Solo leveling vol 2, p.1
Solo Leveling, Vol. 2, page 1
Copyright
Solo Leveling II
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 2
© Chugong 2017 / D&C MEDIA
All rights reserved.
First published in Korea in 2017 by D&C MEDIA Co., Ltd.
English translation © 2021 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)
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: 978-1-9753-1929-8 (paperback)
978-1-9753-1930-4 (ebook)
E3-20210519-JV-NF-ORI
CONTENTS
Cover
Title Page
Copyright
1. The Potential Jackpot
2. Igris the Bloodred
3. Quest Results
4. Shadow Monarch
5. The Plucky High School Girl
6. The Red Gate
7. Ice-Slayer Hunting
8. Either a Human or Magic Beast
9. A Smooth Start
10. Avaricious Vulcan
Yen Newsletter
1
THE POTENTIAL JACKPOT
Jinho’s squad had a total of two dungeons scheduled on this day, and there was quite a distance between them.
Sangmin and Kichul kept in frequent contact as each waited at a dungeon for the squad to arrive in order to confirm with their own eyes if their hunch was correct.
…It’s still pretty chilly.
Sangmin bought a cup of coffee from a nearby vending machine. He’d been waiting for Jinho’s team for an hour now, but his anticipation was somehow beating out his boredom.
It’d been a while since his heart had raced this fast.
If I’m right, he’s the first super-rookie to come along in ages—and an S rank to boot!
Sangmin had secured the title of department manager at a young age, and it was all thanks to his intuition. In fact, he had played a large role in raising White Tiger to its current status as a prominent guild.
That same intuition was now telling him that Jinwoo Sung might be able to take the White Tiger Guild to the next level.
People will think I’ve gone insane if I say that, though…
After all, according to his records, Jinwoo was still officially an E-rank hunter.
Things weren’t always what they appeared to be, though, and Sangmin wouldn’t have been who he was today if that wasn’t true.
He was watching the gate with the eyes of a hawk when…
Riiing, riiing!
It was a call from Kichul.
“Hey, Kichul.”
“Sir, Jinho Yoo’s squad just arrived.”
“Okay. Stay calm and keep an eye on them, then report back their every move.”
“Yes, sir. Wait. Huh? M-Manager An!”
The voice on the other end of the line sounded odd.
Did that idiot get caught?
Sangmin started feeling anxious.
“What’s wrong? Talk to me.”
“You were right, sir!”
“What?”
His heart beat faster.
“Only two people, Jinho and Jinwoo, are entering the gate.”
“Of course, since this is all a test for Jinwoo.”
As expected, Sangmin’s hunch was spot-on. His intuition had never failed him when it came to situations like this.
Nice!
He pumped his fist.
While you guys take your sweet time, the White Tiger Guild can make a move. Jinwoo Sung will be ours.
Because that’s how Sangmin An and the second administration team rolled.
While Sangmin was distracted by his daydreams of victory, Kichul’s voice continued spilling through the phone.
“So what should I do now, sir? Should I join you?”
“No, keep monitoring them.”
“Pardon? But we’ve already confirmed your suspicions.”
“I’m curious about their clear time. I’d like to know how many hours it’ll take them to clear a C-rank dungeon.”
“Even A-rank hunters need more than a couple of hours if they go in by themselves, don’t they?”
“Do you have something better to do?”
“Of course not, sir. I just thought you might get bored by yourself, so I thought I’d ask.”
That was why Sangmin liked Kichul—he had a lightning-quick ability to adapt to situations.
“Don’t worry about me and keep your eyes peeled for when they leave the dungeon.”
“Understood.”
“I’ll have my phone with me at all times, so call me right away if something happens.”
“Yes, sir.”
After Sangmin finished relaying his orders and hung up, he suddenly realized just how hungry he was.
Rrrumble…
Guess I was too focused on work……
He’d been so preoccupied with waiting for Jinwoo that he hadn’t eaten all day, and it was already past lunchtime. He hadn’t been able to leave his position because he’d had no idea when Jinho’s squad would arrive. Now that he could relax, he looked around for a place to eat before heading into a convenience store.
It’s not like I’m trying to save money, but……
Even though there wasn’t anyone around to judge him, he felt uncomfortable dining in a restaurant alone. After some deliberation, he decided on instant ramen from the store. He poured hot water into the ramen container and waited three minutes for everything to cook. He’d just snapped his wooden chopsticks apart when…
Riiing!
