Solo Leveling- Ragnarok

Chapter 182:

Rumble!

Was that an earthquake? All the surrounding windows and fluorescent lamps exploded at the same time like bombs.

RRRumble!!

The place was completely chaotic. The pressure was so overwhelming that the building would be torn down at any moment, and the staff of the Hunter Association could hardly breathe properly.

"Attack!"

A few of the hunters, who managed to react, drew their weapons and pounced on Suho.

But–

?BOOM!

"?Grrrr!"

!!!

A huge wolf appeared out of nowhere, standing in their way and roaring fiercely.

"RAWWWRR!"

[Gray uses 'Skill: Abhor the Weak'.]

['Effect: Fear' is triggered.]

[All abilities of the targets are reduced by 1% for 50 minutes.]

The appearance of a giant wolf filling the room made the hunters realize. If an attack like this has been made... Then he must have been determined to break in!

Surely this was a terror attack aimed at the Association and was thoroughly prepared!

The shocking fact only confused them even more.

No, what kind of crazy villain in this world would invade the Hunter Association! Even the famous Hwang Dong-Soo wouldn't do such crazy things!

'What the hell are you doing this for?'

'Why?'

'Why the hell?!'

'I do not understand. I really don't know!'

No one had time to think clearly among the commotion. They barely suppressed their rising fears and charged blindly at the villain in front of them.

Bang!

"RAWR!"

However, at the same time as the charged, they were struck by the front paws of the giant wolf and thrown back. At the sight of some of their colleagues helplessly being slammed against the wall, the Association's staff lost all its will to fight.

'We are going to die.'

They had a hunch that what stood in front of them was certain death.

"Urgh!" At that moment, the head of the branch Min Dae-Seok, who was elevating in front of Suho, pulled up all the magic power and desperately resisted the bloodlust that was crushing his whole body.

He gritted his trembling teeth and glared at Suho. "You think you will be saved like this... Huh?!"

In a second, Suho reached forward, and Min Dae-Seok's body flew towards Suho's as if he was being sucked in. And as Suho's hand approached as if it were going to break the nape of his neck, Min Dae-Seok finally closed his eyes.

Crack!

It wasn't the nape of his neck that Suho's hand ripped off, but the chain of the necklace that hung around it instead.

"I'm going to ask." His voice was cold. When that demonic voice penetrated his ears, Min Dae-Seok shuddered in terror, chills spread across. Suho's fierce eyes were clearly etched over his frightened pupils. "And you will answer me." Suho asked, holding the necklace he was wearing in front of his face. "Where did you get this Stardust necklace?"

The Stardust necklace.

Why is he, one of the heads in the Association, wearing something that is related to the Foreign Religion? In Suho's mind right now, he was imagining all kinds of things. What is the relationship between the Foreign Religion and the Association? And does Woo Jin-Chul, the president of the association, who was once a colleague of his father, know this? But then–

At Suho's question, Min Dae-Seok squeezed his eyes shut and shouted. "...Bought– I bought it!"

"You bought it?" Suho tilted his head back. At the horror of seeing such an expression on his face, Min Dae-Seok was stunned and hurriedly changed his words.

"I'm sorry, sorry! In fact, I got it for free!"

"Free?"

"I'm so sorry! Even though I told him I would pay him back, but the boss just handed it to me..." Going one step further, Min Dae-seok's condescending gaze turned to his subordinates scattered around him. "And I wasn't the only one who got it! All the other employees have them as well!"

"...!"

That snitching bastard! (1) The guy who is the boss at work dragged down even his subordinates! At Min Dae-Seok's sudden revelation, the expressions of his subordinates changed rapidly. They hastily covered or ripped off the Stardust necklaces they were wearing.

However, when he saw them, Suho's face, the expressionless one that had been stark until now, was a little broken.

He asked again. "Who is the boss you talked about?"

"...Huh?" Feeling a strange atmosphere for a moment, Min Dae-Seok asked, looking at Suho's eyes with a confused expression.

"I don't... Aren't you from the merchants' association?"

"...."

"We got a Stardust necklace from there..."

"...Huh?"

He stood surprised. It was Min Dae-Seok who shook his body at the slightest sigh of Suho. Soon enough, Suho's hand lowered him. Then Min Dae-Seok's body flew through the air again and forced him to sit down on a nearby chair.

"...?"

The wheels of the chair rolled on their own, and Min Dae-Seok returned to his original seat with a stiff manner.

"...?"

"...?"

Seeing this, the faces of the association employees all at once had puzzled expressions. The air was thin, the atmosphere so tense that they couldn't even breathe properly, and all their eyes instinctively followed Suho's every move. In the midst of it all, Suho walked slowly to the desk of the branch chief and slumped down on the chair across from him. Then, looking at the trembling Min Dae-Seok, he proudly stated his business for coming here.

"Are you the branch manager? I'm here to file a complaint."

"...Ah?"

At that moment. Everyone's breath was open like a lie. All the bloodlust that had weighed down the area was gone. However, Min Dae-Seok couldn't help but look puzzled. "Me, a complaint? All of a sudden, what do you mean by that?"

"Apparently my grandfather is missing. Do you know anything?"

"???"

Only then did Min Dae-Seok's head, which had malfunctioned for a moment, creaked and began to spin a little. He soon started to recall the situation before this crazy villain had arrived and thus came to an even crazier conclusion.

