#solo leveling au: shadow monarch!park kyung hye | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

stormdragon23 · 5 months ago

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Shadows of a Mother is finally updated

After like. Half a year. Sorry

Full chapter below:

“Oh, you bought fried chicken?” Jin-Ah asked excitedly after seeing her mom enter the apartment with the familiar restaurant bag. “Did something good happen? You always say that it’s not healthy to eat fried food.”

Kyung-Hye smiled as she closed the door and took off her shoes. “Well, it’s been a while since we’ve had it, and you’ve been working hard in school.”

As Kyung-Hye was getting older and wasn’t that physically strong, she kept an eye on her health, though she didn’t have to do so as much anymore. She stayed fit from the System due to the daily quests that forced her to exercise. The quest reward from the double dungeon that made her “immune to any abnormalities in her status” was also helpful in preventing her from getting ill or suffering from anything that would harm her body.

After concluding that the reward made her immune to poisonous substances, Kyung-Hye ingested the Kasaka’s venom gland she had, and it neutralized the side effect the venom would have had on her muscles.

“How have your classes been lately? Are you having any trouble?” Kyung-Hye asked as they began to eat.

Kyung-Hye couldn’t afford tutoring for Jin-Ah like most students in her class, but Jin-Ah started working harder in school to become a doctor ever since her brother fell under Eternal Sleep. While her kids had moments of bickering as siblings, they genuinely cared about each other, and it hurt Kyung-Hye to see how Jin-Ah looked at her brother when they visited him at the hospital.

“School’s been good,” Jin-Ah answered as she took a bite of chicken. “But Song-Yi is still considering becoming a hunter instead of finishing school. She even skipped class the other day to get a license.”

“Is she?” Kyung-Hye asked, concerned.

“Yeah, but she’s always changing her mind, so she’ll probably get over it soon.”

She knew her daughter had been friends with Han Song-Yi since they were children and had been very close. While Kyung-Hye didn’t know what kind of situation Song-Yi was in, she hoped this decision was simply Song-Yi being young and rebellious rather than a need to get some money.

The thought of someone her daughter’s age having to find a way to make a living was distressing as she would never want to see her children have to do such a thing, and it was her responsibility as a parent to make sure that didn’t happen.

I would hate for Jin-Ah or Jin-Woo to risk their lives to make money, like the people in the double dungeon. Or the hunters in that last raid-

Kyung-Hye thought back to how her previous raid had ended. Leaving those people behind in the gate...

“I’m going to rest for a bit, okay?” Kyung-Hye told Jin-Ah as she stood up.

Jin-Ah gave an affirmative hum as she swallowed a mouthful of food. “Are you going to eat some more chicken?”

Kyung-Hye shook her head. “No, but if you could put away the leftovers, that would be great.”

Jin-Ah nodded, and Kyung-Hye smiled before heading to her room.

As Kyung-Hye went inside the bedroom and closed the door, she took a deep breath before she lay on her bed and covered her eyes with her arm, still processing what had happened inside the gate again.

Although Kyung-Hye felt like she had no choice if she wanted to make out alive with Jin-Ho at the time and tried to go for what seemed like the safest solution, she couldn’t help but be reminded of nine years ago.

Her husband had been a firefighter before the gates appeared. Kyung-Hye saw how Il-Hwan helped efficiently put out the fire at the college she attended and how much he cared about everyone being safe.

They got together soon after that and had many happy moments together. After getting married, their kids only added to the joy they had in their lives.

Her son was only fifteen when he came home to tell her that Il-Hwan disappeared inside a gate.

She felt like the world was crashing down around her hearing those words, but then she saw her children standing before her. Her eldest had tears in his eyes, already knowing his father would not be returning, while her youngest didn’t quite understand what was happening yet.

Kyung-Hye couldn’t let herself get lost in her feelings now. Not when her children needed her more than ever before.

Pulling her son and daughter close to her and hugging them tightly, she was determined to do everything possible for them to grow up safe and healthy.

She worked as many jobs as she could get, from working as a custodian to working at various stores, putting as much energy into supporting her children. She woke up long before the sun rose to prepare for a long day of work and typically wouldn’t be able to come home until dinnertime.

Kyung-Hye spent long hours of work, saving enough money for her kids to go to college and to provide them with everything they needed as she wanted them to live comfortable lives without worrying about money constantly.

She did have a degree of her own, but she had been a stay-at-home mom for so long, and it was difficult for her to find a job as she was older and less experienced than most people were looking for. So the only jobs she would get were ones that younger people wouldn’t usually choose.

Of course, she still had to look after herself and had just enough rest and food to keep going. After all, she needed to care for herself for her children’s sake.

