Solo Leveling: Ragnarok

Chapter 65

contemporary romance

Miho had spent the entire day at the guild’s headquarters, monitoring the progress of the various raids taking place.

There was a surprising number of dungeons within the city with access to cell phone reception.

Of course, areas of dense blue mist had poor signal, and hunters there were often unreachable. However, the C-rank hunters were sent to fields with the least blue-mist-afflicted areas.

“Vice Guild Master! We’ve received a message from the Times Square Field!”

“Have they found Lee Minsung?”

“They said they’re not certain, but they’ve reported occurrences not recorded in our guild database...”

“Not recorded in our database?” Miho stared intensely at her monitor.

The White Tiger Guild possessed substantial information-gathering capabilities, and the dungeons the C-rank hunters were sent to were places they had thoroughly verified.

Miho was shocked to hear that their information had holes, especially at a time when a villain was wreaking havoc. Her eyes sharpened. “What’s the situation over there?”

“Well... We’re getting reports of poisonous mist and bees...”

Bees? She remembered seeing the CCTV footage of Minsung appearing as a bee-like creature. Whether it’s a new skill or not, bees appearing in the field must have something to do with him. “Let’s head to the Time Square Field”

The hunters on standby all rose to their feet in response to Miho’s command.

When they arrived, they were forced to hold their breath immediately upon entering due to the thorny labyrinth being shrouded in poisonous mist.

I didn’t think the venom would be this intense, Miho thought.

Naturally, hunters had much better resistance to poison than ordinary people—most poisons didn’t affect them much in the first place. Even if they were poisoned, healers were usually on hand to cure them. But an entire field filled with a dense poisonous mist was a different story. Once the healers ran out of mana, they’d be unable to use detoxification skills.

“Everyone put on your gas masks,” Miho ordered.

Her team quickly put on the gas masks they had prepared in advance.

Just as Miho was about to put one on herself, her hand swiftly caught something. In her hand was a Contaminated Hornet. Being hidden by the poisonous mist, it had snuck up on her like an assassin.

Miho examined the venom dripping from the hornet’s stinger. A magic insect infused with mana... This thing is also thriving here despite the intense poisonous mist... She became more worried about the hunters somewhere deeper in the dungeon.

Her hunters looked at Miho with concern.

“Let’s do our best to find survivors.” Miho gritted her teeth and walked into the thorny labyrinth shrouded in toxic mist. We’ll get them out of here, no matter what.

Not every well-intentioned action resulted in a favorable outcome. It was her idea to gather the freelance hunters and send them here. If anyone were to die, it would be entirely her responsibility.

Please... I hope they’re still hanging on.

To the surprise of her and her team, they had found them almost immediately.

“Huh?”

“Oh!”

“Is that Baek Miho?!”

“We’re saved! Reinforcements have arrived!”

The hunters they were searching to rescue seemed like they were having a small break.

Seeing them unharmed and safe, Miho was slightly embarrassed about being so worried.

Of course, their faces revealed signs of considerable hardship, but any injuries had been healed by the B-grade healer assigned to them.

What surprised Miho the most was the gas masks they were wearing. “How did you get the gas masks?”

Since there was no mention of poisonous mist in the dungeon data, the hunters had no reason to bring gas masks as they would only be a burden. But somehow, they were all wearing gas masks.

“Suho suddenly brought them from somewhere...”

“Suho...?” Baek Miho’s gaze shifted in search of Suho.

But he was nowhere to be found. Nine of the ten assault team hunters were unharmed, but one had gone missing—the C-rank hunter named Sung Suho.

“Where is Sung Suho? Is he dead?”

“Oh, no! Suho is safe! Well, we hope he is,” a hunter answered.

Sensing something amiss, Miho stared intensely at the B-grade hunters she had assigned to the team of freelancers. “What on earth happened here?”

“Vice Guild Master, We—”

“Sung Suho saved us,” the other assigned hunter interrupted.

“What? He saved you? Wait, who saved who?” Are they saying that a C-rank hunter saved an entire assault team that included two B-rank hunters?

No matter how many times she asked, the answer remained unchanged.

“Sung Suho saved us and then disappeared. He even gave us these gas masks. He didn’t say where he found them.”

Before Miho and her team arrived, the gathered hunters were almost on the brink of death. The poisonous mist had spread across the entire field and had begun paralyzing their bodies. If that wasn’t enough, more Thorny Scarecrow Woodvines continued to swarm, and Contaminated Hornets stealthily approached to sting them with their venom whenever they saw an opening.

