Solo Leveling : Ragnarok - Chapter 22

“Su-ho, you still don’t have your own protective gear, do you? Here, put this on.”

Instructor Im handed Su-ho a thick outfit in front of Seoul Station.

It turned out to be a one-piece work suit, with the top and bottom connected.

“And here are the gloves and work boots. Make sure to wear them as well.”

“Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it. I called you in suddenly, so it’s natural you didn’t have time to prepare. Consider this a learning experience. Protective gear is essential for collectors.”

Following his previous lecture about miners, Instructor Im continued his lesson on collectors.

“Collecting is much more dangerous than mining.”

Miners usually face little risk, except in special circumstances like the Korea University Field incident. As long as they mined safely at the very back of a dungeon where all the hunting had already been completed, they were generally fine.

“But collectors are different.”

Collectors had to position themselves between the raiding party and the mining team. To collect the corpses of beasts hunted by the raiding party, they had to closely follow behind. Naturally, this led to frequent accidents where collectors were ambushed by beasts the raiding party missed.

“Usually, it’s only one or two beasts, so as long as you’re careful when they suddenly appear, the raiding party will rush to save you.”

“So the protective gear is for that one critical moment.”

“That’s right. But it’s actually more useful when collecting the corpses. If the beasts have sharp spikes or scales, ordinary clothing would get torn during the job.”

“Instructor…”

“Hey, don’t get too emotional. It’s nothing compared to what you’ve done for me.”

“No, it smells like a bachelor’s life.”

“…It’s because I live alone.”

—

**A little later.**

The raiding party hunters arrived at the scene.

Su-ho calmly observed them.

The team had ten members in total.

‘Four D-rank magic-type Hunters, five D-rank combat-type Hunters, and one C-rank healer.’

The C-rank male healer seemed to be the leader of the raiding party.

However, the leader quickly walked toward where Su-ho was standing and glared directly at Instructor Im.

“What’s this? Why is the collection team so small?”

Instructor Im bowed his head apologetically.

“I’m terribly sorry. For some reason, the collectors decided to bail on us all at once. But we have this friend here today…”

“What? Are you serious? We have a contract, and this is incredibly irresponsible! Do you have any idea how much it costs if our schedule gets delayed?”

“No, no. There won’t be any delays. This friend here is actually a summoner, so there won’t be any problems with the work…”

“What? Are you kidding me? A summoner?”

The more Instructor Im spoke, the more the leader’s expression grew harsher. He looked Su-ho up and down.

Su-ho stood still, unfazed.

Instructor Im quickly stepped in front of him and tried to smooth things over.

“Captain, you really don’t need to worry. This guy’s summons will make up for the missing people. I specifically brought him in because he’s reliable.”

The captain let out a heavy sigh.

“Seriously? So you’re saying you didn’t bother to bring in replacements and just relied on this one guy? You’re still getting paid the full amount!”

As his voice grew louder, the other raiding party members began to gather around.

“Captain, what’s going on?”

“What’s the deal? Why is the collection team so small?”

“How are we supposed to get the job done like this?”

The collectors, surrounded by the cold stares of the raiding party, started to shrink back.

The raiding party’s anger was understandable.

If the number of collectors was insufficient, the speed of the work would slow down. Consequently, the raiding party’s hunting pace would also have to slow down. The primary purpose of the hunt was to make money by selling the beast corpses; hunting without a collection team was pointless.

Moreover, in this Seoul Station Field, there were no magic stones or minerals to collect, so they had to rely solely on the beast corpses for profit.

“Captain, forget it. We know how unreliable these day-laborers are. It’s not the first time we’ve seen it. We can’t change today’s schedule now, so let’s just go in and make do.”

“Yeah, Captain, let’s get going instead of wasting time here.”

With his team members urging him, the captain gave one last warning to Instructor Im.

“Anyway, if there’s even a slight delay today, I’ll report you to the Association. I’ll make sure you can never do collection work again.”

“Yes, yes. We’ll do our best. Please trust us.”

As the ten raiding party members took turns voicing their frustrations, Instructor Im, standing in the middle, looked utterly defeated.

He had no choice but to keep his head down, as he had some fault in the situation. However, he felt wronged as well.

‘Why am I, who’s not even the collection team leader, taking all the blame…?’

In reality, the actual collection team leader was one of the collectors who bailed. So Instructor Im, who was only the nominal vice-leader, was left bowing his head like a criminal.

Fortunately, his experience in bowing to professors seemed to help, as the captain’s anger appeared to cool down a bit.

“Tsk. This is why I can’t stand lower-ranked Hunters.”

The captain clicked his tongue and turned to leave, but just then…

“Arise.”

Kehehehe—

“What the hell!”

Suddenly, a sinister laugh echoed through the air, causing the Hunters to jump and look around.

[Cackle, cackle!]

Out of nowhere, black beasts emerged from the ground!

Wicked goblins, their bodies cloaked in black smoke, were giggling menacingly at the Hunters. But their size was much larger than that of ordinary goblins.

“Go-goblin squad leaders? No, even a hundred-man captain!”

“Why are the beasts outside the field…!”

The raiding party members hastily drew their weapons.

‘Damn! How did they get so close without being detected?’

“These aren’t normal beasts!”

“Everyone, battle positions!”

“Captain! Move back!”

The basic strategy of any raiding party is to protect the healer!

They quickly formed a defensive line and faced the goblins, ready to fight…

[Cackle?]

Fight…

[Cackle?]

“…Huh?”

But the goblins showed no intention of fighting.

[Cackle, cackle?]

