Jinwoo picked up a stone from the ground . It also disappeared from sight .

    ‘What about this?’

    He went and put his hand on the shoulder of a dead hobgoblin, but it did not become invisible . Bit by bit, he was beginning to understand the limits of the skill . It seemed that it applied to something that he was wearing and something that he could hold in his hands . Suddenly,

    You are out of mana . ‘Stealth’ will be cancelled .

    “What?”

    The ‘Stealth’ skill had been cancelled .

    ‘It’s only been a few seconds, but my mana is already gone?’

    He had been trying to get used to the invisible form, testing out its effects here and there . Jinwoo opened up the skill listing with a dumbfounded expression .

    Skills

    Passive Skills

    -(Unknown) (Lv . Max)

    -Unyielding Spirit (Lv . 1)

    Active Skills

    -Sprint (Lv . 1)

    -Bloodlust (Lv . 1)

    -Stealth (Lv . 1)

    What he wanted was the ‘Stealth’ information . The words appeared in the air before him .

    ring~!

    Stealth (Lv . 1)

    Active Skill

    Mana Cost: 200 (+10/Second)

    Activate to disappear (sight, sound, smell)

    Costs 10 mana per second to maintain .

    “Become invisible and hide the traces of your existence . ”

    The activation cost is 200 and it uses up 10 mana per second?

    “Sigh…”

    No wonder his mana ran out so fast .

    MP: 7 / 548

    His remaining 7 mana seemed to laugh at him .

    ‘It really hit rock bottom . ’

    With his current mana, he could maintain ‘Stealth’ for a little under 35 seconds . However, if he factored in other skills into calculation, it would be far less than that .

    ‘Now that I think about it, even Kang Taeshik released the skill after few seconds . ’

    It was clear that the B-rank Hunter did not do so out of some dramatic flair . He probably did not have the magic power to maintain the skill for long . If the high-ranker Kang Taeshik was like that, low-rankers probably couldn’t even activate the skill .

    “Looks like mana is the problem . ”

    He had invested points in every stat except for intelligence so far, but his mana did not increase . This told him that to increase his mana, he had to raise the intelligence stat…

    ‘Do I have to start putting points into intelligence?’

    But it felt a little wasteful to invest his valuable points just so he could use a skill for a little longer . Especially because Jinwoo felt that intelligence was not a stat directly usable in combat .

    ‘Compared to the others, intelligence really feels lacking . ’

    Strength, constitution, agility, sense .

    As each of those stats rose, he became noticeably stronger . But even when he had raised the intelligence stat through level-ups, he did not gain any worthwhile powerup . Compared to when he was level 1, his intelligence stat had nearly quadrupled, but the only thing it gave him was increased mana . That was it . To invest valuable points into the stat just for that was…

    ‘Too wasteful . ’

    Using those points in the other four attributes equaled to directly strengthening his flesh and blood . In the end, Jinwoo decided that he would just increase his mana through level-ups . The stat points would be distributed into the other, more useful stats .

    ‘Stat points…’

    He remembered that he still had 5 points received from the emergency quest . After thinking about putting them into intelligence, Jinwoo instead put 3 points into strength and 2 points in to constitution .

    Stats

    Strength: 75

    Constitution: 45

    Agility: 82

    Intelligence: 39

    Sense: 69

    (Available stat points: 0)

    Physical Damage Reduction: 20%

    ‘Yep . Multiples of five are a good thing . ’

    As Jinwoo smiled in satisfaction,

    SHAAAAAKE!

    The Dungeon’s interiors shook as if the world was ending .

    ‘Has it already been one hour?’

    There was no time to delay anymore . Jinwoo closed his stat screen . He had purposely waited inside until right before the Gate would close . Staying here any longer would mean that he would never be able to leave . Jinwoo did a final check before leaving the boss room .

    ‘Let’s see, I got all the magic cores…’

    There was nothing he had forgotten . After going over every detail, Jinwoo quickly ran through the Dungeon .

    SHAAAAAAKE!!!

    As if telling him to leave, the Dungeon shook intensely again .

