Solo Leveling: Ragnarok

solo leveling: ragnarok Chapter 22

“Suho, you still don’t have any personal protective gear, do you? Wear this.”

Assistant Lim handed Suho a thick set of clothes in front of Seoul Station.

Suho discovered it was a one-piece overall with a top and bottom connected when he received it.

“Now, put on these gloves and work boots, which come as a set.”

“Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it. It’s natural that you weren’t prepared since I called you suddenly. Learn from this experience. Protective gear is essential for .”

Continuing from the previous explanation about miners, Season 2 began.

Assistant Lim’s lecture on collecting continued.

“Being a collector is much more dangerous than being a miner.”

Miners, unless in special cases like the Korean Field, usually didn’t have much risk in their job. They just needed to dig with their pickaxes safely at the back of the dungeon after all the hunting was done.

“But collectors are different.”

were positioned right in the middle between the assault team and the mining team.

To the corpses of monsters hunted by the assault team, they had to closely follow behind the assault team.

As a result, accidents where the assault team was attacked by monsters they missed often occurred.

“Of course, it’s usually just one or two monsters, so as long as you’re careful when they suddenly appear, the assault team will come to rescue you right away.”

“So, the protective gear is for that moment.”

“That’s right. But actually, the protective gear is more useful when collecting monster corpses. If the monsters have sharp thorns or scales, ordinary clothes will be torn and ruined during the work.”

“Assistant…”

“Well, don’t be too impressed, compared to what you’ve done.”

“No, this smells like used clothes.”

“…Well, I’ve been living alone, so…”

***

A moment later.

The assault hunters arrived at the scene.

Suho calmly observed their appearance.

There were a total of 10 members in the group.

“4 D-rank magic hunters, 5 D-rank combat hunters, and one C-rank healer, I guess.”

That C-rank male healer seemed to be the leader of the assault team.

But then, the assault team leader walked confidently in Suho’s direction and glared at Assistant Lim without warning.

“What’s this? Why is the number of so low?”

At his words, Assistant Lim lowered her head with a troubled expression.

“I’m sorry. For some reason, all the collector guys decided to go on a group dive. Instead, this guy came today…”

“What? Are you going to answer if I talk? What irresponsible nonsense is this after signing a contract? Do you know how much damage it will cause if the schedule is delayed?”

“No, no. The schedule won’t be delayed. This guy is actually a summoner and won’t interfere with the work…”

“What? Are you kidding me now? A summoner?”

The expression of the leader of the assault team became even more menacing as , the assistant professor, spoke at length.

Then he looked up and down at Suho, who was standing idly.

quickly stepped forward and poked Suho in the chest.

“Oh, Captain! You really don’t need to worry. This guy will supplement the lack of personnel with summoned creatures. We specifically invited a skilled worker for the job.”

At his words, the leader of the assault team sighed deeply.

“Are you going to answer if I talk? So you ultimately didn’t trust this person and didn’t supplement the personnel, right? You’re taking your share of the pay and leaving!”

As his voice grew louder, other hunters from the assault team gathered around.

“Leader, what’s going on?”

“What’s this? Why is the number of retrieval team members like this?”

“Are we going to do the job properly like this?”

The hunters of the retrieval team, surrounded by the cold glares of their comrades, could not help but shrink.

In fact, the anger of the assault team was justified.

If the number of retrieval team members is low, the work speed slows down.

Then, the assault team that hunts in front of them also has to slow down their speed accordingly.

The purpose of the hunt itself is to earn money by selling the corpses of monsters, so even if they hunt among themselves, it’s meaningless.

Moreover, the Seoul Station field doesn’t have any magic stones, so they had to earn money only through the corpses of monsters.

“Leader, it’s enough. Have you ever seen one or two day laborers being responsible? We have to go in now, whether we like it or not.”

“Yeah, leader. Instead of complaining now, let’s just go in.”

Despite the objections of the members, the leader of the assault team glared at , the assistant professor, for the last time.

“Anyway, we’ll fall behind today. I’ll officially report this to the Association. I’ll make sure you can’t do retrieval work again.”

“Yes, yes. We’ll do our best. Please trust us.”

As the 10 members of the assault team turned and spoke one by one, , the assistant professor, lowered his head with a look of mental exhaustion.

He had committed a crime, so there was nothing he could say that wouldn’t sound like an excuse.

But he was also unjustly accused.

‘I’m not even the team leader of the retrieval team, so why…’

In fact, the real team leader of the retrieval team was one of the members who went AWOL…

Thanks to the skill of soothing professors, the anger of the commander seemed to have subsided a little.

“Tsk. That’s why they’re called inferior hunters.”

The moment the commander clicked his tongue and turned his body.

“Get up.”

Kee-hee-hee-

“What, what is it?”

Suddenly, the evil laughter echoed in the air, and the hunters were startled, looking around.

[Keruk, keruk!]

Suddenly, black monsters rose from the ground!

Evil goblins with black steam swirling around their bodies were glaring at them menacingly.

But their size…they were much bigger than ordinary goblins.

“G-Goblin captain? No, even a chief!”

“Why are the monsters outside of the field…!”

The attack squad members quickly drew their weapons.

“Oh my god! They approached so stealthily!”

“They don’t seem like ordinary ones!”

“Everyone, get ready for combat!”

“Commander, fall back!”

The basic principle of an is to protect the healer!

They quickly took their combat stances and confronted the goblins…!

[Keruk?]

Fighting…

[Keruk, keruk?]

“….Huh?”

But the goblins didn’t seem to have any intention of fighting.

[Keruk, keruk?]

“….Hmm?”

