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Chapter Text

Jinwoo was just making his morning coffee when the display appeared, hovering over his coffee mug.

[A System Update is Available] [Update] [Not Now]

He blinked slowly. Update? Ever since he'd woken up from the double dungeon… He'd never had an update to the System before. What would happen?

[A System Update is Available]

[Due to new job criteria, the System requires an update.]

It didn't give him much to go on. Jinwoo hesitated, wondering (not for the first time) what could possibly happen? The dark screen hovered ominously over his cooling coffee.

"Update."

The screen flitted away, another cropping up just as he was about to pour in some cream.

[System Updating… Services will be temporarily offline.]

Wait— As in all services through the system?!

Panicked, Jinwoo tried to summon up his inventory, only for nothing to happen except an error message. He tried again to summon his inventory, his weapons— nothing nada. "Shit!" He swore, eyes wide. This was not good, this was so not good!

He waved a hand over his shadow and called Igris forward. Luckily the general answered, melting out of the shadows and into his small kitchen. Jinah was already at school, so he didn't have to worry about her seeing him. Igris knelt before him, his black armored face and glowing blue eyes fixed on Jinwoo's troubled expression.

"Any chance you know what's happening?" He asks, although he knows Igris cannot respond. None of his shadows had the ability to talk, sadly.

Igris shook his head.

"Great." Jinwoo slurped his coffee loudly and glared at the loading window that floated overhead. The progress bar was barely at 7%. "Looks like we're taking a few days off." He declares, grabbing his phone to pull up Jinho's contact. This was definitely going to throw a wrench in their plans for the next… however long this would take.

[System Update is Loading…. 10%]

Jinwoo glared at the screen after a disheartening call with Jinho. He looked around the apartment and sighed, might as well clean the place up a bit. He started with the laundry, absolutely terrified when he opened Jinah's door to find clothing strewn all over the floor and furniture. Once he'd started the task of deep cleaning the apartment, time seemed to flow by differently.

By the time Jinah was returning from school, several hours later, the apartment was sparkling clean.

"Woah…" Jinah gaped as she came in, a little afraid to touch anything. Even the floors sparkled, probably clean enough to eat off of. "What… happened in here?" She asks with suspicion, eyes falling onto where Jinwoo was looking down at his phone. "You didn't kill someone in here and have to get rid of evidence, did you?"

"What are you talking about?" Jinwoo asked, not that he ever knew what Jinah was on about.

"Nothing, nevermind." She shook her head, dropping her bag on the island and falling onto the couch beside her brother. "What are you looking at?"

"Gates…" He answered.

"Again? Can't you ever take a break? And who is this Jinho guy anyways, dragging you along every day for like two weeks now for these gates…" She complained, laying down and dropping her head into Jinwoo's lap like when she was younger.

"What are you doing?"

"What does it look like? I'm tired! I just had my midterm for chemistry today!" She whined, rolling over to bury her face in his stomach.

Jinwoo laughed a little, twitching as she blew a raspberry into his stomach and dropping a hand into her hair. "Yeah, how did that go?"

Jinah relaxes as her brother pats her head slowly while he continued to scroll. "That asshole—"

"Language—"

"— teacher gave us questions on stuff we only learned last week! I studied the entirety of my notes, but nooooo," She complained, kicking her feet a little. Jinwoo snorted at her behaviour, shaking his head. "She only taught us the basics of bonding and inter-molecular forces! How am I supposed to understand the strengths of the formations and what they're called!?"

Poor Jinah, with that big brain of hers how was she ever going to survive university? Jinwoo asked himself, rolling his eyes. He didn't really take chemistry in high school, the gates had opened and he barely graduated before he was able to test his rank after awakening. He'd been dungeon crawling since then, trying to amass enough money for the hospital bills, the rent and Jinah's school expenses while still being able to feed the two of them. He couldn't remember what the importance of inter-molecular structures or whatever even where.

"I'm sorry to hear that." He says, playing with her ponytail idly. He scrolls past a new posting on the dungeon hunting website he was on.

Jinho had been scouring the site and buying up all the C-Rank gates, and now, in lieu of Jinwoo telling him he was feeling 'sick,' they'd have to sell the permits for the gates to make a portion of their money back. He looked at the C-Rank gate that had come up, and felt… disappointed. He really was having fun on those gates, clearing them easily and even starting to consider what a B-Rank would be like.

He huffed, definitely not pouting about it as he swiped away the app and opened Instagram. Immediately he was surprised to see a new reporter standing outside a large gate in China, which was red in color instead of blue. He clicked on the news clip, turning on the audio.

'—eems that a Red Gate has cropped up in the middle of Wuhan's Manchu Residential District. A group of 3 star hunters did enter about 3 hours ago, but there has been no signs of survivors thus far. ' Reported the Korean news station, panning over from the reporter with their mic to the red swirling mass behind them. 'As our viewers may remember, China has a 1-5 star ranking system instead of E-S Ranks for their hunters and gates. I'm being told that this gate here was reported to be around a 3 star gate, but after turning red after members of the party entered, they are now saying that the gate has risen to a 4 or possibly even 5 star gate!'

"Why are you watching that? Lame!" Jinah complained but she'd still rolled over to look as well. "What's a red gate, anyways?"

Jinwoo frowned, looking down at his sister. Even if she wasn't a hunter, the gates had been around for a decade already, did she really forget? "A red gate is when a regular gate seals off its entrance once someone walks through it, trapping the hunters already inside the gate and preventing anyone else from the outside from entering the gate. After this happens, the gate will not open until one of three things happen: the boss is defeated, the entire raid party is killed, or a dungeon break occurs."

"Oh…" Jinah frowned. "That's…"

"It's not good." Jinwoo supplies. "But this is all the way in China, so we don't have to worry."

"They have the most S-Ranks in the world, right?" Jinah asks, looking up at Jinwoo. "So even if something bad happens and there is a dungeon break, they're handle it, right?"

"Right."

Jinwoo didn't mention that if there was a dungeon break, it meant that A-Rank or higher beasts would pour out— potentially killing hundreds before an S-Rank could get on the scene to diffuse the situation. He skipped past the rest of the video, preferring to look a stupid memes that were 'boomer' according to his sister.

Eventually they make dinner, but Jinwoo can't help but ponder over their japchae about the System's update. He pulled up the window, but only got the same message as before. The progress bar had only gone up 5% since this morning.

[System Update is Loading…. 15%]

He glared at the window. This was going to be a long few days.

Jinwoo was just walking around the park, finished with his run, when he saw it— a statue of an angel. He'd never seen it before on his runs, and couldn't help but stop cold in his tracks. Even though it had been months since the double dungeon… even though he'd changed so much…

His hands started to shake.

It's just a statue. He tells himself, glancing around before looking back at the stone angel. It hadn't moved. It hadn't started to sing. It…

This wasn't the double dungeon, this was just a public park. But he swore he could feel eyes watching him. Swallowing thickly, he shook his head. I must be imagining things.

He pulled up the system again, looking at his progress through today's dailies.

[Rewards have been added to inventory!] it said, but there was no way of accessing them. The System was still updating.

[System Update is Loading…. 30%]

It had already been a day and a half! This was really starting to get on his nerves! But he still had his shadows, he still had Igris… Just because he didn't have his daggers didn't mean he couldn't fight, right?

He pulled out his phone to text Jinho about tomorrow's gate. Suddenly he wasn't feeling so 'sick' anymore.

"Are you sure about this? Without any weapons? Here, I brought mine, you can borrow it!" Jinho said after witnessing Jinwoo destroy a handful of goblins with just his bare hands.

Scary! False rankers were so scary!! Jinho thought to himself, as he meekly offered up his own sword that had been strapped to his back. It had cost a pretty penny too, so hopefully Jinwoo's erratic fighting techniques wouldn't destroy the 40,000 won blade.

"Ah… Sure. Thanks." He said, taking the golden sword by the handle and whipping it around a few times. It crackled with the fire magic that lay within it, pulsing as Jinwoo's overpowering mana. "This… this has special properties?"

He could feel something emanating from the blade faintly, feeling like hot sparks and warm light. Jinho grinned, nodding and starting to babble about all the cool attributes that the sword apparently had, where it was found and how much he paid for it.

If he paid 40,000 won for this… I wonder how much I could get for Kasaka's Venom Fang?

Jinwoo only continued forward when he was called by Jinho, who looked back over his shoulder with worry. "Everything alright?"

He swung the blade in his hand again, unused to something so long compared to his usual daggers. "Yeah, let's go."

In no time the dungeon was cleared and the supplies gathered with his new little shadow army of soldiers. Jinho had nearly fainted at the sight of them, but after a few experimental pokes and prods at the soldiers, he'd realized that they were on their side and relaxed.

"Looks like it was good that I brought this along, huh?" Jinho asked, pointing at the blade he'd loaned him. "Pretty cool huh? On top of having fire attributes that occasionally cause your enemies to catch on fire, it also serves as a light source!"

Jinwoo nodded along, twirling the blade in his hand a few more times. A sword wasn't terrible, but it did limit his movements more than a dagger would. It also required two hands most of the time, which wasn't very ideal.

Yawning lazily, Jinwoo exited the gate, half a mind to hand back the sword, but something else distracted him. Outside was their usual group of retired hunters and handicapped former hunters that were waiting for them to return. Amongst them though, was a man he didn't recognize in a black suit. Probably from the Hunter's Association. Great.

"Is there something we can help you with, sir?" Jinho asked, smiling like any businessman facing a cop would.

"As a matter of fact, there is. Sung Jinwoo, would you have a moment to spare?"

"Me?" Jinwoo pointed at himself before looking around as if a second Jinwoo would appear. Unlikely.

The man snorted, offering him a dazzling smile. "Yes, if I could just have a word…"

Unable to really run away in broad daylight, Jinwoo followed the man out of earshot of their group who was piling back into the van. This was the last gate of the day, and Jinho was going to drive them all home.

"I'll find my way back, thanks." Jinwoo told Jinho, waving him off before turning back to the man in black. "Are you from the Hunter's Association?"

"I'm actually with The White Tiger Guild. My name is Ahn Sangmin, and I wanted to talk to you about the gates you and your party have been clearing lately…"

Jinwoo's eyes narrowed as they entered the cafe, discomfort taking place in his gut.

[System Update is Loading… 45%]

Jinwoo laid on the couch again, mindlessly clicking away through dramas on the TV. Yesterday had sucked. So he was on their radar, huh? So much for hiding his rank. Perhaps since he'd beat Igris and his army in the Instant Dungeon and gone through the Job Change he'd become too strong to hide anymore. He didn't like it, but there wasn't much he could do about it, he wasn't talented at hiding his mana unless he was using his assassin skill to camouflage his presence.

"Oppa!" Jinah's voice called from her room.

"What?" Jinwoo called back, too lazy to climb off the couch to see what she wanted.

"Oppa, there's… there's a gate outside the apartment!"

Jinwoo sat up, immediately looking out the windows of the living room. Jinah came out of her room with her eyes glued to her phone, typing much faster than Jinwoo ever would be able to comprehend. Outside, on the grassy area right before the parking lot of their complex, was a spiral of bright blue, not yet blocked off by Hunter Association staff for safety precautions.

"Great." He sighed, grabbing his own phone while Jinah posed by the window for a selfie. "I gotta make a call." He said, pulling up the number of that one Association guy from that time with Hwang's crew. "Hello?" He asks as the dial tone clicks.

"Hello, this is Woo Jinchul , to who am I speaking?"

Jinwoo ran a hand through his hair frowning at his reflection in the window. "It's Sung Jinwoo, from that C-Rank gate a while ago? Uh… a gate just opened in front of my apartment."

There was a pause, before a sigh. "Thank you for letting the Association know. We'll send someone over shortly."

"About that…" Jinwoo worried his lip with his teeth. "I could just take care of it for you?"

"What do you mean 'take care of it'?"

"Well I think you and I both know I'm not E-Rank." He looked back to the blue vortex outside his home. "I could just—"

"No. Absolutely not. You have no idea what rank that gate is, if it's a red gate, or even an S-Rank gate. You promise me, Hunter Sung, that you will not go into that gate alone." Woo Jinchul sounded seconds away from popping a blood vessel.

Jinwoo was already slipping on his shoes and grabbing Jinho's sword that he'd borrowed. He had intended to return it after the dungeon but Jinho insisted he hold onto it for now since they'd be clearing dungeons tomorrow anyways. He sighed and grabbed his keys, closing the door behind him.

"Hunter Sung, promise me." Woo Jinchul demands.

Geez, pushy.

"I…" He pushed the button for the elevator and hesitated. He could probably clear it before the Hunter's Association even gets here. He hadn't even given him the address for it yet.

"Hunter Sung—"

"Alright. I get it. I won't go into the gate alone." He swears, stepping into the elevator. He looked down at his shadow as the doors closed. It wriggled a little in excitement that was coming from within him.

A sigh of relief could be heard. "Perfect. Although I'm sure you could clear a C maybe even B-Rank Gate with minimal people, we have no idea what rank that gate is. If it was A or S-Rank you could easily die in there and no one would even know about it until we organized a raid."

Jinwoo nodded as the elevator dinged at each floor before reaching the lobby. Since it was later at night, it didn't seem like any of the other residents of their building had noticed the gate yet. "You're right. Sorry, I guess I jumped the gun a bit, huh?"

"I'll send a team over shortly." With that the call ended and Jinwoo smirked.

"Come, Igris." He called. The knight rose from the ground like smoke, stepping out of Jinwoo's shadow. Now then, he wasn't really alone, was he? His smirk grew into a near feral grin, eyes catching the light of the street lamps and seeming to glow blue with power. "Let's go take a look."

Woo Jinchul hung up and immediately called in a favor to get out of his desk early. Something about Hunter Sung's voice had been… far too playful. Excited, even. It put him on edge and soon he found himself in a car with a group of other A-Ranks headed for downtown.

Just what exactly was he planning on doing? He'd sworn he wouldn't go alone, so that was good. But judging from his previous dungeons he'd been clearing with that Yoo kid… He might just have a team on hand that was stupid enough to go through an unranked gate.

Woo Jinchul hoped he was mistaken.