    Right on time, the Association’s investigators and employees had arrived . They watched Jinwoo exit the Gate just as it closed and asked,

    “H-Hunter-nim! Are there any other survivors?”

    “No . ”

    “Oh no!”

    The employee’s expressions hardened . 9 people had entered the Dungeon; only 3 had come out alive . This would be yet another major incident for the Association in the area . Faced with the prospect of a second incident, the Association employees assigned to this sector grimaced . They wanted to enter the Dungeon themselves to check for survivors, but the Gate had already closed . This was the reason why Jinwoo had purposely waited until the last minute to exit .

    ‘Can’t let them know there was another survivor . Was . . . ’

    Now, the only witnesses were the three that had survived . An employee started talking hesitantly,

    “Just now . . . we’ve received the confession of Gold Mountain Company’s president over the phone . ”

    Song Chiyeol stepped forward,

    “The president of Gold Mountain Company?”

    “Yes, he’s one of the prisoner’s victim’s father who had contacted HSD Hunter Kang Taeshik for an assassination . ”

    “Ah…”

    The employee explained that once he had heard that Kang Taeshik had succeeded in killing the prisoner, the president of the company had confessed to everything .

    ‘Well, it wasn’t Kang Taeshik, but me…’ Jinwoo thought .

    The police had gone to the company president, and the Association had come to the Gate .

    After a moment of silence, Jinwoo asked,

    “So there are no problems, right?”

    The employee responded embarrassingly,

    “Yes, I suppose so . ”

    Kang Taeshik’s crimes had a clear evidence, and the three survivors had fought him for their own lives . As Jinwoo said, there was indeed no problems . Except one .

    The employee asked something that was troubling him,

    “Who killed the B-rank Hunter Kang Taeshik?”

    Having just arrived, the employees had not heard this part of the story yet . The distance to the Association HQ was far from here, and the employees had hurriedly made efforts to arrive before the Gate closed . They all looked very tired .

    Jinwoo decided to tell the truth, then thought of Yoo Jinho .

    ‘It’s unfortunate but looks like I won’t be able to help him anymore . ’

    If he told the truth, he would have to undergo a retest and have his rank raised . Once that happened, his part in Yoo Jinho’s plans would be over . After all, what the young man needed was not only a skilled Hunter, but a low ranking one . Once he received his new rank, Jinwoo would no longer qualify .

    ‘Hmm… what’s with this feeling?’

    Jinwoo imagined Yoo Jinho’s disappointed face . Instead of feeling sorry, he actually felt like laughing . Still, it was a shame that he wouldn’t get that building .

    ‘Well, what could I do…’

    Determined, Jinwoo started opening his mouth but was interrupted,

    “It was me . ”

    Jinwoo turned towards the voice . Lee Juhee was staring at Song Chiyeol in shock .

    “Ahjussi…?”

    Before Jinwoo could stop him, the old man stepped forth .

    “I was the one who killed Kang Taeshik . ”

    The employee looked suspicious,

    “Hunter Song Chiyeol-nim was the one?”

    That was impossible . Song Chiyeol was a C-ranker; on top of that, he was missing an arm . His opponent was a B-ranker, whose existence would be called a high-ranker . Their strength exceeded imagination . The difference between a B-ranker and a C-ranker was incomparable to the difference between a C-ranker and a D-ranker .

    Song Chiyeol laughed and replied,

    “You all know who’s standing behind me, right?”

    “Ah!”

    All eyes fell on Lee Juhee, who lowered her embarrassed face .

    Lee Juhee was also a B-rank Hunter . She may not be a combat-class Hunter, but she was still a high-ranker like Kang Taeshik . If a B-rank Healer supported a C-rank Hunter, there just might have been a chance that they prevailed . The employees all nodded understandingly . While they were thinking about the possibilities, Jinwoo went up to Song Chiyeol’s side and quietly asked,

    “Why did you lie?”

    Song Chiyeol replied with a subdued voice,

    “I felt like Sung-ssi had a reason to hide your abilities . Should I not have?”

