Solo Leveling: Ragnarok - Chapter 37

Chapter 37

Bang!
“What is this bastard doing again?!“
Lee Minseong, the vice president of the Reaper Guild, smashed the table in anger.

-(Hot News) Beast King Crow!
-Unidentified hunter, Crow, who gained the power of the Beast King!
-Why did Crow wear a crow mask?

Articles on the Internet were all about the Magok Field incident.
Knock knock.
“Vice President.“
Just in time, secretary Kim knocked and came in to deliver a report.
“It is said that all the Hyena Guild members who entered Magok Field were found dead. Accordingly, they just finished recovering the last corpse.“
Crash!
Lee Minseong’s fist clenched and shattered the armrest of the chair he was holding.
“I knew it would be like this.“
He gritted his teeth with a fierce expression.
“Now all the pictures fit together.“
They were remnants of the Hyena Guild.
It was only two days ago when the werewolves suddenly disappeared to visit Magok Field.

-We’ll check if there is a factory in Magok and come back.

Their excuse was good.
After all, Lee Miseong had been trying to find a new stardust factory.
However, he did not trust them at all, and had several hunters with stealth skills to follow them.
They had a good sense of smell, so he just watched what they did from a distance.
Then again.
Their lies were quickly exposed.
In addition to the werewolves in Magok, beast hunters who had flocked to show the ’qualification of a king’ were already roaming around.
“It seems that they went to Magok to obtain the Beast King’s power or something rather than to look for a stardust factory.“
After getting that unknown power, they must’ve thought of escaping from Lee Minseong
Technically, their plan was successful.
Because in the form of ’death’, they finally became free.
Secretary Kim continued to report.
“After securing several of their bodies and looking at the cause of death, they were killed by the weapons of hunters, not witchcraft.“
“No. It wasn’t the hunters.“
“What?“
Lee Minseong bit his lips and glared at the Internet article with a confident look.

-Why did Crow wear a crow mask?

“It must be the demons who killed them. The crow mask is like a symbol of demons.“
As soon as he saw the word ’crow mask’, what came to his mind was the factory demons.
For some reason, demons always wore crow masks on their faces.
Just like ’Crow’!
“Crow, that guy must be the demon. The demon that killed the hyenas and took the power of the Beast King.“
“Is that so?“
“I’m sure of it. In the first place, only those with the Beast Transformation skills were qualified to be kings. But do you know what demons must do to gain that power?“
“…“
“You don’t? Is your brain not really working?“
Lee Minseong clicked his tongue in frustration at the appearance of Secretary Kim who kept making a puzzled expression.
“It’s my fault for having such an idiot as my secretary. Do you remember how the Hyena Guild became werewolves in the first place?“
“They were awakened by drinking the blood of the wolf demon… Ah, blood!“
Secretary Kim suddenly came to a realization and shuddered.
Lee Minseong nodded his head.
“Yes, it’s blood. Even humans become beasts when they suck blood, so what can a demon not do? That demon killed them and drank their blood. And by meeting the king’s qualifications, he stole the king’s power.“
“Woah…“
After hearing all of those words, Secretary Kim looked up at Lee Minseong with a very thrilled face.
“As expected of your insights, Vice President…! How did you have such a wide field of vision? It is a picture I could not have imagined even after looking at the same information.“
“Tsk. It’s not a big deal. You don’t have to act like that.“
With Secretary Kim’s sincere flattery, Lee Minseong had a slightly relaxed expression.
“Anyway, now that we have a full picture of the situation, it is important to use this information. Now that the Hyena Guild are all dead, we have to go out and make a stardust deal with the demon. You know that, right?“
“That’s right. Then, we have to find the location of the factory first, but the clue is…“
“Magok.“
Lee Minseong pointed to an article on the Internet with a sharp and wise look.
“Besides, how did the demon without the Beast Transformation skill know about the King’s Trial and went to Magok? There are no coincidences in the world. It is logical to assume that the demon was there from the beginning.“
“Ah, I see! Then it must not have been a lie that the werewolves went to Magok Field to find the factory.“
“I suppose so.“
“All right. Then I will take responsibility and search the Magok Field.“
“Alright. Also, if you want to make a deal with a demon who has gained the power of the King of Beasts, prepare plenty of meat.“
“Ah! Yeah, well, even werewolves eat lots of meat. As expected, Vice President is wise!“
“Enough.“
Secretary Kim once again admired Lee Minseong’s wisdom and bowed down.
…Of course, the reality was completely different.
“Ah, by the way.“
Lastly, Lee Minseong confirmed the other tasks entrusted to Secretary Kim.
“What happened to the doctor?“
“Sorry. I haven’t convinced him yet. He’s a very stubborn man.“
“Hey…! What the hell are you doing for your high salary? If money can’t do it, do it by force!“
“Ah, yes. Even if I were to do it day after day…“
After answering, Secretary Kim hurriedly left the vice president’s office.
Seeing that, Lee Minseong put the cell phone in his hand back to throw it at him.
“It’s my fault for having that idiot as my secretary.“
This is why the hunters are the problem.
Because they are ranked based on fighting skill order, not intelligence order.
Before becoming a hunter, he was an elite who ran a business.
’I am different from other hunters. Since birth.’
Lee Minseong gritted his teeth as he recalled the hunters who boasted that their petty mana power was a bit high.

