[Knight 'Igrit' is requesting permission to promote.] [Will you grant the promotion?]
'Permission to promote?'
Jin-Woo was startled by a System message in a format he'd never seen before, and quickly pulled up Igrit's information.
[Igrit Lv. Max] Knight grade. He has met the required level and is eligible for promotion. Upon receiving the Monarch's permission, he will advance to the next stage.
'Igrit's level...?'
His level, which had been in the high thirties, was now displayed as Max. It seemed that once a level hit its cap, it could no longer be increased, but instead the unit became eligible for promotion to the next stage.
'So the promotion threshold is somewhere between the high thirties and early forties?'
Considering the amount of levels one could gain from a single battle, that sounded about right. And given that the soldiers' average level was still in the low twenties, it was quite a steep requirement.
'And on top of that, he needs my consent too.'
That must be why there had been such a desperate look in Igrit's eyes when he'd come running over earlier.
'...'
Igrit still hadn't raised his bowed head. The way he sat perfectly motionless, waiting for his master's decision, even carried a sense of solemnity. Jin-Woo felt like giving him a pat on the shoulder for a job well done.
'You've done well, kid...'
Jin-Woo's gaze drifted back to the System message.
[Will you grant the promotion?]
The message blinked slowly, as though pressing him for an answer. Igrit was the first to become a soldier, the one who had fought the hardest all along. Was there any reason to deny him the promotion? Without a shred of hesitation, Jin-Woo answered the System.
"I grant it."
[Please designate a command word.]
'Does this need a command word too?'
Jin-Woo furrowed his brow for a moment, but soon thought better of it.
'Right.'
There were quite a few shadow soldiers who'd been simple mages before being turned. Right now it was just Igrit, but if in the future multiple soldiers requested promotion at once, it would be a hassle to respond to each one individually. Especially in the middle of combat. A command word could come in handy in cases like that. After a brief moment of deliberation, Jin-Woo spoke.
"Permit."
Simple is best. The instant the command word was decided, the transformation began. It started from beneath Igrit's feet. A wailing scream echoed from somewhere, and from the shadows under Igrit, countless black hands burst forth. The black hands grabbed onto every part of Igrit's body.
'What is this?'
Jin-Woo watched the promotion process with fascination. At first it looked like the black hands were dragging Igrit down into the shadows, but it was actually the opposite. The hands that had been holding Igrit transformed into black smoke that swirled violently around him before seeping into his body — as though Igrit had absorbed all of the black smoke. Once the smoke cleared with a whoosh, a completely different aura radiated from Igrit's body. Ding. The System message revealed the result of the transformation.
[Knight 'Igrit' has promoted from 'Knight grade' to 'Elite Knight grade'.]
'Yes!'
Jin-Woo steadied his racing heart and pulled up Igrit's information window again.
[Igrit Lv. 1] Elite Knight grade
'His level's been reset, but his grade is the same as Fangs now.'
Fangs, who had recently joined the shadow soldiers, was originally a boss from an A-rank Dungeon. The fact that Igrit was now the same grade as that terrifying creature meant his stats had gone up considerably. Thump. Jin-Woo's heart skipped a beat. What he had thought when he first became the Shadow Monarch was right.
'It's not just me who's growing.'
Jin-Woo's gaze swept over the shadow soldiers, one by one.
'All of these guys are growing alongside me.'
Seeing how drastically Igrit had changed after the promotion really drove home the fact that the soldiers were evolving. He felt a desire to level up the others and promote them as soon as possible, too.
'Looks like I've got one more thing on my to-do list.'
As he looked over his soldiers with a sense of pride, he spotted Tank returning in the distance, carrying the corpse of the demon he'd chased down.
'Huh?'
But the look in Tank's eyes as he came scrambling back was anything but ordinary. That look, that aura — Jin-Woo stared for a moment before speaking with an exasperated expression.
"Don't tell me you too?"
Tank skidded to a halt right in front of Jin-Woo, tossed the corpse he'd worked so hard to retrieve off to the side, pressed his front paws together, and flopped down flat on his belly.
