Chapter 62

The Shadow Soldiers quickly closed the gap!

However, the ferocious movements of the ice bears were far faster than the Shadow Soldiers .

Boom!

Crack!

A single swipe of the bear’s claw obliterated a Shadow Soldier . If it was a human in that pitch black armor and not a shadow, it would’ve been a gruesome sight .

‘Hmm…’

Jinwoo furrowed his brows .

‘As I thought, was it too much?’

Whether it was strength or size, it unfortunately looked like it was too much for Shadow Soldiers to face the ice bears .

But suddenly, something surprising happened .

‘What the!’

Jinwoo’s eyes widened .

The body of the Shadow Soldier that was destroyed by an ice bear turned to black smoke before it fully hit the ground .

shooooo-

The black smoke gathered at some distance away, then reformed into its original shape .

‘Oh shit!’

Jinwoo’s face lit up .

Undead .

He had forgotten about the true nature of these shadows and was now reminded .

Realizing its attack had no effect, the ice bear panicked and roared .

Roooaaaar!

While the Shadow Infantry kept the ice bears busy, the Shadow Mages had finished their casting .

Flaaaare-!

Bang!

Kaboom!

The fireballs released from the mages’ hands exploded here and there . While the Shadow Infantry caught by the explosion regenerated immediately, the ice bears caught on fire and thrashed about .

“Kuwaaaah!”

“Kuwuuh!”

The Shadow Infantry continued their attacks, swinging and stabbing their swords at the burning bears .

slash!

stab!

At first, the ice bears looked like they had the advantage, but they were slowly being pushed back by the combined attack of the infantry and the mages .

‘Whoa…’

Jinwoo watched the battle with great interest .

The infantry’s fast regeneration .

The mage’s powerful firepower .

The might of Shadow Soldiers exceeded his expectations . The ice bears were soon overwhelmed and were pushed all the way back to the caves . It seemed like the battle was over-

ROOOOAAAAR!

With a roar that shook the eardrums, something giant appeared from the cave .

“That’s…”

Jinwoo’s eyes widened . It was an ice bear a head taller than the rest and also much wider .

ROAR!

At a single swipe of its claw, many Shadow Soldiers were swept away .

BOOM!

Craaaaack!

Even their quick regeneration speed could not keep up .

Crack!

Smash!

“Looks like the alpha made his appearance…”

Of course, he had expected that a den of bears would have an alpha bear . But the thing’s size and power surpassed his expectations .

ROOOOAR!

The giant ice bear slapped away the Shadow Soldiers and ran toward Jinwoo . Suddenly, a message appeared,

ring~

You are out of mana . The Shadow Soldiers cannot regenerate .

You are out of mana . The Shadow Soldiers cannot regenerate .

What?

He checked his mana in panic . Just as the System said, his mana was at zero .

MP: 0 / 1,860

With his mana gone, the Shadow Soldiers no longer regenerated after being destroyed . Instead, they turned into shadow and returned to Jinwoo’s shadow . Jinwoo realized that it was his mana that allowed the soldiers to regenerate .

‘That goddamn mana…’

He found yet another reason to raise his intelligence stat . Jinwoo scratched the side of his head . The appearance of the alpha had completely turned the tide of the battle . However, Jinwoo still had a trump card up his sleeve .

‘If their boss came out, I should send mine out as well . ’

With his arms crossed, Jinwoo called for the one who was worthy to be called the Shadow Soldier’s boss .

“Ygritte!”

A single shadow slid out from Jinwoo’s shadow . From the shadow rose a knight wearing a helmet adorned with a plumage . Jinwoo raised a chin at the alpha . Ygritte bowed his head to Jinwoo then shot forth towards the giant ice bear .

step, step, step, step!

Ygritte dodged the alpha’s swipe and slid between the ice bear’s legs . While in motion, he quickly took out the daggers at his side and cut the tendons of the beast’s legs .

“Kuwwaaah!”

This was only the beginning .

Unsheathing his long sword, Ygritte skillfully dodged the torrent of attacks from the alpha while carving it up like a sculpture .

