Chapter 07

Shadow Fragment.

This is the kind of reaction Beru expects from Suho in receiving similar power to the Shadow Monarch.

-Oh, amazing!

-They're giving me this as a reward?

-In the last quest, they gave me stat points, and this time they are giving me runestone to acquire skills?!

-Wow! Is it okay to get it like this?

Beru thought of something to say before that.

'Khmm. I told you. Everything in this place is for you, Young Master!'

Beru's lips formed a smirk along with his condescending look.

[Khmm! This level-up system is an auxiliary guide for the stable growth of the Young master. It is an improvement system used by His Majesty in the past, to fully receive the power of the great monarch in the weak body of a human being…]

Suho cut him off and opened his mouth.

[...!]

"Wait, what? It was a summoning skill?"

[…!]

The look on Suho's face was pure disappointment.

Beru was surprised.

What kind of reaction is that?!

[W-What are you talking about?! How can you react like that after receiving such great power?!]

"No, it's just that summoning skill is kind of…"

Suho tried to explain.

These days, summoning skill is treated indifferently among hunters.

The dungeons beyond the gates are a bloodbath.

Hunters could never let their guards down even for a bit or else, the monsters's claws would rip their necks apart.

The floor and the ceiling were full of dangerous traps.

They could only be responsible for their own respective lives in that place.

Combat hunters have strong bodies so it didn't matter, but mage hunters are nowhere far from ordinary people in terms of physical abilities.

Among them, mage hunters with summoning skills were even more vulnerable.

As they entrusted all the battles to the summoners, they were no different from helpless baggage following them.

"That's not all. It consumes a lot of mana, it's difficult to look for a useful summoner. Even if you do find one, it's not as strong as you think."

[No-!]

Beru stomped his feet with a sad and frustrated look on his face.

The image of him mocking Suho for being weak disappeared and all there was left was anger

Seeing that, Suho felt a little sorry.

"Hmm. I'm sorry, but what can we do if that's the reality? But, it's definitely a good thing to acquire skills."

[No-! Don't comfort me by pretending to be so considerate! This is genuinely a good thing!]

"Oh? You seem to have changed your tone a bit?"

[Huff huff.]

It was a moment when Beru's retained concept and historical drama tone were suddenly gone.

"Okay, okay. Anyway, I'll accept the reward."

A runestone appeared in Suho's hand.

[Runestone: Shadow Fragment]

Breaking the runestone lets you absorb the skill.

Suho broke the runestone without hesitation.

[You have acquired 'Skill: Shadow Fragment'.]

Swoosh!

At that moment, a shadow rose up from under Suho's feet, wrapped around his whole body, and then disappeared.

Ting!

A skill window opened in front of him.

[Skill: Shadow Fragment Lv.1]

Shadow power.

No mana needed.

Drains mana from dead bodies and transforms them into shadow soldiers.

The probability of shadow release failure increases proportionally to the target's ability level and the elapsed time of the target's death.

Number of shadow fragments: 0 / 3

"…Transforms into a shadow soldier?"

After reading the information, Suho's gaze turned back to Beru.

It's a shadow demon with black smoke surrounding its entire body.

[That's right.]

Beru answered.

[It's a skill that makes soldiers like me. Shadow fragmentation or release is an essential power that made the current Shadow Monarch Sung Jinwoo exist.]

At that moment, Suho realized that there were numerous goblin corpses surrounding him.

Black smoke slowly arises from the corpses that he killed in the past four hours.

[Shadow release is possible on this target.]

[Shadow release is possible on this target.]

[Shadow release is possible on this target.]

Every time he looked at the black smoke, the same messages appeared over and over again.

'Shadow soldier…Is this some kind of a necromancer?'

The concept of creating soldiers from corpses was similar to necromancers commonly found in games.

'As expected, it wasn't really something good.'

He had seen it on the internet before.

There are several types of summoning skills.

Like, summoning spirits from nature and taming them.

Or, taming a living animal.

Among them, the role he hated the most was the necromancer.

'Because there are a lot of restrictions.'

First of all, the part where there had to be a body was the most problematic.

'I would need to hunt for a body first just like now. That means I can only control those that are weaker than me.'

He thought he had to try it out himself to know for sure.

"Shadow fragment."

A message appeared after Suho's words.

[Specify a shadow-releasing skill command.]

"I need to specify a separate command for that skill? Hmm."

Suho thought for a moment.

Beru beside him kept moving his body.

[Kuhm. Khhmmm.]

"Why? Do you have something to say?"

When Suho looked at him, Beru sighed.

[Oh, hmmm. Nothing. Krrk! Krrrkkrrrkkk!]

"…?"

Why is he acting like that all of a sudden?

Suho squinted his eyes.

He didn't know what Beru was going on about, but he uttered the command without hesitation.

He thought it would be better if the command was intuitive.

"Arise."

[Khhiiiikkkk!]

As much as he waited, Beru clenched his fists and said strangely, 'This is it!'.

Then.

An extraordinary thing happened.

Kehehehehe-!

Suddenly, the laughter of the goblins echoed through the air.

Shadows began to wriggle from the corpses of the goblins that had fallen on the floor.

They seem to be alive!

'Oh, God.'

Suho's eyes widened and he looked around.

Kihh! Krrk krrk-!

From all sides, there was endless vile laughter like that of villains, and black hands were stretching out of the shadows.

