Solo leveling vol 5, p.1
Solo Leveling, Vol. 5, page 1
Copyright
Solo Leveling V
CHUGONG
Translation by Hye Young Im and J. Torres
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.
SOLO LEVELING Volume 5
© Chugong 2017 / D&C MEDIA
All rights reserved.
First published in Korea in 2017 by D&C MEDIA Co., Ltd.
English translation © 2022 by Yen Press, LLC
Yen Press, LLC supports the right to free expression and the value of copyright. The purpose of copyright is to encourage writers and artists to produce the creative works that enrich our culture.
The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book without permission is a theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like permission to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), please contact the publisher. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights.
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Chugong, author. | Im, Hye Young, translator. | Torres, J., 1969– translator.
Title: Solo leveling / Chugong ; translation by Hye Young Im and J. Torres.
Other titles: Na honjaman rebereop. English
Description: First Yen On edition. | New York, NY : Yen On, 2021.
Identifiers: LCCN 2020047938 | ISBN 9781975319274 (v. 1 ; trade paperback) | ISBN 9781975319298 (v. 2 ; trade paperback) | ISBN 9781975319311 (v. 3 ; trade paperback) | ISBN 9781975319335 (v. 4 ; trade paperback) | ISBN 9781975319359 (v. 5 ; trade paperback)
Subjects: GSAFD: Fantasy fiction.
Classification: LCC PL994.215.G66 N313 2021 | DDC 895.73/5—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020047938
ISBNs: 978-1-9753-1935-9 (paperback)
978-1-9753-1936-6 (ebook)
E3-20220704-JV-NF-ORI
Contents
Cover
Title Page
Copyright
1. Hunting Humans
2. To the Rescue
3. Jinchul Woo’s Point of View
4. Omen of Destruction
5. The One Trying to Enter and the Ones Trying to Leave
6. The Architect
7. Uninvited Guests
8. The Black Heart
9. Blank Check
10. His Resolve
Yen Newsletter
1
HUNTING HUMANS
Orcs were natural-born predators. Although their intelligence level was below that of humans, they were far superior at tracking and hunting weaker prey.
And now that the door—the barrier that used to exist between this world and the dungeon—was gone, the predators spilled out.
“Grrrowr.”
“Grrr.”
The orcs used their feet to push aside the dead bodies of the boys who were obstructing their path and surveyed their surroundings.
Sniff, sniff.
“Grrahh.”
The orcs had been holding their breath for an entire week as they sat in the darkness of the dungeon. No wonder they were so worked up by the smell of flesh and blood all around them. However, this group was just the reconnaissance team. As much as their blood boiled, they had tread carefully as, behind the circular portal, dozens of their kind awaited their report.
Straight walls lined with many doors and windows—the leader of the reconnaissance team noted immediately how the building they were standing in had a complicated layout similar to a castle.
“Grrrr.” The beast’s nostrils flared.
He had two choices. One was to immediately leave this hall to slaughter whatever prey they could get their hands on. The other was to kill all the humans within this castle, make it their fortress, then go forth and hunt.
It was clear which was the safer choice.
The leader barked at one of his subordinates. “Bring forth our brothers!”
He then looked up at the ceiling. The beast’s ears twitched as he listened for sounds from above. One floor up, then one more, and even beyond that… The building was filled with prey.
His head throbbed from the voice echoing in his head, incessantly urging him to slaughter.
“All right.” He parted his lips and bared his fangs. “We’ll start by clearing out the inside of this building.”
A crowd had gathered at Gwangalli Beach. Despite the gloomy clouds overhead, people’s attentions were solely focused on one thing—the large gate that had appeared on the beach. The local police force and the Busan branch of the Hunter’s Association had cooperated to set up a barricade prohibiting civilians from entering the area, but the number of onlookers continued to grow anyway.
“Boss!” The new employee whimpered to his supervisor, having almost been trampled by the throng. “Are we supposed to deal with this every time a gate appears?”
But the supervisor was similarly taken aback by the situation. They had never seen it this busy around a gate. “We’re just going to have to deal with it. It’s because this is one of the biggest gates to ever appear in Busan.”
They then peeked over their shoulders at the immense hole suspended in midair. It felt like they might be sucked in if they stared at it, so they were doing their best to ignore it. Of course…
A gate can’t hurt anyone unless a dungeon break happens, though……
Even so, they detested these things, kind of like how some people had an irrational fear of the ocean or outer space. That’s why, whenever they were out in the field, the sole preoccupation of the pencil pushers was a fervent wish that the hunters would deal with the ominous holes.
In that vein, there was one aspect of this specific raid that put them at ease.
The same thought seemed to cross the rookie’s mind. “Oh! Boss, did you hear?”
“Hear what?”
“I heard an S-rank hunter from Seoul is on his way!”
