Solo Leveling Novel Chapter 38

Chapter 38

[Skill: Dash Lv. 2]

Active skill.

Mana required to activate: 5

When this skill is activated, your movement speed will increase by 40%. During its activation, 1 Mana will be spent every minute.

‘My movement speed has increased.’

The rate had climbed up from 30 to 40%.

The difference in 10% was huge. Well, the levelling up of the skill seemed appropriate, since he used the Dash skill quite often.

[Skill: High-Grade Dagger Technique Lv. 1]

Passive skill.

Mana required to activate: None

Exclusive to daggers.

You used daggers for a long time. And now, you are able to wield daggers more proficiently.

33% additional damage will be applied when using daggers.

Additional damage effect when using daggers!!

A dagger-specific skill had been created as the result of him continuously sticking to daggers, it seemed.

‘I guess wielding other types of weapons will be inefficient for me now, huh.’

Of course, it also meant that the effect when using only the daggers would be even greater.

Besides, he was already well used to using daggers. He also had grown fond of the Poison Fang of Kasaka and wasn’t planning to switch to another weapon any time soon, so this was a huge boon for him.

‘And finally….’

Jin-Woo’s eyes gleamed in great anticipation as he checked out the details of the last new skill that appeared.

[Skill: Vital Points Targetting Lv. 1]

Active skill.

Mana required to activate: 70

Exclusive to daggers.

You’ve learned the most optimum way to attack with your daggers. This skill will search for the enemy’s vital points and inflict fatal damage.

This skill was also exclusive to daggers.

‘The most optimum way to attack….’

Now that he thought about it, the attack he used to land the final blow to Kahng Tae-Sik and on that last zombie felt roughly the similar to him.

Should he say he definitely felt it in his bones? The moment the dagger pierced through, he knew instinctively that the battle was over.

‘Ah, so that was me aiming at the vital points, huh.’

To think, something he did as an accident would become an actual skill, and he’d get to use it whenever he felt like it!

His heart was now beating like crazy.

To Jin-Woo, who had no other method to attack other than to swing his dagger around this way and that, this attack skill ‘Vital Points Targetting’ was like the sweet, sweet rain falling at the end of a long drought.

‘Very nice!’

He levelled up and got new skills.

It’d only been the first day, yet things were going really smoothly already.

***

The second day.

[Level up!]

[Level up!]

With the addition of an attack skill, the speed of hunting had increased rather noticeably.

[Level up!]

Yu Jin-Ho’s eyes could only grow wider and wider as he watched countless monsters fall one after the other when Jin-Woo accurately attacked their weak points.

‘Hyung-nim has been hiding such a mad skill until now?!’

Just how far did the set of hyung-nim’s mysterious skills extend to?

He couldn’t help but admire Jin-Woo even more.

‘Seeing that he was able to easily defeat several rank C Hunters, he’s definitely a rank B or higher…..’

He could only spectate from the sidelines, his jaw slack, since he couldn’t guarantee his own fate if he unwisely tried to probe Jin-Woo for answers.

However, there was a distinct disadvantage associated with the increase in the hunting speed, as it turned out.

[You can’t use your skills because of a lack of Mana.]

[You can’t use your skills because of a lack of Mana.]

Jin-Woo frowned quite deeply.

‘Again??’

In order to fill up his depleted MP, Jin-Woo summoned a vial of ‘potion’ he bought from the Store right away.

“What is that, hyung-nim?”

Yu Jin-Ho expressed a great interest.

Being next to Jin-Woo meant that Yu Jin-Ho would get to experience many unbelievable things, of course. And now, he became way too curious about the identity of the blue liquid Jin-Woo kept drinking every now and then.

“What, this?”

Jin-Woo delayed answering and read the information on the potion first.

[Item: MP Potion]

Rarity: E

Type: Consumable

A liquid medicine that will restore your Mana. Once consumed, it will restore 500 points of MP. Can be stored in your Inventory, but it can’t be handed over to someone else.

The explanation said that the potion couldn’t be handed over to another person.

‘What will happen if I try to give it to someone else?’

It was now Jin-Woo’s turn to become curious. So, he handed the vial of the MP potion over to Yu Jin-Ho.

