Solo Leveling: Rise of the 10th Hunter Part 2

Yoo Jinho keys the console with a dramatic flourish, and the launch chutes hiss in rapid succession as fifty crimson-rimmed drones flood the high vaulted airspace like a swarm of hornets. Woo Jinchul steps smoothly onto center chalk, slipping off his mirrored sunglasses to reveal the cold, focused gold of his eyes before dropping his ledger onto the edge of the terminal. His heavy leather oxfords crack against the tile in a brutal burst of melee reinforcement, his fists detonating shockwaves that obliterate the fifty high-speed targets into a cascading shower of grey grit in 0.28 seconds flat. He straightens his tie amidst the settling dust, his steady gaze rising past the shattered debris directly to where you stand beside Chairman Go.

Yoo Jinho: "Fifty combat targets at triple velocity loaded into lane five. No margin for error on this one, Inspector!"

Woo Jinchul: "Association protocol demands precision under extreme pressure. I won't embarrass the Chairman's judgment, Yasmin."

Sung Jinwoo: "Point two eight. Heavy hands, clean trajectory. The Inspector earned his spot."

Liu Zhigang: "Crushing ceramic evasives with reinforced knuckles... a bit unrefined compared to steel, darling, but terribly effective."

"Clean split, Jinchul. Well done." Review the updated board with Jinho. Check Baek Yoon-ho's reaction.

Woo Jinchul gives Chairman Go a crisp, formal nod before stepping back toward the spectator riser, wiping dust off his charcoal lapel with steady precision. On the elevated console, Yoo Jinho's holographic projection reorganizes the leaderboard, locking Jinwoo at 0.04, Cha Hae-in at 0.24, and Jinchul at 0.28 while dropping Liu Zhigang to fourth. Baek Yoon-ho pushes off the reinforced stanchion, golden slit eyes locking onto you as his heavy boots grind against the ceramic shards littering the lane. Silver fur bristles across the nape of his neck as he rolls his shoulders, waiting for your command at the edge of the firing line.

Yoo Jinho: "Third place belongs to the Inspector at zero point two eight seconds! Round Six—Guild Master Baek, center chalk is waiting for White Tiger!"

Woo Jinchul: "Precision over speed, Boss. The Association's record stands intact."

Baek Yoon-ho: "Let's see if the beast can keep pace with bureaucrats and swordsmen, Yasmin. Don't look away."

Sung Jinwoo: "His claws won't touch the mark unless he reins in the bloodlust first."

"Unleash the beast , baek-no limits! hae-in check the perimeter, Baek I picked you for your ability guage the threat of monsters at a glance as well as your quick reflexes. Jinho, set moving targets with heavy armor for agility. Jinwoo, throw 10 Shadow soldiers out there all of different strength levels. Baek, your task is to take them out from weakest to strongest, in THAT order only."

Cha Hae-in pivots with military crispness, rapier sheathed at her hip as she glides to secure the mezzanine balcony threshold without taking her eyes off you. Beside you, Jinwoo lifts two fingers from the lacquer table; ten pools of abyssal darkness bubble across lane six, solidifying into shadow infantry ranging from basic foot soldiers to a towering elite knight. Across the firing line, Baek Yoon-ho's forearms swell with dense silver fur and obsidian talons, his beast mana rattling the overhead stanchions as he locks his predatory glare onto the first, weakest silhouette. Behind the terminal, Yoo Jinho's chronometer begins its red-line countdown while Chairman Go Gunhee leans forward on his cane, watching your tactical order unfold.

Yoo Jinho: "On it, Boss! Deploying heavy-plated kinetic drones across lane six!"

Cha Hae-in: "Perimeter clear, Yasmin. My blade is ready if any shadow breaches the chalk."

Sung Jinwoo: "Ten soldiers. If you strike out of order, Baek, the trial ends."

Baek Yoon-ho: "Rank appraisal under pressure... you really know how to stoke an animal's appetite. Watch this."

"Break the armor first, Baek! You are the pride of the TACT team. Stay disciplined-eyes on the knight! He wont give you the win, you will have to take it!" Lean back against Jinwoo's shoulder, proud of the team you have put together.

Baek Yoon-ho detonates across lane six in a blur of silver-tipped violence, his talons precisely peeling through the kinetic plates of the lowest shadow crawler before cleaving straight up through the tiered ranks without missing a single rung. The elite shadow knight swings a broadsword of solid dark, but Baek’s beast-reinforced shoulder shatters the breastplate mid-arc, dissolving the final dark silhouette into smoke as the chronometer locks at 0.34 seconds. You lean back firmly against Sung Jinwoo's steady shoulder by the mezzanine table, feeling the solid, unyielding heat of his chest absorb your weight while seventy million viewers watch your sovereign front hold unbroken. Choi Jong-in unbuttons his tailored burgundy blazer and rolls his silk cuffs twice, brass lighter already gleaming between his knuckles as he takes center chalk for round seven.