    Of course not . Thanks to the elder, Jinwoo would be able to avoid a thorn in his side for a bit longer . Jinwoo was impressed by the old man’s ability to take a hint .

    “No, no . I’m grateful . ”

    “I’m the one who has to be grateful . I’m just glad I was able to help out a little . ”

    An Association investigator approached the pair .

    “Song Chiyeol-ssi, could you please come with us? We just have to wrap-up the details . ”

    “Yes, let’s . ”

    Song Chiyeol left with the investigator to the Association, along with the rest of the employees . Soon, only Jinwoo and Juhee remained . The sun had already set a while ago . Feeling awkward near the changed Jinwoo, Juhee shyly approached him and asked,

    “Could we walk together for a bit?”

    ‘Is this about the dinner promise?’

    Jinwoo was hungry after moving around for a while and felt that it was a good timing . He happily agreed,

    “Sure . ”

    Under the streetlights, the pair walked, side by side, in silence .

    “ . . . ”

    Juhee stared at her feet as they walked . Everytime she looked up, she peaked a glance at Jinwoo . She wanted to ignore it, but she could not ignore the fact that the man felt a lot stronger than before . She had found him more comfortable to be near in the past . Now, it was hard to even strike up a conversation with him .

    ‘Just what happened to him…?’

    Not just the fact that he had easily defeated a B-rank Hunter . The man’s presence felt completely different than before . He had asked for her silence, so she did not want to press the issue .

    But his abrupt change bothered her for some reason .

    Sponsored Content

    I Alone Level-up: Chapter 35.

    .

    Jinwoo picked up a stone from the ground . It also disappeared from sight . .

    .

    ‘What about this?’.

    .

    He went and put his hand on the shoulder of a dead hobgoblin, but it did not become invisible . Bit by bit, he was beginning to understand the limits of the skill . It seemed that it applied to something that he was wearing and something that he could hold in his hands . Suddenly,.

    .

    You are out of mana . ‘Stealth’ will be cancelled . .

    .

    “What?”.

    .

    The ‘Stealth’ skill had been cancelled . .

    .

    ‘It’s only been a few seconds, but my mana is already gone?’.

    .

    He had been trying to get used to the invisible form, testing out its effects here and there . Jinwoo opened up the skill listing with a dumbfounded expression . .

    .

    Skills.

    .

    Passive Skills.

    -(Unknown) (Lv . Max).

    -Unyielding Spirit (Lv . 1).

    .

    Active Skills.

    -Sprint (Lv . 1).

    -Bloodlust (Lv . 1).

    -Stealth (Lv . 1).

    .

    What he wanted was the ‘Stealth’ information . The words appeared in the air before him . .

    .

    ring~!.

    .

    .

    Stealth (Lv . 1).

    Active Skill.

    .

    Mana Cost: 200 (+10/Second).

    .

    Activate to disappear (sight, sound, smell).

    Costs 10 mana per second to maintain . .

    .

    “Become invisible and hide the traces of your existence . ”.

    .

    The activation cost is 200 and it uses up 10 mana per second?.

    .

    “Sigh…”.

    .

    No wonder his mana ran out so fast . .

    .

    MP: 7 / 548.

    .

    His remaining 7 mana seemed to laugh at him . .

    .

    ‘It really hit rock bottom . ’.

    .

    With his current mana, he could maintain ‘Stealth’ for a little under 35 seconds . However, if he factored in other skills into calculation, it would be far less than that . .

    .

    ‘Now that I think about it, even Kang Taeshik released the skill after few seconds . ’.

    .

    It was clear that the B-rank Hunter did not do so out of some dramatic flair . He probably did not have the magic power to maintain the skill for long . If the high-ranker Kang Taeshik was like that, low-rankers probably couldn’t even activate the skill . .

    .

    “Looks like mana is the problem . ”.

    .

    He had invested points in every stat except for intelligence so far, but his mana did not increase . This told him that to increase his mana, he had to raise the intelligence stat….

    .

    ‘Do I have to start putting points into intelligence?’.

    .

    But it felt a little wasteful to invest his valuable points just so he could use a skill for a little longer . Especially because Jinwoo felt that intelligence was not a stat directly usable in combat . .