Chapter Text

The first thing to note about the dungeon was that the cavern that it led into was pitch black. Like an ether of shadows that even Jinwoo had been nervous to enter, the cavern's empty maw yawned at him ominously. Many dungeons ended up being underground, for whatever reason, so this wasn't unusual. What was unusual was the lack of creatures to kill.

Jinwoo held up Jinho's sword and circulated some mana through the blade. He wasn't really great at it yet, but he could feel the warm energy again and sought it out more. Slowly and dimly, the blade's hilt began to glow from the pearly gemstone situated in guard.

"Huh. I guess it does glow." Jinwoo had been a little skeptical but it turns out Jinho hadn't been ripped off afterall. His shadow teemed with eager little knights that wanted to prove themselves. With a wave of his hand, Jinwoo smiled into the darkness. "Come out, and kill anything that's hiding in here." His shadows moved with a little twitch before swirling around his feet and bursting free like a torrent of water.

Soldiers arose from the ground, glowing with blue lights and hefting swords, spears, and other weapons. They poured down the long tunnel as Igris and Jinwoo walked slowly behind them, leaving the swirling blue portal behind.

As they turned the corner, something in the air shifted. Jinwoo jolted at the same time as Igris, both of their attentions zeroing in on where his shadows were not responding any longer. Something was killing them— and fast.

Without another word, Jinwoo and Igris use their speed to dash down the tunnel and turn into a giant opening. There, the source of his shadows being destroyed, was a giant… worm? Thing??? It—

Okay well it certainly wasn't your average run of the mill worm— this thing had teeth. Like a lot— a LOT of teeth. He barely had a moment to curse before the boss-looking beast turned onto him and shot forward violently. No wonder the opening was so large— the worm thing was huge! Bigger than Kasaka, bigger than even the statue of God from the cartenon temple!

For the first time in a while— Jinwoo felt fear spike in his belly. There was no way this really had been an A-Rank gate… Right?!

Woo Jinchul pulled the car up to the edge of the parking lot, throwing open a door and looking around. Hunter Sung was nowhere to be seen.

"Sir?" Asked one of the B-Ranks that came with them. He was a healer with green armor and had never seen the chief of the surveillance division so rattled. "Is everything alright?"

"Wait for me at the gate. Block it off to civilians." Woo Jinchul ordered, taking off his usual sunglasses. He dialed Sung Jinwoo's number even as he stalked up to the building and buzzed the number for their apartment.

"Hey this is Sung Jinwoo, if you're getting this then I'm away from the phone right no—"

Shit. Shit!

He buzzed again and again until an annoyed girl's voice answered. "What the hell do you want?!"

"Is Sung Jinwoo here? I'm with the Hunter's Association." He showed the camera his badge.

"Uh… No. He just left like an hour ago." There was a pause as Woo Jinchul swore. "Is he in trouble?"

"Yes, actually. A shitload of trouble." Woo Jinchul answered before turning and walking back to the car. He shed off his suit jacket and revealed a set of fancy armor that was made from quality A-Ranked steel and enchanted with magical buffs.

"Sir?"

"Listen up. I will have you all know what I'm about to tell you is classified information. Some idiot has gone in that gate by himself," the group gaped at him, eyes large before looking back to the gate in question. Two men in black suits were currently analyzing the data from the crystal that would rank it. "As far as we know, Hunter Sung is a higher rank than his credentials show. That being said, this doesn't feel like a C-Rank gate, which is the highest he's cleared. This will be a rescue mission, your orders are to only engage when you have no choice. Our goal is to remove Hunter Sung from the gate with minimal casualties, preferably none. "

"Someone really went in alone?"

"Are they crazy? Who is this guy?"

"Chief, what are you gonna do with him?"

"Nevermind what I'll do with him," throttle his neck perhaps, "what we need to do is follow in close formation. What's the rank of the gate?"

The men in black at the front of the gate pale and mutter to one another before on of them, the taller of the two, stalks up to the chief and mutters in his ear.

"What? Measure it again!" Woo Jinchul demands, sweat pricking the back of his neck. He couldn't take this group of B and A-Ranks into an… an Undetermined Gate!

"We did, sir. Three times."

"Chief?" Asks one of the A-Ranks with him. He looks a little nervous, can obviously feel the mana radiating off this gate.

"Get the Chairman on the phone. If we wait too long then he'll be dead before we can do anything."

"Yes, sir."

Woo Jinchul cursed again, opening his contacts list and swiping down until he found Baek Yoonho's number. He needed a stronger group of reinforcements, for God's sake— this could turn into a S-Rank gate!

"Sir? Chairman Go is on the phone." Woo Jinchul sighed. This was going to be a long night.

[You have leveled up!]

[You have leveled up!]

Jinwoo panted, dripping sweat. Igris had managed to hold the thing off for long enough that he could catch his breath, but with the System's services temporarily offline, he couldn't access his inventory for health potions.

[Nightcrawler] Its name was in bright red letters, with the power to crash through stone like butter and tunnel through it at lightning speeds. In other words: Jinwoo had thoroughly fucked up.

As Igris vanished from where he had been valiantly fighting the Nightcrawler with his fists after they'd found that swords did zero to none damage— The beast surged forward through his dissipating shadow and straight for Jinwoo.

He manages to flip out of the way with a powerful jump, twisting in the air and aiming for what he assumed was its head. It didn't have eyes, just teeth. "You ugly son of a bitch!" He growls as he attempts to use his full body strength to plunge the sword into it's steel-like flesh. The beast writhes as his sword makes a small cut along its armored body. "That's it?!"

At this rate, I'll die. He thinks, panic gripping him as he jumps away from teeth that chomp on the air where he'd been seconds ago. He flash steps to the other side of the cavern, looking around him for something to help him. Nothing but an opening from above that was bigger than the tunnels he'd been in before— something told him that was a bad thing.

The Nightcrawler didn't let up, surging for him violently as Jinwoo hid behind columns and stalagmites. Soon, there was nowhere to hide and all he had was this stupid sword from Jinho. Desperate, he pushes mana into the damn thing. It apparently had the power to set enemies on fire, right?

I could really use some of that right now!

Jinwoo dodged the beast again, waiting for it to its head to crash through the rock again before attacking. Only— how was he to know that the worm would be smarter than that?

It crashed back through the stone again, doubling back and shooting forward like a bullet for Jinwoo while he was midair, mid-attack—

Shit!!

"You're telling me some idiot went in there alone?!" Baek Yoonho demanded, having just arrived after breaking several traffic laws with a car full of other A-Ranks that had been on S-Rank missions before.

Woo Jinchul nodded grimly. He'd sent the B-Rankers home, this gate was going to need much more than that. "We need to get in there, is your team ready?"

"Wait, you're coming?" Baek Yoonho doesn't remember the last time he heard of the chief from the surveillance team actually get involved.

"Yeah, so I can drag that idiot out by the hair." Jinchul answers darkly, glaring at the blue swirling gate. The commotion outside the apartment complex had caused a stir, and people were slowly gathering, taking selfies and pictures on their phones and chattering excitedly at the sight of one of Korea's S-Ranks in their backyard.

"..Right.." Baek Yoonho was just glad he wasn't on the receiving end of that glare the chief was wearing. The man had always been calm and collected, to have set him off like this… Just who was this guy? "Well, lets not waste any more time than we already have. Guys!" He called over his team and had them listen to Woo Jinchul's explanation of events.

"Everything you hear here is utterly top secret and is confidential information from the Hunter's Association. You will not repeat what you hear or see here tonight to anyone, understood?" This was typically what happened with S-Rank gates, but to be so explicitly serious… The group nervously listened to the situation, turning white and jaws dropping.

JUST WHO IS THIS GUY?? They all thought, glancing back to the gate. What kind of idiot would go into a gate alone?!!

"Right. Now you know the situation. Let's not waste anymore time." Baek Yoonho said calmly, even as his hair shifted from red to white and his eyes started to glow orange like fire. He walked in front of the group, stepping through the gate without another word.

"You heard him, let's get going." Said another A-Rank, frowning at the gate as he entered with two healers and a tank on his tail. Woo Jinchul handed his phone off to one of the men in suits and nodded to them before stepping into the gate, sword drawn.

Jinwoo… When I get my hands on you!!!

The moment they entered the gate, something was clearly wrong. The ground shook like an earthquake, rocks falling from above as one of the mages activated a light spell in the pitch blackness of the tunnel. There was nowhere to go but forward. Something big was ahead… Something strong.

Something… Evil.

Baek Yoonho glared at the darkness, his keen ears picking up the sound of clashing metal ahead. "Catch up when you can, I'm going ahead." He says over his shoulder as the rest of the group gets into a V formation, Woo Jinchul taking the lead.

"Be careful."

"Don't worry about me." Baek Yoonho said before shifting further and disappearing into the darkness.

"Why aren't there any beasts yet?" Asked one of the A-Ranks to Jinchul's left. "Shouldn't there be something here to meet us at the gate?"

"That's what I'm afraid of." Woo Jinchul said with a serious look. "Whatever that sound is ahead, it's too big to fit down here."

Another hunter looked around them, the tunnel was five men wide and several feet above their heads. "Too big? Y-you don't mean…"

"Can't you tell from the shaking? The silence other than the clashes of battle? The darkness of the caves?"

The hunter raised his shield, looking nervous. "You think it's Nightcrawlers?"

Woo Jinchul didn't answer, picking up the pace and hoping he was wrong. Nightcrawlers were notoriously known for killing entire parties in a single moment. They lived in pitch black caves and had more teeth than a great white shark. They were also incredibly fast. He hadn't seen one in a long time, not since before the surveillance team days, back when he was taking on A and S-Rank gates as a hunter of the Association. They tended to eat any small creatures in their burrow, thus there being no smaller creatures to "greet" them at the start of the gate. It also lulled hunters into a false confidence, and the only thing it resulted in was death.

There was also the fact that Nightcrawlers… Tended to live in packs.

Jinwoo was panting hard, breathless and covered in slime from the Nightcrawler. In a fit of desperation he'd pumped as much mana as he could spare into the sword and it had erupted into a blazing fire, flickering in the pure blackness of the cave. He'd jumped high, waiting for the Nightcrawler to go low, aiming to snatch him out of the air, and had plummeted into uncertainty— the only vulnerable spot it had: inside it's mouth.

The inside walls of it's razor blade mouth was rows and rows of teeth. Jinwoo held the gash on his side, flinching from the pain even as it throbbed and blood dripped down his leg.

[You have leveled up!]

[You have leveled up!]

[New Rewards available!]

Jinwoo pulled up the screen, glaring at the red error message he got when he tried to access his inventory.

[System Updating… Services will be temporarily offline.]

[System Update is Loading… 68%]

"Shitty System! Hurry up before I bleed out!" He growled looking down as the flames on the blade burned out, returning to its barely there glow from the pearly gem in the guard.

He looked back to the corpse of the Nightcrawler and cast his sense out around him. His mana was running low, he might not be able to clear farther than this without help. But… well there was help right here, wasn't there? Jinwoo smirked, holding a hand out over the corpse, tilting his head.

[Shadow Extraction is available for this target]

"Arise."

A whorl of shadows danced around him and shuddered in the darkness, pinpricks of blue flames flickering in and out as the spirit of the Nightcrawler swelled up out of the corpse. The beast's soul was so large that it took all three tries to get it to rise up.

[Select a Name for this Shadow:]

"Hmm… What should I call you?" He paused thinking it over before he thought of it, "Jal Ja."

[Select a Name for this Shadow: Jal Ja] [Select] [Edit]

"Select."

[Jal Ja has been added. This name cannot be changed later.]

A sudden energy began to move at incredible speeds towards him— No, not just one— Two… Three? Four?

Jinwoo cursed, waving his hand out for Igris to arise again. "We've got company." He said, seconds before five Nightcrawlers emerged from the darkness. With a surge of mana, he summons Jal Ja. "You can eat whatever ones you kill." He promises the enormous shadow that coils around him protectively. With a strange growling noise, Jal Ja shoots forwards colliding with the first of four Night crawlers that had appeared.

"Igris!" He commanded, sending his shadow night to take care of the next one, now that he knew how to kill them, this wouldn't be so bad. In flash he dodged the next one, calling the flames forward in the sword again.

[Holy Flames may be used 3 more times before breaking]

What?! This thing really was a piece of crap, wasn't it?!

Jinwoo wasn't going to let Jinho buy anymore crap without his own approval, starting once he got out of this stupid gate!

He hefted the flaming sword, rushing at the next Nightcrawler, dodging its advances until he was able to catch it with it's mouth open. Jinwoo ran a few steps up the wall before flipping over the mouth of razor sharp teeth, spinning with the flaming sword and dove into it's mouth like a suicidal star.

He didn't take any note of the approaching energy of S-Rank Baek Yoonho, who was entering the large open cavern, just in time to see Jinwoo dive into the mouth of the behemoth.

Chapter Text

Baek Yoonho stared in horror as Hunter Sung dove into the mouth of a Nightcrawler. He didn't even have a chance to shout at him, as he disappeared into the razor blade belly of the Nightcrawler. "Damnit!" He cursed and leapt into the fray, catching a Nightcrawler by the tail and swinging it into a wall.

Suddenly the Nightcrawler that had eaten Hunter Sung began to writhe and make a horrible high pitched shriek. The worm's body started to glow from the inside and when Baek Yoonho looked over after finishing off his own Nightcrawler, it was to a thunderous explosion of light as Hunter Sung Jinwoo ripped open the body of the beast from the inside with a flaming sword.

Worst of all was the look on his slime covered face. He was smiling.

Yoonho watched as another Nightcrawler, this one different and black like a shadow, shot forward and bit the head off of another one. And… was that a knight? Standing in puddles of Nightcrawler guts? Why was it…

"You better have a good explanation for all this." Baek Yoonho says as he marches over to Hunter Sung, grabbing him by the scruff. "You put countless lives at stake, what would happen if there was a dungeon break because you died in here? What if—"

"I don't think I gave you permission to touch me, Guildmaster Baek." Jinwoo says, pushing away his clawed hands. "And for the record, I didn't plan on dying."

"Do you even know the rank of this gate? You really think you're that good?"

The last of the nightcrawlers shrieked as Jal Ja began to eat it alive, squirming in the background as the two hunters argued.

