Solo Leveling Chapter 35:

I Alone Level-up: Chapter 35

 

Jinwoo picked up a stone from the ground .  It also disappeared from sight .

 

‘What about this?’

 

He went and put his hand on the shoulder of a dead hobgoblin, but it did not become invisible .  Bit by bit, he was beginning to understand the limits of the skill . It seemed that it applied to something that he was wearing and something that he could hold in his hands .  Suddenly,

 

You are out of mana . ‘Stealth’ will be cancelled .

 

“What?”

 

The ‘Stealth’ skill had been cancelled .

 

‘It’s only been a few seconds, but my mana is already gone?’

 

He had been trying to get used to the invisible form, testing out its effects here and there .  Jinwoo opened up the skill listing with a dumbfounded expression .

 

Skills   Passive Skills -(Unknown) (Lv . Max) -Unyielding Spirit (Lv . 1)   Active Skills -Sprint (Lv . 1) -Bloodlust (Lv . 1) -Stealth (Lv . 1)

 

What he wanted was the ‘Stealth’ information .  The words appeared in the air before him .

 

ring~!

 

 

Stealth (Lv . 1)

Active Skill   Mana Cost: 200 (+10/Second)   Activate to disappear (sight, sound, smell) Costs 10 mana per second to maintain .   “Become invisible and hide the traces of your existence . ”

 

The activation cost is 200 and it uses up 10 mana per second?

 

“Sigh…”

 

No wonder his mana ran out so fast .

 

MP: 7 / 548

 

His remaining 7 mana seemed to laugh at him .

 

‘It really hit rock bottom . ’

 

With his current mana, he could maintain ‘Stealth’ for a little under 35 seconds .  However, if he factored in other skills into calculation, it would be far less than that .

 

‘Now that I think about it, even Kang Taeshik released the skill after few seconds . ’

 

It was clear that the B-rank Hunter did not do so out of some dramatic flair .  He probably did not have the magic power to maintain the skill for long . If the high-ranker Kang Taeshik was like that, low-rankers probably couldn’t even activate the skill .

 

“Looks like mana is the problem . ”

 

He had invested points in every stat except for intelligence so far, but his mana did not increase .  This told him that to increase his mana, he had to raise the intelligence stat…

 

‘Do I have to start putting points into intelligence?’

 

But it felt a little wasteful to invest his valuable points just so he could use a skill for a little longer .  Especially because Jinwoo felt that intelligence was not a stat directly usable in combat .

 

‘Compared to the others, intelligence really feels lacking . ’

 

Strength, constitution, agility, sense .

 

As each of those stats rose, he became noticeably stronger .  But even when he had raised the intelligence stat through level-ups, he did not gain any worthwhile powerup .  Compared to when he was level 1, his intelligence stat had nearly quadrupled, but the only thing it gave him was increased mana .  That was it . To invest valuable points into the stat just for that was…

 

‘Too wasteful . ’

 

Using those points in the other four attributes equaled to directly strengthening his flesh and blood .  In the end, Jinwoo decided that he would just increase his mana through level-ups . The stat points would be distributed into the other, more useful stats .

 

‘Stat points…’

 

He remembered that he still had 5 points received from the emergency quest .  After thinking about putting them into intelligence, Jinwoo instead put 3 points into strength and 2 points in to constitution .

 

Stats   Strength: 75 Constitution: 45 Agility: 82 Intelligence: 39 Sense: 69   (Available stat points: 0)   Physical Damage Reduction: 20%

 

‘Yep . Multiples of five are a good thing . ’

 

As Jinwoo smiled in satisfaction,

 

SHAAAAAKE!

 

The Dungeon’s interiors shook as if the world was ending .

 

‘Has it already been one hour?’

 

There was no time to delay anymore .  Jinwoo closed his stat screen . He had purposely waited inside until right before the Gate would close .  Staying here any longer would mean that he would never be able to leave . Jinwoo did a final check before leaving the boss room .

 

‘Let’s see, I got all the magic cores…’

 

There was nothing he had forgotten .  After going over every detail, Jinwoo quickly ran through the Dungeon .

 

SHAAAAAAKE!!!

 

As if telling him to leave, the Dungeon shook intensely again .

 

 

 

Right on time, the Association’s investigators and employees had arrived .  They watched Jinwoo exit the Gate just as it closed and asked,

 

“H-Hunter-nim! Are there any other survivors?”

 

“No . ”

 

“Oh no!”

 

The employee’s expressions hardened .  9 people had entered the Dungeon; only 3 had come out alive .  This would be yet another major incident for the Association in the area .  Faced with the prospect of a second incident, the Association employees assigned to this sector grimaced .  They wanted to enter the Dungeon themselves to check for survivors, but the Gate had already closed . This was the reason why Jinwoo had purposely waited until the last minute to exit .