Who hadn’t heard about that? The supervisor estimated that about half the crowd was here to see the gate and the other half was rubbernecking to see the S-rank hunter.
“Hunter Jinwoo Sung?”
“Yes, him!”
“Do you know him or something? Why’re you so excited?”
“N-no.” The rookie blushed and frantically waved his hands. “To tell you the truth, it’s going to be my first time seeing an S-rank hunter, so……”
The supervisor sighed, exasperated. “Hunter Sung is a newbie just like you, so why’re you so different from him?”
“Boss!”
“If you’ve got the energy to chitchat, why don’t you make yourself useful and help out by putting in some overtime?”
“I’m taking a break because my leg hurts from being on my feet all day!”
The supervisor clicked his tongue as the rookie’s reproachful glances made it clear he felt wronged. Though his superior didn’t think this new guy was particularly reliable, the rookie’s enthusiasm was somewhat understandable.
“I’ll admit, I’m a little curious about Hunter Sung, too. Everyone’s talking about him.”
“You too, huh, boss?”
“I mean, he single-handedly defeated the boss of an S-rank gate.”
Technically, the queen ant was the magic beast boss of the dungeon on Jeju Island. However, the battle with the monstrous mutated ant had left such a strong impression, many of those who’d watched the live broadcast of that raid mistakenly took it for the boss. Killing the boss closes the gate, so in the people’s eyes, Jinwoo was a hunter who could close an S-rank gate all by himself. No wonder there were rumors Jinwoo’s power was up there with the national-level hunters.
It was only natural that he was getting all this attention.
“To think, an S-rank hunter is coming! I wonder what it’s like to see one in person.”
The supervisor was a little unnerved by the rookie’s sparkling eyes.
Did he apply to the association to stalk hunters or something?
Oblivious to his superior’s petulant gaze, the rookie’s eyes kept on shining, and he continued enthusiastically.
“Hey, boss!”
“What now?”
“I’ve heard it’s super difficult to look an extremely powerful hunter in the eyes. Have you ever run into an S rank before?”
The supervisor recalled his business trip to Gwangju. “……I have.”
“Wow!”
The elder man, who’d initially found this exchange bothersome, puffed up with pride at the newbie’s awed response.
“How was it, sir? Were you really scared?”
“Man, tell me about it. I met Hunter Dongwook Ma of the Fame Guild last year while on official business—”
“Excuse me. I just need to get by.”
“Yes, of course.”
The two association employees quickly parted to let a man pass between them, then stepped back into place.
“Huh?” The supervisor looked back at the hooded figure who’d just passed them.
“What’s wrong, boss?”
“Nothing. I just thought he looked familiar.”
“Huh? That’s weird. I thought so, too.”
“Does he work for the association?”
“Hmm……”
“Hang on, where was I?”
“Uh…… You were saying about Hunter Ma from the Fame Guild?”
“Oh, right. I had a chance to meet Hunter Ma in person, and he was such a huge guy that his shoulders were this wide.”
“Whoa!”
Turns out, the supervisor and the trainee were birds of a feather.
“Hunter Sung!”
Jongsu Park was so happy to see Jinwoo that he sounded nearly tearful in a way unbecoming of a man in his thirties. It reflected just how high the stakes of this raid were.
Jinwoo calmly checked the time as Jongsu greeted him overzealously and watched as the numbers on his cell phone changed from 10:59 to 11:00.
Good.
Jinwoo smiled. Although he’d taken a roundabout route using Stealth in order to avoid the chaos, he’d still arrived on time. He was starting off the raid on a good note.
He finally looked up and took in the sight of the gate.
……It’s bigger than I thought.
The gate was much larger in person than it had looked in the footage he’d seen, and just as the association had informed the Knights Guild, the amount of mana radiating from it was extraordinary.
What kind of magic beasts am I going to find in there?
Jinwoo couldn’t help but grin.
Beyond the gate’s unusual size, nothing else about it seemed out of the ordinary. As one would expect at any raid, there were two groups of low-rank hunters standing by.
That’s the collection team, and that’s the excavation team.
The more knowledge one had, the more they noticed, and thanks to his time with the Hunters Guild, Jinwoo was easily able to tell the groups apart based on their uniforms and tools.
And there are guild personnel busily running around as always.
Indeed, experience was the best teacher.
“Whoa!”
“He actually came!”
“Mr. Jinwoo Sung?”
Having been called over by Jongsu, the elite hunters began gathering around Jinwoo, their faces lighting up as soon as they recognized him. As he briefly greeted each hunter, Jinwoo sized them up. He counted thirty high-rank hunters. Just as Jongsu had confidently explained, the quantity and quality of the Knights Guild A- and B-rank hunters was on par with the Hunters Guild.