"Hey, perhaps... Are you Mr. Sung Il-Hwan's grandchild?"

"Yes, my name is Sung Suho, the Guildmaster of the Woojin Guild."

"So you're not a villain...?"

"No, in fact, I'm an Association-certified villain hunter."

"...Eh?"

Suho proudly handed out his business card and his villain hunter certificate.

"Woof!"

The giant wolf grew smaller and smaller until he was a small puppy(2), and then sat down, his nose up and his hips glued to Suho's feet. Seeing the series of appearances, Min Dae-Seok's mind suddenly became confused.

Everyone, including the staff who stood around, looked at him with a puzzled expression.

'No, wait.'

'To sum it up....'

'You made all this ruckus just to file a complaint?!'

Of course, no one was brave enough to say this outloud. Noticing the stares focused on him, Suho apologized with a serious expression.

"I'm sorry. I was overwhelmed after hearing about my grandfather's disappearance."

"Oh, no. No. If your family member is missing, it's understandable anyone would act like that..."

The wheel of the chair rolled by itself, and Min Dae-Seok returned to his original position as he sat calmly. Min Dae-Seok's voice became less and less as he hurriedly waved his hands in response to Suho's apology.

The Association's office became a mess overnight. All the glass is broken, the fluorescent lamps rattle from the ceiling, and the flames crackle like ghosts. He was too sympathetic to agree that anyone could do such a thing, but the sight behind Suho's back was too horrible.

'...So you didn't do this because you are a villain?'

When he realized that the other person was not a villain, a heat rose from Min Dae-Seok's chest a second after. When the situation was settled, he was suddenly upset that he had made an unsightly appearance in front of his subordinates.

'Aiya.... I know you're a Hunter with great powers. But isn't Korea a country that follows the law? How dare such a young kid like you make such a ruckus with just a bit of magic? What do you know about the Association!'

Min Dae-Seok clenched his fists and glared at Suho.

'You may be the Guildmaster of the Woojin Guild! But I'll be sure to brand you as a villain!'

'Only when you are the president of the association, can you give yourself that much authority!'

Then, when Suho's eyes met his, Min Dae-Seok's stubborn expression suddenly relaxed. "Hmmm. Please compensate for the property damage."

"Of course I will."

"Thank you."

***

By the time Suho's grandmother, Park Kyung-Hye, and Sung Jin-Ah entered the Association's office, the mess had already been cleared up. Some of the fluorescent lights were still broken, but beneath them, Suho heard about what had happened with her grandmother and aunt.

"That 's . . . First, let me apologize. The reason why we have rejected Ms. Park's complaint for the past few days is because we have determined that Sir Sung Il-Hwan is not missing." Min Dae-Seok explained to Suho as if he were making excuses based on what his subordinates had investigated so far. "You see... Mr Sung Suho's grandfather, Sung-Il-hwan, we know that his hobby is fishing. He also enjoys fishing alone, and he says he can go for two or three days at most."

"That's right." Park nodded obediently. In Yangpyeong, where the South and North Korea rivers diverge, there were quite a few secluded fishing spots. As a result, after Sung Il-Hwan came to Yangpyeong, he used to go fishing from time to time. "...But this time, there was something weird."

"What was weird?"

"His expression."

"...Mrs Park Kyung-Hye, such abstract ideas are not helpful to the investigation at all."

After all, dealing with the elderly is so frustrating. It was Min Dae-Seok who sighed. However, when he saw Suho sitting right next to him, he couldn't help but manage his facial expressions.

"So, what expression was he wearing?"

"My husband . . . I've only had that look on my face three times so far."

"When is that?"

"The first time was when our son ran away from home."

Flinch.

At that, Suho's expression couldn't help but harden.

"When he was in junior high school, he ran away from home with a note saying he had something to do. He was gone for two years." Park Kyung-Hye said with a bitter expression, groping for memories of the past.

"I was so shocked when my husband stopped me from running to the police station." Her husband's attitude, which showed no signs of alertness when her son was missing, was incomprehensible to Park Kyung-Hye even when she looked back on it now. At first she was angry, then she was frustrated. My son suddenly ran away from home, but which parent can keep their sanity?

Unlike Park Kyung-Hye, Sung Il-Hwan was calm. But she also couldn't blame her husband for being too cold. The expression on Sung's face at the time seemed to be holding back the emotions that were about to spill out at any moment. Eventually, Park Kyung-Hye went to the police station and reported her son missing. But despite this, Sung Il-Hwan did not even pretend to look for his son.

"He even stopped me from going outside and putting up missing flyers. Often telling me those words..."

- Let's trust our son.

Remembering the look on her husband's face as he uttered those words, Park continued. "In the end, our son came home safely two years later. Then, as an adult, he disappeared again five years ago. This time, with his wife."

"..."

"Even then, my husband calmed me down with the same expression. Let's trust him this time." Park continued. "Well, that look had appeared on his face again."

The moment he heard those words, Suho couldn't help but be convinced.

'Beru, maybe grandpa...'

[Yes, I guess his memory came back again.]

—-------------------------

1: The realm term was ? ??? ?? ? That water Ghost! which is often referred to people who do or say wrongful things and then drag others down with them, mostly the drag others down part.

2:The original is "As if it were a lie" which is just a saying for becoming small so i just used the word puppy.