“Oh, for… Who the hell’s calling me when I’m trying to eat?”
A familiar name lit up his phone screen.
Second-in-command
Damn you, Kichul……
Sangmin took the call and snapped, “You couldn’t wait to call me again?”
“I’m sorry, sir, but—”
“But what? If you called me for nothing, you’re eating instant ramen for lunch for a week!”
“Sir, they’ve exited the gate!”
Sangmin, who at that moment had raised some noodles to his mouth, froze like a video on pause.
“What?”
“Jinho and Jinwoo exited the dungeon, and the squad is now getting ready to leave!”
He hadn’t misheard anything. He rushed to check the time.
“It’s only been thirty minutes! Did they give up on the raid?”
“No, the gate is closing.”
None of this made any sense! Despite the different levels of difficulty among C-rank dungeons, it wasn’t possible for a single person to clear a dungeon in thirty minutes.
“Check again! Are you sure the gate is closing?”
“Yes, I’m sure. Would you like me to send you a video?”
“…No, that’s fine.”
Sangmin hung up the phone and stared blankly ahead.
What would take an A-rank hunter two hours to clear, Jinwoo had finished in thirty minutes? Never mind B rank. Based on empirical data, he had to be…
“Higher than an A rank……”
Sangmin had hit the proverbial jackpot.
“Boss, do you have somewhere else to be?”
“No, why?”
“I’ve never seen you hunt so fast.”
Jinho was absolutely awestruck. He’d already known Jinwoo was strong, but the phenom hunter had been on a completely different level today. What Jinho didn’t know was that the results had been inevitable.
Jinwoo suppressed a laugh.
It’s because the magic beasts this time were werewolves.
[TITLE: WOLF ASSASSIN]
A title given to those skilled at hunting wolves. When battling an animal-type monster, all abilities will increase by 40 per cent.
With the enemies being werewolves, the Wolf Assassin buff had naturally kicked in. His high level plus the buff meant that mere C-rank magic beasts hadn’t stood a chance.
Yeek!
Whimper!
Whiiiine!
At the rate Jinwoo had torn through them, even ten extra hands wouldn’t have been enough to help Jinho collect the essence stones from the beasts’ remains. Jinho ended up drinking five bottles of healing potion in this dungeon alone. The concoctions were so filling that he groaned multiple times about how he wouldn’t need to eat lunch.
That’s that, but……
Jinwoo looked up. He’d felt like someone was watching him for a while now.
I don’t think it’s a hunter, since I can’t sense mana.
His eyes swept the surrounding area, but nothing caught his attention. If he wanted to, he could track down the interloper, but it would take a while due to the lack of animosity or hostility.
……
It could have been nothing, and sure enough, the presence soon vanished.
“What’s wrong, boss?”
“…Nothing. Let’s head out.”
The clock was ticking, and there was no time to waste. Jinwoo took one last quick look around and then got in the front passenger seat.
Jinwoo didn’t feel the gaze when entering or exiting the second dungeon.
Am I being paranoid?
Either way, he was glad it wasn’t a big deal. While he was lost in his thoughts, Jinho approached and hung his head.
“I’m sorry, boss. The other gates are too far, so this is the last one for today.”
“That’s fine—nothing to be sorry about.”
There was still plenty of time before sunset, but they’d been on such a roll closing down the gates in this particular area that they had to call it quits for the day.
“Good work, everyone.”
“You did all the work, chief.”
“See you tomorrow.”
“Good work!”
Jinwoo and Jinho got in the van after seeing off the other members.
“I’ll take you home, boss.”
Jinho had become his trusty chauffeur at some point. He looked completely at home behind the wheel, like this was what he was meant to do. Jinwoo gazed at him with pity.
He has to play chauffeur even though he’s a little rich boy, just because he wants to try his hand at being a guild master……
Jinho caught Jinwoo staring at him as he accelerated and chirped with a bright smile, “Huh? Is there something on my face, boss?”
“…Nope.”
Jinwoo quickly turned his eyes ahead, as if he hadn’t been caught. Something occurred to him, and he pulled out his phone to check the time.
It’s 4:46.
He had a while before he needed to be home, and luckily, he had something else to do.
It was around here, wasn’t it?
If memory served…
Jinwoo turned to his driver. “Hey, Jinho?”
“Yes, boss?” Jinho replied as he skillfully turned the wheel and smoothly maneuvered the van around a corner.