"Look, I don't need anyone but myself and my summons. So why don't you just sit back, and let me do the rest of the work?" Jinwoo glared.

"Oh, because you're such a hot shot, huh? You think you can handle an S-Rank Gate alone? Be my guest."

"Gladly."

Jinwoo turned to the other dead nightcrawlers and attempted to extract their shadows, to no avail.

[Shadow Extraction failed 3/3]

Annoyed, he then stalked over to Jal Ja that was chomping down on the last bits of Nightcrawler.

"Good boy." He praised, patting it's smooth head.

Baek Yoonho just watched as the beast melted back into his shadow along with the knight, leaving just the two of them. He could feel Hunter Sung's anger at his intrusion, despite his bleeding wounds. "We brought a healer, wait for the rest to come and we'll handle the gate together."

Jinwoo scoffed, but Baek Yoonho could see he was tired. "I'm fine."

"You're not."

"I-" Jinwoo coughed, and stared at his hand as it came away red with blood. Okay, so maybe he needed a healer afterall. He coughed again, barely registering when Baek Yoonho's hand catches his shoulder as he started to list to the side. "I'm.. Fi…"

"You're not. Relax. The healers will be here soon. Now let me see your wound."

Jinwoo grit his teeth as Baek Yoonho pulled the t shirt away from his side where there was a deep gash from where the Nightcrawler had clipped him earlier. Without the system's abilities to help heal him, he was unable to argue as the guildmaster tore his shirt to access the wound.

"That's pretty ugly. Just sit tight." He said, staunching the blood flow with a bundle of fabric that Jinwoo belatedly realized was the sleeve off Baek Yoonho's own shirt. This guy… what was his deal with ripping clothing??

In the wake of dead nightcrawler corpses and a destroyed inner chamber of the cavern, Woo Jinchul and his group enter, a floating light guiding their way into the dark cave.

Woo Jinchul stared in shock, not one, not two, but several nightcrawler carcasses are strewn about the large chamber as they enter. To the side, he catches sight of Baek Yoonho and Sung Jinwoo on the ground. The idiot is clearly hurt, and he can't help but sigh in relief that they weren't finding his corpse.

He turns to the healer, pointing to Sung Jinwoo. "Can you help them?"

"Yes." She answers, rushing over and pulling out some bandages before casting a healing spell. She was a A rank healer, so knitting the skin back together wasn't difficult.

"I'm fine." Jinwoo complains, sitting up after the wound closes. The healer tries to argue, that he was lucky to still be breathing with a gash like that to the abdomen, but Jinwoo wasn't having it. He stood up and picked up Jinho's stupid scam sword.

"You're an idiot, is what you are." Jinchul says, not wasting a second in approaching the hunter. He'd checked himself, that time, and the results had read that he was definitely E-Rank.

Except… He looks around them. This was not the work of an E-Rank… Even if Baek Yoonho had joined him part way through.

"Ah… Agent—"

"I told you not to go in alone, are you suicidal?" Jinchul demands.

"About that, just listen—"

"No you listen!" Jinchul snaps, pointing a finger in his face. "I don't care if you're reawakened or even A or S-Ranked! You do not go into gates alone. Ever. Do you understand me?"

"But I—"

"This incident alone, is enough to revoke your license, Hunter Sung!"

Jinwoo deflates, glaring at his feet, head down like a scolded child.

Good. Thinks Jinchul, maybe he'll listen to me this time.

"Now, do you understand me?" He demands again.

"I—" Jinwoo is interrupted by his own full body twitch, snapping his head the same direction as Yoonho does— Up.

"Above! Loo—" Yoonho says before stones and stalactites are falling from the ceiling of the cavern.

In the same moment Jinchul feels something push his chest and gasps as the wind is knocked out of him as he's forcefully shoved by Hunter Sung from where a huge boulder had fallen. Woo Jinchul hits the wall, hard enough that he hits his head on the rock and collapses. There were a few shouts of other hunters before the rumbling stopped.

Things are blurry and muffled for a short time.

And yet Woo Jinchul looks up just in time to see Jinwoo hovering over him, but he can't hear what he's saying. He blinks slowly frowning in at the ringing in his ears. This wasn't a place to be useless— Damnit! He needed to— He had to get up—

Something black seeps out of the shadows of the dark cave, blue flames flickering on its body as it stands beside Hunter Sung.

What… just what the hell is that? One of his summons? But… with the level he'd been at in the hospital, Sung Jinwoo shouldn't be able to summon anything. Let alone two— no, four, summons at once!

Just what the hell was going on?!

Jinwoo glances over his shoulder at the two shadow soldiers that guard a dazed Agent Woo. "Keep him safe." He orders.

The other two hold their weapons ready as Jinwoo starts to walk towards the center of the room, looking up into the dark hole in the ceiling as the dust starts to clear.

"You hear it too, don't you?" Baek Yoonho asks, as he meets him there in the middle of the chamber.

"Mn. Something's coming."

"A lots of them." Agrees Baek Yoonho, whose glowing eyes seem to see into the darkness more clearly than Jinwoo.

The buzzing gets louder. "Insects!" Shouts Jinwoo in warning to the other hunters who are still dazed from the sudden commotion. They prepare themselves with barely seconds before a barrage of black insects attack.

As a collective its much easier to annihilate them, even with their hovering orange names. Jinwoo doesn't bother trying to extract them, too busy dodging huge stingers as the wasp-like creatures try to kill him. He forgoes hiding his abilities, there's no point here. And… well… it was kind of…

He glances to where Baek Yoonho was tearing through the insects like they were made of paper maché.

It was kind of fun. Letting loose.

He let his body move on instinct, flitting from place to place easily. It would have been much more efficient to use his dash ability but it was still locked due to the System's stupid update.

Jinwoo paused to glance up at the screen.

[System Update is loading… 70%]

Jinwoo grits his teeth and dodges another insect beast, slicing through it with the sword. It was already starting to break on their armored bodies, catching halfway instead of cleaving them in two.

"Shit!" He curses as the blade finally breaks on the next beast, the majority of the blade snaps clean off, even as it sets the enemy on fire and kills it. If only he could use fire magic…

He looks back over his shoulder at the other hunters, several are injured but most of them are alright. It seems they've caught onto the fire weakness of these things too, blasting them away easily.

A little too easily… Other than the nightcrawlers, nothing in this gate had challenged him. Jinwoo frowned. Hadn't Yoonho said that this was S-ranked? Something was wrong.

His gut clenched and he looked up where the insects had come from. They were really only attacking when engaged, like an angry hornets nest. It seemed more like—

They were escaping something.

A deafening roar broke through the cavern. Still far but the feeling of the mana alone nearly brought Jinwoo to his knees. Was that the boss? Was that—

He looks to Baek Yoonho, who meets his eye with a worried look.

That didn't help his anxiety settle at all.

Jinwoo looks for Jinchul, who is standing now, farther back in the pack of hunters with his two knights with him. He's holding his head as a healer uses some spell on him.

Ah… he might have used too much strength, pushing the agent away from danger… Oops…

This was so not helping his case with the Hunter's Association.

Chapter Text

Deep inside the cavern they encounter a few more packs of nightcrawlers. Even without his sword, Jinwoo makes do with a borrowed weapon from one of the hunters in their party. It's a C-rank dagger and it has a much better feel to it, it's smaller blade making it more versatile and easier to handle. He doesn't need two hands to slice through the thick bodies of the nightcrawlers.

Between him, Igris, and Baek Yoonho— there's almost not enough monsters to go around, but if he had been alone…

Well— okay. Maybe he would have been appreciative of a helping hand.

Maybe.

Jinwoo wipes away some of the slime off his face, cringing as it starts to dry on his skin. Ew, this shit is nasty. He thinks, before looking to where Agent Woo has just finished killing one of the nightcrawlers without a drop of slime on him. Seriously?

Even Jinwoo had to give credit where it was due, that guy was more than just some agent from the Hunter's Association, wasn't he?

"Something about this dungeon feels off." Baek Yoonho says as Jinwoo approaches where the group has gathered. "There aren't many beasts here."

"You've felt it too, right? That miasma from before…" Says one of the hunters, a tanker with heavy armor. His eyes look over to Jinwoo, looking nervous. "Wasn't it really strong?"

Jinwoo nods, glancing to Agent Woo and Baek Yoonho. "Yeah," he says, looking deeper into the cave. "We should be careful. It looks like the boss is going to be hard to defeat." It would be harder with a group too, having to worry about all of these guys dying on him too. He didn't say that part out loud though, making eye contact with Baek Yoonho. The man seemed to catch his drift, frowning a little and dipping his head.

"Anyone who feels its too big of a risk, can stay outside the boss room, if they want."

"What? No, that's not what I meant!" The tanker flusters, looking to his compatriots for support. "I'm just saying… We came here to retrieve Hunter Sung right?"

"He's right…" Agreed another.

"The gate is high ranked right? Shouldn't we wait for more qualified people to—"

"You don't trust me?" Baek Yoonho interrupts, frowning at his guild member, an A-Rank tanker from the looks of things.

"Th-that's not—"

"How could we put all our trust into one guy to take the boss on?" Asks another member. Their egos must be bruised from witnessing a former E-rank hunter take on beasts one on one while they had to work as a group to even kill two nightcrawlers.

"Who said you had to put it all into one guy?" Asks Agent Woo, crossing his arms.

"A-agent Woo—"

"If you weren't qualified to be here, you wouldn't be. Remember that. Now let's get moving before we risk a dungeon break. Gods know what's deeper in this cave."

"Y-yes, agent Woo."

As the complaints died out, Jinwoo sighed through his nose. Weren't they acting like he hadn't already proven himself? Even with the system locked, wasn't he on par with agent Woo and Baek Yoonho?

Something about it definitely made him pissed off.

As the group continued into the cave, they encountered a few more insects, fleeing still. No one was seriously injured, and even after a few orcs appeared in the deeper parts of the cave; they weren't too difficult to deal with. Well— for agent Woo, Jinwoo and Baek Yoonho. The orcs had nearly cleaved a hunter in two, luckily they had healers or the dude would have been toast though.

It was almost a little too soon that they reached that place where the miasma was strongest. Large doors, taller than a two story building, graced the hall. Torches lit themselves and Jinwoo shuddered as he glanced to his side, flinching at blue flames that were all too familiar.

I-it couldn't be another double dungeon… Right?!

"Wait." He says nervously, looking at the doors. They were blood red and encrusted with gold, far too regal to belong to a cave like this. Wasn't this a little too fancy for a boss' room?

"What is it?" Baek Yoonho asks, pausing. The rest of the group was still catching up, and had yet to see the doors.

"The torches." Jinwoo says, feeling sweat prick his neck. Something uncomfortable unfurled in his gut, spreading up to his chest and throat. He felt like he might be sick.

"What about them?"

"I…" He looks over again, the blue flames dancing ominously against the walls. "In the double dungeon," Jinwoo starts, pausing as he forces the words out. "They had the same torches."

"The same…?" Baek Yoonho looks at the self-lighting torches that had caught flame as if in response to their prescence like a motion sensored light would. "You think that… You think this could be..?"

Jinwoo nods weakly. Suddenly he didn't feel so hot. Maybe this had really been a mistake. They'd be okay right? They had Baek Yoonho here, right? An S-rank hunter? And a full party of A-ranks… Jinwoo's vision blurred a little, memories attacking his sense.

"What is that thing?"

"We gotta get outta here!"

"Wait! They might attack if we move!"

"Then what do we do?"

"There has to be a way to escape!"

"Don't expect me to find it!"

"Two of us just died!"

The memory of watching people get crushed to death— splattering on the cement floor like an ant… Someone being cleaved perfectly into two halves…

He couldn't—

"-ung? Hunter Sung!" Someone was calling… His name..? Jinwoo dazedly looks up from the doors, flinching when a hand touches his shoulder. He blinks rapidly as his reflexes grab the hand before it can take a firm grip. He's out of breath, staring blankly at the hand in his own. "Sung Jinwoo." The voice says now, and makes his eyes travel up the armored arm to a face.

Agent Woo Jinchul. He was frowning with worry at Jinwoo, searching his face.

"We can't.." Jinwoo tries to say, but the rest of the group is here now, staring at him. He can't— He can't breathe—

Is this what panic attack feels like? It feels like he might be having a heart attack, with the painful squeezes on his heart.

"It's alright. Give him some room, guys." Agent Woo says, his own hand tightening on Jinwoo's for support. The pain of the tight grip helps him focus on the present.

He can hear the rest of the group whispering to themselves, backing off. The glow of blue flames reflecting off their armor.

"I thought you said you could handle this." Agent Woo says quietly, having pulled Jinwoo closer by their connected hands. "You've already come this far, what's the point in backing out now?"

"Sorry I—" Jinwoo screws his eyes shut as another flashback hits him.

First, thou shalt worship God.

Second, thou shalt praise God.

Third, thou shalt prove thy faith.

Those who do not follow these laws will not leave alive.

"Hold on. So when it says God, it's talking about that thing?"

"I just— I need a minute." He bites out, trying to stabilize his breathing.

"The torches," Baek Yoonho says quietly to agent Woo, "he said they're the same as the double dungeon."

"I see."

"They're going to die." Jinwoo says weakly, nausea hitting him like a sack of bricks. "They're all…" He could already smell blood— It's thick coppery scent reminding him of how it felt to have his own arm cleaved off. He feels…

A numbness starts to pass through him as he listens to the agent and Baek Yoonho discuss how to go forward.

"He can't go in, like this."

"Whether we like it or not we need him."

"Not like this, though."

"I agree. We still have a few days before a dungeon break, we could always wait."

"Maybe—"

"No." Jinwoo cuts in, gritting his teeth until it hurts. The pain helps him focus more. He needs to do this. He has to. He hadn't been prepared then, now was different. Plus— S-rank Baek Yoonho was here, wasn't he? Between the three of them… they'd be fine! Right?! "I'll be fine."

"But Hunter Sung—"

"I said I'll be fine!" Jinwoo says a little louder. "It's not me I'm worried about." He admits, glancing to where the rest of the hunters have opened their bags for a quick snack and drink. They're chatting quietly, eyeing the three of them even though they're far enough to not be heard.

"What do you mean?" Baek Yoonho demands. These were mostly his own guild members, wasn't Jinwoo overstepping by suggesting they wouldn't survive?!

