Chapter 4: [TS] I only level up alone -Episode 3

A moment later.

Waking up, Jinwoo cleared his mind, thinking to himself.

“I can’t let it end like this.”

Why did the enemy trap him in this illusion?

Did they seal his mind because they couldn’t kill him?

What if he was here because he had been sealed?

He would have gladly sacrificed himself if it meant he could.

What if the real world was safe because of his sacrifice?

What if he could destroy this illusory world and return to reality?

After finishing his thoughts, Jinwoo first checked if his powers were intact before making a plan.

“Are my powers still here?”

Whoosh—

“My powers are still here.”

Fortunately, it seemed they hadn’t been able to seal his powers.

Furthermore, it was his Shadow power, free of all restrictions.

“Beru.”

He called out to Beru, but there was no response.

“Is it because the Jeju Island Gate hasn’t been resolved yet…?”

Since his power was intact, it wouldn’t be difficult to regain Beru and the other Shadow Soldiers.

Rustle.

Jinwoo, who had been briefly manipulating his Shadow power, felt the wind blowing in through the window directly.

“My hair…”

His hair, which he had never grown out in his life, fluttered in the wind, obscuring Jinwoo’s vision.

His hair had been bothering him for a while, and something felt strange down below too…

Wait. Below?

“It’s… gone……”

Jinwoo quickly stood up, put his hand into his pants to check, and uttered a hollow voice.

Faced with an unbelievable situation, Jinwoo collapsed onto the spot.

Jinwoo was more surprised than when he realized he had been caught in an illusion.

“Hah… Did I really become a woman…?”

She didn’t know whose doing this was, but if she woke up from this illusion, they would have to be prepared.

She would make them feel such immense pain that they would beg to be slowly crushed to death.

Jinwoo vowed that she would definitely kill the enemy who had cast this illusion on her.

****

At that moment.

The closed hospital room door opened, and a man in a suit entered, stopping as he was about to speak.

“You’re awake, sir……”

The man’s suddenly frozen face was one she knew well.

‘Detective Woo Jin-chul?’

Another man followed him in.

“Section Chief? Section Chief?? Section Chie—”

The man who had entered, calling out to the Section Chief, soon made eye contact with Jinwoo, who was sitting on the floor, and froze just like Woo Jin-chul.

‘W-What is it?’

She turned her head to check if there was anything behind her, but there was nothing.

“Ah, ahem. Are you awake?”

After standing blankly for a while, Woo Jin-chul collected himself and approached Jinwoo.

“Let me help you up.”

“Oh, yes…”

The Woo Jin-chul she had known had never shown such an expression in any situation.

Woo Jin-chul helped Jinwoo up and seated her on the bed, then stepped back and handed her a business card.

“We do this kind of work.”

Jinwoo took the business card.

‘Woo Jin-chul, Section Chief, Surveillance Division, Korean Hunter Association.’

Seeing the business card, Jinwoo was certain.

‘This is when I woke up in the hospital after being trapped in the Double Dungeon.’

It was definite.

She had experienced this situation before.

“Why did the Surveillance Division come looking for me…?”

Woo Jin-chul pulled a nearby chair and sat down.

The man, who seemed to be his subordinate and had somehow recovered, stood behind him.

They spoke to Jinwoo, who was sitting on the bed.

“You said I was asleep for three days?”

“Yes. That’s why I’m asking, do you happen to remember what happened before you lost consciousness?”

Before, she had answered that she remembered.

She would have to answer that she remembered this time too.

“Yes, I do remember, but… not very clearly.”

“It’s alright. Please tell us everything you remember.”

Before, Jinwoo had told them everything truthfully, but this time she spoke differently.

“And then I opened my eyes and was here… Hmm. I understand.”

Woo Jin-chul and his subordinate exchanged glances.

Since Jinwoo, the person involved, knew nothing, they seemed troubled.

Jinwoo, who knew best what had happened, calmly maintained her composure and asked Woo Jin-chul.

“How am I here? Did a large guild eliminate those creatures?”

Fooled by Jinwoo’s seemingly ignorant expression, Woo Jin-chul spoke with difficulty.

“When the ‘White Tiger’ Guild, along with Surveillance Division agents, arrived at the scene after receiving reports from survivors, nothing was left.”

“What? Nothing?”

Jinwoo put on an incredulous expression.

“Yes. We find it hard to believe too. If the survivors’ testimonies had differed even slightly, or if parts of the victims’ bodies hadn’t remained at the scene, we would have suspected other possibilities.”

Woo Jin-chul scratched his chin.

“So, this is just our thought, but…”

Woo Jin-chul carefully spoke, watching Jinwoo’s reaction.

“We… suspect a re-awakening of Hunter Sung Jinwoo, a second awakening after her initial awakening.”

Jinwoo widened her eyes and feigned surprise.

‘It’s tiring to keep hearing things I already know… But I can’t act differently in front of Woo Jin-chul…’

Seeing Jinwoo’s surprised expression, Woo Jin-chul swallowed hard.

‘Sung Jinwoo… If she awakened S-rank, or even greater power through re-awakening? Then it wouldn’t be impossible for her to have dealt with the monsters that were there.’

Perhaps. It was possible that a Nation-Level Hunter might emerge in South Korea.

‘…That’s what he’s thinking, isn’t it? So predictable.’

Sung Jinwoo, watching Woo Jin-chul, thought to herself.

Woo Jin-chul turned his head and instructed his subordinate.

“Bring it.”

Then the subordinate rummaged in a bag in one corner and pulled something out.

What Jinwoo saw was a round disc the subordinate had taken out.

‘A magic power measuring device, huh?’

It was clearly a magic power measuring device.

Before, Woo Jin-chul had also come and measured her magic power with this device.

At that time, she had felt both excited and nervous at the thought that her life might change.

‘And nothing had happened then…’

Woo Jin-chul said it was a magic power measuring device and that she just needed to place her hand on it for a moment.

He added that although this magic power measuring device was miniaturized, its performance was by no means inferior to the official magic power measuring devices kept at the Association.

‘Magic power… How much should I put in?’

Her power now was different from back then.

Frankly, if she wanted to, she had the power to destroy this illusory world right now.

Jinwoo, possessing power on a completely different level from before, was groaning as she pondered how much magic power to put into the measuring device.

Woo Jin-chul, observing her, seemed to think she was nervous and spoke to Jinwoo.

“You don’t need to be so nervous. Just place your hand comfortably.”

Hearing that, Jinwoo fell into an even deeper dilemma.

‘What should I do…’

Last time, after measuring her magic power, he just said what he wanted and suddenly left the hospital room.

‘After he left, a message suddenly appeared in mid-air… Wait. A message…?’

Messages were only visible when the System was present.

However, the power she currently possessed was unconstrained by the System’s restrictions.

Which meant.

There was no need to control her power.

Jinwoo finally placed her hand on the magic power measuring device.

Shwoooosh—

The light enveloping the magic power measuring device disappeared.

Woo Jin-chul took off his sunglasses and checked the reading.

Soon, an earthquake struck Woo Jin-chul’s pupils.

“This can’t be!”

Woo Jin-chul stared at the measuring device in his hand, a look of shock on his face.

‘This is… a measurement impossible display…’

Jinwoo, watching Woo Jin-chul, thought to herself as if it were obvious.

‘Since I put in my maximum power, it will definitely show ‘measurement impossible’.’

Jinwoo, who needed to break this illusion and return to the real world as quickly as possible, poured her maximum power into it.