Chapter 54 (2/2)
New class and skills . .
.
A powerful army . .
.
A smile appeared on Jinwoo’s face . He turned around without a lingering thought . The gate to the real world waited for him . Jinwoo stepped through . .
.
He returned to the clearing in the forest . It was the same spot he had first entered the quest’s Dungeon . The time was 5 AM . The sun would be rising soon . .
.
Oh right . .
.
Jinwoo looked at his watch and kicked himself in his mind . .
.
‘If I knew I was going to take this long, I should’ve let Jinah know . ’.
.
Fortunately, he had been late in the past due to the Association’s Raids . .
.
Jinwoo looked behind him . The gate that he left from had disappeared without a trace . .
.
‘Huh…’.
.
Looking at the empty clearing, everything that had happened felt like a dream . .
.
Wait, a dream?.
.
No, no way . .
.
Jinwoo looked around . .
.
Soldiers clad in pitch black surrounded him . The Shadow Soldiers had come out the moment he thought of them in his head . .
.
‘ . ’.
.
At first, he thought of them as monsters . .
.
Shadow Soldiers . .
.
Monsters that were called from the shadows of the dead . If they were monsters, what do you call the being that can freely create and control them? Jinwoo smiled,.
.
‘Well, it doesn’t matter…’.
.
He recalled the soldiers into his shadow again . .
.
The road home felt as easy as walking downhill . .
.
.
Jinwoo slept for a long time . He could not help it . The moment he had lied down in his bed, the day was already bright . .
.
ring~ ring~.
.
What woke him was the ringing of his phone . He managed to grab it with much difficulty . Jinwoo answered the phone with his eyes still closed . .
.
“Hello…”.
.
His tired voice cracked a bit . .
.
- “What the… Oppa, are you still sleeping? Do you know what time it is?!”.
.
Jinah asked with surprise from the other end, so Jinwoo asked . .
.
“What time is it…”.
.
- “It’s 2 PM!”.
.
“Whaaa?”.
.
Jinwoo peaked at the phone through a crack in his eyes . She was right . .
.
- “Oppa, you do remember that you have to come to the school today, right?”.
.
Her voice was filled with concern . This made Jinwoo finally sit-up on the bed . .
.
“When do I have to be there by?”.
.
- “5!”.
.
“Alright, I won’t be late . Don’t worry . ”.
.
- “As expected of my brother! Call me when you get here!”.
.
Jinah cutely ended the call . .
.
Jinwoo scratched his head and slowly got up . He could probably make it if he got ready now . .
.
‘Still, I’m about to go see my little sister’s teacher . ’.
.
On top of that, it was for the parent/guardian meeting for a highschool senior . They say this was one of the most important meetings of a child’s life . .
.
‘I can’t go looking like this . ’.
.
He went over and looked through his wardrobe . A musty scent filled his nose; it was not exactly a good smell . Jinwoo’s forehead wrinkled . The most suitable thing he found was the old suit that he had worn for his graduation . .
.
‘Can I wear this?’.
.
He tried it on, but it did not fit . The suit was too small for his body . .
.
‘Man, my body really grew . ’.
.
Trying on his old clothes was a sure way to tell . The suit felt like it was about to rip apart over him . .
.
. Now what?.
.
While wondering what he could wear, Jinwoo’s eyes fell on the bankbook that Yoo Jinho had given him . It contained the magic core income from their Raids . Looking back and forth between the old suit and the bankbook, a smile crept up on Jinwoo’s face . .
.
‘It’s been a while . Shall I go shopping?’.
.
However, there was something small he had to check . Wait, not small, something big . Jinwoo took off the suit and sat down on his bed and opened up the status screen . .
.
‘Status screen . ’.
.
An information box filled a bunch of words filled his view . .
. .
Name: Sung Jinwoo.
Level: 51.
Class: Monarch of Shadows.
Title: Wolf Slayer ( . 1 more).
HP: 11,035.
MP: 1,022.
Fatigue: 0.
Stats.
.
Strength: 132.
Constitution: 91.
Agility: 111.
Intelligence: 70.
Sense: 93.
(Available stat points: 10).
Physical Damage Reduction: 46%.
Skills.
.
Passive Skills.
-(Unknown) (Lv . Max).
-Unyielding Spirit (Lv . 1).
-Advanced Dagger.
Proficiency (Lv . 1).
.
Active Skills.
