ladyjlb's manga / #Action(515)

- Simone Cassani, a police detective. - Tito Tevaldi, a (senior?) police detective. - He’s very interested in Japanese culture. - Murder Inc. is the nickname for an assassination group. - Eugene, the head assassin (?) - Nagi 30yo, a Japanese hacker who has been in Italy for 20yrs. - Simone has been working undercover for 3yrs. He wants to avenge the shooting of Tito who almost died. - Simone has an unrequited love for Tito, but is sleeping with Eugene to obtain his goal for revenge. - Eugene tells Simone about his childhood. He was a street kid who was picked up by an orphanage when he was 8yo. - The orphanage was selling children as pets and sex slaves to rich perverted paedophiles. Eugene was sold with a younger boy to one wealthy household and they were forced to participate in sex parties with adult guests. - The young boy killed himself. Eugene says he helped the boy to a window so he was the first person he killed. Eugene killed the paedophiles next.

Rate 4.5 min - Read ch 46 as of 07/09/20 (total 80 chapters)

Ch 146 as of 07/09/22 - rate 3.5 so far (also on Tapas) ** Ch 129 missing (duplicate of Ch 128) - ML is Ryu Han Bin, discharged from his 2yr mandatory military service 3mths ago. ML was suddenly teleported to another world called Thelha Rath’na as a Chosen One (for the Demon God). - NB: ‘Chosen Ones’ don’t age and also have rapid recovery / healing abilities. Chosen Ones can see a guideline (ie status window) that shows the level of other humans and creatures. - ML must progress to L5 before he can move to another region. - There’s a system error with his transmission and he is the only ‘Chosen One’ to receive a defective guideline implanted in him. - He can only select the warrior class (rejected for all others) and he can only select the long sword as his beginner weapon. - He keeps ignoring the option to kill himself. - ML spends 22yrs alone, stuck in a starting safe zone called the Rock Mountains and trying to level up endlessly as a swordsman / warrior. He keeps going back to L1 despite gaining experience points (XP). - ML hones his basic skills (ie stab, side slash, vertical slash = cross impact / triple cross attack) to deadly perfection against the countless monsters that keep spawning and getting stronger. - He increases his vital stats to incredibly high numbers too (but they remain mostly hidden to others). - NB: Sathe Forest is in the Grailutte (was destroyed) / Exradd kingdom, Northern Rath’na continent. - After being noticed by one of the mysterious higher powers that be, ML is finally released from his solitary hell. He’s been teleported to the Sathe Forest. He’s attains L5 at last, and gains a communication skill of “language translation”. - He may now form a party with other ‘Chosen Ones’. - Despite not officially reaching L20, ML is on the Rath’na continent where the main fight begins. - His guideline (created by the Demon God?) gives him “The Final Mission” to kill 1 of the 6 Rath’na goddesses (of fire, water, wind, earth, darkness and light). - The final reward options are: - eternal youth and immortality, - return to Earth with his stats intact, or - 3 wishes will be granted. - ML must keep his identity as an other worlder a secret. - He must also register at the Hunters Guild in Onprous City. - ML meets Ephyr the wyvern L27, who attacked ML first but was beaten with one punch. Ephyr was a knights’ Mount but is now in hiding. A spoilt young prince died after falling from Ephyr while trying to ride her. - Ephyr tells ML that other worlders started appearing 40yrs ago and at first got along with the Rathnians. Soon the other worlders started killing Rathnians to increase their levels. They formed a group called Great Ursula (Great Earth) with the aim of killing a goddess. The 4 Heroes of the continent wiped out this group. - To meet a goddess, you have to be 1 of the 4 Heroes or you’ve done a great service to receive a blessing. Becoming a hunter and fighting the dungeon monsters created by the Demon God would count as a great service. - ML registers as a hunter at the Onprous Hunters Guild, with help and advice from Ephyr. He uses a fake identity under the name Eric Garrune from North Cambol. - The measuring stone at the guild reveals ML is L5, which removes suspicion he’s an other worlder who all start at L20. - ML is invited to join Burkeman’s party as a member. - Burkeman Ropall L25 swordsman, strongest tank in Onprous city. - Amber Bonnet L21 spearwoman. - Hubert Crutaus L18 magician. - Erwin Ropall L16 spiritualist, a healer, Burkeman’s younger sister. - Atisse / Artis Benister, L37 mage. - Head of the famous dragon hunter Benister family. - ML came across Artis naked in the forest when ML sensed a strong presence nearby and came to see if it was a large monster. - ML accidentally destroys the balls of Laude, L27 magic swordsman and Artis’ party leader. - ML is with Burkeman’s party for 3mths. - At Sathe Forest, none of the monsters’ levels are high enough for ML to gain XP. Ephyr has the highest level and even that’s too low for ML. - Iphen Plains dungeon: - ML comes across a magic portal to the dungeon after fighting some monsters. ML receives a fireball bracelet (30 uses) after killing a L40 boss monster. The item has a minimum L31 requirement for the owner to use it. - ML enters the central area of the dungeon. He’s attacked by a L45 tentacle beholder, the final boss. Laude was lost in the dungeon and arrives in the central area but thinks ML is an illusion. - The beholder possesses Laude and gets him to attack ML. The beholder is easily defeated by ML who splits it in half. - ML leaves the dungeon and returns to Burkeman’s camp without taking the magic core. - The guideline bug persists in how much XP is needed for ML to level up (54 billion!). He finds this out only after killing the final boss in this his 1st dungeon raid. - Burkeman’s party arrive back at Onprous city. - Someone else took the magic core which closed the Iphen Plains dungeon. This is why the city is now deserted as the city relied on hunters who came for the dungeon. - No one knows who took the magic core but the most likely suspect is it was an other worlder. An Inquisitor in charge of finding and executing other worlders is sent by the church of darkness. Anyone over L20 will be captured and tortured until they confess. - Artis tries to save ML from the suspicions of the Inquisitor after ML accidentally drops the fireball bracelet. - Laude shows up in time to admit he closed the dungeon and he is taken away by the Inquisitor instead. - ML is given monetary compensation by the Inquisitor. - ML gets Artis to give the money to Burkeman’s party on his behalf and to tell them he’s quitting the Hunter’s Guild. - ML did this to protect Burkeman’s party from the Inquisitor who might kill them for being associated with him. - ML spends the next 6mths working for the Chairman of the Onprous Architecture Association who knows ML is secretly an other worlder. - Artis the 150yo, L52 fire mage (and secretly a fire dragon) recruits ML to assist in collecting magic research samples in Sathe Forest. - They find an abandoned village overrun with kobolds. Artis destroys all of them with fire magic. ML finds a closed magic portal in a well. - ML and Artis fight a L72 lich. Artis reveals he’s a dragon and gets badly injured while protecting ML. Artis sees ML’s true strength when ML destroys the lich’s giant ice sword and the ice dome in one strike. ML grinds the lich's arms and legs to dust. - With it's body held captive, the lich initiates for it's body to self destruct. ML kicks the lich far away, saving himself and Artis. - ML takes Artis back to Onprous city for treatment. ML tells Artis that all he wants is to live like an ordinary person while adapting to this world. Artis is in ML’s debt and he’ll never forget the debt he owes to ML. The Chairman helps ML leave the city. - The lich was an other worlder called Shin Ha Jun, and he revealed to Artis and ML that Great Earth is involved. The comrades of the lich, Richard, Leslie and Alejandro later find where he exploded. These other worlders have captured Ephyr and are after Artis next. - Great Earth are experimenting on Rathnian humans by artificially implanting guidelines, but they can’t gain XP yet. They use monster parts to nullify the side effects of the implant, making the Rathnian half-human and half-monster. They want a dragon core to complete these experiments which is why they want Artis. - ML travels to the next city, Heitan the dungeon city. On the way he picks up a bandit called Calindor and accidentally gives all of ML’s gold coins to Calindor to start a new life. - Artis bought a house in the city and wants ML to join his party. - Heitan is built over a huge gorge that has the largest dungeon in the north, the Crater Valley dungeon. - When Artis registers at the Heitan Hunters’ Guild, he has ML disguise himself as a Valterian warrior. ML breaks the measuring stone as an “evil artifact” so his level isn’t revealed. Artis registers ML as his bodyguard. - Crater Valley dungeon: Artis tells ML about a dragon’s ability to absorb an opponent’s life force into it’s dragon core. Too much life force is dangerous and could even kill the dragon. - In order for greater dragons (older than 500yrs+) to absorb even greater life force, a place called a dragon’s nest was created where life force could be gathered like a well. - Ellie the blind girl, L34 magic swordswoman. - She’s a subordinate of Alejandro’s that has an artificial guideline. Her mother was a hunter who died when she was a child. Ellie was taken away by Alejandro and the guideline was forcibly implanted in her, making her lose her sight. Her role is to test the other Rathnian experiments by fighting against them. - Alejandro and his comrades were given the dragon’s nest at Heitan as proof of their alliance with the greater dragons. - Ellie tries to stop Ephyr from flying higher out of the dragon’s nest. Ephyr is hit by a massive amount of life force. Ellie saves Ephyr who has somehow survived. Ellie senses Ephyr might have a dragon core but is keeping it a secret from Alejandro. - Artis suggests raising ML’s notoriety by helping out other parties to show off ML’s strength. If ML’s fame as a hunter increases, so too will his chance of meeting the goddesses. - While helping out a party, Artis and ML are faced with a massive L50 spider queen dungeon boss. ML throws his sword with a magic wand attached and it stabs the boss monster then explodes, wiping out the monster in one go. Artis and ML saved the party and sold the artifact reward to them at a discounted price. - Emil Otto, L45 spiritualist and a high priest of Altia the goddess of light. He approaches Artis who agrees to go undercover for the order of light, despite ML’s objections. Artis will go alone and be disguised as a woman to spy on Alejandro and the dragon’s nest. - Lady Adora Benister died 10yrs ago while fighting the greater dragons with the 4 Heroes. Adora was like an older sister to Artis. He feels it’s his duty to look into this dragon’s nest which Adora gave up her life to ensure they were all destroyed. - Alejandro has been seen as a hero in the refugee villages outside of Heitan. This is because he sends hunters like Ellie to fight the monsters that attack these villages. - People are applying for work at the dragon’s nest for the high pay and conditions. Artis applies as a L30 mage to do magic research (he’s now L45). - Hendy L50 aura user and secretly a spy from the order of light, is Alejandro’s head of security. He’s killed by Alejandro who knew Hendy and Artis were spies. - Alejandro fights Artis, trying to force him to change into a dragon. - Ephyr hides and activates the dragon’s nest with her dragon core, which shifts Alejandro’s attention away from Artis. - Ellie and Artis realise they’re both on the same side. - Artis tells Ephyr that he knows ML. - ML needs money and is assigned a small quest by Emil’s sister to find him and return the clothes he stole (the clothes were for Artis). ML finds Emil in a cave. He was captured by half-monster Rathnians with artificial guidelines. ML destroys the half-monster test subjects and rescues Emil. ML learns that Artis is in danger. - Alejandro is rebuilding the dragon’s nest so it can be used to infuse a massive amount of life force into a dragon core for a genuine artificial guideline to work. - After exploring the dragon’s nest with Ellie, Artis thinks Ephyr’s newly formed dragon core is the key that has been registered to operate the dragon’s nest. Rather than waiting for Ephyr’s dragon core to be completed, Artis and Ellie want to look for the life force fusion in the basement. Artis will absorb the life force from there. - A test subject escapes and goes on a rampage. - Ephyr wants to prove herself and confronts the test subject alone. Ephyr takes the test subject up to the top of the dragon’s nest where it explodes after getting struck by the life force. - Ephyr survives but has revealed herself to Alejandro. Artis and Ellie fight him to give time for Ephyr to flee. - Alejandro defeats them all and captures the dragon core from Ephyr. He wears an artifact that stops dragons from morphing into human form, which is why Artis can’t transform. - ML saves Artis before he’s killed by Alejandro. - Alejandro uses Ephyr’s dragon core to absorb life force and become stronger. As Alejandro fights with ML, Artis telepathically tells ML not to kill him. Alejandro is using the dragon’s nest to absorb the life force of the nearby Rathnians to heal himself. Killing Alejandro would kill the other people too. - ML holds off Alejandro while Artis, Ellie and Ephyr look underground for the life force fusion. - Ellie steals the artifact from Alejandro while they were fighting. Artis transforms into a L67 dragon to fight Hendy who has become a monstrous test subject. Ellie cuts the pipe that disrupts the connection to Alejandro so he can no longer heal himself. Hendy is killed by a huge blast of fire from Artis. - Final battle: Alejandro injects himself with an artificial guideline(?). He transforms into a L72 humanoid with an incomplete Demon God’s Blessing. He still feels immense pain when ML rips him apart with his sword. - Artis can only stabilise the life force with his dragon core. - Ellie is mortally wounded by a loyal servant of Alejandro’s who then sacrifices herself to reconnect the pipe. - Ellie uses the artifact to change Ephyr into human form. Ephyr becomes a L5 magic swordswoman. ML fights Alejandro after they’ve crashed through to the basement. Ephyr replicates Ellie’s dancing sword steps and avoids Alejandro’s attacks. Ephyr slashes through the life force fusion as ML slices through Alejandro. - Emil and reinforcements from the order of light arrive. - In the end, Ellie dies. Ephyr is imprisoned awaiting trial as she and Ellie were seen as close associates with Alejandro. - Leslie secretly procures the (almost complete) Demon God’s Blessing from the dragon’s nest. - Haunted house: the Ghost Maiden L35 is a test subject with an artificial guideline. She’s an orphan who sees Richard and Leslie as her saviours. The house was the site of many secret experiments by Great Earth and has many traps. ML, Artis and Ephyr are sent there on a ghost subjugation mission by the order of light. - A dimensional trap was set to catch them. The place will cease to exist if they don’t find the operational tool (ie the Ghost Maiden) and destroy the source. - The Ghost Maiden possesses ML and fights him inside his mind. Artis creates a magic circle around ML that he activates when the Maiden comes out of his body. They escape the dimensional trap. Artis also nullifies the Maiden as an operational tool which meant she’s lost all of her abilities and is just an ordinary human now. - The