"If this really is an S-rank dungeon… Doesn't it make sense that some of them should stay behind, just in case?" Jinwoo asks. He clenches his fists, glaring at the ground. "Anyone who isn't prepared to die, shouldn't go."

"They know that," argues Baek Yoonho. "None of them would have come if they weren't prepared for something of this caliber."

"He's right. I made sure it was clear before we entered that the rank was undetermined. They know already."

Jinwoo frowned. If anyone died here… It was going to be his fault, wasn't it? Wasn't it…. Wasn't it because of him last time too? He'd voted yes that time….

"You…" He starts and stops. Were they prepared for this since the beginning? For people to die because he'd gotten too big of an ego and wanted to try out a gate all alone? Wasn't this… It was his fault again, right? "You're certain? Can you promise me that no one will die?"

"I can't make that promise. But I can promise that, despite whatever that little brain of yours is thinking— it wouldn't be your fault." Agent Woo says quietly. "Just like how last time, it wasn't your fault."

Oh Agent Woo… How I wish I could believe that.

Instead of arguing he gives up the fight. His heart has stopped hammering violently in his chest, his breath caught up finally. He had his summons, he could protect them all— right? He could— They would be fine…

Right?

Jinah stared out the windows of the apartment and then looked down at her phone again. Jinwoo hadn't answered any of her texts or calls. Should she call the police? But the Hunter's Association had already…

"Why? Is he in trouble or something?"

"Yes," replied the voice through the screen at the apartment entrance. "Big trouble."

Jinah sighed with worry. What was she supposed to do?? She scrolled up her messages with her brother until she remembered the number he'd sent her about a week ago. She scrolls up to the number.

Yoo Jinho - XXX-XXXX

He'd said it was for emergencies only. But… She looked back to the clock on the microwave. It'd been over three hours since he'd left without a trace and the Hunter's Association had arrived at the apartment, setting up a perimeter for the blue gate that swirled just outside the parking lot. She could see it clearly from here. Had… Jinwoo hadn't gone in… Had he?

Jinah bites her lip before pressing the number, waiting as the line began to ring.

"Come, Igris." Jinwoo calls calmly as he can, not even glancing over as the general arises from his shadow. The knight stands tall over him, his red feathered helmet standing out in the dark as if it were glowing. His armor was black as night with blue flames flickering between the segments, matching his glowing blue eyes. "I want you to protect the group, watch our flank." The knight kneels silently, before melting back into the shadows of one of the members of the hunting party.

"Ready?" Baek Yoonho asks him, hand poised to push the doors open, his hair fading from orange to white and his eyes glowing as his nails extend to claws.

Jinwoo looks around, everyone looks ready for the oncoming battle, even agent Woo looks ready, the blue lights of the torches touching his eyes and casting shadows over his handsome face.

"Ready." Answers Jinwoo, taking a deep breath.

Baek Yoonho nods, pushing open the door.

Immediately a wind bursts out of the door, nearly knocking them all over. The miasma here was heady, full of evil and smelled like rotting meat. Jinwoo gagged, unsurprised when he heard a female hunter throw up behind him.

"Oh gross.." Someone says, covering their face.

"That smell—" Another grouses.

Jinwoo glares at the entrance, looking to the scowling guildmaster for guidance.

"Lets go." Baek Yoonho says, instructing the team to form a specific formation that they'd apparently learned at the White Tiger Guild's tactics classes. Jinwoo just stood where he was, beside Baek Yoonho and Agent Woo.

Here goes nothing.. he thinks, taking the first step into the hall. More torches, still blue in color, burst to life as he steps in, lining the hall that reminded him of the Job Change Dungeon. The floor was lined with a long red carpet with some gold designs in it. The candelabras along the walls were also gold— someone had clearly been a fan of the precious metal— or worse— were intelligent enough to know how expensive and intimidating it was.

"This looks nothing like the rest of the dungeon so far.." Someone comments from the group behind them. Jinwoo agrees. This was what he had worried about.

As the last of the group enters the door, there's a slam behind them. Jinwoo flinches, looking back with a little panic. The last person turns, testing the door and paling. "The door's locked!"

Flashes of the double dungeon flash before his eyes. A vision of giant stone soldiers encroaching around him as the last of the little flames died out, it's sword raised to deal the final blow bursts into his mind.

Jinwoo clenches his fists. This was fine. It was… He could handle this— He wasn't the same as he had once been.

He lifts a hand, looking at his shadow. "Come out." He commands, calling forward ten knights from his little army.

"He—"

"How many—"

"How—?"

The audience behind him made his nerves even worse, so he chose to ignore them all. He also decisively ignores the alarmed look that Baek Yoonho and agent Woo share.

"I want you to go ahead, come back when you've found the boss." Jinwoo instructs, anxiety running high even as his shadows move down the hall quickly.

"I'm not even going to ask." Agent Woo says as he watches more than five summons move in tandem down the hall. Anything over three was already pushing it— Ten?? That was unheard of.

Jinwoo sighs, the jig is up, isn't it?

They've moved from the long winding hall into what looks like a large ballroom, while still not encountering anything. The torches light up each time they enter a room. This chamber has a few stone statues. Jinwoo stops immediately, watching them anxiously.

"Is there anything here?" Asks one hunter, stepping forward. Jinwoo grabs him by the shoulder before he can pass him, agent Woo or Baek Yoonho. "Wha—?"

"Be patient." He says, looking around the entire room before stepping foot inside. There were no tablets with instructions. There were no giant gods. It was… just decoration…

"Dude, let go."

"Enough, Hunter Lee. Hunter Sung knows what he's doing. Just be patient as we feel out the dungeon. There's no point in breaking formation, yet." Says Baek Yoonho.

The hunter nods, backing off after the guildmaster tells him to. Jinwoo frowns.

"This is too easy." He says. This felt like a trap. He looks around them again before sighing. Really— there wasn't anything here. Why was he so uptight suddenly?

In the same moment that he thought that, taking a step forward, there's a clamour at the back of the group. As his foot touches the tile of the ballroom, soft music begins to play, but it's lost to the shouts behind them at the back of the group. He flinches and looks back in time to see Igris' red feathered helm materialize. There's the sound of clashing metal as the group tries to reorganize quickly. As a result people are caught off guard and shoving against one another.

"Behind us!" Shouts one of the hunters as Agent Woo leaves Jinwoo's side to get to the front of the fray.

"Shit!" Baek Yoonho says, looking about to turn back as well—

"Get down!" Jinwoo yells before he sees it, feeling the breeze off the blade as it whistled through the air. He yanks on Baek Yoonho's arm, pulling them both to the ground in time to dodge a huge axe. It lands in the door of the ballroom, nearly cleaving through the thick wooden door and ploughing into the ground that was currently fighting something else at the back of the group.

Someone screams.

Shit. SHIT!

Jinwoo lets go of Baek Yoonho just in time to look up and see a giant hand retreat behind what he'd thought were just drapes against the wall. Unlike the pristine white and marbled room, the drapes are maroon, the color of blood. The hand that disappears behind it is scarred and purple, like the skin was rotting.

The stench from before is here too— His soldiers have yet to return, but he can only assume this must be the boss.

"The boss!" Jinwoo says to Baek Yoonho, who jumps to his feet again and looking back to their straggling group.

"But—"

"We can't wait for them. Don't worry, Igris and Agent Woo are back there." They should be fine. They should all be fine… Right?

"Igris?"

"My general. He's probably the same rank as Agent Woo."

Baek Yoonho sighs and nods. The curtains rustle again, before something is starting to move behind it. "It's coming!"

Jinwoo looks up at the system's progress bar so far, hope actually swelling in his belly— it was moving a little faster now! Maybe— Maybe he'd be able to hang in there until he could access his inventory!

[System Update is Loading… 87%]

If only he could get to his weapons and potions!

He doesn't have more time to look at the progress bar, even as it ticks up another 1 percent, as the curtains start to rip under giant hands.

The beast behind it… is hard to describe. He wonders if this thing is anything like what he'd encountered so far— but nothing came to mind. He didn't know if it even had a name… other than the glaring red name: Amyakul the Giant.

A deep demonic voice fills their ears, grunting as its owner pushes aside the curtains, tearing them from the ceiling. Amyakul stood at about the same height as the god from the Cartenon temple. Terror shot deep into Jinwoo's soul as his eyes looked at the giant, it's skin violet like a bruise and its yellow eyes piercing into his soul. "Who dares enter my temple?"

Jinwoo flinches at the deep baritone of the guttural voice. It was like a vibration more than a sound, making his skin crawl as he held his dagger close.

"You…" Amyakul points a long heavy purple finger at Jinwoo. "Who are you?"

The expression on it's dark face is confused, and Jinwoo takes a half step back, before looking to Baek Yoonho. He doesn't look like he understands what it's saying at all.

"Hunter Baek," Jinwoo says, glaring at the beast and preparing himself. "I'll keep it distracted, it seems it is curious about me." He says quietly. The guildmaster looks at him like he has four heads before nodding in confusion.

"Very well."

"Now then," Jinwoo's eyes gleam with the blue candlelight, power filling his core as he beckons his shadows forward. It's likely when they found the boss they were destroyed, unable to report back. "Arise." He calls to his small crew of knights, excluding Igris who sounds like he's busy back behind them with whatever is attacking the rest of the hunters.

"I asked you," Amyakul stands, his steps causing the floor to shake violently like an earthquake, "who dares to enter my temple?"

The creature moves, far too fast to the average human to comprehend. One moment Jinwoo is standing there, body poised and ready to jump away— the next he's crashing in to the far wall. He can see his health bar go down quickly and chokes out blood.

"I-I-" Jinwoo chokes, gasping for breath. He jumps away just in time to dodge the next blow, flipping away and landing on one knee as he skids across the tiled floor. "I am… Sung Jinwoo." He replies.

"You speak our language." Amyakul says. It pauses its attacks. Jinwoo sees Hunter Baek in the corner of his eye, running behind the beast and fully transformed. He goes for the attack, and Jinwoo desperately tries to keep the beast's attention.

"I-I do. I don't know how, though."

"Ah… So you are—" Amyakul's voice is bleeped out by the system suddenly, and then ends with a question of some sorts. His hesitation pays a heavy price though, as Amyakul glances over his shoulder suddenly and kicks his heel back as if to stomp on something.

Baek Yoonho—!

NO!

Jinwoo panics and darts to attack.

"You dare attack me?!" Amyakul sneers, slamming Baek Yoonho into the ground. He stomps on him again— Jinwoo doesn't even think, he's just at one place and then the other in seconds, his shadow knights already beginning their assault as he activates Dominator's Touch. The foot that would have crushed both him and Baek Yoonho freezes in the air.

Jinwoo gasps as pain hits him belatedly, his knees starting to buckle under the pressure as he glances back at Baek Yoonho. He's already crawling up off the crater in the floor where he'd been smashed into the tile. His face is bleeding, but he just snarls, his form just as demonic as Amyakul's, if not moreso.

"I'm fine! Go!" He spits to Jinwoo.

"Right," They both roll out of the shadow of Amyakul's foot as Dominator's Touch exceeds it's weight limit.

"Pathetic insects! Running around my temple and trying to attack me?!" Amyakul growls, reaching behind his throne for— For—

A huge spiked club appears in his hand, swinging through the air with a whistle.

"LOOK OUT!" Jinwoo cries to Baek Yoonho, who is rushing Amyakul from behind. Jinwoo focuses on himself, slicing at the achilles heel of the beast. Blue blood spurts from the skin, but it knits itself back together easily.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Amyakul laughs, his steps shaking the ground as he tries to stomp the two of them to death. "You think this will hurt me?!"

We need to get higher to his face! Jinwoo thinks, looking around for something to climb. There must be something—

The throne he'd been sitting on is the only object other than the drapes that have any potential, so he breaks out into a dash for the royal seat. This is it! Thinks Jinwoo, jumping as high as he can and landing on the seat of the chair. The throne itself is just as large as the monster that sat there, if he can just get to the top—

"HUNTER SUN—!!" A crash belows through the room as the club connects with Baek Yoonho's body, sending him flying back into the doors where their group is slowly dragging themselves inside, looking worse for wear than Jinwoo had hoped. It all happens in snapshots of seconds.

Jinwoo is climbing the throne.

Baek Yoonho shouts at him as he's clubbed into the door.

The group are preparing a counter attack and shouting.

Something huge and dark coils around him and squeezes tight.

Jinwoo chokes as all the air in his body is squeezed out of him. He struggles as best he can against the hand of Amyakul, being pulled up to stare the beast eye to eye while gasping for air.

"What are you..?" Amyakul asks in the demon language, his yellow eyes blinking slowly at him.

"HUNTER SUNG!" Agent Woo shouts, panicked as the raid party sends a few spells at Amyakul's back. They do no damage, even as the drapes catch fire from their spells.

"I'm a human." Jinwoo says weakly to Amyakul, frowning. If only he could just… wriggle… free..!

"If you're a human, then why—" Again, the system bleeps out what it asks. Jinwoo flails, before a spell finally hits Amyakul in the back of the head. The beast drops Jinwoo, turning to the group of hunters that scatter like ants as he swings his club their direction.

Jinwoo gasps as he starts to free fall. He grabs onto the robes that Amyakul wears, holding on for dear life as the beast turns around again, searching for him. Luckily he cannot be found, clinging to the back of Amyakul's clothing. He holds on as the world whirls around him as the beast moves before attacking his fellow hunters again. He hears screams and doesn't dare look down at them, afraid he might see something he can't take back.

I just have to get to his face! He thinks. If I can attack his eyes— Then he'll be blind! Then we can—

We can… what? Hide? Run away?

Escape?

And what, risk a dungeon break with this guy?

No.

We need to end it! Now, before it's too late!

Jinwoo starts to climb, even as the moving body makes it difficult. His soldiers wage war under Amyakul's feet, never giving the man a chance to heal by hacking away relentlessly at his feet. The spell casters keep hitting his blind spots, with Baek Yoonho slicing away at his weaker places like behind the knees—

We can do this! They have to! They—

Lost in the fray below, someone screams in agony. Another lets out a croak as they are clubbed to shreds with a single blow. Jinwoo can't look down. He's determined to finish this!

