18 Chapter 17
[General POV]
After Toneri finished what he was doing, he let out a sigh of relief and slowly stood up from his lotus position.
Cha Hae-In, who was asked by him to keep an eye on him, noticed him standing up. She got a bit curious and asked him "What did you try to do?"
Toneri stayed silent for a while and pondered something, in the end, he just decided to keep a secret from her a bit longer "It's... Complicated, you see. Anyways, I finished what I was doing. Thanks for coming with me, let's go back, shall we?"
Cha Hae-In did not ask any further and just nodded at him. They both walked out of the forest and, once again, walked back to Seoul on foot. Toneri doesn't really need to do this necessarily, he could have just gone in a bus or a cab to reach their destination. But no, for some reason, he wants to walk home by foot.
Something about sigma rules and walking is free training?
Anyways, He and Cha Hae-In parted ways when they reached Seoul. She said that she needs to sleep early as their guild will need to clear A-Rank Gates in 2 days. Toneri nodded and they separated.
And now, here he is. Back in his suite room, laying on his couch with no motivation to move whatsoever.
To be frank, he decided to learn sage mode out of pure whim, curiosity, and need. He wanted to learn it whimsically, he was curious if he can learn it, and he needed it.
And now that he finished that task, he is now here, groaning.
'Fuck this... I'll just sleep... Maybe... There's something that will... Happen tomorrow...' Toneri thought as he slowly drifted to sleep
* * *
"..."
"Chief Woo Jin-Chul... Can you explain this right now...?"
In his office, Chairman Go GunHee was rubbing his temples as he asked Woo Jin-Chul who was sitting across him holding some papers.
Jin-Chul nodded and held go the papers in his hand. He started stating what the papers contain. "Yes. Today, at around 7 pm, a strange fluctuation of energy appeared in Seo-huri. It was first picked by our satellites 10 minutes before it disappeared."
Hearing this, Chairman Go rubbed his temples again and asked "And the energy is...?"
Jin-Chul stuttered a bit and replied "W, Well... That is the problem, Chairman. We don't know exactly what kind of energy it is. If it was mana, it would have been immediately identified, if it was any kind of energy, it is the same as the former. But this one... Is different."
Chairman Go first absorbed the information and pondered on his mind. He then asked him again "Were there any witnesses who saw this phenomenon?"
Jin-Chul flipped his papers again and let out a dry cough "*Ahem* Yes, it is reported that Hunter Otsutsuki Toneri and Hunter Cha Hae-In were spotted by the local security cameras going to that location... Alone."
The two stayed silent for a while and stared at each other. The Chairman was pondering n his mind whereas Jin-Chul was sweating pondering what these two hunters did in that forest... Alone.
*Sigh...*
Chairman Go laid back in his chair for a moment and let out a sigh "Tomorrow, Ask Hunter Toneri and Hunter Cha what they did there... Even if it is something 'private'."
He then added "An unknown type of energy appeared... And it just so happens that the hunter with strange abilities was there... Too much of a coincidence, don't you think?"
"Y, Yes sir..."
"Alright. By the way, how is Hunter Sung doing lately?" Chairman Go asked
Hearing a question that is no longer acquainted with Toneri, Jin-Chul sighed for a bit and relaxed "Yes, some of our agents said that he cleared a red gate in the middle of the road this afternoon."
He continued "It seems that Hunter Sung wanted to make amends to the association by starting to clear gates... And for some reason, the number of B-Rank Gates is dwindling at a rapid rate. And from our analysis, this is mainly caused by Hunter Toneri and Hunter Sung."
Having heard of the last response, Chairman Go laughed a bit and said to Jin-Chul "Haha, maybe I should have approved of Hunter Toneri's alias... What was it again? Oh right, it was 'Dungeon Eater', right? I don't know why Hunter Toneri would let that alias down..."
(A/N: I dunno, maybe it sounded edgy as hell?)
Jin-Chul laughed a bit too and the two of them talked a bit longer regarding the two hunters. Soon, the conversation ended and Jin-Chul left the Chairman's office.
* * *
[Toneri's POV]
[Morning]
*Sip*
'That's some good coffee...'
It's currently 6 am in the morning and I just woke up. I didn't have that much to do today, except clear a few more dungeons issued by the Association.
The association said something about joining a guild so that I could contribute more. I didn't really want to join any guild as it could literally drag me down. I mean, who would want someone to tie you down? I would rather just be a free man without a guild instead of joining one.
But then again, the benefits of joining a guild do sound awfully tempting. I mean, 15% more than what you regularly earn? Yeah, that may sound a bit small, but for me? That small raise is enough to lure me in any day.