Maiden reveals a golem transport carriage to help Ephyr get to her trial on time. The carriage is powered by a fragment from the Demon God’s Blessing that ML had. - At the trial, Ephyr is exonerated thanks to testimony from the Maiden. Later with her extensive knowledge of magic tools, the Maiden becomes an appraiser. - “Thinkers” the mage guild is a top level magic research institute in Rune the Magic Kingdom. - The mage symposium: where new magic tools are revealed, and nobles socialise and show off their possessions. - Richard and Leslie go to Rune the Magic Kingdom. They secretly meet with Zenovia during the mage symposium. - NB: The goddesses blessed the heroes so their bodies would never grow old. They maintain a youthful appearance. - The legendary 4 Heroes of the continent (from 20yrs ago): - Zenovia / Zenova, Archmage and ruler of Rune the Magic Kingdom. She’s also the leader of Thinkers. - Barolt the Sword King, a Valterian warrior. The strongest of the heroes and the strongest swordsman on the continent. He hasn’t been seen in recent years. - Garhan the Terrible, the top magic swordsman and monarch of Kaldurie, the kingdom of 1000yrs. He’s the only one still on active duty. He’s killed more other worlders than anyone. - Hollian, the strongest nymph, Queen of the nymphs and Queen of Allendia the fairy / spirit kingdom. The ultimate spiritualist and the transcendentalist of life and death. - The Heroes still have a limited lifespan. - Garhan and Zenovia (and supported by Hollian) want immortality so they can continue to protect this world (as the new gods?), instead of the goddesses who act as passive spectators. - With dimensional sealing magic, Zenovia and Garhan have sealed Kivryelle the Goddess of Darkness. They must remain in the neutral space to keep the goddess trapped. Communicating with the outside world, they’re using the Inquisitors and the Dark Brotherhood to collect the remaining fragments for the Demon God’s Blessing so they can use it to transfer the goddess’ powers to themselves. So far they’ve absorbed half of Kivryelle’s powers. - ML meets Zhanglu Xin (from Shanghai) when he registers as a new L20 hunter at the Heitan Hunters Guild. Ephyr (with a new dragon core) is registered as a new L15 hunter of Artis’ party. - ML and Zhanglu are sentenced to the Crater Valley prison camp for 100yrs after accidentally hurting the Baron who is in charge of the prison. Zhanglu tells ML to hunt monsters in the dungeon for their magic stones to bribe the guards to reduce their sentences. - Zhanglu is a naive idealist who hopes other worlders and native-born will be able to coexist peacefully. He also believes in being a hero that protects and cares for the weak. - Zhanglu died in a car accident and was reborn as a Chosen One. In his past life he was a loner and a bookworm. He made good friends when he was L5 to L19 but was alone again when he reached L20 and was teleported to the Rath’na continent. He wants to become famous so his friends will hear about him and come find him. The 4 vital energies / great powers: Aura - Strong physique and destructive energy. Mana - Magical energy. Prana - Regenerative and protection energy. Force - Lightning and internal energy. - Sir Leonhart Catel Francis, Inquisitor and L120+ spiritualist. - He was a hero blessed by the goddesses. He maintains a youthful appearance and has a limited lifespan. - The Dark Brotherhood have been locating and securing dragon’s nests held by Great Earth in search of fragments of the Demon God’s Blessing. This has been directly ordered through oracles from the Goddess of Darkness, but it’s actually Garhan instructing them. - Garhan and Zenovia were the ones who created the new “fake” Great Earth group. A spell is cast on its members that if they try to reveal any info about the 4 Heroes, the taboo magic will melt their brain and they’ll die. - Garhan sends Leslie to infiltrate the prison and retrieve the fragment of the Demon God’s Blessing from the other worlder. - Zhanglu starts a protest chant among the prisoners to release them while the Baron is visiting the prison. The Baron offers a deal for ML to fight the other worlder prisoner, a L61 magic swordsman (who is actually Laude). If ML wins, the Baron will reduce everyone’s sentences. Leslie volunteers to be on Laude’s side to fight against Zhanglu and ML. - At the battle arena, Laude uses his beholder arm to control the monsters and makes them swarm around ML. After the monsters are easily wiped out by ML, Laude summons a L80 dungeon boss. - ML splits the boss monster in 2. His killing instincts from his 22yrs in the Rock Mountains have taken over. - Before ML kills Laude as his 1st Rathnian, Zhanglu intervenes and his arm is severed. - NB: Other worlders become addicted to killing Rathnians from the pleasure that’s released to their brains after they do so. That’s why other worlders become murderous monsters. - Leslie was in a cell with other worlders like her and they were suffering from withdrawal symptoms after killing Rathnians. She was made a subordinate of Hollian, Garhan and Zenovia, and did their dirty work for 10yrs. She’s under a “restrain” spell / seal that keeps her murderous intent under control. - ML sees that Leslie is a spiritualist and has her heal Zhanglu as much as she can. Laude covers for them from the Baron’s guards as they escape into the tunnel created by the boss monster. ML becomes wanted for escaping prison. - Zhanglu asks ML for his help in fighting for what he believes in. ML agrees to help Zhanglu achieve his ideals. - Sir Leonhart has a merchant investigate the Crater Valley prison camp for him, and he sees photos of ML. He recognises him as the L5 hunter who evaded him in Onprous city. He arrives at Heitan and runs into Artis. He pays the Baron a visit with Artis and Ephyr. - The Baron runs away, fearful of being punished for having a fake other worlder (ie Laude). Artis, Ephyr and Leonhart follow him to the empty arena. The Baron uses the captive Laude’s beholder ability to summon another dungeon boss. Leonhart swiftly defeats the boss monster. - Zhanglu unites the prisoners that were sent after them by the Baron. Under his leadership, the prisoners want to expose the injustice and inhumane treatment in the prison, take the Baron to court for his illegal actions, and gain their freedom. - Leslie succumbs to her murderous intent as the seal has been weakened. She kills a prisoner who was against Zhanglu’s plan. - ML and Zhanglu find Leslie unconscious after possibly trying to kill herself. Nearby are the dead prisoner and a dead guard killed by Leslie. ML chases after the surviving injured guard. - Zhanglu leads the prisoners while carrying Leslie towards the boss room. They are met by guards who shoot a barrage of missiles that kills everyone. Leslie feeds the dying Zhanglu the fragment of the Demon God’s Blessing. He transforms and kills all of the guards. - ML is interrupted in his chase by Leonhart. - Leonhart and ML battle it out, with devastating effects. - After a massive blow from Leonhart, ML seems to be no longer conscious and his body is fighting purely with his survival instincts and veteran hunting skills. ML’s aura is awakened at last in a huge explosive burst. He manages to injure Leonhart and the residual aura makes it slow to heal with his prana. They continue to fight this battle of epic proportions. - Artis and Ephyr arrive at the boss room. They carefully approach Zhanglu who is holding an unconscious Leslie. Artis tries to separate the fragment from Zhanglu using the other fragment she has attached to her staff. She’s interrupted by a surviving prisoner who takes the boss room artifact that would close the dungeon. It becomes a portal that teleports all of them to Heitan. - Zhanglu now carries an unconscious Artis with Leslie. He kills the hunters who surround him and attack him. He flies away with Artis and Leslie, heading towards the Eastern Valley to meet ML as promised. Ephyr frees Artis with a slash of her sword. - Zhanglu’s mutated body is trying to use Leslie’s life force to heal itself. Zhanglu regains control of his body and breaks free from the mutant shell. His severed arm is restored with properties from the fragment. Artis casts a huge fireball at the still live mutant shell, incinerating it completely. They can see the fight between ML and Leonhart from afar. Zhanglu decides to sacrifice himself to stop the fight between ML and Leonhart. - Just as ML makes the perfect combo sword attack, the power of ML’s aura in the end overwhelms his body and eventually destroys his weapon. He asks Leonhart to spare Artis, Ephyr and Zhanglu, and he’ll take full responsibility. - Before ML lets Leonhart kill him, Zhanglu interrupts. He admits to being an other worlder and that he has killed innocent people while under the Demon God’s Blessing. He’s prepared to be punished and pay for his crimes. All he asks is to stop the needless fighting and killing. - Suddenly Zhanglu’s body is pierced through with a spear. The hunters want revenge for those Zhanglu killed earlier and come running towards him, screaming for his other worlder blood. Leonhart stops the mob with what appears to be a final strike that makes Zhanglu’s body disappear. Leonhart has the fragment of the Demon God’s Blessing in his hand. - With Zhanglu’s death, nothing has changed. - The Baron denies any illegal activity at the prison camp. - The Baron blamed the deaths of the prisoners and guards all on Zhanglu. He even made Laude his military commander. - ML blames himself for Zhanglu’s death and is finding it hard to see the way forward. - Leslie cancels the banned mark magic contract with the Maiden. The contract forced the Maiden to never betray Leslie or else she’d die. Leslie tells the Maiden to live freely. - As Leslie’s own contract is still active, she decides to go back to Great Earth but will fight for Zhanglu’s ideal from within. - Sir Leonhart secretly saved Zhanglu. Leonhart is suspicious of who is really behind the oracles directing the Brotherhood. - ML and co. deduced Zevonia, Garhan and Hollian are behind everything. They head for Allendia the fairy kingdom 1st to deal with Hollian. The fairy kingdom is made of an alliance between 4 races / species (Branch sylphs, Shrub nymphs, Root elves, Underground dwarves) concentrated around the world tree. Each race has their own culture and ruler. The capital city is located at the trunk of the world tree. Solondia, largest city of the elf kingdom: - ML, Ephyr (L38 magic swordswoman), Artis (L52 mage) arrive at the elf kingdom. ML breaks the sword while trying to pull it out from the ground for the Thanksgiving / Harvest festival. The sword is meant to be a symbolic gesture, with the elf king as the only one who can release the sword from its magic. - ML uses his aura to destroy the giant boulder golem that was summoned by the elves. Elf soldiers surround him and … - Prince Rondelle Atlancis, a half-elf who was about to be killed by some humans in an abandoned sanctum of the Goddess of Darkness. A bright light appeared and scared the humans away. A woman called Kivye appeared from that light. - … Kivye tells ML to surrender to the elves. ML, Ephyr and Artis had saved Rondelle who was nearby. The Crown Prince sees Rondelle and immediately hails ML and co. as Rondelle’s saviours. - ML’s guideline initially showed an error with Kivye but later it said she was a L80 warrior. She tells ML that she’s the embodiment of the Goddess of Darkness. She was created to protect Rath’na from destruction. Kivye was sent to test him as a candidate for assistance by testing his abilities. - Before Kivye can challenges ML, he meets the old elf king in a secluded space. The elf king mistakes ML for the Sword King initially, then the elf king sticks a sword into the ground. ML’s broken sword is pulled into the ground by tree roots. - ML pulls out his sword with great force and buries the elf king up to his chin in dirt. The sword is repaired with wood from the roots of the world tree (it’ll help ML control his aura). The elf king admits he was testing ML as he was curious about his abilities. - NB: Rondelle is the youngest son of the elf king. His human mother ran away and abandoned him. Elves despise half elves. - The elf king asks ML and co. to go with Rondelle to find out the cause of what’s killing the people and livestock in the eastern small root village. When they arrive after being chased by monsters, they discover the 2nd elf prince (the Crown Prince’s younger twin brother) is hiding in the village after being banished from the elf kingdom 10yrs ago. The 2nd elf prince is the only mage and doctor in the village. - Kivye has another mission from the Goddess of Darkness: to find Barolt who can defeat the other 3 corrupt heroes. - Kivye tells ML and co. that the Goddess of Darkness has been sealed away by Garhan and Zenovia. - Bloodsuckers have been sucking out the life force from living beings in the village, while also infecting them with parasitic larvae. A “mother” monster creates and controls the bloodsuckers. They are also attracted to and feed off aura. The entire village was already infected 6mths ago before Rondelle’s party arrived. - The bloodsuckers came through a rift to another dimension. After sensing bad energy, the 2nd elf prince and the villagers went underground to inspect the root of the world tree and saw the rift. - The infection doesn't seem to affect the 2nd elf prince. - The “mother” is now playing happy pretend families with Rondelle’s party. Kivye overcame the infection herself and has infiltrated the “family”. Rondelle remains uninfected. - The bloodsuckers are dungeon level monsters. - The parasites need memories to work. The infected are brainwashed with new memories that overwrite the old ones. - Rondelle breaks through a brick wall in his cell and uncovers roots of the world tree. He uses his royal power to communicate with the roots and break the connection of the “mother” monster with the parasites. Kivye uses that interruption to wake up ML by kissing him to transfer aura. It works and ML uses his aura to incinerate the monster. - The main body of the monster is underground absorbing life force from the roots of the world tree. The 2nd prince took the still infected Artis and Ephyr down there, but ran away when they attacked him. ML, Kivye and Rondelle arrive. ML fights off Artis and Ephyr while Kivye fights the multiple clones of the monster. - Kivye steals the polymorph necklace from Ephyr and uses it to force Artis and Ephyr to transform into their true original selves, a dragon and a wyvern. - They all attack the main monster which has possessed the entire world tree. Rondelle has connected with the world tree which stops the monster from regenerating. - The 2nd elf prince reveals to Rondelle that he was banished because the elf king discovered his experiments with bloodsuckers. The 2nd elf prince had been experimenting with them on humans for the past 20yrs. Once the main monster dies, he wants Rondelle to open the rift to let more monsters in so he can control the world. - Leonhart is on an unofficial mission. He saves Laude who had been arrested as a suspect in the murder of the Baron. Leonhart is with Laude and Zhanglu in a barren icy wasteland. - Leonhart mentions the appearance of rifts about 6mths ago. Over 100 have been reported to the Dark Brotherhood. As they approach a rift, Leonhart asks Zhanglu to share what the guideline says. It’s “Unstable dimensional rift: For the abandoned homeland and the god of the gods”. - ML and co. discover the true form of the main monster. ML talks to it as the guideline says it’s a L32 Angel species. It was originally living in a barren valley hunting smaller creatures to survive. It was badly injured by a larger predator and escaped through a rift. It