Solo Leveling

Chapter 97

With those words, Baek Yoonho sat straight up.

‘Of all the days, that was the day he woke up?’

- “Ah, to be more accurate, he opened his eyes the day prior.”

Ahn Sangmin corrected himself, but Baek Yoonho did not think that a difference of one day changed anything. The most important thing right now was that there was a possibility the man who left this posting was Hunter Sung Jinwoo.

“...I understand. That should be enough. Thank you for your work.”

Hanging up, Baek Yoonho looked through the folders on his computer and opened up a file. It was the Second Management Division’s report on Sung Jinwoo.

click, click

Baek Yoonho focused on Jinwoo’s activity history above all else. Before a certain point, nothing stood out about the man. Poor income, large amount of injuries, it was an ordinary career of an E-rank Hunter.

But then.

‘The Double Dungeon incident…’

Baek Yoonho was there on that day. The Association had mobilized the closest large Guild in the area, and Baek Yoonho arrived with the primary raiding party to the scene.

siren, siren!

He recalled seeing an unconscious man being carted away on an ambulance.

‘I didn’t know that man was Sung Jinwoo at the time…’

Just what happened in there?

Regardless of what, Sung Jinwoo was completely changed after that day. The man who had quietly worked under the Association suddenly entered a private raiding party and was clearing several C-rank Gates per day. Something definitely happened in that Double Dungeon. Baek Yoonho was certain.

‘This is not an ordinary Reawakening.’

Chief Ahn had hypothesized that Yoojin Construction was testing Hunter Sung Jinwoo’s Reawakening.

‘No.’

That was not enough to explain the explosive growth in the man’s strength after Reawakening. This meant that…

‘...What if he truly is a Hunter that could become stronger?’

Not only that, a growth speed that allowed him to go from an E-rank to an S-rank in matter of months?

“...”

Baek Yoonho shuddered. Of course, it was not a 100% certainty that the man who left that posting on the forum was Hunter Sung Jinwoo. But if it really was, just imagining how much stronger the man could become made Baek Yoonho feel dizzy. And at the same time,

‘I was too foolish.’

He finally understood why Hunter Sung Jinwoo had no interest in the Guilds.

‘When I look at it from his point of view…’

If he had the power to become stronger without a limit, would he join someone else’s Guild? Baek Yoonho shook his head.

‘I’d rather make my own Guild.’

What would the nation’s #1 or #2 Guild mean to such a man? Wherever he ended up would instantly become #1 no matter what.

‘Looks like both Guildmaster Choi and I were gravely mistaken about this.’

Imagining Guildmaster Choi running around looking for Hunter Sung Jinwoo right now, Baek Yoonho laughed.

However.

‘If my theory is correct, this is not something to laugh about.’

Soon, Hunter Sung Jinwoo would become a man standing at the top above the nation’s Hunters. No, forget the nation, the man would receive the attention of the entire world. Baek Yoonho had to change his plans about the young Hunter. Before anything else,

‘I have to meet him and confirm.’

Baek Yoonho nodded. No matter how he thought about it, meeting with Jinwoo was the number one step.

Unfortunately,

‘...How do I ask for his time?’

Baek Yoonho buried his head into his hands.

“...”

Jinwoo had not replied to a single message or call Baek Yoonho had sent. Thinking about contacting him again, the Guildmaster of Baekho already felt a headache coming on. [1]

The chief appraiser replied with shock,

“You picked it up from a Dungeon?”

Jinwoo nodded. It was technically true. He had “picked it up” after defeating Volkhan of Avarice in the Demon Castle “Dungeon”. No part of it was a lie.

‘You can pick something up like this in a Dungeon?’

‘It’s impossible to craft something like this with humanity’s current level of skill.’

The appraiser and both of the appraisal team’s employees looked like they couldn’t believe it, but since the owner had said so, they had to accept it as the truth. To be honest, it did not matter where this red magic tool had come from.

‘What matters is what Hunter-nim wants to do now.’

The team leader stepped forward,

“It looks like it’s the real deal.”

His gaze fell to the marble in Jinwoo’s hand.

“Would you like to leave the auction to us? We guarantee to sell it at the best price.”

