANGERED THE LIVES OF YOUR COMRADES?!!!”
His shouting echoed loudly throughout the forest . Kim Cheol realized he would have to up the ante .
“I’m going to count to three . If no one speaks up, I’ll consider all of you equally guilty . ”
Han Songyi tugged at Park Heejin’s sleeves .
“U-unni…”
Park Heejin hugged Han Songyi . Go Myunghwan and Yoon Gijoong also gulped while sweating . Kim Cheol was an A-ranker . Even if they combined their powers, they could not hope to win against him . Still, not one of them betrayed Jinwoo .
“One . ”
Kim Cheol unsheathe the sword at his side .
schiing-
“Two . ”
The Hunters still held their silence .
Mere low-level Hunters dare to disobey him? Kim Cheol’s anger flared .
‘How dare you look down on me…’
His eyes turned red with murderous intent .
First would be this woman . The one who betrayed his team and decided to join the weaklings . Park Heejin will be the first to die .
‘Yes . She must’ve been hiding something . That’s why she left my team . ’
That was the only reason he could think of . Kim Cheol stepped up to Park Heejin and finished his countdown .
“Three . ”
Park Heejin closed her eyes .
Suddenly .
“Four . ”
Bam!
Something struck Kim Cheol on the back of the head, and the man fell face forward onto the ground and slid forward for a few feet .
All the Hunters’ eyes opened wide .
“Raid Leader!”
Jinwoo had struck with such a force that his fist was still smoking .
He spoke, appalled,
“Who’s the fucker that really endangered the lives of his comrades?”
Translator’s Notes:
[1]: “Shadow Beast” (??? ???): Lit . “Shadow Magic Beast Soldier” . I’ve removed “magic” to distinguish them from magic beasts . The reason was because in the context, “magic beast” was clearly referring to the shadow’s bear-like bestial form, but in the general story, “magic beast” refers to any otherworldly entities found in Dungeons . I wanted to avoid the confusion . Also took out the word “soldier” because it felt redundant in most context cases .
Sponsored Content
I Alone Level-up: Chapter 62.
.
The Shadow Soldiers quickly closed the gap!.
.
However, the ferocious movements of the ice bears were far faster than the Shadow Soldiers . .
.
Boom!.
.
Crack!.
.
A single swipe of the bear’s claw obliterated a Shadow Soldier . If it was a human in that pitch black armor and not a shadow, it would’ve been a gruesome sight . .
.
‘Hmm…’.
.
Jinwoo furrowed his brows . .
.
‘As I thought, was it too much?’.
.
Whether it was strength or size, it unfortunately looked like it was too much for Shadow Soldiers to face the ice bears . .
.
But suddenly, something surprising happened . .
.
‘What the!’.
.
Jinwoo’s eyes widened . .
.
The body of the Shadow Soldier that was destroyed by an ice bear turned to black smoke before it fully hit the ground . .
.
shooooo-.
.
The black smoke gathered at some distance away, then reformed into its original shape . .
.
‘Oh shit!’.
.
Jinwoo’s face lit up . .
.
Undead . .
.
He had forgotten about the true nature of these shadows and was now reminded . .
.
Realizing its attack had no effect, the ice bear panicked and roared . .
.
Roooaaaar!.
.
While the Shadow Infantry kept the ice bears busy, the Shadow Mages had finished their casting . .
.
Flaaaare-!.
.
Bang!.
.
Kaboom!.
.
The fireballs released from the mages’ hands exploded here and there . While the Shadow Infantry caught by the explosion regenerated immediately, the ice bears caught on fire and thrashed about . .
.
“Kuwaaaah!”.
“Kuwuuh!”.
.
The Shadow Infantry continued their attacks, swinging and stabbing their swords at the burning bears . .
.
slash!.
.
stab!.
.
At first, the ice bears looked like they had the advantage, but they were slowly being pushed back by the combined attack of the infantry and the mages . .
.
‘Whoa…’.
.
Jinwoo watched the battle with great interest . .
.
The infantry’s fast regeneration . .
.
The mage’s powerful firepower . .
.
The might of Shadow Soldiers exceeded his expectations . The ice bears were soon overwhelmed and were pushed all the way back to the caves . It seemed like the battle was over-.
.
ROOOOAAAAR!.
.
With a roar that shook the eardrums, something giant appeared from the cave . .
.
“That’s…”.
.
Jinwoo’s eyes widened . It was an ice bear a head taller than the rest and also much wider . .
.
ROAR!.
.
At a single swipe of its claw, many Shadow Soldiers were swept away . .
.
BOOM!.
.
Craaaaack!.
.
Even their quick regeneration speed could not keep up . .
.
Crack!.
.
Smash!.
.
“Looks like the alpha made his appearance…”.
