Solo Leveling: Ragnarok

While on the move, Beru told Suho what he knew of Sung Ilhwan’s past.

Ilhwan was Suho’s grandfather and the father of Sung Jinwoo, the Monarch of Shadows. At one point, he had also been one of the strongest hunters, having accepted the power of the Rulers. His exact rank at the time was unclear, since hunter ranks were not clearly defined when he had awakened. However, Beru believed that he had absolutely been S-rank, since he was able to accept the power of the Rulers into his body.

“And there is a possibility, a very high one, in fact, that your grandfather awakened as a hunter again!” Beru cried. There was no age limit when it came to awakening as a hunter.

Mana affinity was a congenital trait, the realm of born talent. That was why those Suho had met who were hunters in the previous timeline also awakened the same power in this timeline as well. Sung Ilhwan was probably no exception.

There was one consideration, however. Regardless of talent, the timing of one’s awakening was random. Sometimes there was an event that served as a catalyst, but sometimes there was no such trigger at all.

“Perhaps he hasn’t awakened yet!” Beru said.

“That is what worries me more,” Suho replied.

“Indeed!”

Suho had never been told that his grandfather had awakened. Considering his personality, he would’ve wanted to become a firefighter again if he became a hunter.Or perhaps he would have set up a guild that was similar to a fire department. This made Suho think that it was unlikely that his grandfather had awakened, but this made him even more nervous. A vessel that was perfect for the followers of Itarim had not even awakened his power yet.

Suho’s silver hair fluttered in the strong wind as he raced down an expressway, gritting his teeth. He was going much faster than even Miho had when she’d carried him on her back during the Lee Minsung incident. Gray had already entered his body, and his strength stat was incomparably higher than before.

“Wh-what in the world?”

“That’s dangerous!”

“Someone report him to the association!”

The drivers on the road were shocked to see him. Some of them pulled out their phones and reported him to the police or the association. Suho ignored them, however, and continued to run as fast as he could. As a result, he arrived at Yangpyeong in the blink of an eye.

Suho heard the noise of the river flowing at Paldang Dam. A thick, smooth mist blocked his vision. Yangpyeong District was split into two by the Namhan River, and the various streams that flowed into the river were often surrounded by such mist. This dam in particular had a high water level that made the fog even worse.

Huh? As Suho passed through the mist, he sensed something very odd that he could not quite put into words. It seemed that his sense stat, which had grown quite high thanks to all the leveling he had done, had activated. But this time, it felt different from usual.

What is this? Suho narrowed his eyes, looking around and expanding his senses. Strangely enough, he did not sense any hostile energy or the presence of a magic beast nearby.

Puzzling… Something had been bothering him ever since they had entered Yangpyeong. “Beru…”

“Understood,” the shadow ant said. It took no time at all for him to understand Suho nowadays. He immediately moved his antennae, searching the surroundings in earnest.

In the meantime, Suho pulled out his phone and called his grandfather. He had already tried calling his grandparents before heading off, but nobody had picked up. This was not all that surprising, however, since they were living in retirement in the countryside and did not always keep their phones at hand.

“They are still not picking up…” Suho said, frowning as he listened to the phone ring.

“Do you perhaps not know their address?” Beru asked.

“I don’t,” Suho said, a little embarrassed. “The past five years have been rough.” Anybody would have felt the same way. Both of Suho’s parents had vanished out of the blue. How many people would be able to maintain their calm after such an event?

“I was… frustrated.” Suho smiled grimly and recalled how he had felt at the time. He now knew why such a thing had happened, but back then, he had felt like his world had ended. It had also made him realize just how weak and trivial a person he was. “My parents were missing, but I was just a high school student, and there was absolutely nothing I could do.”

What did I do? Suho recalled. I first called the police to report my parents as missing.Then I contacted my relatives. As his relatives rushed over to see him and spoke gravely to the cops, he had sat at home, waiting and waiting for his parents to get in touch with him. He hadn’t been able to let go of his phone, thinking that they might contact him at any moment. That had been the best he could do.

“My uncle then came to me and told me something,” he remarked.

“Suho, leave such things to be handled by the adults. Focus on your studies, as you always have done.That is what your parents would really want.”

Suho had no choice but to do exactly that. His uncle, Yoo Jinho, was one of the richest men in South Korea. Someone like that was doing his best to find his missing parents, and there was nothing that Suho could contribute as a high schooler. And so, he had gone back to school.