He finally reaches Amyakul's shoulder, pulls out his dagger and stabs forward just as Baek Yoonho goes for his abdomen. Together—

Together they can—!

The dagger sinks into Amyakul's left eye and the monster howls in agony, shaking his head and throwing Jinwoo into the air, the dagger lost in the huge yellow eyeball.

He can see the moment Baek Yoonho is able to jump off a wall and attack Amyakul's unprotected face, slashing out his other eye and punching so hard that even Amyakul's head lurches backwards.

Ah… Good… He thinks, still free falling.

Someone is yelling, Jinwoo looks over his shoulder at the ground as it rapidly approaches, the fallen spiked club just below him. If he lands on that he'll—

Movement comes from his far right, flash stepping into the air and then crashing into him. All he sees is a streak of red across the air before he's thrown away from the club's spikes.

"Igris—!" He gasps, wind knocked out of him as he goes flying horizontally. Amyakul shrieks as he falls to the ground. Now on their level, the hunters circle in, attacking ruthlessly. Blue blood pools the ballroom floor, wetting their clothes even as Baek Yoonho makes the final blow, cracking Amyakul's skull with a sickening wet crunch that echoes through the entire room. Jinwoo is barely away that he's already crashed into the wall.

He smirks.

Good. They did it. They…

His vision blurs and starts to darken. What?

He looks down at his health bar and feels a cold dread in him. It's less than a quarter full. He…

"Hunter Sung!" A voice calls. He groans from where he's made a hole in the wall. Something feels broken. Even as his health slowly ticks back up one by one, and it starts to heal. He coughs and blood comes out his mouth. He's pushed too far— He's…

"Agent Woo…" He calls back as they man rushes to him, his armor is bloody and dented, ruined. His hair is still slicked back, and his eyes are dark with a scowl. Jinwoo blinks slowly as two agent Woos swirl in his vision. "I'm glad you're alright." He smiles, even as the agent yells for the healer to come over.

Jinwoo looks down at his abdomen where agent Woo is focusing his attention, holding his hands over something that is red and painful. Oh— When did he…

"You're an idiot! When we get back I'm writing you up! Do you have any idea how stupid and reckless that was?! What if you hadn't been able to get that shot? What if Igris hadn't saved you?! Are you kidding me right now?? Just you wait until you get healed, because I'm going to—" Woo Jinchul rants at him, but it's all starting to mush together.

Ah… I think I have a concussion. Is Jinwoo's last thought, even as Agent Woo yells at him for being an idiot. It all turns black after that.

Jinwoo first comes to when he realizes he's being carried somewhere. He's not sure who, but they must be at least the same height or bigger than him, because he knows that ever since that double dungeon he's hit another awkward growth spurt. He's no longer the small E-ranker that could be easily be carried out of the dungeon from a small stab wound. He blinks as something wet hit's his head. It's… It's cold here.

He pushes his face agains the neck of whoever is carrying him, slung on their back like a sack of potatoes. Their grip on his knees is firm, squeezing a little tighter when he moves. A few more drops of water hit before the sound of a familiar voice is speaking. There's the sound of rain. An umbrella? He glances to the side and sees a man in a suit holding the umbrella over them.

When did we leave the gate..? He thinks, blinking slowly as the world unfocuses again. He flinches in pain as he's helped into a sleek black car, laying down and closing his eyes. The familiar voice recedes, and he can't help but reach out.

"Don't… Leave me…" He begs. He doesn't want to be left behind again— Don't leave him behind…

Not like last time..

There's a pause in the voices before someone is shuffling his legs around so they can sit on the seat beside him. Jinwoo mumbles to himself, even as he struggles to stay conscious.

"Hunter Sung?"

"Mn."

"Just hold on tight, alright?"

That familiar voice… Where has he heard it before..?

Things black out again. He hates that it keeps happening. If it is a concussion, it's definitely a bad one. If only he could use this shitty system to heal himself…

What a shitty way to end the day…

The next time he wakes, it's to the sound of rain hitting the window of the car they're in. His head hurts, but overall he feels alright. Jinwoo slowly opens his eyes after taking stock of his body, looking up at the roof of a car. He can feel that they're moving, and that his legs are hung over someone's lap. He shivers, it's cold in the car.

"Are you cold?" A voice asks.

"Mn." Jinwoo nods slightly, closing his eyes again. The moving car and his concussion are not getting along nicely. He feels nauseous. "Where are we going?" He manages to mumble, his voice hoarse.

Something warm is draped over his torso, causing his eyes to flicker open again. He looks down to see a black blazer being pulled onto his shoulders by pale warm hands.

"The Hunter's Association." Answers the voice. Jinwoo tracks his eyes up the arms of those warm hands, catching on a white collared button down and sliding up to a face.

Agent Woo Jinchul stares down at him with pinched look on his face.

"Agent…" He tries to say more but he coughs, frowning when his head pounds at the jarring motion. The car lurches to a stop and Jinwoo feels even more carsick than before.

He makes eye contact with the agent before trying to sit up. "I'm gonna hurl." He warns, unable to see the way Woo Jinchul's pales and helps him up to sit as the door is pulled open on his side.

"O-out! Outside!" The agent begs, helping Jinwoo lean out of the car just as the sickness hits the hunter.

Well there goes the whole looking cool act.. Thinks Jinwoo, even as he hurls rainbows at the pavement.

Chapter Text

Jinwoo stares at the table quietly while the briefing takes place, feeling oddly vulnerable in front of Chairman Go. He feels like an idiot now, looking back. He shouldn't have gone in alone. He shouldn't have—

"—lties were minimal, although we did lose Hunters Yoon and Lee." Concludes the agent across the table from Jinwoo. He looks like all these other agents on the surveillance team, black crisp suit, white button down and black tie.

"I see. Thank you, agent Kim." Chairman Go says, his deep mature voice cutting through the tension in the room like a blade. There is silence in the room. Jinwoo can feel eyes on him. "This is the boy you mentioned in your last report, Woo Jinchul?" Asks the voice.

"That's correct, sir." Woo Jinchul is the only familiar face in the room, and Jinwoo is very grateful that the man had decided to sit beside him at the long glass table. In the quiet of the conference room of the Hunter's Association, Jinwoo just keeps his head down and listens to the mess he created. "His name is Sung Jinwoo."

It had been fun, for a short time, in the dungeon. Until people had gotten hurt. Until people had died.

Then, it was just all his fault. His stupid fault.

"I see." Chairman Go says. He stands from his seat with a creak of leather. "I'm sure that agent Woo here has already told you, but this will be a mark on your record with the Hunter's Association."

Jinwoo glances up at the man, feeling a coldness run down his spine as their eyes meet. If only… If only he hadn't called them; if he'd gone alone… No one would have died because it would have just been him and his shadows. He swallows his argument though, frowning. "I understand." He says quietly.

Woo Jinchul shifts at his right side, his chair creaking a little. Jinwoo can see his white sleeves rolled up to the elbow, armor having been removed a while ago. It reminds Jinwoo that he still has the agent's blazer on his shoulders.

"There is also the matter of your rank." Chairman Go says, opening the file that is handed to him from agent Kim.

Jinwoo feels himself slump a little more. He didn't really want the attention of being labeled 'reawakened', but it was clear that he couldn't continue to hide now. "I was… I was going to come, eventually." He says fidgeting with his hands before sighing. He feels like shit. He wants to go home. "The timing just wasn't right."

"I see. Well, allow us to fix that. Come in tomorrow morning to the testing center." It wasn't a question.

Jinwoo dips his head in agreement. "Yes, sir."

"Good. Meeting adjourned." Chairman Go leaves the room with the other agents. Jinwoo stays at the table until those itching eyes all leave the room, no longer crawling on his skin.

"I'll take you home." Woo Jinchul says, standing from the table. It was late. It had been around 9pm when the gate had appeared, and now they were approaching early morning. At this rate he'd just wake up Jinah and cause a stir. "Hunter Sung?"

Jinwoo sighs and shoves the chair back to stand. "I don't need help." He says, pulling the blazer off his still shaky shoulders. He pushes the black coat into the mans chest as he walks out the conference room.

Man… What a shitty day.

Jinwoo plans to walk home, but stops short at the doors in the lobby of the association. It was still pouring out there. He pulls his phone out to call a cab only to find a flood of messages and calls from Jinah.

"Shit." He swears, scrolling through a barrage of texts from Jinho and Jinah. At least she called someone and wasn't alone. He presses on Jinho's number instead, worried he'll just wake Jinah. She should be sleeping in order to get up on time for school in a few hours.

The call goes to voicemail, Jinho probably passed out, considering it's past 2am now.

"Hey, its me. I'm fine, I just had to go to the Hunter's Association after everything. I'll explain it later." Jinwoo says, staring out at the downpour and hanging up. He sighs again, feeling the guilt of the day taking its toll.

He should have just cleared the gate without saying anything. He'd managed to kill the boss, so he likely would have been fine. Especially if the stupid system had been working!

His eyes drift up to the status bar and glares at the offending numbers.

[System Update Loading… 92%]

This update had better be worth it. Frustration makes him seethe with anger, clenching his fists. He hears footsteps behind him and looks over to see Woo Jinchul there with his blazer still in his arms.

"I thought you were leaving." Woo Jinchul says.

"I am." Jinwoo spits, stepping towards the door. He didn't need anyone else pitying him for his behavior tonight— Least of all the guy who probably wants to throttle him the most after that shit back there.

A hand catches his wrist, surprisingly iron tight when he tries to jerk away. The hot skin to skin contact burns like a brand. "Wait." Woo Jinchul says, his brows pinched.

Jinwoo glowers. "Let go of me."

"You said you don't need help—"

"And I don't!" Jinwoo snaps, cutting him off. "If I hadn't called you, this would never had happened!"

"Are you saying you still would have gone alone?" Woo Jinchul demands, pulling Jinwoo back when he tries to step away. "Are you kidding?"

"If I had gone with just my summons, no one would have died! Now there's dead hunters! And it's—"

"Hunter Sung, do you really think you are invincible? Are you fucking stupid? Dead hunters? What else is new? We knew what we were getting into, entering that gate."

"But—"

"But nothing! Do you not realize that you could have died?!" Woo Jinchul shakes the wrist he's gripping. "Don't you realize that someone still could have died? It would have been you!"

"Well," Jinwoo scoffs, finally tearing his arm free. "You said it yourself, 'dead hunters, what else is new', right?"

"And what about your family? Huh? Jin—"

"You keep her name out of your mouth!" Jinwoo shouts, face starting to turn red from pure anger. He was so done with these people trying to meddle in his life! He just wants to go home!

Outside the skies flash with lightning, a deep rumble echoing from the clouds. Pissed off and in no mood to listen to whatever other words agent Woo Jinchul had for him, Jinwoo stomps out the sliding glass doors and into the rain, uncaring about the way his hands shake with anger.

Fuck that guy! Fuck the system! Fuck everything!

"I hate it here!" Jinwoo shouts to himself when he's finally left the association behind. The thunder rolls overhead again, rumbling like the anger that vibrates under Jinwoo's skin. It doesn't improve his mood, even as he ends up soaked from the rain. "FUCK!" He curses and kicks the trash can beside him.

The metal bin shakes violently before falling over and crashing to the ground, scattering a mess of wrappers and cans over the sidewalk.

Breathing hard, Jinwoo just stares at the mess for a while. This trash was just like him, a mess. He closes his eyes and tries to ignore the flashes of violence behind his eyelids from the dungeon. Maybe those people were going to die anyways, no matter what he'd done. Woo Jinchul had said it, right? They'd known what was going to happen in there, there was no one to blame but themselves for entering danger unprepared.

The rain continues to fall, even as he stands there under the shitty streetlights, the smell of rain filling his nostrils. Jinwoo takes a deep breath before opening his eyes again and squatting down to start picking up the garbage.

Yeah… It wasn't his fault those hunters died, it was bound to happen when you entered a dangerous situation..

It wasn't his fault.

Jinwoo fixes the garbage can and brushes the dirt off onto his soaked jeans. He should get home. It was so late that it was actually early morning. The thunder ceases as he passes a convenience store, the only thing open this time of night. It's neon lights reflect on the wet pavement, puddles shimmering with the muddled flashing signs on the store's windows.

His anger has melted out of his stiff posture by now, and he just feels cold and wet. He glares at his phone as he pulls up the time. He still had a decent ways to go before he'd be home, since the Hunter's Association was in the higher end of the city and several blocks from the apartment.

Just then, a set of headlights catch his figure from behind. Jinwoo glances over his shoulder and heaves a tired sigh. A sleek black car slows to a crawl beside him as the window rolls down.

Agent Woo.

"What do you want?" Jinwoo demands, looking back in front of him stubbornly.

"Get in the car, Jinwoo. It's pouring." Woo Jinchul says, sounding just as tired as Jinwoo felt. Like a towel that has been wrung out too many times.

"No. I'm fine."

"Jinwoo—"

"I said I'm fine!"

The car stops with a jolt. The door opens and agent Woo comes to the sidewalk. "You're being ridiculous. Are you being difficult on purpose?"

"Maybe I am." Jinwoo says with contempt.

"Jinwoo.."

"Fine!" Jinwoo snaps, stopping his steps to turn around and see the agent behind him. "I'll get in the damn car. Now, would you just give it a rest?"

Woo Jinchul sighs in relief, nodding and leading the way back to the car. "Yes. Now get in before you catch a cold."

Jinwoo scoffs, following the chief of the surveillance team and sliding into the passenger seat of the company car. "Happy?"

"Seatbelt." Woo Jinchul says instead of an answer.

"Whatever…" Jinwoo mutters and pulls the stupid seatbelt on. Then he just glares out the window the rest of the ride home, ignoring the way his hair and clothes drip on the leather seat.

They don't speak while Woo Jinchul drives, the patter of rain on the hood of the car the only sound between them. The radio wasn't even on. It was uncomfortable between them, since their argument. Jinwoo felt his brow furrow as he listened to each squeaking sweep of the windshield wipers.

Jinwoo would be damned if he had to make the first move, seeing as agent Woo had been the one to pester him and rile up his temper. He didn't plan on apologizing either. And no, he was not being immature.

He glances up at the status bar of the system's update again and it only annoys him more.

