Solo Leveling Chapter 54:

I Alone Level-up: Chapter 54

 

Shadow Storage (Lv . 1) [1]

Class-specific Skill   Mana Cost: 0   Absorb the Shadow Soldiers into the user’s shadow for storage .   The stored soldiers can be freely summoned and reabsorbed by the user .   Stored Shadows: 0 / 20

 

‘As I thought . ’

 

Jinwoo nodded .  Before he had checked the description, he had surmised that the “storage” in its name meant that the skill would allow him to manage the soldiers somehow .  However, there was one thing he did not expect .

 

‘The limit is…’

 

The limits of the storage was smaller than the limits of the summoning .  While he could make 30 soldiers, he could only store 20 of them . That meant that he would have to get rid of 10 more .

 

‘Well that **** . ’

 

It would be like biting of one of his fingers .  Even getting rid of just one soldier was painful, and now he had to get rid of 10 of them .

 

‘Hmm…’

 

With a heavy heart, Jinwoo looked over his army .  Of course, Ygritte and the mages would be excluded from selection .  That would leave the infantry . He decided to pick the 10 soldiers furthest away this time .

 

‘I’m sorry . ’

 

Jinwoo briefly prayed for their souls .

 

shooooo-

 

The soldiers he selected became dust and scattered .  Compared to the first time, the regret that he felt was lessened .  They say humans can get used to anything .

 

Anyways .

 

Jinwoo looked at the remaining soldiers and used ‘Shadow Storage’ .

 

At the activation of the skill, Ygritte and the Shadow Soldiers melted like ice into flat shadows .  Then, their shadows flowed over to Jinwoo and entered his own shadow .

 

‘So this is what the skill meant by absorbing them…!’

 

It was exactly as described by the skill; his army was absorbed into his shadow .  It all happened in a blink of an eye . The shadow army was nowhere to be seen .

 

‘ . . . Even after seeing it…’

 

Jinwoo looked at his shadow with amazement .  In that moment, the System rang .

 

ring~

 

You’ve tried out all the class-specific skills .

The class advancement is now complete .

The exit will now be created .

 

‘Is it finally over…?’

 

It was a long and tough road .  Jinwoo took one last look around the Dungeon .  The traces of combat littered the area .

 

Broken knights .  Cracked walls . The destroyed pillar .

 

And the one who destroyed the pillar, the iron golem, which was now a pile of broken armor .

 

But his trials had resulted in many great boons .

 

New class and skills .

 

A powerful army .

 

A smile appeared on Jinwoo’s face .  He turned around without a lingering thought .  The gate to the real world waited for him . Jinwoo stepped through .

 

He returned to the clearing in the forest .  It was the same spot he had first entered the quest’s Dungeon .  The time was 5 AM . The sun would be rising soon .

 

Oh right .

 

Jinwoo looked at his watch and kicked himself in his mind .

 

‘If I knew I was going to take this long, I should’ve let Jinah know . ’

 

Fortunately, he had been late in the past due to the Association’s Raids .

 

Jinwoo looked behind him .  The gate that he left from had disappeared without a trace .

 

‘Huh…’

 

Looking at the empty clearing, everything that had happened felt like a dream .

 

Wait, a dream?

 

No, no way .

 

Jinwoo looked around .

 

Soldiers clad in pitch black surrounded him .  The Shadow Soldiers had come out the moment he thought of them in his head .

 

‘ . . . ’

 

At first, he thought of them as monsters .

 

Shadow Soldiers .

 

Monsters that were called from the shadows of the dead .  If they were monsters, what do you call the being that can freely create and control them? Jinwoo smiled,

 

‘Well, it doesn’t matter…’

 

He recalled the soldiers into his shadow again .  

 

The road home felt as easy as walking downhill .

 

 

Jinwoo slept for a long time .  He could not help it . The moment he had lied down in his bed, the day was already bright .

 

ring~ ring~

 

What woke him was the ringing of his phone .  He managed to grab it with much difficulty . Jinwoo answered the phone with his eyes still closed .

 

“Hello…”

 

His tired voice cracked a bit .

 

- “What the… Oppa, are you still sleeping? Do you know what time it is?!”

 

Jinah asked with surprise from the other end, so Jinwoo asked .

 

“What time is it…”

 

- “It’s 2 PM!”

 

“Whaaa?”

 

Jinwoo peaked at the phone through a crack in his eyes .  She was right .

 

- “Oppa, you do remember that you have to come to the school today, right?”

 

Her voice was filled with concern .  This made Jinwoo finally sit-up on the bed .

 

“When do I have to be there by?”

 

- “5!”

 

“Alright, I won’t be late . Don’t worry . ”

 

- “As expected of my brother! Call me when you get here!”

 

Jinah cutely ended the call .

 

Jinwoo scratched his head and slowly got up .  He could probably make it if he got ready now .

 

‘Still, I’m about to go see my little sister’s teacher . ’

 

On top of that, it was for the parent/guardian meeting for a highschool senior .  They say this was one of the most important meetings of a child’s life .

 

‘I can’t go looking like this . ’

 

He went over and looked through his wardrobe .  A musty scent filled his nose; it was not exactly a good smell .  Jinwoo’s forehead wrinkled . The most suitable thing he found was the old suit that he had worn for his graduation .

 

‘Can I wear this?’

 

He tried it on, but it did not fit .  The suit was too small for his body .