Of course……
He expected no less from a guild that represented an entire region of Korea. On top of that, because everyone was suited up in either armor or protective gear imbued with mana, the title of knight fit them perfectly.
It was a shame such an outstanding guild was often underestimated simply due to a lack of S-rank members. Jinwoo understood why President Park had hastily asked him to join the Knights Guild.
By the time Jinwoo snapped out of his thoughts, he was already surrounded by the other hunters.
“Ummm……”
“Hmm.”
A moment of hesitation soon turned into a competition to get Jinwoo’s attention.
“Hunter Sung, the Jeju Island raid was truly amazing!”
“How do you summon those soldiers in black? Or wait, are you sure they’re actually minions?”
“You’re going to lead today’s raid, aren’t you?”
Jinwoo didn’t know how to handle the barrage of questions.
“Okay, stop! Stop!”
Healer Yerim, whose idea it had been to invite Jinwoo in the first place, pushed the other hunters aside and stepped forward. “You’re making Hunter Sung uncomfortable! Stop acting like a bunch of newbies.”
She glared sharply at her colleagues. High-rank healers were just like den mothers who carried the weight of the team’s well-being. The strike squad members bit their tongues and swallowed their complaints like children after a scolding.
Heh.
Yerim chuckled. She spun and extended her hand to Jinwoo.
“I’m Yerim Jung, the main healer of the elite strike squad of the Knights Guild.” She grinned at him as she continued. “At the very least, I think the leader and the primary healer of the team should get along, don’t you?”
Jinwoo’s gaze shifted away from Yerim, whose eyes were gleaming with an ulterior motive, and to Jongsu. “Haven’t you explained everything to them yet?”
“Oh, the thing is……” Jongsu ran his fingers through his hair, embarrassed. “My schedule’s been crazy, what with all the paperwork and gathering everyone here.”
He gave an awkward laugh, then looked around at the other hunters. At least everyone in the squad was assembled in front of him so he would have to explain things only once.
“I, Jongsu Park, will be the leader of this raid.”
His words triggered some grumbling in the crowd.
“The president again?”
“But Hunter Sung is here…”
“Is this really okay?”
The tank Jongsu was among the strongest A-rank hunters, so it wasn’t strange for him to lead a raid. In fact, except when he was under the weather, he led most of the Knights Guild raids. However, there was now an S-rank hunter in the strike squad. Common sense dictated that the strongest would take the lead.
Jongsu quickly continued his explanation for his confused subordinates. “Hunter Jinwoo Sung will be in charge of our safety and guard our rear.”
This had been Jongsu’s demand—that Jinwoo insure the squad’s safety from the back of the party.
This was for both the security and honor of the Knights Guild. Hunters with high combat abilities usually marched in front. Those weaker and more vulnerable to sudden attacks, such as mages, healers, or support hunters, brought up the rear. Since the Knights Guild was having difficulties recruiting rookies, the survival of these hunters was a matter of the guild’s continued existence.
So what if they placed Jinwoo in back? The strike squad could quickly advance without worrying about a surprise attack from behind. No, they would even welcome it because the one fielding such strikes would be him—Jinwoo Sung, destroyer of thousands of S-rank magic beasts on Jeju Island! Heck, if their enemies persistently attacked from the rear, the strike squad might even be able to clock out early.
That was the first reason for Jongsu’s request. The second was more pressing……
Gulp.
Jongsu swallowed hard as he observed the swarm of reporters by the police barricade. It was proof that this raid was the center of attention. If they weren’t careful, people might think the Knights Guild was riding on Jinwoo’s coattails.
I mean, it’s true, but……
Either way, he couldn’t have the public thinking that, because the true purpose of this raid was to show people that the Knights Guild was still going strong. That’s why he had been so desperate to recruit Jinwoo. And so…
“This is something Hunter Sung and I agreed on after much discussion, so I will only entertain your complaints after the raid is done,” Jongsu relayed to his teammates.
But at that moment…
“Hang on, sir. I, for one, don’t understand this decision.” An A-rank hunter stepped forward. He was a rookie who had been recently recruited to the guild. “Are we so weak that we need someone else’s protection?”
Blood drained from the faces of the senior hunters at his question.
Gah……!
H-hey, kid!
Confidence oozed from the young hunter, who looked to be about Jinwoo’s age. “Is that not so, everyone?”
His attitude was understandable. He was the ace of the new crop of hunters this year, and given that the accolades he’d received had been second only to those of Chul Kim, his bravado wasn’t unfounded. The only problem was that he was barking up the wrong tree.
“Mr. Jinwoo Sung, do the elite members of the Knights Guild seem that weak to you?”
……
Jinwoo suppressed his laughter and quietly listened to what the new kid had to say.
Of course, the other hunters were on pins and needles.
Where is his unwarranted confidence coming from……?
Oh man… Is this his first time meeting an S-rank hunter?
