Solo Leveling, Vol. 1, page 8
[HP: 100]
[Fatigue: 0]
[Level: 1]
[Title: None]
[MP: 10]
[Stats]
Strength: 10
Stamina: 10
Agility: 10
Intelligence: 10
Perception: 10
(Available ability points: 3)
[Skills]
Passive skill: (Unknown) Lv.Max, Willpower Lv.1
Active skill: Dash Lv.1
His stats were at a similar level to a newly created character in an online game he used to play way back in the day.
Are these my current stats?
He was presently at level 1. All his stats were pretty basic. It wasn’t surprising, since he was classified as the weakest even among E-rank hunters.
What got his attention were the skills.
Willpower was his passive skill, and Dash was his active skill. They sounded weirdly familiar.
“Oh, thinking back, yesterday……”
Yesterday, or more precisely earlier that morning, those words had been in some messages he’d received while being chased by centipedes in the penalty zone. They’d arrived about three hours in, when he’d been racing around with everything he had.
[You learned Skill: Dash Lv.1.]
[You learned Skill: Willpower Lv.1.]
At the time, he’d been so focused on running that he didn’t have the presence of mind to think about what it meant, but he did now.
Jinwoo verified the details of the skills.
[SKILL: DASH LV.1]
Active skill.
5 mana required.
Running has strengthened your legs. When activated, your speed increases by 30 percent. When in use, your mana will decrease by 1 every minute.
[SKILL: WILLPOWER LV.1]
Passive skill.
No mana required.
You have endless willpower. When your stamina falls below 30 percent, Willpower will activate, and you will receive 50 percent less damage.
Was I able to learn Dash and Willpower because I kept running persistently?
It made sense when he put it like that. It meant that if he kept doing the same action and met a certain condition, he might be able to learn a new skill.
“That’s incredible!”
This was a huge advantage. Hunters could acquire skills only when they were first awakened or by learning them from a rune stone, which could sometimes be obtained from A-rank magic beasts. Rune stones could cost several 100,000,000 won to over several 1,000,000,000 won.
Recently, the most expensive rune stone was auctioned off for 7,000,000,000 won. That stone, which held the skill to fully cure many people at once, was purchased anonymously by an S-rank healer from a foreign country who emptied out all their life savings.
Jinwoo’s heart started racing.
Increased speed and decreased damage. They weren’t comparable to a skill costing several 1,000,000,000 won, but they were still great. And to receive them free of charge…
Jinwoo didn’t have a lot of magic, so it might be difficult to utilize them properly, but he was still excited to have them.
And it says Willpower doesn’t even need mana……
Mana probably meant magic. Meaning, even if he didn’t have a lot of magic, he could still use Willpower as much as he wanted.
This was huge.
“But……what does this ‘Unknown’ mean?”
[Skill]
Passive skill: (Unknown) Lv.Max
Unknown was one of his passive skills. Passive skills should be activated automatically, but there was no other information.
There isn’t a single clue.
With so little information to go on, Jinwoo knew there wouldn’t be any point in contemplating it further. He decided to focus his attention on something else.
Ability points……
The three ability points he’d received hadn’t been distributed yet.
[Stats]
Strength: 10
Stamina: 10
Agility: 10
Intelligence: 10
Perception: 10
(Available ability points: 3)
I guess I can increase stats by three points?
There were five different attributes on the stat list. They were all low, most likely because he was level 1.
But if all of this was actually real, his decisions would have consequences. If his actual abilities changed according to his choices, how did they expect him to come to any kind of decision?
Jinwoo’s expression grew serious.
Strength probably means power……
He could guess what “strength,” “stamina,” and “agility” meant. They were common enough terms in video game stats.
The problems were “intelligence” and “perception,” and like before, the system wasn’t very user-friendly with its lack of explanations. If he raised his intelligence, would he get smarter? If he raised his perception, would he have keener senses? Whatever intelligence and perception were, they didn’t seem particularly useful to him.
Jinwoo was a combat hunter. What he needed was power, speed, or even stamina.
If I had to pick one of those three, it’d have to be power.
Becoming stronger would be quite convenient. He also wanted to see what changes occurred physically if his stats went up. Ultimately, he invested all his points in what he thought would result in the most obvious change, his strength.
“Three points to strength.”
Ping!
[Stats]
Strength: 13
Stamina: 10
Agility: 10
Intelligence: 10
Perception: 10
(Available ability points: 0)
Is……that it?
That was it. The only change was the number in the strength stat going from ten to thirteen in the hologram screen before him. He didn’t feel any hidden energy rising up from deep inside him like in an anime or a movie.
“Has anything changed?”
