Solo Leveling: Ragnarok

The village was overwhelmingly silent. It appeared peaceful—at least, that was the impression Miho had until she learned the truth.

“Vice Guild Master! This house is empty too!”

“That row of shops was empty as well!”

The continued reports made Miho frown as she looked around her. I can’t make sense of it.What happened in this village? She knew it was wrong of her, but she wished that there were bodies, at least—at least that would be a minimal clue as to what was going on. No matter how thoroughly they searched the village, however, there were no residents to be found.

How is this possible? The situation made no sense. If there had been a mass exodus of villagers, they would have left footprints at the very least, but there were no such traces. It was almost as if all the residents had simply vanished in the blink of an eye.

“Vice Guild Master, there are no villains among the escaped inmates that are capable of something like this.”

“Yes… I know,” Miho responded. There was only one possibility here. “Could a gate have opened somewhere in the village?”

“That seems to be the most realistic scenario, but there is no blue mist.” Indeed, if a dungeon had appeared, there should have been the telltale blue mist that flowed from the gate.

As reports continued to come in from the guild members who were searching the village, Miho raised her phone, a serious look on her face. “I’m going to have to contact the association to—”

“L-look!”

“The sky!”

There were shouts, and the guild hunters immediately looked up. As the cracks spread, the sky fragmented like glass and began to cave in with a loud rumble.

“Wh-what?!”

“Everyone, gather up!” Miho commanded icily.

“Yes!”

The members of the White Tiger Guild who had scattered throughout the village rapidly gathered around Miho. “Ready for battle!” she shouted.

Before she had even finished uttering the words, her guild members were primed for a fight, their eyes burning with ferocity.

Suddenly, the transparent barrier that had covered Yami Village like a dome began falling apart. There was a sound like shattering glass, and the guild members immediately plugged their noses.

“Yuck!”

“What is that smell?”

The terrible stench of blood was everywhere.

The guild members had expected the ground to give way or the buildings to fall along with the sky, but they were wrong. Nothing had changed about the village, other than that the missing people had shown up. They were neither alive nor peacefully at rest, however. Countless bodies, their white bones exposed, were scattered on the blood-drenched ground. The village had become a sea of bodies and blood like the victims had their life force sucked out of them.

“Don’t tell me these are the missing villagers…?”

“L-look! I see someone!”

The hunters spotted a single figure standing amid the terrible destruction. Miho recognized him right away, her eyes widening. “Sung Suho?!”

“Oh…” Suho finally looked up, turning toward the hunters of the White Tiger Guild. When he noticed Miho’s eyes on him, he smiled softly. “Nice timing. I was getting tired of counting. Can you check if all five hundred are here?”

“I’m sorry?”

The guild hunters were aghast as they turned to look at the bodies around them. Their eyes bulged.

“Don’t tell me all of these bodies…”

“Oh! They’re the villains!”

“All these bodies are villains…!”

“What?!”

Shockingly enough, each body had electronic anklets on their legs.

“Th-that’s right!”

“D-don’t tell me he killed all of them?”

“All by himself?”

Everyone turned to Suho again after realizing the truth.

Suho simply pushed his hair, drenched with blood and sweat, out of his eyes and sighed. He hardly took any notice of the incredulous eyes on him. “Phew… I really need a shower.” Even if he had leveled up, it was only his health that was restored. It did nothing for his sullied clothes, so it was no wonder he felt gross. I’ll wash up as soon as I get back, he told himself.

Suho took a step toward Miho. She flinched, nearly backing away without realizing it. Something wasn’t right.

I didn’t get this feeling about him when I saw him yesterday.What happened to him?Just what’s up with this guy? Sung Suho seemed so strange to her. The Suho she was looking at now seemed completely different from the man she met the day before. Miho, with her beast transformation skills on full alert, realized her instincts were screaming at her to run away.

“Miho…”

“Y-yes?” she said, shocked.

Suho grinned at her and walked past, keeping his words simple and to the point. “Please handle the cleanup. As you see, I’m all by myself… The bounty is all mine, though. You understand?”

“W-wait!” Miho, who had only barely worked up the courage to stop him, asked him the most pertinent question. “If these bodies are all villains, then where did the residents of the village go? Don’t tell me they’re all—”

Suho looked down at his feet. Miho followed suit, but she saw nothing other than their shadows.

