Solo Leveling: Ragnarok Chapter 21

A gorgeous chandelier.

 

Expensive liquor set on the table.

 

Vice Master Lee Minsung was heavily drunk in the VIP room again today. Normally, the room would have been busy with boisterous laughter and intimate skinship, but the atmosphere was different today for some reason.

 

Clang!

 

“Ah!” the lady entertaining him screamed in surprise at the sound of the glass he had thrown and shattered.

 

“Oh, dear. Why is our Minsung in such a bad mood today?”

 

After a while, a madam entered the room and sat gracefully beside him with a charming smile. At the same time, she gestured to all the other employees to leave.

 

In the meantime, the ladies quickly escaped from the room, turning the room silent in an instant.

 

Plop.

 

The madam poured the wine into a new glass and glanced at Lee Minsung. He had been glaring at his phone with bloodshot eyes since earlier.

 

‘What’s going on?’

 

The madam glanced at the screen he was watching.

 

‘Comments?’

 

The corners of the madam’s eyes twitched slightly.

 

– So, who is the hunter who annihilated the Hyena?

 

– Yeah, they said he went into Gwanak Mountain alone and rescued everyone.

 

– Amazing. Who on earth is he?

 

– Info) It’s said that he wore a mask, so even the survivors couldn’t see his face.

 

– What a mysterious guy. Why hide his face after doing a good deed?

 

– Isn’t it obvious? There’s a rumor that the Fiend Guild backed the Hyena, so of course he has to conceal his identity.

 

– Right. We may not know who he is, but I hope he never gets caught. The Fiend will retaliate immediately. Lol.

 

 

There was still a lot of ruckus about the Gwanak Mountain Field on the Internet. People were actively speculating about the identity of the Hunter who solved the case alone, but there was just not enough evidence.

 

 

– But who could he be?

 

– Well, if he soloed a boss monster, he must be at least an A-rank Hunter, right?

 

– You can theoretically finish that dungeon as a B-rank with good skills.

 

– No, even C or D rank is enough if you’re skilled.

 

– D-rank, haha

 

– Oh, stop talking nonsense. Save that for your diary.

 

Thousands, tens of thousands of comments were all curious about the identity of the Hunter.

 

While there was a lot of nonsense and jokes, the overall sentiment eventually boiled down to one sentence.

 

 

– A hero.

 

 

As the heinous acts of the Hyena Guild were revealed one by one; as their image turned increasingly demonic, conversely, the public’s fondness for the Hunter who single-handedly wiped them out skyrocketed nationwide.

 

“What? You still haven’t found out who he is?”

 

In an instant, Lee Minsung’s expression crumpled at the madam’s words.

 

Kriet. Lee Minsung gritted his teeth and glared at the madam. “Who are you teasing?”

 

“Oh my, I’m not teasing. Obviously I’m worried. Our vice master’s informants must’ve been struggling so badly to get hints that you start looking in the comments.”

 

Kriet-kriet.

 

“Oh, you’ll hurt your teeth that way. More importantly, you told your informants to visit the survivors. What did they say?”

 

“… They used dual swords.”

 

“Oh?”

 

“They said they summoned magic beasts.”

 

“Summons? Oh, my.” The madam covered her mouth with a surprised look at Lee Minsung’s answer. “This is strange. Is there a Hunter who can do such a thing among the Summoners?”

 

“There’s none.”

 

“None?”

 

“It’s absolutely impossible for a random Summoner to kill that Broki.” Lee Minsung, who had seen the giant hyena Broki in person, was convinced. “Someone must have used a skill to confuse the information. It could be an illusion skill or maybe it wasn’t just one person. The summoner could have been hiding in the background. No, it’s certain.” He was convinced that no individual could have caused this kind of incident, no matter how much he thought about it.

 

In any case, there was one significant fact: someone had killed Broki with dual swords.

 

“Well, if that’s the case, all you need to do is just hold the fact that they used dual swords.”

 

“Right. So it means we don’t have any information at all.”

 

“Aww~ That’s a shame.” The madam drank her glass of whiskey in one gulp with a disappointed expression.