Tendons, claws, paws, legs . Bit by bit, the alpha’s flesh was being cut off like being worked by a butcher .

“Huh…”

Jinwoo watched Ygritte’s flowing, artlike movements with great admiration .

The head was the last to go .

Slash!

The giant ice bear’s head was cleanly separated from its body . Before it could hit the ground, Ygritte snatched it from the air . The knight approached Jinwoo then knelt before the Hunter .

drop

Ygritte placed the bear’s head in front of Jinwoo feet, as if offering a trophy to his king . Jinwoo stared at the knight and gulped,

‘If he used his sword from the start back then, could I have defeated him?’

The remaining ice bears were thrown into chaos after losing their leader and were quickly routed by the soldiers . The battle was over . The results greatly satisfied Jinwoo .

Shadow Infantry (Lv . 2)

Shadow Infantry (Lv . 3)

Shadow Infantry (Lv . 2)

Shadow Mage (Lv . 2)

The soldiers had leveled up here and there . Since the Shadow Soldiers themselves were Jinwoo’s skill, the Hunter had also gained 3 levels . And above all else,

“Arise . ”

You’ve succeeded in Shadow Extraction .

You’ve succeeded in Shadow Extraction .

You’ve succeeded in Shadow Extraction .

He had earned new friends .

ROOOAR-!

Including the alpha, Jinwoo had selected several ice bears . From their shadows, a large black mass rose .

‘I expected a bear wearing an armor…’

The reality was a little different .

The ‘Shadow Beasts’[1] that arose maintained some semblance to a bear but at the same time had a form that seemed to shift between solid and gas . A black steam continuously spewed from their figures .

‘The visuals are a bit lacking, but still, it’s those ice bears’ shadows . ’

Their strength and capacity for destruction . He would surely have a use for it . Suddenly,

rooooar

Jinwoo’s ears perked up at a cry sounding from a distance . It was not just one or two .

‘Looks like there are more dens in the area . ’

It was getting a little late in the day . He’ll check it out tomorrow .

A bright smile appeared on Jinwoo’s face .

“Uwaaaaak!”

“Kuk!”

His teammates were screaming left and right . Kim Cheol’s eyes were wide open .

‘There is no way!’

That he, Kim Cheol, would fail like this! He was someone would become Baekho’s elite . He had even received special training for that goal . And now, he was going to fail?! The A-ranker could not accept it .

Their party had endured the cold and hunger and fought with yetis . After that were the ice giants . They had lost two of their members but managed to prevail against them too . The Raid appeared to be going smooth .

But .

But!!!

The moment they had triumphed over the ice giants, the White Walkers ambushed them from all directions, as if they had been waiting . Those bastards had been watching their party, waiting for their stamina to hit rock bottom . What followed was a massacre . The Hunters fell, one after another, in an instant .

“L-leader!”

A fallen Hunter stretched a bloodied hand toward Kim Cheol . Kim Cheol stepped backwards . A White Walker appeared out of nowhere and slit the throat of the Hunter on the ground . While the man gurgled and choked on his own blood, the White Walker raised his head towards Kim Cheol . The A-ranker screamed,

“U-uwaaaah!”

He turned around and ran into the forest . The forest had ice bears? Those bears were nothing compared to the yetis, ice giants and the White Walkers . Kim Cheol ran with all of his might . Watching his figure disappear into the distance, the White Walkers raised their bows and took aim . But before they could fire, a White Walker raised his hand and stopped them . It was an ice elf with hair flowing down to his waist . The other White Walkers lowered their bows .

‘ . . . ’

The long hair pointed and gestured to follow Kim Cheol . One by one, the other White Walkers disappeared from sight .

Kim Cheol leaped through a bush .

“pant, pant, pant . ”

His lungs felt like they were on fire . The image of the White Walkers that smiled while slaughtering his teammates was still fresh on his mind . The man looked down at his hands . The frostbitten hands were losing their sense of touch . His toes had long since lost all feeling . He could not fight properly in his current condition .