But, the potion bottle quietly disappeared from the view when placed in Yu Jin-Ho’s hand, just like when it appeared the first time.

“Is, is this magic, hyung-nim??”

‘So, this is why it can’t be handed over, huh.’

He learned something new today.

An item that could not be handed over would disappear when touched by someone else. If so, what would happen when no hands were involved?

Jin-Woo accessed the Store and purchased a new potion.

However, it was not the same MP potion that he bought all the time, but a vial of HP potion containing reddish liquid.

As soon as he completed the transaction, the potion automatically appeared in Jin-Woo’s hand.

“H-hyung-nim!! That’s amazing! The liquid’s colour changed to red!”

Yu Jin-Ho was thinking that the MP potion disappearing and being replaced by an HP potion was some kind of a fancy magic trick.

Actually, there was a good reason why Jin-Woo changed the type of potion.

‘Let’s find out if these potions have an effect on other people.’

Jin-Woo told Yu Jin-Ho’s to lower his posture.

“Open your mouth and look up.”

“L-like this, hyung-nim?”

“Alright. Stay in that position and don’t move.”

Jin-Woo tilted the vial of HP potion. The reddish liquid slid down Yu Jin-Ho’s mouth.

Gulp.

Suddenly, Yu Jin-Ho opened his eyes wider.

“Uh? What’s going on, hyung-nim? Why do I feel reinvigorated again?”

After playing the role of the luggage carrier for a long time, Yu Jin-Ho had been looking rather fatigued, but now, his complexion improved in the blink of an eye.

Jin-Woo smiled in satisfaction.

‘So, giving it away in this manner works.’

He got to learn something else just as good again.

He should be able to heal a nearby injured person, even if there were no Healers present. This would certainly help him out a good deal in the future, no doubt.

“Just tell me if you’re feeling tired, okay? I can spare a ton of this drink, you see.”

Of course, Jin-Woo wasn’t doing this out of charity.

If the porter got too tired and his movement speed decreased, then that would mean the overall hunting speed would decrease as well, so basically, he’d be the one losing out in the end.

His actions were born out of such a chain of thoughts, but Yu Jin-Ho didn’t know that.

“H-hyung-nim….”

“Let’s go.”

Yu Jin-Ho became very moved after being subjected to Jin-Woo caring about him. Not to mention, he was awed by Jin-Woo’s amazing abilities too. Wiping away his tears, Yu Jin-Ho hurriedly chased after the departing back of Jin-Woo.

***

The third day.

“Oh, right. Take this, hyung-nim.”

Yu Jin-Ho rummaged through the equipment bag and then, presented a bank balance book with a stamp sealed in together.

“What’s this?”

“It’s the money from selling the magic crystals we got during the last two days, hyung-nim.”

Jin-Woo got slightly irritated by the fact that Yu Jin-Ho had forgotten this and only decided to give it to him inside a dungeon full of dangerous monsters, but that irritation disappeared almost right away.

‘?600,000,000?!’ (TL: Around $535,500)

When he took a look at the amount written on the book, Jin-Woo found quite a substantial amount staring back at him.

“Are you giving me every cent from the sales of the magic crystals?”

Yu Jin-Ho nodded his head.

“Yes, hyung-nim. I’m not doing these raids because I need the money, and besides, you’ve killed all of the monsters anyways. So, how can I ask you for a share like a shameless fool here?”

Yu Jin-Ho’s eyes were sparkling like a little kid waiting to be praised.

‘Ohh, really… Would you look at this kid now?’

Jin-Woo sensed the change in Yu Jin-Ho’s attitude after they spent the last couple of days together.

Not too long ago, the feeling of the kid forcing himself to come even though he was sh*t-scared was pretty strong, but now, he was acting more like a little brother who couldn’t stop worshipping a cool older brother or something.

‘He’s got a pretty adorable side to him, no?’

Jin-Woo smirked.

“Can I really have it, then?”

“Do I, the one and only Yu Jin-Ho, look like someone who’d go back on his word, hyung-nim?”

Jin-Woo smiled brightly and patted the bank balance book.

“Okay, thanks. I’m really grateful for this.”

“No, thank you instead, hyung-nim!!”