 

‘I thought it was going to be something exciting because there was so much fuss. But all this is just because of drugs. How childish.’

 

But she understood.

 

Lee Minsung had always lived a life of success, from his birth to the present. When he was young, he was born into a wealthy family. As a young man, he became a Hallyu star. And when the Great Cataclysm occurred, he awakened as an A-class Hunter.

 

It was a solid path.

 

By now, it was not an exaggeration to say that the entire universe revolved around Lee Minsung.

 

‘But suddenly, his driver becomes an S-class Hunter.’

 

On the very day when Lee Minsung awakened and the whole world was congratulating him, his long-time friend and driver, Lim Taegyu, became an S-class Hunter.

 

At that moment, Lee Minsung…became blind with jealousy.

 

The hierarchy that seemed unchangeable was suddenly overturned.

 

‘… Well, it’s a good thing, though.’

 

There’s no one easier to manipulate than someone with a complex.

 

The madam gave a sly smile and poured some alcohol into Lee Minsung’s glass. “Don’t get too worked up. You’ll catch them eventually. More importantly, shall we talk about business now?”

 

“Hmm.” At those words, Lee Minsung’s complexion became calm.

 

“Stardust.” The madam asked with an alluring smile, “Are there any defective products among the latest batch?”

 

“…There are no defects in the product. It’s the people who ate it that are defective.”

 

“People are defective? How defective do they have to be to die after taking the mana amplification drug? Others will be too scared to use it.” Contrary to her words, the madam did not look frightened at all.

 

And neither did Lee Minsung…

 

“How many people died?”

 

“Well, I heard about 30 people. But strangely, only low-ranking Hunters died. Are the people really defective?”

 

“Only the low-rank Hunters died… Indeed, it seems that Stardust is affected by a person’s mana aptitude after all. Hmm.” Lee Minsung focused only on the effect of the experimental drug with no emotions despite the fact that people had died.

 

“So, when will the next batch be available?” The madam went further. “Those who haven’t died are waiting for the next batch.”

 

“Soon.” Lee Minsung coldly glared at the madam, who smiled and teased him. “We’ll hurry the demons up.”

 

***

 

At that moment, Sooho was facing an important decision.

 

 

[You must select one of the two random boxes.]

 

 [Blessed Random Box]

 

Provides the ‘Player’ with the desired item.

 

 

[Cursed Random Box]

 

Provides the ‘Player’ with the necessary item.

 

 

[Which one would you like to choose?]

 

 

“What I want and what I need? Isn’t this just a play on words?”

 

[These two hidden rewards may sound like a pun, but they have clear differences.]

 

Beru, who was watching from the side, explained further.

 

[What you ‘want’ may not be necessary once you receive it. Conversely, what you ‘need’ may give you something you don’t want once you receive it.]

 

“Ah, hence the name ‘cursed’ random box.”

 

[Yes, that’s right. For example, when you need a powerful weapon, a terrible bomb that will blow up everyone, including yourself, might come out…!]

 

“Is that even possible? It’s a system passed down from my father, there’s no way it would reward me with something dangerous for a quest, right?”

 

[Kiekhehe. That’s also true.]

 

Sooho had no more hesitation.

 

“Cursed Random Box.”

 

[Oh! That one? You’re so daring!]

 

“I don’t really know what I want specifically, maybe because my level is still low. But there are too many things I need.”

 

He had no idea what kind of items were beyond the system, and the scope of his imagination was too vague.

 

Sooho smiled and chose the reward.

 

“Besides, my father knew better than anyone else what I needed since the old days.”

 

[This reward is given by the system, not my liege…]

 

“Well, that’s the same thing,” Sooho retorted and held out his hand. Then a small box appeared on it. It was a box wrapped in solid-colored wrapping paper and tied with a ribbon.

 

He carefully opened the box.

 

Ding!

 

 

[You have obtained ‘Item: Vulcan’s Horn’.]

 

 

At that moment, the box disappeared, and a sword was in Sooho’s hand.

 

“What’s this?”

 

 

[Item: Vulcan’s Horn]

 

Acquisition Difficulty: ??

 

Type: Sword

 

Attack +40

 

A sword crafted from the horns of the greedy demon Vulcan.