 

‘Can’t let them know there was another survivor . Was . . . ’

 

Now, the only witnesses were the three that had survived .  An employee started talking hesitantly,

 

“Just now . . . we’ve received the confession of Gold Mountain Company’s president over the phone . ”

 

Song Chiyeol stepped forward,

 

“The president of Gold Mountain Company?”

 

“Yes, he’s one of the prisoner’s victim’s father who had contacted HSD Hunter Kang Taeshik for an assassination . ”

 

“Ah…”

 

The employee explained that once he had heard that Kang Taeshik had succeeded in killing the prisoner, the president of the company had confessed to everything .

 

‘Well, it wasn’t Kang Taeshik, but me…’ Jinwoo thought .

 

The police had gone to the company president, and the Association had come to the Gate .

 

After a moment of silence, Jinwoo asked,

 

“So there are no problems, right?”

 

The employee responded embarrassingly,

 

“Yes, I suppose so . ”

 

Kang Taeshik’s crimes had a clear evidence, and the three survivors had fought him for their own lives .  As Jinwoo said, there was indeed no problems . Except one .

 

The employee asked something that was troubling him,

 

“Who killed the B-rank Hunter Kang Taeshik?”

 

Having just arrived, the employees had not heard this part of the story yet .  The distance to the Association HQ was far from here, and the employees had hurriedly made efforts to arrive before the Gate closed .  They all looked very tired .

 

Jinwoo decided to tell the truth, then thought of Yoo Jinho .

 

‘It’s unfortunate but looks like I won’t be able to help him anymore . ’

 

If he told the truth, he would have to undergo a retest and have his rank raised .  Once that happened, his part in Yoo Jinho’s plans would be over . After all, what the young man needed was not only a skilled Hunter, but a low ranking one .  Once he received his new rank, Jinwoo would no longer qualify .

 

‘Hmm… what’s with this feeling?’

 

Jinwoo imagined Yoo Jinho’s disappointed face .  Instead of feeling sorry, he actually felt like laughing .  Still, it was a shame that he wouldn’t get that building .

 

‘Well, what could I do…’

 

Determined, Jinwoo started opening his mouth but was interrupted,

 

“It was me . ”

 

Jinwoo turned towards the voice .  Lee Juhee was staring at Song Chiyeol in shock .

 

“Ahjussi…?”

 

Before Jinwoo could stop him, the old man stepped forth .

 

“I was the one who killed Kang Taeshik . ”

 

The employee looked suspicious,

 

“Hunter Song Chiyeol-nim was the one?”

 

That was impossible .  Song Chiyeol was a C-ranker; on top of that, he was missing an arm .  His opponent was a B-ranker, whose existence would be called a high-ranker .  Their strength exceeded imagination . The difference between a B-ranker and a C-ranker was incomparable to the difference between a C-ranker and a D-ranker .

 

Song Chiyeol laughed and replied,

 

“You all know who’s standing behind me, right?”

 

“Ah!”

 

All eyes fell on Lee Juhee, who lowered her embarrassed face .

 

Lee Juhee was also a B-rank Hunter .  She may not be a combat-class Hunter, but she was still a high-ranker like Kang Taeshik .  If a B-rank Healer supported a C-rank Hunter, there just might have been a chance that they prevailed .  The employees all nodded understandingly . While they were thinking about the possibilities, Jinwoo went up to Song Chiyeol’s side and quietly asked,

 

“Why did you lie?”

 

Song Chiyeol replied with a subdued voice,

 

“I felt like Sung-ssi had a reason to hide your abilities . Should I not have?”

 

Of course not .  Thanks to the elder, Jinwoo would be able to avoid a thorn in his side for a bit longer .  Jinwoo was impressed by the old man’s ability to take a hint .

 

“No, no . I’m grateful . ”

 

“I’m the one who has to be grateful . I’m just glad I was able to help out a little . ”

 

An Association investigator approached the pair .

 

“Song Chiyeol-ssi, could you please come with us? We just have to wrap-up the details . ”

 

“Yes, let’s . ”

 

Song Chiyeol left with the investigator to the Association, along with the rest of the employees .  Soon, only Jinwoo and Juhee remained . The sun had already set a while ago . Feeling awkward near the changed Jinwoo, Juhee shyly approached him and asked,

 

“Could we walk together for a bit?”

 

‘Is this about the dinner promise?’

 

Jinwoo was hungry after moving around for a while and felt that it was a good timing .  He happily agreed,

 

“Sure . ”

 

Under the streetlights, the pair walked, side by side, in silence .

 

“ . . . ”

 

Juhee stared at her feet as they walked .  Everytime she looked up, she peaked a glance at Jinwoo .  She wanted to ignore it, but she could not ignore the fact that the man felt a lot stronger than before .  She had found him more comfortable to be near in the past . Now, it was hard to even strike up a conversation with him .

 

‘Just what happened to him…?’

 

Not just the fact that he had easily defeated a B-rank Hunter .  The man’s presence felt completely different than before . He had asked for her silence, so she did not want to press the issue .

 

But his abrupt change bothered her for some reason .