Yu Jin-Ho bent his back 90 degrees right away.

This was one confusing sight where it was pretty difficult to tell just who was giving who money here.

At the same time, outside the dungeon….

The waiting ‘teammates’ also had developed a routine of sorts to while away the time.

As soon as the raid leader Yu Jin-Ho and his assistant (?) Seong Jin-Woo entered the Gate, the remaining Hunters gathered around, placed a couple of picnic clothes on the ground, and proceeded to do their own things.

The most popular activity, of course, was gambling.

Five people were sitting around in one group, gambling and chatting away.

“How many raids did we ‘participate’ in so far?”

“Let’s see… The day before, it was three. Yesterday, it was two, and this is the second dungeon today, so it’s seven in total so far.”

“Will it be fine for those two to keep clearing dungeons at this breakneck pace? I mean, it’s normal to take a week off after clearing one dungeon, no?”

“Aigoo. Don’t you worry about those two, now. Can’t you see that they literally haven’t even broken a sweat every time they come out of a Gate? Besides, we get 3 mil every raid, so it’s simply an excellent bit of news for us. Oh, it’s your turn, my man. Hurry up and deal.”

“Ah, sure.”

Indeed, both Jin-Woo and Yu Jin-Ho displayed not one hint of getting fatigued from keeping up with this seemingly-exhausting schedule.

Of course, these people had no idea, but such a feat was only possible thanks to the miraculous effects of the potions.

The duo got to clear over one-third of the planned 19 raids in such a short amount of time precisely because of the potions.

A short while later, the Gate’s black-ish surface wavered unsteadily and two people emerged from there.

“Oh, the raid leader is out.”

“Okay, let’s pack this up.”

Hunters began getting ready to leave without being ordered to.

“Hey, there. Take care of that luggage over there.”

“Wake that person up. Please make sure we aren’t forgetting anything here.”

Hunters moved in perfect sync. Even the sleeping Hunter woke up and quickly finished getting ready to move to the new location.

“Okay, let’s get going!”

Everyone was getting more or less used to this rather insane manner of clearing dungeons.

***

Inside the offices of the White Tiger Guild, located in the same district.

The Chief of the 2nd Division, Ahn Sahng-Min, found himself shouting at the top of his voice early in the morning.

“Mister Hyun!! What are you trying to do here?! Tomorrow’s the day for the new recruits to start training, yet how could you have failed to book a single Gate until now?! Answer me, Mister Vice Chief!!”

The Vice Chief Hyun Ki-Cheol lowered his head in embarrassment.

“M-My apologies, Chief. The thing is, there is a raid team that quickly bids for every Gate ranked C opening up in our jurisdiction.”

“What?! Well then, why don’t you just get them back with higher bids? Does our Guild lack funds or personnel? Just what’s the problem here?”

“I tried to do as you said, but…..”

“Uh-huh!! How dare you answer back as if you did something nice??”

From the thunderous roar of Ahn Sahng-Min, the entirety of the 2nd Division had fallen into silence.

It sure had been a long time since Ahn Sahng-Min blew his top to this extent.

Just what kind of a place was the White Tiger Guild?

It was called one of the top five Guilds in South Korea. For that reason alone, every single employee working within its halls was, without exception, excellent individuals.

The Vice Chief Hyun Ki-Cheol too was a talented, sharp individual who performed his role well and admirably, having never committed a single error ever since he was hired by the Guild.

But to think, he failed to book a single Gate when the new recruits were supposed to begin their training soon!

This no doubt qualified as a big error.

The 2nd Division that Ahn Sahng-Min was in charge of did the roles of recruiting new Hunters and training them, while the First Division took care of managing the schedules of the Guild’s main Hunters.

“P-Please! Take a look at this first, Chief!”

The near-tearful Hyun Ki-Cheol pushed forward a notebook PC to his superior officer.

“What the hell?!”

Ahn Sahng-Min was about to explode once more, only for his jaw to drop to the floor after checking out a certain number appearing on the notebook’s screen.

“T-Two hundred fifty million Won?!?! There is a crazy b*stard who spent 250 million Won on a single rank C Gate????”

< Chapter 38 > Fin.