Solo Leveling: Digispirit.

A/N More than 300 ps, wow, guys the next bonus Chapter will be in another 150 power stones this time, I need a little more of room to write hahaha, but thank you for the it, is good to know that you like the fic.

Everyone stared at Takuya as he slowly pulled himself out of the wrecked van.

No one moved.

He hadn’t simply walked out of a portal.

He had been shot out of one.

The portal itself had only been a couple of meters wide before disappearing immediately afterward, almost as if the dungeon had forcefully ejected him back into reality.

The Hunters Association employees exchanged confused looks before glancing between Takuya and the hunters who had accompanied him on the raid.

"..."

"..."

Takuya, meanwhile, looked at the destroyed van.

Then at the reporters.

"...Do I have to pay for this?"

That was the very first thing he asked after returning from another world.

Without waiting for an answer, he hurried toward the reporters, bowing repeatedly.

"I’m really sorry! I didn’t mean to do that!"

He even took out his phone.

"If it’s necessary, I can transfer the money right now... Well... probably not all of it at once...I’m still not making enough"

The reporters looked even more confused than he was.

None of them knew how to react.

After all, how often did someone get launched out of a mysterious gate and crash into a news van?

One of them hurriedly began making calls to his superiors.

At the same time, the Association Hunters contacted headquarters.

After listening for a few moments, the employee on the other end immediately gave his instructions.

The two Association Hunters walked over to Takuya.

"Excuse me."

"We’re from the Hunters Association."

"The Association will take responsibility for the damages to the vehicle, so you don’t need to worry about that."

Takuya visibly relaxed.

"Oh... thank goodness." a van full of professional equipment was quite expensive after all.

The older Hunter smiled before continuing.

"Mr. Takuya Kanbara, we’d like to ask you to accompany us to the Hunters Association."

"This is simply so we can ask you a few questions regarding what happened inside the dungeon."

"The appearance of a second portal is something entirely outside our current knowledge. Because of that, we’d like our senior investigators to speak with you directly."

He paused before adding in a reassuring tone,

"This is not an interrogation."

"If, for some reason, you would prefer not to come today, the Association can send personnel to meet with you at another location."

"However, we would appreciate your cooperation. If this phenomenon can occur in other Gates as well, we’d like to understand it as quickly as possible."

It sounded more like a polite request than an order.

Takuya didn’t really see a reason to refuse.

"Sure."

He nodded without hesitation.

"If it helps, I don’t mind."

The two Association Hunters smiled appreciatively.

"Thank you."

Without much more conversation, Takuya climbed into one of the Association’s vehicles.

As the car drove away...

More than one reporter couldn’t help lowering their cameras.

"...Today’s news is going to be unbelievable."

None of them had expected that covering a routine low-rank Gate would end with a teenager being launched out of a second portal like a human cannonball.

After arriving at the Hunters Association headquarters, someone was already waiting for them.

It was only one man.

He looked fairly young, perhaps in his early thirties, or twenties? but the moment Takuya saw him, he instinctively understood something.

He was the strongest Hunter Takuya had met so far.

The pressure coming from him was subtle, almost completely hidden, yet impossible to ignore.

"Welcome," the man said politely. "Please, have a seat."

Takuya was led into what was clearly the man’s office. Judging by the paperwork scattered across the desk, they had brought him here directly instead of preparing a meeting room.

The Association had wanted to speak with him immediately.

"My name is Woo Jinchul," the man introduced himself. "Chief Inspector of the Hunters Association Surveillance Team."

"I’d like to ask you a few questions regarding the second portal that appeared inside the C-Rank Gate you participated in."

He went straight to the point.

"Sure."

Takuya nodded.

"It was... quite an experience, after all."

Jinchul raised an eyebrow.

"Quite an experience?"

"What exactly do you mean by that?"

Takuya didn’t want to cause any misunderstandings.

"Actually..."

"On the way here I checked my phone and asked the Association Hunters something."

"From the moment the raid ended until now..."

"It’s only been about four hours, right?"

Jinchul nodded.

"Correct."

"Given how unprecedented this incident is, we tried to proceed as quickly as possible."

Takuya slowly nodded.

"That’s the thing."

"For you, it’s been four hours."

"For me..."

He paused.

"It was seven days."

Silence filled the office.

"I found myself inside another dungeon."

Takuya had already decided on his explanation.

He knew about Double Dungeons from the original story, so using one as a cover wasn’t particularly suspicious.

Besides technically it was isn’t?

There was no real benefit to hiding everything.

If the Association continued believing he was only a C-Rank Hunter, he would keep receiving low-level Gates, and that would only slow his growth.

"...A second dungeon?"

Jinchul quietly repeated.

Then his expression became thoughtful.

"So, you’re suggesting it was some form of Double Dungeon..."

"But more importantly..."

"Time dilation."

"That’s exceptionally rare."

"I’ve never heard of a Double Dungeon with such an extreme difference in the flow of time."

He folded his hands on top of the desk.

"Can you remember anything unusual?"

"Anything that might have triggered the appearance of the second dungeon?"

Takuya knew exactly what had caused it.

The D-Scan.

The Human Spirit Trial.

Obviously...

There was no way he was going to mention that, he was kind of dumb for some things, but not that much.

He pretended to think for a few moments before answering.

"Hmm..."

"I was standing on top of the boss’s body when it happened."

"I think that was the only unusual thing."

Jinchul looked at him for a second.

The expression on his face clearly said,

This kid has absolutely no idea what happened.

