Ch 7

Vera was excited.

She was waiting for Sung-ho’s reaction to the true ability of the Shadow Monarch, “Shadow Extraction.”

“Oh my, amazing!”

“They’re giving this incredible ability as a reward?”

“Last time, they gave stat points as a reward, but this time they’re giving a rune stone that allows you to learn a skill?!”

“Wow! Can they just give it away like this?”

Vera thought to herself.

“Cough. As I mentioned earlier, this shadow dungeon contains everything for the Shadow Monarch!”

Vera said, smiling and puffing up her cheeks.

“Ahem! This leveling system is a supporting device for the stable growth of the Shadow Monarch. It’s a modified version of the system the lord used to use, designed to fully absorb the power of the great monarch into the weak body of a human……”

Sung-ho interrupted her.

“Hey, what’s this? A summoning skill?”

“……!”

Sung-ho’s expression was clearly disappointed.

Vera was surprised.

What kind of unreasonable response was that!

“What are you talking about? Even after receiving such an incredible power, you’re reacting like this!”

“Well, summoning skills are……”

Sung-ho explained how summoning skills are being treated among hunters these days.

The dungeons beyond the gate were truly brutal places.

If they let their guard down for even a moment, the claws of the monsters would tear apart the hunters’ necks. The floor and ceiling were full of dangerous traps.

In such a place, no one could take responsibility for their own life.

Combat hunters were tough, so it didn’t matter, but magic hunters had physical abilities that were not much different from those of ordinary people.

Especially among them, magic hunters with summoning skills were even more vulnerable. They entrusted all the battles to their summoned creatures, making themselves nothing more than helpless baggage following behind.

“Not only that, but using magic consumes a lot of magical power, it’s hard to find useful summoned creatures, and even if you manage to find one, they’re not as strong as you might think.”

“No way!”

Bae was furious and stomped her foot with a resentful expression.

Her previous behavior of mocking the weakened combat power of the guardians was gone, and now she felt even weaker herself.

Seeing her like that, Suho felt a little sorry.

“Well, I’m sorry, but that’s just the reality. Well, but it’s definitely a good thing that you’ve gained a new skill.”

“No way! Don’t pretend to be considerate and comfort me like that! This is really a good thing?”

“Huh? Your tone of voice has changed a bit?”

Bae’s concept of a historical tone had collapsed in an instant.

“Okay, okay. Anyway, I accept the reward.”

A rune stone appeared in Suho’s hand.

[Rune Stone: Shadow Extraction]

When the rune stone is broken, the skill will be absorbed.

Without hesitation, Suho shattered the rune stone.

[“Learned Skill: Shadow Extraction.”]

Shuwaak!

At that moment, a shadow shot up from under Suho’s feet, wrapped around his whole body, and disappeared.

Paat!

A skill window unfolded before his eyes.

[Skill: Shadow Extraction Lv.1]

Shadow Ability.

No mana required.

Extract mana from a dying body to create a shadow soldier.

The higher the target’s ability and the longer they have been dead, the higher the probability of extraction failure.

Possible number of extracted shadows: 0 / 3

“…Creating shadow soldiers?”

Suho’s gaze naturally turned to Ber, who was a shadow monster with black steam boiling all over his body.

[That’s right.]

Ber’s mouth was split wide.

[This skill creates soldiers like me. Shadow Extraction is the essence of the power that made the current Shadow Lord, Seong Jin-woo.]

At that moment, Suho realized.

The numerous goblin corpses surrounding him.

For the past four hours, black smoke had been slowly rising from the corpses that he had killed with his own hands.

[Possible target for Shadow Extraction.]

[Possible target for Shadow Extraction.]

[Possible target for Shadow Extraction.]

Every time he looked at the black smoke, messages with the same content repeated in his mind.

“Shadow soldiers… Is it some kind of necromancer?”

The concept of creating soldiers out of corpses was similar to that of necromancers commonly seen in games.

“It doesn’t seem very good either.”

I remember seeing it on the internet before.

There are also various types of summoning skills.

Such as summoning and taming elementals in nature.

Or taming and riding live animals.

Among them, the worst profession was the necromancer.

“Because there are many limitations.”

The biggest problem was that you needed a corpse.

“I have to hunt for that corpse myself, just like now. It means I can only control someone weaker than me.”

To know for sure, I felt like I had to try it out myself.

“Shadow extraction.”

The following message came to mind at Suho’s command.

[Please specify the command for the shadow extraction skill.]

“Do I have to specify a separate command for the skill? Hmm….”

Suho hesitated for a moment.

But then Berga suddenly started rolling around and coughing beside him.

[Hack. Cough, cough.]

“Why? Do you have something to say?”

When Suho looked at him, Berga seemed to be acting strange.

[Uh, cough, no. Kuk! Go cool off! Kuk kuk kuk!]

“….?”

Why is he suddenly coughing like that?

Suho opened his eyes wide in confusion.

Although he didn’t understand what he was saying, he blurted out a word without hesitation if it was a command.

“If you’re going to give a command, it’s better to be intuitive.”

“Rise up.”

[Kieheeet!]

Then Berga clenched his fist as if saying “I knew it!” and made a strange sound.

And then.

An incident occurred.

“Kehehehe-!”

Suddenly, the laughter of goblins echoed through the air.

At the same time, shadows began to wriggle from the corpses of goblins lying on the ground.

As if they were alive!

“Oh my goodness.”

