Solo Leveling : Ragnarok - Chapter 21

A grand chandelier hung from the ceiling, casting a dazzling glow across the room. Expensive bottles of liquor were set on the table. Vice President Lee Min-seong was, as usual, heavily drunk in the VIP room.

Typically, the room would be filled with loud laughter and intimate encounters, but today, the atmosphere was different.

Crash!

“Ahh!”

The sound of a glass shattering startled one of the hostesses, who let out a scream.

“What’s gotten into our oppa today? Why is he in such a foul mood~?”

A few moments later, a madam entered the room, wearing a graceful smile, and sat next to him. With a subtle gesture, she dismissed the other staff, who quickly slipped out of the room, leaving it in silence.

Pouring a fresh glass of liquor, the madam kept a close eye on Lee Min-seong. He had been glaring at his phone with a furious expression since earlier.

‘What’s going on?’

She sneaked a glance at the screen he was looking at.

‘Comments?’

A slight frown formed on her face.

—

**Online Comments:**

– “So, who’s the Hunter that wiped out the Hyena Guild?”

– “Yeah, I heard someone went into Gwanaksan alone and saved everyone. Who could it be?”

– “Amazing. Seriously, who is this person?”

– “Info: The survivors didn’t see his face because he was wearing a mask.”

– “Why hide his face after doing such a good deed? Is he a secret power? A ‘strength hidden for later’?”

– “Isn’t it obvious? There’s a rumor that the Hyenas are backed by the Reaper Guild. Of course, he has to hide his identity.”

– “Exactly. Whoever it is, don’t get caught. Reaper Guild will retaliate immediately. LOL.”

—

The internet was still abuzz with talk about the Gwanaksan incident. People were enthusiastically speculating about the identity of the Hunter who supposedly resolved the incident alone, but there was hardly any evidence to go on.

—

– “But really, who could it be?”

– “Considering they defeated the boss monster alone, they must be at least an A-rank Hunter, right?”

– “Nah, if their skills are good enough, even a B-rank could theoretically do it.”

– “Nah, even a C-rank or D-rank could manage if their skills are right.”

– “D-rank? LOL.”

– “Oh, come on, keep your fantasies in your diary.”

—

Thousands, even tens of thousands of comments were filled with curiosity about the Hunter’s identity. While there were plenty of nonsensical remarks and jokes among them, the overall sentiment boiled down to one word:

**Hero.**

As more of the Hyena Guild’s malicious actions came to light, their public image grew increasingly sinister. In contrast, the favorability of the Hunter who single-handedly destroyed them was soaring nationwide.

“What? They still haven’t figured out his identity?”

At that moment, the madam’s offhand comment caused Lee Min-seong’s expression to twist in anger.

Gritting his teeth, he glared at her.

“Are you mocking me?”

“Oh my, of course not. I’m genuinely concerned. How incompetent must your informants be if you’re resorting to looking for hints in online comments?”

His teeth ground together audibly.

“They’ll ruin their teeth like that. Anyway, didn’t you tell your informants to go speak with the survivors? What did they say?”

“…He wielded dual swords.”

“And?”

“And he summoned beasts.”

“Summoned? Oh my.”

The madam covered her mouth in feigned surprise.

“How curious. Is there even a summoner capable of something like this?”

“There isn’t.”

“None?”

“A mere summoner taking down that Brocky? That’s absolutely impossible.”

Having seen the massive hyena, Brocky, with his own eyes, Lee Min-seong was certain.

“That summoning skill is clearly a diversion tactic to confuse the information. It could be an illusion skill, or perhaps it wasn’t just one person. Maybe the summoner was hiding behind. Yes, that’s it.”

No matter how much he thought about it, this wasn’t something a single individual could pull off.

In any case, the most significant fact remained:

The Hunter had killed Brocky with dual swords.

“By that logic, anyone could have held a pair of swords, right?”

