Solo Leveling : Ragnarok - Chapter 44

Suho reached toward the light emanating from Kwak Duyoung’s chest.

Ding!

[You have discovered ‘Rune Stone: Giant’s Armor.’ Would you like to acquire it?]

‘A rune stone?’

It seemed the skill Kwak Duyoung had used had manifested as a rune stone.

This was the first time something like this had happened.

Out of all the villains he had killed today, only Kwak Duyoung had produced such an item.

‘Confirm.’

[Rune Stone: Giant’s Armor]

If you break the rune stone, you will absorb the skill.

‘Giant’s Armor, huh.’

It was the skill that had made Kwak Duyoung’s body grow huge earlier.

Given the value of the rune stone, selling it could easily fetch tens of billions.

‘But it would be a waste to sell it.’

Money could be earned later.

For now, becoming stronger took priority.

Besides, while he hadn’t been making much as an E-rank hunter, he had just received his new C-rank hunter license today.

Considering the significant difference in pay between E-rank and C-rank hunters, selling the rune stone for money would be a foolish decision.

“Excuse me… Mr. Crow?”

Just then, a voice called from behind him.

The association hunters, who had already freed themselves from the prison, were now cautiously approaching Suho.

“A-Are you alright?”

Their expressions were mixed with fear as they looked at Suho.

And it was no surprise. After all, Suho had single-handedly annihilated more than fifty Grim Reaper Guild members and had even beaten the B-rank tank, Kwak Duyoung, to death with brute strength.

They had witnessed the entire savage battle unfold right in front of their eyes, so it was natural for them to feel apprehensive.

Even though Suho had helped them, they couldn’t be completely sure he was on their side.

Smirk.

“You don’t need to worry; I have no intention of being hostile. Why don’t you go ahead and arrest them?” Suho said, gesturing to the defeated Grim Reaper Guild members.

“Oh.”

“Ahem.”

The association hunters awkwardly averted their gazes, embarrassed by their previous caution.

Suho tucked the rune stone into his pocket and released the Possession state.

The Possession state consumed 1 mana per second.

That’s why he had been using mana potions in the middle of the fight.

[‘Possession’ has been deactivated.]

Shwoosh!

The divine wind that had been swirling around Suho’s body subsided, and his silver hair returned to its original black.

And with a pop—

“Grrrr!”

[The spirit of ‘Pet: Gray’ has left the priest’s body.]

A small wolf cub, barely the size of Suho’s palm, popped out of his body.

The association hunters flinched in surprise as they began murmuring to one another.

He had just spit out a wolf from his body!

“J-Just as we thought…”

“The Beast King…”

“The King of Beasts…”

Huh?

Gray, who had landed on the ground, looked around in confusion.

People were looking at him with awe and admiration(?).

Hah?

Suddenly, Gray lifted his nose into the air as if struck by inspiration and began to howl.

“Gwooooooong—!”

His eyes fierce and proud.

[The Beast Monarch, Lord of Fangs, gazes proudly at the imposing appearance of his descendant.]

“…?”

-Hmph. Now he’s starting to look the part.

“…?”

Even Rakan’s Fang, which Suho held in his hand, seemed to be looking at Gray with satisfaction, causing Suho to stifle a laugh.

* * *

The reinforcements summoned by the association hunters arrived only after everything was already over.

“Come on, get out of here!”

The Grim Reaper Guild members who had surrendered and thrown down their weapons were all dragged out, limping on their legs.

“Why are they all limping?”

Meanwhile, Team Leader Han Jaehyuk had already freed the hostages from the prison and rushed them to the hospital. Keeping them in the field any longer was too dangerous, as they could turn into Mist Burns at any moment.

Immediately after, he and his subordinates began searching and confiscating all evidence from the Stardust Research Institute.

“Don’t leave anything behind! We’ll use all of this to bring down Lee Minseong today!” Han Jaehyuk shouted with fiery determination, thinking of the Grim Reaper Guild’s vice president, Lee Minseong, who had orchestrated the entire plot.

Meanwhile, Suho was also busy in his own way.

He was eyeing the weapons dropped by the Grim Reaper Guild members on the ground.

If he collected all the loot and sold it at the shop, he could make quite a bit of money.

‘I need to at least cover the cost of potions.’

To Suho’s surprise, Gray played a significant role in this.

“Grrrr!”

Realizing Suho’s intention, Gray eagerly dashed toward the weapons with his short legs.

He opened his little mouth and grabbed a weapon.

Ding!

At that moment, a message appeared in front of Suho.

[‘Item: Flame Longsword’ has been discovered. Would you like to acquire it?]

“Huh?”

Suho’s eyes widened.

Was it thanks to the pet system?

It seemed that Suho could now acquire items remotely just by having Gray touch them.

“Acquire.”

[‘Item: Flame Longsword’ has been acquired.]

The item entered his inventory without delay.

A grin spread across Suho’s face.

‘This is going to make things a lot easier.’

He had finally found a role for the little wolf cub.

Item shuttle.

Suho patted Gray on the head.

“Good job, Gray. Go grab the rest.”

“Gwooooong?!”

Gray, hearing genuine praise from Suho for the first time, was so flustered he didn’t know what to do with himself.

He couldn’t stop his mouth from twitching into a grin.

And eventually—

Chomp!

“Huh?”

“Grrrr…!”

Overwhelmed with excitement, Gray ended up biting Suho’s hand, the one that had been petting him.

All the while, his tail wagged like crazy.

“Let go, you little…”

Dangling.

Suho looked at Gray, who was hanging off his hand with his jaws clamped down, speechless.

[The Beast Monarch, Lord of Fangs, nods in approval of his descendant’s display of bravery.]

-Heh heh. Even as a cub, he’s showing the traits of a lion’s offspring.

