Solo Leveling: Ragnarok

Chapter 22

“Suho, you still don’t have personal protective gear, right? Put this on.”

In front of Seoul Station, Dogyoon handed Suho a weighty suit. He examined it and saw that it was a coverall.

“Now, put on these gloves and work boots too.”

“Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it. You didn’t have any time to prepare since I called you out of the blue. But now you know. Protective gear is essential for collectors.” The teaching assistant followed his advice with yet another one. “Collectors have a much riskier job compared to miners.”

Save for special exceptions like the Hanguk University dungeon, miners had a relatively safe profession. They usually mined away from danger at the back of a dungeon once all the hunting was over.

“But collectors are different.”

Collectors were positioned between the assault team and the mining team. They had to follow behind the assault team closely to collect the corpses of magic beasts they’d hunted. As a result, collectors were vulnerable to magic beasts that the assault team had failed to kill.

“Of course, it’s typically just one or two magic beasts. As long as you’re careful when they suddenly appear, the assault team will quickly come to your rescue.”

“So, the protective gear was designed for such cases,” Suho guessed.

“Exactly. Though it’s even more useful for collecting magic beasts remains. Most creatures have sharp thorns or scales, and ordinary clothes get shredded during the work.”

“Hey, Dogyoon...”

“Oh, there’s no need to be grateful. It’s nothing compared to what you’ve done.”

“It’s not that. This smells a bit moldy...”

“Well, that’s what living alone can do.”

***

A few moments later, the assault team hunters arrived at the scene.

Suho quietly observed their arrival. There were a total of ten team members. Four D-rank mages, five D-rank fighters, and one C-rank healer. It seemed like that C-rank male healer was the captain of the assault team.

The captain walked confidently in Suho’s direction and then suddenly fixed his gaze on Dogyoon. “What’s going on? Why is there barely anyone in the collection team?”

Dogyoon lowered his head with an embarrassed expression. “I apologize. The usual collector team members suddenly couldn’t make it. But we do have this guy today...”

“What? Is that supposed to be an excuse? We have a contract, so cut the nonsense! Do you know how much damage is done when schedules are disrupted?”

“No, no. There won’t be any disruptions to the schedule. This guy is a summoner, so work should go smoothly...”

“What? Are you kidding me? A summoner?”

The assault team captain became increasingly agitated as Dogyoon continued his explanation. The captain intensely stared at Suho, scanning him up and down, but the Young Monarch simply stood there, seemingly unfazed.

The teaching assistant quickly stepped forward and raised his voice assertively. “Oh, Captain! You really don’t need to worry. His summoned creatures will fill in for the missing team members. We’ve brought him especially because he’s great for the job.”

The captain let out a deep sigh. “Is that all you have to say? You’re telling me that you didn’t recruit more members because you trust this guy? You’ve already taken full payment for your team!”

As his voice grew louder, other members of the assault team also gathered around.

“Captain, what’s going on?”

“What’s happening here? Why is the collection team short on numbers?”

“This is going to hold us back for sure.”

The collection team, surrounded by their colleagues’ cold stares, began to feel increasingly uneasy. In truth, the anger of the assault team was justified. A shortage of collectors would inevitably slow down the pace of their operations. As a result, the assault team hunting in front of them would have to slow down accordingly.

The very purpose of hunting was to earn money by selling the carcasses of magic beasts. Abandoning the collection team and hunting by themselves would be meaningless. Moreover, Seoul Station Field had no magic stones, so they had to make money solely from magic beast carcasses.

“Captain, forget about it. It’s not the first time we’ve been held back by irresponsible, small-time laborers. We don’t have time to change our schedule now. We’ll have to go with what we have.”

“That’s right, Captain. Let’s get to work quickly instead of wasting our time.”

After being dissuaded by his crew, the assault team captain directed his frustration at Dogyoon with a final word. “Don’t you dare slow us down today. If you do, I will officially report this to the association. I’ll make sure you guys never get to work again.”

“Yes, of course. We’ll work hard. Please have faith in us.”

All ten members of the assault team proceeded to take turns also expressing their thoughts. Dogyoon was in the thick of it all with a visibly shaken expression on his lowered face. His team was clearly in the wrong, so everything he said only sounded like excuses. But he couldn’t help to feel that he was being unfairly treated.

I’m not even the team leader of the collection team...

The actual leader of the collection team was one of the members who went AWOL. As the unofficial deputy team leader, Dogyoon had inevitably become the scapegoat and bore the brunt of it. Nonetheless, his skill of sweet-talking professors had managed to cool the captain down slightly.

“Tsk. That’s why you’re low-level hunters.” The assault team captain clicked his tongue and turned away, not knowing they were due for another surprise.

“Arise.”

“Wh-what is that?”

A sudden eerie laughter echoed through the air, startling the hunters who looked around in confusion. They were shocked to see what appeared to be shadows soar from the ground. Malicious goblins, shrouded in black steam coming from their bodies, cackled menacingly as they glared at the hunters. The hunters noticed that their size was much larger than ordinary goblins.

“G-goblin captains? A chief, even!”

“Why are there magic beasts outside the field?”

The assault team members hastily drew their weapons.

Goodness! How did they approach so stealthily?

“They don’t seem like ordinary beasts!”

“Everyone, assume combat positions!”

“Cover the captain!”