‘This damn cold… No, if we just didn’t starve for the past few days, we would’ve won . ’

To the bitter end, Kim Cheol could not acknowledge his failure . While muttering to himself, Kim Cheol raised his head .

‘Anyways, how deep am I into the forest?’

He looked around . The smell of blood poked at his nose from somewhere . The man followed the smell . It was close . Moving through the trees, he came upon a clearing and could not believe his eyes .

‘How is this possible?’

In front of the caves were over 20 ice bear corpses . He had wondered why he hadn’t come across a single bear!

“What the?”

He studied the corpses . All the corpses had traces of being cut with something . Some of them also had traces of being burned . Sung Jinwoo and his party flashed across Kim Cheol’s head .

“It can’t be . . . those bastards did this?”

No . Kim Cheol shook his head . The wounds on the corpses of the ice bears were made with a sword . To his knowledge, Sung Jinwoo’s party did not have a sword user .

‘The two E-rankers didn’t even have a weapon . ’

There was no way they had survived here . Then there was only one other conclusion,

‘The White Walkers are also here!’

His heart sank . He had thought that he managed to get away from those elves . To think that he had wandered into another group of them . With a great fear in his heart, Kim Cheol held his breath and turned back to the direction he had come from .

Further . Faster .

He wanted to get out of the White Walker’s territory .

At the same time .

“Wuwaaaaang!’

An ice bear fell with a death rattle . The Shadow Soldiers swarmed its body and made sure it was dead .

You’ve leveled up!

“Alright . ”

Jinwoo was in a different bear den . It’s been five days since they had entered the Gate . He had gone through three different bear dens since then .

‘Looks like I’ve taken care of every bear in this forest . ’

Thanks to that, both he and his army’s levels had risen quite a bit . At first, it required two soldiers just to hold back an ice bear . Now, a single soldier was capable of winning one on one against the beast . Jinwoo was satisfied . As the abilities of his soldiers rose, he started assigning them different roles . His current limit was 30 shadows . 28 of them would be assigned to combat, while 2 of them would be assigned to the collection of magic cores and meat . Now that he didn’t have to lift a finger to fight or collect drops, life became incredibly convenient for the Hunter .

‘I don’t sense any more magic beasts . ’

It seemed that he had cleared the entire forest .

Then .

‘Is it time to go for the boss?’

There was still about a month to go, at worst several months, until the Dungeon Break . He had no intention of waiting for that to happen .

‘Gotta kill that arrogant elf too . ’

A mere magic beast that taunted a Hunter . Its arrogant smile still annoyed Jinwoo .

Kim Cheol’s nose detected the smell of cooking meat from somewhere .

sniff sniff

The man’s sense of smell had become sensitive due to his hunger . After entering the Gate, all he had to eat for the past few days was a single rabbit . His mouth watered at the smell of food .

gulp

The White Walkers might be eating somewhere .

‘But if there’s only few of them…’

He was confident he could take care of them and steal the food . It was a misguided confidence born out of hunger .

‘Let’s check it out . ’

Kim Cheol did his best to quiet his footsteps and carefully approached where the smell was coming from . Finally, he came upon a clearing where Jinwoo’s team was . Kim Cheol’s eyes widened .

‘What?’

The smell of meat was coming from their campfire .

‘How are they still alive?’

However, he did not see one of the E-rank Hunters .

‘Pft . He took the lead with such confidence . Must’ve died first . ’

That much was obvious . But what wasn’t obvious was the scene in front of him . How to… analyze all this? Something was weird .

‘Wait, their clothes…?’

Warm clothes, blankets, tents and other equipment entered his eye . They were clearly prepared for the environment .

‘How the hell?’

While flustered, Kim Cheol’s gaze became affixed on something .

It was a piece of bread next to the meat . There was no way they had found or made bread here . It must’ve been prepared beforehand . His confusion quickly turned to anger .

‘These fuckers…’

grind

Kim Cheol grinded his teeth . These fuckers had all of this with them and walked away on their own .