Cut it out, you guys.

“…Anyway, go and fetch the rest.”

Suho pried Gray off his hand and sent him back to work.

Gray, full of pride, wagged his tail and ran around, chomping down on every piece of loot in sight.

Ding! Ding! Ding!

[‘Item: Sharp-Eyed Bowgun’ has been discovered. Would you like to acquire it?]

[‘Item: Black Battle Axe’ has been discovered. Would you like to acquire it?]

[‘Item: Carbon Gauntlet’ has been discovered. Would you like to acquire it?]

…….

“Acquire. Acquire. Acquire…”

Suho stood still, effortlessly collecting all the items Gray touched and instantly selling them at the shop.

Clink.

Clink.

[You have acquired 750 gold.]

[You have acquired 1300 gold.]

[You have acquired 900 gold.]

…….

It was turning out to be quite lucrative.

‘Great. This should cover potion expenses for a while.’

The days of struggling to afford potions were now over.

With his newly acquired gold, Suho considered splurging on some new gear at the shop but then remembered something he had almost forgotten.

‘Oh, right. I nearly missed this.’

[The following reward is ready to be claimed.]

Reward: Ability Points +5

Without hesitation, Suho invested all his new ability points into strength.

After all, power was everything.

As he had just experienced, overwhelming strength and speed would greatly influence the pace of his future level-ups.

As for other stats, they could be raised with items.

Just as Suho was busy with his tasks, Team Leader Han Jaehyuk approached him.

“Mr. Crow, if you don’t mind, may I have a word with you?”

“……”

His tone was incredibly polite, though the use of the nickname “Crow” made Suho feel a bit awkward.

He looked at Han Jaehyuk with an uncomfortable expression and answered.

“Yes, sure.”

—

Meanwhile, back in the Shadow Dungeon where Gray had disappeared…

“…Huh?”

Esil, who had been left alone, froze in place, her expression hardening.

‘Could it be?’

Narrowing her eyes, Esil peered into the distance.

She had just sensed something strange.

Whoosh!

Esil immediately kicked off the ground and rushed toward the source of the disturbance.

The black-and-white world was eerily quiet and still.

After having already cleaned out the goblins that had been lurking around, the eerie silence felt even more oppressive.

But now, something strange was happening in this desolate world.

Stop.

Esil came to a halt and stared straight ahead.

Crack, crack!

The dimensional rift radiated an ominous energy.

“A gate…!”

Realizing the cause of the anomaly, Esil immediately lifted her head and shouted toward Suho, who was in the outside world.

“Sung Suho! Come back quickly! Now’s not the time to be messing around out there!”

Miraculously, her voice traveled through Suho’s shadow and reached his ears.

-Sung Suho! There

’s a breach in your world!

“……!”

Hearing the voice, Suho, who had been talking with Team Leader Han Jaehyuk, suddenly trembled.

“Mr. Crow?”

Han Jaehyuk looked at Suho, puzzled.

Suho glanced at him with a grim expression.

“Something urgent just came up. Let’s continue this conversation later.”

“Huh? Suddenly? What kind of emergency…?”

There wasn’t time to explain.

Suho immediately turned and sprinted out of the research institute.

“W-Wait! At least give me your contact information…!”

Team Leader Han Jaehyuk called after Suho in confusion, but he had no legitimate reason to stop him.

After all, Suho wasn’t a criminal or a villain, but rather a hero who had helped them.

“I could give him a reward, though…”

Muttering softly to himself as he watched Suho disappear from sight.

Suddenly—

[Reward? Now that’s something I can’t just ignore.]

“Huh?!”

Beru suddenly appeared, grabbing Han Jaehyuk by the collar.

[What are you waiting for? Give us the reward now.]

* * *

[You have entered the Shadow Dungeon.]

Whoosh!

In no time, Suho appeared in front of Esil.

Esil immediately pointed to what she had found.

“What in the world…?”

Suho’s expression darkened as he looked at the gate before him.

Rumble, rumble, rumble!

Endless streams of red sand poured from the tear in the dimension, threatening to consume the entire world.

Ding!

[An emergency quest has been issued.]

An urgent quest appeared right on time.

[Emergency Quest: Dimensional Rift]

A dimensional rift has been detected.

Enter the gate and eliminate the source of the rift.

“Tch. So I have to go in there?”

Suho clicked his tongue, staring at the sand waterfall pouring endlessly through the gate.

“What? You’re seriously thinking about going in there?” Esil exclaimed, staring at him in shock.

“You’re planning to dive into that sand? The moment you step in, that place could become your grave!”

But after a moment of thought, Suho nodded.

‘The fact that a quest appeared means there’s a way to deal with this, right?’

Since he had no choice but to proceed with the quest, running away wasn’t an option.

“Arise.”

Thud.

At Suho’s command, the giant shadow spider, Aracne, emerged by his side.

“You’re good at digging, right?”

[Screeeee!]

In response, Aracne lifted her massive pincers and let out a powerful cry.

Seeing her dependable figure, Suho smirked.

‘Maybe this isn’t as impossible as it looks.’

With a firm resolve, Suho turned to Esil.

Flinch!

Esil instinctively stepped back as Suho looked at her with a wide grin, shaking her head in denial.

“No, I’ll wait here…”

“You don’t want any meat?”

“Ugh.”

“Really?”

“…Fine.”

Esil, the only noble daughter of the Radir family in the Demon Realm, learned a valuable lesson today about what it meant to be coerced.

“Ugh! Fine, I’m coming!”

Resigned, Esil shut her eyes tightly.

Suho grinned and turned his attention back to the gate.

Rumble, rumble!

The sand waterfall continued to pour from the dimensional tear.

“Alright, let’s go.”