Until her son succumbed to Eternal Sleep.

Her income, at the time, as meager as it was, was sufficiently supporting the three of them. However, it was no longer enough to pay her son’s hospital bills.

Kyung-Hye had some savings that were enough to pay the initial bills, but she had to find a better job soon. The only money she had left was their college funds, which she could not use, especially when she noticed how hard Jin-Ah was studying to become a doctor after Jin-Woo was hospitalized.

Luckily, however, she discovered she had suddenly awakened one day.

It didn’t matter that she barely had any magic power and was only slightly stronger than a typical person. Any bit of power would be enough for her to be a hunter and earn far more money than any other job she could get.

Plus, by working for the Hunters Association, Kyung-Hye could get medical aid for the cost of Jin-Woo’s life support. It had been four years since her son had succumbed to Eternal Slumber, but she knew her son would eventually wake up. It was only a matter of time. Until then, she would do anything to keep her children safe. She would do the same even if her husband were still around.

Remembering her family made her think of the Lizards in the last raid she went on. She didn’t even know what kind of families the other hunters had. Were they also parents like her and felt they had no choice but to do this to provide for them? Or did some of them feel like they had no choice but to follow what Hwang Dong-Suk told them to do out of fear they would be the next one to die?

Regardless, that didn’t mean they could tear other families apart. Not just to Kyung-Hye herself who still had a teenage daughter and a son under Eternal Slumber but also to Jin-Ho who was still a very young person with a bright future. While she hated thinking of how the hunters’ families had lost a loved one, she did what she had to in that situation. It might be selfish of her to think so, but she had to stay alive to look after her children. She made it this far and couldn’t give up now.

Thinking of the raid in this way reminded her of the times Il-Hwan couldn’t save someone in time during the various emergencies he had dealt with. While Il-Hwan put on an act in front of their kids and pretended he had a typical day at work, Kyung-Hye knew from how his jaw was clenched and how his reactions were ever so slightly delayed as if he was thinking deeply about something.

It would only be after they finished having dinner and their kids were asleep that Kyung-Hye would ask what happened. Sometimes, Il-hwan would tell her about the people he couldn’t save. Other times, he would simply hug her tightly and stay silent.

The only thing Kyung-Hye could do to console him was to give him comforting words and to hold him, her arms barely being able to wrap around his large physique. Il-Hwan had always done everything he could to save as many people as possible and how despite his efforts, there would be situations that made it impossible to save everyone. Kyung-Hye knew well that her husband would do whatever it took to get people to safety, even if it meant risking his life.

After all, his selflessness was the reason she fell in love with him. It was also why Il-Hwan wasn’t with her right now.

Releasing a sigh, Kyung-Hye tried not to dwell on her husband’s absence and looked at her stats. There wasn’t anything she could do about Il-Hwan being gone, so she could only focus on becoming stronger to take care of her children until he returned.

HP 2830

MP 580

Strength: 43 Health: 43

Agility: 43 Intelligence: 43

Sense: 43

Available Ability Points: 2

She didn’t get much of a chance to look at it before as whenever she had enough points, she simply allocated the points in a way to keep all of them balanced. Even if she were to think about it some more, she would have done the same. She still wished there was some kind of instruction manual that came with the System instead of guessing and checking what everything meant.

Just as she was considering how to distribute the remaining points, Jin-Ah knocked on her door before opening it.

“Mom? Someone named Yoo Jin-Ho is calling for you.” “Yoo Jin-Ho?”

“Mrs. Park! Over here!”

Kyung-Hye turned to look at the sound of her voice and smiled when she saw the familiar young man with short brown hair.

“It’s good to see you again, Jin-Ho,” Kyung-Hye said as she sat down. “I wasn’t expecting to meet again so soon. Ah, thank you again for the essence stones you gave me.”

“You saved me last time, so I was really grateful for your help!” Jin-Ho responded.

“It was no trouble. We were both trying to get out of there. Was there another reason you wanted to see me?” the older woman asked.

While it was nice to see Jin-Ho, thanking her couldn’t be the only reason why he wanted to meet with her again. She didn’t mind the young man having his reasons for wanting to see her, but she wasn’t keen on helping this young man as he got into dangerous situations.

Kyung-Hye watched as the young man braced himself before stating why he called her.

“Well, I want to make a private strike squad.”

Kyung-Hye expected as much. She had hoped he had changed his mind after their last raid, but it looked like he hadn’t. However, Jin-Ho seemed more optimistic than naive given how determined he looked, so she knew Jin-Ho was at least aware of the risks.

“Is there a reason you want to make a strike squad? I’m sure you know how dangerous hunting can get after our last raid together.”