was found and cared for by a young boy, his vet father and mother. The boy named it Snow and it was happy to have a family. - The boy became sick from a mysterious illness infecting many of the villagers. The 2nd elf prince was invited by the parents and he helped the boy get better. He also helped heal many of the villagers which helped him to be accepted. - The boy was too weak and eventually died. His parents were overcome with grief. Snow had the ability to take on the characteristics of anything it ate. Snow ate the boy’s body and evolved. It wanted to ease their grief but the father was horrified and tried to kill it but the mother protected Snow and was struck instead. Snow lost control and the father died as well. - Some villagers came to kill Snow as it was seen digging up the boy’s grave. Snow tried to escape through the rift but discovered it was able to control the villagers. This was because the boy it ate and the villagers were infected by bloodsuckers. The 2nd elf prince made a deal with Snow to help it so it could live like a human. Snow gave him 2 of it’s 4 eyes so the 2nd prince could control the bloodsuckers too. - Snow sends all of the infected villagers far away from the world tree, so that the bloodsuckers will naturally die off. - Snow goes with ML and co. to look for Rondelle. - They find Rondelle under the mind control of the 2nd Prince at the undergound roots of the world tree near the rift. - Rondelle can connect with the world tree but the Crown Prince and the 2nd Prince can’t. This is because Rondelle is the true heir as the son of the Crown Prince. The 2nd Prince sent assassins that killed Rondelle’s mother and almost killed Rondelle. - A large L148 Angel suddenly appears through the rift and devours the 2nd elf prince, evolving further. As ML fights this Angel, it pulls ML through the rift to the other world. ML struggles to fight the Angel as his guideline doesn’t allow him to use aura. - The unstable dimensional rifts lead to the land of the Demon God, the same place ML trained at for so long. - The ‘Angels’ seem to be the Demon God’s experiments to create weapons for an invasion of Rath’na. All Angels have the ability to take on the traits of what it’s eaten, accelerating it's evolution. The size of an Angel indicates how much it’s eaten. - The Angels aren’t bound to a dungeon and keep trying to crossover through the rift and wreck havoc. Ephyr as a wyvern and Artis fight a swarm of smaller Angels that end up eating eachother and evolving into a larger Angel. - Ephyr and Artis lead the large evolved Angel underground and through the rift, killing the smaller Angels on the way. Their Angel and the L148 Angel fight eachother while Ephyr and Artis help an injured ML back through the rift. - Using Kivye’s divine power and some of her aura, ML manipulates his guideline and is able to fight against the L148 Angel. With support from Artis, ML lands a cross impact blow and splits the Angel’s head open, but it was just a shell. A smaller humanoid body emerges that’s evolved from the elf it consumed. This Angel copies ML and targets Artis with Ephyr and Snow. - Kivye distracts the Angel and brings ML back through the rift. Artis and Ephyr are also there, having survived thanks to Snow who absorbed the Demon God’s Blessing fragment from Artis’ staff. - The elves led by the Crown Prince arrive to help close the rift with their magic using the world tree roots. After Snow helps to hold onto the humanoid Angel from the other side, Hollian drives this highly evolved Angel back with her huge magic crossbow. (tbc Snow either perished or was also pushed back) - Hollian fully heals ML, Artis and Ephyr. Rondelle remains in a coma. The heads of the fairy alliance meet and are informed of what happened. The sylph king steals the polymorph necklace from Ephyr to lure ML to the dwarf king who wants to test his new weapon. Artis interrupts ML and the dwarf king with an ice blast. Ephyr chases after the sylph king and eventually wins in magic swordsmanship against the king. - ML and co. explain to the elf king about what’s happened to the Goddess of Darkness. He shows them some letters he’s received from Barolt. They contain cryptic messages, with the most recent letter delivered by the merchant caravan that’s leaving that night. - ML and co. join the caravan as mercenary guards. - The dwarf king gives Artis a customised weapon. The sylph king gives Ephyr a secret book of magic. Rondelle wakes up and gives something to Kivye. - NB: The dimensional rifts are due to the goddesses’ weakened protection over Rath’na after the Goddess of Darkness was sealed. The rifts don't appear in the territories of Garhan and Zenovia. - Hollian expresses concern about the rifts to Garhan and Zenovia, who had given Hollian an early warning about them. She knows about their plans and supports them as her team mates and friends. They’re keeping some aspects a secret from Hollian. Richard has been tasked with killing Hollian if she learns the whole truth. - The 450yo elf king is assassinated by Richard, under the orders of Garhan and Zenovia. Publicly his death is announced as caused by chronic illness. - Leonhart is arrested by the Dark Brotherhood for conducting an unauthorised investigation, and for going against the oracle of the Goddess of Darkness. He tells the shaman that he suspects someone is pretending to be the Goddess and has stolen her divine power. - Laude and Zhanglu who were set free, attempt to break Leonhart out of the Brotherhood prison. They are surrounded by the Brotherhood but Leonhart breaks free from his restraints and protects Laude and Zhanglu. - The shaman has the Brotherhood surrender and admits it was a test to see Leonhart’s resolve. The shaman also suspects the Goddess is an imposter. The latest oracle ordered the arrests of ML, Artis, Ephyr and Kivye, with wanted posters to be put up soon. They are accused of assassinating the elf king. - Leonhart with Laude and Zhanglu go to find ML and co. - The fairy alliance don’t believe ML and co. are guilty so an investigative team is set up to find out the truth. Richard is assigned as the team leader. His task under Garhan and Zenovia is to kill ML and co. Leslie is assigned to keep an eye on Hollian. - The 4 heroes in the war 20yrs ago sent the defeated other worlders to a sky dungeon and sealed them away. As punishment, the other worlders with an average of L80 were made to hunt monsters to collect their magic stones for the heroes. - Richard has a group of these other worlders hunt ML and co. - ML and co. enter the desert and reach the forgotten ancient city of Callan. It’s situated on a huge oasis in the middle of the desert. The desert city was built on the rooftops of the ruins. A dungeon appeared 35yrs ago and is known as the Great Labyrinth. - ML’s team save Madame Celia from thieves. She owns and runs many of the businesses in the city. She gives them a map to help with exploring the labyrinth. She also gave them artifacts called chain fragments that tell you if a team mate is in danger. - In the dungeon, ML fights the monsters and leaves the final blow to Artis and Ephyr so they can absorb the life force and level up their dragon cores. With great teamwork, they destroy a large and difficult monster. They realise the map Celia gave them was to the thieves’ hideout. They bring the thief leader back to Celia and ML threatens her for tricking them. Suddenly ML is grabbed by someone and smashed through the wall and through the lower floors. It’s Barolt (L200+ alpha). - Barolt refuses to listen to ML and insists on fighting him. They’re stopped by Celia before they demolish the whole city. - Kivye explains the situation to Barolt and he refuses. - Kivye tries to kill herself as she feels unwanted but also needs to send word back to the Goddess. ML saves her. ML, Ephyr and Artis convince Kivye that she’s a much valued member of the team. - Barolt wants to take ML with him to defeat the divine beast that’s guarding the lowest floor of the labyrinth. Once the beast is defeated and the dungeon closed, Barolt agrees to go on the mission set by the Goddess of Darkness. Kivye cuts her hair and gives it to ML, hoping the divine power in her hair might help him. - The merchant caravan that ML’s team had guarded earlier is approached by the other worlders group on behalf of the fairy alliance. The other worlders kill everyone in the caravan and frame ML for their murder. - Leonhart, Laude and Zhanglu are in the desert and they come across the bodies of those from the merchant caravan. A survivor tells them it was a group from the fairy alliance before she dies. - Leonhart can tell the killers were other worlders from how the caravan people died. He recalls an incident 15yrs ago when Richard’s family were killed by the villagers after they found out he was an other worlder. Richard killed all of the villagers for revenge. - Martin the warrior and the sister spiritualists Elza and Poelle were in the party that ML saved from the spider queen before. - Martin was also the one who speared Zhanglu. - Martin is obsessed with getting stronger than the other worlders. - Barolt saves Martin from a strong monster. A horde of monsters surround them, so Barolt takes the sisters while ML carries the injured Martin down a long and winding water drain. - They arrive at Barolt’s home base that he’s created from the remains of monsters. Barolt offers to train ML and Martin for 15 days until they run out of food. - ML has an abnormal amount of aura which developed due to the extreme hardships he faced and fought against. As he only recently manifested his aura, he is bad at controlling it. It’s almost as if ML is cursed to be unable to control aura. He wants to learn how to create an aura blade like Barolt. - There’s a massive door near Barolt’s home. Behind the door is the divine beast that Barolt wants ML to defeat. The door can only be opened by slashing it with an aura blade. - After a few days, Barolt opens the door with his aura blade and pushes ML through to the other side. The door seals up behind ML. A giant arm of an Angel is trapped (by Barolt) and blocking a rift in the ground. - Barolt used the skin of the Angel to make the door. - Barolt wants to bring out ML’s true nature while surviving in a situation where ML can’t escape and is faced with death. - ML fights that arm for 5 days straight. After ML has run out of aura, he can finally sense all 4 of the vital energies around him. - ML realises the wood from the world tree acts as a sheath for his sword while it absorbs ML’s aura and creates a blade from bloodstone (red aura crystal). He unsheathes his sword and slashes the door into pieces while severing the Angel’s arm. - ML is unconscious for 2 days. Ch 120 to 125 [ Barolt’s story and how he met the other 3 Heroes ] - 70yrs ago, dungeons and monsters suddenly appeared on the Rath’na continent. Valterians were treated as simple barbarians and often hired as cheap mercenaries. As a boy, Barolt lost his family while fighting monsters during a mercenary job. 21yo Barolt leaves his tribe and travels to the Rath’na continent to grow stronger. - Barolt pushed himself to grow stronger as he endlessly fought monsters. 25yo Barolt meets Garhan, a magic swordsman from Thunderbolt, a hunter guild. Garhan hides his identity as the heir of the noble Andrews family. While Barolt and Garhan fought each other, they destroyed the monster that killed Barolt’s family. Barolt awakened his aura during their fight. - Garhan takes Barolt to his guild to collect the reward for killing the monster. Garhan convinces Barolt of his sincerity in hunting monsters to protect the weak. Barolt agrees to join Garhan’s party as his guardian knight. Garhan is disowned by his family for becoming a lowly hunter. Barolt and Garhan focus on closing dungeons and become famous. They sell their dungeon artifacts to Zenovia who researched the Demon God’s magic. She later joined their party. - They saved Hollian, a nymph slave who was being mistreated with other slaves by a nymph noble family. Hollian also joined the party and they became known as righteous hunters who helped the weak. Their strength and their followers grew. - Years pass. The party hold promotional exhibition shows to encourage the nobles to invest in more hunter guilds. - Other worlders have started to appear. - Garhan’s father dies and he decides to retire as a hunter to return to being a noble and a political figure. - Barolt challenges Garhan to a duel to determine who was the strongest. After an epic battle, Hollian and Zenovia stop them from killing each other. Garhan begs Barolt to stay by his side. Barolt doesn’t agree with Garhan giving up his sword and leaves the party. - 20yrs later, Barolt continues to search for “true strength.” - Garhan of Kaldurie declares war on Great Earth and the other worlders. Barolt finds new purpose in representing his tribe and joins Garhan in the war. - After the war ends, the 4 comrades are called Heroes by the goddesses. A massive volcanic eruption occurs on the island where the Valterian tribe is. They’re all killed, leaving Barolt as the last surviving Valterian. - Garhan secretly spread a false rumour that the other worlders are demons to justify the war (?) [ ML’s story resumes ] - ML and Barolt enter the rift to fight the Angels. - Those who can see guidelines can’t attack Angels. That’s because both other worlders and Angels are sent by the Demon God. - ML is able to kill the Angels by using aura. Barolt trains ML as they fight the Angels. - Artis, Ephyr and Kivye work at the Oasis bar under Celia as they wait for Barolt and ML to return. - Richard and the other worlder assassins arrive at Callan and target Artis, Ephyr and Kivye right away. - Leonhart arrives with Laude and Zhanglu and they help Artis, Ephyr and Kivye against their attackers. - Kivye was to be captured alive. As the goddess’ embodiment, she is an avatar that has a share of the goddess’ power. If Garhan kills Kivye with his own hands, he’ll obtain more of the goddess’ power. - Garhan needs the knowledge and info to control the goddess’ divine power that was sealed inside Kivye. - Martin is finally able to manifest his aura. - More other worlder assassins arrive at Barolt’s home. - ML receives a signal from the communication device that Celia gave him. Barolt continues to fight the Angels while ML leaves the rift to check on his friends. ML arrives at Barolt’s home just in time to save Martin and the twin sisters from being killed. - ML kills the assassins except for their healer who ML gets to help Martin and the sisters recover, then they head to Callan. - Garhan arrives in Callan and he kills Martin and one of the sisters. Garhan easily defeats ML and Leonhart. Garhan absorbs the knowledge and info from Kivye. Multiple rifts suddenly appear across the darkened skies and angels come pouring out. - Barolt appears through a rift. Garhan offers to share his divine power with Barolt who has less than 4mths to live. - Barolt creates a new divine power from his own aura. - Garhan and Barolt fight a colossal battle. Both are critically injured and weakened. As the skies clear and the rifts close, Zenovia arrives to finish off Barolt. He still manages to sever her legs. ML and co. arrive to protect Barolt. As ML fights Garhan, Zenovia opens a portal. Zenovia and Garhan escape. - Barolt is using the small aura he has left to stay alive. He asks ML to strike the last blow so Garhan and Zenovia, who have artificial guidelines from the Demon God’s blessing, don’t get the XP from his death. This is his last battle as true warriors. - Barolt found Celia as a baby among the ashes of his tribe. She is now the last surviving Valterian. - Barolt’s death is announced. The truth is yet to be revealed. - From the XP received, ML finally levels up.