‘If my hands weren’t frozen, no, if only I wasn’t hungry, I could’ve easily taken care of those ice elves . ’

Thinking about how they greedily hoarded something that should’ve been shared with the Raid team, Kim Cheol could not help it any more . He leaped out into the clearing .

“You bastards!”

Park Heejin jumped in surprise and stood up .

“Kim Cheol? How are you here?”

To be honest, it was hard to say that he was a welcoming sight . It was because the man’s eyes were filled with murderous intent . Kim Cheol did not hide his hostility .

“Our party failed in clearing the Dungeon because we lacked proper equipment and food . Then how the hell are you sitting here with those equipment and food?”

“That’s…”

Park Heejin could not answer . She feared that bringing up Jinwoo would turn Kim Cheol’s wrath towards Jinwoo . She did not want to turn in the savior of her life .

‘From the start, I didn’t like the way that man looked at Sung Jinwoo . ’

Park Heejin closed her mouth . Seeing her defy his will, Kim Cheol’s rage increased .

“I don’t consider every one of you an accomplice . Who hid all this? I’ll spare the rest of you . ”

The veins in his neck bulged .

“WHICH ONE OF YOU HOARDED ALL OF THIS AND ENDANGERED THE LIVES OF YOUR COMRADES?!!!”

His shouting echoed loudly throughout the forest . Kim Cheol realized he would have to up the ante .

“I’m going to count to three . If no one speaks up, I’ll consider all of you equally guilty . ”

Han Songyi tugged at Park Heejin’s sleeves .

“U-unni…”

Park Heejin hugged Han Songyi . Go Myunghwan and Yoon Gijoong also gulped while sweating . Kim Cheol was an A-ranker . Even if they combined their powers, they could not hope to win against him . Still, not one of them betrayed Jinwoo .

“One . ”

Kim Cheol unsheathe the sword at his side .

schiing-

“Two . ”

The Hunters still held their silence .

Mere low-level Hunters dare to disobey him? Kim Cheol’s anger flared .

‘How dare you look down on me…’

His eyes turned red with murderous intent .

First would be this woman . The one who betrayed his team and decided to join the weaklings . Park Heejin will be the first to die .

‘Yes . She must’ve been hiding something . That’s why she left my team . ’

That was the only reason he could think of . Kim Cheol stepped up to Park Heejin and finished his countdown .

“Three . ”

Park Heejin closed her eyes .

Suddenly .

“Four . ”

Bam!

Something struck Kim Cheol on the back of the head, and the man fell face forward onto the ground and slid forward for a few feet .

All the Hunters’ eyes opened wide .

“Raid Leader!”

Jinwoo had struck with such a force that his fist was still smoking .

He spoke, appalled,

“Who’s the fucker that really endangered the lives of his comrades?”

Translator’s Notes:

[1]: “Shadow Beast” (그림자 마수병): Lit . “Shadow Magic Beast Soldier” . I’ve removed “magic” to distinguish them from magic beasts . The reason was because in the context, “magic beast” was clearly referring to the shadow’s bear-like bestial form, but in the general story, “magic beast” refers to any otherworldly entities found in Dungeons . I wanted to avoid the confusion . Also took out the word “soldier” because it felt redundant in most context cases .

Sponsored Content

I Alone Level-up: Chapter 62.

.

The Shadow Soldiers quickly closed the gap!.

.

However, the ferocious movements of the ice bears were far faster than the Shadow Soldiers . .

.

Boom!.

.

Crack!.

.

A single swipe of the bear’s claw obliterated a Shadow Soldier . If it was a human in that pitch black armor and not a shadow, it would’ve been a gruesome sight . .

.

‘Hmm…’.

.

Jinwoo furrowed his brows . .

.

‘As I thought, was it too much?’.

.

Whether it was strength or size, it unfortunately looked like it was too much for Shadow Soldiers to face the ice bears . .

.

But suddenly, something surprising happened . .

.

‘What the!’.

.

Jinwoo’s eyes widened . .

.

The body of the Shadow Soldier that was destroyed by an ice bear turned to black smoke before it fully hit the ground . .