"Urrrhn."
Once again, a message appeared. Ding.
[Elite 'Shadow Beast Soldier' is requesting permission to promote.] [Will you grant the promotion?]
Good grief. Jin-Woo slapped his forehead. When he checked Tank's information, the soldier's level had also hit the cap.
[Shadow Beast Soldier Lv. Max] Elite grade. He has met the required level and is eligible for promotion. Upon receiving the Monarch's permission, he will advance to the next stage.
'Wait a minute...'
Something felt off to Jin-Woo. Igrit, a combat machine who had started at level 7 thanks to the Shadow Enhancement and had always maintained the maximum level, was one thing — but Tank still had a long way to go before reaching what Jin-Woo assumed was the promotion threshold. Yet somehow Igrit and Tank were reaching their promotion eligibility at nearly the same time. The gap between their levels wasn't the kind that could be closed in a single battle.
'Could it be... that each grade has a different required level?'
If that were the case, it made sense. Tank, at the Elite grade, had a lower requirement and thus reached promotion sooner, while Igrit at the Knight grade had the opposite situation, delaying his promotion. That would explain the coincidental overlap in their timing. As his thoughts reached that point, a certain possibility flashed through Jin-Woo's mind.
'Could I have a promotion threshold of my own?'
If the required level was simply too high and he just hadn't reached it yet... Nah, no way. Jin-Woo chuckled to himself. At the same time, he granted the promotion.
"Permit."
The moment the order fell, the same transformation that had occurred with Igrit now happened to Tank. Hands burst from the shadows, then the hands turned into black smoke, and the smoke was absorbed into Tank. Whoosh — just like Igrit, Tank grew considerably stronger.
[Elite 'Shadow Beast Soldier' has promoted from 'Elite grade' to 'Knight grade'.]
But there was also a difference. Ding, ding, ding. Mechanical tones sounded in succession as System messages appeared one after another.
[Soldiers of Knight grade or above can be given a name.] [The given name will be maintained until the shadow ceases to exist.] [Please decide on the soldier's name.]
Tank was a temporary name he'd given it. Names could not be assigned to soldiers below Knight grade, so Tank's official designation had still been 'Shadow Beast Soldier.' The only way to tell him apart from other bears was his size — easily twice as large. But now Jin-Woo could finally give him a real name. He grinned.
"Tank."
['Tank' — is this what you would like to name him?"
"Yes."
The moment Jin-Woo confirmed it, a change appeared in the Shadow Beast Soldier's information.
[Tank Lv. 1] Knight grade.
As if he understood that the promotion process was over, Tank raised himself up. Standing on his hind legs with his front paws lifted, he was about the height of a two-story house. Jin-Woo spoke with a proud look.
"You've finally got a real name, Tank."
Tank raised his head and let out a happy grunt.
"Good work, everyone."
Now go rest until the next floor. Jin-Woo recalled all the soldiers into the shadows. Among the old members, Iron — the only one left out of the promotions — stood out with his slumped shoulders. Whoosh — once all the soldiers had turned into shadows and disappeared, Jin-Woo left the castle. Outside, Esil was waiting with a pale face.
"Um, Jin-Woo sir." "I told you, drop the 'sir.'" "Yes."
At Jin-Woo's correction, Esil hesitated before speaking again.
"Um, Jin-Woo... sir."
The demon race really did seem far too sensitive about hierarchy.
"What is it?" "Do you know how many families have disappeared so far?"
They were currently on floor 89. He'd skipped floor 80, where Esil had been, so about nine? With one family vanishing per floor, Esil was clearly getting worried.
"From floor 90 onward, the great families — high-ranking aristocrats — manage things. They're on a completely different level from those below."
Jin-Woo didn't slow his pace as he asked.
"And?" "Could you at least try talking things out from here on? If you'd speak to them reasonably, they might grant you permission letters like my family did..."
Jin-Woo cut her off.
"If I had been weaker than you, would you have tried talking then?"