Yoo Jinho: "Ten out of ten, perfectly ordered from dregs to elite knight—zero point three four seconds!"

Baek Yoon-ho: "He didn't give it to me. I took it, Commander."

Sung Jinwoo: "A clean harvest. He stayed in his mind, not just his claws."

Choi Jong-in: "Discipline suits White Tiger, but raw force is rather blunt—allow me to demonstrate surgical heat for round seven, Yasmin."

"Jong-in's trial calls for me to expose one of the five new skills I have awakened". walk down to the chalk and while staring into Jong-in's eyes, you touch the ground with both hands and say BRIEF creating a protective barrier that keeps damage and flames contained in a safe space. Brief also creates sand golems that cannot be killed with fire. to jinwoo: "please send 30 soldiers of different levels. order them to attack Jong-In (in self defense) but their main focus is to destroy the 30 moving targets" To Jinho: "30 Targets all moving at high speed." to jong-in "your goal is to protect all 30 moving targets representing a life. you cannot lose a single one all while defending yourself as well. Prove my choice picking you wasnt wrong."

You step away from Jinwoo's shoulder and descend the mezzanine stairs onto the arena floor, dropping both palms flat against the chalked threshold as violet and pale runic light erupts beneath your hands. The word settles like a shockwave, raising a crystalline, translucent perimeter that seals lane seven in an airtight containment field while dense sand golems knit together from the arena sand, completely immune to flame. From Jinwoo's raised hand, thirty distinct shadow soldiers surge into the enclosed ring with single-minded aggression toward the swarm of newly deployed crimson drones, leaving Choi Jong-in standing dead center as white-hot embers flare to life between his knuckles.

Yoo Jinho: "Thirty moving targets queued in lane seven, all running evasion profiles! Boss, the parameters are locked!"

Sung Jinwoo: "Thirty shadows dispatched. They won't hold back on the marks, Choi—keep your eyes on every single one."

Choi Jong-in: "A defensive perimeter while preserving fragile civilian proxies under absolute siege... ruthless, Commander. Let us see how my flames dance under restraint."

Woo Jinchul: "Her barrier sealed without a tremor. She isn't just an awakened striker; she commands the entire domain."

"Don't let a single spark go to waste and focus on the drone trajectories. Burn it all down!" Step back to JInwoo who is waiting with open arms and watch Choi burn it to the ground and save every life.

The engraved brass lighter snaps shut with a crisp metallic chime as Choi Jong-in unleashes a web of crimson heat, wrapping each evasive drone in a cocoon of thermal repulsion while lance-like flame needles pierce through the thirty shadow soldiers. Your BRIEF barrier holds absolute, drinking the superheated shockwaves without shuddering as the sand golems absorb the backdraft into cool ceramic glass. You step backward off the chalk and return to the mezzanine platform where Sung Jinwoo waits, standing inches beside him as the terminal locks Choi's clear time with zero casualties. Down in the pit, the last smoke wisp clears to reveal thirty pristine drones hovering unharmed over thirty piles of soot.

Choi Jong-in: "Thirty proxies untouched, thirty shadows burned out before they took a step. Point four four, Commander."

Sung Jinwoo: "Surgical control. He didn't let heat bleed into the airspace."

Yoo Jinho: "Flawless sweep for Hunters Guild Master! That puts Choi in fifth place at zero point four four!"

Han Song-yi: "Wait, is it my turn now?! Song-yi is up for Round Eight?!"

Yasmin looks up at the elders to get a reaction to the display so far and Gunhee is extremely proud with nod of acknowledgement while Il-Hwan makes it clear who's family she belongs to. "Jong-in great work! Worth every bit of trust and faith I have in you. Song-yi, your turn- show them why understimating an E-rank can be a fatal mistake." "The BRIEF barrier is still active. Hae-in turn on the water sprinkers but isolate them to only be active above the barrier only. Water is her strength and I want you all to see why I chose her will also allow me to show another skill from my awakening. Zhigang, Baek, & Jinchul please join her in the chalk and don't hold back. Song-yi the water is for you." Song-yi uses the water to form strong water knives at her command that cuts through everyones skin in multiple places and bleeding profusely. When the match is over and evryone has gaping wounds, Yasmin goes down to the chalk and says BLESS. The ground trembles with a rapid green mana crawling up every injured person healing every single wound in real time. Yasmine explains that Bless in a fight will work perfectly in battle with Jinwoo's Monarch domain because it is expansive and that no matter where our allies are, as long as they are inside the domain they will always heal.