“Don’t tell me they’re all buried—”

“Oh!” Suho exclaimed, raising his head suddenly.

“Eeek!” Miho let out a terrified screech. She clamped her hands over her mouth, shocked at her reaction.

Suho gave her a broad grin. “Thankfully, it seems that quite a few of them are still alive. You should head to the village hall.”

“L-look!” a guild member called.

Suho was right. Quite a few villagers were in the village hall, having passed out. They looked pale, like a vampire had fed on them, but they were alive, at least.

“What in the world…”

“How…”

Miho and all her guild members turned to Suho again, puzzled. He simply shrugged and beat around the bush. “Perhaps there was a villain who sucked away their life force, and maybe he put them here so he could have easy access to more when he needed them. Maybe he wanted to keep his hostages from running away.”

Of course, that was not possible. The White Tiger Guild had information on all the villains who’d been kept in Jisan Prison, and none of them possessed any skills that were remotely like what he had described. What’s really going on? Miho wondered. Did one of them really hide such a skill, as Suho’s suggesting?

“Vice Guild Master,” said one of the guild members who had been searching the area around the village hall. “We’ve found quite a few dead villagers in the general area.”

“They were all killed by skills that the escaped villains were known to have used.”

“We didn’t see any other bounty hunters, though.”

“Other than him…”

“I see,” Miho said, nodding. Her thoughts were still in a jumble. What happened in this village? Residents had been murdered by villains outside the hall, while others had been placed inside and had their life sucked out of them. One thing was certain, though. Suho had really killed all five hundred escaped villains, thereby saving the lives of the residents who survived. In short, he was a hero.

“Suho,” she said, taking in the situation and stepping in front of him as he tried to head home. She bowed politely. “Thank you. Thanks to you, the villagers made it.”

Following their vice guild master, the guild hunters also bowed to him, each thanking him. Suho’s expression grew serious as he noticed how solemn they were.

The White Tiger Guild. Suho could understand why they were the most respected guild in the country. Countless hunters sought only money as they cleared the dungeons, though nobody held it against them. It was natural for those who were properly equipped to chase after money. But the White Tiger Guild hunters were different. They went after magic beasts, wanting genuinely to protect civilians. Sensing their honest intent, Suho responded with a polite bow of his own.

***

Suho sat on a mountainside a distance from the village and watched the White Tiger Guild rescue the survivors.

“Young Monarch,” Beru said from behind him. “He seems to have some strength remaining.”

“Put one foot in the air,” Suho ordered.

“Yes…” Harmakan, who had been told to bend over backward and balance on his head and toes as punishment, quickly put one of his legs in the air. His legs were quivering, making him look quite pitiful.

[Harmakan - Level 1 - Elite Knight Grade]

Defeating Harmakan and leveling up had allowed Suho to increase his shadow soldier capacity. Thanks to this, he had extracted Harmakan’s shadow immediately, and the current scene was the result.

An elite knight, huh? It was no wonder, then, that Harmakan had been such a hassle to fight. He had become the highest grade of soldier Suho had extracted. That didn’t mean he had more stamina than other soldiers, however. His true power lay in the powerful curses and spells he could cast, and even simple punishments like this were enough to push him to the limit of his endurance. Given all the evil things he had done, Suho supposed he would continue to punish him in this manner from time to time.

“Master.” A shadow soldier slid into view out of thin air. He kneeled in front of Suho and asked fervently, “Please give me a name as well.”

I nearly forgot about him. Suho glanced at the shadow who had been Taeshik, the bounty hunter. He had seen how talented the man was as a shadow assassin. The name tag above his head, however, had changed.

[?? - Level 5 - Knight Grade]

It must be because I can store more shadow soldiers now.But he’s leveled up so much already? The shadow assassin had been level one at first. In just one day, how many had he killed?

Suho watched Taeshik’s soul as it solemnly awaited his decision.

A name… Suho considered this for a moment, then grinned. “Kira.” He was reminded of a ruthless killer from a comic he’d read long ago. “You are Kira from now on.”

“Thank you, Master.” The shadow assassin bowed even deeper, and the information above his head was updated.

[Kira - Level 5 - Knight Grade]

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