MTL - Solo Leveling (Only I Level Up)-Chapter 9
The other hunters looked at the two men, showing unbearable expressions.
Seventeen people entered at first, but now only six survive.
Of the six people, two were seriously injured.
Song Ji-guk lost his left arm, and Seong Jin-woo lost his right leg.
Although survived, no one felt lucky.
Just then, there was another creepy bang.
Boom...!
The ground with the magic circle drawn in the center of the space suddenly rose.
Cheng Jin-Woo thought to himself, what should come will still come.
'Prove your faith...'
Regarding the meaning behind this rule, Cheng Jin-Woo had a rough guess.
The circular magic circle in the center of the room stopped when it reached the height of two steps.
"altar......"
Hearing Cheng Jin-Woo talking to himself, the hunters became alert.
'altar…?'
'He just said the altar...'
It was not any high-level hunter who rescued them from the previous two crises, but the E-class hunter, Cheng Jin-Woo, who they usually laughed at.
'If it wasn't for Cheng Jin-Woo, we would all have been...'
The hunters are now thinking exactly the same.
Under the current situation, Cheng Jin-Woo's words are their life-saving straw.
However, Cheng Jin-Woo accidentally said the word altar.
Wang Jianshe reacted quickly, and he first understood the meaning.
"I know, I know what to do."
Wang Jianshe drew out the long sword hanging from his waist.
Originally, this weapon was used to kill all kinds of monsters. But now, it has some other uses.
"No matter how ignorant I am, I still understand what you mean."
The sharp edge of the sword glowed with a cold light. The hunters swallowed nervously.
"Hey, Wang Jianshe. Why did you suddenly draw your sword?"
"A gentleman uses his mouth but not his hands."
The highest rank in the team is Song Zhiguo, a C-rank hunter, but he is now seriously injured, which means that no one here can stop Wang Jianshe. Because he is also a strong existence among D-rank hunters.
Jian Jian pointed at the altar with his sword.
"The last rule is, prove your faith. Then an altar appeared in the center of the room."
Wang Jianshe turned his head to look at Cheng Xiao-Woo.
"So, do we need to offer a sacrifice? Xiao Cheng?"
Cheng Jin-Woo nodded slowly.
He did think so.
Among the six surviving people, one must act as a sacrifice.
'This may be the meaning of the last law...'
This was the conclusion Seong Jin-Woo came to.
Feeling that someone was coming towards him, Cheng Xiaoyu looked up at Wang Jianshe, and found that the meaning in his eyes was unusual.
Beads of sweat rolled from his forehead.
"Uncle Jianshe... What is this?"
"You shut your mouth, stay there and don't move!!"
Wang Jianshe roared angrily, raised his sword and pointed at Song Zhiguo who was checking Cheng Xiaoyu's injuries.
"Who brought us to this place just now? It's you! It's because of you, Song Zhiguo! Shouldn't you be responsible?"
"Uncle Construction!!"
Cheng Jin-Woo was very angry and wanted to stand up. However, Song Zhiguo's dead branch-like hand stood in front of him.
Cheng Jin-Woo turned his head to look at Song Zhiguo.
"..."
Song Zhiguo shook his head silently. Wordlessly his eyes told Cheng Jin-Woo not to say anything.
Although Cheng Jin-Woo wanted to say a lot, he swallowed them down.
Song Zhiguo stood up slowly.
"Wang Jianshe is right. I should be responsible."
"Old man, that's right."
Wang Jianshe pointed at the altar with the tip of his sword.
"Now that you understand, go there quickly. Ten people have died because of you today."
Chapter 6 The Final Trial
One of the dead was Wang Jianshe's friend.
Exploring the double dungeon was decided by everyone's vote, but Wang Jianshe, who had lost his mind, obviously forgot about it.
Song Zhiguo said to Wang Jianshe.
"I'll walk over by myself, so can you move your sword away?"
Of course Wang Jianshe refused.
"How could I trust you? Don't dawdle, hurry up."
Song Zhiguo sighed lightly, then walked towards the altar. Wang Jianshe put his sword against his back and followed behind.
Looking at the backs of the two, Cheng Jin-Woo clenched his lower lip.
'It's not Uncle Zhiguo's fault. '
This was agreed upon by all.
But now it's despicable to put all the blame on Uncle Zhiguo just because things have gone bad.
'but......'
But now Cheng Jin-Woo is powerless to stop Wang Jianshe.
Wang Jianshe is a strong existence among D-class hunters, but Cheng Jin-Woo is the weakest hunter among E-class hunters.
The strength gap between them is clear at a glance. What's more, Cheng Jin-Woo also lost his right leg.
Based on his current situation, if he wanted to stop Wang Jianshe, he might also involve Xiaoxi who was healing himself.
"Damn it."
Seong Jin-Woo closed his eyes. He had never hated his own weakness so much as he did today.
At the same time, Song Zhiguo had already stood on the altar.
Hush!
Suddenly, a cluster of red flames appeared around the altar. Everyone held their breath, waiting for what would happen next.
However, nothing happened.
There's only one flame, that's all.
"...?"
They waited a while longer, still nothing changed. Not only Wang Jianshe, but others also panicked because of this situation.
Wang Jianshe looked back at Cheng Jin-Woo.
"Hey, Xiao Cheng. Isn't that so?"
Cheng Jin-Woo also shook his head.
"I also…"
He originally thought that once someone was chosen as a sacrifice and sent to the altar, this third rule of 'proving your faith' could be satisfied.
‘Is there no need for sacrifices?’
If so, that's not necessarily bad news.
If this rule does not require sacrifices, it means that Uncle Zhiguo is still alive.
Cheng Jin-Woo's expression softened a lot.
Seeing Cheng Jin-Woo struggling to get up, the two hunters beside him quickly supported him.
"Can you give me a hand and go to the altar to have a look?"
"Xin Yu, your injury..."
Xiao Xi also stood up and followed behind Cheng Jin-Woo.
Xiaoxi's face became very pale due to excessive consumption of mana.
But thanks to Xiaoxi, the blood can be stopped, and the pain can hardly be felt.
'Be quicker. '
Xiaoxi's condition, Wang Jianshe's anger, Song Zhiguo's injury and the fear of other hunters, none of them allowed Cheng Xiaoyu to stop.
time is limited.
With the help of other hunters, Cheng Jin-Woo reached the altar.
"Let me go up to the altar and take a look."
The two hunters hesitated for a moment, but they chose to trust Cheng Jin-Woo and boarded the sacrifice.
Then, three clusters of flames quickly emerged.
Hush!
Hush!
Hush!
Seong Jin-Woo's eyes lit up.
'The number of flames is the same as the number of people on the altar. '
Song Zhiguo, Cheng Xiaoyu plus the two people who supported him, indeed, the number of flames matched the number of people on the altar.
Four clusters of flames are forming a circle around the altar.
'Look at the distance between the flames, two more clusters can form a circle. '
It should be that all the surviving people boarded the altar to trigger the mechanism.
Cheng Jin-Woo turned his head and asked Song Zhiguo.
"If we're stuck here, do you think there will be other hunters looking for us?"
Song Zhiguo shook his head.
"Today is the seventh day that the portal has been open. Before help arrives, these things will move first."
"This is just a D-class door, which may have been ignored for a long time."
"Well, isn't that what associations are all about, is it?"