“Uh, well,” the young hunter briefly looked away before steeling himself again before looking back at her.

“I just need your help in 19 more raids!”

Kyung-Hye raised an eyebrow. She found it strange he needed such a specific number of raids. Kyung-Hye wasn’t fully aware of everything related to hunters, but she had picked up enough to understand what all hunters knew.

If the last raid is included, that would be 20 total.

She remembered seeing a requirement for clearing a certain amount of gates, but that was only if-

Her eyes widened as she realized what he wanted to do.

“Do you want to become a guild master?”

Jin-Ho smiled widely once he saw that Kyung-Hye quickly figured out his plan.

“Yes, I do!”

Kyung-Hye frowned at the thought.

“Is there any specific reason you want to form a guild?” the older woman asked cautiously.

It was rather unusual for such a young man to want to do something so ambitious at his age.

So Jin-Ho explained how his father, Yoo Myung-Hwan, wanted to create his own guild and how Jin-Ho wanted to convince his father to let him be in charge of the guild instead of his brother.

While Kyung-Hye did want to help Jin-Ho, she was curious if there was another reason Jin-Ho wished to become a Guild Master so badly when he was this young. But she didn’t want to pry into his business, so she accepted his reasoning and asked another question.

“How much will I get in return?” Kyung-Hye asked. While she didn’t want to demand an unreasonable sum, the amount she gets for helping him should still be enough to provide for her family. Otherwise, it would be better for her to continue raiding as usual. There was also the matter of her being prevented from leveling up, but that wasn’t as important to her for now.

Jin-Ho beamed as he took out an envelope and handed it to Kyung-Hye, who opened it and read its contents.

“It’s nice that you wanted to come exercise with me today,” Kyung-Hye commented as she did some warm-up stretches alongside her daughter.

“Well, it’s not good to just sit and study all day,” Jin-Ah reasoned. “Besides, it’s been a while since we’ve had free time together.”

Kyung-Hye smiled and fondly rubbed her daughter’s head before they began their run.

As she ran beside Jin-Ah, Kyung-Hye thought about her recent conversation with Jin-Ho again.

Thirty billion won. That was the amount that Jin-Ho had offered. I could easily pay Jin-Ah to attend college without worrying about hunting monsters.

However, if I stopped going on raids, I wouldn’t be able to make my powers stronger. What would happen to the System in that case?

Kyung-Hye looked at her daughter as she kept a steady pace with her. While Kyung-Hye could easily run faster, these small moments she could spend with Jin-Ah were precious to her. Her daughter, as well as the rest of her family, was all she lived for.

There is also the possibility of a dungeon break happening near them, like how one had happened close to where she fought in the instant dungeon. Not to mention the possibility of something like the S-Rank gate on Jeju Island happening again.

She had told Jin-Ho that she would need some time to make a decision and that she would give him an answer within the week, but there were so many factors to consider.

“Is something wrong, mom?” Jin-Ah asked, making Kyung-Hye come out of her thoughts.

“Ah, it’s nothing,” Kyung-Hye replied, not wanting to worry her daughter. “Is Song-Yi still wanting to be a hunter?”

“Oh, yeah. I wanted to study with her the other day, but she didn’t want to. She says it’s boring and that she wouldn’t need to know this stuff if she decided to become a hunter.”

Kyung-Hye frowned. It wasn’t good for someone who hadn’t even graduated high school yet to want to become a hunter, especially one of such a low rank like herself who simply wanted to do it without realizing how dangerous it was. Even if she did want or have to become a hunter, her education was still important in case being a hunter didn’t work out for her later.

“Maybe you could invite her over some time? I’d like to hear why she wants to be one,” Kyung-Hye asked.

She also hoped to convince her daughter’s friend that she shouldn’t become a hunter. It wouldn’t be easy, given how Kyung-Hye knew how stubborn teenagers could be from personal experience.

Jin-Ah nodded. “Yeah, I can ask her later!”

Focusing on their run again, Kyung-Hye realized she had already run more than the quest required as she looked at the status window. However, the system continued to track how many kilometers she was running even though she had already reached the necessary amount.

That’s strange. Why does it continue counting past 10?

Kyung-Hye was puzzled at the sight but decided to see how far it would go.

After noticing that the System stopped counting the number of kilometers she ran after it reached twice the required number, Kyung-Hye did the same for the other exercises. As soon as she had finished double what she needed to complete, she got rewarded for completing a Hidden Quest.

Another dungeon key?

Examining the details of the key, Kyung-Hye saw that the difficulty level was S which meant the dungeon it unlocked would likely be of the same level, based on the last key she got.

