Netherworld Investigator - Chapter 30

A marriage contract lasting three years, a marriage in name only, as if they were strangers.To provide for her child, she went out to work in a large corporation, only to find her boss was actually her contract husband...“I'm sorry, I didn't mean to intrude. I chose the company because the salary was high enough.”The man flipped through the resume in his hand and asked casually, “Why did you take a year off from university when you were 19?”“I, when I was a freshman... something happened in my family.”“Is that so? Then why do you have a scar on your lower abdomen?”“I had appendectomy...”His gaze was inscrutable.......After a three-year marriage, she signed the divorce agreement with a heavy heart.She turned and walked away with dignity and poise, like a splash of light ink.But why did this man keep pursuing her?

This novel is also known as Only I Level Up

10 years ago, after “the Gate” that connected the real world with the monster world opened, some of the ordinary, everyday people received the power to hunt monsters within the Gate. They are known as “Hunters”.

However, not all Hunters are powerful. My name is Sung Jin-Woo, an E-rank Hunter. I’m someone who has to risk his life in the lowliest of catacombs, the “World’s Weakest”.

Having no skills whatsoever to display, I barely earned the required money by fighting in low-leveled catacombs… at least until I found a hidden catacomb with the hardest difficulty within the D-rank catacombs!

In the end, as I was accepting death, I suddenly received a strange power, a quest log that only I could see, a secret to leveling up that only I know about! If I trained in accordance with my quests and hunted monsters, my level would rise.

Changing from the weakest Hunter to the strongest S-rank Hunter!

- Description from Novelupdates

Deep below the earth's surface, a mystifying subterranean seascape lurks, an archipelago bathed in inky blackness where suspense and horror hold court. Here lie strange islands and even stranger monsters, far beyond the realms of human imagination. In this domain, mankind is far from dominant; instead, madness and death rule supreme.

Pleading for mercy from the unknown creatures of the deep only leads to a slow, tortured existence. The trapped survivors gradually distort, losing what made them human, both physically and mentally, to the gloom as they remain trapped in this eternal obscurity. Their only hope? A perilous expedition into uncharted sea territories.

Fueled by determination, Charles embark on this daunting voyage aboard his steamship, aiming to reclaim humanity's past glory. Together with his crew, they sought a way out of this hidden sea world, a path back to the sunlit world above, where humans once stood tall.

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I read a few comments from Chinese readers that compared this novel with Lord of Mysteries because of similar elements: Lovecraftian, western fantasy, first industrial revolution, and steampunk. However, I have yet to finish reading Lord of Mysteries to do any actual comparison, but I do think those who have enjoyed that novel would enjoy this as well. Also, the author of LotM, Cuttlefish That Loves Diving, also did a shout-out for this novel, so I guess he approves of it too?

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One day, a silver-haired goddess appeared before him.“Heaven-Defying Star. The one who goes against fate. The sole savior of a world doomed to end—”What the hell is this woman even talking about?“You must be the Regressor.”“… What?”No, I’m not.