At the mezzanine rail, Chairman Go Gunhee raps his wooden cane with a slow, deeply satisfied nod, while Sung Il-hwan sets his porcelain cup down, his ancient golden gaze confirming the sovereign mantle now fully shared by his house. Overhead, the misting deluge pours into the sealed cylinder where Han Song-yi condenses the torrent into whirling crescents of razor-sharp pressure, slicing cleanly across the charging vanguards of Zhigang, Baek, and Jinchul until crimson arcs across the damp arena sand. You drop both hands down to the chalked boundary and breathe the command, sending emerald-bright runic tides surging beneath their boots to stitch every severed muscle and torn tendon back together within seconds. Jinwoo stands motionless beside you at the threshold, dark eyes fixed entirely on your radiant glow as the hunters catch their breath in pristine health.

Cha Hae-in: "Sprinkler grid seven engaged—isolated precisely above your barrier, Yasmin."

Liu Zhigang: "Water blades with actual edge... an E-rank drawing first blood against three national-tier predators. Not bad, kid!"

Woo Jinchul: "Flesh knitted shut before the blood even cooled on the sand... a total metabolic restoration across the entire perimeter."

Sung Jinwoo: "Infinite restoration inside my domain. No one under our flag bleeds out. Not ever."

Yoo Jinho: "Round Eight is sealed! That just leaves Gina for the final anchor leg before tonight's Final Recoupling ceremony!"

"Gina, your up, but i want to chat with you first" wink Yasmin heads down to the chalk and says BREAK to shatter the barrier you built draining all the water within the barrier into the ground so the ground is completely dry for Gina. You pull Gina to the side and tell her you chose her for TACT not just for her gravity magic, but because of her telekenesis. Tell her to take all of the opponents weapons and use them against them because in her hands their effects double. She too, slices and dices her opponents and mocking them by manipulating their own blood into daggers sealing her the 4th place spot. When the round is over Yasmin goes back to Bless everyone healing their wounds. Check on Song-Yi after her trial run. To Hae-in "turn the water off, check the perimeter, then join the chalk for Gina's trial." You give tea and sandwiches to Jinwoo, then take tea, water and food for the elders while checking their cores to ensure they are ok. You call from the mazzanine: "Jong-In, Song-Yi, baek, jinchul, zhigang and Hae-in please join the chalk with weapons for Gina's trial, you are all her targets. Gina, you're up. Show everyone why TACT is your new home!" Head back down to sit next to Jinwoo who offers you a bite of his sandwich and you accept it.

At your quiet utterance of 'BREAK', the crystalline perimeter dissolves into fine violet mist, the saturated arena floor flash-drying until only clean, pale quartz remains beneath Gina's heels. Across the ring, her emerald telekinesis snaps out in an instantaneous gravitational wave, yanking Liu's twin dao, Hae-in's training rapier, and Jinchul's reinforced baton straight from their grips before condensing their airborne blood into razor-sharp crimson daggers that shatter every defense in 0.30 seconds. Your follow-up invocation of 'BLESS' sends a second emerald surge washing through the chalk, mending every graze as you deliver fresh tea and provisions up to Chairman Go and Sung Il-hwan before descending back to Jinwoo's side. Jinwoo breaks half his toasted sandwich and lifts it toward your lips, his obsidian eyes unblinking as you take the bite while seventy million viewers watch the leaderboards freeze for tonight's Final Recoupling.

Gina: "Double the yield, darling? You really know how to dress a girl for war."

Liu Zhigang: "My dao blades... she didn't just strip my grip, she accelerated their spin. Terrifying talent, Commander."

Yoo Jinho: "Zero point three zero seconds! Gina locks in fourth place overall, and with that, Hunter's Aim is officially concluded!"

Sung Jinwoo: "Eat first. You burned through three high-tier skills without letting your breath break once."

Lean into Jinwoo's shoulder on the dais. Accept Jinho's Final announcement as Jinchul preps everyone for a display of your last 3 skills all streamed live so the world knows they are safe and protected.