The hands began to crawl out of the shadows. Like demons who came back alive from hell.

[Shadow release succeeded.]

Kwak! Kwaak!

[Krrk!]

[Krrrrk!]

Three black goblins whose bodies were made from hazing black smoke appeared in front of Suho.

[Shadow Goblin Lv.1]

Basic Class

The three shadow goblins lined up waiting for Suho's orders…

"You surely don't look very strong at all."

[…]

Beru also noticed the same thing.

Even with the similar shadow fragment skill, the difference when the Shadow Monarch Sung Jinwoo uses it was too evident.

That's also true when Sung Jinwoo first acquired that skill. He was at level 50, while Suho is only at level 7 now.

If the player's level is low, the effect would inevitably be weaker even with the use of similar skills.

[T-That's how it usually is… Shadow soldiers who were just released are downgraded versions of their original form.]

"They're also smaller?"

[T-That's right, I guess.]

"Then obviously, the same goes with their strength?"

[Very slightly?]

"Even the speed…"

[…]

Beru muttered in a very small voice.

[Shadow fragments are affected by intellect stats and levels. This is a really good skill if you use it for later…It's a really, really good skill… Haa, there's no other way to explain this better…]

"O-Okay."

Suho looked at the shadow goblins waiting for his orders.

He then prepared to return back.

[Wait! Shouldn't you be giving your orders right now?!]

Beru was surprised.

At that moment, a sound came from Suho's stomach.

Rumble-!

"…I haven't eaten for two days."

Suho said seriously.

Beru no longer argued.

[A-Alright.]

It was all about eating and surviving regardless if you were a hunter or a shadow monarch.

[Anyway, if you use the key to the Shadow Dungeon, you can come in and out of here anytime. Get some rest.]

Suho took out the key and hovered it into his own shadow, just like when he entered.

[Are you sure you want to leave the Shadow Dungeon?]

(Y/N)

"Yes."

Clank.

The moment he turned the key, a shadow engulfed Suho.

Swoosh!

[You have exited the Shadow Dungeon.]

* * *

As soon as Suho returned to the hospital, he collapsed on the bed.

Slump.

'Haaa. I've really worked hard.'

Suho lays down on the bed for the first time in a while and lets out a deep sigh.

In reality, it was only 4 hours, but it felt like 4 days.

Although all of his body strength returned to normal as he leveled up, he was completely exhausted mentally.

The door of the ward opened and people in suits came in

"Excuse us. Is this the room of Mr. Sung Suho?"

'Hmm?'

Suho immediately noticed who they were. There would only be one group of people who would look for him in that kind of situation.

"We are from the Hunters Association."

As expected.

The people in suits approached and bowed their heads in front of him.

"Sung Suho, first of all, we would like to express our utmost gratitude."

"Huh? What did I even do…?"

Suho made a puzzled expression.

"Thanks to Mr. Suho, many people's lives have been saved. We would like to thank you on behalf of them."

"Well, I didn't do anything that great."

"You did something really great."

Thud!

'Ohh, that scared me.'

The man who seemed to have the highest rank turned his face towards Suho.

Then, a soft smile formed on his lips.

"Mr. Sung Suho, you are very commendable. Such a young man risking his life to save people in today's harsh world! Ehem!"

"Oh, No…Sir?"

Seeing the older man take out a handkerchief to wipe his tears made Suho feel uncomfortable.

"Khm."

The employee next to him patted him on the back as if he was used to it.

"Team Leader, you should stop crying and focus."

"Ah, right. Haha. It's probably because I'm getting older, so I have a lot of tears. Mr. Sung Suho, I am Han Jaehyuk, team leader of the Hunter Association. The purpose of our visit is…."

Dun.

Team leader Han Jaehyuk smiled as he held out the thick mana meter he brought.

"This is to measure your mana level."

They had no doubts that Suho had awakened. He was found passed out in the Korea University Art Museum, which had become a field-type dungeon.

There were even corpse fragments that were confirmed to have been monsters lying around.

"Even the reporters are constantly asking for information to write on their articles."

Han Jaehyuk gave him a wink.

"Ah. Okay, Sir."

Suho gently puts his hand on the mana meter.

The magic crystal embedded in the center emitted a subtle light.

After waiting for a while, the measurement result came out.

"Hmm. Wait, this is…"

Team Leader Han Jaehyuk scratched his chin as if he was seeing something unexpected.

On the other hand, Suho's expression did not change, as if he was not curious about the result at all.

Obviously, it's because the status window in front of him is already showing his mana level.

"Mana power level 46. You are an E-Class hunter."

The other men in suits felt disappointed but did not show it on their faces.

They expected a hunter who was able to do all those things to have fairly high results.

But, he was only in the E-Class.

Team Leader Han Jaehyuk have different thoughts.

'The value of a hunter is not based on class. Even though one is an E-class, if they risked their life to save people, there's nothing even greater than that.'

The old man smiled warmly and patted Suho on the shoulder with his hand.

"Mr. Suho, We're looking forward to your good performance in the future."

"Yes, Sir."

Thud.

The association members bid Suho goodbye and left the hospital room..

Beru then peeped out from Suho's shadow after waiting.

[Alright! Let me give you a briefing. From now on…]

Thud!

"Suho!"

The door of the hospital room opened again.

Beru went back into the sullen shadows.