Jinwoo decided to test his strength. He positioned himself next to the bed and tried lifting it. He could feel its weight, but it was easier to lift than he expected. Still, he wasn’t sure if this was because he’d gotten stronger or if the bed simply wasn’t that heavy.
I should’ve tried lifting it before I added the points.
It was hard to make a before-and-after comparison now that he’d already used up his points.
If only I had more……
He was pursing his lips when he suddenly remembered something. “The rewards for the penalty quest!”
The daily quest wasn’t the only thing he’d completed today. He’d almost gotten killed, but he’d also completed the penalty quest and seen the notification saying that he’d received rewards.
Jinwoo hurriedly called up his inbox.
[Your rewards for completing the penalty quest have been delivered.]
[Would you like to check your rewards?] (Y/N)
“I knew it!” He pumped his fist.
Of course he would!
[YOU HAVE THE FOLLOWING REWARDS.]
Reward 1. Ability Points +3
Reward 2. Mystery Box (1)
[Would you like to accept all?]
Unlike the daily quest rewards, full recovery wasn’t an option, but Jinwoo was interested only in the ability points. He was worried there would be a difference in the amount awarded, as it was the reward for a penalty quest, but fortunately, he was given three points this time as well.
Jinwoo excitedly yelled, “Add three points to strength.”
Ping!
[Stats]
Strength: 16
Stamina: 10
Agility: 10
Intelligence: 10
Perception: 10
(Available ability points: 0)
His strength stat jumped from thirteen to sixteen.
He positioned himself next to the bed and flexed his arms. He found it easier to lift the bed than before. He had now verified there was an actual difference.
“It really works……!”
He’d actually gotten stronger. According to the stats, he’d increased his strength by 60 percent, so there was no way he wouldn’t feel a difference.
Exhilarated, Jinwoo started lifting various pieces of furniture in his hospital room, making a racket. He was forced to stop after he was chided by the head nurse, who happened to be passing by and poked her head in after hearing all the noise.
“I’m so sorry……”
Jinwoo breathed a relieved sigh after she left. “Whew…”
But he couldn’t calm down. His heart was racing.
Ba-dump, ba-dump…
It was beating so hard, it almost hurt.
There would be a quest every day with ability points as rewards! As long as the phenomenon didn’t suddenly disappear, he would be able to live a completely different life from before. This was an amazing opportunity.
To add to that, his stat screen also indicated his level.
How can I increase my level?
Jinwoo shook his head.
Nah……that’s probably not possible.
Despite everything, leveling up still seemed too far of a reach. He didn’t dare hope that it was possible. Quests and rewards were more than enough for him.
He would increase his attributes with ability points. He’d become stronger today than yesterday and stronger tomorrow than today. He’d strengthen himself more and more every single day.
Me, the weakest among E-rank hunters, the Weakest Hunter of All Mankind, getting stronger?
Never mind S- or A-rank hunters, his C- and D-rank colleagues would laugh if they heard him. They’d probably fall over themselves making fun of him. Jinwoo Sung becoming stronger? Jinwoo Sung, the Weakest Hunter of all Mankind?
But Jinwoo didn’t care if people laughed at him. In fact, he was used to being mocked. He was just glad to have this opportunity.
But he did begin to wonder…
Is this how a reawakening goes?
It was rare, but there were cases in which a low-rank hunter became one of the best through reawakening. Did that mean all the hunters who got stronger via reawakening had experienced this phenomenon?
I need to do some research.
Curious, Jinwoo sat down in front of the computer situated in the corner of the room. There were quite a few amenities in these VIP accommodations provided by the association.
Takataka-tak.
His fingers moved quickly over the keyboard. He searched and searched and searched some more. He visited countless websites. This included a site that could be accessed only by those with hunter licenses. He even shelled out to access some promising documents that were locked behind a paywall.
Even so, there was not so much as a single case comparable, much less identical, to his.
It’s not the same……
What he was going through was totally different from a reawakening.
Reawakened hunters seemed to get their new powers in a manner similar to when they first awakened as hunters. No one had experienced anything like Jinwoo, whether it be hearing things at death’s door or being able to see their stats like in a video game or increasing their power with points.
Hmm, just in case……
He made an anonymous post on a hunters-only forum.
[Title: Something strange happened.]
[Contents: I started seeing my stats on a floating screen like in a video game, and I can even upgrade them. Has anyone else experienced this?]
The comments section under the post exploded.
: LOLOLOLOL Here comes another nutjob.
: You sure you’re not crazy?
: What a freak.
: I think you play too many games……
: Are you a cartoonist?
: Get to a hospital fr.
: I want to hear more details.
: Stop accepting anyone with a hunter’s license and do some spring cleaning on this site……
The tens of comments were all in a similar vein.