While she could enter the gate since she still had the teleportation stone from last time, she had no idea what would be inside the gate. Kyung-Hye knew she was nowhere close to being as strong as an S-Rank, estimating herself to be approximately a B-Rank given what had happened in the most recent dungeon. Also, going in only to see what was inside and back out of it seemed like a waste of the teleportation stone if she needed it even more later.

After contemplating her choices, Kyung-Hye decided to save the key for when she got stronger. There wasn’t a time limit, so there was no need for her to rush into danger now.

Until Jin-Ho gets back to me, I should find another raid to go on.

#solo leveling #shadows of a mother #solo leveling au: shadow monarch!park kyung hye #i forgot the usual tags

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stormdragon23 · 10 months ago

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This chapter took a lot longer than I thought it would

Posted below as well, but the formatting may be a little off

When Kyung-Hye arrived at her destination, a man taller than her with spiky black hair greeted her.

“Hey! I’m Hwang Dongsuk. What’s your name?” Hwang Dongsuk said, shaking her hand.

“Hello, I’m Park Kyung-Hye,” the older woman politely smiled.

“You said you were an E-Rank, right? We just need you here to meet the party limit requirement. Here’s the contract,” the man said, handing her the paper.

Hwang Dongsuk continued as Kyung-Hye looked over the contract, “You won’t get any essence stones, but you’ll get paid cash just for coming. Sounds good, doesn’t it?”

Kyung-Hye nodded as she finished looking over the contract.

As she looked at the group she would be raiding with, a voice got her attention.

“Hey! I guess you and I are just here to fill in!”

The older woman turned to see who was speaking to her and saw a young man with brown hair. He looked to be around the same age as her son.

“My name is Yoo Jin-Ho! I’m 22 and a D-Rank! I got recruited for this strike squad, just like you!”

“Ah, it’s a pleasure to meet you,” Kyung-Hye replied, caught off-guard at the sight of the young hunter’s armor.

Compared to the usual armor she saw hunters who raided with her had, the one Yoo Jin-Ho was wearing looked far too fancy for his rank. It looked brand new as well and, with his surprisingly optimistic attitude, made the woman wonder if this was his first raid.

She was about to ask Yoo Jin-Ho about it, but then she realized something as she observed the strike squad.

“Excuse me... Are we going in without a healer?” Kyung-Hye asked, turning toward Hwang Dongsuk.

“Yeah,” the man responded with a sheepish smile. “It’s hard for a private strike squad to get a healer, so we’ve always gone without one.”

The squad looks like it only has damage dealers and tanks, so the usual members should be fine. But will Yoo Jin-Ho be okay? It doesn’t look like he’s had much experience in dungeons.

Just as she was about to voice her concerns, the other members told them to hurry up and get ready.

Yoo Jin-Ho seemed to sense her worries and reassured her, “There’s no need to worry! You’re an E-Rank, right? I’ll protect you!”

Kyung-Hye smiled, “Thank you.”

But she felt like it would be the other way around as the strike squad made their final preparations.

While getting ready, Kyung-Hye and Jin-Ho got to know one another more after their initial introductions, with Jin-Ho insisting Kyung-Hye refer to him more casually because she was older than him.

“Are your shield and sword brand new?” the older woman asked.

“Yes! My dad got them for me since it’s my first raid!” Jin-Ho replied.

“Is there a reason you wanted to start hunting?” Kyung-Hye asked, her brows furrowing in concern. It didn’t seem like the young man needed to fight to earn money like she did if his father could afford such good quality equipment. If anything, he seemed like someone to avoid places like dungeons, especially for someone of his rank and age.

It made her wonder why his parents allowed him to go on raids. She didn’t like the idea of her own children in such dangerous places. But she supposed if they desperately wanted to, she couldn’t stop them, especially because they might just end up doing it behind her back.

“Ah, it’s just. Something I’ve wanted to do since I awakened as a hunter,” Jin-Ho said, nervously rubbing his head.

“I see,” the mage responded, sensing another reason. But Kyung-Hye didn’t want to push the young man into telling her.

“It’s not something I would recommend because it can be dangerous. If you can, I think you should reconsider becoming a hunter.”

Seeing Jin-Ho’s smile starting to fade at her response, Kyung-Hye continued.

“But if you want to, don’t let me stop you. All I can say is to be careful and look after yourself first.”

The young man brightened up at those words.

“Don’t worry, Mrs. Park!” Jin-Ho responded enthusiastically. “It’s my first raid, but it looks like we’re with experienced hunters, so we’ll be alright!”

Before she could respond, the rest of the squad announced they would begin going in.

