55 Chapter 54 (1/2)

[Skill: Shadow Storage Lv. 1]

Class-specific skill.

Mana required to activate: None.

Stores the shadow soldiers inside the summoner's shadow.

The stored soldiers can be summoned back into the open or absorbed back at any time the summoner chooses to.

Number of stored shadow soldiers: 0/20

'I knew it.'

Jin-Woo nodded his head.

Since the skill's name had the word 'storage' in it, he expected it to have something to do with storing away the soldiers. Unfortunately, there was a part that proved to be completely out of his expectations.

'How come the number is….'

The number of soldiers he could store was noticeably lower than those he could create.

Indeed, he could create 30, yet he could only store 20. Meaning, he had to unsummon 10 more.

'Now this sucks.'

Just which finger out of the ten in your hands wouldn't hurt when you bite them? Just discarding one made his heart bleed, but now, he had to discard ten??

'Hmm….'

Jin-Woo stared at the soldiers with a rather lonely expression on his face.

Obviously, the knight-grade Igrit was excluded.

Three 'magic soldiers' were also excluded, since they would be harder to replace and also fewer in numbers.

At the end of the day, the most disposable remained the infantrymen. Last time, he chose the one closest to him, so this time, he chose the ten that were furthest away from him and cancelled their summoning.

'Sorry.'

He prayed for their happiness in the afterlife, and then….

Poof…

In the blink, those ten soldiers turned into dust and disappeared from this world.

Thankfully, his heart didn't ache as badly as the first time. Did the wise old 'they' mean this by saying that the first time was always the hardest?

In any case…

Jin-Woo took one last look at the soldiers and activated the Shadow Storage.

When he did that, all the shadow soldiers, including Igrit, all returned to being shadows, as if they were melting like an ice cube caught in extremely high temperatures. Those shadows all gathered beneath his feet next.

'So, this is that absorbing into my shadow thing….!'

It was as the label said; the shadows were absorbed into Jin-Woo's shadow. It happened so quickly, too.

All of his soldiers disappeared without a trace in less than a blink of an eye.

'….I'm the one who did it, yet I can hardly believe it myself.'

Utterly amazed now, Jin-Woo continued to stare at his own shadow.

It was then.

As if it was waiting for this, the mechanical beeps resounded out one after the other.

Tti-ring.

[You have experimented with all the class-specific skills.]

[Class Change has been now concluded.]

[Exit Gate will now be generated.]

'So, it's finally over, huh….'

What a long and difficult road this was.

Jin-Woo scanned the interior of the boss room, his eyes full of reminiscence. The evidence of fierce battle could be seen everywhere.

Broken-down knights; walls with cracks on them; a shattered stone pillar. And the Iron Golem responsible for shattering that very pillar, now nothing more than a scrap heap.

However, as the compensation for his struggles, he was now walking away with so much profit.

A new Class and skills, several other important things besides those, as well as powerful new allies.

A wide grin naturally floated up on his lips.

Without hesitation, Jin-Woo turned around. The Gate connecting to the outside world was quietly waiting for him as if to congratulate him on his successful adventure.

When he took a step outside, the surroundings changed in an instant. And he was back in the empty lot of the local mountainside. It was none other than the very spot where he initiated his Class Change Quest.

The time indicated was five in the morning. It was already time for the sunrise.

'Oops.'

Jin-Woo clicked his tongue while confirming the time.

'If I knew the quest would end up taking this long to complete, I should've left a message for Jin-Ah earlier.'

What a relief then, that he'd often come home late from raids taking longer than expected, back when he was working for the Association.

Jin-Woo took one last look behind him. But the Gate he exited from just now was already gone without a trace.

'Huh….'

When looking at the spot where the Gate used to be, it kind of felt like he had woken up from a long dream.

Was it a dream?

No, that wasn't possible.

Jin-Woo scanned his immediate vicinity.

The soldiers decked out in pitch-black armours – as soon as he thought about them, they rapidly emerged from his shadow.

'.....'

At first, he simply thought of them as nothing more than monsters.

The shadow soldiers…

The monsters that stepped out from the shadows of the dead after they were summoned by him.

However, if these things were monsters, then just what should the guy who could freely control them be called now?

Jin-Woo smirked softly.

'Well, it doesn't matter one way or the other….'

Jin-Woo stored the soldiers back into his shadow.

He noticed that his steps going down the mountain were rather light and cheery.

Jin-Woo slept until late in the day. But, that couldn't be helped. By the time he got back home, the sun had risen up pretty high already.

Ring~ ring~

Jin-Woo's sweet slumber was eventually disrupted by the ringtone from his smartphone. His hand fumbled around near his head and with some difficulty, located his phone.

”H-Hello?”

His voice cracked up from his dry throat.

”Hul…. Oppa, you were still asleep?? You know what time it is?”

Jin-Ah's shocked voice came out from the speaker. So, he asked her back.

”Okay, what time is it now?”

”It's two in the afternoon!”

”Eh? What?”

He glanced at the time on the phone's screen with half-open eyes. She was telling the truth.

”…..Oppa, you haven't forgotten that you're supposed to come to my school today, have you?”

Her voice sounded anxious.

Jin-Woo finally raised his upper body, albeit very slowly.

”What time should I get there at the latest?”

”Before five!”

”I won't be late, so don't worry.”

”As expected of my orabeo-nim! When you're near the school, gimme a call first, okay?” (TL: orabeo-nim = a higher form of honorific than 'oppa'.)

Jin-Ah switched on her charm attack and ended the call soon afterwards.

Scratch, scratch….

Jin-Woo scratched his unkempt hair for a bit before slowly getting up from the bed. He didn't have a lot of time left if he were to get ready.

'Well, I'm going to meet my sister's homeroom teacher after all.'

Not only that, this teacher would be in charge of her third year in high school, one of the most important periods in a person's life.

'So, I can't just wear whatever now, right?'

He opened the closet and rummaged through the clothes in there. However, he was greeted by a rather dusty, mouldy odour.

Of course, it was not something pleasant to smell at all.

Jin-Woo's frown deepened.

He continued to dig around, but all he could find was an old business suit he wore once during his own high school graduation.

'Will it even fit me now?'

He was hoping against hoping but well, as expected – the clothes were too snug and he couldn't even move his arms.

'Yup, my body has grown much bigger lately.'

Putting on the old clothes painted a stark picture of his current reality. The suit was nearly bursting at the seams, literally.

….What should he do now?

Jin-Woo was pondering what to do, but then he spotted the bank book that Yu Jin-Ho gave him a day before. It was for the account filled with the proceeds from selling off all those magic crystals.

He alternated his gaze between his nearly-torn clothes and the bank book with its new stamp still sealed together, before a smile formed on his lips.

'Been a while, but should I go on a shopping spree, then?'