Solo Leveling : Ragnarok - Chapter 117

[Fassad Island]

‘Fassad’ was a small island located in the Pacific Ocean, known as the smallest republic in the world.

Among the full member states of the United Nations, it had one of the smallest populations and was an independent nation with an area only about a quarter of Jeju Island.

Despite its size, Fassad was a surprisingly wealthy country.

The island itself was made of phosphorite formed by accumulated guano (animal excrement). Mining the immense amount of phosphorite buried within the island had brought it enormous wealth.

With a small population compared to its income, its per capita wealth was even higher.

However, when the Great Cataclysm occurred, problems arose precisely due to this small population.

With fewer people, there were naturally fewer awakened Hunters, the only force capable of defending against gates.

When gates began to appear, the island found itself gravely unprepared to fend off the threats.

And eventually…

‘That day’ arrived.

‘Dungeon Break’.

The island, with its insufficient number of Hunters, was swallowed by the blue mist before it could mount any resistance.

It had turned into a field-type dungeon.

The president of Fassad belatedly attempted to hire foreign Hunters as mercenaries by spending enormous amounts of money. However, by then, the situation had already spiraled out of control.

Ordinary citizens without any magical aptitude began turning into Mistborne and running amok everywhere.

In essence, Fassad was destroyed that day.

“…Back then, information about the Mistborne and magical aptitude hadn’t yet spread globally.”

“…”

Suho, aboard Thomas Andre’s private jet en route to Fassad, was being briefed on the situation by Laura.

“That’s how Fassad, as a nation, disappeared. While there are still a handful of survivors living there, they’re effectively refugees from a fallen state.”

“Though it’s hard to say if it’s fortunate or unfortunate, the country’s president is still alive,” Thomas remarked as he leisurely gazed at the clouds outside, arms crossed.

Suho turned to him with a questioning look.

“Did the president awaken as a Hunter?”

“That’s right. Lucky, isn’t it? But the first thing he did after awakening was kill his own family, who had turned into Mistborne. You could also say he was terribly unlucky.”

“…”

Suho could say nothing in response, struck by the sheer tragedy of the situation.

Laura adjusted her glasses and continued her briefing.

“These days, experts say that during a Dungeon Break, the most dangerous threat isn’t the monsters but the blue mist leaking from the gate itself.”

Suho nodded in agreement.

Through his past experiences, he had learned that the monsters were essentially just refugees wandering the dimensional cracks.

While their ferocious nature drove them to instinctively attack and devour humans, the more fundamental problem lay in the blue mist.

Suho suddenly recalled a conversation he had once shared with Beru and Rakan’s Fang.

[This blue mist is magical energy from the Outer Gods. Its purpose is to forcefully pierce dimensional barriers and create fractures in the world.]

– That’s right. This mist caused the sanctuary I was in to drift across the dimensional cracks until it connected to Earth.

[Ultimately, the Outer Gods’ goal is to spread this mist across Earth, triggering a Great Fracture. They aim to create a massive rift large enough for their armies to cross dimensions.]

‘…And the more monsters soaked in the blue mist spread, like the swamp I saw yesterday, the more the contaminated areas will expand.’

Suho’s expression grew grim as he recalled the swamp expanding in real time yesterday.

Fortunately, Hunters had been nearby to address the situation quickly. Without them, it would have turned into yet another field-type dungeon, like those Suho had encountered countless times before.

Those dungeons were at least contained by surrounding them with sturdy barbed wire, preventing the monsters from escaping and spreading further.

Efforts to harness the power of magic stones to repel monsters from these barriers had recently made the containment zones even safer.

But Fassad Island, surrounded entirely by the ocean, had been fully consumed by the mist before such specialized equipment could be developed.

“We’ve arrived.”

Shortly after, their jet landed on the shores of Fassad Island.

As the door opened, a biting cold greeted Suho.

“…Huh? We’ve… arrived?”

Ryo Singh, who had been sprawled asleep in the seat next to him, woke up shivering and removed his eye mask.

Laura glanced at Ryo Singh and asked Suho, “Why did you bring this Indian Hunter along? Are you working in collaboration with the Asura Guild?”

“I help Suho. Came as translator,” Ryo Singh proudly declared.

Despite his limited Korean, Ryo was a scholar fluent in four languages.

‘I can’t let Scavenger take Sung Suho away.’

Since most members of the Scavenger Guild were American, English was essential for communication. But Suho didn’t speak English.

Using this as leverage, Ryo had persistently requested to join the expedition as a translator.

‘As long as I stay by Suho’s side while Thomas Andre ensures our safety, he’ll grow reliant on me.’

Ryo’s eyes sparkled with confidence in his flawless plan.

But the real problem lay elsewhere.

Outside the jet, members of the Scavenger Guild, who had arrived earlier, had set up camp and were waiting for Thomas Andre.