“Haaah.” Jinwoo sighed.
He’d wasted a lot of time online with nothing to show for it. All he’d gained was the ridicule of people on the forum. If he’d gone to all these lengths but turned up empty……
“I guess I’m the only one.”
The one and only, a one-of-a-kind hunter!
It would take time to realize the full potential of this phenomenon and how much help it’d be, but being the only one with this power didn’t sound that bad.
He looked around and realized it was already late at night.
“Where did the time go……?” Jinwoo frowned.
His eyes were tired from staring at the monitor for so long. He massaged his temples for a while and then got up to do some light stretching. He moved his body to-and-fro.
While doing some side stretches, he spotted two boxes that had fallen to the floor.
“Oh.”
The mystery boxes. The small boxes were covered in simple wrapping paper and tied with plain ribbons, again reminding him of something from a video game.
I guess they fell when I was making a mess.
He’d forgotten that he’d received the boxes as rewards. Jinwoo picked up the one closest to him and opened it.
“……A bandage?”
When he stared hard at the object that appeared to be a bandage, its information popped up in green letters.
[ITEM: BANDAGE]
Normal bandage. Good for small wounds. May be kept in your inventory.
“It’s an actual bandage.”
He thought it might have a special power like treasures found in dungeons, but it seemed like that wasn’t the case.
Though I guess I’ve never heard of bandages appearing in a dungeon……
He opened the other box, feeling half-disappointed and half-expectant.
Inside was a ballpoint pen. He looked at it from every angle and pressed the top to make the ballpoint appear, but it really was just a regular pen.
[ITEM: BALLPOINT PEN]
An ordinary ballpoint pen. Good for writing memos. May be kept in your inventory.
It looked like mystery boxes generated miscellaneous items at random.
“Hmm……”
It hadn’t been a complete loss, however. Although he wasn’t in need of a bandage or a pen, thanks to the items, he’d learned of the existence of an inventory.
Information screens for other items in the room didn’t appear in green letters, so it was safe to assume this was a feature that pertained to items from mystery boxes.
“Inventory.”
At his command, a screen consisting of a graphic with dozens of empty squares materialized in midair.
A level-1 user’s inventory should have been empty…but his wasn’t. There in the very first space was an item that was all too familiar.
“Is that……?” Jinwoo took it out.
Ping!
[ITEM: KIM SANGSHIK’S STEEL SWORD]
Attack Power +10
It was Kim’s sword that Jinwoo had grabbed in the underground temple. He thought he’d dropped it there.
“Good to see you again, bro.” Jinwoo couldn’t help smiling.
Maybe because it had survived the near-death experience with him, he was happy to see it again. Also, it was too high-quality to be left in that world.
Didn’t Mr. Kim say he paid 3,000,000 won for this?
Hunter-grade weapons look ordinary but aren’t. A magic beast can’t be hurt unless the weapon is imbued with mana. Because of this, weapons made for battling magic beasts are naturally expensive.
I should use this guy for now.
Jinwoo had fought against magic beasts with his bare hands until now because he couldn’t afford a weapon. Even if it was a used sword, he was grateful to have it.
This is mine now.
If Kim saw it in Jinwoo’s possession, he’d probably be frothing at the mouth trying to get it back. He was selfish to the point where he’d run away and abandoned the one who’d saved his life.
Jinwoo had both this sword and this new opportunity because he’d risked his life. He had no intention of giving up the weapon that easily.
His eyes narrowed.
He’d learned two things in that underground temple.
First, he needed to get stronger. He’d almost died a number of times simply because he was weak.
But that wasn’t the only thing.
He hadn’t stopped the young choir man even though he’d known what the result would be, and he hadn’t stood up for Song even though he knew Kim had been in the wrong. He’d turned a blind eye even though he’d known what needed to happen in order to survive.
If he didn’t want to feel ashamed, he had to become stronger.
And the other lesson—
No good deed goes unpunished.
Jinwoo’s good deeds had been met with betrayal. Three of his colleagues had abandoned him even though he’d needed their help just to stand. He’d begged them to come back, but none of them had. They couldn’t remember who had saved their lives.
Give-and-take.
From now on, he would never put his own life on the line for someone else out of the kindness of his heart. After all, wasn’t one’s own life the most important thing?
These were the lessons Jinwoo learned after being on the brink of death.
Be stronger and be tougher.
“I can do this.”
He was not one to make the same mistake twice.
Nurse Yura Choi was sitting at a food cart, having a good time with a friend she hadn’t seen in a while.
“Oh, that’s right.” Yura belatedly recalled the fact that her friend worked for the Hunter’s Association. Her current job at a big hospital for hunters was in large part thanks to this friend.