As the squad headed towards the gate, Kyung-Hye noticed that Jin-Ho seemed more anxious.

“Mrs. Park, the gate seems kind of big. Do you think it’s safe?”

She placed her hand on his back and gave him a reassuring smile.

“It’ll be alright. We’ve got each other after all.”

While Kyung-Hye felt the young man relaxed at her words, she was also nervous as it was her first time going into a C-Rank gate. However, it wouldn’t do Jin-Ho any good to be worried about what could happen instead of paying attention to what’s right in front of him.

Jin-Ho gripped his sword and armor, seeming more determined, “Let’s go!”

Kyung-Hye smiled at his energy and walked into the gate.

As the group entered the gate, Kyung-Hye began hearing something as the others tried to figure out where the monsters were and why the dungeon was so dark.

She vaguely heard Jin-Ho ask a question, but she put a finger to her lips and continued listening. Kyung-Hye heard a familiar rumbling sound but didn’t remember where she had heard it before. The sound and lack of light made her wonder what kind of beasts lived here.

After thinking about what kind of beasts lived in the dark and recognizing the noise, Kyung-Hye realized they were insect beasts. Not wanting to cause panic in the group, she tried to pinpoint where the sound was coming from quickly until she heard the rumbling sound getting louder above them.

“Beasts are coming from above us!” Kyung-Hye shouted.

The group was panicked at the news, but they were able to assemble to prepare for the beasts until the insects started coming down on them.

Kyung-Hye stayed near Jin-Ho to keep an eye on him and not have to worry about shielding herself. She began using simple barrier spells that restrained the insects, allowing Jin-Ho to attack them.

Despite his lack of experience, the young man was doing well in getting rid of the bugs due to his equipment. She wasn’t sure if it looked like he wanted to continue hunting in the future with how nervous he looked, but she hoped he wouldn’t for his safety.

As Kyung-Hye observed how the others fought against the insects, she could see that they had worked together often with how coordinated they looked. However, they were more aggressive than they needed to be and smashed the beast’s bodies to pieces with little regard. It made her a little wary since it didn’t seem like they just wanted to be careful in making sure the beasts couldn’t be able to attack them anymore.

As the other hunters collected the essence stones from the corpses, Hwang Dongsuk went up to Kyung-Hye. “Nice work back there. How did you know those beasts were coming from above us?”

“Oh, I just happened to figure out the sound was coming from above us,” Kyung-Hye replied. An E-Rank hunter wouldn’t have been able to sense such a thing, so it would be best to pretend it was luck.

“You have good senses. Keep it up,” Hwang Dongsuk remarked with a grin. “But I hope you don’t pick up anything unnecessary.”

Kyung-Hye nodded but became immediately alert.

“Unnecessary?” There’s nothing unnecessary to pay attention to in a dungeon, especially if a hunter is of a low rank.

As the other man examined some corpses the group didn’t kill, Kyung-Hye felt the atmosphere around them change into a more ominous one as the men seemed to realize something. It didn’t look like something good for her or Jin-Ho either. She moved closer to the young D-Rank.

“Jin-Ho,” Kyung-Hye carefully whispered so the others couldn’t hear them. “Watch out for the other hunters. I think they might be up to something.”

When she saw his eyes widen and he opened his mouth to say something, the mage put a hand on his shoulder to stop him.

“Just stay calm and be careful,” Kyung-Hye said quietly. “There’s nothing we can do right now even if something happens. If they attack us, we might not be able to defend ourselves. Let’s just wait for the right moment.”

The man nodded, looking a little nervous, but did his best to keep a straight face, and they followed the other hunters further into the cave.

The group spent most of their time walking while looking for the dungeon boss, encountering multiple corpses along the way. Although Kyung-Hye didn’t need to fight as she would get paid regardless, she wanted to help Jin-Ho out on his first raid. If she only used the amount of mana an E-Rank should have, it would still leave her with enough to fight in case something happened. Plus, she could level up a little even though she wasn’t doing much.

Jin-Ho seemed anxious after Kyung-Hye warned him, but she stayed close to him and made small talk with him to distract him. It wasn’t a lot, but it did seem to help Jin-Ho relax more, and he appeared to trust her.

After about three hours, according to Kyung-Hye’s watch, they finally encountered what looked like the boss’s lair, with thick spider webs covering the chamber entrance.

As they cautiously ventured in, the squad realized the chamber had numerous mana crystals. They mentioned how the crystals would sell for a lot of money and discussed how they would split them. Upon hearing their conversations, Jin-Ho turned to Kyung-Hye.

“Mrs. Park, can I see the contract you signed? I’m an expert with that kind of stuff.”

