Solo Leveling: Ragnarok

Chapter 44

Soo-ho reached out his hand towards Kwak Do-young’s heart, from which light was seeping out.

Ding!

[“Rune Stone: Giant’s Armor” has been discovered. Do you want to acquire it?]

“A rune stone?”

It seemed that Kwak Do-young’s skill had turned into a rune stone.

It was the first time something like this had happened.

Only Kwak Do-young had experienced this, among all the villains he had killed today.

“Confirm.”

[Rune Stone: Giant’s Armor]

The skill will be absorbed when the rune stone is broken.

“Giant’s armor.”

It was the skill that had just made Kwak Do-young’s body larger.

Considering the value of the rune stone, he could easily earn billions by selling it.

“But it would be a waste to sell it.”

He could make money later.

Right now, becoming stronger was the priority.

Besides, he had just received a C-rank hunter card today, having upgraded from an E-rank hunter.

Considering the price difference between E-rank and C-rank hunters, selling the rune stone for money would be a foolish choice.

“Um… Mr. Crow?”

At that moment, there was a voice calling Soo-ho from behind.

The hunter association hunters who had escaped from the prison were approaching, cautiously.

“Are you, are you okay?”

Fear mixed with their expressions as they looked at Soo-ho.

It was understandable, as Soo-ho had single-handedly defeated over 50 members of the S-rank guild, including even B-rank tanker Kwak Do-young, with pure strength.

Having witnessed that brutal battle up close, they couldn’t help but worry.

Although Soo-ho had helped them, it wasn’t enough to convince them that he was on their side.

Pfft.

“I have no intention of being hostile, so you don’t have to worry. Why don’t you guys go ahead and arrest those people?”

“Ah.”

“Cough.”

The hunter association hunters turned their embarrassed expressions away at Soo-ho’s words.

Soo-ho put the rune stone into his pocket and then released his transcendent state.

“Grurung! Are you okay?”

The expression of fear mixed with awe was evident on the faces of the guild members as they looked at Suho.

No wonder, Suho had single-handedly defeated over 50 guild members of the divine messengers, and even managed to defeat B-class tanker Kwak Doo-young with pure strength.

Having witnessed the brutal battle up close, they couldn’t help but feel worried.

Suho assured them that he had no hostile intentions and they didn’t need to worry. He suggested that they should arrest those people instead.

“Ah.”

“Cough.”

Upon Suho’s words, the association hunters turned away with awkward expressions.

Suho then put the rune stone back in his pocket and released his divine state.

In the divine state, Suho’s mana decreased by 1 per second.

That’s why he didn’t have time to take out mana potions and drink them during the fight earlier.

[Divine state is released.]

Swoosh!

The divine wind swirling around Suho’s body calmed down, and his silver hair turned black again.

And poof.

“Grrung!”

[Pet: Grey’s ethereal form leaves the priest’s body.]

A small puppy, or rather a young wolf, popped out of Suho’s body.

The association hunters trembled as they saw a wolf suddenly being spat out from his body.

As expected…

“Beast King…”

“Wolf Lord…”

“The noble appearance of the descendants of beasts…”

Huh?

What could have suddenly come to Grey’s mind?

Grey suddenly sniffed his nose and then started howling.

“Grrr-!”

With an infinitely haughty and valiant gaze.

[The Beast King, the Lord of Fangs, admires the dignified appearance of his descendants.]

“….?”

Hoot. I guess I’m getting quite mature now.

“……?”

Suho smirked as he looked at Grey, who was eagerly eyeing the fangs of the fallen Rakan in his hand.

***

The reinforcements called by the Association Hunters finally arrived after everything was over.

“Hurry up, you guys!”

The messengers from the Assassin’s Guild, who had dropped their weapons and surrendered, were dragged out, limping with their legs.

“Why are you all limping like that?”

Meanwhile, Team Leader Han Jae-hyuk rescued the hostages who were imprisoned in the jail and quickly transported them to the hospital. He didn’t want to risk staying in the field too long, fearing that it might suddenly turn into a misty battlefield.

Meanwhile, he and his subordinates began to thoroughly search and seize all the evidence at the Star Dust Research Institute.

“Make sure to take everything without missing a thing! I’ll clear Imm Seong with these today!”

Han Jae-hyuk, who had Imm Seong, the sinister figure, in mind, proceeded confidently.

Meanwhile, Suho was also busy.

The weapons of the messengers from the Assassin’s Guild that were scattered on the ground.

He thought they could sell for a good price if he gathered all the loot and sold it in the store.

“I need to earn money for potions after all.”

Surprisingly, Grey was very active in this situation.

“Grrrr!”

Grey, who realized Suho’s intention, ran towards the weapons with short legs and sniffed them.

And he opened his small jaws and bit one of the weapons.

Ding!

At that moment, a message appeared in front of Suho.

[You have found the item: Flame Longsword. Do you want to acquire it?]

“Huh?”

Suho’s eyes widened.

Thanks to the Pet System?

It seemed that Grey could acquire items even from a distance by touching them.

“Acquire.”

[You have acquired the item: Flame Longsword.]

Items kept flowing into his inventory without hesitation.

Suho smiled a satisfied smile.

“Now it will be easier from now on, right?”

He had finally found the role of the little puppy.

Item shuttle.

Suho petted Grey’s head and spoke.

“Grey, well done. Go and keep sniffing for more.”

“Grrrrrrrr~?!”

Grey, who heard sincere praise from Sooho for the first time in his life, was flustered and didn’t know what to do. Somehow, the corners of his mouth kept twitching. But eventually…

Thump!

“Huh?”

“Yelp…!”

Grey suddenly bit Sooho’s hand that was patting his head too excitedly.