.
Of course, he had expected that a den of bears would have an alpha bear . But the thing’s size and power surpassed his expectations . .
.
ROOOOAR!.
.
The giant ice bear slapped away the Shadow Soldiers and ran toward Jinwoo . Suddenly, a message appeared,.
.
ring~.
.
You are out of mana . The Shadow Soldiers cannot regenerate . .
.
You are out of mana . The Shadow Soldiers cannot regenerate . .
.
What?.
.
He checked his mana in panic . Just as the System said, his mana was at zero . .
.
MP: 0 / 1,860.
.
With his mana gone, the Shadow Soldiers no longer regenerated after being destroyed . Instead, they turned into shadow and returned to Jinwoo’s shadow . Jinwoo realized that it was his mana that allowed the soldiers to regenerate . .
.
‘That goddamn mana…’.
.
He found yet another reason to raise his intelligence stat . Jinwoo scratched the side of his head . The appearance of the alpha had completely turned the tide of the battle . However, Jinwoo still had a trump card up his sleeve . .
.
‘If their boss came out, I should send mine out as well . ’.
.
With his arms crossed, Jinwoo called for the one who was worthy to be called the Shadow Soldier’s boss . .
.
“Ygritte!”.
.
A single shadow slid out from Jinwoo’s shadow . From the shadow rose a knight wearing a helmet adorned with a plumage . Jinwoo raised a chin at the alpha . Ygritte bowed his head to Jinwoo then shot forth towards the giant ice bear . .
.
step, step, step, step!.
.
Ygritte dodged the alpha’s swipe and slid between the ice bear’s legs . While in motion, he quickly took out the daggers at his side and cut the tendons of the beast’s legs . .
.
“Kuwwaaah!”.
.
This was only the beginning . .
.
Unsheathing his long sword, Ygritte skillfully dodged the torrent of attacks from the alpha while carving it up like a sculpture . .
.
Tendons, claws, paws, legs . Bit by bit, the alpha’s flesh was being cut off like being worked by a butcher . .
.
“Huh…”.
.
Jinwoo watched Ygritte’s flowing, artlike movements with great admiration . .
.
The head was the last to go . .
.
Slash!.
.
The giant ice bear’s head was cleanly separated from its body . Before it could hit the ground, Ygritte snatched it from the air . The knight approached Jinwoo then knelt before the Hunter . .
.
drop.
.
Ygritte placed the bear’s head in front of Jinwoo feet, as if offering a trophy to his king . Jinwoo stared at the knight and gulped,.
.
‘If he used his sword from the start back then, could I have defeated him?’.
.
The remaining ice bears were thrown into chaos after losing their leader and were quickly routed by the soldiers . The battle was over . The results greatly satisfied Jinwoo . .
.
Shadow Infantry (Lv . 2).
.
Shadow Infantry (Lv . 3).
.
Shadow Infantry (Lv . 2).
.
Shadow Mage (Lv . 2).
.
The soldiers had leveled up here and there . Since the Shadow Soldiers themselves were Jinwoo’s skill, the Hunter had also gained 3 levels . And above all else,.
.
“Arise . ”.
.
You’ve succeeded in Shadow Extraction . .
.
You’ve succeeded in Shadow Extraction . .
.
You’ve succeeded in Shadow Extraction . .
.
He had earned new friends . .
.
ROOOAR-!.
.
Including the alpha, Jinwoo had selected several ice bears . From their shadows, a large black mass rose . .
.
‘I expected a bear wearing an armor…’.
.
The reality was a little different . .
.
The ‘Shadow Beasts’[1] that arose maintained some semblance to a bear but at the same time had a form that seemed to shift between solid and gas . A black steam continuously spewed from their figures . .
.
‘The visuals are a bit lacking, but still, it’s those ice bears’ shadows . ’.
.
Their strength and capacity for destruction . He would surely have a use for it . Suddenly,.
.
rooooar.
.
Jinwoo’s ears perked up at a cry sounding from a distance . It was not just one or two . .
.
‘Looks like there are more dens in the area . ’.
.
It was getting a little late in the day . He’ll check it out tomorrow . .
.
A bright smile appeared on Jinwoo’s face . .
.
.
.
“Uwaaaaak!”.
“Kuk!”.
.
His teammates were screaming left and right . Kim Cheol’s eyes were wide open . .
.
‘There is no way!’.
.
That he, Kim Cheol, would fail like this! He was someone would become Baekho’s elite . He had even received special training for that goal . And now, he was going to fail?! The A-ranker could not accept it . .
.
Their party had endured the cold and hunger and fought with yetis . After that were the ice giants . They had lost two of their members but managed to prevail against them too . The Raid appeared to be going smooth . .
.
But . .
.
