Solo Leveling: Ragnarok

Chapter 38

I can’t stand ants, the man thought.

It had been like this for decades. The man had said it so many times that it became a bad habit. His hate for ants stemmed from his recurring nightmares of unknown origin. Once a year, or even twice, he suffered vivid nightmares that returned whenever he was starting to forget about them. In the dream he was always running through the darkness, chased by countless ants.

“G-get away from me! Get away! Ahhhh!”

He frantically ran away, but no matter how hard he tried, he always found himself at a dead end. Ants surrounded him. In the middle of the colony stood a giant ant, unusually large for an insect, that approached him steadily. Its mouth opened wide, stretching unnaturally to devour his entire head...

“Ahhhhhhh!!!”

A middle-aged man shot up from his bed, screaming. His outburst prompted his wife sleeping beside him to wake up with a worried look on her face.

“Honey, was it another nightmare?”

Sweat dripped down from the man’s forehead as he tried to catch his breath. He chugged down the glass of cold water on his nightstand. He drank hastily, and although it caused discomfort, it helped him regain his composure. He looked apologetically at his wife, who had woken up because of him.

“I’m sorry for waking you up again.”

“Hmm... It’s been a while though.”

“True. I’m fine now, so don’t worry about me. Try to go back to sleep.”

Comforted by her husband’s soothing words, his wife closed her eyes again. The man sat on the edge of the bed and ran his hands through his dry hair.

I thought I had finally stopped having these dreams... He sighed. It was all just a dream. Nothing more than a mere dream. I’m still... alive.

Fortunately, he managed to calm himself down. His heart, pounding as if it might explode, gradually returned to a stable rhythm.

That damn ant dream... The nightmare felt like a bad premonition for the day ahead. Since getting more sleep was out of the question, the man decided to head to work early. He got up quietly, making sure to not wake up his wife again.

She was a history teacher, and he knew how challenging it could be from his experience as a history tutor in his younger years.

It would be a big problem if she gets historical facts mixed up during class because of me, the man thought as he efficiently prepared for work and got dressed. Oh, right! I almost left this behind again. He hung the badge issued by the Hunter Association around his neck.

-Korean Hunter Association

-Min Byunggu (Medical Consultant)

His name engraved on the badge glistened as it reflected the morning sunlight.

***

“I’m here for a mana level reassessment.”

As the morning broke, Suho arrived at the hospital designated by the association.

“Please take a seat. We’ll be with you shortly,” the nurse said.

Suho received various explanations from the nurse in time and then sat in a chair, patiently awaiting his turn. Due to the circumstances surrounding his original reading, the Hunters Association had sent people to take his mana measurement directly, but that was an anomaly. Generally speaking, undergoing an awakening examination in a hospital was the norm, and the association designated several hospitals across the country to facilitate related tests. Initially, these hospitals were only in Seoul, but as more awakened individuals appeared throughout the nation, such hospitals were gradually established in other regions. Nevertheless, there was only one hospital in the country where you could receive a “mana level reassessment,” since there was only one precision measuring device used for reassessment in the country.

After a short wait, the nurse called his name, “Mr. Sung Suho, please come in.”

Inside the reassessment room, an amiable middle-aged doctor was waiting for him. “Mr. Sung Suho?”

“Oh, yes. Hello.”

As they exchanged greetings, Suho’s gaze lingered on the doctor’s name tag.

-Korean Hunter Association

-Min Byunggu (Medical Consultant)

Medical Consultant?

Given the meticulous nature of reassessments, the examination required an association-approved doctor.

“As you may have heard from the nurse earlier, Stardust has officially been declared illegal recently. Which is why you’ll be required to undergo several tests before your reassessment.”

In other words, he had to do a doping test. After a brief explanation, the testing began in earnest.

Suho suddenly interrupted the doctor with a question, “Excuse me, Doctor. I thought there wasn’t a way of detecting Stardust doping?”

“That used to be the case. New research began following the recent revelations of the ingredients in Stardust, Then, a clever doctor quickly developed the doping test based on that research. By the way, that doctor happens to be me.” Dr. Min Byunggu pointed at himself, shrugging his shoulders.

He’s not your average doctor. But wait... Something he said made Suho realize that... It’s all thanks to me.

The new doping tests were developed thanks to Suho discovering the factory and providing the association with a comprehensive report on how demons had been making Stardust.

The butterfly effect has come full circle, and here I am, taking the doping test. It was a situation that made him chuckle for no reason.

Byunggu, who was conducting the test, looked at the young man’s expression curiously. “Hmm? Mr. Sung, you seem different from most people.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“You are remarkably composed.”

Byunggu found Suho fascinating. Typically, two types of people came to reassess their ranks: Dreamers overflowing with enthusiasm, hoping for a higher rank, or people with an inflated ego who thought they were far better than they were. In truth, they’re quite similar people.

Either way, their excitement was only natural. A successful reassessment meant a higher rank, which could add a couple of zeros at the end of their salaries. However, Suho was different. The young man before him had no air of expectation or nervousness about the reassessment.

Maybe he’s not the ambitious type.

After a while, the results of Suho’s doping test were ready.

“No signs of Stardust doping were detected in your system. Well done. Now, let’s proceed with the mana reassessment. Please raise your hand here.”

The outcome was obvious to Suho since he already knew his mana level thanks to the status window.

[Mana: 586]

Byunggu took a look at the report and marveled, “Wow. Congratulations. The first assessment was an error after all. With this level of mana, you are a C-rank hunter.”