At the same time, his tail wagged wildly.

“Let go, you brat….”

Swish, swish.

Sooho looked at Grey, who was hanging on to his hand with a puzzled expression, and lost his words.

[The Beast King, Lord Fang, nods in approval at the brave appearance of his descendant.]

“Hehe, this brat must be a lion cub, no matter how young he is.”

Stop it, you guys.

“…Anyway, go and fetch it.”

Sooho forcibly pulled Grey off and pushed him forward.

Then Grey proudly raised his tail and ran around in all directions, biting and breaking the loot he found.

Ding! Ding! Ding!

[Item: Sharp Eye Bowgun has been found. Would you like to acquire it?]

[Item: Black Battle Axe has been found. Would you like to acquire it?]

[Item: Carbon Gauntlets has been found. Would you like to acquire it?]

…

“Acquire. Acquire. Acquire….”

Sooho stood still and sold the items that were being sucked into his inventory from a distance to the shop window with a clatter.

Cha-ching.

Cha-ching.

[You have acquired 750 gold.]

[You have acquired 1300 gold.]

[You have acquired 900 gold.]

…

Well, it’s quite a haul?

“Great. With this, I won’t have to worry about potion expenses for a while.”

The days of struggling with gold and licking potions were now gone.

As a celebration of his newfound wealth, Sooho decided to browse the shop window for new items to buy, but then he remembered something he had forgotten.

“I almost forgot about this.”

[The following rewards are prepared for you.]

Reward: Ability points +5

Suhwa invested all of his ability points into strength without hesitation.

As expected, strength was the best. As he had experienced before, overwhelming strength and speed would greatly affect the speed of leveling up.

As for other stats, couldn’t he just raise them using items?

While Suhwa was busy with his thoughts, Han Jae-hyuk, the team leader, approached him.

“Crow, excuse me, can we have a brief conversation?”

“….”

The extremely polite attitude and the nauseating title intersected.

Suhwa looked at him awkwardly and replied.

“Yes, of course.”

***

Meanwhile, in the shadow dungeon where Grey disappeared.

“Huh?”

Eshil’s expression, who was left alone there, stiffened suddenly.

“No way?”

Eshil narrowed his eyes and looked around.

Suddenly, a strange sensation was captured from somewhere.

Thud!

Eshil immediately dashed towards the place he sensed.

This black-and-white world is extremely quiet and static.

Even the goblins that were hiding here and there were completely cleared out, making the eerie silence even more intense.

However, something unusual was happening in this quiet world.

Thud.

Eshil’s steps came to a sudden halt as he looked ahead.

Rustle! Rustle!

A dimensional crack oozing with ominous energy.

“Gate…!”

Realizing the cause of the anomaly, Eshil raised his head and shouted urgently towards Suhwa in the outside world.

“Sung Suhwa! Come back quickly! Now is not the time to be outside!”

Strangely enough, that voice was transmitted to Suhwa’s ears through Suhwa’s shadow.

Sung Suhwa! There’s a hole in your world!
“….!”

Suhwa’s body trembled as he heard the voice.

“Crow, sir?”

Han Jae-hyuk, who was looking at him with a puzzled expression.

Suhwa glanced at him with a stern expression.

“I have urgent business to attend to. We’ll talk later.”

“What? Urgent business? What could be so urgent…?”

There was no time to explain everything.

Suhwa immediately turned around and rushed out of the laboratory.

“Just a moment! At least give me your contact information…!”

Suddenly, Han Jae-hyuk, the team leader, called out to Suho in confusion from behind, but he had no reason to forcibly detain him.

Suho was neither a criminal nor a villain, but rather a hero who had helped them.

“We can offer you a reward…”

A faint voice murmured as Suho disappeared from sight.

But at the mention of a reward…

Whoosh!

[Reward? That’s something I can’t ignore.]

“Gasp?!”

Bergha grabbed Han Jae-hyuk by the collar, pushing his face close.

“What are you doing? Hand over the reward right now.”

***

[Entered the Shadow Dungeon.]

Suho’s figure appeared in front of Esil in no time.

Immediately, Esil showed Suho what he had discovered.

“What is this….”

Suho stiffened his expression as he looked at the gate in front of him.

Quarrrrr!

Endless red sand poured out from the rift in the dimension, as if it could swallow this world whole!

Ding!

[An urgent quest has arrived.]

A quest that occurred just in time.

[Urgent Quest: Dimensional Rift]

A dimensional rift has been detected.

Go through the connected gate and eliminate the cause of the dimensional rift.

“Really? I have to go in there?”

Suho made an incredulous expression as he looked at the sand waterfall pouring out from the gap of the gate.

“Do you expect me to swim in that sand? The moment I go in, that could be my grave!”

But as Suho pondered for a moment, he nodded firmly.

“If the quest has come up, then there must be a way to solve it. I have no choice but to go in.”

With that determination, Suho took a step forward.

As Suho called out, a massive shadow, the tomb spider Arachne, descended by his side.

“Can you dig some ground?”

[Grrrrr!]

Arachne raised her giant pincers, growling fiercely in response to Suho’s question.

Seeing her resolute appearance, Suho chuckled.

“Maybe it’s worth a try.”

Having made up his mind, Suho turned his head towards Esil.

Suddenly, Esil took a step back instinctively, seeing Suho’s bright smile.

“I’ll wait here…”

“Don’t you want to eat meat?”

“Eugh.”

“Don’t you?”

“….Fine.”

Esil, the only demon aristocrat of the demon realm and the daughter of the great Radir, reluctantly closed her eyes.

Suho chuckled softly and turned his head again.

Toward the gate where the sand waterfall was pouring down.

“Well then, let’s go.”