    .

    ‘Compared to the others, intelligence really feels lacking . ’.

    .

    Strength, constitution, agility, sense . .

    .

    As each of those stats rose, he became noticeably stronger . But even when he had raised the intelligence stat through level-ups, he did not gain any worthwhile powerup . Compared to when he was level 1, his intelligence stat had nearly quadrupled, but the only thing it gave him was increased mana . That was it . To invest valuable points into the stat just for that was….

    .

    ‘Too wasteful . ’.

    .

    Using those points in the other four attributes equaled to directly strengthening his flesh and blood . In the end, Jinwoo decided that he would just increase his mana through level-ups . The stat points would be distributed into the other, more useful stats . .

    .

    ‘Stat points…’.

    .

    He remembered that he still had 5 points received from the emergency quest . After thinking about putting them into intelligence, Jinwoo instead put 3 points into strength and 2 points in to constitution . .

    .

    Stats.

    .

    Strength: 75.

    Constitution: 45.

    Agility: 82.

    Intelligence: 39.

    Sense: 69.

    (Available stat points: 0).

    Physical Damage Reduction: 20%.

    .

    ‘Yep . Multiples of five are a good thing . ’.

    .

    As Jinwoo smiled in satisfaction,.

    .

    SHAAAAAKE!.

    .

    The Dungeon’s interiors shook as if the world was ending . .

    .

    ‘Has it already been one hour?’.

    .

    There was no time to delay anymore . Jinwoo closed his stat screen . He had purposely waited inside until right before the Gate would close . Staying here any longer would mean that he would never be able to leave . Jinwoo did a final check before leaving the boss room . .

    .

    ‘Let’s see, I got all the magic cores…’.

    .

    There was nothing he had forgotten . After going over every detail, Jinwoo quickly ran through the Dungeon . .

    .

    SHAAAAAAKE!!!.

    .

    As if telling him to leave, the Dungeon shook intensely again . .

    .

    .

    .

    Right on time, the Association’s investigators and employees had arrived . They watched Jinwoo exit the Gate just as it closed and asked,.

    .

    “H-Hunter-nim! Are there any other survivors?”.

    .

    “No . ”.

    .

    “Oh no!”.

    .

    The employee’s expressions hardened . 9 people had entered the Dungeon; only 3 had come out alive . This would be yet another major incident for the Association in the area . Faced with the prospect of a second incident, the Association employees assigned to this sector grimaced . They wanted to enter the Dungeon themselves to check for survivors, but the Gate had already closed . This was the reason why Jinwoo had purposely waited until the last minute to exit . .

    .

    ‘Can’t let them know there was another survivor . Was . ’.

    .

    Now, the only witnesses were the three that had survived . An employee started talking hesitantly,.

    .

    “Just now . we’ve received the confession of Gold Mountain Company’s president over the phone . ”.

    .

    Song Chiyeol stepped forward,.

    .

    “The president of Gold Mountain Company?”.

    .

    “Yes, he’s one of the prisoner’s victim’s father who had contacted HSD Hunter Kang Taeshik for an assassination . ”.

    .

    “Ah…”.

    .

    The employee explained that once he had heard that Kang Taeshik had succeeded in killing the prisoner, the president of the company had confessed to everything . .

    .

    ‘Well, it wasn’t Kang Taeshik, but me…’ Jinwoo thought . .

    .

    The police had gone to the company president, and the Association had come to the Gate . .

    .

    After a moment of silence, Jinwoo asked,.

    .

    “So there are no problems, right?”.

    .

    The employee responded embarrassingly,.

    .

    “Yes, I suppose so . ”.

    .

    Kang Taeshik’s crimes had a clear evidence, and the three survivors had fought him for their own lives . As Jinwoo said, there was indeed no problems . Except one . .

    .

    The employee asked something that was troubling him,.

    .

    “Who killed the B-rank Hunter Kang Taeshik?”.

    .

