[2] Solo Leveling

Chapter 257 | Side Story 14

8. Only I'm Max Level

Antares was my name.

I was the 'First Sovereign' born from the darkness, as well as the 'Strongest Sovereign'. I was the king that lorded over all Dragon-kind, an existence that signified terror and destruction.

That's right.

All those who knew me referred to me as the 'Dragon Emperor' as a sign of respect and awe.

However, something strange happened.

On a certain day, as I was getting ready to invade the planet called 'Earth' alongside the ten million-strong soldiers within our hideout inside the gap between dimensions....

....I opened my eyes to discover that I was now occupying the body of a human being.

'.......'

And rather inexplicably, I seemed to have retained all the memories of this human, as well. I quickly found a mirror in the corner of the room and took a look at myself, only to emit a shocked gasp.

'What's this? Why does this human's face look so feeble?'

Hah-ah, how pitifully pathetic this man was.

The name of this human was Seong Jin-Woo, a young man acting as a rank E Hunter in a nation called the Republic of Korea. It seemed that this human never gave up on being a Hunter, even though his pathetic level of abilities drove him to the moments of near death quite often.

'His reason is.... his mother's illness?'

Just as I began thinking to myself that such a measly little illness would be healed in an instant with my magic, the human's mobile phone suddenly began vibrating loudly.

Vrrr.... Vrrr....

I discovered the miniature electronic device angrily vibrating on top of a desk and picked it up. When I did, I was greeted by an urgent female voice coming from the other side of the phone line.

– "Seong Hunter-nim, where are you? It's almost the raid time, yet you still haven't arrived yet...."

I tried to match this voice to the memories of my human body and soon, came across a result of 'Hunter's Association Employee'.

'Hmph.'

I was thinking of ending this call which was answered purely out of this body's habitual reaction, but then, what this female said towards the end got on my nerves somewhat.

– "Are you going to be late again?"

'.....!!!'

Being 'late'.

The action of failing to meet the promised deadline because one lacked the ability to arrive on time. Meaning, this female just dared to ask me, the mighty 'Dragon Emperor' and the personification of omnipotent powers, that I'd do something which was the very symbol of incompetence.

Since this was completely unacceptable, rage quickly filled up my eyes.

"You.... Where are you right now?"

– "What do you mean, where? We are right in front of the Gate, you know. And why did you suddenly stop using the polite speech all of a sudden, Seong Jin-Woo Hunter-nim?"

I concentrated for a bit to find the exact location where this insolent female was speaking from. My sensory perception spread out to envelop the entire city and soon enough, I found her coordinates.

"Found you."

– "Pardon? What do you mean by you foun...."

Click.