The black goblins were tilting their heads, wondering why they were so angry, while the members stood awkwardly, holding their weapons.

“Ahem.”

Assistant Lim intervened with a dry cough.

“What’s the matter, Commander? As I mentioned earlier, these creatures are the ones I summoned.”

“….Ah.”

Only then did the situation become clear to the members.

Looking around, among the scavengers, they were already staring at them with blank expressions, as if they had already discussed it.

In the end, the members were the only ones who were surprised and made a fuss.

“Well, um, yes, that’s right, sir.”

“The numbers…are quite a lot.”

“One or two, seven in total.”

“Yes, twice as many as the missing scavengers.”

“Hm.”

At Assistant Lim’s words, the attack squad members ended up with embarrassed expressions, avoiding eye contact.

In response to their reaction, Assistant Lim raised his thumb towards Suho, smirking.

Suho also chuckled as he watched the scene. As these seven shadow goblins had already been extracted in advance during the daily quest, there was no need to bother picking up their bodies again.

“Well then, let’s go in.”

As Suho moved forward, the shadow goblins followed closely behind him.

Suho passed by the that was still standing in place and muttered.

“Don’t fall behind for no reason.”

“….”

***

And so, they entered the Seoul Station field in earnest.

The inside of Seoul Station, where the corruption had already subsided, was filled with darkness due to the power being cut off, and the walls and floors were covered with unknown moss and ivy.

“Be careful of slipping underfoot.”

The leader of the , who was walking ahead, gestured to his comrades.

“Secure the line of sight.”

Swiftly.

Fireballs rose up simultaneously from the hands of the magic hunter squad, circling around to illuminate the surroundings.

Thanks to them, the hazy blue fog that had been hanging lightly in the field of vision became visible.

At the same time, the identity of the monsters that had been hiding in the darkness was revealed.

“Shaaak!”

Thorny lizards crawling all around along the walls and ceilings!

“Everyone, battle stance!”

At the command of the attack squad leader, the hunters rushed out and began to use their skills.

And the leader, who had been protected by the hunters as the healer at the rear, turned to look at the retrieval team.

There was still some embarrassment lingering on his expression from earlier.

“Then, retrieval team… Please follow along carefully and start the operation. Collecting the bodies of thorny lizards can fetch some money.”

“Not bad for a demon.”

Suho clicked his tongue in disappointment.

It seemed that the cursed random box had no other meaning to him other than providing him with a sword that he could use as a dual wielder.

Still, it was worth coming here with Lim.

“It’s my first time watching other hunters in battle.”

Suho transferred the bodies of the lizards to the cart and watched the battle intermittently with his eyes.

The way several hunters worked together, combining their different abilities and skills, was definitely interesting to watch.

“So this is how the fights. It’s helpful.”

In order to efficiently handle seven shadow soldiers or more, it was necessary to learn group combat like this when the opportunity arose.

So far, due to the circumstances, only the same type of monsters had been extracted and used, but in the future, Suho wanted to strategically fight while simultaneously dealing with various types of monsters.

“If that’s the case, we to have various types of monster corpses prepared in advance and stored in the Shadow Dungeon,” Suho explained.

“That’s what the retrieval team is for, right?”

That was the reason Suho readily accepted Professor Lim’s proposal in the first place.

Being a corpse retriever was an excellent job for obtaining monster corpses.

Moreover, from Suho’s perspective, being a corpse retriever was not at all difficult.

“Pick them up.”

[Chomp!]

“Load them onto the cart.”

[Grind!]

The shadow goblins moved diligently at Suho’s command, collecting the dead lizards.

Meanwhile, Suho leisurely followed along as if taking a stroll.

In the meantime, Ver sneakily pocketed one or two dead lizards into the Shadow Dungeon.

It didn’t matter even if a few lizards disappeared as there were too many of them.

Wagjak, wagjak.

Of course, some lizards disappeared as snacks for Ver along the way.

However, a problem arose.

Suho was too good at his job.

The basic task of a corpse retriever was simply to pick up monster corpses and load them onto the cart.

However, if it was a large monster, it was necessary to chop it up with a saw or a knife and then load it in pieces, which was actually the most difficult and time-consuming task.

It was not an easy task to cut through the tough skin and bones of a monster with the strength of E-rank hunters.

But for the goblin squad leaders and commanders made up of shadow soldiers, it was nothing.

[Chomp, chomp!]

Thanks to their efforts, the retrieval team’s work speed eventually surpassed the hunting speed of the

As a result, the corpse retrievers had nothing to do and could only watch the hunting come to an end.

“Hooahm.”

“Groan.”

The attack squad, who was hunting, grimaced as they watched Professor Lim yawning and slumping from behind.

If only he had not told them not to fall behind, this embarrassing situation would not have happened.

That’s when it happened.

“Wait. Cease fire.”

Suddenly, the leader of the stopped hunting and strode towards the retrieval team with a stern expression.

At the end of his gaze stood Suho.

“What, what’s going on?”

“What kind of trouble is he trying to start again?”

The expressions of the corpse retrievers became serious at the sharp momentum of the leader.

Thump.

The leader finally arrived in front of Suho.

“Hey, you.”

He stared hard at Suho’s face and opened his tightly closed mouth.

“Do you have any intention of joining our assault ?”

[Hehe.]

Upon hearing those words, Berga nodded proudly from behind.

[Indeed, our exceptional talent shines wherever and whenever. This guy has a good eye….]

“Become our exclusive retriever!”

[What, that vulture?]

“With your innate talent as a retriever… Your salary will be the highest in the retrieval industry….”

Beru’s eyes flashed with greed, and Instructor Lim barely managed to restrain him from killing that vulture.