* * *
Translator: Anom

[You have entered the Shadow Dungeon.]
Around that time, Suho bought 10 chickens and returned to the Shadow Dungeon.
Goblins for daily quests were not yet regenerated, so it was quiet.
Perhaps it was because the day hadn’t passed yet.
“Wow! What is this delicious smell?“
“Hnnggg?“
Esil and Gray, who smelled the chicken, quickly approached Suho.
Suho handed over all the chicken he brought to Esil.
“Eat.“
“Thank you for the food!“
“Hnnggg?“
“Gray, even if you look at me like that, I can’t give you one.“
“…“
Gray bowed his head sullenly.
This time too, Gray had no share.
Right then, a message from Rakan appeared in front of Suho.

[The King of Beasts, Fang Monarch complains that you are being very mean to what Gray eats.]

Suho protested, saying it was a false accusation.
“Who’s being mean here? Gray says that he grows stronger by eating what he hunts himself. Rakan’s Sword said that he couldn’t become stronger if he was being spoon fed.“
Besides, the corpses of the goblins that were caught this time were piled up like a mountain.
Even if Gray shared that huge amount with Esil, he wouldn’t have to worry about starving for a while.

[The King of Beasts, Fang Monarch, said you are right, but he feels sorry for Gray, who has never eaten a chicken in his life.]

“Hmm.“
Hearing those words made Suho suddenly feel like he was a very bad person.
In the end, Suho lost.
“Esil, pass the chicken to Gray.“
“Ahhh~…“
Esil flashed a whining look on her face not willing to share.
In the end, it was sad to see Gray receiving the lightest box of chicken with his trembling hands.
Esil still had 9 left.
However, Gray lowered his body with fierce eyes.
“Growl!“
[No. You don’t have to hunt that. You’re not fighting that chicken.]
Beru looked at Gray pathetically.
There was a message from someone who enjoyed watching it from afar.

[The King of Beasts, Fang Monarch, nods in satisfaction, saying that he is indeed a valiant heir.]

“Just unlucky.“
Suho smiled.
He left Esil and Gray sitting together while eating chicken.
This time, he decided to check his abilities, which had leveled up a lot.
“Status window.“
Then, a long status window unfolded in front of him.

[STATUS WINDOW]
Name: Sung Suo
Level: 25
Occupation: None
Title: Wolf Slayer
HP : 5,860/5,860
MP : 586/586
[STATS]
Muscle Strength: 53
Body Strength: 34
Speed: 34
Intellect: 34
Senses: 34 (+5)
(Divisive Ability Points: 0)

xxx [SKILLS]
Passive Skills: Strength Lv.2, Double Sword Lv.2
Active Skills: Ruler’s Power Lv.1, Shadow Fragment Lv.1, Blade Storm Lv.1, Strike Lv.1

xxx [ITEMS]
Rakan’s Sword
Vulcan’s Horn
Gray’s Ring

“Also…“
Suho had a satisfied expression.
Great level and stat increase!
There were also a lot of skills.
“It’s worth the effort.“
And this time, he checked the newly acquired skill.

[Skill: Strike Lv.1]
Active skill
Requires 300 mana.
Coats the body with the ’Ruler’s Power’ to amplify attack power.
This was the skill he learned while delivering the final blow to Arachne, the grave spider.
“Required mana is 300. No wonder it was powerful.“
It was a skill that could not be used twice in a row with the current amount of mana required.
’Ruler’s Power.’
Suho decided to use the skill as an experiment.
The order was like this.
First, use Ruler’s Power.
Superimposing that invisible hand on his hand.
Ohh…!
Then, Suho’s hand was covered with black energy.
“Oh.“
Suho looked around at his hands, which seemed to be wearing a large translucent black gauntlet.
’It’s the principle of merging the Ruler’s Power and my hand into one.’
Suddenly, he remembered the proverb saying that two heads are better than one.
If you hit with one hand, or if you hit with both hands overlapping, it’s a skill that doubles, triples, or quadruples the attack power.
Suho glanced at his own mana.

[MP : 586]
Considering that his magic power was 10 at level 1, it was a huge amount of mana.
’If I increase my level one more time here, it will be over 600. Then I can use this skill twice in a row.’
Just imagining it was thrilling.
Suho clenched his fists.
This time, he knew for sure.
’To level up, I have to enter a real dungeon.’
It’s been a long time since his level surpassed the goblins in the Shadow Dungeon.
In order to become stronger, he had to go to a place where there is a stronger demon like Magok Field.
To do that…
’I’ll have to raise my hunter rating.’
Currently, he is an E-Class hunter, so at most he could only participate in dungeon raids as a miner or collector.
He knows that there are not many field dungeons like this one in Korea, so there are more opportunities to enter higher dungeons by raising his rating.
Suho suddenly remembered what the association hunter he met the other day said.
Since the initial measurement seems to have been in error, a suggestion to visit the association for a re-measurement.
’Should I go?’
Suho decided to visit the association.