“You know something, though?” Suho said, mixed emotions on his face as he considered the unpleasant memories. “What do you think my grandfather was doing at the time?” Without waiting for Beru to respond, he continued, “Interestingly enough… He just kept on fighting fires like he always did. His son was missing, but he continued to save other people.”

“Huh?” Beru’s eyes gleamed for a moment.

“He’s still not picking up. This won’t do. I’ll have to ask my uncle.”

Since Suho’s grandparents were still not picking up the phone, he immediately called his uncle, Jinho. As it happened, however, Jinho was at work and unable to answer as well.

Suho called his aunt instead. Thankfully, she picked up.

“My goodness. Suho?”

“Aunty! Could you tell me my grandfather’s address?”

“Huh?Why, all of a sudden?”

The surprise was evident in Sung Jinah’s voice. This reaction was not surprising. As Suho had just told Beru, he and his grandfather had drifted apart after the incident.

Suho smiled bitterly and considered what to say. “I… I just wanted to see him. It’s been a while.”

“R-right!That’s great to hear, Suho!I’ll text you the address right away!Oh, actually,why don’t we go together?”

“Huh? No, I don’t think that’s—”

“The thing is,I’ve been meaning to visit him, anyway.”

Suho refused right away, not wanting his aunt to be pulled into anything dangerous, but she was insistent. He could tell that she wanted to set things right between him and his grandfather while she had the opportunity.

“How about this, Suho?I’m getting off work soon.Come to Ahjin Hospital right away.”

Suho stiffened for a moment. “What? Ahjin Hospital?”

His aunt seemed even more puzzled. “Wait, I thought you knew.I set up a hospital in Yangpyeong.”

“What…?”

“So you really didn’t know?”

Suho realized once again just how indifferent he had been thus far.

***

Suho arrived at the hospital in no time at all.

“Suho!” His Aunt Jinah came to greet him, wearing a white doctor’s gown. “I didn’t expect you to show up so soon. Were you nearby?”

“How are you, Aunty?”

Jinah, the younger sister of the Monarch of Shadows and Suho’s aunt, was also a doctor—and as it happened, she ran a hospital in Yangpyeong. Ahjin Hospital was not the biggest hospital out there, but it was famous for having extremely high-end equipment for its size.

Suho stared at the hospital’s name on a sign and asked, “Aunt Jinah, don’t tell me…”

“Yes, this hospital was established by a foundation supported by Ahjinsoft.” In other words, it had basically been started by her husband’s company. Jinah smiled sadly as she continued, “People complained about that quite a bit.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m sure you noticed on the way here, but a lot of rich retirees live here in Yangpyeong.”

“Oh,” Suho said as he understood the situation. He had seen many older people on the way here, but there were obviously expensive houses built sparsely in the vicinity of this facility.

It was easy for people to think that a huge corporation like Ahjinsoft had created the hospital for the rich. That was actually getting things backward, however. Jinah sounded a little bit upset as she said, “I’m not sure if you are aware, but Yangpyeong is a comfortable distance from a central Seoul area like Gangnam. It’s the perfect place to build a home after one retires. That’s why I recommended that your grandparents come here when they said they wanted to retire to the countryside.”

Jinah was right. The people of Seoul usually thought of Yangpyeong as a great place to retire and enjoy nature. There was plenty of natural scenery to take in, but it wasn’t so far from the capital that their children would not be able to visit.

“Some people say the best arrangement is to sleep in Yangpyeong, but spend most of your time in Seoul. But after we helped your grandparents settle down here, we suddenly grew worried. There were no hospitals in these parts!”

A nice house in proximity to nature was fine and all, but the elderly considered having a medical facility nearby to be the most important factor. That was when Jinah had decided to build a hospital near her parents’ home. “And after I set up this hospital, people found out and kept settling down around it.”

Jinah was actually being chatty with her nephew for a reason. “So… Are you going to make up with your grandfather now?” she asked.

“We never actually fought.”

“Right. It’s a good decision. Your grandfather never held grudges in the first place. Do you know that your father actually ran away from home for two whole years in middle school?”

“Grandfather told me about that once,” Suho said, recalling Ilhwan’s words.

“He always liked to vanish out of the blue.He’ll be back, just as he came back last time. So don’t worry.”

“Are you seriously offering that as consolation?”

That had been the beginning of the falling-out between them.

“This is the place, Suho,” Jinah said as they arrived at a house. “It’s very close to the hospital, isn’t it?”

The farmland that his grandparents tended stretched out before him. Suho immediately expanded his senses.

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