You sink your weight sideways into Sung Jinwoo’s shoulder at the center of the dais, the obsidian ring cold and steady against your collarbone as seventy million broadcast viewers watch your shared frame absorb the entire arena's gravity. The leaderboards overhead lock with a sharp, echoing chime, freezing Jinwoo’s pristine 0.04-second run at the untouchable summit while Yoo Jinho raises his palms toward the hovering camera array. Down below, Woo Jinchul steps forward onto the cleared quartz chalk, adjusting his mirrored frames as the Association broadcast telemetry recalibrates to full international transmission. Every hunter across the TACT line stands at attention, waiting on your word to ignite the exhibition that proves humanity's new vanguard cannot be broken.

Yoo Jinho: "With every single contender across the roster clocked and verified, the benchmark stands unbroken—the victor of Hunter's Aim is Ahjin Guild Master, Sung Jinwoo!"

Woo Jinchul: "The trial is logged into Association records, but our live broadcast window remains mandated by Chairman Go Gunhee for one final strategic broadcast."

Sung Jinwoo: "Let them keep the lenses wide. The world needs to understand who holds the shield before night falls on the Final Recoupling."

Cha Hae-in: "We've all tasted your healing, Commander—show the cameras the rest of what keeps us alive in the dark."

"Focus the feeds. Let them see everything. "Jong-In, Song-Yi, baek, jinchul, zhigang, Gina and Hae-in please join the chalk with weapons and do not hold back because a real enemy wont, and I am that enemy." Jinwoo, no matter what happens wait for me to ask for Monarch's domain. You join the chalk and began the demonstration fighting to your hearts content but visibly losing the upper hand causing Jinwoo to panic and call Igris, Beru and Iron forward. Gunhee and Il-Hwan are ready to jump from the mezzanine to destroy the earth with Jinwoo but I hold my hand up stopping them all. Jinwoo is visibly flustered and agitated and ready to level the whole building because of all the gashes and cuts all over me. "jinwoo, Monarch's domain! and I am exhausted so make it a very small one around all of them." Jinwoo opens the domain capturing Jong-In, Song-Yi, baek, jinchul, zhigang, Gina and Hae-in inside. Drawing a circle on the ground around myself I say BLESS with the most evil smile while looking at my prey and say BLESS which only heals me completely leaving them still scratched and bleeding.

At your signal, the seven hunters leave formation and spread across the chalk while the broadcast lenses tighten on steel, claws, and gathering mana. Their combined assault opens cuts across your arms and black fighting clothes, but when Jinwoo’s shadows rise at the edge of the dais and both elders brace at the mezzanine rail, your raised palm stops all three forces cold; Jinwoo obeys only when you finally call for his domain, compressing abyssal darkness into a tight circle around the fighters. You score a ring into the quartz and BLESS surges upward in green light, sealing every wound on your body while leaving your opponents’ scratches untouched—the selective healing is now visible to the entire world. Jinho slams the result onto the broadcast board, formally crowns Jinwoo’s untouched benchmark, and the night ceremony summons illuminates behind him; Jinwoo remains at the domain’s edge, staring at you as the only person still owed an answer before the exhibition can close.

Sung Jinwoo: "You proved the distinction. Now tell me whether I am lowering the domain."

Cha Hae-in: "The healing excluded us with perfect precision. The world saw it clearly, Yasmin."

Han Song-yi: "Okay, that smile was terrifying—but the skill is seriously incredible!"

Woo Jinchul: "Selective restoration confirmed. Association telemetry has recorded no spillover."

Liu Zhigang: "A physician to allies and an executioner to enemies. What a sharp little miracle, darling."

Yoo Jinho: "Sung Jinwoo keeps the Hunter’s Aim crown and immunity! Tonight, Yasmin steps forward for the Final Recoupling—one confession, one final choice!"

I then slam my hands on the ground and say BLEND and the BRIEF barrier attaches itself to Jinwoo's Monarch domain at 50x level locking those in the domain inside unable to take a single step out of it. You explain BLEND by saying the moment the enemy is in that space they have sealed their fate as there is no way out, but as an ally they would be protected and their weapons buffed by 50x, but you tell them today they your prey. Everything else happens ina blur as you explain each thing as it happens. You look at them with a killing desire then look at te camera with that same stare touching the soul core of everyone watching. "Now you will see why people are really afraid of me. BLIND!" Yelling BLIND activate a green haze from the ground within the domain sending random terrifying illusions of their individual fears but all have my voice, and it conceals my location.