Suho’s eyes widened as he looked around.

“Kik! Kerek-!”

Laughs like evil hooligans continued from all sides, and black hands reached out from the shadows, crawling out as if demons had returned from hell.

“[Shadow Extraction Successful.]”

Suddenly, three black goblins made of boiling black smoke appeared in front of Suho, waiting for his command.

“[Shadow Goblin Lv.1] Normal Grade”

Their appearance didn’t seem very powerful.

[… ]

At this point, Beru could finally start to notice. Despite using the same Shadow Ability, the difference in level between when Shadow Monarch Sung Jin-woo used it and now was too extreme.

“It’s natural. When Seong Jin-woo first obtained the Shadow Ability, he was level 50, and now Sooho is only at level 7. No matter how similar the skill is, its performance will inevitably weaken if the player’s level is low.

[Well, the soldiers who have just extracted their shadows are slightly weaker than they were when they were alive.]

“Their size also decreases?”

[Yes, that’s right…]

“Of course, their strength also weakens?”

[A little bit, yes.]

“And their speed…?”

[…]

Beru muttered in a gear-like voice.

[The Shadow Ability is affected by intelligence stats and level. It’s a truly amazing skill, but… I can’t really explain it…]

“Okay, I understand.”

Soho looked around at the shadow goblins waiting for his command.

And then he prepared to leave.

[Wait! Weren’t we in the mood to give orders just now?!]

Beru was surprised.

At that moment, a loud noise came from Sooho’s stomach.

Grrrrr-!

“…I’ve been fasting for two days.”

Sooho said seriously.

Beru was overwhelmed by his solemn tone.

Whether it’s a hunter or a Shadow Monarch, they all need to eat and survive.

[Anyway, you can come back here anytime using the key to the Shadow Dungeon. Take a break for now.]

At Beru’s words, Sooho inserted the key to the Shadow Dungeon into his own shadow, just as he did when he came in.

[Would you like to exit the Shadow Dungeon?] (Y/N)

“I will exit.”

Click.

As soon as he turned the key, the shadow swallowed him up.

Shwaaak!

[You have exited the Shadow Dungeon.]

***

As soon as Suho returned to reality at the hospital, he collapsed onto the bed.

Soft.

“Haah. I really went through it.”

Suho took a deep breath while lying in bed for the first time in a while.

It had only been four hours, but it felt like four days had passed.

While his health had fully returned with his level-up, he had completely lost his spirit.

The door to the hospital room opened as people in suits walked in.

“Excuse us. Is this the hospital room where Mr. Suho Sung is hospitalized?”

“Hmm?”

Suho immediately recognized who they were. There was only one group of people who would come to see him in this situation.

“We are from the Hunter Association.”

As expected.

People in suits approached Suho and bowed their heads.

“First of all, we would like to express our gratitude.”

“Huh? What did I do to deserve thanks?”

Suho looked puzzled.

“Thanks to you, many people were saved. We want to thank you on behalf of those people.”

“Well, it wasn’t that big of a deal.”

“It was a big deal.”

Suddenly, Suho was taken aback.

The man who seemed to have the highest rank pushed an uncomfortable face towards Suho.

Then, he put on a big, warm smile.

“Mr. Suho, you are truly impressive. A young man who risks his life to save people in such a harsh world like today! Keuheuk!”

“Oh, no… I mean, excuse me?”

The large man pulled out a handkerchief and wiped away tears, as if deeply moved.

“Ahem.”

A nearby employee patted his back, as if accustomed to it, and said,

“Team leader, you need to stop crying and get back to work now.”

“Oh, right. Haha. I cry too much these days because I’m getting older. Mr. Suho, I am Han Jae-hyuk, the team leader of the Hunter Association. Our purpose in coming here is…”

Click.

Team leader Han Jae-hyuk smiled and brought out a thick magic power measuring device.

“To measure Mr. Suho’s magic power.”

There was no doubt that Suho had awakened. He was found unconscious in the Korean Art Museum that had turned into a field-type dungeon.

There were even fragments of corpses that were confirmed to be demons around him.

“Reporters keep asking for information and want to write articles about it.”

Han Jae-hyuk squinted his eyes and spoke.

“Oh, okay.”

Suho obediently raised his hand to the mana measuring device.

Then, the magic stone embedded in the center emitted a faint light.

After waiting for a moment, the measurement results came out.

“Hmm. Hoo, this…”

Team leader Han Jae-hyuk was surprised by the results.

But Suho’s expression didn’t change at all, as if he had no interest in the results.

Of course. The status window in front of him had already told him about his magical power.

“Magical power value 46. You have become a rank E awakened being.”

The employees standing next to him did not show any expression, but they were disappointed inside.

They had expected that a hunter who had just awakened and performed as he did would have a much higher rank.

However, Team Leader Han Jae-hyuk was different.

“The value of a hunter is not their rank. If someone with an E rank risked their life to save others, that’s even more remarkable.”

With a warm smile, Team Leader Han Jae-hyuk patted Suho’s shoulder with a thick hand.

“Mr. Seong Suho, I look forward to your good performance in the future.”

“Oh, yes.”

Swish.

After finishing their business, the association employees gave a light greeting and left the hospital room.

Then, as if he had been waiting, Vergus popped his head out from Suho’s shadow.

“Now, then! I will explain what’s going to happen from now on…”

Swish!

“Suho!”

At that moment, the hospital room door opened again.

Vergus went back into the shadow, looking glum.