Ch 3

solo leveling: ragnarok Chapter 03

Erosion is a phenomenon in which the blue fog that flows out of the gate contaminates the surrounding area.

Areas contaminated by the magic of another world transform into an environment suitable for magical creatures to live in.

If the other side of the gate is called a “dungeon,” then the contaminated area around the gate is called a “field-type dungeon.”

Once contaminated, these places were like dungeons, and considering that, the Korean University Art Museum was like a land of death.

“Anyway, that student…”

The hunter’s words trailed off.

But anyone could guess what he was going to say next.

Meanwhile, Suho…

[Your level has increased!]

“This… is that right?”

Something unbelievable had happened.

Letters floating in the air.

The leveling system that he could only see in his dreams had appeared in reality.

“Oh my god. Is this another dream?”

No.

This time it was definitely not a dream!

The vivid sense of reality that brushed against his skin proved that fact.

Moreover, at the moment the level up message appeared, all the accumulated fatigue disappeared, even the minor burns caused by the mist were healed.

But what’s this?

[You have fulfilled the completion condition of the ‘Secret Quest: Courage of the Powerless.’]

[You have an unread message.]

In the dream, only the level was displayed, and there was no separate message like this.

It felt like something more substantial.

When Suho looked at the message, the message box automatically opened.

“There are two unread messages.

“Welcome to becoming a ‘player’ in reality.” (Unconfirmed)

“A quest has been issued.” (Unconfirmed)

“‘Player’ in reality? What does that mean?” Suho checked the first message.

[Secret Quest: Courage of the Weak]

You have gained experience in a disabled state and proved your own qualifications.

You have awakened from level 0 to level 1, and your status window is now available.

[Information]

This system supports the growth of ‘players.’

This is not a ‘tutorial mode’ this time. Please be careful in reality as you only have one life.

“‘Tutorial mode? Is it talking about that dream?’” Suho realized it instinctively. All the dreams he had in adolescence were practice games, and now this was the real game.

And, as expected of a real game, there were features that were not supported in the tutorial, such as the ‘status window.’

[Status Window]

Name: Sung Suho

Level: 1

Job: None

Title: None

HP: 100/100

MP: 10/10

[Stats]

Strength: 10 Endurance: 10

Agility: 10 Intelligence: 10

Senses: 10

(Distributable ability points: 0)

[Skills]

Passive Skills: None

Active Skills: Dominator’s Authority Lv.1

The status window briefly displayed information about Suho, just like a game.

Suho immediately checked the next message.

[Quest: Rescue the survivors.]

There are people waiting for your rescue nearby.

Please rescue as many of them as possible.

The reward will vary depending on the number of people rescued.

-Current number of survivors: 52

-Current number of people rescued: 0

The second message was a quest window.

This quest was also a system that he had never experienced in his dreams.

“Rewards vary depending on the number of people rescued?”

It really felt like a game.

But this was a real situation.

Even at this moment, people were dying in real-time.

[Current number of survivors: 52 → 51]

[Current number of survivors: 51 → 50]

When Suho saw this status board, he suddenly came to his senses.

Then it happened.

[Growl!]

“Ah!”

He must have been too focused on his status window.

A mist bear that had approached nearby attacked him.

“Oh no!”

Suho swung his arm randomly.

Whack!

But something surprising happened.

[Crack!]

The mist bear that was hit by Suho’s fist stumbled back in pain.

“….Huh?”

Suho was more surprised to look at his own hand.

The blue smoke wriggled, but it wasn’t hot even though he hit it barehanded.

Then another mist bear attacked him from behind.

Suho immediately punched it without hesitation.

Bang!

[Crack!]

The mist bear was thrown back by Suho’s normal punch.

“Huh?”

By this point, even the mist bear seemed surprised.

The human seemed to be nothing special, but it hurt so much when they were hit.

But the Mist Buns are beings that move solely by instinct.

[Growl!]

All the Mist Buns around were rushing towards the guardians at the sound of the Mist Buns’ roar.

But the guardians were not shaken by the threatening sight.

They realized that these creatures posed no real threat to them.

It was time to fight back.

Taat!

The guardians immediately rushed towards the creatures.

Whack! Whack! Whack! Whack!

[Growl!]

[Roar!]

The battle took on a completely different aspect from a typical raid.

Normally, the strategy would involve calmly assessing the monsters’ strength, with the tank at the front and the dealers attacking.

But the guardians ignored all that and simply swung their fists, fighting the monsters and hunters.

Still, the results were evident.

[Mist Buns have been defeated!]

[Mist Buns have been defeated!]

[Mist Buns have been defeated!]

…

The guardians continued to defeat the creatures one by one as they moved forward.

[Current survivor count: 37 → 36]

Even in the midst of all this, the number of survivors continued to decline.

This meant that the number of Mist Buns was increasing, and the rate at which people were dying was increasing exponentially.