After a moment, he nodded.

"It wouldn’t be the first time something unusual has occurred inside a Double Dungeon."

He leaned back in his chair.

"There have been rare cases where surviving an abnormal Gate has triggered what we call a Second Awakening."

"When that happens, a Hunter’s mana increases dramatically..."

"...along with their Hunter Rank."

He looked directly at Takuya.

"So..."

"Would you be willing to undergo another mana measurement?"

Hearing that, Takuya wasn’t surprised.

He had expected this.

Honestly, it was exactly what he needed.

He had already received invitations from a few small guilds after his first awakening, but that wasn’t enough anymore.

If he wanted to keep growing, he needed access to stronger Gates.

After all...

He didn’t have unlimited access to the Digital World.

"Sure," Takuya replied with a nod.

"Although... I don’t think I awakened a second time."

"I do think I became stronger, though."

Woo Jinchul tilted his head slightly.

"What makes you say that?"

At the same time, he signaled one of the employees outside.

A few moments later, an Association worker entered carrying a small mana-measuring device and carefully placed it on the desk before leaving the room.

Takuya scratched the back of his head, trying to organize his thoughts.

"When I first awakened..."

"It felt like I couldn’t use all of my power."

Jinchul remained silent, listening.

"It’s hard to explain."

"It wasn’t that the power wasn’t there..."

"It was more like... my body couldn’t handle it."

"I always had this strange feeling that if I tried to force it, I’d end up hurting myself."

"So I kept fighting."

"I cleared Gates."

"I got stronger little by little."

"It felt like my body was slowly adapting to my mana."

He paused before continuing.

"And inside that second dungeon..."

"I pushed myself further than ever before."

"It almost felt like..."

"My body finally caught up to the power I already had."

Takuya internally nodded.

Perfect.

That sounded vague enough.

He had avoided mentioning the D-Scan.

He hadn’t claimed a Second Awakening.

And he had explained why he suddenly became much stronger.

Not bad.

Woo Jinchul listened without interrupting.

When Takuya finally finished, the inspector calmly adjusted his glasses.

"Kanbara Hunter."

"That is, in fact..."

"...a Second Awakening."

"..."

Takuya blinked.

"...Ah."

"So that’s what it’s called."

Inside his head, however...

Well... that plan failed immediately.

"Please channel your mana into the device," Jinchul said, placing the small measuring artifact on the desk in front of Takuya.

Takuya nodded and rested his hand on it.

As soon as he poured mana into the device, it lit up.

A few seconds later, the result appeared.

B Rank.

Jinchul wasn’t particularly surprised.

Instead, he picked up Takuya’s file, which had been lying beside him, and skimmed through it once more.

"It says here that your Awakening is a Transformation-type ability."

He looked back at Takuya.

"Does that transformation affect your mana output?"

"Oh, yes."

"That’s what I was trying to explain earlier."

"Before, I couldn’t fully transform."

"Now I can."

"I see..."

Jinchul nodded.

"Would you mind showing me, Hunter Kanbara?"

"Of course."

Takuya smiled.

"It’ll save me the trouble of ranking up twice."

Without thinking much about it, he stepped back, leaving enough space between himself and Jinchul.

The next instant—

His body flickered.

Lines of digital code wrapped around him before bursting into crimson flames.

Or rather...

They looked like flames.

In reality, it was condensed data so densely packed with Fire Data that anyone watching would mistake it for fire.

A moment later...

Agnimon stood where Takuya had been.

Jinchul narrowed his eyes.

Interesting.

The transformation came with a complete suit of armor.

Transformation-type Hunters certainly existed, and manifestations of mana resembling armor weren’t unheard of.

The Chairman himself possessed abilities that altered his appearance to a certain extent.

However...

This was different.

The armor looked... real.

Not like mana shaped into armor.

Still...

The pressure coming from Takuya was nowhere near Chairman Go Gunhee’s.

So Jinchul kept that observation to himself.

"Please."

He gestured toward the measuring device again.

Takuya touched it.

The device glowed far brighter than before.

A few seconds later...

The reading stabilized.

Jinchul looked at the result before raising his eyes toward Takuya.

"...Congratulations, Hunter Takuya Kanbara."

"You are officially classified as an A-Rank Hunter."

Takuya couldn’t help smiling.

It had worked.

"Your Hunter ID will be updated within the week."

"In the meantime, your new rank will be registered in the Association’s database within the next twenty-four hours."

"After that..."

"I’m sure you’ll begin receiving offers from several major guilds."

An A-Rank Hunter was no small matter.

Even the Hunters Association would normally try to recruit someone like him.

However...

Jinchul glanced at Takuya for a moment.

The boy didn’t seem particularly interested in politics or status.

If anything, he looked more excited about becoming stronger than about being recognized.

The larger problem was something else.

His nationality.

According to his records, Takuya Kanbara was Japanese.

Attempting to recruit him directly into the Korean Hunters Association could easily become a diplomatic issue.

Japan tended to be rather protective of its Hunters.

Private guilds, on the other hand, were a different matter.

They had considerably more freedom when it came to recruiting foreign talent.

Even so...

Before those twenty-four hours passed...

Jinchul decided he would discuss the matter with Chairman Go Gunhee first.

After the meeting ended, Takuya headed home.

He already knew what was coming.

By now, he was probably all over the news—or at the very least, he would become a meme after being launched out of a dungeon and crashing into a reporter’s van.

"...Yeah, I should probably tell my uncle first."

It would be much better if he heard it from him instead of seeing it on television.