It was difficult to continue dodging with his body in so much pain, but Jinwoo could not miss the timing of his next move . If he lost consciousness now, it would be all over .

    ‘…178, 179, 180!’

    Having waited out the 3-minute timer on Cerberus’ buff, Jinwoo activated the trump card he had prepared before the fight .

    ‘Accept Reward 1!’

    He had purposely held on to the first reward of his daily quest, specifically for an occasion like this .

    Reward 1 . Status Recovery has been accepted .

    wooosh!

    A blue light covered his body and completely restored his health .

    Health: 3,602 / 3,602

    His injured shoulder and arm also became healed .

    ‘This is my chance!’

    At the shoulder-to-shoulder distance the two maintained, even Cerberus, with all of his agility, could not dodge Jinwoo’s next move . Having recovered all his strength and stamina, Jinwoo deftly maneuvered around the Cerberus’ heads, putting it in a headlock with his left arm; it was the same maneuver he used against Casaka .

    With his right arm, Jinwoo began to mercilessly stab the center of the beast’s neck repeatedly .

    Stab! Stab! Stab!

    Having ended its enraged state, Cerberus felt the pain and thrashed around, trying to loosen Jinwoo from its back .

    yelp! whimper! whimper!

    Just as before, Jinwoo held on with all his strength . As the Cerberus whipped back and forth, he tightened the grip on its neck and continued to stab .

    Stab! Stab! Stab!

    The beast continued to whimper in pain and tried desperately to bite Jinwoo, but the fight was over at this point .

    Stab! Stab!

    The Casaka’s Poisoned Fang moved past the beast’s throat and toward its heart .

    Stab! Stab! Stab!

    The light of struggle in Cerberus’ eyes began to fade .

    whimper…

    Finally, the beast’s heads went limp .

    ring~!

    You’ve defeated the Gatekeeper of Hell, Cerberus .

    You’ve leveled up!

    You’ve leveled up!

    You’ve leveled up!

    You’ve leveled up!

    Jinwoo had leveled up four times in one go . It was that difficult of a fight . Jinwoo made sure the beast’s life was completely snuffed out before letting go of its neck . The Cerberus’ body slumped onto the ground lifelessly .

    thud

    Jinwoo bent over with hands on his knees .

    “Hah…”

    He let out a sigh of relief . To think that he would face a monster that could use a skill . If it wasn’t for the trump card he had prepared, he would be the one on the ground right now . Thinking about this made Jinwoo shudder .

    ‘Ah… items…’

    What kind of drops would he obtain after all this work?

    Jinwoo sighed once more and stretched a hand out toward the corpse .

    ring~!

    You’ve found a “Gatekeeper’s Necklace”

    Would you like to acquire it?

    You’ve found a “Castle Gate Key”

    Would you like to acquire it?

    You’ve found a “Cerberus’ Molar” x3

    Would you like to acquire it?

    ‘Obtain all . ’

    Gatekeeper’s Necklace

    Rarity: A-rank

    Type: Necklace

    Agility +20, Sense +20

    Cerberus’ Molar

    Rarity: None

    Type: Junk

    Castle Gate Key

    Rarity: A-rank

    Type: Key

    It is the key to the Demon Castle’s gates .

    Obtained after killing the Gatekeeper .

    “Whoa . ”

    Jinwoo was jubilant .

    ‘Increase agility and sense stats by twenty points?’

    The necklace’s stats were amazing, fitting of an A-rank item . It was the highest-ranking equipment he had seen so far .

    ‘Makes sense after that fight…’

    If anything, he would’ve been mad if the rarity on it was low . However, taking a closer look at the necklace, Jinwoo hesitated . A round gold band with soft tipped spikes jutting around it, it was clearly a dog collar .

    “Hmm…”

    Having contemplated putting it on with closed eyes, Jinwoo relented and moved it towards his neck . A message appeared in response .

    ring~

    Would you like to equip the “Gatekeeper’s Necklace”?

    He hesitated again .

    “…Sure . ”

    Then the necklace slowly disappeared from his hands .

    The “Gatekeeper’s Necklace” has been equipped .

    “Huh?”

    Jinwoo quickly opened his stat screen .

    Stats

    Strength: 60

    Constitution: 39

    Agility: 80

    Intelligence: 37

    Sense: 67

    (Available stat points: 0)

    Physical Damage Reduction: 20%

    “Oh, whoa!”