They had to hurry.

The guardians searched the museum thoroughly, finding the survivors.

“Hurry and get out of here!”

They escorted them out of the museum one by one.

[Number of people rescued: 12]

“What? How the hell are they all escaping?”

The hunters outside the museum were astonished.

They had just finished checking their equipment and were about to go inside, but people kept coming out one by one on their own.

“Someone rescued us from inside.”

“A student rescued us!”

The hunters were even more surprised to hear their words.

“Who is fighting with the monsters inside?”

“Is there already another hunter inside?”

Assistant Lim tilted his head at their words.

“That’s not true. There are no hunters among the students, and the other hunters haven’t arrived yet.”

Daehyun, who was listening from the side, said hopefully.

“Could it be Suho?”

“Suho?”

Assistant Lim and the hunters exchanged glances at those words.

The chances of a civilian surviving in a field-type dungeon were very rare. But they couldn’t say that your friends had died to Daehyun.

But one of the survivors who had escaped a little while ago knew Suho.

“Yes! Senior Suho rescued us!”

“What?!”

“Suho? How on earth?”

“He fought the Mist Boon with his bare hands?”

“…with his bare hands?”

The hunters looked dejected at those words.

It was undoubtedly a mistake that the survivors had seen something out of fear.

Fighting with Mist Boons with bare hands was too dangerous.

“The hand would be completely burnt.”

“It’s a suicidal act.”

Unless the hunter could put magic on their fists, they would have to fight with gauntlets to protect their hands from getting burned.

Anyway, it seemed certain that a student named Suho was alive and rescuing people.

The hunters muttered seriously.

“Maybe that student…awakened.”

“Suho awakened?”

Assistant Lim’s gaze returned to the art museum.

Even at this moment, survivors were continuing to escape outside. Rescued by Suho.

Coincidentally, the hunters were also ready to enter the art museum.

“Team leader, the magic measurement is complete. It seems to be a D-class dungeon.”

“Got it. Then we have to hurry.”

At the mention of a D-class dungeon, the hunters’ eyes lit up with determination.

If it was a D-class dungeon, there would be monsters much stronger than Mist Boons.

Even if a student named Suho just awakened, no one could guarantee how long a rookie with no dungeon experience could survive inside.

Pushik…

[Mist Buns have been eliminated.]

The guardian who destroyed all the visible Mist Buns took a deep breath.

“It’s almost over.”

Although he was tired enough to want to lie down immediately, his mind was clear.

But then, it happened.

Ding!

[Level up!]

The guardian’s entire body was enveloped in transparent light, and vitality surged through his body.

“I can keep going with this level of strength!”

Just as the guardian was about to find the remaining people and move on, suddenly…

Kwak!

“….!”

The ceiling exploded above his head.

A huge pile of rocks and dust scattered in all directions.

The guardian was startled and rolled on the ground, but he couldn’t avoid it completely.

As he reached level 2 and all his wounds were miraculously healed, blood began to trickle down his forehead.

But that wasn’t the problem.

A giant wolf descended from the hole in the ceiling.

[Grrr!]

Crunch!

At the sight of its tremendous presence, the guardian’s mind flashed.

“I can’t win this.”

He realized it as soon as he saw it.

The survival instinct that every living creature possesses.

An instinctual fear that was different from Mist Buns.

[Grrr.]

The giant wolf looked down arrogantly at the wounded fighter.

Its gaze showed no escape for the injured prey.

At the same time, an overwhelming sense of oppression pressed down on the guardian.

“Grrr.”

The guardian clenched his teeth.

He had no intention of being crushed by fear at this point.

He would just do his best.

“If I can’t run, then I’ll attack first!”

Thwack!

The guardian picked up a rock and hurled it at the wolf.

However, the giant wolf lifted its front paw as if mocking them and launched its attack.

“Now’s our chance!”

Suho rushed towards the wolf like lightning.

He swung his fists that had previously taken down dozens of Mist Boars.

But it was futile.

CRUNCH!

SQUISH!

The wolf’s jaws bit into Suho’s shoulder.

“Ugh!”

Suho gritted his teeth and slammed his fist against the wolf’s head, but it was no use.

BANG!

In the end, Suho lay on the ground, defeated.

The wolf’s massive paw pressed down on his body triumphantly.

It was a fight that could never have been won in the first place.

The wolf savored its victory, its vicious teeth about to tear into Suho’s neck.

And that was when a miracle happened.

KYEEEAAAAAK!

SQUEEEEEEAAAK!

A bolt of black lightning suddenly struck from the dark sky above, splitting the space between the giant wolf and Suho in two.

DZZZT!

The ceiling collapsed as the dust settled, revealing the ant king covered in black smoke.

Vern Lv.Max

Enemy rank

Vern pressed his hand against the wolf’s jaws and looked down at Suho, who was lying on the ground.