(on Webtoon too) - Ch 239 as of 14/11/23 ** Fight bullying with superpowers ** With great power comes great responsibility ** True strength is having the courage to face a stronger opponent. - The powerful loner, Kayden Break (electrokinetic ability) transforms into a fat ginger cat to hide and recover his strength after he was severely injured from an attack by a large group of Awakened. He’ll stay as cat until he’s fully recovered but later finds out he can’t control his human transformation / it’s unstable. - Jiwoo Seo hides his awakened speed ability and lives on his own (his mother works overseas). Because of his ability, they move around a lot. Jiwoo loves cats as his 1st friend was a stray cat. - Kayden teaches Jiwoo a method to train, develop and strengthen his powers, ie grow and control his ability (ie FORCE CONTROL). Kayden also teaches Jiwoo combat moves as Kayden believes you need a balance between physical and awakened abilities. 1st ARC: - The Professor (Dr Delein) - Wooin (psycho-telekinetic ability) - The Professor illegally experiments with forced awakenings on stray animals. He is Wooin’s saviour and mentor. - Jiwoo befriends Wooin at school. - The Professor is arrested by Seongha Park and his men from the Korean Awakeners Association (KAA). - Chairwoman Jiyoung Yoo (wind ability), brother Jisuk Yoo and Inhyuk Goo are all under the Shinhwa Group. - Jiwoo and Jisuk fight in a supervised match at Shinhwa. - Wooin and Jisuk also fight each other at Shinhwa. - Jiwoo, Wooin and Jisuk all become friends. (NB: they all go to the same high school) - Wanted criminals, the Klein Brothers come looking for the Professor and face the 3 boys. Jiyoung and Kayden save them. - Subin Lee (ice ability), the KAA leader’s grand-daughter, fights Wooin at Shinhwa. Wooin rejects Mr Park’s offer to join the KAA. 2nd ARC: - Jiwoo, Wooin, Jisuk and Subin attend the new Awakened Academy event for 2 months. The Principal is Seongkik Han. - Other students are from the Baekdu Group, the Baekho Group, and the Mir Group (animals) - Unaffiliated vs Affiliated Awakened (ie conditions, privileges) - There’s a sparring match: Wooin and Jiwoo kick arse. - Jiwoo is tested for his limited animal ability with Kayden as a combat cat. Kayden also kicks butt. - Jiwoo is rated very highly by all of the teachers as a result. - Jiwoo is invited to learn under Principal Seongkik Han and the Baekdu Elder but he declines both. The Baekdu Elder takes this as an insult and attacks Jiwoo. Kayden in human form blows the roof off the gym and reveals Jiwoo is his student. 3rd arc: - Back at school: the gang is as tight as ever lol - The Professor and the Klein Bros escape from the KAA with help from Robert, an Awakened with psychic and mind control powers. - The friends agree to search for the Professor together. They split up. Wooin finds the Professor, while the other 3 face off against the older Klein Brother. All 4 get injured but are successful. - Sucheon of Baekdu challenges Jiwoo to a rematch, which he accepts. Jiwoo blows him away to win. Kayden reveals himself as Jiwoo’s teacher here too. He thanks Shinhwa for looking after Jiwoo and says he owes them a favour. - Kayden is still in human form at Jiwoo’s house. He is introduced to Jiwoo’s shocked friends when they drop by. - After much teasing by Jisuk and Subin, Choi Kangseok of the Baekho Group makes a surprise visit to Jiwoo’s place and challenges him to a match in the future. Jiwoo accepts. 4th arc: - Jiwoo is kidnapped and brutally tortured by 2 overseas criminal awakened for info on Kayden. Baekdu VP Sooman Kang finds Jiwoo and tries to save him. Kayden comes and finishes off the main torturer Dylan, while the other criminal called Dark flees. - Jiwoo is in hospital at Shinhwa. The doctor says he’ll never be able to use his powers or arms the same way again. Jiwoo’s friends visit him in intensive care. All try to keep a brave face but when they leave, his friends are angry and in despair. - Wooin convinces the Professor to help Jiwoo. While the Professor has no healing abilities, he can help with awakened abilities. The Professor tells Jiwoo that his awakened core was destroyed but he still attempts to treat Jiwoo. - Kayden asks Shinhwa to find out who leaked Jiwoo’s info. - The Baekdu VP secretly investigates the Baekdu President / CEO (and brother of VP) and finds out he’s been dealing with the Group of Flames. They’re an organisation of criminal awakened from different countries around the world. - Shinhwa locate Dark and Chairwoman Jiyoung faces off and defeats him. Dark is imprisoned by Shinhwa. When interrogated by Kayden, Dark asks why did he accept Jiwoo as his disciple. Kayden says Jiwoo doesn’t expect anything from him. - The Baekdu VP outs his brother the President as the one who leaked Jiwoo’s info and allowed criminals into the country. Kayden faces off with him and kills him. - Dark escapes during a transfer and visits Jiwoo but doesn’t kill him. Kayden also lets him go. - The Professor fixed Jiwoo’s arms but can’t fix his core. Kayden asks Curtin, a world ranker renowned for his healing abilities, to fix Jiwoo’s core in exchange for learning Kayden’s force control. Jiwoo declines the offer to be treated but Curtin insists on trying after Kayden agreed to teach him animal transformation. Curtin saw Kayden transform into a cat and thinks this is an extension of Kayden’s abilities, but it’s actually useless according to Kayden. - Jiwoo is healed initially but needs ongoing healing treatments by Curtin. Kayden taught Curtin the technique and he transformed himself into a scrawny white neutered cat. - Jiyoung tells Jiwoo about the Academy starting up again sooner than expected. Jiwoo is ok to participate but he must not use his powers. Sucheon of Baekdu is seeking revenge and will also be attending the Academy again. 5th Arc: - Jiwoo returns to the Academy with Kayden and Curtin as cats. Uninvited guests from the World Awakeners Academy (WAA, an international school of elite bullies) are also there. - Their reps are insisting on a sparring match between the world students and the Koreans. The world students include 2 of the strongest rookies of all, Asher Brian and Duke Grayne. - Principal Seongkik Han reminds all of the instructors that they must hide their Academy’s true strength to avoid being targeted and crushed by the WAA. - The world students keep provoking the Koreans until they get in a fight and badly injure the unaffiliated students. The affiliated ones can’t hold back any more and decide to give their all in the sparring match. The strongest aren’t included on purpose by the instructors. When the first affiliated Korean is beaten badly by a world opponent, the strongest step up to take them on. - Choi Kangseok, Sucheon and Wooin all win their matches. Jisuk and Asher end in a tie. Subin is last against Duke. Jiwoo interrupts their match to save Subin from a killer strike by Duke. Shocked by Jiwoo’s speed, Duke demands a match with Jiwoo in 3 days time. Although Subin was defeated, the Korean academy defeated the world academy overall. - Principal Seongkik Han teaches his force control to Jiwoo before his match with Duke. With his speed, tenacity and strategy, Jiwoo wins with an incredible punch utilising what he learnt. - Another world awakened student Gahin Loutrain arrives with his mythical beast panther Lancelot. (The panther is an awakened animal). Kayden as a cat wins in both encounters against this panther, with Jiwoo pretending to use his animal ability. - Iseul’s white dog Doori from the Mir Group was badly injured fighting Lancelot to protect Kayden and Curtin (in cat form). Curtin offers to heal Doori in exchange for learning Kayden’s cat punch. Curtin uses that punch on Gahin Loutrain who insulted Curtin by calling him an ugly neutered cat. - The world reps try to scout Wooin and Jiwoo to join the WAA but they both reject the offer. The reps approach all of the other strongest students who also refuse. - The world reps decide to destroy the students instead. Dark kills one of them who is targeting Jiwoo. Dark meets Jiwoo to tell him to become stronger as Kayden’s disciple, and that he’s paid back his debt to Jiwoo. - Jiyoung briefly visits the Academy. 6th arc: - Back at Shinhwa, Jiyoung receives a marriage proposal from the Patrick family who have strong awakeners in the top ranks. Veramundt Patrick is in the top 10 and his grandson Julian Patrick is expected to debut in the top 100 in the world. - Jisuk interrupts to oppose the proposal from Julian and he even says Jiwoo is Jiyoung’s boyfriend. Julian disparages Jiwoo and Kayden interrupts, angry that his student is being insulted. - Julian is forced to apologise by his grandpa. Julian challenges Jiwoo to a match, which he accepts to everyone’s surprise. They agree to meet again in a month to have the match. Jiwoo admits to Kayden that he expects to lose the match but he’ll do his very best and learn as much as he can from the experience. - A month later and the match is held at Shinhwa. Julian offers to concede defeat if Jiwoo can lay a scratch. Initially Jiwoo tricks Julian to think he uses electrokinesis like Kayden, then Jiwoo launches a massive speed attack that surprises Julian. - Jiwoo injures his arm, but Julian is pushed back and his clothes are shredded. Julian concedes it was his loss this time. Jiwoo wants to have a rematch when he’s fully qualified to do so. 7th arc: - Dr Kang Yoojung, Jiwoo’s mother returns home briefly. - She’s a pharmaceutical scientist for an overseas company. - She chose this line of work to learn more about Jiwoo’s ability and see if there was a cure. (She saved Dark in the past?) - When Jiwoo tells her that he’s discovered he’s an awakened one, she already knew this through her work. - She decided not to tell Jiwoo to protect him from the very dangerous world of awakeners. After meeting his friends and Kayden, she realises he’s much happier as an awakened one. - Jiyoung drops by with a fruit basket (Jisuk messaged her). 8th arc: - Curtin confirms Jiwoo’s core is fully recovered and no longer needs treatment. Curtin extends his stay with Jiwoo. - Vator, world rank no. 50, is in Seoul looking for Kayden. - Baekdu are threatened by Vator to bring either Kayden or Jiwoo to him, or risk the group being destroyed. Sucheon visits Jiwoo to get Kayden and Jiwoo to meet Vator themselves. - Jiyoung comes to help Baekdu and show the world the strength of South Korea’s awakeners. She fights Vator who uses up too much energy against her. He retreats but is met by Kayden who attacks Vator until he concedes. Vator sees Curtin with Kayden and wants Curtin to remove the scar from his face. Vator keeps asking and Curtin keeps refusing. 9th arc: - Chairwoman Kim Hyeyoung, Mir Group. - Hyeyoung is also Iseul’s grandmother. - Hyeyoung wants to meet Jiwoo and his cats. - Iseul takes Hyeyoung to Jiwoo’s house. The other cats are all over Hyeyoung while Kayden and Curtin as cats remain wary. - Hyeyoung offers to teach Jiwoo how to communicate with animals. He politely declines as he doesn’t think he could handle the responsibility of knowing what animals think and feel. Hyeyoung understands and says the offer is there if he changes his mind. - Principal Seongkik Han receives an invitation for admission to the World Awakeners Academy (WAA). The students invited from the Korean Academy are Jiwoo, Wooin, Jisuk, Soobin, Sucheon and Kangseok. They will be away for about a month. The true purpose of the invitation by the WAA is to analyse everyone’s abilities while breaking everyone’s spirits. - Jiwoo wants to go even though it’ll be dangerous. He’s keen to fight and learn from other awakeners like Duke. - Inhyuk Goo and Seongha Park chaperone the students to the WAA. Kayden and Curtin as cats are also with them. - Kariss Loutraine, WAA principal. - She’s an Elder and head of the Loutraine family. - Lia Eresby, president of the WAA student council. - She’s 1 of the top 10 students at WAA. - Duke and Gahin are friendly with Jiwoo and the others. - Jessica officially challenges Subin to a sparring match which is allowed under the WAA rules. Jessica had earlier provoked Subin and got punched in the face. Subin overwhelmingly defeats Jessica. Subin also issues a challenge to Duke. - Fjord, WAA vice principal - He is supportive of the Korean students. The WAA has become stagnant and reflects the real world of awakeners too much. - Kariss visits Jiwoo in his room to see the cats for herself. She detects the strong killing intent from Kayden and thinks he’s a naturally awakened cat. She asks Jiwoo to give Kayden to her but he refuses as Kayden is his family. She then asks for Kayden’s kittens (!) She later gives Jiwoo some photos of prospective mates for Kayden (!!) - Glant Gesimov, 1 of the top 10 students at WAA - Jiwoo officially challenges Glant to a sparring match. - Glant has impenetrable defence as his strength. - Jiwoo knocks out and defeats Glant by using a powerful combo of super speed and electricity. Even though he lost, Glant knows he gave it his all and has no regrets. - Curtin helps to heal Jiwoo’s injuries from the match. - Jiwoo lets it slip by mistake to Lia that Curtin healed him. - Kariss thinks a cat has awakened with healing abilities. - Jiwoo says he wants to challenge all of the top 10 WAA students. He’s just excited and enjoying the experience. The other Korean students decide to officially challenge the top 10 with Jiwoo. Duke, Asher, Gahin and Glant have already fought with the Koreans. There are 6 WAA students left to match up with the 6 Korean rookies. - Sucheon (gravitokinesis) vs Laura Jenson (ground manipulation) - Wooin vs Jean from Omega (fire control) - Kangseok vs Eley Pikaroon (close combat) - Subin vs Lia (barriers / shields) … interrupted - Fjord suddenly imprisons the WAA staff, Kariss, Inhyuk Goo and Seongha Park behind a special barrier. A criminal trio called Earthquake appears. Fjord and Earthquake are members of the Group of Flames. They plan to kill everyone. Fjord activated another barrier that traps everyone in the stadium. - Jiwoo gets Earthquake to focus on him instead of killing the other students. He is also trying to stall for time until the barriers deactivate after 30mins. The other Korean students join Jiwoo to distract Earthquake. Their teamwork and self sacrifice shock the WAA students who are only accustomed to seeing the strong trampling the weak. There are no true friends or allies among the awakened in their ongoing power struggle. - Kayden in human form arrives just in time to save Jiwoo from Earthquake. Curtin in human form protects the other Korean students. Kayden confirms he is Jiwoo’s teacher. Then he wipes out Earthquake and Fjord for harming Jiwoo. Kayden declares war on the Group of Flames. - Andre from the Group of Flames is a top 10 world ranker. - He arrives to stop Kayden. After rejecting Kayden’s challenges to fight in the past, Andre finally agrees to fight Kayden. - Curtin protects everyone and activates his spatial isolation barrier to minimise the surrounding damage. - Andre and Kayden clash with enormous power. Andre voluntarily stops the fight for now. Kayden declares he is still intent on fighting all of the top 10 world rankers in the Group of Flames. Curtis heals Jiwoo’s life threatening injuries. - WAA is indebted to Jiwoo and Kayden for saving them. - The world students all thank Jiwoo for his bravery. - WAA will close temporarily while they install countermeasures to ensure everyone’s safety. The Korean students will return home early as a result. - Gahin discovers Duke is actually a Group of Flames member. Duke joined them in exchange for learning force control from 1 of the top 10 world rankers. Jiwoo saves Gahin who is badly injured by Duke. Curtin arrives and Duke runs away. - Rost, Schnauder’s disciple & a top 10 world ranker. - In the past Kayden refused to let Rost (and anyone else) be his disciple. Rost attacks the WAA to meet Jiwoo. Roar challenges Jiwoo to a fight. Dark suddenly appears and provokes Rost by mentioning Kayden’s past rejection of Rost. They fight but are interrupted by Kariss and her massive familiar Phoenix. 