-Sprint (Lv . 2).
-Bloodlust (Lv . 1).
-Stealth (Lv . 1).
-Vital Stab (Lv . 2).
-Dagger Throw (Lv . 1).
Class-specific Skills.
Active Skills.
-Shadow Extraction (Lv . 1).
-Shadow Storage (Lv . 1).
Equipment.
Red Knight’s Helmet (S).
Gatekeeper’s Necklace (A).
High-level Knight’s Breastplate (B).
High-level Knight’s Gauntlet (B).
High-level Mage’s Ring (B).
Mid-level Assassin’s Shoes (C).
[2].
.
“Huh…”.
.
Jinwoo stuck out a tongue at the status screen that went on and on . .
.
‘I feel like only few days ago this was nearly empty . ’.
.
It was true . But now, just the skills and equipment alone had increased greatly . Above all else, what stood out to him was his new class . .
.
Class: Monarch of Shadows.
.
Just yesterday, this spot was decorated with word, “none” . To be honest, everytime he opened his status screen, that “none” bothered him . A Hunter that didn’t Raid was basically an unemployed bum . At least, that’s how society viewed them . So when he looked at his status screen before and saw that he had no class(job), it struck a chord in his mind . Now, he could not hide his joy in looking at the newly filled part of his status screen . .
.
‘Is this what they call an inferiority complex?’.
.
Of course, having “none” in that section didn’t mean that he didn’t have a job in real life . Still, it reminded him of his past . Other Hunters raided and earned a ton of money without paying attention to the eyes of the world . He was the not the same . He could not even proudly claim that he was a Hunter . After all, he was a mere E-ranker who could barely hold onto his own life . .
.
“Hello, I’m an E-rank Hunter . ”.
.
Every time those words escaped his mouth, anyone who knew anything about Hunters would praise him for his hard work but go on to mock him behind his back . That’s why not having a class bothered him, despite how illogical it was . .
.
But now, he had obtained a job, or rather something special . His job was still a Hunter, but in a way, he had obtained a special calling called the “Monarch of Shadows” . .
.
‘Even if it’s not exactly what I was hoping for…’.
.
He had no regrets . If anything, he was satisfied . If he wasn’t in his room, he would’ve summoned Ygritte and the Shadow Soldiers before him . Jinwoo really wanted to test out their capabilities in battle . What if they could bring out a 100% of their former powers?.
.
‘Probably not . ’.
.
But even imagining it made his heart race . .
.
ba dum ba dum.
.
Jinwoo stood still and felt his heartbeat . In his head, he was running simulations of his next Raid . Additionally, he was looking forward to Yoo Jinho’s reaction . .
.
Imagining the young man’s face with wide open eyes and mouth, Jinwoo laughed despite of himself . .
.
Hold on . .
.
‘Now that I think about it . ’.
.
If he was able to raise a dead target, and if that target was not limited to a monster or a magic beast….
.
‘I should be able to raise a soldier from a dead Hunter, right?’.
.
It was obvious, but he had avoided the idea because a human was involved . To think that he would command an undead soldier from a dead man’s shadow . Just the idea shocked him . .
.
Even still….
.
‘What if I can raise an A-rank or a S-rank Hunter’s shadow?’.
.
The power he would obtain would be beyond imagination . Even if the soldier could wield just 50% of their former powers, it would be enough for him to raid high-level Dungeons . The light racing of his heart turned to a full sprint . .
.
BA DUM, BA DUM, BA DUM!.
.
But Jinwoo shook his head . .
.
‘Still, raising a human being into an undead is…’.
.
It was not something that should be done . No matter how much it increased his powers, he wanted to avoid doing that . Unless someone appeared that truly deserved it….
.
‘Not that there are a lot of opportunities to fight another Hunter . ’.
.
Even if an opportunity appeared, there was a philosophical problem . Humans were not monsters or magic beasts . .
.
Alright . .
.
For now, he would be satisfied with the army on hand . .
.
‘I did obtain a boss-level soldier too . ’.
.
The Shadow Soldier who was level 7 and a knight grade . How powerful was he?.
.
Jinwoo anticipated his next Raid . .
.
Translator’s Notes:. [1]: Shadow Storage (그림자 저장): Same as extraction, pretty literal . “Shadow” 그림자 + “save/store/preserve” 저장.
[2]: I need a new way of displaying this information… It’s only going to get bigger….