    His agility and sense stats were raised by 20 points . The necklace’s stats had been applied to him . He felt around his neck, confirming that the necklace wasn’t there . It seemed that equipping items through the System did not necessarily put them on him physically . He was relieved that he would not have to walk around wearing a dog collar .

    ‘Next, the molars . ’

    Jinwoo opened up the shop . Each of the molars were sold for 150 thousand gold . Having sold 3 molars, Jinwoo had collected 450 thousand pieces of gold .

    Current Gold: 562,362

    ‘What kind of junk item is this expensive?’

    His first fight had given him an idea of the difficulty of this Dungeon . The Demon Castle would not be a pushover . But this was not a bad news to Jinwoo . Just taking down one monster gave him four times the amount of gold he had earned in his first Instant Dungeon . At this rate, he would surely be able to afford some of the top tier items from the System’s shop .

    ‘As long as I can clear this place…’

    Jinwoo looked up at the tower on fire .

    flare!

    The top of the tower was obscured by a strange fog . The only way to see what was on top would be to climb the tower from the inside . Jinwoo shook his head at the thought .

    ‘No . It’s too early for me . ’

    After all, he had only barely managed to defeat the Gatekeeper, and that was with the title buff and the trick using the daily quest’s reward . There was no knowing what waited beyond the gates . For now, it was time to retreat .

    Still, one thing was for sure .

    The Demon Castle Key was indeed something that he wanted . The description of the Blessed Random Box was not wrong . Level-up, items and even gold, all that he wanted could be found in this place . Once he had the power, he would be able to obtain it all .

    Just not today .

    Regretfully, Jinwoo put away the key back into the inventory .

    ‘I’ll be back . ’

    It was a promise that he would keep .

    Jinwoo turned back with a smile on his face .

    -3 . Coincidence-

    The next few days went by without incidence . Yoo Jinho kept calling him on a daily basis to check with his status .

    -“Hyungnim! It’s me, Yoo Jinho . ”

    “Make it short . ”

    -“Yes, hyungnim . ”

    The young man told him that he was diligently working on getting together a team . The raiding party would be completed shortly, so he repeatedly asked Jinwoo to wait just a little longer .

    ‘He must be scared that I might back out . ’

    But there was no way that Jinwoo would wait idly while Yoo Jinho completed his task . So today, like the past few days, Jinwoo went on the Hunter website . He had continuously checked the job boards, but as expected, there were no private Raids that were accepting an E-rank Hunter . His run in with Hwang Dongseok was luck . Even if the bastard had nefarious plans in mind, it still meant that Jinwoo was able to go on a private Raid .

    ‘Thankfully, I was able to earn some money, level-up and even get a new skill . ’

    Wait, was he actually thanking Hwang Dongseok?

    Jinwoo groaned . Still, even if it was with more lizards[1], he wanted to get back into a Dungeon .

    Can’t get into a private Raid, no calls from the Association, and no keys from daily quests .

    Jinwoo hated wasting time like this .

    growl…

    ‘Is it already time to eat?’

    Jinwoo stepped away from browsing the job boards and went over to the kitchen .

    The fridge was empty .

    “…”

    He had been distracted by so many things lately and had forgotten to go shopping .

    ‘Guess I’ll go do that today . ’

    He closed the fridge with a yawn .

    One of the few benefits of his worn-down apartment was that it was close to a large grocery store . Jinwoo changed into something comfortable and went outside . It took him 10 minutes of walking to reach the store .

    The large interior of the store greeted him as he walked in . Since there was no sale going on, there were less people around than usual . Jinwoo grabbed a basket and started walking down the aisles . Having become the man of the house after his mother fell ill, going grocery shopping was a routine experience for Jinwoo .

    ‘Nothing’s really catching my eyes . ’

    He stared at the ingredients while thinking about dinner .

    “Young man, is your body feeling better?”

    Jinwoo turned around towards the friendly voice .

    ‘Who?’

    Due to his high sense stat, he knew that there was another Hunter nearby, but since the grocery store was a place where a lot of people, including Hunters, would be shopping at, he had not paid it much mind . He did not expect that Hunter to actually speak to him, but it was someone that he knew .

    “Song-ssi ahjussi?”

    Jinwoo greeted him with welcome .

    Song-ssi ahjussi, aka Song Chiyeol, looked at Jinwoo with a mix of surprise and happiness .