10th arc: - Subin’s grandfather and head of the KAA. - He only has about 3yrs left to live. Subin’s parents died after they were betrayed by awakened who were their friends and colleagues. He avenged her parents but sacrificed his health to do so. He forbids Subin from seeing anyone outside of the KAA and makes her focus on training and getting stronger. - The Professor treats Subin’s grandpa after Wooin begged him. Then Curtin examines Subin’s grandpa after Kayden and Jiwoo hurt Curtin’s pride in his healing abilities. After a few days undergoing treatment from Curtin, Subin’s grandpa is completely healed. Subin returns to play with the boys and cats. 11th arc: - Kayden warns Jiwoo to maintain control when he’s trying to get stronger by using force control. Uncontrollable power can cause severe internal damage. Kayden teaches Jiwoo how to knock someone out by shocking their brain with electricity. - Ian Patrick, Julian’s younger brother - He warns Jiwoo to be wary of Julian … - Jiwoo is worried when he hasn’t been able to contact his mother Dr Kang Yoojung. He takes Kayden and Curtin (as cats) and visits her home address, but the apartment looks like no one has ever lived there. He visits her workplace at Ohin Pharmaceutical. Jiwoo agrees to go with some men who claim to know where Dr Yoojung is. They drive for a long time then try to kill Jiwoo when he gets suspicious. - Dr Yoojung was hiding the fact she had a son. - She’s been secretly helping awakened test subjects escape? - She’s being interrogated by Layla, a psychic awakened. - After beating up the men, Jiwoo makes one of them take him to Dr Yoojung. He sees his mother’s bruised face and Layla admits she plans to use her psychic ability to extract intel while driving his mother insane. Jiwoo beats up Layla…

Ch 200 as of 15/07/24 ** Side stories manhwa from Ch 180 ** - ML goes through school etc - ends with ML’s son Ch 179 as of 17/05/22 - also on Tapas ** End of Season 1 - Ch 110 ** Webtoon done. Webnovel side stories / epilogue also done. ( https://page.kakao.com/home?seriesId=48787313 ) ( https://www.readlightnovel.me/solo-leveling-050522/chapter-243 ) Side stories: - ML became the greatest hero after bringing the war between 2 worlds to an end. ML retains all of his memories, skills and the shadow army that numbers in the millions now. He has godlike abilities including eternal youth and immortality. He adjusts his appearance over time to blend in. - ML reappeared after he was missing for 2yrs. He was expelled from middle school for inadequate attendance. - He studied hard and entered high school with an athletics and track dept. He joined the athletics club. - ML meets Cha Hae-In and Kim Chul (Iron the shadow soldier) at the regional / national? high school athletics competition. - Woo Jinchul is a police detective. Criminals are turning themselves in to police after seeing Shadow Monsters. - Woo Jinchul recalls his past life memories after meeting ML again. He thanks ML for what he did. - ML stops an invasion by a race of rock-eating Titans over a desert in the US. He extracts the Titans’ shadows to join the shadow army. - Footage was taken of ML’s battle by the US Army who were made to retreat by ML. David Brannen is now the CIA Director and visited Norma Selner, a famous retired psychic, for any info on ML. Norma most likely has her past life memories. She won’t divulge ML’s details but assures David that ML is safe and can be trusted. - ML goes to the same college Jinho will attend. - Cha Hae-In became ML’s girlfriend before he started college. - First Kiss: Xmas after ML accepted a scholarship at the college of his choice. - Later ML became a police detective with the nickname “Phantom”. He is a legend in the police force with a 200% clearance rate of solving cases. Woo Jinchul became the youngest ever Station Commander with help from ML in solving his cases. - ML finally accepts the position of Superintendent after years of refusing a promotion so he could continue doing fieldwork. - Jinho is dating Jin-Ah who is studying medicine. - They get married and later she becomes pregnant. - Jinho started his own game development company. - ML is married to Cha Hae-In and they have a baby boy. - At 6mths old, their son starts to fly on his own. - Their 5yo son attends kindergarten to socialise with other children but they fear him instinctively. The boy’s powers and his daily interactions with the shadow army means he can’t have a normal life. ML seals away his son’s powers and memories for now. - ML and the commanders of his shadow army have been testing ML’s son over the years. He’s now in his first year of high school. ML deems it’s still too early to unseal his son’s powers. - ML continues to secretly protect the world from outside forces that seek his power. He hopes his son will join him one day. ____________________________ - Gate: connects this world to another dimension. - Dungeon: where monsters reside. - Dungeons are places for survival of the fittest. This applies to monsters and hunters alike. Anything can happen inside a dungeon. - After a gate opens, hunters have 7 days to kill the boss monster and close the gate. This must be done to prevent the risk of monsters breaking out into the real world after 7 days. - Hunters: those who are awakened with the power to hunt monsters. A hunter’s stats are usually set after their awakening. - Hunters have abnormal strength and regeneration. - The difference in rank makes a difference in income. - When hunting monsters, the higher the risk, the higher the reward. - ML is Sung Jinwoo, an E-rank hunter for 4yrs. - He works as a hunter to pay for his sick mother’s medical bills. - After he woke up with a new power, he’s going to change from the weakest hunter to the strongest S-rank hunter. - He is the only hunter who can gain experience, level up and get stronger over time, like a player in a game. (ie solo leveling) - He’s the sole existence that receives the system’s benefits. - Song Chiyul, a C-rank hunter and raid party leader. - Kim Sang Shik - Lee Juhee, a B-rank healer and ML’s friend - The Double Dungeon in a D-rank gate: - The raid party with 17 hunters cleared the D-rank monsters when they find another tunnel that leads to what looks like the boss room. - They open the huge doors and enter a massive circular chamber. Along the walls are giant stone statues. A colossal statue that reaches the ceiling is seated opposite the entry. After they read 3 Carthenon commandments on a stone tablet, the doors close. - A D-rank hunter tries to leave and is killed by the statues near the doors. ML’s survival instinct makes him call out for everyone to duck as the colossal statue shoots deadly beams from it's eyes. - ML realises the 3 commandments are a hint on the rules / trials for this chamber. He manages to decipher them for those remaining as the statues come to life. - After the 3rd commandment, the doors open. It becomes apparent as hunters leave, one person must stay behind. - ML tells Song Chiyul, who lost an arm, to leave with Lee Juhee. - ML is the last person left as his leg was torn off. He’s impaled by one of the statues on the central raised altar. - Secret quest: “Courage of the Weak” - ML suddenly sees a status window that says he’s completed all of the requirements for this quest. He agrees to become a “player.” - The quest reward is a special spell that ensures ML is always strong and healthy. - KHA = Korean Hunters Association - ML wakes up in hospital after being unconscious for 3 days. - His body is intact and he has both legs. - KHA inspectors come to see him. They say he was found unconscious on an altar but the chamber and statues had disappeared. He was the only survivor left inside. Only 6 hunters survived the Double Dungeon massacre, including ML. - Double awakening: when hunters experience a 2nd awakening. - The inspectors test ML to see if he received a reawakening / double awakening, but his magic power level is still low. - Sung Jin-Ah, ML’s younger sister and a high school student. - Only ML can see the status windows. - He can see his stats, skills, inventory and the store. - He receives quests from the system. - There’s a penalty if he doesn’t complete the quests. - Daily quest: Prepare to grow stronger - ML must complete a set number of exercises every day. - ML receives rewards after he completes the quest for the day. - The rewards are recovery, stats and random box. - Penalty quest: Survive until the time runs out (4hrs). - ML is teleported to a desert and chased by giant centipede monsters. When he completes the quest, he’s teleported back. - ML obtains an instant dungeon key (E-rank) from the random option. The key opens a dungeon at the 3rd entrance to Hapjung station. ML can’t leave the dungeon until he’s killed the boss. - In his inventory is a sword that was left behind in the Double Dungeon. He uses the sword to fight numerous Steel Fang wolf monsters. He levels up and earns the title “Wolf Slayer”. His damage increases for all beast type monsters. - Muscularity skill - Sprint skill - ML continues to level up as he fights various beast monsters. - In an instant dungeon, the monsters keep respawning. - ML is now L15 and his sword is wearing down. He goes to the boss room and faces a giant serpent. His sword breaks right away. - ML uses his broken sword and brute strength to kill the serpent. - Rasaka’s Venom (A-rank): a potion that gives you hardened skin (Rasaka’s Steel Scales) but weakens your strength. - Rasaka’s Fang (C-rank): a dagger with Paralyse and Bleed effects. - With the boss monster killed, the dungeon disappears. - ML is now L18. He emerges from the subway to find the area has been attacked by monsters. A soldier sees ML and confirms he’s a hunter. ML is taken to the giant rock golem boss monster (D-rank). - A group of E and D-rank hunters are struggling to defeat the golem. ML sees Lee Juhee among them. - ML throws his broken sword with enough force to pierce the golem’s head, causing it to collapse. He leaves soon after. - ML experiences physical changes as his strength stats increases. He’s become taller, more toned and muscular. - ML joins a raid party to make up the numbers for a C-rank gate. - The party consists of C and D-rank hunters. - There’s a rule for entering C-rank gates: the party must have at least 10 hunters, with at least half of those at C-rank. - This is ML’s 1st C-rank gate. - Hwang Dongsuk, a C-rank hunter and raid party leader. - Jo Gyu Hwan, a C-rank mage. - Yoo Jinho 22yo, a wealthy D-rank hunter. It’s his 1st raid. - Yoo Myeong Han, Jinho’s father and Chairman of the Yoo Jin Architecture company. Jinho is his 2nd son. His 1st son is 32yo. - ML is assigned the role of baggage handler. - There’s no healer in this party of tankers and damage dealers. - ML’s increased sense stat helps him detect the insect monsters coming from the tunnel above them and he shouts a warning. - ML has a bad feeling about this party. - He received a status window warning to beware of lizards. - They find the boss room with the massive spider boss monster asleep after devouring other insect monsters. - The boss room has a huge deposit of large mana crystals. - The “lizards” are Dongsuk’s team of 8 hunters who leave their “lizard tails” ML and Yoo Jinho behind in the boss room. They blow up the entrance to trap ML and Yoo Jinho in there. The explosion wakes up the giant spider. - Crimes occur in dungeons as they’re difficult to police and hard to prove. Murders are covered up as accidents. - ML repeatedly attacks the giant spider. He accepts an unused recovery reward to reset his fatigue. With the effects of his dagger, ML attacks the spider’s head until it's killed. ML levels up to L21. - Dongsuk’s team blast open the entry to the boss room. They’re surprised to find the boss monster dead and ML and Jinho still alive. - Emergency quest: Kill the enemies. - The system generates this quest as Dongsuk’s team try to kill ML. His heart will stop is the penalty if he fails to kill them instead. - ML kills people for the 1st time. He dispatches all 8 of them, ending with the beheading of the leader. - ML and Jinho takes some mana crystals then leave as the dungeon and gate will close now that the boss monster is dead. - Bloodlust / Killing Intent skill - ML is contacted by Jinho and they meet up. Jinho has kept the incident with Dongsuk’s team and ML’s abilities a secret. - Jinho wants to obtain a guild master licence. The condition is the hunter must participate in 20 raids and pass an exam. His father wants to create a guild connected with the company to take advantage of the valuable resources available in dungeons. - Jinho offers ML a new building that will be built for the guild HQ. - ML agrees to help Jinho on the condition only the 2 of them will be on all 19 of the raids left to do. They’ll hire hunters to make up the numbers. - Hidden quest: Demon Castle’s key (S-rank) - After completing the goals twofold for the daily quest, ML received this hidden quest after picking a blessed random box. - ML uses the key to enter the Demon Castle dungeon. - He fights Cerberus, the 3-headed beast that is Hell’s Gatekeeper. After using a recovery reward to heal his severe injuries, ML manages to kill Cerberus and levels up. He decides to return another day when he’s stronger. - Warden’s Necklace (A-rank): increased agility, sense. - Castle door key (A-rank) - Cerberus’ fang - The KHA summons hunters for a low rank dungeon. - ML is reunited with Song Chiyul, Kim Sang Shik, and Lee Juhee. - Gang Taeshik, a B-rank hunter and part of the KHA monitoring division. He’s overseeing 3 C-rank criminal hunters that undergo rehabilitation by helping with dungeon raids. - The group split up to clear the tunnels of goblins. Kim Sang Shik and another hunter came across Taeshik as he killed the 3 criminals. He was paid as an assassin by the father of one of their victims. Taeshik kills Kim Sang Shik and the other hunter. - ML, Chiyul and Juhee come running when they hear screaming and see the dead bodies. Chiyul fights Taeshik first. ML saves Chiyul from Taeshik. ML continues the fight against Taeshik. - Emergency quest: Kill the enemy. - ML has to kill Taeshik or his heart will stop. - Taeshik has high agility, speed and the Camouflage skill. ML uses a recovery reward when he’s injured and stabs Taeshik in the chest. ML clears the quest. He is now L27. - Stealth runestone: break the stone to obtain a skill. - “ He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you.” - Nietzsche - The stronger ML gets, the more emotionless he becomes. - ML kills the hobgoblin boss monster after Chiyul and Juhee left first. The dungeon and the gate close. Chiyul covers up for ML by saying