.

shooooo-.

.

The black smoke gathered at some distance away, then reformed into its original shape . .

.

‘Oh shit!’.

.

Jinwoo’s face lit up . .

.

Undead . .

.

He had forgotten about the true nature of these shadows and was now reminded . .

.

Realizing its attack had no effect, the ice bear panicked and roared . .

.

Roooaaaar!.

.

While the Shadow Infantry kept the ice bears busy, the Shadow Mages had finished their casting . .

.

Flaaaare-!.

.

Bang!.

.

Kaboom!.

.

The fireballs released from the mages’ hands exploded here and there . While the Shadow Infantry caught by the explosion regenerated immediately, the ice bears caught on fire and thrashed about . .

.

“Kuwaaaah!”.

“Kuwuuh!”.

.

The Shadow Infantry continued their attacks, swinging and stabbing their swords at the burning bears . .

.

slash!.

.

stab!.

.

At first, the ice bears looked like they had the advantage, but they were slowly being pushed back by the combined attack of the infantry and the mages . .

.

‘Whoa…’.

.

Jinwoo watched the battle with great interest . .

.

The infantry’s fast regeneration . .

.

The mage’s powerful firepower . .

.

The might of Shadow Soldiers exceeded his expectations . The ice bears were soon overwhelmed and were pushed all the way back to the caves . It seemed like the battle was over-.

.

ROOOOAAAAR!.

.

With a roar that shook the eardrums, something giant appeared from the cave . .

.

“That’s…”.

.

Jinwoo’s eyes widened . It was an ice bear a head taller than the rest and also much wider . .

.

ROAR!.

.

At a single swipe of its claw, many Shadow Soldiers were swept away . .

.

BOOM!.

.

Craaaaack!.

.

Even their quick regeneration speed could not keep up . .

.

Crack!.

.

Smash!.

.

“Looks like the alpha made his appearance…”.

.

Of course, he had expected that a den of bears would have an alpha bear . But the thing’s size and power surpassed his expectations . .

.

ROOOOAR!.

.

The giant ice bear slapped away the Shadow Soldiers and ran toward Jinwoo . Suddenly, a message appeared,.

.

ring~.

.

You are out of mana . The Shadow Soldiers cannot regenerate . .

.

You are out of mana . The Shadow Soldiers cannot regenerate . .

.

What?.

.

He checked his mana in panic . Just as the System said, his mana was at zero . .

.

MP: 0 / 1,860.

.

With his mana gone, the Shadow Soldiers no longer regenerated after being destroyed . Instead, they turned into shadow and returned to Jinwoo’s shadow . Jinwoo realized that it was his mana that allowed the soldiers to regenerate . .

.

‘That goddamn mana…’.

.

He found yet another reason to raise his intelligence stat . Jinwoo scratched the side of his head . The appearance of the alpha had completely turned the tide of the battle . However, Jinwoo still had a trump card up his sleeve . .

.

‘If their boss came out, I should send mine out as well . ’.

.

With his arms crossed, Jinwoo called for the one who was worthy to be called the Shadow Soldier’s boss . .

.

“Ygritte!”.

.

A single shadow slid out from Jinwoo’s shadow . From the shadow rose a knight wearing a helmet adorned with a plumage . Jinwoo raised a chin at the alpha . Ygritte bowed his head to Jinwoo then shot forth towards the giant ice bear . .

.

step, step, step, step!.

.

Ygritte dodged the alpha’s swipe and slid between the ice bear’s legs . While in motion, he quickly took out the daggers at his side and cut the tendons of the beast’s legs . .

.

“Kuwwaaah!”.

.

This was only the beginning . .

.

Unsheathing his long sword, Ygritte skillfully dodged the torrent of attacks from the alpha while carving it up like a sculpture . .

.

Tendons, claws, paws, legs . Bit by bit, the alpha’s flesh was being cut off like being worked by a butcher . .

.

“Huh…”.

.

Jinwoo watched Ygritte’s flowing, artlike movements with great admiration . .

.