The first rule of any assault team was to protect the healer. They quickly moved into their battle formation and were ready to engage.

“Huh?”

But the goblins had no desire to fight.

“What is going on?”

The shadow goblins were tilting their heads wondering why everyone was so angry. The assault team members stood there with their weapons at the ready, unsure of whether to attack or not.

Dogyoon cleared his throat and intervened. “Ahem. Excuse me, Captain. These are the creatures I mentioned earlier. The summoned ones.”

“Oh...”

After a momentary pause, the assault team finally grasped the situation. They looked around and saw that the collectors were staring blankly at the creatures as if they already knew about them. In the end, only they had been surprised and made a fuss.

“Uh, yes. That seems to be the case.”

“There are... quite a few of them.”

“Seven of them, it looks like.”

“Yes. That’s more than double the number of missing collectors.”

“Hmm.”

The assault team hunters suddenly looked embarrassed and avoided eye contact. In reaction to their response, Dogyoon subtly gave a thumbs-up gesture to Suho, who responded with a faint smile. The seven shadow goblins had been pre-extracted during his daily quest, so there was no need to go through the trouble of collecting their corpses again.

“Okay, let’s go in.”

As Suho moved forward, the shadow goblins followed closely behind. He walked past the assault team as they stood idly by and muttered, “Make sure you guys don’t fall behind.”

***

After much commotion, both teams entered Seoul Station Field. Erosion had already taken place inside the station, and it was shrouded in darkness due to the lack of electricity. Vines and moss of unknown origin covered the walls and floor.

“Watch your step. It’s slippery.” The captain gestured to his comrade behind him. “Secure visibility.”

The assault team moved forward swiftly. Flames simultaneously rose from the hands of the mages, illuminating their surroundings. As light lit the area, everyone was able to see the layer of hazy blue fog hanging in the air. The magic beasts hidden in the darkness also became apparent—thorny lizards crawled along every wall and ceiling.

“Everyone, assume combat positions!”

Following their captain’s orders, the hunters dashed forward and began using their skills. Meanwhile, the captain turned to the collectors he had been protecting from the rear as their healer. Some embarrassment from earlier still lingered in his expression.

“So, the collection team... Please proceed with caution as you follow us. Thorn lizard carcasses can fetch us some decent money.”

They’re not demons, Suho lamented inwardly. It seemed that the cursed random box only intended to satisfy his need for a second sword. Nevertheless, accompanying Dogyoon to the dungeon had other merits.

It’s the first time I’ve watched other hunters in battle. As he loaded thorn lizard carcasses, his eyes were fixed on the assault team fighting. Watching several hunters synchronize their different abilities and skills in combat was undeniably entertaining.

So, this is how an assault team fights. It’s helpful to know. To efficiently handle a group of seven shadow soldiers, he needed to learn the basics of group combat when the opportunity arose.

So far, the magical beasts he had extracted were of the same type due to his circumstances. But his future goal was to fight strategically using a variety of magical beast types simultaneously. To achieve this, it was necessary to collect the carcasses of various magical creatures in advance and store them in the Shadow Dungeon.

That’s why I’m here for the collection team. There was a reason why Suho had readily accepted Dogyoon’s proposal from the start. Being a collector was an ideal profession for obtaining magical creature carcasses. Furthermore, the job of a collector was not challenging at all from his perspective.

“Pick them up. Load them onto the cart.”

Kereuk!

Shadow goblins obediently followed their orders and collected the lifeless lizards. Suho leisurely strolled along like he was on a walk.

Meanwhile, Beru discreetly sneaked a lizard or two into the Shadow Dungeon. With so many lizards around, a few missing ones went unnoticed.

Crunch, crunch.

Of course, some lizards also occasionally disappeared as Beru’s snacks.

But there was one problem—Suho had become too good at his job. The basic task of a collector was simply to pick up the corpses of magic beasts and put them in the cart. However, when it came to larger beasts, their corpses had to be cut into pieces with a saw or knife before being loaded, which was actually the most difficult and time-consuming part of the job.

It was by no means an easy task for E-rank hunters to cut through the tough hide and bones of magic beasts. But it was child’s play for Suho’s shadow army led by a shadow goblin chief and his captains. Thanks to their efforts, the collection team collected carcasses at a faster rate than the assault team could kill. As a result, the collectors watched the hunt with vacant expressions waiting for more bodies to pile up.

Dogyoon let out a yawn as he watched the hunt from behind, causing the assault team to grimace as they hunted tirelessly. The embarrassment was made worse by the fact they had been playfully warned not to fall behind.

“Wait. Hold formation.”

Suddenly, the captain of the assault team halted the hunt and marched sternly toward the collection team. He stopped when he approached Suho.

What’s he going to go off about now?

The captain’s determined attitude made the collectors’ faces equally serious.

“Hey, there,” The captain engaged Suho with a piercing gaze but he remained tight-lipped. “Have you ever thought about signing up with the assault team?”

“Hehe,” Beru laughed from behind wearing a proud expression. “Indeed, our Young Monarch’s extraordinary talent shines brightly anywhere at any time. This human has quite the eye for talent...”

“I’d like you to become our exclusive collector!”

“What did that fool just say?”

“I can see your innate talent as a collector... Your salary will be the highest in the collecting industry...”

Beru had a murderous look in his eyes, but Dogyoon managed to stop him from attacking the captain.