    Having just arrived, the employees had not heard this part of the story yet . The distance to the Association HQ was far from here, and the employees had hurriedly made efforts to arrive before the Gate closed . They all looked very tired . .

    .

    Jinwoo decided to tell the truth, then thought of Yoo Jinho . .

    .

    ‘It’s unfortunate but looks like I won’t be able to help him anymore . ’.

    .

    If he told the truth, he would have to undergo a retest and have his rank raised . Once that happened, his part in Yoo Jinho’s plans would be over . After all, what the young man needed was not only a skilled Hunter, but a low ranking one . Once he received his new rank, Jinwoo would no longer qualify . .

    .

    ‘Hmm… what’s with this feeling?’.

    .

    Jinwoo imagined Yoo Jinho’s disappointed face . Instead of feeling sorry, he actually felt like laughing . Still, it was a shame that he wouldn’t get that building . .

    .

    ‘Well, what could I do…’.

    .

    Determined, Jinwoo started opening his mouth but was interrupted,.

    .

    “It was me . ”.

    .

    Jinwoo turned towards the voice . Lee Juhee was staring at Song Chiyeol in shock . .

    .

    “Ahjussi…?”.

    .

    Before Jinwoo could stop him, the old man stepped forth . .

    .

    “I was the one who killed Kang Taeshik . ”.

    .

    The employee looked suspicious,.

    .

    “Hunter Song Chiyeol-nim was the one?”.

    .

    That was impossible . Song Chiyeol was a C-ranker; on top of that, he was missing an arm . His opponent was a B-ranker, whose existence would be called a high-ranker . Their strength exceeded imagination . The difference between a B-ranker and a C-ranker was incomparable to the difference between a C-ranker and a D-ranker . .

    .

    Song Chiyeol laughed and replied,.

    .

    “You all know who’s standing behind me, right?”.

    .

    “Ah!”.

    .

    All eyes fell on Lee Juhee, who lowered her embarrassed face . .

    .

    Lee Juhee was also a B-rank Hunter . She may not be a combat-class Hunter, but she was still a high-ranker like Kang Taeshik . If a B-rank Healer supported a C-rank Hunter, there just might have been a chance that they prevailed . The employees all nodded understandingly . While they were thinking about the possibilities, Jinwoo went up to Song Chiyeol’s side and quietly asked,.

    .

    “Why did you lie?”.

    .

    Song Chiyeol replied with a subdued voice,.

    .

    “I felt like Sung-ssi had a reason to hide your abilities . Should I not have?”.

    .

    Of course not . Thanks to the elder, Jinwoo would be able to avoid a thorn in his side for a bit longer . Jinwoo was impressed by the old man’s ability to take a hint . .

    .

    “No, no . I’m grateful . ”.

    .

    “I’m the one who has to be grateful . I’m just glad I was able to help out a little . ”.

    .

    An Association investigator approached the pair . .

    .

    “Song Chiyeol-ssi, could you please come with us? We just have to wrap-up the details . ”.

    .

    “Yes, let’s . ”.

    .

    Song Chiyeol left with the investigator to the Association, along with the rest of the employees . Soon, only Jinwoo and Juhee remained . The sun had already set a while ago . Feeling awkward near the changed Jinwoo, Juhee shyly approached him and asked,.

    .

    “Could we walk together for a bit?”.

    .

    ‘Is this about the dinner promise?’.

    .

    Jinwoo was hungry after moving around for a while and felt that it was a good timing . He happily agreed,.

    .

    “Sure . ”.

    .

    Under the streetlights, the pair walked, side by side, in silence . .

    .

    “ . ”.

    .

    Juhee stared at her feet as they walked . Everytime she looked up, she peaked a glance at Jinwoo . She wanted to ignore it, but she could not ignore the fact that the man felt a lot stronger than before . She had found him more comfortable to be near in the past . Now, it was hard to even strike up a conversation with him . .

    .

    ‘Just what happened to him…?’.

    .

    Not just the fact that he had easily defeated a B-rank Hunter . The man’s presence felt completely different than before . He had asked for her silence, so she did not want to press the issue . .

    .

    But his abrupt change bothered her for some reason . .