Within the instance dungeon created by the system, Jinwoo spent the entire day fighting hordes of monsters, leveling up, getting stronger, and then fighting some more.
It was a vicious cycle that he willingly took part in so that he could become stronger.
During all this time, he realized that there was a certain way of things happening in the dungeon created by the System.
The color of the enemy names displayed by the system depended on the strength of the monster in question.
The wolves that nearly killed him in the beginning, before he discovered his strength, had orange names, indicating that they were slightly stronger than Jinwoo. The same monsters, after Jinwoo leveled up multiple times, now had white names, meaning that they were weak compared to him.
Similarly, any monster with red names was completely out of Jinwoo's league until he became strong enough to face them eventually.
During his continuous fights, Jinwoo thought multiple times about using the Hearthstone and returning to the real world, but his determination and ambition would not allow him to succumb to fear ever again.
In the time that Jinwoo spent in the dungeon, he fought many types of monsters. Monkeys, felines, and wolves, which appear to be the mob monsters of this dungeon.
As he progressed through the dungeon, he finally came upon the entrance to the deeper parts of the subway. An entrance that he could tell led to the Boss of this dungeon.
In a single day, Jinwoo had gone from Level 1 to Level 15. However, even with such a huge boost in strength, his instincts and senses were telling him that the Boss monster was beyond his fighting ability.
However, he still ventured in, knowing that he could not give up. Not now, and never again.
He must get stronger, no matter the cost.
Finally, he descended the stairs and came across the Boss monsters of this dungeon. A snake-type monster whose name was orange, indicating that his instincts were right.
Again, his mind forced him to think about running away, but he forcefully pushed forward.
He knew, thanks to personal experience, that in front of strength, nothing matters.
Even if someone is kind, wise, knowledgeable, or someone whom everyone is thankful to, they will always end up betrayed if they are not strong.
In front of strength, no one can ever dare to lift their head.
No one can even dream of hurting his family and his loved ones.
Jinwoo sought that strength.
And in that search, he fought against the monster, the Blue Venon-Fanged Rasaka, with everything he had, with every technique, skill, and bit of knowledge and instinct.
In the end, he proved his convictions and defeated the monster by crushing its neck with brute strength.
The result was that he gained three levels, a dagger called Rasaka's Fang, and a poison called Rasaka's Venom.
However, he could not celebrate for too long as the system suddenly started to glitch.
(System Panel: Click to see image)
Suddenly, Jinwoo felt a pull from around his neck as the pendant that he always had with him started to glow brightly.
"What the hell?? What is happening??"
The pendant was something that he took from his uncle a long time ago when he was a child.
Back then, Jinwoo's uncle used to always palm strange objects while staring off into space and then forget or misplace those items, forcing his father and mother to clean up after the man.
During one such day, Jinwoo stumbled upon this silver ornate pendant that his uncle had forgotten on the table and took it for himself. Later on, when his uncle found out, he let Jinwoo keep it.
"If you like it, then you can keep it. It is called the Silver Pendant. A lame name, I know. But its power is anything but lame. It will protect you against the Dark, so always keep it with you."
Those were the words that his uncle told him, and Jinwoo had never taken it off since then.
But now, the pendant was reacting to something and interfering with the system.
Suddenly, Jinwoo felt nauseous as his surroundings twisted before he blacked out for a few seconds.
However, in those few seconds, his surroundings changed drastically.
What was once an Instance dungeon created to mimic a derelict subway station had now suddenly become some kind of jail cell in a medieval castle.
"What is this? Where am I?"
Jinwoo immediately tried to access the system, but was stunned as the window that popped up was completely different from what he had gotten used to in the past week.
(System Panel: Click to see image)
"…..WHAT THE FUCK??"
Jinwoo's loud roar echoed in the hallowed halls of the place known as the Undead Asylum, as his path of Solo leveling took an unexpected turn.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Author Notes: Read 5 chapters ahead on Patreon: patreon.com/Ruijard1