But!!!.
.
The moment they had triumphed over the ice giants, the White Walkers ambushed them from all directions, as if they had been waiting . Those bastards had been watching their party, waiting for their stamina to hit rock bottom . What followed was a massacre . The Hunters fell, one after another, in an instant . .
.
“L-leader!”.
.
A fallen Hunter stretched a bloodied hand toward Kim Cheol . Kim Cheol stepped backwards . A White Walker appeared out of nowhere and slit the throat of the Hunter on the ground . While the man gurgled and choked on his own blood, the White Walker raised his head towards Kim Cheol . The A-ranker screamed,.
.
“U-uwaaaah!”.
.
He turned around and ran into the forest . The forest had ice bears? Those bears were nothing compared to the yetis, ice giants and the White Walkers . Kim Cheol ran with all of his might . Watching his figure disappear into the distance, the White Walkers raised their bows and took aim . But before they could fire, a White Walker raised his hand and stopped them . It was an ice elf with hair flowing down to his waist . The other White Walkers lowered their bows . .
.
‘ . ’.
.
The long hair pointed and gestured to follow Kim Cheol . One by one, the other White Walkers disappeared from sight . .
.
.
.
Kim Cheol leaped through a bush . .
.
“pant, pant, pant . ”.
.
His lungs felt like they were on fire . The image of the White Walkers that smiled while slaughtering his teammates was still fresh on his mind . The man looked down at his hands . The frostbitten hands were losing their sense of touch . His toes had long since lost all feeling . He could not fight properly in his current condition . .
.
‘This damn cold… No, if we just didn’t starve for the past few days, we would’ve won . ’.
.
To the bitter end, Kim Cheol could not acknowledge his failure . While muttering to himself, Kim Cheol raised his head . .
.
‘Anyways, how deep am I into the forest?’.
.
He looked around . The smell of blood poked at his nose from somewhere . The man followed the smell . It was close . Moving through the trees, he came upon a clearing and could not believe his eyes . .
.
‘How is this possible?’.
.
In front of the caves were over 20 ice bear corpses . He had wondered why he hadn’t come across a single bear!.
.
“What the?”.
.
He studied the corpses . All the corpses had traces of being cut with something . Some of them also had traces of being burned . Sung Jinwoo and his party flashed across Kim Cheol’s head . .
.
“It can’t be . those bastards did this?”.
.
No . Kim Cheol shook his head . The wounds on the corpses of the ice bears were made with a sword . To his knowledge, Sung Jinwoo’s party did not have a sword user . .
.
‘The two E-rankers didn’t even have a weapon . ’.
.
There was no way they had survived here . Then there was only one other conclusion,.
.
‘The White Walkers are also here!’.
.
His heart sank . He had thought that he managed to get away from those elves . To think that he had wandered into another group of them . With a great fear in his heart, Kim Cheol held his breath and turned back to the direction he had come from . .
.
Further . Faster . .
.
He wanted to get out of the White Walker’s territory . .
.
.
.
At the same time . .
.
“Wuwaaaaang!’.
.
An ice bear fell with a death rattle . The Shadow Soldiers swarmed its body and made sure it was dead . .
.
You’ve leveled up!.
.
“Alright . ”.
.
Jinwoo was in a different bear den . It’s been five days since they had entered the Gate . He had gone through three different bear dens since then . .
.
‘Looks like I’ve taken care of every bear in this forest . ’.
.
Thanks to that, both he and his army’s levels had risen quite a bit . At first, it required two soldiers just to hold back an ice bear . Now, a single soldier was capable of winning one on one against the beast . Jinwoo was satisfied . As the abilities of his soldiers rose, he started assigning them different roles . His current limit was 30 shadows . 28 of them would be assigned to combat, while 2 of them would be assigned to the collection of magic cores and meat . Now that he didn’t have to lift a finger to fight or collect drops, life became incredibly convenient for the Hunter . .
.
‘I don’t sense any more magic beasts . ’.
.
It seemed that he had cleared the entire forest . .
.
Then . .
.
‘Is it time to go for the boss?’.
.
There was still about a month to go, at worst several months, until the Dungeon Break . He had no intention of waiting for that to happen . .
.
‘Gotta kill that arrogant elf too . ’.
.
A mere magic beast that taunted a Hunter . Its arrogant smile still annoyed Jinwoo . .
.
.
.
Kim Cheol’s nose detected the smell of cooking meat from somewhere . .
.
sniff sniff.
.
The man’s sense of smell had become sensitive due to his hunger . After entering the Gate, all he had to eat for the past few days was a single rabbit . His mouth watered at the smell of food . .
.
gulp.
.
The White Walkers might be eating somewhere . .
.
‘But if there’s only few of them…’.
.