[System Update is Loading… 95%]

As the windshield wipers scrape away water droplets from the windshield, Jinwoo is reminded of the way he'd seen one hunter get hit with Amyakul's club, one swing and he'd just… disappeared. Just like the rain drops on the windshield…

Jinwoo frowns and looks away, staring at the oncoming traffic in the neighboring lane. As headlights flash ahead of them, they blind him for a moment and make his eyes sting a little as he closes them in reflex. He was so irritated…

Flashes of the battle linger in his mind, making him clench his fists tighter in his lap. The pain of his nails digging into his skin caused his vision to blur a little.

And no he wasn't crying— Shut up.

Jinwoo takes a deep breath through is nostrils to try and subtly tame his breathing that seems to come out in small shaky breaths. It wasn't his fault… he'd… He's alright… He survived. He should be fine with that.

A little too much time seems to pass, he was getting worked up all on his own. Finally, they reach his neighborhood and Jinwoo is quick to point at the sidewalk leading up to the lobby's sheltered entrance.

"Here is fine." He says suddenly as they pull up to the building. He didn't need Woo Jinchul to park, knowing him, Jinwoo wouldn't be surprised if he offered to walk him up.

Woo Jinchul nods and pulls over beside the lobby entrance. The glowing blue portal was nowhere to be seen now, just a dark parking lot. Jinwoo sighs again for the nth time, feeling heavy in his wet clothes. Now that his boiling anger had simmered, he feels like he doesn't have any emotions left to express anymore.

He gets out of the car without saying goodbye or looking back. He needs some sleep.

"Oi! Open the door!" Jinah's voice calls out from outside Jinwoo's bedroom door. "Oppa! You need to eat something, already! It's been three days and all you've eaten is leftover rice!" There was a series of bangs on the door before she sighs dramatically. Jinah sets the tray of dinner outside the door.

She was really starting to worry about Jinwoo.

Ever since he'd come back from the gate a few days ago, he's been… Jinah couldn't help but compare it to how he'd been when he'd first woken up at the hospital after the double dungeon. That had been months ago now, but it seems that for Jinwoo it hadn't been long enough.

'What should I do…' She thought, looking around the chaotic living room. Without Jinwoo breathing down her neck about the cleanliness of the apartment, things had gotten messy. The dishes were piling up in the sink too. She wasn't even sure if Jinwoo had come out to use the bathroom in the last three days, since she'd been going to school.

"If you don't come out now, I'll skip school tomorrow!" She threatens.

Still no answer. Jinah deflates, and drops down on one of the stools at the island. How could she cheer him up?

It had been so long since Mom and Dad had left them behind that she'd grown used to being cared for by her older brother. And as a result… She'd kind of forgotten that he was pretty young too. That they were both just figuring it out as they went.

And now Jinwoo needed to be cared for, for a change.

Determined Jinah stood up with fire blazing in her eyes. If she couldn't do this one thing, wasn't she a failure of a sibling?! She had to try her very best to help Jinwoo, no matter what!

After four more days of the same song and dance, Jinah sat with her back to Jinwoo's locked door. She's run out of options, and decides that it's time to call in reinforcements.

She scrolls through to find the unsaved number of that guy who claimed to be Jinwoo's junior.

Yoon Jinho XXX-XXXX.

Jinah sighs as she opens a new chatroom and messages the number.

|Hello oppa, this is Sung Jinah, Sung Jinwoo's little sister.

| Can I ask a favor?

She stares at the screen for a while until the 'read' notification comes. At first there isn't any answer and she frowns. What could he possibly have that was more important than this right now?

-Hi Sung Jinah!

Finally after an hour of tidying up the takeaway boxes and dishes, she gets a reply. She looks down at the phone as a waving cat emote comes through. She rolls her eyes and starts typing out her next message.

-What can I do?

|Oppa won't get out of his room… It's been a week already ㅠㅠ

|I don't know what to do..

-!!

-Should I come pull him out of bed?

Jinho sends another cat sticker, this one had extreme muscles and flexed at small intervals. Jinah laughed a little, shaking her head.

|Don't you think I tried?

|ㅇㅈㄴ nothing I do works

Jinah looks over at the pile of dripping clean dishes on the rack and sighs again. She'd even tried ordering Jinwoo's favorite ice cream and eating it at the door, taunting him. All she'd gotten was a loud thud of something hitting the door like a book.

It was the closest thing to a reaction she'd gotten all week.

Lee Jinho is typing…

-I'll think of something.

Jinah wishes she knew what Jinho was thinking, but instead she typed out a 'thank you' and went back to tidying up the nightmare apartment. It took a while, but eventually their home was back to normal again, although not nearly as orderly as when Jinwoo did it.

Exhausted, Jinah collapses on the couch and stares at her phone, scrolling through MeTube for funny videos she could at least send her brother.

Jinwoo laid in bed, miserable and tired. He'd done nothing but sleep for the last ten days, other than his daily quests. And even then, he'd barely managed to do them, sneaking out when Jinah was at school for his run and sneaking back in before she was home.

He didn't think he could look at her, even as he'd come to accept what happened. Even if those people died because of his own selfish mistake… Wasn't it too selfish to make it about himself? Shouldn't he show some respect and feel remorseful?

This is pathetic.. He thinks, dragging himself out of bed to sit at his computer. The room was a disaster, clothes and empty take out boxes on the floor and desk. He'd even tried reading books but that had fallen through too.

His face felt swollen again, and he rubs at his sore eyes as he turns the computer on. He'd been so focused on wallowing in self pity that he'd neglected to check on the auction site online for a new dagger.

The idea of even entering a new dungeon again sounded…. Terrible, honestly.

It was like all the fun and exhilaration from dungeon crawling had worn off.

But… They needed the cash. After a week of not working, his wallet definitely felt the pain. If he continued like this, he'd end up missing the rent and fucking up everything.

Even more than he already had.

Jinwoo sighs again and starts scrolling. The only daggers and weapons of any real worth on here were close to a million won. He didn't have that kind of money to spend on it. Maybe he could borrow something from Jinho again?

Thinking that, he was reminded of the broken sword he'd had in the dungeon. Ah.. He should definitely apologize about that too…

He unlocks his phone which had been off this entire time— only to be bombarded with thousands of notifications from multiple apps with messaging functions on them. Jinwoo flinches at the suddenly sounds of his phone going off, having to set it back down until it calmed enough to actually do anything on his phone at all.

40 missed calls. 182 text messages. 63 Instagram DMs. The list went on. Jinah had even started sending him MeTube videos to him through FaceBook which he never used. Her accomplice, Jinho was no better.

Annoyed, he scrolled through the notifications to clear them without reading any of them. The only thing one he didn't was a few missed calls from an unknown number. Curious, he opened his voicemail to see who it was.

"Hello Hunter Sung, this is Chu Sunhi from the Hunter's Association calling…" The message was from the secretary at the testing facility, calling about a missed appointment. There were several more from the same number, leaving the same message to call when he was available to set up a time for his rank reassessment.

He scrolled through more missed calls from Jinah and Jinho, landing on another unknown number. They'd only called once, leaving a voicemail.

Jinwoo clicked on the voicemail. For a moment, there was only silence on the speaker before a familiar voice came from the phone.

"Sung Jinwoo, it's chief Woo Jinchul, from the Hunter Association's surveillance team. I know that it's been difficult for you lately, so if you need to reach out, please know that you can contact me at this number. It's my private cellphone, and isn't monitored by the Association. I… I'd really like it if you would talk for a bit with me. I want to apologize for the other day, too. Anyways—" The voicemail cut off whatever else Woo Jinchul was about to say. Jinwoo let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding and frowns at the screen for a long while.

Finally he opens a new chat and sends a single message, more than he'd done other than exercise all week.

|Hey.

He sent the message to Woo Jinchul before he could chicken out and groaned. Why was he so bad at words? Why couldn't he just say what was on his mind like everyone else did??

Not long after, his phone chimes. Something about the little 'ting!' sound makes his chest feel tight.

-How are you feeling? Have you eaten today?

Woo Jinchul's answer was simple and polite. Jinwoo sighs and runs a hand through his hair. It was getting long… he needs a haircut.

|I'm fine.

He answers the text quickly, setting it down again and scrolling through more sites for weapons. Maybe he should find something to give back to Jinho, considering he broke his sword.

-Can I call you?

It was a few hours later that his phone went off with a notification of a new message. Jinwoo stares at the chat blankly before frowning. What was the point of texting if he was going to call him anyways? Shouldn't he have just started with the call?

|Why?

-It would be nicer to talk to someone while hearing their voice. Don't you think?

|Give me a few mins.

Jinwoo pulled on some clean clothes before poking his head out the door. Jinah was nowhere in sight, her shoes by the door were neatly tucked away, instead of strewn in the way like they usually were.

It was nearly past midnight now, so of course she'd gone to bed. There was a meal covered up on the kitchen island, with a small note that read 'pls eat'.

He doesn't deserve the kindness that Jinah gives him. He doesn't… Jinwoo cuts that thought off, glaring at the food before moving over to the door. He shouldn't be thinking of those things, they weren't worth the hassle.

Jinwoo pulls on his shoes and coat before stepping out of the house for the first time in about two weeks. Outside the air was chilly. Jinwoo zips up his coat and starts to walk to the park, finding a bench to sit on before pulling out his phone again.

[2 new messages]

He follows the notification to his texts and opens the chat with agent Woo again.

-ok.

-are you asleep?

The second message had just sent a few minutes ago, forty minutes after the first. Ah.. So maybe he'd made him wait a little longer than a 'few' minutes.

|No.

|You can call now.

Almost immediately his phone lights up with an incoming call from the unsaved number. Jinwoo takes a deep breath to calm himself before answering.

"Hello?" His voice is rough from not using it, he clears his throat a little, flushing at the way it cracks when he repeated the greeting. "Hello?"

"Hunter Sung, good evening." Greets the smooth voice of the surveillance team chief. "Have you eaten yet?"

Why did he keep asking? Jinwoo frowns at his feet on the paved path through the park. "No." He answers anyways, closing his eyes and leaning his elbows on his knees as he spoke. He rubs at his eyes again, they still feel groggy and swollen. "Why?"

"Would you care to join me for dinner?"

Dinner? It was past midnight, had Woo Jinchul really not eaten yet? Wasn't this just a ploy to get him to come out and see him?

"…" Jinwoo says nothing, feeling wary. He wasn't in the mood to really see anyone.

"It's alright if you don't want to." Says Woo Jinchul.

Ah, what the hell? "Sure." He says after another pause.

"Then should I pick you up?"

Jinwoo looks around him and hums in thought. "What did you want to eat?"

"Hmm, I can eat anything. How do you feel about chicken and beer?"

Jinwoo thought back to all the takeout Jinah had been getting lately and shook his head with a small smile. Why was everyone trying to feed him unhealthy things lately? "I don't really drink."

Correction: couldn't get drunk, thanks to the system. When he tried to it just expelled the toxins from his body—leaving him confused and sober.

"Ah. Noodles, then? There's a ramen place near the Association."

Was Woo Jinchul still at work this late at night? Jinwoo frowned, that can't be healthy. Was agent Woo actually a workaholic?

"Sure," answers Jinwoo, standing from the bench. "I'm a few blocks away if you don't mind waiting."

"I'll send a car, where are you?"

Sending a car was a little excessive, wasn't it? Jinwoo flushed a little. He really wasn't the type to make a flashy entrance or something.

"I can just walk." He insists, leaving no room for argument. "It shouldn't take me long."

"I'll send you the address."

"Okay." Jinwoo hangs up shortly after, feeling a little off kilter. How did texting him on a whim turn into actually doing something?

Being social? Not his cup of tea at the moment.

Whatever had possessed him to go out though, was making him feel fidgety as he walked in the direction of the Association. Hopefully Woo Jinchul wasn't going to just bother him about the retesting stuff.

For some reason he was kind of looking forward to it by the time he arrived at the address that had been sent to him.

When he looks up from his phone as he double checks the address, he catches sight of Woo Jinchul. Really, the man sticks out amongst the drunken customer and club goers in the street at this time, standing there with his phone screen reflecting off those black sunglasses (who even wears sunglasses at night anyways??).

Wearing a crisp black suit and tie again, Jinwoo can't help but recall how he looked without his blazer or tie, sleeves rolled to the elbow, last time he saw him.

"Ah, Sung Jinwoo." He finally looks up and waves at Jinwoo when the Hunter approaches, offering a small smile.

Jinwoo feels heat in his face, having gotten caught staring. He looks away and scratches his cheek for a moment before dipping his head respectfully in greeting.

Why the fuck was his chest feeling so tight? Just what the hell had he been thinking just now?!

Chapter Text

Woo Jinchul pays for their food, which Jinwoo figures it's only fair because he's the one that brought him out here.

"Were you working this late?" He asks, accepting a package of wooden chopsticks from agent Woo as he sat on one of the plastic chairs at the aluminum picnic table provided by the ramyeon stall.

The man pulls up his own plastic stool, taking off the glasses so Jinwoo can see his eyes. He looks tired. "Ah, just finishing up a bit of paperwork." He admits, rubbing the back of his neck.

Now that Jinwoo is taking a closer look, he can see the bags under the agent's eyes. He wonders just what was it, that drove the man to work so hard. Jinwoo wishes he had that same drive. Instead he'd been laying around for the last two weeks.

"You worked hard, then." Jinwoo says, raising his bottle of water in toast.

"It's nothing." Woo Jinchul smiles, raising his own can of coke in mock toast as well.

After a few moments of quiet eating between them, Jinwoo hears him call his name. "Sung Jinwoo," Woo Jinchul says, setting down his chopsticks and steepling his fingers. "I admit I was a bit… rash, last time we spoke. I wanted to apologize properly for pushing you too far."

Jinwoo frowns. It wasn't like it was agent Woo's fault that he'd blown up, not really. It had just been a combination of overstimulation and overwhelm, agent Woo had just been the one to set him off.

"It's alright. I… I shouldn't have blown up like that at you." Jinwoo says while staring at his food. He can feel eyes on his face, and pokes at his noodles quietly. "I expected you to be… angrier, with me."

"Angry?"