Furthermore, I just found out what the salary of S-Rank Hunters get if they join a guild. That's not even the good part; since S-Rankers are powerful as hell, some guilds may even offer them money just to join them. It can range from between 300 Million Won to 600 Million Won. And let me tell you, the greed I never knew in my past life is rubbing in on me.
So, the bottom-line question is who doesn't want to join a guild? The advantages are mostly money and more coordinated team fights and the disadvantages are I'll get tied down, restricting some of my freedom.
So, after some thinking, I made a decision. I'll join a guild and not just any guild, but a powerful guild.
I have two options; one is Thomas Andre's scavenger guild in the US and the other is the Ahjin Guild that will soon be formed by Jin-Woo.
To be honest, I kinda want to join the latter. But the former is offering some really good stuff too.
But I remembered what happened to the scavenger guild when Hwang Dong-Soo kidnapped Jinho. The entire guild got smashed, including Thomas
So! My final decision is... The Ahjin Guild. I mean, who wouldn't want a Guild Leader with plot armor and a system?
'Now that I've thought about it, why did the being that sent me here didn't give me a system? I could've grown stronger much faster...'
(A/N: Because systems are for chumps. Grow stronger without the help of a system, Toneri. I believe in you. I can't give you any more plot armor right now, maybe later.)
Alright. Now that I've decided to what guild I'll join, I'll just need to wait for it to be formed. The Ahjin guild already exists but it's still not official.
Since I don't have that much to do today, I figured I should go clear a couple few gates and improve the material of my puppets
Yep, the puppets I used in the Jeju Island raid are still in their first version. I plan to improve their materials with Dungeon Boss materials.
Slowly getting up from my seat, I did some light stretches. I went upstairs and checked my Solo Leveling notes.
I started reading some of the events there and found something interesting 'Oh! This is...'
'Now that I've thought about it... Season 1 already passed, right? So that means... I'm in Season 2 now!'
It can be said in the series that Season 1 is just Jin-Woo being introduced to the life of an S-Ranker. But as season 2 approaches, the monarchs and rulers and all of that shit will start to appear one by one.
'Since Season 2 is already starting... I can't afford to idle on my couch anymore! I need to grow strong, fast! I need to learn Sage Mode and if possible, I want to combine Sage mode with TCM.'
Since Naruto can combine Sage Mode with Tailed Beast Cloke, who says Sage Mode can't be combined with the Tenseigan Chakra Mode?
That is my primary goal now.
In addition, I still need to wait 2 months for Selner's next upgrade. If my chakra coils can be changed and modified by her upgrade, who's to say that she won't change something else? For say, improve my chakra reserves or... Maybe... Perhaps... With a slight hope... Improve or evolve my Tenseigan? Now that would be something I'll look forward to
(A/N: Or will it?)
But waiting 2 months just for an upgrade is a bit too much... I need to do something during this period. And that is where the Japanese gate mass clearing appears!
'So many things to do...'
No time to sulk now. If one wants to succeed, one must not laze! Even though I just want to procrastinate and lay down on my couch... I need to do this so I can protect myself from the monarchs! Especially the dragon monarch! That bastard is too overpowered!
"Alright!"
After that small motivation, I changed my clothes and left. My destination? To Japan!
* * *
[General POV]
In a dimensional gap, four figures stood firmly and stared at the earth. Oppression and power emanate from them that would put any humans unconscious.
"Quite interesting, don't you think?" Said one of the figures with long hair and a muscular body
"This unknown type of energy... Haha, I can't wait to examine it... And that human that attracted it..." Said the creature with blue skin and white hair
"Patience... We will get to this human soon... But for now, we must find the vessel of the Brightest fragment of brilliant light... And kill it..." Replied one of the beings that looks strange
All of them stayed silent for a while and nodded. Not too long ago, they managed to find the vessel of the brightest fragment of brilliant light that is located in the east. They went there but ended up in a cave full of rotting monster ant bodies. They shortly left after.
They thought that their mission was only one. But who would have thought that some kind of unknown power manifested itself on earth? And on the same area where the brightest fragment of light is located?
Truly, greed and curiosity filled their minds.
"As for the vessel of the Shadow Monarch... We shall kill it when it is still weak." Added the blue-skinned figure.
After that, the area around them dimmed and they disappeared.
----------
A/N: I don't know how but some guy in the comments managed to convince me to turn Jin-Ah's age to 19, effectively making dragging her to the 'legal' age. I also checked the polls again and found out you guys really want her as the FL. Well then...
(I won't change the FL anymore. I didn't really want to put romance in this, but I felt that the story will become... I dunno... Loveless? Anyways, I won't change FLs from now on.)
By the way, I have a small quiz for you. Wanna solve it? It's quite easy!
Here's the equation:
(I have Asian parents) + (My report card just got in) + (Everything was below average except for the English and science subjects for obvious reasons) = (Answer)
I think this is an easy question :)
