[ YOU CANNOT LEAVE THE DUNGEON UNTIL YOU KILL THE BOSS OR USE THE RETURN STONE. ]
Defeat the boss?!
Did the system wish him so much harm? He saved him only to kill him here?!
After all, he had trouble defeating a single E-rank monster. Confronting the boss from the dungeon was a definite and excruciating end for him.
He was supposed to clear the entire dungeon and defeat the boss all on his own.
It was unreal.
He glanced down the stairs, where it was noticeably darker than it should have been at the station.
He wrinkled his nose, detecting the scent of mud and decaying flesh.
What a horror.
He definitely didn't want to go down there.
But he couldn't just stand here forever.
Finding some side passage and escaping from here was probably not an option.
The system most likely wouldn't leave such an emergency exit, especially when the message clearly stated that he had to kill the boss or use that stone, which he certainly didn't have on him.
With a grimace, Jin-Woo began descending, as he had no other choice.
Perhaps, along the way, he'd get lucky and find a return stone that would allow him to escape.
As it turned out, the interior of the station looked... bad.
It was like a jungle. Among the cracked tiles, tufts of dark grass grew here and there. Most of the ceiling lamps were cracked, shattered, or otherwise destroyed, rendering them non-functional, and making the station much darker than its normal counterpart. The walls were covered in moss and overgrown with vines, and the whole place reeked of mud, swamp, and spoiled meat.
With each subsequent step he took, Jin-Woo felt increasingly uneasy, even though he hadn't encountered any monsters yet.
The stillness and silence didn't provide him with any comfort. He knew that in this surrounding darkness, occasionally illuminated only by sporadically functioning lamps, hungry and enraged monsters could be lurking.
After a few more minutes, it became clear that he wasn't far from the truth when he heard a rather loud growling from the darkness on his left and saw two glowing red eyes.
Then he saw the entire beast emerge from the shadows.
It was a huge red wolf with a terrifyingly sharp and oddly metallic lower jaw.
He barely managed to dodge when the creature snapped its large, semi-metallic jaw just a few centimeters from his body.
Above its head, just like during the penalty quest and the encounter with sand centipedes, Jin-Woo noticed the hovering red monster's name.
[ STEEL-JAWED RAIKAN[1] ]
He had trouble defeating one goblin. And now he had to face something like this?!
What was such a monster doing here if it was supposed to be an E-Rank Dungeon?!
Clearly irritated by its victim's dodging, the monster made a circle and turned its mouth towards Jin-Woo again, growling menacingly.
Jin-Woo managed to dodge again, but while doing so, he felt his hand accidentally brushed against the monster's red fur.
This time it was even closer to getting hurt than the first time.
This time, without waiting any longer, the wolf lunged once more.
The third time, with no way to dodge sideways with the wall next to him, Jin-Woo was forced to dodge backward, which was much more difficult.
However, by some miracle, his body moved on its own, and the boy leaped backward, landing upside down on one hand. He then propelled himself off that hand, bouncing back onto his feet, and executed another leap, culminating in him finding himself bent backward against the wall with his hands touching the floor.
Far from the monster hungry for his blood.
Still upside down on his bent hands, Jin-Woo looked clearly surprised at the wolf charging towards him.
Without much choice, Jin-Woo pushed himself off the ground with his hands and jumped over the monster, shocked at how easy it was.
His body... became so light!
As if it weighed nothing on its own.
Was it because of his increased strength?
Initially, his strength was 10, the same as all other stats. But now his strength was 19. That's almost twice as strong.
Seeing that the wolf was charging towards him again with its mouth open, Jin-Woo clenched his fist and struck the metal underside of its mouth.
The effect of this hit was even better than he expected.
The monster flew into the window of one of the small shops located in this place, which are now mostly ruins.
He hoped that his blow would distract the monster, but instead, it sent it flying back a meter and a half!
It was awesome.
Nevertheless, this blow was not enough to kill the monster, which after a while brushed itself off and jumped out of the store without looking very hurt.
The monster was still stronger than him.
Jin-Woo thought he could wait two more days to enter here and add another six points to his strength.
But now he won't go back on his mistake.
Seeing the wolf approaching again, Jin-Woo struck it once more in the metallic part of its jaws, trying to do so with even greater force than before.
However, this attack was of little use. The monster was ready for it this time and its head snapped up, but it still stayed on its four legs.
Even this wolf, which was probably not a great threat to the average hunter, was deadly dangerous to him.
Go to hell!
He made another dodge, this time sliding painfully to the side on the dirty, cracked floor.
However, this time, Raikan's jaws reached him.