 

‘Man, my body really grew . ’

 

Trying on his old clothes was a sure way to tell .  The suit felt like it was about to rip apart over him .

 

. . . Now what?

 

While wondering what he could wear, Jinwoo’s eyes fell on the bankbook that Yoo Jinho had given him .  It contained the magic core income from their Raids . Looking back and forth between the old suit and the bankbook, a smile crept up on Jinwoo’s face .

 

‘It’s been a while . Shall I go shopping?’

 

However, there was something small he had to check .  Wait, not small, something big . Jinwoo took off the suit and sat down on his bed and opened up the status screen .

 

‘Status screen . ’

 

An information box filled a bunch of words filled his view .

 

Name: Sung Jinwoo Level: 51 Class: Monarch of Shadows Title: Wolf Slayer ( . . . 1 more) HP: 11,035 MP: 1,022 Fatigue: 0	Stats   Strength: 132 Constitution: 91 Agility: 111 Intelligence: 70 Sense: 93   (Available stat points: 10)   Physical Damage Reduction: 46%
Skills   Passive Skills -(Unknown) (Lv . Max) -Unyielding Spirit (Lv . 1) -Advanced Dagger Proficiency (Lv . 1)   Active Skills -Sprint (Lv . 2) -Bloodlust (Lv . 1) -Stealth (Lv . 1) -Vital Stab (Lv . 2) -Dagger Throw (Lv . 1)	Class-specific Skills   Active Skills -Shadow Extraction (Lv . 1) -Shadow Storage (Lv . 1)   Equipment   Red Knight’s Helmet (S) Gatekeeper’s Necklace (A) High-level Knight’s Breastplate (B) High-level Knight’s Gauntlet (B) High-level Mage’s Ring (B) Mid-level Assassin’s Shoes (C)

[2]

 

“Huh…”

 

Jinwoo stuck out a tongue at the status screen that went on and on .

 

‘I feel like only few days ago this was nearly empty . ’

 

It was true .  But now, just the skills and equipment alone had increased greatly .  Above all else, what stood out to him was his new class .

 

Class: Monarch of Shadows

 

Just yesterday, this spot was decorated with word, “none” .  To be honest, everytime he opened his status screen, that “none” bothered him .  A Hunter that didn’t Raid was basically an unemployed **** . At least, that’s how society viewed them .  So when he looked at his status screen before and saw that he had no class(job), it struck a chord in his mind .  Now, he could not hide his joy in looking at the newly filled part of his status screen .

 

‘Is this what they call an inferiority complex?’

 

Of course, having “none” in that section didn’t mean that he didn’t have a job in real life .  Still, it reminded him of his past . Other Hunters raided and earned a ton of money without paying attention to the eyes of the world .  He was the not the same . He could not even proudly claim that he was a Hunter . After all, he was a mere E-ranker who could barely hold onto his own life .

 

“Hello, I’m an E-rank Hunter . ”

 

Every time those words escaped his mouth, anyone who knew anything about Hunters would praise him for his hard work but go on to mock him behind his back .  That’s why not having a class bothered him, despite how illogical it was .

 

But now, he had obtained a job, or rather something special .  His job was still a Hunter, but in a way, he had obtained a special calling called the “Monarch of Shadows” .

 

‘Even if it’s not exactly what I was hoping for…’

 

He had no regrets .  If anything, he was satisfied .  If he wasn’t in his room, he would’ve summoned Ygritte and the Shadow Soldiers before him .  Jinwoo really wanted to test out their capabilities in battle . What if they could bring out a 100% of their former powers?

 

‘Probably not . ’

 

But even imagining it made his heart race .

 

ba dum ba dum

 

Jinwoo stood still and felt his heartbeat .  In his head, he was running simulations of his next Raid .  Additionally, he was looking forward to Yoo Jinho’s reaction .

 

Imagining the young man’s face with wide open eyes and mouth, Jinwoo laughed despite of himself .

 

Hold on .

 

‘Now that I think about it . ’

 

If he was able to raise a dead target, and if that target was not limited to a monster or a magic beast…

 

‘I should be able to raise a soldier from a dead Hunter, right?’

 

It was obvious, but he had avoided the idea because a human was involved .  To think that he would command an undead soldier from a dead man’s shadow . Just the idea shocked him .

 

Even still…

 

‘What if I can raise an A-rank or a S-rank Hunter’s shadow?’

 

The power he would obtain would be beyond imagination .  Even if the soldier could wield just 50% of their former powers, it would be enough for him to raid high-level Dungeons .  The light racing of his heart turned to a full sprint .

 

BA DUM, BA DUM, BA DUM!

 

But Jinwoo shook his head .

 

‘Still, raising a human being into an undead is…’

 

It was not something that should be done .  No matter how much it increased his powers, he wanted to avoid doing that .  Unless someone appeared that truly deserved it…

 

‘Not that there are a lot of opportunities to fight another Hunter . ’

 

Even if an opportunity appeared, there was a philosophical problem .  Humans were not monsters or magic beasts .

 

Alright .

 

For now, he would be satisfied with the army on hand .

 

‘I did obtain a boss-level soldier too . ’

 

The Shadow Soldier who was level 7 and a knight grade .  How powerful was he?

 

Jinwoo anticipated his next Raid .

 

Translator’s Notes:
[1]: Shadow Storage (그림자 저장): Same as extraction, pretty literal . “Shadow” 그림자 + “save/store/preserve” 저장

[2]: I need a new way of displaying this information… It’s only going to get bigger…