“Guild Master!”

“The Guild Master has arrived!”

With heavy footsteps and menacing looks, the Scavenger Guild members surged toward Thomas Andre, their leader.

“Thomas! Why are you so late— Gah!”

“Shut up, you idiots.”

Thomas Andre kicked the first guy who ran up to him and then scanned the faces of his guild members with a menacing grin.

“Cold, isn’t it?”

“What kind of question is that?!”

“Who leaves elites like us stranded here?”

“We could’ve cleared at least one more dungeon instead of wasting time here!”

“It’s freezing! So cold!”

At Thomas Andre’s single remark, the guild members erupted into a chorus of complaints.

Every single one of them had a face full of dissatisfaction.

Still, having seen one of their comrades get kicked earlier, their initial boldness had somewhat diminished.

“But, boss, who are those kids?”

One of them gestured toward Suho and Ryo Singh, who were standing near Thomas.

Surrounded by the massive Scavenger guild members, the two looked exceptionally small in comparison.

“What? Don’t tell me you kept us waiting just to bring those guys along?”

“They look weak.”

“Well, their mana feels like it’s about a B-rank at best.”

“So what if they’re B-rank? With those scrawny bodies, they’ll be useless here.”

The Scavenger guild members, who had been on the island for several days already, openly scrutinized Suho and his group with displeased expressions.

Suho, however, remained indifferent.

‘What are they saying?’

He didn’t understand English, but the hostility in their expressions was enough to gauge their feelings.

“Boss, did you seriously make us wait here in the cold just for these guys?”

“Ah, come on, seriously— Gah!”

Another guild member complaining got promptly kicked by Thomas.

Their reactions, however, were understandable.

The tank who had just been knocked down got back up with an angry expression and protested to Thomas Andre.

“Boss, you’ve never been here before, have you? In this cold, Hunters with weak physiques can’t function properly. Even we are struggling after just three days here.”

“Exactly. And the problem is, this is the area outside the dungeon.”

Indeed, the private jet had landed in the outermost region of the field-type dungeon.

It was the equivalent of standing just outside the barbed wire in Korea.

Yet, the area had already turned into an arctic wasteland, resembling Antarctica.

It was a true glacial zone.

“If you bring guys like them into the glacial dungeon, they’ll just become deadweight. I’ve never seen anyone like them make it out alive.”

“So, what do they even do? Tanking is obviously out. Are they damage dealers?”

A guild member glanced at the sword in Ryo Singh’s hand and chuckled.

The problem arose when his gaze shifted past Ryo Singh and landed on Suho.

“Why doesn’t this one even have a weapon? Is he a mage?”

“Um…”

Thomas Andre looked slightly awkward at the question.

Leaving the guild members stranded here in the cold for several days didn’t really bother him. He knew his guild members weren’t weaklings; they had likely spent the time hunting monsters in the area.

The real issue was explaining Suho.

Fortunately, Laura stepped in at the right moment.

“This is Sung Suho, a C-rank Summoner from Korea.”

“Huh?”

“Summoner?”

“Did I hear that right?”

Though her explanation was truthful, it only made the guild members more incredulous.

Eventually, one of the massive Scavenger guild members strode up to Suho.

A full head taller than Suho, he glared down at him, grinding his teeth.

“A Summoner, huh? So, kid, what can you summon? How about summoning a firefly to warm us up?”

The problem, however, was Suho’s poor grasp of English.

He had no idea what the guy had said. Fortunately, Ryo Singh quickly translated for him.

“Suho, he’s asking if you can summon something. Can you?”

“Summon? Oh, right.”

Suho, realizing what they were asking, took out the Shadow Dungeon Key.

He inserted it into his shadow and said, “Come out, Esil.”

‘Shuuuuuuu!’

“Did you call me?”

“…!”

“…!”

From Suho’s shadow emerged Esil.

The sight left the Scavenger guild members, who had been staring at Suho with disdain, utterly dumbfounded.

“A… person?!”

“He summoned a person?!”

“What the hell is this?!”

Even Thomas Andre, who had brought Suho along, was momentarily shocked.

Esil had been staying in Suho’s Shadow Dungeon during their flight to avoid any issues with international visas.

Although she had been registered as a Hunter with Yoo Jinho’s help for guild purposes, Esil was fundamentally a demon.

Handling visa issuance for her was a complicated matter.

“Suho, you summon people? Summoned beings?”

Even Ryo Singh, who had seen Esil before in Egypt, was flustered by her sudden appearance from Suho’s shadow.

Esil recognized him immediately.

“Huh? Isn’t that the guy we saw back in the pyramid?”

“C-companion? Summon? Person?”

Meanwhile, Ryo Singh’s mind was spiraling into chaos.

‘This is bad.’

The sense of crisis loomed over him.

Now there were two interpreters.