    “I had heard that you were alright, but looking at you now, I can’t believe it . ”

    Song Chiyeol was awed by just how fast Jinwoo had recovered . Embarrassed at the man’s staring, Jinwoo scratched his temples . Song Chiyeol continued,

    “I should’ve gone to see you myself, but those bastards at the Association, I don’t know what they were thinking, put a moratorium on the incident, and I had no way of reaching you . I believe Ms . Juhee was also dying to hear about you . ”

    “Juhee-ssi?”

    “Yep . She said she would retire, but still went to last week’s Raid to catch a glimpse of you . ”

    “Last week…?”

    Hearing Song-ssi ahjussi’s explanation, Jinwoo learned that the day he went on a Raid with Hwang Dongseok’s team was also the day an Association Raid had taken place .

    ‘No wonder the Association’s been quiet . ’

    It wasn’t that they weren’t contacting him, but rather, he had missed them on that one day . A small mystery cleared up for Jinwoo .

    Song Chiyeol continued to observe Jinwoo’s figure with an amazed look .

    ‘Was Sung-ssi always this big? His leg should be still…’

    Song Chiyeol’s gaze fell to Jinwoo’s lower half . His eyes widened .

    “Young man… is your leg…?”

    Translator’s Notes:

    [1]: “Lizards”: Scumbag Hunters who would purposely recruit weak/inexperienced people to use as getaway sacrifices in Dungeons .

    Sponsored Content

    I Alone Level-up: Chapter 29.

    .

    It was difficult to continue dodging with his body in so much pain, but Jinwoo could not miss the timing of his next move . If he lost consciousness now, it would be all over . .

    .

    ‘…178, 179, 180!’.

    .

    Having waited out the 3-minute timer on Cerberus’ buff, Jinwoo activated the trump card he had prepared before the fight . .

    .

    ‘Accept Reward 1!’.

    .

    He had purposely held on to the first reward of his daily quest, specifically for an occasion like this . .

    .

    Reward 1 . Status Recovery has been accepted . .

    .

    wooosh!.

    .

    A blue light covered his body and completely restored his health . .

    .

    Health: 3,602 / 3,602.

    .

    His injured shoulder and arm also became healed . .

    .

    ‘This is my chance!’.

    .

    At the shoulder-to-shoulder distance the two maintained, even Cerberus, with all of his agility, could not dodge Jinwoo’s next move . Having recovered all his strength and stamina, Jinwoo deftly maneuvered around the Cerberus’ heads, putting it in a headlock with his left arm; it was the same maneuver he used against Casaka . .

    .

    With his right arm, Jinwoo began to mercilessly stab the center of the beast’s neck repeatedly . .

    .

    Stab! Stab! Stab! .

    .

    Having ended its enraged state, Cerberus felt the pain and thrashed around, trying to loosen Jinwoo from its back . .

    .

    yelp! whimper! whimper!.

    .

    Just as before, Jinwoo held on with all his strength . As the Cerberus whipped back and forth, he tightened the grip on its neck and continued to stab . .

    .

    Stab! Stab! Stab! .

    .

    The beast continued to whimper in pain and tried desperately to bite Jinwoo, but the fight was over at this point . .

    .

    Stab! Stab!.

    .

    The Casaka’s Poisoned Fang moved past the beast’s throat and toward its heart . .

    .

    Stab! Stab! Stab!.

    .

    The light of struggle in Cerberus’ eyes began to fade . .

    .

    whimper….

    .

    Finally, the beast’s heads went limp . .

    .

    ring~!.

    .

    You’ve defeated the Gatekeeper of Hell, Cerberus . .

    .

    You’ve leveled up!.

    .

    You’ve leveled up!.

    .

    You’ve leveled up!.

    .

    You’ve leveled up!.

    .

    Jinwoo had leveled up four times in one go . It was that difficult of a fight . Jinwoo made sure the beast’s life was completely snuffed out before letting go of its neck . The Cerberus’ body slumped onto the ground lifelessly . .

    .

    thud.

    .

    Jinwoo bent over with hands on his knees . .

    .

    “Hah…”.

    .

    He let out a sigh of relief . To think that he would face a monster that could use a skill . If it wasn’t for the trump card he had prepared, he would be the one on the ground right now . Thinking about this made Jinwoo shudder . .

    .