The head was the last to go . .

.

Slash!.

.

The giant ice bear’s head was cleanly separated from its body . Before it could hit the ground, Ygritte snatched it from the air . The knight approached Jinwoo then knelt before the Hunter . .

.

drop.

.

Ygritte placed the bear’s head in front of Jinwoo feet, as if offering a trophy to his king . Jinwoo stared at the knight and gulped,.

.

‘If he used his sword from the start back then, could I have defeated him?’.

.

The remaining ice bears were thrown into chaos after losing their leader and were quickly routed by the soldiers . The battle was over . The results greatly satisfied Jinwoo . .

.

Shadow Infantry (Lv . 2).

.

Shadow Infantry (Lv . 3).

.

Shadow Infantry (Lv . 2).

.

Shadow Mage (Lv . 2).

.

The soldiers had leveled up here and there . Since the Shadow Soldiers themselves were Jinwoo’s skill, the Hunter had also gained 3 levels . And above all else,.

.

“Arise . ”.

.

You’ve succeeded in Shadow Extraction . .

.

You’ve succeeded in Shadow Extraction . .

.

You’ve succeeded in Shadow Extraction . .

.

He had earned new friends . .

.

ROOOAR-!.

.

Including the alpha, Jinwoo had selected several ice bears . From their shadows, a large black mass rose . .

.

‘I expected a bear wearing an armor…’.

.

The reality was a little different . .

.

The ‘Shadow Beasts’[1] that arose maintained some semblance to a bear but at the same time had a form that seemed to shift between solid and gas . A black steam continuously spewed from their figures . .

.

‘The visuals are a bit lacking, but still, it’s those ice bears’ shadows . ’.

.

Their strength and capacity for destruction . He would surely have a use for it . Suddenly,.

.

rooooar.

.

Jinwoo’s ears perked up at a cry sounding from a distance . It was not just one or two . .

.

‘Looks like there are more dens in the area . ’.

.

It was getting a little late in the day . He’ll check it out tomorrow . .

.

A bright smile appeared on Jinwoo’s face . .

.

.

.

“Uwaaaaak!”.

“Kuk!”.

.

His teammates were screaming left and right . Kim Cheol’s eyes were wide open . .

.

‘There is no way!’.

.

That he, Kim Cheol, would fail like this! He was someone would become Baekho’s elite . He had even received special training for that goal . And now, he was going to fail?! The A-ranker could not accept it . .

.

Their party had endured the cold and hunger and fought with yetis . After that were the ice giants . They had lost two of their members but managed to prevail against them too . The Raid appeared to be going smooth . .

.

But . .

.

But!!!.

.

The moment they had triumphed over the ice giants, the White Walkers ambushed them from all directions, as if they had been waiting . Those bastards had been watching their party, waiting for their stamina to hit rock bottom . What followed was a massacre . The Hunters fell, one after another, in an instant . .

.

“L-leader!”.

.

A fallen Hunter stretched a bloodied hand toward Kim Cheol . Kim Cheol stepped backwards . A White Walker appeared out of nowhere and slit the throat of the Hunter on the ground . While the man gurgled and choked on his own blood, the White Walker raised his head towards Kim Cheol . The A-ranker screamed,.

.

“U-uwaaaah!”.

.

He turned around and ran into the forest . The forest had ice bears? Those bears were nothing compared to the yetis, ice giants and the White Walkers . Kim Cheol ran with all of his might . Watching his figure disappear into the distance, the White Walkers raised their bows and took aim . But before they could fire, a White Walker raised his hand and stopped them . It was an ice elf with hair flowing down to his waist . The other White Walkers lowered their bows . .

.

‘ . ’.

.

The long hair pointed and gestured to follow Kim Cheol . One by one, the other White Walkers disappeared from sight . .

.

.

.

Kim Cheol leaped through a bush . .

.

“pant, pant, pant . ”.

.

His lungs felt like they were on fire . The image of the White Walkers that smiled while slaughtering his teammates was still fresh on his mind . The man looked down at his hands . The frostbitten hands were losing their sense of touch . His toes had long since lost all feeling . He could not fight properly in his current condition . .