Kyung-Hye handed her contract to him, and Jin-Ho went to Hwang Dongsuk.

“Mr. Hwang, this is Mrs. Park’s contract,” Jin-Ho stated, holding the paper out. “It only says how you will divide the essence stones, but nothing about other goods. Is there a reason that part isn’t here? Should the crystals be split among all ten of us, not just nine?”

Kyung-Hye could feel the air around them turn more sinister as Jin-Ho spoke. As Hwang Dongsuk explained what they would do, the older woman listened while thinking of ways to safely get her and Jin-Ho out of the gate.

She didn’t want to confront eight other hunters because they had various skills and humans were far less predictable than magic beasts. Kyung-Hye also knew they were more experienced than her in dealing with other hunters since it couldn’t be their first time doing something like this.

Hwang Dongsuk telling her and Jin-Ho to stand guard made Kyung-Hye sure they were trying to get rid of them. There was no reason for them to stay here at all as it would only put the two of them in possible danger. However, the two didn’t have a good reason to refuse and stayed behind as the rest of the group went out to get the mining equipment.

As soon as they left, an avalanche of rock blocked the entrance to the chamber, making Kyung-Hye quickly pull Jin-Ho away from it. That only confirmed her suspicions. They were “lizards.” Hunters who take advantage of the dungeons to commit crimes.

“Mrs. Park! What do we do?!” Jin-Ho exclaimed while trying to break through the rocks blocking the entrance. “You were right! They’re trying to kill us!”

“We have to worry about that later,” Kyung-Hye said, looking at the dungeon boss, who began moving after waking up to the noise.

Jin-Ho froze at the sight of the boss as it looked at them and stood between it and Kyung-Hye.

“M-Mrs. Park, stay behind me,” Jin-Ho told her as he prepared to defend them against the spider. “I-I’ll do what I can-” Kyung-Hye placed her hand on his shoulder, “No, just stay here. I’ll take care of it.”

Jin-Ho started to protest, but Kyung-Hye cut him off by pulling him behind as the spider began rushing at them.

Creating a barrier shield in front of them, Kyung-Hye tried attacking by throwing disc-like attacks at the spider to see how it would react to them.

Seeing her attacks bounce off the spider helped her judge how tough the spider’s exoskeleton was, even as the spider began striking at her shield. It looked like she would need to get close to find a weak spot since she couldn’t pierce its shell with either her weapon or her spells.

She felt her barrier crack as the spider landed an exceptionally tough blow, causing her to reinforce it before she decided on a plan.

Remembering her new dagger, Kyung-Hye took it out of her inventory. Her new weapon had a feature that not only paralyzes the opponent but also make them lose one percent of their health every second.

Assuming the boss was at its maximum health and she activated the effect, it would be dead in at most one and a half minutes. All she needed to do then was stab a weak point and wait it out. That would be much easier for her to manage than attempt to fight it head-on when there wasn’t a healer.

Of course, she was nervous because she was still weak, but facing this spider was much better than those statues. She also knew Jin-Ho couldn’t handle taking much damage as a D-Rank, so she was the one who needed to take care of it.

As she examined the boss with her shield up as it continued attacking them, she saw that the eyes were the only part of the spider not covered by its tough outer shell, so she would need to figure out a way to get up there.

Or bring it down to her.

While she didn’t want to get Jin-Ho involved, Kyung-Hye was running out of time when she felt her mana depleting as she created another shield after the spider broke her previous one.

“Jin-Ho, do you trust me?” Kyung-Hye asked Jin-Ho, glancing at him from the corner of her eye while focusing on the spider.

Kyung-Hye couldn’t pay much attention to him but heard an affirmative answer.

“I need you to run to distract the boss by running to the other side of the cave.”

Sensing the young hunter’s hesitation even as she watched the spider’s movements and constant assault on her barrier, she assured him, “Don’t worry. I won’t let it hurt you.”

After a few more moments of silence, except for the spider’s roaring, she caught a glimpse of Jin-Ho running out from behind her barrier to the right of her.

When the spider sensed Jin-Ho’s movement and began going after him, Kyung-Hye released her barrier and ran to stay close to the spider.

It was a good thing I upgraded my strength and agility stats before.

When the spider started getting closer to Jin-Ho and picked up enough speed, Kyung-Hye squinted at its legs to find an opening.

As soon as she saw one, she immediately created a barrier wall between its legs, struggling to keep it in place as the monster tripped over it and crashed into the ground.

She ran as fast as she could to its head before it could right itself and stabbed the dagger into its eyes before running to Jin-Ho. She couldn’t make out his expression as she ran, but she focused on the spider as it began flailing around.