he was the one who killed Taeshik when asked by the KHA. - Woo Jinchul, an A-rank hunter and Chief of the KHA monitoring division. ML is warned that Dongsoo will look for him and Jinho to get revenge for his brother. - Hwang Dongsoo, Dongsuk’s younger brother who went to the US. - He’s a S-rank hunter and part of the Scavenger guild. - Juhee retires as a hunter and returns to her hometown of Busan. - ML and Jinho start clearing C-rank dungeons together. They buy up the rights to all of the C-rank gates in the city. - 8 low rank hunters signed contracts for them to be paid for just waiting outside the dungeons. - ML levels up to L39 and obtains some new skills. - Vital Strike skill - Advanced Dagger Arts skill - Stealth skill - Store access via the system - White Tiger guild, one of the best guilds in the country. - An Sangmin, Chief of the 2nd management dept. - Hyun Geechul, Sangmin’s assistant. - Sangmin has figured out ML must have reawakened after surviving 3 serious dungeon incidents recently. - Sangmin approaches ML in an attempt to scout ML for the White Tiger guild. Sangmin can’t match Jinho’s offer (the new building is super expensive) so ML declines. - ML makes a deal to sell 3 x C-rank gate rights to Sangmin for a huge amount as the White Tiger guild need them to train their hunters. ML warns Sangmin to keep it a secret that ML has reawakened. - ML is notified by a status window that he’s reached the required level. He receives a Job Change quest. ML takes a day off from clearing dungeons and accepts this quest. He enters a dungeon that he can’t exit until he clears it. He fights some diverse opponents. - ML can’t heal in this dungeon. - Knight’s Chestplate armour (B-rank), invisible - Knight’s Gauntlet (B-rank), invisible - Archer’s Gloves (C-rank), invisible - Mage’s Ring (B-rank) - Assassin’s Boots (B-rank), invisible - Leather pouches containing 1000s of gold - Now at L45, ML enters the boss room. - Igris the Blood Red Commander is the boss monster. - After a very close battle, ML gets a lucky strike with his dagger into Igris’ eye. ML continues to strike Igris’ head under the helmet until it dies. - Red Knight’s Helmet (S-rank): increased strength and vitality. - Dominator’s Touch runestone - Leather pouch with 1.5 million gold - Hearthstone: break it to instantly exit the dungeon. - The final trial for the Job Change quest begins. - The longer ML lasts against his opponents, the more points he’ll collect and be placed with a higher tier job. - ML is exhausted, injured and low on mana. Before he is killed, the Penalty quest starts as he didn’t complete the daily quest. - ML is teleported to the Penalty zone just in time. - ML buys recovery potions to get rid of his fatigue. - He kills the giant centipedes within the 4hrs and he heals as he levels up. He buys an expensive new dagger before the Penalty quest ends. ML also breaks the runestone. - Knight Slayer dagger (B-rank): deals more damage against opponents that wear heavy armour. - Dominator’s Touch skill (telekinesis): control objects without touching them. - Dagger Throw skill - ML is teleported back to the Job Change quest. - The room is filled with his opponents. ML realises the mages are the ones summoning the others so he targets the mages first. - After ML kills all of the mages, the many summoned opponents collapse. ML is granted the job of “Necromancer”, a hidden class. - ML’s points are tallied, with extra points for exceeding the expected time, killing all enemies, not using the hearthstone, and his health is above 50%. His total points exceed the feat limit. (Ch 45) - ML is promoted to the superior class of “Shadow Monarch, the King of the Dead”. - He receives the title, “The One Who Overcame Adversity”. - ML is now L51. His new title lets his stats increase proportionally to his missing health (ie 1% stat increase for every 1% HP missing). - ML extracts and saves the shadows of Igris (L7 knight), some soldiers and mages. - Shadow Extraction skill: “Arise” command phrase set. - Save Shadow skill - Han Songi, Jin-Ah’s school friend and an E-rank hunter. - She’s one of the hunters hired by ML and Jinho. - ML goes to meet Jin-Ah’s teacher for a parent-teacher interview. The teacher asks a favour of ML as a hunter to convince Jin-Ah’s hunter friend, Songi to graduate high school. - ML introduces Songi to Sangmin who arranged for them to experience a training session for new recruits. - Baek Yoonho, White Tiger guild master and a S-rank hunter. - He has a magic beast transformation skill. - Joo Sung Chan, Chief of the 1st management dept. - The raid party of 12 is led by Kim Chul, an A-rank hunter and consists of B and C-rank hunters. As the raid party enters the C-rank gate, it changes into a Red Gate. The party are sent to another world. They’re suddenly attacked by ice elf archers who disappear soon after. Kim Chul splits the party to take the higher ranked hunters with him to the dungeon, leaving 5 others behind. - Red Gates connect to another world and only appear in higher ranked gates. Once hunters step inside, the gate closes off. - No one can exit or enter the gate until the boss monster is killed or the dungeon opens on its own. Time passes much faster inside the gate than outside. - Hwang Dongsoo has arrived in the country. Woo Jinchul met him at the airport and takes him to where ML is. Woo Jinchul interrupts Dongsoo and Yoonho before they exchange blows. Dongsoo decides to leave and he goes back to the US. - Park Heejin, B-rank mage - Yoon Kijoong, C-rank tanker - Go Myung Hwan, C-rank martial artist - ML’s team of 5 entered the forest that’s been marked by ice bears. ML kills an ice bear with a single blow to the head. - ML provides warm coats for his team and they cook the bear meat. - ML finds the ice bear lair by himself. He calls forth his shadow army to deal with the bears. Igris fights the boss ice bear and presents the bear’s head to ML. The shadows of the ice bears are added to ML’s army. Later he names the boss ice bear “Tank”. - Kim Chul left the forest with his team and pressed ahead in the snow without sourcing food. They faced ice bears and yeti monsters. When ice elves appear, Kim Chul runs away as his team are all dead. He finds ML’s team all safe with warm gear and food supplies. He accuses them of hiding the supplies from his team and is about to attack when ML stops him with a blow to the head. - About 20 ice elves followed Kim Chul. Somehow ML can communicate with the elves. Baruka the leader of the ice elves wants ML to hand over the other hunters. ML responds by calling his shadow army and they fight the ice elves. - As ML fights Baruka, Kim Chul wakes up and attacks ML from behind. Igris protects ML and kills Kim Chul. - ML extracts Kim Chul’s shadow and calls it “Iron”. - Together with Iron and Igris, ML kills Baruka. The shadow army killed the other ice elves and they all level up. - Baruka was the dungeon boss. With him dead, the gate opens. - Baruka’s Dagger (A-rank): attack and agility buffs. - The 5 survivors exit the gate after a week inside and 7hrs outside. - ML takes Songi home after refusing to talk to Yoonho. - Sangmin is instructed by Yoonho to recruit ML at all costs. - Over the next 2 days, ML finishes clearing 19 dungeons with Jinho. ML is now L61. Jinho gets his guild master licence. - Jinho’s father will let Jinho manage the new Yoo Jin guild on the condition that Jinho recruit ML to the guild. - ML re-enters the Demon’s Castle dungeon and uses the key to open the castle door. He receives a quest to collect 10k demon souls. ML progresses through the floors of the castle. - On the 50th floor, ML faces a boss-grade demon. It’s the ruler of the lower floors, Avaricious Vulcan. While his shadow army fights the demon guards, ML battles Vulcan and kills it. - Demon Monarch’s earring (S-rank): strength, vitality buffs. - Orb of Avarice (A-rank): amplifies magic to deal more damage. - Vulcan’s horns x 2 - World Tree’s fragment - On the 75th floor, ML levels up after he defeats another boss-grade demon, Metus the Guide of Souls. - Demon Monarch’s necklace (S-rank): agility, intelligence buffs. - Spring Water of the Echoing Forest - Domain of the Monarch skill: shadows fighting above the caster’s shadow will have their stats increased by 50%. - ML has collected 10k souls and completes the quest. - ML can pick any item from the store. He chooses a cursed random box that will give an item he needs. It’s an unknown key. - The extra stat points are invested in ML’s intelligence. - The hidden reward is a recipe for the Holy Water of Life. - A powerful Korean hunter called Sung il-Hwan appears in an A-rank dungeon in the US. He says he was stuck in a dungeon for 10yrs when the gate closed. He’s being held by the US Hunter Management Bureau. When Dongsoo returns to the US, he’s asked to speak with Sung il-Hwan. - Gates, dungeons and monsters are a prelude to the real war. - The greatest disaster was woken up recently … - Sung il-Hwan’s goal is to stop the disaster. - Park Kyung-He is his wife. ML and Jin-Ah are his children. - Dongsoo provoked Sung il-Hwan by saying ML is dead. They fight and Dongsoo lost while Sung il-Hwan escaped. - Holy Water of Life (S-rank): a potion that can cure any disease. - ML wants to make this to cure his sick mother. - She suffers from Eternal Slumber, a sleep you can’t wake up from. It’s a disease that broke out after gates started appearing. - He has the World Tree’s fragment and the Spring Water. All that’s left is the Purified Blood of the Demon King. - ML visits the KHA office to have his rank re-evaluated. - The detector says ML’s magic power is immeasurable. - ML is most likely the country’s 10th S-ranker. - Choi Jongin (S-rank), Hunters guild master - Jongin tries to scout ML but he’s rejected by ML. - Go Gunhee 80+yo, Chairman of the KHA and a S-rank hunter. - Gunhee is looking for a successor as he doesn’t have much time left. He tries to recruit ML to the KHA. ML declines as he believes his place is in the dungeons fighting monsters. - The top 5 guilds in the country: - Hunters, Fame, White Tiger, Reaper and Knights. - The Hunter Auction: a market for hunters to buy or sell items obtained from dungeons. - Cha Hae-In, S-rank hunter and vice guild master of Hunters. - ML joins a mining team from the Hunters guild for an A-rank gate. The assault team is led by Jongin and Hae-In. - ML experiences how the assault team, mining team and collecting team (monster corpses) work together in a high rank gate. - ML agrees to join the mining team at another A-rank gate tomorrow. - Son Kihoon, an A-rank hunter and the raid party leader. - Kihoon asks for someone from the mining team to be the porter for the raid party. ML volunteers. - In the dungeon, over 20 high orcs confront the raid party. - ML joins the fight as the party struggles against the orcs. - He used stealth to kill one orc then weakened the other orcs so the party could kill them. - Kihoon decides to retreat with the party but the gate is blocked by a powerful magic barrier. About 50 high orcs arrive and one orc tells the party to follow them. They arrive at a huge hall with numerous high orcs. Their leader is a high orc mage and the final boss. The party were brought there to be entertainment as they’re killed one by one. Kihoon tries to attack the orc mage but succumbs to the orc’s strong magic. - ML saves Kihoon and gets permission to kill all of the monsters. ML summons his shadow army and uses his Domain of the Monarch skill. ML extracts the shadows of the dead high orcs to add to his army. He also drinks a potion to replenish his mana. - The curse spells on ML from the orc mage are cancelled out due to ML’s immunity effect. - Cha Hae-In has the ability to smell the scent of mana. - Cha Hae-In was curious about ML as he’s the 1st hunter who didn’t smell foul to her. She came looking for him at the A-rank gate and decides to enter it to find him. - Woo Jinchul arrives with a team from the KHA to look for ML. They detect a powerful magic energy from the gate and also enter it. - Cha Hae-In and Woo Jinchul with his team arrive at the hall and see a scene of chaos and carnage. ML is clearing this A-rank dungeon by himself. ML extracted the shadows of the 4 high orc guards. ML and the guards kill the orc mage. Then ML extracts the shadow of the orc mage and names it “Tusk”. - Later ML gives the Orb of Avarice to Tusk to use. - Kihoon and the raid party thank ML for saving them. - Woo Jinchul declares what happened with ML in this dungeon to be top secret. He and his men escort ML out of the gate. - Yoo Soo Hyun, Jinho’s cousin, an idol and A-rank hunter. - Lee Minsung, an idol and A-rank hunter - Lee Wonkyu, Minsung’s father and VP of Yoo Jin Architecture - Lim Taegyu, Reaper guild master - A press conference outside of the KHA office was arranged by attention whore Lee Minsung for his debut as a hunter. - ML enters the KHA office to have his rank re-evaluation confirmed after his abilities are assessed. He’s deemed to be a S-rank mage class hunter. ML is ambushed by the press as he leaves the KHA office. He uses his stealth and speed skill to evade them. - ML decides to create his own guild and asked Jinho to be the vice guild master. Jinho accepts ML’s offer and tells his father that he won’t be managing the Yoo Jin guild. - ML left some shadows to guard his sister and protect the neighbourhood. Then ML re-enters the Demon Castle dungeon for the 3rd time. He bought new gear, a wind robe and a water ring. - Quest: Defeat Baran the Demon King. - ML is now L81. He heads to the 76th floor of the castle. - On the 80th floor, ML meets Lady Esil, daughter of the Radir clan. She surrendered before he could kill her. - When ML asks if she hears anything in her head, she says “protect the area we reside in”. That’s different to “kill the humans” for the ice elves and high orcs. She mentions a great war in the demon world that required all of the demons to face their enemy together. - Esil takes ML to the Radir castle and gets the entry pass for him to proceed to the next floor. While ML spares the Radir clan, he destroys the clan on each floor up to and including the 89th floor. Esil has been guiding ML along the way. - Igris and Tank have reached their maximum level for their rank and they can be promoted. Igris becomes an elite knight while Tank is ranked as a knight. - The difficulty increased from the 90th floor. - ML continues to progress through the floors, leveling up himself and his shadow army. He’s L90 when he clears the 97th floor. - On the 100th floor ML faces the boss monster, Baran the Demon King on a wyvern. Baran summons 100s of demons. ML uses Domain of the Monarch then summons his shadow army as the demons converge upon him. ML targets the wyvern then Baran with Iron and Igris. - After repeatedly attacking Baran, ML grabs Baran’s arms. Esil distracts Baran from firing a blast from his mouth. ML uses all of his strength and Dominator’s Touch to rip off Baran’s arms that are holding daggers. ML kills Baran with a powerful blow that severs Baran’s head. - Demon Monarch’s ring (S-rank): sense and intelligence buffs. This completes the set with the earring and necklace. The set effect increases all stats. - Demon King’s longsword (S-rank): has the Storm of White Flames effect that summons endless lightning. - Demon King’s daggers x 2 (S-rank): increased attack - Baran’s horns x 2 - Purified Blood of the Demon King - ML uses the Purified Blood of the Demon King to craft the Holy Water of Life. He succeeds in creating 6 x potions. - While ML can’t extract the shadows of the demons due to their corrupted mana, he can with the wyvern. He names it “Kaisel”. - ML says goodbye to Esil and uses his new Shadow Exchange skill to swap locations with a shadow in his neighbourhood. - Shadow Exchange (job specific) skill: exchange locations between the user and the selected shadow. - ML’s quest rewards: - Highest quality runestone: Shadow Exchange - Bonus stat points - Title: “Demon Hunter” (condition requirement has not been met) - ML goes to the hospital and enters his mother’s room from the window. He gives her the Holy Water of Life potion and after a while she wakes up from her 4yr slumber. Her body is in perfect condition. - Jinho’s father is diagnosed with the Eternal Slumber disease. A special life support machine that uses magical energy is needed to sustain the patient. Those who died from this disease couldn’t afford the machine. - An S-rank gate opened 4yrs ago on Jeju Island. - After 3 failed raid attempts, the government abandoned the island. The ant monsters have since swarmed all over the island. - There are reports that the ant monsters have mutated and evolved over time. They have now developed wings. - An ant monster with wings managed to fly to a small island of Japan and killed everyone there. It was killed by an A-rank hunter. - Koto / Goto Ryuji, a S-rank hunter from Japan. He’s the Drawn Sword guild master that has 11 S-rank hunters as members. - Ryuji meets with Go Gunhee and proposes an alliance of Japanese and South Korean elite hunters to raid Jeju Island. - The Japanese hunters will lure and distract the ant monsters out from their nest. A jamming signal will be used to interfere with the special wavelength that the ants use for communication. - The South Korean hunters will attack the ant guards and queen ant left behind. With the queen ant dead, the other ant monsters will die in a year which is the length of their life expectancy. - ML is asked by Go Gunhee to participate in the Jeju Island raid. - ML goes with Go Gunhee to observe the S-rankers in training. - Ryuji suggests the Japanese and Korean hunters have a match. - The match consists of 2 groups with 4 hunters each. - The Japanese team won the match. ML stopped Kumamoto Atsushi who had lost control and was about to go on a rampage. - Min Byeong Gu, a S-rank healer (retired) - Ma Dong Ook, a S-rank hunter and Fame guild master. - Japanese S-rank hunters: - Ishida Mari, Hoshino Minoru (Team A) w/ Ryuji - Tawata Kanae, Kumamoto Atsushi (Team B) - Tanaka Kenjo, Shimizu Akari, Huzeshima Tatsumi (Team C) - Izawa Itpei, Kei (Team D) - Reiji Sugimoto, S-rank hunter and Drawn Sword vice guild master. He stayed behind in Japan. - Park Jongsoo, an A-rank hunter and Knights guild master - He’s part of the defence group that will contain Jeju Island. - Ryuji, the best hunter in Japan, asks for a 1-on-1 match with ML. - ML seems to be toying with Ryuji during the match. - They’re stopped by other hunters before they try to kill each other. - No one noticed ML had hid shadow soldiers in their shadows. - ML’s mother returns home. She’s still hoping her hunter husband will also find his way home after disappearing years ago. - ML has his shadows continue to watch over his neighbourhood. He stops a man from killing a woman in an alley. - Jinho has found an office for ML’s guild. - The Jeju Island raid starts. ML isn’t in the raid party. - 5k Korean hunters are on standby as the defence force. They’re there to prevent any ant monsters from infiltrating and attacking the mainland. A cameraman from the official hunter’s reporting centre who is also an A-rank hunter goes with the Korean S-rankers. - The Japanese S-rankers begin their attack and draw out the ant monsters. The jamming signal is activated from one of the Japanese naval ships. The Korean S-rankers enter the ant nest. - ML completes his daily quest. His stats are all over 200 now. - Before the raid, the most highly evolved ant monster hatched from a much larger than usual egg. It starts to kill the Japanese S-rankers. - The Korean S-rankers find the hatchery and kill the ant guards. They find the queen ant and her bodyguards next. Together the Korean S-rankers kill them all. The queen let out a cry before she died that wasn’t affected by the jamming signal. - The ants return to the nest, with the super ant arriving first. - The super ant sees the queen is dead, then it attacks the Korean S-rankers. Min Byeong Gu is killed and his head is consumed by the super ant who steals his power and knowledge. - The super ant is looking for the human king and it flies off after it detects Ryuji’s strong presence. The Korean S-rankers were all badly injured by the super ant as they struggle to fight the swarm of ants returning. - ML used Shadow Exchange to swap locations with a shadow soldier hidden in the Korean team’s shadow. - ML summoned his shadow army and they fight the swarm of ants. ML extracts the shadows of the killed ants to add to his army. - ML gave recovery potions to the other hunters except for Cha Hae-In who needed a powerful healer. - The super ant killed Ryuji and returned to the nest. - ML and the super ant fight each other. - The super ant is like ML. It’s a “Monarch”, a being that grows without limit. It uses Min Byeong Gu’s healing ability and tries to flee but is stopped and killed by ML. To heal Cha Hae-In, ML summons Min Byeong Gu after the camera is turned off. The hunters realise ML’s true power is to summon the dead. ML cancels the summons for Min Byeong Gu after he heals Cha Hae-In so he may rest in peace. - ML has now reached L100. - As the hunters evacuate from Jeju Island, ML stays behind. He and his shadow mages destroy the ant eggs in the hatchery. - ML extracts the shadow of the super ant. It’s rank is general and it has the highest rank out of all his shadows. It is also the only shadow that can talk. ML names it “Beru”. - Matsumoto Shigeo, President, Japanese Hunter Association (JHA). The Japanese participation in the Jeju Island raid was intended to give Ryuji the status of a nation-level hunter if it succeeded in closing the S-rank gate. If the raid failed, the Japanese S-rankers were going to leave behind the Korean S-rankers to die. - David Brannen, Director, US Hunter Management Bureau (HMB). - Michael Conner, Deputy Director, USHMB. - They saw the broadcast of the Jeju Island raid and want to recruit ML. They know ML is the son of Sung il-Hwan who escaped. - Beru tells ML that there were 8700 ants before the raid. Now 4k ants remain and they’re in disarray without a leader. - The ants are swarming everywhere and the defence force goes into action. ML ordered Beru to kill the remaining ants. - ML takes the mana crystal from Beru’s body and leaves the rest for the rebuilding of Jeju Island. - Thomas Andre, a US nation-level hunter and Scavenger guild master. He’s waiting for the chance to fight ML. - It takes 2 days to clean up the remaining ant monsters. - The Korean military and the Knights guild came to inspect the island on the 3rd day. They fainted after an encounter with 2 powerful beings that left by their own portals. - The Jeju island raid was ML’s debut and first official appearance as a S-ranker. He received much praise and criticism. - ML is invited to meet with Michael Conner who has a gift for ML. - Norma Selner, an upgrader: an awakened who can elevate the abilities of other awakeners and help them exceed their limits. - She can sense the connection awakeners have with the other side where they draw their powers from. - If the awakener’s power is strong, she’ll see a brilliant light. - When Norma uses her ability on ML, she sees that he is darkness itself. She stared into the abyss and the abyss stared back at her. ML’s power isn’t borrowed from the other side. His power comes from within so his power is limitless. ML is a King / Monarch who has no limits. - A B-rank gate opens near ML’s guild office. Go Gunhee gives ML permission to enter on his own. After ML enters, it becomes a Red Gate. In a rainy forest setting, ML easily defeats the tribal monsters and the final boss with his shadow army. - ML obtained a key to the Carthenon Temple from a cursed random box. The temple is the Double Dungeon that ML entered before he reawakened. - ML arrives at his guild office with a bag full of greater mana cores to fund his guild. He decides the guild name will be Ahjin guild. - Cha Hae-In visits ML’s guild office and asks to join. - ML wants to test her and he uses Shadow Exchange to take them to the KHA training centre. It confirms this skill acts like a gate. - Cha Hae-In fights and defeats Igris who is given the Demon King’s longsword to use from that point on. She defeats Igris. - Then she fights Beru but ML stops the fight before Beru kills her. She admits her interest is in him and not his guild. - A large runestone was found in the body of Kamish the dragon boss monster from the first S-rank gate 8yrs ago in the US. It’s stored with the skeletal remains of the dragon deep in the basement of the USHMB. - ML decides Cha Hae-In isn’t the right fit for his guild. - ML is invited by the Knights guild to join them on a raid in Busan. It’s for an A-rank gate that’s almost a S-rank. - Jeong Yerim, an A-rank healer from the Knights guild. - The assault team enters the gate with ML in the rear as backup. They kill a 2-headed ogre and are faced with a horde of undead. - Earlier a gate appeared unnoticed in an unused art room at Jin-Ah’s high school. After 7 days, orcs break out from the gate and start killing the students. 3 high orc shadows emerge from Jin-Ah’s shadow to fight the orcs. ML is notified by the high orc shadows. - He calls forth Beru to fight in his place with the Knights guild. ML quickly leaves the gate by riding Kaisel to Jin-Ah’s high school. - Beru leads the ant shadows to fight the undead with the Knights guild. The final boss is an arch lich guarded by death knights. - Beru easily kills the arch lich and the shadow army take out the rest. In the past, an arch lich was responsible for wiping out a guild in China. - ML arrives at the school as the orc chieftain was about to kill Jin-Ah. The shadow soldiers evacuate the few remaining students while ML kills the orcs himself to close the gate. - Go Gunhee shows ML the data on increased gate activity in the country and around the world in recent months. - The number of people awakening has also increased. - Several countries want to make contact with ML. - The KHA have blocked ML’s personal info at his request. - To keep ML in the country, the KHA will do what it can. - ML asks to be excluded from the minimum headcount rule and be allowed to enter high ranking gates by himself. - Yoo Jinsung, Jinho’s older brother. - Jinho invites Yoo Soo Hyun to join ML’s guild. - The Ahjin guild’s 1st official raid is for an A-rank gate. - Woo Jinchul joins ML and Jinho as an observer. - ML’s shadow army fulfill the roles of the assault, mining and collecting teams. Igris fights with the Demon King’s longsword. - ML fights the boss naga on his own and attains L101. - ML extracts the shadow of the boss naga and calls it “Jima”. - Woo Jinchul tells Go Gunhee that it wasn’t a raid but a massacre. - ML’s job specific skills also leveled up. He can now see what his shadows see. He can check to see how his family and friends are doing through the shadows he’s assigned to them. - Cha Hae-In meets ML to pass on a message. The spirit of Min Byeong Gu told Cha Hae-In’s spirit to warn ML to be careful with his own power. It makes ML even more curious about the source of his power. - Yuri Orlov, a S-ranker and barrier expert - A S-rank gate appears in Tokyo. The 4 remaining S-rankers of the Drawn Sword guild attend a meeting with the other guilds. - Yuri is hired after being paid a fortune to block the gate. All citizens are evacuated from Tokyo. 15 S-rankers are on standby. - S-rank gates have appeared in other countries too. - Matsumoto Shigeo, President of the JHA. - He met with Go Gunhee to ask for ML’s help with the Tokyo S-rank gate. Go Gunhee reveals he knows what was planned by Matsumoto after a black box was recovered from a Japanese S-ranker’s body on Jeju Island. Later Matsumoto gives himself up to the police in Japan. - Another gate has appeared at the now closed high school. ML enters and sees the raid party from the Courage guild has cleared the dungeon and is trying to open a pair of large doors. - ML uses the Carthenon Temple key to unlock the door. ML saves a Courage guild member from being killed by a giant stone statue. This convinces the raid party to leave and report the Double Dungeon to the KHA. - ML faces the angel of death holding the stone tablet with the commandments. The angel is the true master of the stone statue puppets in the chamber. ML is given a final test. If he survives, he will be told everything as a reward. ML must defeat the giant stone statues using his own strength. He can’t summon his shadow army. - The colossal stone statue also comes to life. - ML uses Dominator’s Touch that has upgraded to Ruler’s Authority to use the giant statues as a shield for the colossus’ eye beams. ML is now L103 and he repeatedly attacks the head of the colossus until it falls down, defeated. - An emergency quest is generated to kill the angel of death in 10 mins. The angel’s true identity is the Architect, the creator and designer of the player leveling system. ML grows stronger and faster as he fights the Architect. ML defeats the Architect and is told the answer is inside ML. A status window appears that gives ML the option to retrieve the data stored in his memory. He accepts and the data is successfully retrieved. - In ML’s mind, he sees another world with countless monsters gathered before several gates appearing in the sky. - Winged silver soldiers exit the gates and descend to fight the monsters. The 1st battle is won by the silver army. - Someone else called the Shadow Monarch summons the shadows of the dead monsters to create an immortal army. The 2nd battle is lost by the silver army. - Baran the Demon King leads the demon clans and the Beast King leads the beast monsters. They betray and fight against the Shadow Monarch and his shadow army. The Beast King ran away. Baran is killed by the Shadow Monarch who becomes ML. - Woo Jinchul, Choi Jongin and Cha Hae-In enter the temple with a group of high ranked KHA and Hunters guild members. - ML is standing motionless while the Architect greets them. The stone statues including the colossus are revived and attack them. - Choi Jongin and Cha Hae-In try to wake up ML but are stopped by the Architect who awaits the true Shadow Monarch to possess ML. - ML finally wakes up and smashes the Architect’s face with one punch. ML is able to somehow maintain his own ego while having the Black Heart of the Shadow Monarch. The conditions were met for ML’s title of Demon Hunter. He remembered how to defeat Baran and the magic power of the Black Heart acknowledges ML as its owner. ML’s mana is boosted by 100k points. - The system blocks the Architect’s access when he tries to destroy it. ML has / will devour the system (?) - A prophecy (?): “When the pillars of fire are built to uphold the heavens, an inevitable death shall find you”. - ML slashes the Architect to pieces. - After exiting