What to do? Before he could decide on what to do with the Marble of Avarice, Jinwoo asked a question regarding the other reason he was here,

“Could I by any chance purchase artifacts with flame-resistance magic here?”

The team leader and Kim Junggi looked at each other. With an awkward expression, they turned back to Jinwoo. The S-ranker was confused,

“Did I ask something strange?”

“No, sir.”

“Then is it too hard to obtain a defensive gear with flame-resistance?”

“The truth is…”

The team leader smiled while replying,

“It’s the exact opposite. It’s way too easy to obtain such a gear.”

“I didn’t see on the website?”

“Gears with elemental-enchantments are too high priced that we don’t put it up on the internet. Still, if you wanted, you can obtain something like that in an instant. After all, the most common type of offensive magic is fire-based.”

That made sense. The many Mage-class Hunters Jinwoo had seen in the past all wielded flames or light. Even the S-rank Hunter Choi Jongin was said to specialize in fire magic. On top of that, Jinwoo’s own Shadow Mages used fire magic, and Tusk even breathed fire on his own. That’s how common fire magic was.

‘Well, it’s a good thing if I can obtain them easily.’

The fact that they were high priced bothered him, but there was no cost he couldn’t bear to cure his mother. If he could obtain it quickly, Jinwoo was prepared to pay any price. Even if it meant selling the Marble of Avarice.

“Could you look into it for me?”

“Of course, I’ll do that right now.”

The team leader was about to leave, then turned to Kim Junggi,

“Junggi-ssi, I don’t want the Hunter-nim to just wait around doing nothing. Why don’t you show him some of our items?”

“Ah, I’ll do that.”

Kim Junggi stepped forward,

“Please, follow me.”

The two men went to the exhibition area. It was an area reserved for VIPs, meant to display the top-class items that would be put up for auction or waiting for a buyer. Weapons, armors, Runestones and such were displayed in glass boxes. Jinwoo stopped before a box. Inside of it was a longsword. Kim Junggi came up to him,

“Is there anything that catches your eyes?”

“No, nothing like that.”

Jinwoo knocked on top of the glass box,

crack

“Are you sure it’s a good idea to keep these artifacts in this frail looking glass? It doesn’t look like there are other protective measures.”

Kim Junggi put on a proud expression,

“It may look that way, but these boxes are made of magic power reinforced glass, produced by top crafters. Even if an A-rank Fighter-class Hunter punched it with all their might, it wouldn’t make a crack.”

“If an A-rank punched it…?”

When Jinwoo didn’t look convinced, Kim Junggi smiled widely and spoke,

“If you don’t believe me, why don’t you give it a hit? If it breaks, Hunter-nim can keep the item inside.”

“Hmm…”

Could this reinforced glass be that strong?

‘I do sense magic power in it.’

Out of curiosity, Jinwoo gathered strength in his right arm. With it, his shoulders and arm bulged and the surrounding air became thick with power.

“H-hold on!”

Kim Junggi quickly stopped him,

“I was just joking. I didn’t mean for you to actually hit it.”

“Oh, okay.”

“If it really breaks, the elites of Hunters Guild will come running. Our auction has a defense contract with them, you see.”

“Ah.”

It didn’t seem like the main was joking earlier. Whatever. Jinwoo released his strength. When the oppressive pressure disappeared from the S-ranker, Kim Junggi sighed in relief.

‘Wait, wasn’t this man a Mage-class Hunter?’

What kind of a Mage-class Hunter gave off that level of physical presence…? In reality, Kim Junggi meant what he said to Jinwoo. The man thought that the physical strength of a Mage-class Hunter, even if that man was an S-ranker, wouldn’t be that great. But when the Hunter flexed his muscles, every hair on his body stood up and screamed at him instinctively to stop whatever the S-ranker was going to do. Thankfully, Jinwoo backed off casually.

‘Well, Hunter-nim’s hands could’ve gotten hurt.’

Kim Junggi calmed himself with that line of thought and guided Jinwoo through the other artifacts. Having made a round around the room, Jinwoo asked,

“Is there a weapon I can hold? Something like a dagger?”