“…Uh?”

The black goblins tilted their heads, as if wondering why everyone was so angry.

Seeing that the goblins weren’t attacking, the raiding party members awkwardly stood there with their weapons drawn.

“Ahem.”

Instructor Im cleared his throat and stepped in between them.

“Well, Captain, these are the summons I mentioned earlier.”

“…Oh.”

Only then did the raiding party members understand the situation. Looking around, they realized that the collectors seemed to already be aware of this and were just watching them quietly.

In the end, it was only the raiding party members who had been startled and made a fuss.

“I see… right.”

“There are… quite a few of them.”

“One, two, seven of them.”

“Yes, that’s twice as many as the missing collectors.”

“Ahem.”

At Instructor Im’s words, the raiding party members finally looked embarrassed and averted their gazes.

Instructor Im gave Su-ho a discreet thumbs up. Su-ho smirked back.

In fact, he had already extracted these seven shadow goblins during his daily quests, so there was no need to go through the hassle of picking up the corpses again.

“Alright, let’s head in.”

As Su-ho moved, the shadow goblins followed in a group behind him.

Passing by the raiding party, who were still standing awkwardly, Su-ho muttered as he walked by.

“Try not to fall behind.”

“….”

—

**With that, they officially entered the Seoul Station Field.**

The inside of Seoul Station, which had already been overrun, was pitch black due to the lack of electricity. The walls and floors were covered in strange vines and moss.

“Be careful; it’s slippery underfoot.”

The captain, walking ahead, signaled to his companions.

“Secure the visibility.”

With a whoosh, fireballs appeared in the hands of the magic-type Hunters, hovering around them.

Thanks to the increased light, they could now see the faint blue mist that hung in the air.

Simultaneously, the true nature of the beasts hiding in the darkness was revealed.

“Shaaah!”

Spiked lizards crawled along the walls and ceiling from all directions!

“Everyone, battle positions!”

At the captain’s command, the Hunters charged forward, using their skills. Meanwhile, the captain, as the healer, was being protected at the rear of the formation.

A hint of embarrassment still lingered on his face.

“Collectors… follow us carefully and begin your work. Spiked lizard corpses can fetch a good price.”

‘No demons here, huh?’

Su-ho clicked his tongue in disappointment. It seemed the Cursed Random Box had simply given him a sword that suited his dual-wielding needs without any deeper meaning.

Still, it was worthwhile to have come here with Instructor Im.

‘This is the first time I’m seeing other Hunters in battle.’

As he loaded the lizard corpses onto the cart, Su-ho kept a close eye on the raiding party’s combat.

Watching multiple Hunters coordinate their different abilities and skills to fight was certainly entertaining.

‘So this is how a raiding party operates. This is useful.’

To efficiently manage his seven shadow soldiers, Su-ho realized it was necessary to learn group combat tactics whenever the opportunity arose.

So far, he had only summoned the same type of beast due to the circumstances, but in the future, he wanted to command various beasts simultaneously for more strategic battles.

To do that, he needed to collect and store various types of beast corpses in the Shadow Dungeon.

‘That’s why I’m doing this collection job.’

The reason Su-ho readily accepted Instructor Im’s offer was clear. The role of a collector was perfect for acquiring beast corpses.

Moreover, the collector’s job wasn’t difficult for Su-ho at all.

“Pick it up.”

[Cackle!]

“Load it onto the cart.”

[Cackle!]

At Su-ho’s command, the shadow goblins moved in unison, collecting the dead lizards. All Su-ho had to do was follow leisurely behind them as if he were taking a stroll.

Meanwhile, Beru was discreetly sneaking a few of the dead lizards into the Shadow Dungeon.

There were so many lizards that a few missing wouldn’t be noticed.

Crunch, crunch.

Of course, some lizards also disappeared into Beru’s mouth as a snack.

Then a problem arose.

Su-ho was doing the job too well.

The collector’s job was essentially to pick up the beast corpses and load them onto the cart. However, if the beast was large, they had to be cut into pieces with a saw or knife, which was the most laborious and time-consuming task.

For E-rank Hunters, cutting through the tough skin and bones of a beast was no easy feat.

But for the shadow soldiers made up of goblin squad and hundred-man captains, it was nothing.

[Cackle, cackle!]

Thanks to their efforts, the collection team’s work speed surpassed that of the raiding party’s hunting speed.

As a result, the collectors ended up standing around with nothing to do, just waiting for the hunting to end.

“Yaaawn.”

“Ugh.”

Seeing Instructor Im yawning behind them, the raiding party turned red with embarrassment.

If only he hadn’t said, “Don’t fall behind,” they wouldn’t be in this awkward situation.

It was then.

“Wait. Stop the fight.”

The captain suddenly halted the hunt and walked toward the collection team with a stern expression.

He came directly to where Su-ho was standing.

‘What’s this about?’

‘Is he looking for trouble again?’

The collectors’ expressions turned serious at his fierce demeanor.

Step.

The captain finally stopped in front of Su-ho.

“Hey, you.”

He looked Su-ho directly in the eyes and spoke with a firm tone.

“Would you consider joining our raiding party?”

[Hehe.]

Hearing this, Beru nodded proudly from behind.

[Indeed, our young lord’s exceptional talents shine wherever he goes. Quite a perceptive fellow…]

“Become our exclusive collector!”

[What? This bug?]

“You have a natural talent for collection… We’ll offer the highest salary in the collection industry…”

Beru glared at the captain with blazing eyes, ready to kill him, but Instructor Im quickly intervened to calm him down.