None of the enemies were to be underestimated, but the most fearsome was undoubtedly the venom of the hornets. No matter where one was stung, the venom quickly spread and rotted the entire body. There was only one method of treatment: cutting out the poisoned area as quickly as possible, as Suho had done to Gu Dongjae, and getting a healer to regenerate the removed flesh. However, this method consumed too much of the healer’s mana, making consecutive uses impossible.

But in their hour of need, Suho had returned to save them in the nick of time. But his appearance had undoubtedly changed.

“Did you say his hair was bleached?” Miho asked.

“Yes, that’s right. It was silver-gray...”

Miho was startled by the account. There weren’t many skills known to cause a sudden change in hair color. Among them, the most famous was undoubtedly Beast Transformation. The skill allowed the user to change parts of their body.

Does Sung Suho also possess the power of Beast Transformation? Wait! Is he... Why am I only remembering this right now? Miho suddenly recalled a recent memory. She realized that it wasn’t the first time she’d seen or heard of him. The Magok Field.

To say that almost every beast transformation hunter in the capital had gathered at Magok Field was not an exaggeration. The peculiar dungeon where the new beast king was selected.

Sung Suho was also there! He was the hunter who had caught her eye, or rather, her nose as he had emitted a strange scent. Since almost every beast transformation hunter was gathered there, it’s no wonder he was there too...

Miho was certain that Suho had the beast transformation skill, but she wasn’t sure why. For some other reason, another thought resurfaced in her mind. Apart from herself and her father, there was another hunter famous for silver-gray hair—the mysterious hunter who had appeared out of nowhere.

The Beast King Crow. I don’t know why he wears a mask, but his hair... Wait! Now is not the time for this. Remembering the task at hand, Miho snapped back to reality. She turned to her team members awaiting her orders and asked, “So, what do you mean he disappeared again? Where did he go this time?”

“He said he’s going to face the queen bee.”

“The queen bee?”

The situation seemed to be getting stranger with every new detail. The unexpected twist was not Lee Minsung but a queen bee. From the data she received, the dungeon didn’t have a boss monster.

Could a new boss monster have suddenly appeared? Could it be Lee Minsung? She remembered how the villain had something resembling insect wings attached to his back in the CCTV footage.

Regardless of how the wings came to be, everything added up if Minsung was at the center of it.

The hunter who had explained the situation to Miho pointed his finger to a staircase leading underground.

“Sung Suho went down that way.”

“So, this so-called queen bee is located underground?” Baek Miho nodded slowly. Going underground is the only way for us to understand what’s happening. She turned to her team to issue a command. “Some of you should stay here to guide the freelance hunters outside. The rest are coming with me to capture the queen bee.”

***

Suho had made his way down to the deepest depths of the Times Square Field. He had finally made his way down to face his target.

“So, it’s you?”

The coldness in Suho’s voice covered the air in silence.

At that moment, twenty Shadow Lancers rose simultaneously from his shadow.

The insects had become Suho’s sturdy guardians, and they quickly shuffled into position, looking prepared to strike at any moment.

Despite the imminent threat, the woman remained unruffled. She casually crossed her legs and sat in front of a coffee table made from thorny vines, leisurely sipping on a teacup.

“Please have a seat.” Her clear and calm voice extended an invitation for Suho to take the empty seat.

“Sure.” Suho sat down in the empty chair offered to him.

It felt like a sanctuary had opened up in the middle of the hostile environment, creating a place of silent isolation.

“Would you like a cup of tea? I added some honey that I made myself.”

“Hey, don’t you dare try to pull any tricks on us!” Beru aggressively thrust his face forward with a fierce roar.

Despite his petite size, the force in his demeanor genuinely surprised the woman. “Oh my. You have quite the bodyguard, don’t you?”

“That’s right. I am quite remarkable.” Beru flexed his muscles with a look of pride.

The woman couldn’t take her eyes off Beru—an ant the size of a fist with black steam rolling off its body.

She knew better than anyone that the strength of an insect had nothing to do with their size. In the world of insects, the small and weak were not to be underestimated.

What an extraordinary presence... It’s the first time I’ve experienced this since Querehsha... The woman was perplexed.

She found the ant to be most peculiar. He undoubtedly had an enormous presence, but there was a sense of instability emanating from his aura.

“What are you two doing? Having a date?” Suho sneered coldly from the side, disgusted by their odd, back-and-forth glances.

Startled by his words, the woman regained her composure and politely introduced herself, “Oh, I apologize. My name is Arsha. May I ask for yours?”

“Sung Suho.”

“Then, I’ll address you as Mister Suho.”

“Mister?”

“Yes, that’s right. I want to avoid any unnecessary trouble with Mister Ant over here.”

“Ahem. You catch on pretty quickly for a bee,” Beru said with a conceited smile.