Solo Leveling Chapter 53:

I Alone Level-up: Chapter 53

 

Oh, right!

 

An idea flashed across Jinwoo’s head .

 

‘I can’t waste another second . ’

 

He just saw the power of the new skill .  He could turn a slain monster into an undead soldier .  If that was the case, there was a monster nearby that he had to quickly turn into his own! Jinwoo went up on the pile of armors that made up the golem .  He was able to see the entire room from the top .

 

‘ . . . ’

 

His eyes scanned across the room and found his target .

 

Found him!

 

Jinwoo quickly ran towards the direction .

 

step, step, step, step!

 

Even without ‘Sprint’, he immediately reached his destination with anticipation .

 

gulp

 

Jinwoo stared at the extraction target and gulped .  The monster’s corpse was exactly where he had left it .

 

‘ . . . Blood-red Ygritte . ’

 

Looking at the headless body half buried in the wall, Jinwoo remember just how fierce their battle was .

 

He stood before Ygritte .

 

Just a few hours ago, he was an enemy that threatened his life .  But now, the fallen knight was a top class ingredient for his skill .  Thankfully, like the other knights, there was a black smoke coming from Ygritte’s body .

 

It’s a possible target for Shadow Extraction .

 

Jinwoo’s face brightened .

 

‘Good . ’

 

He remembered the command phrase .  After taking a breath, Jinwoo quietly spoke the words,

 

“Arise . ”

 

That was the activation phrase he had chosen .  But the skill did not activate .

 

‘ . . . ?’

 

Jinwoo tilted his head in confusion and was about to try again when the System rang .

 

You’ve exceeded the maximum number of Shadows allowed .

To extract another Shadow, use ‘Extraction Cancel’ to send one or more Shadow Soldiers to the World of Nothingness . [1]

The Shadow Soldiers sent to the void cannot be summoned again .

 

Oh, right .  He did remember that part of the skill,

 

Maximum Shadows: 30 / 30

 

The ‘Shadow Extraction’’s limit was 30 .  That meant the number of soldiers he made was exactly 30… Jinwoo turned around .  The Shadow Soldiers had followed him and were standing at attention .

 

‘When did they follow me?’

 

As fitting of their name, the Shadow Soldiers had moved without a sound .  Anyways, to extract Ygritte’s shadow, he had to get rid of one of them .

 

‘But…’

 

Even after meeting them only moments ago, it felt regrettable to get rid of one of his soldiers .  Had he gained a familiarity in that short time? With a sorrowful look, Jinwoo scanned each of the Shadow Soldiers .  As he moved from one to the next, their names and level appeared .

 

Shadow Infantry (Lv . 1)

Normal Grade

 

Shadow Infantry (Lv . 1)

Normal Grade

 

They all had the same name and level .

 

‘Well, I guess their base was all same . ’

 

However, he did discover three soldiers that were not infantry .

 

‘Those are…?’

 

Unlike the armor-clad infantry, those three wore robes .

 

Shadow Mage (Lv . 1)

Veteran Grade

 

“Ah . ”

 

He knew where these had come from .  The three mages that controlled the iron golem had also risen under his command .

 

‘27 infantry and 3 mages . ’

 

He determined that the small number of mages would have to be kept, so Jinwoo selected the nearest infantry .

 

. . . I’m sorry .

 

“Extraction Cancel . ”

 

vanish-

 

The soldier turned to smoke and scattered into nothingness .  Not a trace of it could be found .

 

‘ . . . ’

 

Jinwoo took a moment of silence for it, then turned to Ygritte .  He was ready . He had sacrificed a valuable soldier to make room for Ygritte, this better be worth it .  Time to strike while the iron’s hot . Jinwoo attempted the skill,

 

“Arise . ”

 

Compared to his previous attempt, the shadow beneath Ygritte began to quiver and move as if it was live .  It was the same phenomenon he saw when extracting the other soldiers .

 

‘It’s working!’

 

Jinwoo clenched his fists .  He had a good feeling about this .

 

Shadow Extraction has been attempted .

Extracting . . .

 

What would Ygritte look like when he rose again? Sweat gathered in Jinwoo’s hands .

 

However .

 

Crack!

 

With a sound of metal breaking, a message appeared,

 

Shadow Extraction failed .

 

“What?”

 

2 attempts remaining .

 

“Phew-”

 

He sighed in relief after seeing that he still had a chance .

 

‘Now that I think about it…’

 

The skill’s description did tell him that the success rate was dependent on the target’s abilities .  Seeing that in action was rather surprising . His first extraction failure . It was like being slapped in the face .  On top of that, there was a limit on the number of attempts .

 

‘Two attempts remaining…’

 

If he failed those 2 attempts, would Ygritte’s shadow return to the void like the sacrificed soldier? Jinwoo shuddered at the worst case scenario .  He shook his head,

 

‘Let’s not be pessimistic . ’

 

Be optimistic .  If he believed, perhaps the universe would help out .  Feeling a mix of dread and anticipation, Jinwoo tried the second attempt .

 

“Arise . ”

 

His expectations were off .

 

Crack!

 

Shadow Extraction failed .

 

1 attempt remaining .

 

‘ . . . ’

 

Ygritte was a pain in the **** while living, and he was equally annoying in death .  He thought of the worst case scenario again . After the second failure, the outcome looked bleak .

 

Whew-

 

Jinwoo took a deep breath .  There was only one chance left .  The last chance . Jinwoo closed his eyes and organized his thoughts .