He was not particularly looking to buy a weapon here, but looking around the artifacts on display, Jinwoo was curious on what the top-class weapons were like. Kim Junggi’s face brightened. There was a reason why all these items were on display; it was for moments like this. Hunters were sellers but also valuable buyers.

“Of course, sir.”

Kim Junggi spoke into a microphone at the cuff of his shirt and called the employee in charge of the weapons. The weapon specialist ran over in a flash.

“This is him?”

When the specialist asked with his eyes, Kim Junggi nodded.

“Ah, pleased to meet you. I’m the one in charge of the weapons. Please, follow me.”

The weapon specialist took Jinwoo and left the VIP exhibition room. After the two men left, Kim Junggi sighed deeply again.

‘Hunter Sung Jinwoo-nim sure has a knack for surprising people.’

After calming himself, Kim Junggi looked around the room without much thought. He came in front of the display case with the longsword Jinwoo was looking at. Worried that maybe there was a dirty mark on the case, the employee looked over the case when he noticed something.

“Hmm?”

It was on top of the glass case.

“What?”

On the glass pane, there was a barely visible crack.

“When did this happen?”

He took out a small towel and tried to wipe it away but couldn’t. He confirmed that it was really a crack and not a dirty mark.

“Dammit.”

Kim Junggi scrunched his face. If a valuable customer like Hunter Sung Jinwoo noticed this, how disappointed would he have been? Thankfully, it did not seem like the S-ranker had noticed.

While clicking his tongue, Kim Junggi notified the maintenance team and left the room.

Jinwoo held up the dagger the weapon specialist showed him. To be honest, it was… disappointing.

‘It’s worse than the B-rank Knight Killer.’

The attack power displayed by the System wasn’t even half of Knight Killer. Jinwoo returned the dagger with disappointment and asked,

“How much is it?”

“Thirty million won.”

Jinwoo’s eyes opened wide. How much did this piece of crap cost?

“Excuse me, how much?”

“Thirty million won, Hunter-nim.”

“Hold on.”

Jinwoo turned around and pretended to go through his pockets. He summoned Knight Killer and turned around.

“How much would this go for?”

This time, the employee’s eyes opened wide.

“Is this Hunter-nim’s item? Whoa, I feel an elite crafter’s skills all over it!”

Er… No… It’s just a shop item…

After a moment of review, the employee spoke while smiling,

“I’m not an official appraiser, so it’s hard for me to say, but it looks like it could go for at least a hundred million won.”

Jinwoo’s face froze.

‘I bought this for three million gold in the shop.’ [2]

To be more accurate, 2.8 million gold. Reading his expression, the employee scratched the back of his head in embarrassment,

“Was I wrong? I apologize, I’m a weapon specialist, so I may have spoken out of my place.”

“No, it’s nothing like that.”

He was just shocked at the price of his item. Well, if he thought about it, even Kim Sangshik’s Steel Sword he used was said to cost three million won. And Yoo Jinho’s expensive gear that didn’t see much use cost hundreds of millions of won. The fact that the System’s powerful items went for a high price in the real world wasn’t that crazy.

‘I just didn’t pay much attention to it.’

He lost interest in money a long time ago.

‘Wait…’

His inventory was filled to the brim with gold. What if he could exchange that gold for real money by selling the System’s shop items? Jinwoo’s head ran with quick calculations...

‘...I don’t have to sell the Marble of Avarice.’

When his mind reached that thought.

WAAAAH-

Was he mistaken?

Jinwoo swore he heard cheering coming from the mages in his shadow. [3]

Notes:

[1]: Heh heh heh, remember all those times Jinwoo looked at his phone and saw missed calls from an unknown number? “If it’s important, the person will call again”? Heh heh heh

[2]: Just a reminder, the last time we see Jinwoo’s funds, it’s 900 million gold, and this is BEFORE he fights Volkhan half way. He climbs about 20 floors after that. 3 million gold = $100k item. Wonder how fast MC’s math is?

[3]: YES, THANK YOU. EVEN THE SHADOW ARMY KNOWS HOW FUCKING STUPID IT IS TO SELL THE MARBLE. HANDS DOWN THE #1 DUMBEST FUCKING THING THIS MC HAS CONSIDERED.