Kyung-Hye stood before Jin-Ho and watched as the spider’s movement slowed down before the boss eventually collapsed.

[You have defeated the dungeon boss.]

When she saw the message, she looked at her watch immediately to know when they would have to leave. She’s already experienced one person not making it out of a dungeon in time and never wanted to have such an incident happen again.

After getting the time, she turned to Jin-Ho.

“Are you alright?” Kyung-Hye asked as she looked over the young man.

Jin-Ho nodded but seemed shaken, most likely from being chased by the boss. It was understandable since the odds were not in their favor.

Remembering that Jin-Ho must have believed she was an E-Rank and did not understand how she defeated a C-Rank boss, she considered what she should tell him. It would be better for him to trust her now since they still had to deal with the other hunters who hadn’t returned yet. He could stop once they were sure that they were safe.

Thinking of the best way to assure him, she calmly spoke to Jin-Ho.

“Can you keep a secret for me?” Kyung-Hye asked him. Seeing the young hunter nod quickly, most likely out of fear, made her feel guilty, but she continued.

“I actually reawakened recently,” she told him. “But I want to avoid the media for now, so I haven’t retaken the exam yet. I don’t want people to find out until I’m ready. Do you understand?”

She was relieved at how Jin-Ho seemed to relax at those words.

“Oh, I get it! No worries, ma’am! You can trust me!”

Kyung-Hye smiled and gently patted his head, “Thank you.”

“Of course!” the young man responded. “You saved me! I would have never been able to fight a C-Rank dungeon boss alone! Oh! We should get the essence stones from the boss and some mana crystals while we can!”

“That’s a good idea. I can handle the essence stones if you work on the mana crystals?”

“Yep!”

As Jin-Ho got to work on the crystals, Kyung-Hye sliced into the now-dead spider and looked for its essence stones.

Kyung-Hye felt the tenseness in her from earlier slowly fading as the situation became better for them. The only problem now was to find a way to deal with the other hunters when they returned.

Just as the two finished gathering the stones and crystals, there was a loud explosion where the cavern was blocked, meaning the other hunters had returned.

As Kyung-Hye observed them with Jin-Ho, it was clear that most of the hunters were surprised, while the others, including Hwang Dongsuk, were not pleased that they were still alive.

She watched as Hwang Dongusk spoke with Jin-Ho, telling him to kill her if he wanted to survive.

It was natural for them to assume Jin-Ho was the one to take out the boss since his rank was higher than hers. That means they will try to eliminate her at the very least to maximize their profits. But she had no idea what they would do to Jin-Ho afterward and didn’t want to find out.

Kyung-Hye had expected Jin-Ho to go through with it because it would give him the best chance of survival. She couldn’t blame him since he was still young, though she didn’t like how they were forcing him to make such a decision.

However, she was surprised when he positioned himself before her, holding his shield and sword out. Before she could say anything, the squad appeared to accept his answer and drew their weapons.

As the others prepared to attack him, Kyung-Hye suddenly got multiple notifications from the system, momentarily distracting her. Unfortunately, she couldn’t read them as she noticed the mage launching an attack against her.

She quickly formed a shield in time, which absorbed most of the attack. However, it still sent her crashing into the wall behind her, causing Jin-Ho to yell out for her.

As she took a moment to recover from the impact, she looked at the message from the system.

[URGENT QUEST: DEFEAT THE ENEMIES]

There are enemies nearby that intend to kill the player. Destroy all the foes and ensure your safety. If you fail to follow these orders, your heart will stop beating.

Does...the system want me to kill them?

No, it doesn’t explicitly say “kill,” so it’s unnecessary. Ensuring Jin-Ho’s and my safety is a bigger priority, so I can figure out what to do with the other hunters later.

Kyung-Hye gradually got up and made her way to the others.

The system probably wants me to be stronger, but if it wants that, I can do so without having to kill people if I don’t need to.

She checked to see that Jin-Ho was safe from being attacked by the others. She didn’t want him getting hurt, but she also had no way of getting him healed if he did get injured. Although she didn’t want to kill anyone in the strike squad, she knew it would be harder to immobilize them enough for her and Jin-Ho to leave unscathed.

One of the hunters approached the older woman, putting an arm over her shoulders as he began talking to her, thinking she didn’t understand the situation.

Unfortunately for them, she knew what was going on far better than they thought.

Taking advantage of their position, Kyung-Hye brought her arm forward and reinforced it with her mana before striking the hunter in the face with her elbow, using enough force to knock him out.

Soon after, she saw the mage who attacked her earlier begin to cast another spell. Instead of blocking the spell from hitting her, Kyung-Hye swiftly created a barrier around the mage, causing the spell to backfire on him instead, rendering him unconscious.