There were three, fortunately, not deep wounds left on his arm after being grazed by his teeth.
He felt that he was in a losing position.
Team, equipment, medic. He had nothing!
How could he defeat him then?!
He only had his body as a weapon!
One sec.
Weapon?!
Yeah!
While checking the system's capabilities in the hospital, he opened his inventory, and to his astonishment, one slot was occupied by an icon of a sword.
Back then, he didn't investigate what it exactly was, but now he needed it immediately!
He summoned his inventory and pulled out a regular longsword.
It was possible that this sword resembled the initial weapon the system had given him.
In MMO RPG games, you always start with the worst weapon.
So maybe the system did the same.
Seeing the approaching monster's attack, Jin-Woo raised the sword and swung it as powerfully and accurately as he could.
[ NOTICE! ]
[ YOU DEFEATED [STEEL-JAWED RAIKAN] ]
[ NOTICE! ]
[ YOU HAVE LEVELED UP! ]
Seeing the second message, Jin-Woo's eyes became round with disbelief.
Yes! - He shouted out loud, not thinking much about his dangerous surroundings.
This was the confirmation he was looking for!
Not only did he earn stat points for the daily quest, but he could even increase his damn level!
He felt like he was going to start crying and screaming with happiness.
He could become stronger!
No longer be a pitiful E-rank hunter!
Even if there was a level cap, and he could only gain up to 10 levels, it would still be miraculous!
He could become stronger! He could surpass the seemingly insurmountable limitations.
This message was unbelievably wonderful!
Grinning foolishly, Jin-Woo first looked at the remnants of the wolf that had attacked him a moment ago and then at the bloodstained blade of the sword he held.
This sword looked... familiar.
Furrowing his brow, Jin-Woo examined the weapon more closely.
And then, as if in response to his unspoken question, the system displayed a window describing the sword.
At that moment, Jin-Woo had a revelation.
[ ITEM: KIM SANG-SHIK'S STEEL SWORD]
[ TYPE: SWORD ]
[ ATTACK +10 ]
Oh.
Right.
He had this sword in his hands before losing consciousness in the Lair of Shadows.
This sword belonged to Mr. Kim.
As far as Jin-Woo remembered, Mr. Kim bought it for 3 million won (3,000,000 WON - ~2222 USD).
Expensive.
Even though it seemed to be from the lowest tier.
Personally, he wouldn't even be able to afford to hold this sword, let alone buy it.
Before he could check his status, he heard another growl from behind.
And then, he realized that he had shouted at the top of his lungs, which likely attracted more monsters to him.
Well... that was very smart on his part.
This time, two more wolves came to him.
Well, two was definitely worse than one, but still better than a whole pack that could have been attracted by his noise.
Both monsters bared their fangs and quickly began to close the distance between them.
When he was about to pick up the sword, he realized his next stupid mistake.
He must have unintentionally swung it too hard and after killing Raikan, the sword got stuck quite deep in the floor.
At that moment the Wolf jumped at him with a furious, somewhat mechanical growl.
Jin-Woo ducked at the right moment and Raikan flew over his head, landing a meter behind him.
As his fangs sank into the stone floor, cracks immediately began to form on the hard surface.
'Steel-jaw' wasn't just for show.
This gave him some time to pull the sword with both hands, thanks to which it finally freed itself from the ground.
And that was the moment the second Raikan chose to attack.
With the sword in his hands, Jin-Woo swung it at the monster approaching from the front.
To his surprise, Raikan grabbed the blade with its jaws and had no intention of letting go.
Remembering that he had another wolf behind his back that could attack his neck at any moment, Jin-Woo released one hand from the sword and punched Raikan in the stomach, knowing that hitting the metal lower jaw might not be very effective.
The monster howled, let go of the sword, and flew high into the air, hitting the ceiling.
Jin-Woo's eyes widened significantly as he stared in astonishment at his own fist.
Oh.
It was surprising but a pleasant experience.
Recalling that Jin-Woo still had one more opponent, he quickly turned with the sword at the ready.
The wolf in front of him started whimpering, laid back its ears, and tucked its tail.
Evidently, upon realizing that it couldn't handle the situation alone, it understood that it was facing a swift defeat.
These Raikans were apparently not so mindlessly bloodthirsty to risk their lives in such a foolish manner.
The wolf began to back away and then unexpectedly made a wide arc around Jin-Woo before darting into the darkness.
Seeing that his immediate surroundings were moderately safe for the time being, Jin-Woo opened his status window.
[ STATUS ]
[1] https://sololevelingsimulator.fandom.com/wiki/Raikan