Solo Leveling: Ragnarok

Chapter 23

“Captain!” An urgent call came from the front of the pack. “We’ve found a human corpse!” free(w)eb

“A corpse?” The captain ended his conversation with Suho and quickly returned to the hunters. He exclaimed with wide eyes, “It really is a corpse!”

“But this... It doesn’t seem like an ordinary corpse.”

The hunters became tense. The condition of the corpse was undeniably unusual. It was charred like charcoal from head to toe. Considering the location, the body was in a bizarre, unnatural state.

“I’ve never heard of a monster using fire in Seoul Station...”

“Exactly.”

Suho joined the collectors and approached to examine the state of the corpse. Huh? A thought sparked in his mind. The condition of the corpse was eerily familiar, and he turned to look at Dogyoon. The serious expression on his teaching assistant’s face seemed to indicate that they had the same thought.

“Is this corpse...”

“Yes. It’s the work of a mist burn.” Suho nodded with confidence.

The assault team hunters simultaneously turned their focus toward Suho upon hearing his verdict.

“A mist burn?”

“The magic beast with blue flames?”

“Are you sure?”

Not all hunters had an encyclopedic knowledge of magic beasts unless they belonged to a large guild.

“I’m certain,” Suho answered.

After experiencing the Hanguk University dungeon break, he searched for information about mist burns on the Internet. He discovered an astonishing fact—mist burns weren’t magic beasts.

Suho calmly recited the information he had found, “Mist burn is a phenomenon where an unawakened human’s body spontaneously ignites after inhaling a certain amount of blue mist.”

“Wh-what?!”

“Does that mean mist burns are actually humans?”

Many inexperienced hunters were unaware of this fact. The gap in knowledge was understandable since the truth about mist burns had only been uncovered recently by the Hunters Association.

It was a well-known fact that mist burns attacked humans to increase their numbers. However, there had been no way to confirm how mist burns came into existence in the first place.

Then one day, a hunter who came to realization muttered, “Wait. If mist burns can multiply using blue flame then what about the rumors of people awakening from inhaling the blue mist?”

“It’s nothing but a baseless rumor. Someone is probably spreading misinformation about mist burns,” another hunter asserted.

—Breathing in the blue mist can cause a person to awaken.

The rumor had been circulating online as an urban legend for over a year yet no one had been able to uncover the truth behind it.

Because everyone who tried inhaling the mist burned to death, Suho thought. But that’s not what’s important right now.

“So, how on earth did this corpse end up here?” a hunter asked.

The question had been on everyone’s minds. Their current location was the fourth-floor basement of Seoul Station. It was impossible for a non-awakened individual to venture this far through the lizards on their own. But it was equally strange to think that someone had become a mist burn on the first floor and then walked down to the basement. If anything, a mist burn would have run outside to burn more of the living. It seemed implausible that they headed underground where it was infested with monsters.

“Captain! There’s a corpse here as well!”

Another corpse was discovered not far away from the first. Its condition was the same—pitch-black, the charred remains of a mist burn.

“There’s another corpse here!”

The hunters found several more corpses. With each discovery, the captain’s face grew more grim.

Something’s not right down here.

As the person responsible for the hunters’ safety, he couldn’t ignore the series of strange phenomena. However, they were already too deep to halt the hunt over a mysterious occurrence. Only a few corpses had been found, and he was confident that his team could easily handle dozens of mist burns if they appeared.

“For now... Let’s continue the hunt.”

With that, the hunt resumed.

“Hey, Suho.” Dogyoon approached him with a worried expression. “This time, I’ll tell you in advance.”

“Tell me what?”

“I’m going to get out of here if it gets dangerous.”

“Ha, an honest coward? One should be so brave,” Beru mocked.

The Young Monarch and the ant beast looked at Dogyoon with bewilderment. However, the so-called honest coward was dead serious.

“You know I have the running skill, right? If anything happens, use your summoned creatures to escape. I’ll find my own way out.” He continued to scan the surroundings as he spoke, clearly anxious about something.

Suho tilted his head toward him and whispered, “Dogyoon, you seem convinced that something is bound to happen.”

“Not at all. It would be great if nothing happened,” the teaching assistant replied. He took a moment before letting out a deep sigh, and continued, “But the truth is... my mother fell victim to a mist burn. She became one herself and tried to kill me. So, I’m terrified of mist burns. I feel the fear of my mother trying to kill me when I see them.”

Suho remained silent as he tried to digest the tragic revelation. He wanted to comfort Dogyoon but he couldn’t find the right words.

***

Screech!

Deep within Seoul Station, harrowing screams filled with despair echoed throughout.

“It’s h-h-hot!”

“Ahhh!”

Bound by chains, people writhed in agony as their bodies were engulfed in a blue flame.

“Save us! Please, save us! We’ll say we didn’t see anything! Absolutely nothing...!”

