Solo Leveling

Chapter 28

Jinwoo’s heart began to race. It was because the size of the box was familiar to him. He quickly unwrapped the box and opened it,

‘It is!’

His eyes opened wide. There was a golden key inside of the box. An Instant Dungeon key that he had been wanting for a long time. The information box popped up on the key.

ring~

The Demon Castle Key

Rarity:S-rank

Type: Key

Key to enter an Instant Dungeon.

Usable in Daesung Tower.

“S-rank?”

His voice was raised. Of course, there was no guarantee that the rarity of the key indicated the difficulty of the Dungeon, but it would not be an unusual conclusion to have. After all, the Instant Dungeon he had entered with the E-rank key was as easy as an E-rank Gate’s Dungeon.

What if this key’s Dungeon was S-rank? It would be difficult to clear it even with a team composed of only S-rank Hunters. The probability of success would be 50%.

Above the B-rank, the difficulty of a Gate increases at a geometric rate. In the past 10 years since the Gates first started appearing, only a handful of S-rank Gates had opened across the world.

‘And Jejudo[1] was one them…’

After South Korea’s Hunters failed to clear the Dungeon on the island, the S-rank Gate underwent a Dungeon Break, and the island became uninhabitable and was now abandoned by the country.

Jinwoo looked at the key in his hand.

‘This is something that I wanted?’

There was one potential silver lining. Compared to the first key, which “moved” him into the Dungeon, this key stated that he could “enter” the Dungeon[2]. Jinwoo concluded that the difference in the wording meant that he could move in and out of the Dungeon. Even if the key disappeared like last time, he still had the return stone in his inventory. He would not be imprisoned by an invisible wall again.

‘Well, I shouldn’t throw away a rare opportunity like this.’

He would confirm the Instant Dungeon with his own eyes.

-2. The Demon Castle-

Jinwoo stood in front of the Daesung Tower. With exactly one hundred floors, the building reached high towards the sky. Fitting of a skyscraper, even looking up at it from the ground gave a sense of vertigo.

It was currently night, and there was practically no one in the area. The absence of humans created a gloomy atmosphere.

‘But just in case…’

Jinwoo looked around and lowered the hood over his head tightly. If someone saw a man disappear into thin air without a Gate in sight, it would surely cause a disturbance. In the case that he gets caught on the surveillance cameras here and there, a little anonymity would be useful.

As matter of fact, there was someone who was watching Jinwoo.

‘What’s he up to?’

The security guard that was posted in the lobby of the building looked at the shady, hooded man who was loitering in front of the building. The guard rose from his seat and walked over to take a closer look, then was caught off guard in shock.

“W-what?!”

The hooded man that was walking towards the building suddenly disappeared without a trace. No matter how long the guard stared at the spot, not even an insect could be found.

“Er… Must’ve been seeing things…”

The man turned to go back inside but then saw something in the corner of his eyes. He screamed and fell to the ground.

“Ah! What the hell?!”

The hand that was floating in the air disappeared again.

Jinwoo retracted the hand that he was holding out.

‘It’s connected to the outside.’

Unlike last time, there was no invisible wall blocking his exit. The key also did not disappear but remained in his pockets. Jinwoo confirmed that he would be able to exit and come back whenever.

‘Alright, the path to retreat is secured…’

As he did not know if the rarity of the key corresponded to the difficulty, Jinwoo was being a lot more careful than usual. He took off his hood and turned around.

“…”

It was a scenery that invited despair.

Moments ago, when he took few steps towards the Daesung Tower, the world before his eyes changed in an instant.

Could this even be called a Dungeon?

In front of him was an entirely new world.

In place of the Daesung Tower stood a massive tower.

‘Can’t tell if it’s a castle or a tower.’

The tower that stretched towards the sky was surrounded by a crimson flame. Instead of being on fire, it was more like the tower was holding the fire back.

“A tower on fire…”

This felt like a more fitting description of the place than a Demon Castle.

Jinwoo took steps toward the tower.

flare!

As he got closer, the sound of the fire roaring became louder.

‘Could I even get inside?’

Even if he could, there was another problem. The last Instant Dungeon used the subway station as the template for its levels. If this one used Daesung Tower as its, Jinwoo would have to clear a hundred different levels of monsters. He could not imagine just how long that would take.

‘Hmm?’

He stopped, feeling a powerful presence near the tower’s gate. Taking a closer look, he saw a black beast, the size of a bull, rolled up on the ground sleeping. Jinwoo took out the Casaka’s Poisoned Fang.

ring~

Casaka’s Poisoned Fang

Rarity: C

Type: Dagger

Attack Power +25

Inflicts ‘Paralysis’ and ‘Bleeding’ on attack.

‘Paralysis’:The target has a chance to become immobilized.

‘Bleeding’:The target will lose 1% health per second.

A dagger made of Casaka’s poisoned fang, still dripping with its poison.

You may keep this item in your inventory.

You may sell this item in the shop.

Although its attack power wasn’t that high, its special effects had already proved themselves in battle.

‘It’d be nice if I could just kill after paralyzing it.’