The doctor checked Suho’s reaction once more as he explained the results. He looked calm as if he had expected it. How intriguing. Is this how nonchalant young people are these days? Byunggu leaned his head forward and promptly entered the test results into the computer. “Oh, and I need to upload your skill information to the database. Would you mind showing me your skills?”

Information about a hunter’s skills was crucial data. Hunters needed to know their peers' respective skills to ensure smooth collaboration during dungeon runs.

Dr. Min took Suho to a spacious area and asked, “What skills do you have?”

“Well, I use swords and summoning skills.”

“Oh, you’re a summoner? Then, let’s start with the summoning skills. Could you summon a creature for me?”

“Sure.” Suho nodded readily.

However, he needed a corpse to use Shadow Extraction. Since bringing a goblin corpse from the Shadow Dungeon would open a can of worms, Suho had only one option.

“Beru, come out for a moment.”

A shadow, no larger than a fist, suddenly sprang out from beneath Suho’s feet. “Gladly! What is your bidding, Young Monarch?”

But something happened that neither of them could have expected.

“Aaaaaah!”

“Huh?” freewe b .com

The doctor was so startled by Beru’s entrance that he stumbled backward.

The shadow ant turned toward the shocked Byunggu with a puzzled look before tilting his head. “Oh? Aren’t you...”

“A-a-a-ant...!” The doctor’s shaking fingers pointed at the tiny beast before his eyes rolled back into his head as he fainted on the spot.

“What is going on?” It was Suho’s turn to look confused. “What have you done to the doctor?”

“No, I... Um.” Beru looked at Byunggu’s face again. He didn’t have a shred of doubt—he was the same man he remembered. “I devoured him once... It was a long time ago.”

“What? You devoured who?”

“I devoured this human.” Beru scratched his head awkwardly.

***

Before Earth was reset, a time when the Monarch of Shadows was flourishing as a hunter, S-rank healers were rare all around the world. Luckily, one was active in South Korea—Min Byunggu—and he had joined a group of other S-rank hunters in a large-scale magic beast raid long ago.

Jeju Island. The popular holiday destination had turned into a hellish island overrun by countless magic ant beasts. In the unprecedented battle that followed, Byunggu fought courageously against the magic beasts, and he even valiantly sacrificed himself for the sake of his comrades. He was devoured by the Ant King, who was now known as Beru. When the world was reset, Byunggyu returned, but his memories had disappeared with the previous timeline.

“But I still remember you.” Beru’s bitter voice pierced the doctor’s unconscious mind.

His Devour skill allowed him to absorb the skills and memories of the consumed target. He had used this very skill to absorb Byunggyu’s S-rank healing abilities after he had barely hatched from his egg at the time.

“Perhaps the reason you haven’t awakened this time is because of that,” Beru muttered.

The shadow ant had learned far more than just his abilities. He had absorbed Byunggyu’s memories, knowledge, aversion to war, and his love for peace. It was the first true instance of humanity that Beru had ever acquired.

“If I were human, I might have called you ‘Father.’” Min Byunggyu had influenced most of his personality. “I also came to like historical dramas thanks to you.” Beru let out a dry chuckle.

But even in his unconscious state, the doctor trembled upon hearing his laughter.

“I see...” Beru murmured with bitterness as if he had read the doctor’s thoughts. “I have become your nightmare.”

Beru had become the nightmare of every human he had consumed. Yet, among them all, Byunggu’s affliction was unique. Beru wondered if the intensity was due to him being the first human he ever consumed, or that his humanity had a profound impact on his identity.

Beru finally seemed to understand the reason. Even though the world was reset, and you no longer have the powers of an S-rank healer... “Your life remains noble.”

The man he knew wanted to put his hunter career behind him and become a history teacher more than anything in the world. Who knew you’d choose to be a doctor instead in your new life? “You’re still saving lives in any way you can.” Beru smiled brightly.

The ant embraced the fact wholeheartedly. The man who had influenced him the most was still shining brilliantly. Beru had only known the path of slaughter and struggle ever since he was born, which made the doctor’s pure radiance even more dazzling.

“I won’t apologize. We were at war back then. However...” Beru said with all the warmth in his body. “I will be your ally in this life.”

Whoosh!

A small seed of power emanated from the ant and was absorbed by Byunggu’s body.

“Let me take away your nightmares, my... father.”

***

Suho found himself surrounded by hospital staff. “No, I’m serious, he just fainted by himself.”

“We’ve already called the police, so you explain to them what happened.”

“You’ll need to stay here as a witness until we can find out what happened.”

“Geez, this is all a misunderstanding.” Suho felt unfairly treated, but the nurses were only following procedures.

Dr. Min was a skilled physician and the sole researcher of Stardust in South Korea. Even though research had revealed that the evil substance was made from human remains, its effects still held valuable potential for future research. The science community wanted to know if a new ingredient could yield the same effects, removing the moral hazard. If successful, Stardust could undergo a rebirth and become an era-defining innovation.

In this sense, Min Byunggu was an important national asset. However, the hunter undergoing the reassessment suddenly caused him to scream and faint. It was unclear what he had done, but previous cases of similar events had occurred due to dissatisfaction with the results.

“Ugh...” Suddenly, Min Byunggu got up from the floor.

“Doctor Min is awake!”

“The doctor is awake!”

Startled, the nurses rushed toward Byunggu, but they weren’t prepared for what happened next.

“What is this feeling?” Regaining his composure, the doctor looked down at his hands—mana had appeared. “Have a-awakened?!”

The onlookers were astonished by the revelation. Their gazes soon shifted to Suho, who was standing beside them.

“I’m telling you, this is also a misunderstanding! I didn’t do anything!”