    ‘Ah… items…’.

    .

    What kind of drops would he obtain after all this work?.

    .

    Jinwoo sighed once more and stretched a hand out toward the corpse . .

    .

    ring~!.

    .

    You’ve found a “Gatekeeper’s Necklace”.

    Would you like to acquire it?.

    .

    You’ve found a “Castle Gate Key”.

    Would you like to acquire it?.

    .

    You’ve found a “Cerberus’ Molar” x3.

    Would you like to acquire it?.

    .

    ‘Obtain all . ’.

    .

    Gatekeeper’s Necklace.

    Rarity: A-rank.

    Type: Necklace.

    Agility +20, Sense +20.

    .

    Cerberus’ Molar.

    Rarity: None.

    Type: Junk.

    .

    Castle Gate Key.

    Rarity: A-rank.

    Type: Key.

    It is the key to the Demon Castle’s gates . .

    Obtained after killing the Gatekeeper . .

    .

    “Whoa . ”.

    .

    Jinwoo was jubilant . .

    .

    ‘Increase agility and sense stats by twenty points?’.

    .

    The necklace’s stats were amazing, fitting of an A-rank item . It was the highest-ranking equipment he had seen so far . .

    .

    ‘Makes sense after that fight…’.

    .

    If anything, he would’ve been mad if the rarity on it was low . However, taking a closer look at the necklace, Jinwoo hesitated . A round gold band with soft tipped spikes jutting around it, it was clearly a dog collar . .

    .

    “Hmm…”.

    .

    Having contemplated putting it on with closed eyes, Jinwoo relented and moved it towards his neck . A message appeared in response . .

    .

    ring~.

    .

    Would you like to equip the “Gatekeeper’s Necklace”?.

    .

    He hesitated again . .

    .

    “…Sure . ”.

    .

    Then the necklace slowly disappeared from his hands . .

    .

    The “Gatekeeper’s Necklace” has been equipped . .

    .

    “Huh?”.

    .

    Jinwoo quickly opened his stat screen . .

    .

    Stats.

    .

    Strength: 60.

    Constitution: 39.

    Agility: 80.

    Intelligence: 37.

    Sense: 67.

    (Available stat points: 0).

    Physical Damage Reduction: 20%.

    .

    “Oh, whoa!”.

    .

    His agility and sense stats were raised by 20 points . The necklace’s stats had been applied to him . He felt around his neck, confirming that the necklace wasn’t there . It seemed that equipping items through the System did not necessarily put them on him physically . He was relieved that he would not have to walk around wearing a dog collar . .

    .

    ‘Next, the molars . ’.

    .

    Jinwoo opened up the shop . Each of the molars were sold for 150 thousand gold . Having sold 3 molars, Jinwoo had collected 450 thousand pieces of gold . .

    .

    Current Gold: 562,362.

    .

    ‘What kind of junk item is this expensive?’.

    .

    His first fight had given him an idea of the difficulty of this Dungeon . The Demon Castle would not be a pushover . But this was not a bad news to Jinwoo . Just taking down one monster gave him four times the amount of gold he had earned in his first Instant Dungeon . At this rate, he would surely be able to afford some of the top tier items from the System’s shop . .

    .

    ‘As long as I can clear this place…’.

    .

    Jinwoo looked up at the tower on fire . .

    .

    flare!.

    .

    The top of the tower was obscured by a strange fog . The only way to see what was on top would be to climb the tower from the inside . Jinwoo shook his head at the thought . .

    .

    ‘No . It’s too early for me . ’.

    .

    After all, he had only barely managed to defeat the Gatekeeper, and that was with the title buff and the trick using the daily quest’s reward . There was no knowing what waited beyond the gates . For now, it was time to retreat . .

    .

    Still, one thing was for sure . .

    .

    The Demon Castle Key was indeed something that he wanted . The description of the Blessed Random Box was not wrong . Level-up, items and even gold, all that he wanted could be found in this place . Once he had the power, he would be able to obtain it all . .

    .

    Just not today . .

    .

    Regretfully, Jinwoo put away the key back into the inventory . .

    .

    ‘I’ll be back . ’.

    .

    It was a promise that he would keep . .

    .

    Jinwoo turned back with a smile on his face . .

    .

    .

    .

    -3 . Coincidence-.

    .

    The next few days went by without incidence . Yoo Jinho kept calling him on a daily basis to check with his status . .

