Solo Leveling

Chapter 54

Shadow Storage (Lv. 1) [1]

Class-specific Skill

Mana Cost: 0

Absorb the Shadow Soldiers into the user’s shadow for storage.

The stored soldiers can be freely summoned and reabsorbed by the user.

Stored Shadows: 0 / 20

‘As I thought.’

Jinwoo nodded. Before he had checked the description, he had surmised that the “storage” in its name meant that the skill would allow him to manage the soldiers somehow. However, there was one thing he did not expect.

‘The limit is…’

The limits of the storage was smaller than the limits of the summoning. While he could make 30 soldiers, he could only store 20 of them. That meant that he would have to get rid of 10 more.

‘Well that sucks.’

It would be like biting of one of his fingers. Even getting rid of just one soldier was painful, and now he had to get rid of 10 of them.

‘Hmm…’

With a heavy heart, Jinwoo looked over his army. Of course, Ygritte and the mages would be excluded from selection. That would leave the infantry. He decided to pick the 10 soldiers furthest away this time.

‘I’m sorry.’

Jinwoo briefly prayed for their souls.

shooooo-

The soldiers he selected became dust and scattered. Compared to the first time, the regret that he felt was lessened. They say humans can get used to anything.

Anyways.

Jinwoo looked at the remaining soldiers and used ‘Shadow Storage’.

At the activation of the skill, Ygritte and the Shadow Soldiers melted like ice into flat shadows. Then, their shadows flowed over to Jinwoo and entered his own shadow.

‘So this is what the skill meant by absorbing them…!’

It was exactly as described by the skill; his army was absorbed into his shadow. It all happened in a blink of an eye. The shadow army was nowhere to be seen.

‘...Even after seeing it…’

Jinwoo looked at his shadow with amazement. In that moment, the System rang.

ring~

You’ve tried out all the class-specific skills.

The class advancement is now complete.

The exit will now be created.

‘Is it finally over…?’

It was a long and tough road. Jinwoo took one last look around the Dungeon. The traces of combat littered the area.

Broken knights. Cracked walls. The destroyed pillar.

And the one who destroyed the pillar, the iron golem, which was now a pile of broken armor.

But his trials had resulted in many great boons.

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.

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…