“Exactly. Which means we have no real information.”

“How boring~.”

The madam took a sip from her glass with a disappointed expression.

‘Here I thought there was something more interesting going on, but it seems he’s just upset. How childish.’

But she understood.

Lee Min-seong had always been a winner, from birth until now. Born with a silver spoon, a K-pop star in his youth, and when the Cataclysm struck, he awakened as an A-rank Hunter. His life had been smooth sailing, like the universe revolved around him.

‘Then suddenly, his chauffeur turned into an S-rank Hunter.’

It happened just as Lee Min-seong awakened and the whole world was congratulating him. That very evening, his longtime friend and chauffeur, Im Tae-gyu, unexpectedly became an S-rank.

In that moment, Lee Min-seong…

Was blinded by jealousy.

A hierarchy that seemed unchangeable had flipped in an instant.

‘Well, it makes him easier to handle, though.’

People with such complexes are easily manipulated.

The madam chuckled and poured more liquor into Lee Min-seong’s glass.

“Don’t worry too much. Sooner or later, they’ll get caught. Now, how about we discuss our business?”

“Hmm.”

At her words, Lee Min-seong’s expression became calm.

“Stardust.”

The madam asked with a seductive smile.

“There were a few defective products in the latest batch.”

“There are no defects in the product. If anyone is defective, it’s the person who consumed it.”

“Defective people? How defective must they be to die from taking a magic enhancer? Who would dare use it now?”

Contrary to her words, the madam did not look afraid at all. And neither did Lee Min-seong…

“How many died?”

“Hmm. As far as I know, about 30. Strangely, all of them were low-rank Hunters. Are they really the defective ones?”

“Only the low ranks died… It seems Stardust still depends on one’s magical constitution. Hmm.”

Despite the deaths, Lee Min-seong focused solely on the effects of the experimental product without a hint of emotion.

“So, when will the next batch be available?”

The madam pressed on, still smiling.

“Everyone who survived is eagerly waiting for the next shipment.”

“Soon.”

Lee Min-seong glared coldly at the madam, who continued to cajole him with a sly grin.

“Why don’t you try urging the demons?”

—

**Meanwhile, Su-ho was facing an important decision.**

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

[**Blessed Random Box**]

Provides the ‘Player’ with a desired item.

[**Cursed Random Box**]

Provides the ‘Player’ with a needed item.

[Which will you choose?]

“Desired and needed? What kind of wordplay is this?”

[While it may sound like wordplay, these two choices for this hidden reward have a clear difference.]

Beru, who was observing from the side, offered an explanation.

[“A ‘desired’ item might not be what you need upon receiving it. Conversely, a ‘needed’ item might turn out to be something you don’t want at all.”]

“So that’s why it’s called the Cursed Random Box.”

[Indeed. For example, if you need a powerful weapon, it could give you a terrible bomb that blows up everything around you, including yourself…!]

“Would it really do that? This system, which my father passed down to me, wouldn’t give me something dangerous as a quest reward, right?”

[Haha, you have a point.]

Su-ho didn’t need to think any further.

“I’ll go with the Cursed Random Box.”

[Oh! You choose that one? How bold!]

“My level is still low, so I’m not even sure what I want specifically. But there are plenty of things I need.”

Not knowing what items lay beyond the system, the scope of his imagination was too vague.

Su-ho grinned as he made his choice.

“Besides, my father always knew what I needed better than I did.”

[This reward is given by the system, not your father…]

“Same difference.”

Su-ho replied casually, extending his hand. A small box appeared in it, tied with a ribbon on a plain wrapping.

He carefully opened the box.

Ding!

[You have obtained the ‘Item: Horn of Volkan.’]

The box disappeared, and in its place, a sword appeared in Su-ho’s hand.

“What’s this?”

[**Item: Horn of Volkan**]

**Acquisition Difficulty:** ??

**Type:** Sword

**Attack Power:** +40

A sword made from the horn of the greedy demon Volkan. It contains Volkan’s power, inflicting more damage.