 

‘It might just be based on a probability, but…’

 

He considered that maybe his desire for Ygritte’s shadow was not showing enough .  Jinwoo slowly opened his eyes . The black smoke coming from Ygritte looked like it was holding out a hand towards him, asking him to rescue the knight .  Jinwoo’s eyes became focused . As if to take the hand in rescue, Jinwoo also held out his right hand .

 

“Arise . ”

 

Something happened that Jinwoo did not mean to do .  Nor did he realize that it happened . But in that moment, the word he spoke echoed and vibrated with power .

 

And following his command!

 

Waaaaah-!

 

A deep scream rang forth from somewhere and a chilling wind followed .

 

‘This is?’

 

Jinwoo’s face lit up .  He remembered this phenomenon .  It was the same as when the soldiers rose earlier .

 

Aaaaaah-

 

As expected, when the scream ended, a hand rose from Ygritte’s shadow .

 

The moment the hand was placed on the ground, a message appeared .

 

You’ve succeeded in Shadow Extraction .

 

Jinwoo yelled in celebration .

 

“Alright!”

 

He clenched his fists .  Because he had failed twice, the success was all the more sweeter .  The good news did not stop there,

 

The Monarch’s voice pulled forth the fighting spirit of the fallen one .

You’ve succeeded in Shadow Strengthening!

The Shadow’s level will start at 7 .

 

‘Succeeded in strengthening?’

 

Did this mean that they did not necessarily start at level 1? Jinwoo’s eyes were wide open .  As the message told him, the pitch black knight that rose from the shadow was level 7 .

 

“Mhmm!”

 

Jinwoo yelped lightly .  Ygritte’s form was exactly as he remembered .  The plumage that decorated its helmet . The nimble looking body covered from head to toe in armor .  It even maintained the classy cape it had taken off before the fight . Only difference was that instead of the blood-red color, it was pitch black all over .  Other than that, it was the same boss that he had defeated earlier . You could almost say that Ygritte had come back to life .

 

However,

 

‘ . . . ’

 

Compared to before, there was not a shred of hostility coming from the reborn Ygritte .

 

It stood at attention, waiting for an order .

 

ba dum ba dum

 

Looking at Ygritte, Jinwoo’s heart beat vigorously .  A smile decorated his face . At the same time, a question appeared in his mind .  Jinwoo looked above the knight’s head .

 

‘Why doesn’t he have a name?’

 

??? (Lv . 7)

Knight Grade

 

Curiously, question marks appeared where his name should be .

 

‘The grade is different, too . ’

 

He had expected it to be stronger because of his level, but there was a few more difference between him and the other soldiers .  As if reading his mind,

 

ring~

 

You may assign a name to soldiers at or above the knight grade .

The given name will be maintained until the soldier is released .

Please choose a name for the soldier .

 

‘Name?’

 

He was unsure at first, but then realized this soldier did have his own name .  It wouldn’t be a problem if he called him by that name .

 

Please choose a name for the soldier .

 

As if asking him to hurry, the message was blinking rapidly .  Jinwoo opened his mouth,

 

“Blood-red Ygri- . . . ”

 

Wait .

 

If he assigned a name, he would have to constantly call it by that name .  That meant that if he assigned the name was thinking of, he would always have to start with “Blood-red” something .  He shuddered at how lame that sounded .

 

‘ . . . Too lame . ’

 

And so, Jinwoo decided to shortened the name a bit .

 

“Ygritte . ”

 

Would you like to pick “Ygritte”?

 

“Yes . ”

 

The moment he confirmed, the question marks in the knight’s name disappeared and were replaced with Ygritte .

 

Ygritte (Lv . 7)

Knight Grade

 

Even though it was the knight’s original name, seeing his name officially decorate the information box gave Jinwoo a sense of pride .  It was as if the idea that the boss was now his soldier had solidified .

 

‘My soldier…’

 

Jinwoo turned around .

 

The 29 Shadow Soldiers awaited his command .  Right now, his army’s numbers were little .

 

‘Only thirty soldiers…’

 

It could’ve been because the ‘Shadow Extraction’’s level was too low, or it could’ve been that his intelligence stat was too low .  Still, Jinwoo was sure that the number of his army would only increase going forward .

 

‘I really obtained an army . ’

 

And contrary to what he had feared earlier, an army made of shadows, not bone and corpses .

 

Only one problem remained .  How would he walk around with these soldiers? It gave him a headache imagining walking down the road with the pitch black humanoids following .

 

‘Whether it’s skeletons or shadows…’

 

He would surely be noticed if these things were surrounding him .  Not only noticed… This ability was beyond Reawakening . If he was placed under special surveillance, people may even ask him to cancel the summoning .

 

‘Hunter Association HSD Chief Woo Jincheol…’

 

He imagined those military-looking ahjussis swarming him and felt stifled at the headache that would follow .  Thankfully, he had another skill .

 

‘Skill . ’

 

Jinwoo opened up his skill screen .

 

Class-specific Skills   Active Skills -Shadow Extraction (Lv . 1) -Shadow Storage (Lv . 1)

 

The one that he hadn’t checked yet .

 

Shadow Storage .

 

It seemed like something that would be used in situations like this .

 

Translator’s Notes:

[1]: “World of Nothingness” (무(無)의 세계): “nothing/zero” 무(無) + world (세계) .