.

‘This damn cold… No, if we just didn’t starve for the past few days, we would’ve won . ’.

.

To the bitter end, Kim Cheol could not acknowledge his failure . While muttering to himself, Kim Cheol raised his head . .

.

‘Anyways, how deep am I into the forest?’.

.

He looked around . The smell of blood poked at his nose from somewhere . The man followed the smell . It was close . Moving through the trees, he came upon a clearing and could not believe his eyes . .

.

‘How is this possible?’.

.

In front of the caves were over 20 ice bear corpses . He had wondered why he hadn’t come across a single bear!.

.

“What the?”.

.

He studied the corpses . All the corpses had traces of being cut with something . Some of them also had traces of being burned . Sung Jinwoo and his party flashed across Kim Cheol’s head . .

.

“It can’t be . those bastards did this?”.

.

No . Kim Cheol shook his head . The wounds on the corpses of the ice bears were made with a sword . To his knowledge, Sung Jinwoo’s party did not have a sword user . .

.

‘The two E-rankers didn’t even have a weapon . ’.

.

There was no way they had survived here . Then there was only one other conclusion,.

.

‘The White Walkers are also here!’.

.

His heart sank . He had thought that he managed to get away from those elves . To think that he had wandered into another group of them . With a great fear in his heart, Kim Cheol held his breath and turned back to the direction he had come from . .

.

Further . Faster . .

.

He wanted to get out of the White Walker’s territory . .

.

.

.

At the same time . .

.

“Wuwaaaaang!’.

.

An ice bear fell with a death rattle . The Shadow Soldiers swarmed its body and made sure it was dead . .

.

You’ve leveled up!.

.

“Alright . ”.

.

Jinwoo was in a different bear den . It’s been five days since they had entered the Gate . He had gone through three different bear dens since then . .

.

‘Looks like I’ve taken care of every bear in this forest . ’.

.

Thanks to that, both he and his army’s levels had risen quite a bit . At first, it required two soldiers just to hold back an ice bear . Now, a single soldier was capable of winning one on one against the beast . Jinwoo was satisfied . As the abilities of his soldiers rose, he started assigning them different roles . His current limit was 30 shadows . 28 of them would be assigned to combat, while 2 of them would be assigned to the collection of magic cores and meat . Now that he didn’t have to lift a finger to fight or collect drops, life became incredibly convenient for the Hunter . .

.

‘I don’t sense any more magic beasts . ’.

.

It seemed that he had cleared the entire forest . .

.

Then . .

.

‘Is it time to go for the boss?’.

.

There was still about a month to go, at worst several months, until the Dungeon Break . He had no intention of waiting for that to happen . .

.

‘Gotta kill that arrogant elf too . ’.

.

A mere magic beast that taunted a Hunter . Its arrogant smile still annoyed Jinwoo . .

.

.

.

Kim Cheol’s nose detected the smell of cooking meat from somewhere . .

.

sniff sniff.

.

The man’s sense of smell had become sensitive due to his hunger . After entering the Gate, all he had to eat for the past few days was a single rabbit . His mouth watered at the smell of food . .

.

gulp.

.

The White Walkers might be eating somewhere . .

.

‘But if there’s only few of them…’.

.

He was confident he could take care of them and steal the food . It was a misguided confidence born out of hunger . .

.

‘Let’s check it out . ’.

.

Kim Cheol did his best to quiet his footsteps and carefully approached where the smell was coming from . Finally, he came upon a clearing where Jinwoo’s team was . Kim Cheol’s eyes widened . .

.

‘What?’.

.

The smell of meat was coming from their campfire . .

.

‘How are they still alive?’.

.

However, he did not see one of the E-rank Hunters . .

.

‘Pft . He took the lead with such confidence . Must’ve died first . ’.

.

That much was obvious . But what wasn’t obvious was the scene in front of him . How to… analyze all this? Something was weird . .

.

‘Wait, their clothes…?’.

.