    .

    -“Hyungnim! It’s me, Yoo Jinho . ”.

    .

    “Make it short . ”.

    .

    -“Yes, hyungnim . ”.

    .

    The young man told him that he was diligently working on getting together a team . The raiding party would be completed shortly, so he repeatedly asked Jinwoo to wait just a little longer . .

    .

    ‘He must be scared that I might back out . ’.

    .

    But there was no way that Jinwoo would wait idly while Yoo Jinho completed his task . So today, like the past few days, Jinwoo went on the Hunter website . He had continuously checked the job boards, but as expected, there were no private Raids that were accepting an E-rank Hunter . His run in with Hwang Dongseok was luck . Even if the bastard had nefarious plans in mind, it still meant that Jinwoo was able to go on a private Raid . .

    .

    ‘Thankfully, I was able to earn some money, level-up and even get a new skill . ’.

    .

    Wait, was he actually thanking Hwang Dongseok?.

    .

    Jinwoo groaned . Still, even if it was with more lizards[1], he wanted to get back into a Dungeon . .

    .

    Can’t get into a private Raid, no calls from the Association, and no keys from daily quests . .

    .

    Jinwoo hated wasting time like this . .

    .

    growl….

    .

    ‘Is it already time to eat?’.

    .

    Jinwoo stepped away from browsing the job boards and went over to the kitchen . .

    .

    The fridge was empty . .

    .

    “…”.

    .

    He had been distracted by so many things lately and had forgotten to go shopping . .

    .

    ‘Guess I’ll go do that today . ’.

    .

    He closed the fridge with a yawn . .

    .

    .

    .

    One of the few benefits of his worn-down apartment was that it was close to a large grocery store . Jinwoo changed into something comfortable and went outside . It took him 10 minutes of walking to reach the store . .

    .

    The large interior of the store greeted him as he walked in . Since there was no sale going on, there were less people around than usual . Jinwoo grabbed a basket and started walking down the aisles . Having become the man of the house after his mother fell ill, going grocery shopping was a routine experience for Jinwoo . .

    .

    ‘Nothing’s really catching my eyes . ’.

    .

    He stared at the ingredients while thinking about dinner . .

    .

    “Young man, is your body feeling better?”.

    .

    Jinwoo turned around towards the friendly voice . .

    .

    ‘Who?’.

    .

    Due to his high sense stat, he knew that there was another Hunter nearby, but since the grocery store was a place where a lot of people, including Hunters, would be shopping at, he had not paid it much mind . He did not expect that Hunter to actually speak to him, but it was someone that he knew . .

    .

    “Song-ssi ahjussi?”.

    .

    Jinwoo greeted him with welcome . .

    .

    Song-ssi ahjussi, aka Song Chiyeol, looked at Jinwoo with a mix of surprise and happiness . .

    .

    “I had heard that you were alright, but looking at you now, I can’t believe it . ”.

    .

    Song Chiyeol was awed by just how fast Jinwoo had recovered . Embarrassed at the man’s staring, Jinwoo scratched his temples . Song Chiyeol continued,.

    .

    “I should’ve gone to see you myself, but those bastards at the Association, I don’t know what they were thinking, put a moratorium on the incident, and I had no way of reaching you . I believe Ms . Juhee was also dying to hear about you . ”.

    .

    “Juhee-ssi?”.

    .

    “Yep . She said she would retire, but still went to last week’s Raid to catch a glimpse of you . ”.

    .

    “Last week…?”.

    .

    Hearing Song-ssi ahjussi’s explanation, Jinwoo learned that the day he went on a Raid with Hwang Dongseok’s team was also the day an Association Raid had taken place . .

    .

    ‘No wonder the Association’s been quiet . ’.

    .

    It wasn’t that they weren’t contacting him, but rather, he had missed them on that one day . A small mystery cleared up for Jinwoo . .

    .

    Song Chiyeol continued to observe Jinwoo’s figure with an amazed look . .

    .

    ‘Was Sung-ssi always this big? His leg should be still…’.

    .

    Song Chiyeol’s gaze fell to Jinwoo’s lower half . His eyes widened . .

    .

    “Young man… is your leg…?”.

    .

    Translator’s Notes:.

    [1]: “Lizards”: Scumbag Hunters who would purposely recruit weak/inexperienced people to use as getaway sacrifices in Dungeons . .