He was confident he could take care of them and steal the food . It was a misguided confidence born out of hunger . .
.
‘Let’s check it out . ’.
.
Kim Cheol did his best to quiet his footsteps and carefully approached where the smell was coming from . Finally, he came upon a clearing where Jinwoo’s team was . Kim Cheol’s eyes widened . .
.
‘What?’.
.
The smell of meat was coming from their campfire . .
.
‘How are they still alive?’.
.
However, he did not see one of the E-rank Hunters . .
.
‘Pft . He took the lead with such confidence . Must’ve died first . ’.
.
That much was obvious . But what wasn’t obvious was the scene in front of him . How to… analyze all this? Something was weird . .
.
‘Wait, their clothes…?’.
.
Warm clothes, blankets, tents and other equipment entered his eye . They were clearly prepared for the environment . .
.
‘How the hell?’.
.
While flustered, Kim Cheol’s gaze became affixed on something . .
.
It was a piece of bread next to the meat . There was no way they had found or made bread here . It must’ve been prepared beforehand . His confusion quickly turned to anger . .
.
‘These fuckers…’.
.
grind.
.
Kim Cheol grinded his teeth . These fuckers had all of this with them and walked away on their own . .
.
‘If my hands weren’t frozen, no, if only I wasn’t hungry, I could’ve easily taken care of those ice elves . ’.
.
Thinking about how they greedily hoarded something that should’ve been shared with the Raid team, Kim Cheol could not help it any more . He leaped out into the clearing . .
.
“You bastards!”.
.
Park Heejin jumped in surprise and stood up . .
.
“Kim Cheol? How are you here?”.
.
To be honest, it was hard to say that he was a welcoming sight . It was because the man’s eyes were filled with murderous intent . Kim Cheol did not hide his hostility . .
.
“Our party failed in clearing the Dungeon because we lacked proper equipment and food . Then how the hell are you sitting here with those equipment and food?”.
.
“That’s…”.
.
Park Heejin could not answer . She feared that bringing up Jinwoo would turn Kim Cheol’s wrath towards Jinwoo . She did not want to turn in the savior of her life . .
.
‘From the start, I didn’t like the way that man looked at Sung Jinwoo . ’.
.
Park Heejin closed her mouth . Seeing her defy his will, Kim Cheol’s rage increased . .
.
“I don’t consider every one of you an accomplice . Who hid all this? I’ll spare the rest of you . ”.
.
The veins in his neck bulged . .
.
“WHICH ONE OF YOU HOARDED ALL OF THIS AND ENDANGERED THE LIVES OF YOUR COMRADES?!!!”.
.
His shouting echoed loudly throughout the forest . Kim Cheol realized he would have to up the ante . .
.
“I’m going to count to three . If no one speaks up, I’ll consider all of you equally guilty . ”.
.
Han Songyi tugged at Park Heejin’s sleeves . .
.
“U-unni…”.
.
Park Heejin hugged Han Songyi . Go Myunghwan and Yoon Gijoong also gulped while sweating . Kim Cheol was an A-ranker . Even if they combined their powers, they could not hope to win against him . Still, not one of them betrayed Jinwoo . .
.
“One . ”.
.
Kim Cheol unsheathe the sword at his side . .
.
schiing-.
.
“Two . ”.
.
The Hunters still held their silence . .
.
Mere low-level Hunters dare to disobey him? Kim Cheol’s anger flared . .
.
‘How dare you look down on me…’.
.
His eyes turned red with murderous intent . .
.
First would be this woman . The one who betrayed his team and decided to join the weaklings . Park Heejin will be the first to die . .
.
‘Yes . She must’ve been hiding something . That’s why she left my team . ’.
.
That was the only reason he could think of . Kim Cheol stepped up to Park Heejin and finished his countdown . .
.
“Three . ”.
.
Park Heejin closed her eyes . .
.
Suddenly . .
.
“Four . ”.
.
Bam!.
.
Something struck Kim Cheol on the back of the head, and the man fell face forward onto the ground and slid forward for a few feet . .
.
All the Hunters’ eyes opened wide . .
.
“Raid Leader!”.
.
Jinwoo had struck with such a force that his fist was still smoking . .
.
He spoke, appalled,.
.
“Who’s the fucker that really endangered the lives of his comrades?”.
.
Translator’s Notes:.
[1]: “Shadow Beast” (??? ???): Lit . “Shadow Magic Beast Soldier” . I’ve removed “magic” to distinguish them from magic beasts . The reason was because in the context, “magic beast” was clearly referring to the shadow’s bear-like bestial form, but in the general story, “magic beast” refers to any otherworldly entities found in Dungeons . I wanted to avoid the confusion . Also took out the word “soldier” because it felt redundant in most context cases . .