Warm clothes, blankets, tents and other equipment entered his eye . They were clearly prepared for the environment . .

.

‘How the hell?’.

.

While flustered, Kim Cheol’s gaze became affixed on something . .

.

It was a piece of bread next to the meat . There was no way they had found or made bread here . It must’ve been prepared beforehand . His confusion quickly turned to anger . .

.

‘These fuckers…’.

.

grind.

.

Kim Cheol grinded his teeth . These fuckers had all of this with them and walked away on their own . .

.

‘If my hands weren’t frozen, no, if only I wasn’t hungry, I could’ve easily taken care of those ice elves . ’.

.

Thinking about how they greedily hoarded something that should’ve been shared with the Raid team, Kim Cheol could not help it any more . He leaped out into the clearing . .

.

“You bastards!”.

.

Park Heejin jumped in surprise and stood up . .

.

“Kim Cheol? How are you here?”.

.

To be honest, it was hard to say that he was a welcoming sight . It was because the man’s eyes were filled with murderous intent . Kim Cheol did not hide his hostility . .

.

“Our party failed in clearing the Dungeon because we lacked proper equipment and food . Then how the hell are you sitting here with those equipment and food?”.

.

“That’s…”.

.

Park Heejin could not answer . She feared that bringing up Jinwoo would turn Kim Cheol’s wrath towards Jinwoo . She did not want to turn in the savior of her life . .

.

‘From the start, I didn’t like the way that man looked at Sung Jinwoo . ’.

.

Park Heejin closed her mouth . Seeing her defy his will, Kim Cheol’s rage increased . .

.

“I don’t consider every one of you an accomplice . Who hid all this? I’ll spare the rest of you . ”.

.

The veins in his neck bulged . .

.

“WHICH ONE OF YOU HOARDED ALL OF THIS AND ENDANGERED THE LIVES OF YOUR COMRADES?!!!”.

.

His shouting echoed loudly throughout the forest . Kim Cheol realized he would have to up the ante . .

.

“I’m going to count to three . If no one speaks up, I’ll consider all of you equally guilty . ”.

.

Han Songyi tugged at Park Heejin’s sleeves . .

.

“U-unni…”.

.

Park Heejin hugged Han Songyi . Go Myunghwan and Yoon Gijoong also gulped while sweating . Kim Cheol was an A-ranker . Even if they combined their powers, they could not hope to win against him . Still, not one of them betrayed Jinwoo . .

.

“One . ”.

.

Kim Cheol unsheathe the sword at his side . .

.

schiing-.

.

“Two . ”.

.

The Hunters still held their silence . .

.

Mere low-level Hunters dare to disobey him? Kim Cheol’s anger flared . .

.

‘How dare you look down on me…’.

.

His eyes turned red with murderous intent . .

.

First would be this woman . The one who betrayed his team and decided to join the weaklings . Park Heejin will be the first to die . .

.

‘Yes . She must’ve been hiding something . That’s why she left my team . ’.

.

That was the only reason he could think of . Kim Cheol stepped up to Park Heejin and finished his countdown . .

.

“Three . ”.

.

Park Heejin closed her eyes . .

.

Suddenly . .

.

“Four . ”.

.

Bam!.

.

Something struck Kim Cheol on the back of the head, and the man fell face forward onto the ground and slid forward for a few feet . .

.

All the Hunters’ eyes opened wide . .

.

“Raid Leader!”.

.

Jinwoo had struck with such a force that his fist was still smoking . .

.

He spoke, appalled,.

.

“Who’s the fucker that really endangered the lives of his comrades?”.

.

Translator’s Notes:.

[1]: “Shadow Beast” (그림자 마수병): Lit . “Shadow Magic Beast Soldier” . I’ve removed “magic” to distinguish them from magic beasts . The reason was because in the context, “magic beast” was clearly referring to the shadow’s bear-like bestial form, but in the general story, “magic beast” refers to any otherworldly entities found in Dungeons . I wanted to avoid the confusion . Also took out the word “soldier” because it felt redundant in most context cases . .