The other hunters started to realize she was more powerful than she looked and began rushing at her. Kyung-Hye either dodged or blocked their attacks while she tried to figure out a plan to subdue the other hunters.

Her blade wasn’t an option in this fight because the effect would kill them, but there was only so much she could do using only her strength and mana. The remaining hunters were more on guard around her than the others, and they avoided her attacks as much as she did theirs. She only had a limited amount of mana left after fighting the boss and didn’t want to use what little she had left.

After successfully knocking another hunter unconscious, she suddenly became alarmed, not knowing how long they had been in the dungeon.

Glancing at her watch between attacks, Kyung-Hye saw that she had been fighting the hunters for a while and that they didn’t have long until the dungeon closed since she defeated the boss more than half an hour ago.

She tried to stay calm, even as she heard her heart pounding in her ears. She had to get Jin-Ho and herself out of the gate and fast. She didn’t have time to knock out the rest of the hunters individually, even if she were to use all of her remaining mana.

Remembering how the other mage used a light spell, Kyung-Hye thought about casting a similar spell even though she wasn’t certain that it could hinder the hunters enough for them to get out. The only problem was that Jin-Ho might get caught in it, and she didn’t know if she could warn him about it without alerting the others.

Blocking another attack from one of the hunters, she got an idea. She didn’t have time to consider other ways of getting them out, so Kyung-Hye rushed over to Jin-Ho, who was startled by the woman suddenly going toward him.

Not having time to explain herself, she covered his eyes with her right hand and used her other hand to cast a light spell, blinding the hunters.

Thankfully, the light affected all of the hunters who were still conscious. It appeared they were too busy keeping track of her movements to notice what she was doing. While they shouted at the sudden brightness and tried to recover, Kyung-Hye removed her hand from Jin-Ho’s eyes and grabbed his hand.

“We need to go. Now,” Kyung-Hye told him as the cave began to quake, and they heard a rumbling sound.

Jin-Ho nodded, and the two ran past the hunters to escape the dungeon. She heard Hwang Dongsuk yelling at her, something about a brother, but then she focused on running with Jin-Ho to the exit.

Her thoughts began to spiral as she didn’t know how soon the gate would close and couldn’t look at her watch. Kyung-Hye felt her heart pounding harder as the dungeon began shaking more. They couldn’t get stuck in a gate now. She needed to get Jin-Ho out first. They made it this far, so this couldn’t be the end for them. Not when she only just started getting stronger.

When they began to near the exit and rocks began to fall from the ceiling, she grew more anxious and feared they wouldn’t make it out in time. Kyung-Hye let go of Jin-Ho’s hand and shoved him outside the gate.

Narrowly avoiding a rock that almost fell on her, she almost tripped as she made it outside the gate just as it closed behind them, leaving them alone as they finally had time to calm down and recover.

Even though she was breathing heavily and her heart was still racing, Kyung-Hye felt relieved and was finally able to rest without having to fear for her life. She closed her eyes for a brief moment as she nearly fell to the ground beside Jin-Ho, who was also breathing heavily.

Looking at herself properly now that they were outside, her hair was a mess she couldn’t fix, and her clothes weren’t in much better condition. She thought about getting new clothes soon since it’s been a while since she had gone shopping with her daughter. Now that she could earn more money, she could get new clothes for Jin-Ah.

Hearing a notification, Kyung-Hye looked up and was surprised at what it said.

(!) QUEST REWARD

You have met all the requirements to complete the “URGENT QUEST: DEFEAT THE ENEMIES.”

Choose your reward?

I guess leaving them behind in the dungeon was enough to clear the quest. I wonder why. Maybe it’s because there’s no way they can survive?

She hated the sound of that.

I wished there was another way for Jin-Ho and me to escape without leaving them behind. Hwang Dongsuk did mention something about his family.

Kyung-Hye decided to look at the reward later and check on Jin-Ho first, who was still next to her, calming down for what had happened.

“Are you alright?” she asked, looking over him for possible injuries.

When Jin-Ho gave her an affirmative answer, still recovering, she relaxed a little as his response alleviated some of her worries.

“You should head home. It’s been a long day,” the older woman softly said to him.

She wanted to walk him home but wasn’t sure how the young man felt about her after everything. She didn’t want to make him more uncomfortable and already felt bad for having such an awful experience today, especially for his first raid.

Jin-Ho nodded and gathered the things he brought out before heading off.

Kyung-Hye sighed, finally alone to gather her thoughts and see what she should do next.

#solo leveling #shadows of a mother #solo leveling au: shadow monarch!park kyung-hye #solo leveling aus

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