"I went in there even after you told me not to," Jinwoo says, closing his eyes to try and banish the flashes of the dungeon fights in his minds eye, "and it's because of that poor judgment that you had to bring those hunters in. If I had just waited… Maybe Hunter Yoon and Hunter Lee would.."

Woo Jinchul frowns at the young man in front of him, hesitating to reach out with his hand to redirect Jinwoo's attention back to their conversation, back to the present. In the end he just puts his hands in his lap, curling them into fists.

"It's not your fault." He says, knowing what Jinwoo was alluding to.

"But if I hadn't—"

"No, Sung Jinwoo. Their deaths were not your fault." Reiterates Woo Jinchul. The truth was, if anyone was at fault— It was him. The chief, the one in charge of selecting who should come on that mission. He sweeps his regrets under the rug in his head, tucking it away. He couldn't do a job like this without being able to compartmentalize things. "If anything, I'm the one who called them in."

Jinwoo frowns at this, clearly displeased. "But you were just doing your job."

Woo Jinchul sighs, shaking his head. Hunter Sung was really stubborn, wasn't he? "Let's agree to disagree then." He offers, watching Jinwoo stab at his vegetables in the broth. "I wanted to talk to you more, anyways. I heard you missed your appointment with the Association's testing center?"

This draws sour look onto Jinwoo's face, like he's bitten a lemon. Woo Jinchul suppresses a smile, feeling his lips twitch subtly at the expression. This guy was really just a kid, huh? He had to be at least six or seven years younger than him. He can see it in the way he carries himself, especially now as he hunches his shoulders to look smaller.

"I was sick." Jinwoo lies.

Woo Jinchul lets him. It doesn't really matter too much, having seen most of his abilities himself, he already knew what rank Sung Jinwoo likely was. The testing was more of a formality at this point.

"Are you feeling better now? You seem to be in good health." Woo Jinchul says, tempted to tease the man. If he hadn't gone through so much trauma in the last few months he might have. As it were, he gives Jinwoo an out.

"Mn. I guess." He mutters, taking a bite of his food.

Woo Jinchul hums before picking up his chopsticks again. The rest of their conversation could wait for now. As long as Sung Jinwoo was doing better, that was the most important thing.

After eating and talking a little more, agent Woo offers Jinwoo a drive home. It was getting colder out as the night went on. Autumn was around the corner, it seems. Jinwoo doesn't put up a fight, somehow feeling exhausted from just a simple dinner.

That night, when he gets home, he can't help but think about the agent's words.

"If anything, I'm the one who called them in."

He wasn't the only one affected by what happened. It helped, thinking of it in this way. That the long term effects of the events that occurred weren't just bothering him alone. It might sound silly, but being miserable alone felt worse than being miserable with someone to keep him company.

Jinwoo looks around the messy apartment, noticing how Jinah had clearly tried to tidy the place up. With a sigh, he picks up a few discarded sweaters from the couch and starts rounding up the laundry. He'd been resting for two weeks already, it was time to snap out of it. Jinah needed him. Mom needed him to pay the bills. He couldn't let his depression continue like this.

After doing the dishes and cleaning what he could without waking Jinah, he makes her a proper lunch and leaves it on the counter for her to grab in the morning before flopping into bed.

His phone reads that it's been several hours since he was dropped off by Woo Jinchul. He stares at their messages for a while before deciding he should at least say thank you for the meal.

|Hi

|Thanks for the meal

He stares at the message for too long before just deciding to send it. Why did he care if Woo Jinchul replies or not? In fact, he hopes he doesn't— that man should be sleeping at this hour.

Of course, just as he thinks this, his phone vibrates.

-of course! it was nice to chat with u

-will u come to the testing center this week?

Jinwoo groaned. They really weren't going to give that up, were they? Of course, there was no other way for him to continue to level up if he was stuck in the C-rank dungeons. If he wanted to try an A or B-rank gate, he'd have to be retested.

|Not letting that go, are you?

-nope

|I'll go soon

-good!

-today?

Jinwoo rubs his face tiredly and rolls onto his back to stare at the ceiling. Should he really just get this over with? It wasn't like he'd be higher than A-rank anyways, right? He'd seen the way those hunters fought, he could probably match that strength easily enough.

|Maybe.

He sends the message before letting his eyes fall shut. He was pretty tired, after going out and cleaning the house. It wasn't even 5am yet, so he had a few hours before he could show up at the Association anyways.

-is that a yes??

-sleep well

Jinwoo doesn't go to the testing center that day. Instead he visits his mother at the hospital and talks to her sleeping body. He could really use one of her hugs right now.

Instead he holds her lax hand and mutters about the system and it's stupid update which was currently stuck at 98%. Other than daily missions he hasn't been doing anything.

Yet after that small meeting with agent Woo he feels a bit better. Knowing he wasn't alone in this was really helpful. He wonders if agent Woo even knows the peace of mind he was able to give Jinwoo.

"I wish I could do more," he tells his mother quietly, sighing deeply. The room smells like antiseptics, erasing any illusions that this was anywhere but the same hospital room she'd been in for several years. "I wish you would wake up." He says even quieter, feeling his eyes well with tears.

Ah… He promised himself he wouldn't cry.

Jinwoo stands from his chair at her bedside, checking the clock. It was almost time for Jinah to be home.

"I'll come back soon, don't give the nurses a hard time, Mom." Jinwoo says, leaning down to brush a few stray hairs off her forehead before kissing it softly.

He just felt… so powerless despite all these abilities the system had given him— he still couldn't even revive his own mother.

As he exits the room, he's surprised to see a man in a suit leaning against the wall.

Immediately on edge, he frowns at the stranger. "Can I help you?" He asks, closing the door to his mother's room and glancing around for the nurses that were usually bustling through the halls.

"Mister Sung," the man greets, the bright hospital lights reflecting off his black glasses. "I am here on behalf of the Hunter's Association."

Jinwoo sighs. Not this again. "Can't you guys give me a break? This is my mother's hospital room, for fucks sake." He felt his emotions start to rage again inside him, with a frustrated shove he pushes them down. Calm, neutral and numb. It was the best way to deal with these assholes. "What do you want?"

"We need you to come get retested. It's obvious that you've reawakened. Chairman Go personally sent me to bring you."

"I'm busy."

"I apologize but—"

The strangely quiet hall's tension suddenly rose higher, and Jinwoo looks up to meet eyes with someone farther down the hall. A shiver runs down his spine.

Chairman Go was here in person.

"That's enough. I'll take it from here." The tall burly man says, walking slowly and calmly towards them.

"Can we do this somewhere else?" Jinwoo asks, feeling cornered. He is careful to keep the anxiety out of his voice, crossing his arms. "I'd rather keep my mother out of this."

"Understandable," Go Gunhee agrees, a diplomatic smile on his face. He motions to the agent beside him. "We can speak in the car."

The agent bows and leaves ahead of them to prepare the vehicle. Jinwoo follows Go Gunhee to the elevator.

"I hear you've been clearing low rank gates, Mr. Sung?" Go Gunhee asks.

"That is correct, sir." He answers, keeping his eyes on the buttons of the elevator as they step in, pressing the button for the main floor.

"And I hear that your friend is applying to be a guild master?"

Yoon Jinho? Ah right, he did say something about that. He hadn't realized that they had already hit the required amount of raids for the application.

"Yes." Jinwoo answers. He glances nervously over at the taller man. He had a kind and calm aura about him, somehow he felt a little more at ease around him. As Korea's first S-rank, maybe it was his reputation for being dependable that was the cause.

"I see. I was looking over your documents, you see. I noticed that the hunters in your raiding party are not entirely fit. I found that interesting, and had a lovely chat with one of the agents from the White Tiger Guild."

Shit. Jinwoo knows where this is going…

"Sir, I—"

"I'm sure you had your reasons," Go Gunhee says, raising a scarred hand to pause Jinwoo. The doors open for them. Jinwoo steps out quickly, feeling anxious as he's led to a sleek black car. Jinwoo doesn't recognize the make, but he can tell it's expensive by the leather seats. They sit across from one another, facing each other. Go Gunhee reaches into a compartment. "Do you drink?"

Jinwoo is surprised, it's not even five in the evening yet— wasn't it early for scotch?

"It's a little early for drinks, isn't it?"

Go Gunhee laughs, a loud sound in the small space that makes Jinwoo flinch. He grins at Jinwoo.

"I suppose you're right," he puts the bottle away, folding his hands in his lap. "Well, Mr. Sung, I am sure you understand why we are meeting."

"About the retesting..". Jinwoo starts and pauses. "I.. I was going to go. I just needed a little time to process everything."

"I see." The chairman nodded. "An undefined gate like the one you entered is very rare. I understand that you didn't intend to put anyone in harms way, which is why, I'm assuming, you went in alone in the first place."

Jinwoo looked up for the first time, looking at the chairman. Did this guy read minds? How could he know this much? Had they talked to Yoon Jinho and made their own decisions about him based on that?

"I—"

"It's understandable, I mean, you have been doing C-rank gates alone with your summons for a while now, right?"

Jinwoo felt cold as he tried to think of an excuse but it was all true. He was caught red handed. Defeated, he sighs and nods, once more feeling like he was just a kid compared to the great Go Gunhee.

"Yes, sir."

"I understand, more than you might think, Sung Jinwoo." Go Gunhee said, offering him a small smile. An olive branch. "It's easier to just cut out the middle man, isn't it? If there isn't anyone with you, then no one else will get hurt, killed or worse. I think there's one crucial error in this way of thinking though."

Jinwoo squeezes his hands in his lap nervously. He knew what the chairman was going to say. 'Going alone is still dangerous and stupid'. As if he hadn't learned that already. As if he didn't know that it was a suicide mission.

Why did everyone think he was that stupid?

"Would you like to know what I think?" Go Gunhee asked as the car engine turned over. Jinwoo glanced out the window as the car started moving, pulling away from the hospital and back onto the streets.

"Where are we going?"

"Ah, apologies. Would you mind if we swing by the association?"

Jinwoo hesitates before nodding. Looks like he was going to retest today, whether he liked it or not. It was probably good to get it over with, anyways. "Sure."

Go Gunhee smiles again. Something about it makes him feel more at ease, which was stupid because this man was not only capable of leveling buildings with a single punch, but he was also a total stranger to Jinwoo. He didn't know anything about him. He could be faking all of this act, for all he knew.

"So?" Jinwoo asks after a few moments of silence. "What do you think?"

"Hm?" Go Gunhee looks back from where he'd been watching the cars pass by. "Ah, I think that going alone isn't the best. Even with your summons, you're not alone, of course. But I mean more in a human way. We are all social creatures, you can't live life alone, Sung Jinwoo. You can't just push everyone away to protect them, in fact, as I've learned, it's exactly when you push them away that they will end up needing you." The older man says before sighing and scratching his cheek, "I guess what I'm trying to say… Is that if you want to protect everyone, shouldn't you be focused on getting stronger? Not on isolating yourself?"

Stronger? He was already leaps and bounds stronger than he used to be. Did… Did Go Gunhee know he could level up? No, that wasn't what he was alluding to. He seems like he's… offering something?

"What do you want from me?" Jinwoo asks point blank. It was easier than trying to dance around it. He couldn't understand unless it was said plainly to him. "You don't want me to work alone, I get that. But what do you mean, stronger? I thought after you test at a certain rank you couldn't change it."

"Well, you are correct, aside from reawakening, it's not possible to increase your rank. But I'm not talking about your rank. I'm talking about strength."

"Aren't those the same thing?"

"You still have much to learn, Hunter Sung." Chuckles Go Gunhee before shaking his head. "No, when I say strength, I mean it in a more metaphorical sense. Everyone has their strengths, some of us are able to be more empathetic than others, some of us are physically stronger, some of us are social butterflies. The point is, if you want to protect those around you, instead of isolating yourself from the world, shouldn't you want to use every tool at your disposal to get stronger and build yourself up so that you can protect whoever you want?"

Finally, it clicked.

This wasn't about muscles or rank. This wasn't about good or bad. What Go Gunhee was describing… He wanted it. But…

"How do I do that?" Jinwoo asks. He wasn't sure where to even start. Should he go with Jinho to build up a new guild? Should he train harder? Should he be trying to make a name for himself and gather a social media following?

"I can help you, if you would accept it." Go Gunhee offers. "We even have a private training facility specially optimized for B to S ranked hunters. The Association would be willing to provide you with your own body guard team, and help train you in combat and social media. We could even get you a manager if you wanted, who would take care of everything for you and all you'd need to do is show up to events to network and gates to clear them with a small strike team."

It sounded like an amazing offer. Almost too good. It sounded like he could basically become famous overnight— but…

"I'm sorry," Jinwoo says after a beat of thought. "While this is a really good offer, I'll be honest with you. I…" He hesitates before closing his eyes, "I don't belong out there. In the real world. I don't want to belong to a guild or association. Honestly I think that above all else… The only place I belong is in the dungeons."

Go Gunhee's eyes widen, finally seeing Jinwoo as more than a nervous young adult. He was seeing the truth behind his eyes. As Jinwoo looks up at him, their eyes connect, sending a frisson of energy through Go Gunhee's body. That energy behind those eyes… He hadn't seen anything like from Jinwoo until now. But he could feel it, the untapped power left for him to grow into.

"I see. Then… In that case, would it be alright if I made one request?"

Wary, Jinwoo nods just as the car pulls up to the Association. It comes to a stop at the curb, where Go Gunhee lets them both out of the backseat.

"When the day comes that you have to choose, between this world and that one… Can you promise me that you will choose the side of humanity?"

Jinwoo blinks in shock before nodding slowly. Of course he would have chosen that anyways, but it feels like something official has occured as he bows politely to the chairman. "Of course, Chairman."

"Ah.. What a relief!" Chairman Go says, laughing as he led them through the main doors of the Association.

There were murmurs around them from the agents and unranked hunters that were lingering in the lobby. It wasn't every day that the original S rank Go Gunhee showed up to the testing center. Jinwoo felt like his skin might just crawl right off his bones as he walked behind the tall chairman. As someone blatantly took a picture of them with their phone, he thanked his past self for finally going for that haircut earlier this morning. The hair was still cold on the back of his neck where he'd shaved it, opting for an undercut versus his usual longer hairstyle.

"It's the chairman…"

"Who is that with him?"

"Do you think he'd autograph my.."