Esil fell silent. For an insignificant human to not only barge into a castle where demons lived without even an invitation, but to demand something inside it as well? There would have been no coming back alive.
"That's how it is."
Jin-Woo gave a grin. Whether they were beasts or monsters, that was the extent of a relationship with humans.
'The weaker side gets devoured.'
Jin-Woo agreed with that. And since he was in a rush for both the permission letters and the Level Up, he had no intention of conceding on either front.
'...'
Jin-Woo glanced at Esil. He'd noticed that she had been looking downcast and silent for a while now and asked.
"Isn't it a good thing that the other families are disappearing?" "Huh?" "You said the demon families are always competing fiercely over rank." "Ahh... that's true. But."
The floors above this one were the domain of powerful high-ranking aristocratic families. If Jin-Woo were to fail his assault, the wrath of those aristocrats would naturally fall on her and her family as well. That was what worried Esil. Jin-Woo spoke.
"I'll make House Ladis number one." *'Our family is Ladil, not Ladis...'*
Esil only argued back timidly in her own mind. They were about to head up to the next floors. Could a single person really topple all the high-ranking families?
'...Ah, whatever.'
She'd been tasked with guiding the way, so as long as she did that well, it'd be fine. Esil gave up on the thought.
'Actually...'
But there was one more thing she wanted to ask.
"Um, Jin-Woo... sir." "Hm?"
Jin-Woo turned around. For some reason, ever since she'd witnessed this man systematically demolishing the demon families one by one, she'd been afraid to meet his eyes. Esil focused her gaze on the tips of her toes and asked.
"Why did you spare my family?"
House Ladil was clearly no match for this man. She knew her family's fighting strength better than anyone, and having seen Jin-Woo's power, she was certain of it. And yet this ruthless man had left House Ladil unscathed. Why? She wanted to know. Jin-Woo, now standing on the teleportation magic circle to the next floor, turned to look at Esil.
"Because I like you."
A monster who knew when to surrender, knew how to negotiate, and above all, had provided a great deal of useful information.
"Eh!?"
Esil was so startled that her face flushed all the way to the back of her neck. She stood there fidgeting with her fingers, waffling back and forth. Since Jin-Woo had stopped moving, time seemed to stand still. He spoke up.
"Not getting on?"
He glanced at the System message asking which floor he wanted to go to.
"If you're not getting on, I'm going back to floor 80." "S-Sorry!"
With her face still blazing red, Esil quickly hopped onto the magic circle.
'...'
But even after ascending to the next floor, her head remained stubbornly bowed.
***
Incheon Airport. Officials from the Japan Hunter's Association had come to Korea to discuss the Jeju Island ant situation. Meetings with key Korean figures were already on the schedule. Shigeki Matsumoto, president of the Japan Hunter's Association, and Ryuji Goto, an S-rank Hunter known as Japan's strongest, walked through the airport entrance. The unusually chaotic atmosphere in the airport caught Matsumoto's attention, and he looked around.
"What's going on?" "There's one powerful individual nearby." "More powerful than you?"
Goto let out a small laugh. Seeing Goto's confident expression, Matsumoto chose not to press further.
'There's no one like that in Korea.'
Before long, the staff member from the Korean Hunter's Association who had been sent to greet them came running over.
"Sorry about that. The inside was so crowded I got turned around and ended up a little late."
The staff member bowed his head. Matsumoto masked his displeasure with a smile.
"No trouble at all. But, is something going on at the airport?" "Ah... nothing major. A Hunter from the United States came in." "An American Hunter — what business does he have in Korea?" "Personal matters, apparently. Nothing to worry about."
The staff member assumed President Matsumoto was concerned about a Dungeon Break and tried to reassure him. But Matsumoto's expression remained dark.
'An American Hunter... I'm sure it has nothing to do with this.'
Goto's gaze had been fixed in the direction of the crowd for a while now. The American Hunter was probably in there somewhere. Matsumoto checked the time. They'd need to leave now just to make it to the meeting on time. Matsumoto spoke.
"Let's go."
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