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 .

Sponsored Content

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 . .