Behind the burning bodies, those yet to be consumed by the flames wept bitterly as they begged for their lives. Pure terror filled the air as frantic outbursts of madness rang inside their ears. It was simply incomprehensible. They wondered why they should suffer like this. Sadly, their cries fell on deaf ears. No reason or logic ever existed behind the madness, they were simply unlucky. They could only blame their terrible luck for being burned to a crisp.

“Is it really that hot?”

The ones responsible for the suffering watched them placidly.

“Hm... It should actually be hotter. The fire isn’t strong for some reason.”

The figures donned in black robes concealed their faces with crow masks, reminiscent of films about medieval times.

“Hey, how can we make the flames hotter?”

“We need more fuel.”

“Tsk. It’s always that goddamn fuel. Can’t we get more?”

“Well, since the Hyena Guild was caught...”

Ugh. “Why can’t things just go smoothly?”

The crow-masked figures murmured nonchalantly, paying no mind to the suffering before them. They failed to notice that the screams that seemed almost endless had suddenly stopped during their conversation. It was no longer a human bound to the seat—it was a mist burn. The charred corpse served as fuel for the raging blue smoke beast that remained, which roared ferociously.

“Yes, it’s nice to meet you too.”

The crow-masked figures casually waved their hands as they deftly wore thick gloves on both hands.

“Well, let’s get to work before the firewood goes out.”

Another crow-masked figure in the corner raised their hand and asked, “What should we do with the remains?” The ashen bodies of depleted mist burn bodies were piled up next to them.

“Ah, those. You can go, we’ll continue with this operation here. Just make sure to toss them away somewhere far.”

“Yes, understood.”

“Make sure you don’t dump them near here.”

“Of course. Don’t worry.”

The robed figure tasked with the body dumping loaded the remains of the mist burns onto a cart one by one. The figure pulled the cart and headed outside, complaining. “Ugh. This sucks. Where am I going to toss them this time? I just want to dump them all near the factory and be done with it.”

The crow-masked figure who ordered the task caught the cart puller muttering. “That’s going to reveal our location! Just dump them as far away as possible and get back!”

“Okay, I got it.” The crow-masked cart puller shrugged their shoulders and disappeared into the darkness, dragging the creaking cart.

The two remaining crow-masked figures expressed their displeasure as they watched the cart disappear.

“Geez, he never stops complaining...”

“He talks like that but he does a good job. Speaking of, we should get to ours.”

“Right. Okay, we’re now commencing Operation Stardust, number 13.”

The eyes behind their crows became incredibly focused. While the people bound in chains had desperation in theirs.

Please, save us. Anyone, please... help us...

They begged and pleaded to no avail.

***

“Huh?” Beru’s antenna twitched. He turned his head and peered intensely into the dark subway tunnel. “Young Monarch.”

“I felt it too.” Suho was also looking in the direction with a narrow gaze. Can I feel it because my Sense stat has improved?

[Information -

Sense: A stat that heightens the five senses. It increases crisis detection ability.]

In the darkness, the subway tracks stretched on endlessly. Suho could feel a sinister energy brewing somewhere deep down the tunnel. It’s giving me goosebumps. He could tell without looking that an undoubtedly powerful presence lurked at the end of it.

His first instinct told him that it was the presence of a boss monster. However, the Seoul Station Field had been open for more than a year, meaning that moneymakers like boss monsters and rare magic beasts had already been swept clean by other hunters.

As a result, the only magic beasts left were numerous highly-reproductive lizards. If it’s not a boss, then what could this energy be? Suho observed the assault team hunters hunting the lizards. Am I the only one that has noticed this obvious malevolence?

He sensed that the evil lurking in the darkness was staring toward their direction. It felt like an eagle watching its prey from high above. The predator’s target was none other than the assault team hunters causing a ruckus in the area.

“Looks like the fuel has come to me,” a voice murmured in the darkness.

Suho and Beru’s eyes snapped open and they exclaimed simultaneously having both heard the voice.

“Run!”

“It’s an enemy!”

Just then, an explosion erupted, and a cloaked figure in a black robe appeared at the source. It appeared to be a man in a crow mask at first, but at second glance, he didn’t appear to be human at all as his unnaturally swollen, monstrous limbs protruded out of his black robe.

“It’s a humanoid magic beast!”

Following their captain’s alarm, the hunters quickly readied their positions.

“Oh, you evaded this?” The crow-masked monster slowly rose, pulling out his fist that was lodged into the tunnel floor. “Impressive.” Fragments of cement crumbled from his ungodly hands. Then in an instant, the figure suddenly vanished from everyone’s sight.

The startled hunters darted around to find him, but they were too late.

Let’s start with the troublesome healer.

The robed beast had already appeared behind them, and his massive fist aimed for the vulnerable back of the assault team captain. The captain widened his eyes in alarm, having realized he was a step too late.

But the crow-masked beast was in for a surprise of his own. A figure had leaped out in front of him and blocked the attack. Black blood spurted like a fountain as Suho stared at him from beneath the shower of blood holding Vulcan’s Horn.

“Well, will you look at that?” The corners of the crow-masked figure’s mouth twisted sinisterly.