Jinwoo slowly approached the beast, quieting his footsteps as best as he could. But he could not hide from the monster’s sense of smell. The beast soon started to rise, sniffing the air.

‘Sh*t.’

Jinwoo clicked his tongue. The beast’s form, standing up fully, raised three separate heads towards Jinwoo.

‘Gatekeeper of Hell, Cerberus’

A vicious looking hound with three heads. Its heads were adorned by its name in red letters. This meant the monster’s level was high.

‘If it’s red, does it mean it’s the same as the centipedes from the penalty zone?’

He recalled running for his life from the centipedes. After all, he was just level 1 back then.

‘I’m different now.’

In a short period, Jinwoo had experienced an explosive growth. The monster before him was definitely strong, but it did not give off a feeling of overwhelming pressure. This was ascertained with Jinwoo’s sense stat.

He had not raised the attribute thoughtlessly. Valuable points were invested into it so that it could help him determine whether to fight or run from an enemy.

Grrrrrl!

The Cerberus registered an enemy and bared its teeth. The beast’s tail caught Jinwoo’s eyes momentarily. The long, whip-like tail decorated its tip with powerful flames.

‘Fangs and tail. The thing’s attack pattern will have at minimum two moves.’

Jinwoo gulped. The Cerberus slowly closed the gap between the two, then stopped right before the Hunter and stared.

‘Is it looking for an openi-’

The Cerberus suddenly leaped towards him.

Woof!

Jinwoo was caught off guard.

‘It’s fast!’

Jinwoo quickly slid underneath the Cerberus’ body and dodged its bite. Landing on the ground, Cerberus immediately turned around and bared its teeth across all three heads.

Bark! Bark Bark!

The fangs between its jaws shone in the light.

ring~

The effect of the title, ‘Wolf Slayer’, has been activated.

Wolf Slayer

All stats increased by 40% against beast type monsters.

A title given to a hunter experienced in slaying wolves.

Jinwoo felt his body becoming lighter.

‘I can feel it!’

The Cerberus charged at Jinwoo. Jinwoo rapidly took backward steps, trying to distance himself from the Cerberus’ advances, and repeatedly blocked its bites with his dagger.

slash, slash, slaaash, slash!

clang! clang clang! clang!

The sound of the metal clashing against the fangs rang loudly. Although he was swinging the dagger with an incredible speed, it was all he could do to block the Cerberus’ attacks.

‘I’m being pushed back even with the title buff!’

The Cerberus’ agility had surpassed his expectations. Jinwoo tried to turn the tide of the battle with a skill.

Bloodlust has been activated.

The target’s resistance was too high. Effect cancelled.

Jinwoo was shocked.

‘It didn’t work?’

The Cerberus’ whipped its tail at Jinwoo.

snap!

Jinwoo reflexively lowered his head to dodge, but this stopped his legs temporarily. The Cerberus did not miss the opportunity; one of its heads bit down on Jinwoo’s left shoulder.

“Uwaaaaak!”

Jinwoo stabbed its forehead with all his strength.

stab!

Paralysis has been inflicted.

The target’s resistance was too high. Effect cancelled.

Bleeding has been inflicted.

The target’s resistance was too high. Effect cancelled.

whimper!

The Cerberus yelped and backed away. Thankfully, Jinwoo managed to drive it off before the other heads could also bite down, but the damage was done to his left shoulder. His left arm hung limp at his sides, the joints mangled. The beast’s jaws had a terrifying bite.

Jinwoo furrowed his brows. Compared to the small damage he had inflicted on the Cerberus, his own injury was far greater.

‘If only paralysis or bleeding had stuck…’

Jinwoo glared at Cerberus with disappointment.

Suddenly, the beast’s eyes started turning red.

‘Huh?’

grrrrrl

A frightening pressure washed over Jinwoo.

‘What?’

The Gatekeeper of Hell, Cerberus has used ‘Rage’.

It will enter a state of rage for 3 minutes.

Cerberus’ all attributes are doubled.

Cerberus cannot feel any pain.

Jinwoo cried out in frustration,

“What?!”

A magic beast, no, a monster using a skill?!

The Cerberus kicked the ground and charged.

‘Sh*t!’

Jinwoo could not react in time; his swinging dagger bounced uselessly off the beast’s head. All three heads bit down on Jinwoo.

crack!

“Argh!”

Jinwoo clenched his teeth. The beast had simultaneously clamped down on Jinwoo’s neck, sides and thigh. It continued its momentum and slammed Jinwoo into the castle’s gates.

slam!

Jinwoo’s health plummeted to the ground.

“Cough!”

Health: 411 / 3,602

ring~

Your health has fallen below 30%. ‘Unyielding Spirit’ has been activated.

All damage received is reduced by 50%.

Thanks to the Unyielding Spirit and his physical damage reduction, Jinwoo managed to avoid an instant death.

“Kuh…”

His eyes shot open.

Notes:

[1]: “Jejudo” (제주도): An island province of South Korea. Considered the “Hawaii” of South Korea, it is a popular destination for tourists (both domestic and foreign) and honeymoons.

[2]: Sorry, in my attempt to be concise in the translation of the first key, I didn’t really emphasize the difference between “moved into” and “enter”.