Both your palms hit the polished quartz floor with a resonant crack, and the word 'BLEND' rings across the broadcast microphones like an iron decree. Violet runic light erupts from your skin, shooting along the floorboards to weld itself into the perimeter of Sung Jinwoo’s abyssal shadows, multiplying the barrier fiftyfold until the air inside screams under crushing atmospheric weight. When your voice drops into the single, echoing syllable of 'BLIND', a thick, toxic-green mist wells up from the bedrock, swallowing Baek, Jinchul, Zhigang, Choi, Gina, Song-yi, and Hae-in in a swirling sea of spectral shapes that mirror their worst terrors in your own pitch-perfect tone. Behind you, Jinwoo remains anchored at the dais edge, the cold shadow at his feet surging forward only enough to brace your footing as seventy million screens freeze on your lethal silhouette.

Sung Jinwoo: "They cannot breach it from within. Our mana has locked into a singular lattice."

Baek Yoon-ho: "Every shadow in here carries her whisper... she turned the entire killzone into a psychological nightmare!"

Woo Jinchul: "Association telemetry is peaking off the charts—every broadcast terminal on the continent just witnessed absolute containment!"

Yoo Jinho: "And that seals the demonstration! With Hunter's Aim benchmarked and the sovereign vanguard proven, the stage is set for tonight's Final Recoupling ceremony!"

I take out the infused Obsidian dagger Jinwoo gave me and lick it facing the camera with an evil grin that freezes everyone. The next word they hear behind the haze is BESERK, which causes screams and grunts behind the haze as I taunt them while slicing their arms, legs, and backs. It's a version of Jinwoo's mutilation skill. "My husband gave me this dagger and it matches the ring he gave, isnt it beautiful?" I end with a stellar mass slicing sequence slicing through every single person in the blocked domain dropping every single one of them to their knees. The I say break and haze and barrier dissipate. "Jinwoo, recall the domain". Jinwoo recalls the domain and the chalk is clear and everyone is fighting for their life. I become bubbly again and smiling like an angel. I said BLESS to heal everyone back to 100% health no scars. Thus ending my demonstration.

The obsidian dagger catches the harsh arena floodlights as you draw the cold blade flat across your tongue, your unblinking stare freezing seventy million broadcast feeds before the single command of 'BERSERK' rips through the green mist. A hurricane of dark violet arcs shreds the air, carving through armor, flesh, and combat tunics with surgical frenzy until all seven hunters hit the bloodied quartz on their knees. At your quiet word of 'BREAK', the barrier shatters into diamond dust, and Sung Jinwoo smoothly pulls his domain back into his shadow, leaving the arena floor bare and breathless. You offer the cameras a bright, angelic beam as 'BLESS' washes over the circle in a blinding emerald wave, erasing every crimson tear and leaving skin flawless before Yoo Jinho steps up to the mic with the golden victor's laurel.

Sung Jinwoo: "Domain released. Every target in the chalk is accounted for."

Baek Yoon-ho: "Every artery and ligament severed and stitched back in under five seconds... I have never felt anything so ruthless in my life."

Cha Hae-in: "And not a single scar left behind... that wasn't an exhibition, Yasmin, that was a complete sovereign execution."

Yoo Jinho: "With the tactical demonstration concluded and the benchmark standing untouched at 0.04 seconds, Sung Jinwoo is officially crowned the victor of Hunter's Aim! Get ready, compound—tonight is the Final Recoupling!"

Step up to Jinwoo's side and apologize for making him worry. Tell him you'll be right back as you race to the mezzanine to confirm you are ok to Gunhee and il-hwan who were literally about to bring down God's wrath for them hurting me. Both elders look you over and once they are satisfied hug and praise you. Thank the team for participating in the demonstration.

You step up to Sung Jinwoo’s side at the dais edge, ducking your head to offer a quick apology for the spike in his pulse before taking the mezzanine stairs at a run. Up at the iron balustrade, Chairman Go Gunhee and Sung Il-hwan let their flared celestial authority recede, their eyes scanning your sleeves and collar until every line of pure, undamaged skin confirms your recovery. Both elders nod in solemn approval, their quiet praise settling over you before you turn toward the railing to formally thank Cha Hae-in, Woo Jinchul, Baek Yoon-ho, Liu Zhigang, Choi Jong-in, Gina, and Han Song-yi for holding the line. Down at the host podium, Yoo Jinho's voice rings through the compound loudspeakers, projecting the glowing countdown clock for tonight's final broadcast directly across the arena screens.

Sung Jinwoo: "You didn't break. You proved what this vanguard will withstand."

Sung Il-hwan: "Your core is steady, Yasmin. The sky didn't need to fall today."

Cha Hae-in: "You took every strike and healed it cleaner than it landed. We're proud of you, Commander."

Yoo Jinho: "That concludes our live combat trials! Rest up, hunters—tonight the broadcast reconvenes for the Final Recoupling ceremony!"