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

– **Effect ‘Demon Devourer’:** The power of Volkan grows stronger as it devours the souls of demons.

[**Devoured Demon Souls:** 0]

As he read the item description, Su-ho’s eyes widened.

“A growth-type item!”

[Hiii!]

The description about ‘physical damage increased by [30%]’ clearly suggested that the damage percentage would increase as more demons were hunted!

Moreover, its base attack power was 10 points higher than Rakhan’s Fang!

– *Ahem. But I have the effects ‘Scorn of the Weak’ and ‘Critical Wound’, so if you compare, I’m still somewhat…*

Rakhan’s Fang muttered from the side, but no one was paying attention.

“This is amazing! It’s exactly the kind of item I needed.”

Su-ho grinned with satisfaction and lifted the Horn of Volkan with one hand.

Whoosh!

As he swung it around, it sliced through the air with a powerful whooshing sound, like a windmill.

Though, the sword was a bit heavy.

Su-ho immediately allocated all the attribute points he had received as his daily quest reward to strength, making it much easier to handle.

“I really like this. Now I just need some demons.”

However, he hadn’t heard of any dungeons recently where demon-type monsters appeared.

‘It seems they were wiped out long ago.’

Maybe he should go online and search for some information.

Su-ho pulled out a key to the Shadow Dungeon.

Shwaa!

[You have exited the Shadow Dungeon.]

Upon exiting, he found five missed calls on his phone. The caller was Instructor Im.

“Why is Instructor calling?”

Puzzled, he immediately returned the call.

What he heard was an unexpected offer.

“Su-ho, would you like to do some part-time work?”

“All of a sudden?”

“Yeah. A few of the collectors who were supposed to show up suddenly ghosted us.”

—

“Thanks so much for coming, Su-ho! You really saved us!”

Instructor Im seemed ready to bow down to Su-ho when he arrived on time.

“I mean, it’s rare for something like this to happen, but today of all days, several people went AWOL at once.”

“Did they even sign contracts?”

“They did! I’m telling you!”

Instructor Im clenched his fists, recalling the Hunters who suddenly vanished without a word.

“Those bastards are probably somewhere, getting drunk and passed out together.”

His anger was justified.

Collectors and miners usually worked in teams, so in cases like this, the entire team would be fined for breaching the contract.

But now, there was nothing to worry about.

Because Su-ho had come!

Instructor Im placed his hands on Su-ho’s shoulders and spoke seriously.

“Su-ho, today, you really need to perform like a hundred men. We’re counting on you.”

What he was counting on was Su-ho’s summoning skill.

Even during the last mining operation, Su-ho’s summons had done an outstanding job.

“I’ll double your pay since we called you in on short notice.”

[**Double?**]

Beru suddenly appeared, glaring at Instructor Im with wide eyes.

Instructor Im, startled, quickly corrected himself.

“Uh, I mean, yes, of course. We’ll pay you double. No, we’ll offer double as tribute.”

[That’s better. And since you’ve brought such a distinguished guest to this humble place, make sure to keep that stance.]

Beru looked at him with an expression that seemed to say, ‘Or I’ll devour your head whole…’

Meanwhile, Su-ho turned his head slightly to look at the dungeon they were about to enter today.

[Seoul Station Field]

**Dangerous Area**

The entrance to the subway station was shrouded in a creeping blue mist.

The Seoul Station Field had been abandoned for a year because the underground levels were too deep and the layout was too complicated.

Looking at it, Su-ho had a sudden thought.

The Cursed Random Box that claimed to provide the item he needed.

And the Horn of Volkan that came out of it.

Was the reason he received this demon-devouring sword simply because he needed dual swords?

Or was it because he would soon have to face a demon?

“Instructor, so what are we hunting today?”

Su-ho asked with a sly grin.