“Let’s go to the Mirae Department Store.”
“Mirae Department Store?” Jinho was puzzled by the odd request.
“Yeah.”
“Sure, it’s right over there, but…is something wrong, boss? You’ve been acting odd all day.”
“…You know, you’ve gotten pretty chatty recently.”
At those words, Jinho whipped his head to the front and sat ramrod straight.
“I’ll get you there at the speed of light, boss. Hold on to your seat.”
With his shift in attitude, Jinho drove straight to the destination without braking once, and the pair soon arrived.
Skreeeech.
The vehicle came to a stop in front of the grand Mirae Department Store, which was located in downtown Seoul.
Tmp.
As Jinwoo got out of the van, Jinho also disembarked and walked over to the hunter, who stood there quietly.
“Our guild has to have offices in a building like this, right, boss?” he asked half-jokingly, gazing up at the structure. Alas, he received no answer.
Feeling something was off, Jinho urgently looked to his side. “Huh?”
Jinwoo was already gone.
“Boss?”
Search as he might, he couldn’t find a trace of Jinwoo in the area.
“Boooss?”
[As the boss has been defeated, the dungeon will now revert to its original state.]
Leveled up twice in the department-store instance dungeon.
Jinwoo’s footsteps were light on his way home. That particular instance-dungeon key had come from a mystery box a while back and could be used only at the Mirae Department Store. He had been waiting for a good opportunity to go and had ended up clearing it today while he had some free time.
“Boooss?”
Jinho’s bewildered face while looking for him was hilarious no matter how many times Jinwoo pictured it.
At that moment, his phone rang.
Riiing!
He checked the caller ID, but it wasn’t a number he recognized.
Who…?
When he was in high school, all his free time had been devoted to raising his baby sister, filling their sickly mother’s shoes, and he’d started working as a hunter right after graduation. Meaning, his network of acquaintances was rather limited.
I don’t usually get calls from unknown numbers…
His hesitation was momentary, however, and he decided to answer the call.
“Hello?”
“Hello. Is this Jinwoo Sung?”
The man on the other end of the line had a clear voice. Jinwoo hung up as soon as he heard it.
Click.
Based on past experience, 99 percent of the time, this kind of call is either a telemarketer or a loan shark.
As he went to pocket his phone, it rang again.
Riiing!
It was the same number.
Huh? So it’s not a telemarketer?
Telemarketers had quotas to fill, so they rarely called back someone who hung up on them, as it was better to call as many numbers as possible. Besides, they also knew it’d be a waste of time to try again.
That means this person actually needs to talk to me…
Jinwoo answered the phone properly this time.
“Yes, this is Jinwoo Sung.”
“Oh, excellent. I thought I dialed the wrong number, since the call cut off. Ha-ha.”
“……”
Jinwoo debated for two seconds if he should apologize and explain that he’d assumed the man was a telemarketer or a loan shark, but he stopped.
Admitting that would be even ruder.
After a brief silence, the salesman—no, the man with a salesman’s voice—continued.
“Oh, right, I haven’t introduced myself yet. I’m Sangmin An with the White Tiger Guild.”
Jinwoo stopped in his tracks.
The White Tiger Guild is calling me?
He racked his brain but couldn’t think of a reason why they might reach out to him. The only connection he could remember was when they’d helped the association with the double-dungeon incident, but……
It’s a bit late to be asking me about that.
Jinwoo wasn’t the type of person who could restrain his curiosity, so before Sangmin could say anything, Jinwoo beat him to the punch.
“May I ask why the White Tiger Guild is calling me?”
“It’s a little difficult to talk about this over the phone, so could we meet in person?”
Instead of ordering him around, this man was willing to accommodate him, so Jinwoo couldn’t think of a valid reason to refuse. It also so happened that he would be available the day after tomorrow.
Didn’t Jinho say he had to attend some kind of family thing?
Jinho had apologized for breaking their streak of daily raids, as his entire family was required to attend an important event.
An important event…
Maybe Jinwoo watched too much TV, because he imagined it to be some rich-family gathering in a fancy hotel banquet hall.
In any case, it meant he was free that day.
“I have time on Thursday.”
“I was wondering… Are you free right now?”
“Right now…?” Jinwoo checked the time. His phone read eight PM.
“It’s almost eight o’clock…”
“I’m close by. I just need a moment of your time.”
“Close by?”
“I’m in a café nearby.”