 

It deals more damage imbued with Vulcan’s power.

 

– Effect ‘Destructive Urge’: Increases physical damage by [30%].

 

-Effect ‘Demon Devourer’: The more you devour the souls of demons, the stronger Vulcan’s power becomes.

 

[Devoured demon soul: 0]

 

 

As Sooho read the item description, his eyes grew wider with excitement.

 

“It is a growth type item!”

 

[Wow!]

 

The explanation of “increases physical damage by [30%]” undoubtedly meant that the increase would increase as he hunted more demons!

 

In addition, the basic attack power itself was a whopping 10 higher than that of Rakan’s Fang!

 

– Ahem. However, I have the ‘Contempt for the Weak” and “Deadly Strike” effects, so if you look closely, I might be a little more…

 

Beside him, Rakan’s Fang muttered something, but no one listened.

 

“This is amazing! The perfect item just came out.”

 

Sooho smiled contentedly and lifted Vulcan’s Horn with one hand.

 

Whooong-! As he swung it around once with great momentum, the sound of the wind cutting through the air was very intimidating.

 

However, the weight of the sword was a bit heavy.

 

Sooho immediately invested all of his skill points, which he received as a daily quest reward, into Strength, and as a result, it became much easier to handle.

 

“I really like it. Now all I need is a demon.”

 

But he had never heard of a dungeon with demon-type monsters recently.

 

‘I think they were all defeated a long time ago.’

 

Should he go out and search the Internet for more information?

 

Sooho immediately took out the Key to the Shadow Dungeon.

 

Swooosh!

 

[You have exited the Shadow Dungeon.]

 

 

However, when he came out, he saw that he had missed five phone calls on his cellphone. The caller was Assistant Professor Im.

 

“Why is Assistant Im calling me?” Curious, he called him back and received an unexpected proposal.

 

– Sooho, do you want to do a part-time job?

 

“Out of the blue?”

 

– Yeah, some collectors who agreed to come suddenly went missing.

 

***

 

“Thank you so much for coming, Sooho! Thanks to you, we’re alive!” Professor Assistant Im was so grateful that he prostrated himself before Sooho, who arrived on time for the appointment. “But there aren’t many situations like this. Why did multiple people suddenly go missing today?”

 

“Did you write up a contract?”

 

“Right! That’s why I don’t understand.” Assistant Im clenched his fists, thinking of the Hunters who had gone missing without a word. “Those guys are probably out there somewhere, drunk and passed out together.”

 

His anger was justified.

 

Since the collectors and miners usually work in teams, in cases like this, the entire team would be fined for violating the contract.

 

But now, there was nothing to worry about.

 

Because Sooho had come to help!

 

Assistant Im placed his hands on Sooho’s shoulders and spoke earnestly, “Sooho, you have to be a real hero today. I believe in you.” What he believed in was none other than Sooho’s summoning skills. Didn’t Sooho’s summoned magic beasts play a tremendous role even during mining work?

 

“Since I called you in a hurry, I’ll give you double the usual pay.”

 

[You’ll give him?]

 

Beru, who suddenly appeared, glared at Assistant Im.

 

Surprised, Assistant Im quickly corrected himself.

 

“I-I’ll give it to—no, I’ll offer it to you.”

 

[Right. Since we have a distinguished guest in this humble place, please maintain that posture.]

 

Beru looked at Assistant Im with an expression that seemed to say, “Otherwise, I will chew your head off.”

 

Meanwhile, Sooho sneaked a glance at the dungeon they would enter today.

 

 

[Seoul Station Field]

 

※ Dangerous area

 

 

Blue fog slowly rose from the subway station entrance.

 

The Seoul Station Field had been abandoned for a year due to its deep underground location and complex structure.

 

Seeing that place, Sooho suddenly had an idea.

 

The Cursed Random Box promised necessary items, and Vulcan’s Horn emerged. 

 

Was it because he needed two swords that the sword that preys on demons ended up in his hand? Or…was it because he would soon face the ‘demon’?

 

“So Assistant, so what are we doing here today?” Sooho asked Assistant Professor Im with a chuckle.