the gate, ML collapses and is asleep for 3 days. - ML finds out the barrier for the Tokyo S-rank gate was a failure. Yuri Orlov was eaten by the giant monsters that broke out from the gate. The giants are destroying everything in their path. - ML decides to go to Tokyo. Jinho insists on going with him. - In Tokyo, ML and his shadow army fight the giants. Jinho assists the military with evacuating a hospital. - ML extracts the shadows from the dead giants. Shadows are sent to help hunters in other areas. Other gates throughout Japan reacted to the S-rank dungeon break and had their own dungeon breaks. - ML’s plentiful mana allows the shadows to continually regenerate. - After the other giants are killed, ML recalls his huge shadow army to gather in Tokyo to face the largest giant guarding the S-rank gate. - The army charges at the large giant. ML repeatedly attacks the head with Igris. Beru enters the head through the eye and does more internal damage. In the end the large giant is killed but it’s not the boss monster. ML enters the gate with Beru. At the end of a huge hallway is a giant bound by many chains and a magic circle. - The Rulers: ancient enemies of the Monarchs - Regia the Giant King is the Monarch of the Beginning. - Pledge of Honesty: a curse prevents you from lying. - Monsters: denizens of the Chaos World. The ones that emerge from gates are remnants of defeated armies. They were captured by the winged silver soldiers, the armies of the Rulers. - The Rulers intend to transform this world into a battlefield and fight the 9 Monarchs again. The Rulers send monsters through the gates and dungeons to inject magical energy into this world. - The density of magical energy grows by the day from the blood of monsters. Magical energy empowers the world and makes the world strong enough to withstand the effects of war. - The power ML possesses isn’t actually his. The fact ML possesses this power is proof that the original owner has betrayed the Monarchs. ML is now the enemy of the Monarchs and the Rulers. - Monarchs and Rulers have spiritual bodies that disappear when they’re killed. They can’t be made into shadows. - While Regia agrees to be on ML’s side, Regia isn’t on the side of humanity. Through the mana crystal embedded in Regia’s back, the Rulers would keep sending the message to kill all humans. - ML decides to kill Regia as the Giant King could become a calamity. ML cuts off Regia's head. ML obtains a mana crystal from Regia and levels up to L122. The S-rank gate is cleared and closes. - Jinho’s father enters the final sleep state of the Eternal Slumber disease. Jinho rushes back from Japan and sees for himself. - As Jinho leaves, ML uses Shadow Exchange and enters the hospital room to give Jinho’s father the Holy Water of Life potion. - Christopher (Chris) Reid, US nation-level hunter - Liu Zhigang, the (7-star) nation-level hunter from China - Michael Conner and Norma Selner visit Chris to warn him about his pending murder. Norma had a prophetic dream of Chris being killed. They give him the contact details for Go Gunhee if he decides to ask for ML’s help. - “Brilliant Light” / “Luminosity” fragments x 7 - 3 powerful beings attack and kill Chris Reid in his home. - The USHMB think ML’s father is the culprit. - International Guild Conference in the US: this year ML’s guild is invited to attend as the representative for South Korea. In previous years it was the Hunters guild. - The USHMB agents meet ML at the conference centre and take him to see David Brannen, the head of the USHMB. - ML is told he is a candidate to fill Chris Reid’s place. - The USHMB are offering the runestone from Kamish the Dragon. ML is more interested in the preserved body of the dragon and asks to see it. ML extracts the shadow of Kamish who says before it served the Dragon King. Unfortunately the dragon’s shadow can’t be sustained as it’s been too long since it’s death. - Before it disappears, Kamish warns of 4 humans who have borrowed the Rulers’ powers. Kamish’s shadow returns to the void. - 9 Monarchs: - Shadow Monarch, the King of the Dead (was Ashborne) - White Flames Monarch, the King of the Demons - Beginning Monarch, the King of the Giants - Destruction Monarch, the King of Berserk Dragons (Antares) - Frost Monarch, the King of the Ice Elves / Snow Folk - Fang Monarch, the King of Beasts - Plague Monarch, the Queen of Insects - Transfiguration Monarch - Steel Body Monarch, the King of Monstrous Humanoids - Jinho and Woo Jinchul came with ML to the US. No shadow was assigned to Jinho ever since ML helped Jinho’s father. - Jinho was tricked and kidnapped from the hotel by Hwang Dongsoo. Thomas Andre had earlier warned Dongsoo to stay away from ML. Jinho is taken to an abandoned factory and beaten up until he’s almost dead. ML uses Shadow Exchange to swap with the shadow that found Jinho. - An enraged ML starts throttling Dongsoo while another shadow takes Jinho to the nearest hospital. Thomas Andre arrives with the entire Scavenger guild. Thomas intervenes to fight ML. - Their battle destroys the surrounding area in minutes. - ML’s shadow army fights the Scavenger guild. ML smashes through Thomas’ reinforced armour and breaks every bone in Thomas’ body. ML stops when Thomas surrenders. - The only person to die was Hwang Dongsoo. - ML extracted his shadow and named him “Greed”. - ML used Shadow Exchange to swap with Beru who was watching over ML’s family. Beru healed Jinho as much as possible. - ML suspects the 4 humans who borrowed the Rulers’ powers are among the survivors who defeated Kamish from the 1st S-rank gate. - At the conference, research data is shared that shows magical energy has become concentrated in the sky above 9 countries. - The strongest concentration is above Seoul. - The murder of Chris Reid is made public and the suspect is identified as ML’s father. When asked, ML agrees that a monster should be killed. If the suspect isn’t a monster and is really his father, ML will do all he can to protect his family even if if means going against every hunter in the world. - Norma meets with ML and she asks him to protect the top hunters. She has dreams of these hunters being killed but can’t see who the killers are. ML has the same unlimited power that the killers have. ML thinks the killers could be Monarchs. When she saw the abyss in ML’s eyes that time, a voice said to go back and prepare for war. - ML asks for a list of the high priority hunters to protect. - On the last night of the conference at the party hosted by the USHMB, ML assigns shadows to all of the international guests there. Jinho is fully recovered and by ML’s side. - Thomas Andre arrives with a broken arm. He’s grateful to ML for sparing his life and those of his guild members. - Go Gunhee is attacked in his office by the Frost Monarch. Gunhee has the brightest Luminosity fragment out of the 7. Despite being stabbed in the heart, Gunhee breaks the isolation barrier around his office to let ML’s shadow escape and swap with ML. - The Frost Monarch forces ML to choose between fighting or saving Gunhee from an ice arrow. ML stops the arrow as the Frost Monarch leaves through a portal. - After Gunhee’s funeral and news of the death of Jonas the great Brazilian hunter, ML holds a press conference. - ML announces that powerful beings (“monsters”) are targeting world class hunters. He recommends those who think they’ll be targeted should stay with comrades willing to protect them. Those who have no one to stay with can contact ML through the KHA. - ML is now L133. - Woo Jinchul reluctantly agrees to be the new KHA Chairman. - Thomas Andre has fully recovered and visits ML with a gift. - Kamish’s Wrath: a dagger crafted from the dragon’s fang. - Suddenly the largest gate ever seen appears in the sky. - All citizens are evacuated from Seoul. - ML takes Cha Hae-In on a date at an amusement park. - That park is where ML’s father disappeared into a gate. - The Beast King starts attacking hunters in Seoul. - Thomas fights the Beast King but is injured. - Lennart Niermann, Richter guild, Germany - Lennart was in Seoul to meet ML. He steps up to fight the Beast King but is saved by Kaisel and ML. Lennart takes Thomas away as ML faces the Beast King. The Frost and Plague Monarchs also show themselves. Most of ML’s shadow army are frozen in ice by the Frost Monarch. - ML has to fight the Monarchs one by one. ML slices up and kills the Plague Monarch. He levels up to L146. - ML attacks the Frost Monarch from behind but is then himself stabbed through by the claws of the Beast King. - With HP at 0, ML dies but has met the requirement for the unknown passive skill of the Black Heart. ML’s power has become absolute after death. - ML wakes up and has returned to the time he was in hospital after surviving the Double Dungeon massacre. - ML retained everything except for his shadow army. - The system keeps asking if he would like to restart the world. - ML’s desire to correct his mistakes with Ashborne’s power created this illusionary world. (Ch 163) - In the beginning on another world, there was only Light and Darkness. The Absolute Being separated the Light into Messengers of God and the Darkness into the 8 Monarchs. - The forces of Light and Darkness fought eachother endlessly. - The brightest Luminosity fragment asked the Absolute Being to stop the continuous war. The neverending struggle between Light and Darkness was a source of entertainment for the Absolute Being who had no intention of stopping it. - The Luminosity fragments rebelled against the Absolute Being. Ashborne was the only Messenger of God (and the brightest Luminosity fragment?) that fought against the rebels. Ashborne died but was given a special power over the dead by the Absolute Being. - Ashborne was revived as the Shadow Monarch and his dead soldiers became his shadow army. The Absolute Being was already dead. The other Luminosity fragments became the new gods called the Rulers. - After the betrayal by Baran and the Beast King, Ashborne hid himself to let his body recover. When he emerged, the other Monarchs were already defeated by the Rulers. The Monarchs escaped to the dimensional rift to recover. - Cup of Reincarnation: the tool of god that contained the power of the Absolute Being. It turns back time by 10yrs. - The Rulers have already used the Cup many times to correct their mistakes while the Monarchs adjusted their plans with each reincarnation. The power of the Cup is almost exhausted. - The Rulers’ reason to exist is to maintain this world. Rulers lent their magical power to humans to be able to kill monsters (ie awakening). - The Monarchs’ reason to exist is for destruction. Monarchs use a body as a vessel to descend into the world. The host body must be able to handle the Monarch’s power. - The Architect created the system to search for a host body suitable for Ashborne. ML didn’t conform to the system, broke the rules and he kept exceeding expectations. Ashborne was watching the whole time and chose ML. - “I am the record of your struggles, the evidence of your resistance, and the reward for your pain”. Ashborne and ML are already one. - ML decides to return to reality while Ashborne returns to the eternal void to rest. ML’s father has been protecting ML’s body encased in ice from the Frost Monarch and the Beast King. - ML deletes the system (?) and he now has absolute power over death and darkness. The highest ranked shadows regain their full power potential (ie Beru, Igris). - The Beast King flees through a portal to avoid facing the full power of the Shadow Monarch. ML bursts out of the ice, along with Igris and Beru. ML locates the Beast King while Igris fights the Frost Monarch. In a rainforest, ML kills the Beast King and returns to Seoul with his fangs (claws?). ML’s difference in power with the Frost Monarch is too great and ML kills him. - ML finds his badly injured father with an arm torn off. - While trapped in the dimension rift, ML’s father became a Luminosity fragment after the Rulers lent their power to him to stop the Monarchs. - With the complete advent of the Shadow Monarch, the Rulers ordered ML’s father to protect ML. They needed ML’s power to stop the other Monarchs. ML’s father can no longer handle the Rulers’ power with his weakened body. He says he always missed his family and that ML has done well. Then his body vanishes. ML keeps his father’s dagger. - A few days later, the massive gate above Seoul breaks open. - The original shadow army under Ashborne exits the gate. This army includes 3 shadow dragons. ML has inherited them and they bow to their new king. Later ML goes to an uninhabited island and holds a mock battle by dividing his shadow army in two. Beru challenges Bellion, the grand marshal under Ashborne, to a duel. - Jinho’s father visits ML to thank ML for saving his life. - He wants to repay ML in some way. ML asks him to look after his family if anything happens to him. - Massive gates like the one above Seoul appear in the sky over 8 countries. ML inherited Ashborne’s memories. ML transfers them to Woo Jinchul for him to understand the devastation to come. - The KHA gather representatives from all countries. ML warns all civilians to get away as far as possible from the gates. - ML went to China and meets up with Liu Zhigang and the 100k elite hunter army there. As the expected day of the gate break arrives, nothing comes out of the gates around the world except for Canada. ML realises the Monarchs tricked him by opening 8 gates and coming out from the gate furthest away from ML. - The Canadians didn't believe ML and rallied behind their hunters to face whatever came out of their gate. The Destruction Monarch emerges from the gate. He’s followed by his army of dragons who destroy everything in sight. The other 2 Monarchs with their armies soon follow. - ML can teleport anywhere now through normal shadows. - ML visits David Brannen at the USHMB office and asks for Kamish’s runestone. Then ML visits Norma to check his future. She’s upset that he will sacrifice himself to save everyone who won’t remember what he’s done. - ML and half of his shadow army face the monsters and dragons under the Destruction Monarch that have crossed into the US. ML extracts the shadows of those killed. Elsewhere in the US, Thomas Andre faces the Steel Body Monarch. Bellion, Beru and the other half of the shadow army emerge after hiding in Thomas’ shadow. - Steel Body Monarch is defeated. - Kamish’s runestone: Dragon Fear skill - Transfiguration Monarch immobilised (and defeated?) - Final battle between Destruction Monarch and ML. - The magical energy generated from their battle summons the Rulers’ armies to arrive through multiple gates. - Destruction Monarch is defeated after ML cleaved his body almost in half with his father’s dagger and the Rulers pierced through his body with their spears. - ML asks to use the Cup of Reincarnation for the last time so he can take on everything and save everyone with his own power. He will hunt and fight the Monarchs in the dimensional rift. - ML returns to when he was a schoolboy, before his father became a hunter and before the gates appeared. - He enjoys the peace for a while then disappears to fight the Monarchs. Time in the dimensional rift flows faster than the real world. 27yrs later in the rift, ML has defeated the other Monarchs and faces Antares again. - ML returns after defeating Antares. 2yrs have passed in the real world.