The whispers were barely above a cacophony as the old man lead them down a private hallway with agents stationed at the entrance. If they were lucky, the media wouldn't hear about this until Jinwoo was finished retesting.

"Ah! Welcome Chairman Go!" Chirps the receptionist as they pass by. She bows politely and picks up her phone at her desk to inform the center they were headed down to a private room.

Jinwoo huffed in amusement at all the fuss. He wondered how much Go Gunhee probably hated this kind of attention. It must get exhausting, being Korea's first S-rank. Luckily, he doubted he had anything to worry about like that. It wasn't like he was S rank, himself.

"Please place your hand on the orb." The facilitator smiles, holding her clipboard and looking very professional in her lab coat.

"Alright." Jinwoo says, walking up to the large sphere in the middle of the room. He remembers the last time he did this, ranking E while barely scoring 10. This time it feels different though, as he touches the large dark surface of the mana crystal. It's like a static shock, making his hair stand on end as his palm connects with the orb.

He can feel the pure mana coming off this thing— it was really much more intense than he remembered it ever being before! Had it really been like this the whole time, and he just hadn't been able to feel it before?

"Ah… Please wait here for a moment." The facilitator says with a puzzled look before she leaves the room. Jinwoo looks around the room, reading a few infographics about ranks and mana before the door clicks and the woman is back with someone that looks like her manager. "You see, I didn't change anything…." She gestures to the table full of buttons and knobs and screens. "But it's reading error."

"I see… Let me try something." Says the manager. He asks Jinwoo to approach the orb again, before frowning at the screen and adjusting a few knobs. "I'm sorry sir, it seems there is an issue with our system. Allow me to call a technician, if you would like to wait in the hall."

Jinwoo sighed and nodded. This was all such a hassle…

As he comes back out, Go Gunhee turns and raises a brow. "Well?"

"Something about getting a technician." Jinwoo says as he sits in one of the cushioned chairs.

Go Gunhee's eye shine with something before nodding. "I see. There's no chance that you've reconsidered our offer?"

Jinwoo shakes his head. "I'm sorry."

"Very well." He speaks to the agent with him quietly while Jinwoo scrolls his phone a little. "I'll be in touch, in the future, Hunter Sung." Go Gunhee says, apologizing that he has to leave. As he waves in goodbye, Jinwoo offers a little wave of his own, unable to stop frowning.

Hadn't he been waiting for the test results too? Why was he leaving now? Jinwoo was confused.

"You can come back in now," Says the facilitator about an hour later, smiling and apologizing for the wait.

Jinwoo walks up to the orb again and looks at the manager in the corner who is chewing on his thumb in thought. The technician turns a few knobs before nodding to the facilitator.

"If you would place your palm on the crystal, please." She smiles.

"What if I break it again?" Jinwoo asks, looking at his reflection in the crystal and feeling doubtful.

"I think it was just needing to be calibrated." Reassures the technician.

Jinwoo takes a breath before slowly placing his hand on the orb.

In that moment two things happen at once. The surface of the crystal gets warm and shocks him with that same static feeling as before, and the System chimes in his ears, a box popping up in front of his eyes. Before he can read it, however— the static shock feeling increases and he pulls his hand away quickly as he sees little flickers of light from within the dark crystal's surface, like lightning.

"What the—!" He shakes his hand from the electric feeling in his hands. His hair feels like it's all standing up, and there's another small flickering crackle of light from inside the orb.

"Are you alright?"

"It just—" Jinwoo's words are interrupted as a crack appears in the surface of the orb. "Is that supposed to happen?"

"Oh my god!" Exclaims the woman as she looks at the orb helplessly as a few more cracks in its surface appear.

"I've never seen something like this." The manager says walking up to the orb curiously and touching one of the cracks.

Jinwoo takes a few steps away, grateful when the they send him back to the hall again so he doesn't have to deal with that rich zapping energy that seems to linger in the air like electricity.

He shivers and pulls out his phone again, opening his chat with agent Woo.

|Pretty sure I just broke the testing orb thing

|Don't think they'll invite me back

He's escorted back to the main lobby and back to a car where he's driven home, shortly after that. They never tell him his rank, only to come back in a few days.

-lol i dont think thats possible

Woo Jinchul answers him while he's fixing dinner and reading through his notifications from the System. He's not sure what to do now, that he's gone and broken government property. Will they bill him for that?

|It had a big crack in it

-u really broke it didnt u

-im impressed

|This isn't funny

-actually it is

Jinwoo rolls his eyes and mutters to himself, missing when Jinah enters the kitchen and freezes at the sight of her brother acting like normal for the first time in like 2 weeks.

"Who are you texting?" The voice behind him makes Jinwoo jump, dropping his phone on the counter before looking up at his sister.

"No one." He says quickly, turning back to the stove to stir the vegetables. "How was school?"

"School was school. Who were you texting that's got you looking like a human being again?"

"What are you even talking about? I'm just texting my friend."

"You have friends?"

"Shut up."

"Yeah, not gonna happen." Jinah scoffs before grabbing his phone off the counter. Jinwoo turns as she enters his password (how did she know that?!). "Oooooh who's Woo Jinchul?" She grins, waving the phone in front of him. She puts herself on the other side of the kitchen island, a barrier between the two of them.

"Give it back!" Jinwoo snaps, dropping the wooden spoon in the pan and lunging at her.

Jinah cackles and dances away, letting Jinwoo catch himself on the island. "Oh now I really wanna know! Is this your boyfriend?!" She grins, swiping through their string of messages since their dinner yesterday.

"What are you talking about?! I'm not even gay!" He swerves around the island and Jinah shrieks with fear, running and jumping over the back of the couch. She throws a cushion at his head, which he catches without blinking. "Give. It. Back."

"Or. What?" She taunts, showing him the screen where her finger hovers over the 'call' button.

"Jinah, I'm serious—"

"Jinah, I'm serious—" She taunts again before pushing the button and hitting speaker.

"Oi! Jinah!" He yells again and chases her around the stupid apartment with too many obstacles again until he smells burning food. "Son of a— Give me back my phone!" He demands from outside her room where she's successfully locked herself inside.

He's forced to go back to the stove and put dinner aside as the smoke detector starts going off. If he doesn't get it to shut off within a minute it will set off the building's alarm for all residents, dammit!!

There's the sound of voices from her room, to which Jinwoo pales. Did Woo Jinchul pick up the phone?

Fuck.

Fuck!

"JINAH!" He bangs on the door, tempted to break it down. Instead, he goes to his own room and fishes out a key he's never had to use from the small safe in his closet. "You have five seconds to open this door!" He shouts, before not counting at all and unlocking it with the spare key.

"Hey! Violation of privacy, much?!" She squawks from her bed where— of god is that a video call on his screen?!

"I'll show you a violation of privacy!" Jinwoo growls before he reaches for the phone. Somehow they end up wrestling for it, and Jinah plays dirty by throwing the phone across the hallway. "Don't break it!" He complains, finally grabbing the phone and abruptly hanging up without so much as a 'sorry' to agent Woo.

Jinah comes out later with a grin, humming to herself as she helps herself to semi-burnt veggies and rice.

"What is wrong with you?"

"Many things, but at least I can see you're back to normal." She chirps, swinging her feet under the island where she's sitting.

Jinwoo glares before poking at his food and looking up at the System's notification that he'd ignored during all the excitement this evening.

[System Update is Compete!]

[View Updates and Patch Notes?]

[Yes] [Read Later]

Chapter Text

[System Update is Compete!]

[View Updates and Patch Notes?]

[Yes] [Read Later]

Jinwoo stares at the notification. Part of him had been petty last night and hit the Read Later option because he'd been so pissed off that the system had cut him off for nearly a month.

Yet it was like a small itch at the back of his brain that kept bugging him. So, after he'd finished his daily quests and was resting on a bench at the park, he opened the notification again.

[Yes] He selects, opening a new window.

[System Updates]

[Congratulations on updating the System! We apologize for any inconveniences caused by our disruption. Please refer to the user manual for any technical difficulties.]

[OS has been updated to optimize user experience due to Job Change]

[Would you like to read more?]

[Yes] [Skip]

Jinwoo frowned at the screen, selecting the [Yes] option. Overall, it looked a lot like patch notes for a video game might, using short hand in places that didn't make sense to him. Nothing particularly stood apart from what he already understood about his job change.

[Skill: Shadow Extraction LV. 1 Acquired.]

[Skill: Shadow Preservation LV. 1 Acquired.]

[Shadows that rank Knight or higher can be named.]

[New Language Proficiency Unlocked!]

"Hm?" Jinwoo pauses his scrolling to read what it says under that last title. "Language?" He asks himself, reading over the brief summary under the cut.

[Due to new job, user has unlocked a hidden ability to understand any language that the dead speak. This includes beasts, monsters and other intelligent life forms capable of speech.]

Wait. Did that mean he would understand every human language? How was that possible? Was this some kind of hidden perk to the Necromancer Class?

[This is a perk of the Necromancer class.]

Jinwoo feels a chill down his spine. He hates when the System reads his mind like that. "Okay, that's not so bad." He says to himself.

While reading through the rest of the patch notes, there's one line that doesn't make sense to him.

[SL Bug Fixed. BL status restored.]

The hell were these abbreviations? Jinwoo squinted at the screen for a bit before sighing. At least he had full use of the system back. That meant he could use his weapons again, and that he didn't have to worry about his skills being fucked up.

Jinwoo looked down at his phone and away from the System screen. It was Jinah, saying something about a parent/teacher meeting tonight. Ah… He'd totally forgot about that.

Ugh. He didn't really see the point in going, Jinah was always top of her class. But he answers that he's going and that no he didn't forget. How bad could it be, anyways?

Jinwoo felt awkward as he walked through the familiar halls of his old high school. He didn't really remember much from his years there, what with the trauma of the dungeons and everything that had been going on a that time. Things were different now, with the guilds and the Association watching out for the public.

As he passes a group of gossiping teens, he's oblivious to how their eyes watch him like lasers. When he reaches the teacher's office, he knocks politely and introduces himself to the teacher in charge of his sister's learning.

"Sung Jinah is such a good student, always on time and top of the class." She reports, smiling. The look on her face slowly melts away to something troubled though. Jinwoo is expecting to hear a 'but' and can only imagine what Jinah might have done now.

"Is something wrong?" He asks.

"You're a hunter, right?"

"Yes."

"And Sung Jinah, she's unawakened, correct?"

"Yes."

"And if she were to awaken… You would make sure she didn't go into those dungeons?"

Jinwoo felt a chill crawl down his spine. Jinah in a dungeon? Absolutely not. There was no way he could allow something like that to ever happen. "Of course. I wouldn't let her even if she was an adult, it's just not something she should ever need to do. She wants to be a doctor, as you know."

"Of course, of course. It's just… Sung Jinwoo, may I ask your advice on something?" The teacher asked, taking off her glasses and looking down. She looked quite troubled.

Jinwoo frowned and nodded.

"You see… It's my daughter…" She starts. She explains that her daughter awakened six months ago and has been sneaking out to join dungeons. She's terrified she will lose her daughter and is worried that nothing she says will convince her to stop. She's the same age as Jinah, explains the teacher, and her dreams of becoming something other than a hunter have completely fallen apart. She doesn't want to try going to university, says the teacher. These days, she doesn't even come to school anymore.

Jinwoo nods slowly, he can understand how a parent would feel at the end of their rope. "Is there any chance you could contact the Association and see if they could put her in a program for young hunters? Maybe at the very least they could train her and have her understand the danger she's putting herself in?"

"I tried… I… Sung Jinwoo, do you think maybe she'd listen to you? Another hunter, unlike me… She just tells me I don't understand her. I just… I'm sorry this is a very personal request." She apologizes, bowing her head. "I'd be very grateful if you could just speak with her."

He mulls it over in his head. Some teen? They're probably going to call him an old fart and ignore him. But trying wouldn't hurt, right?

"Ah… Sure. Yes, I can try at least." If nothing else, he couldn't just allow some minor to be roaming dungeons just to look cool. They could be killed in a second of misjudgment. "Can I ask what her rank is?" Maybe she was just cocky because she had a good rank?

"E." Answers the teacher. She answers it with a lot of emotion in her voice, looking more like a mother than a teacher in that moment.

Jinwoo understood the sentiment.

"I see. I will talk to her. What's her name?" He asks.

"Han Songyi. Thank you, Sung Jinwoo."

Surprised, Jinwoo stopped the teacher from bowing again and blinked a few times. Han Songyi? Wasn't that the kid from before? "Please, it's alright. I'll see what I can do." Now he felt guilty, they'd just taken on whoever they could to fit the quota for a raiding party— but a minor? He hadn't even noticed her, but he remembers her name from the paperwork.

As he left the school, he again was oblivious to the students in the halls and located Jinah before pulling out his phone. As they walked home, he called Yoo Jinho.

"Hey, can you get me the contact info on one of our regulars from the raid?"

"Huh?" Jinho asked, pausing before shuffling some papers around. "Yeah, why?"

Jinwoo looked over at Jinah before frowning. "There's someone I need to talk to. You remember that one kid that was with us for a few raids?"

"Oh yeah, to be honest, I almost didn't add her since she's so young but I figured since we weren't actually taking them inside it was fine… What was her name? Han… Songyi?"

"Yeah. Text it to me." Jinwoo hung up and sighed. What a mess.

"Everything alright?" Jinah asks as they reach the apartment. "You've been looking pissed off since we left the school." She pales, "wait what did my teacher say? I swear I've been a good student! And I only was late that one time—!"

"You were late? Why?" Jinwoo asked, looking down at Jinah with crossed arms.

"Ah? Late? Who was late?"

"Nice try. And no, your teacher didn't say anything anyways. It's something else."

"Well, what is it?"

"None of your business." Jinwoo scoffs.

Jinah makes a face at him before going to change out of her uniform in her room. "Whatever, keep your secrets, then." She mutters.

Jinwoo rolls his eyes and looks down at his phone again when it pings with a message from Yoo Jinho.

-Han Songyi XXX-XXXX

|Thanks.

Yoo Jinho sends a cute cat emote saluting.

-i gotchu

Jinwoo tries to think about how to go about this whole intervention thing while making dinner that evening. It's nothing special, just fried rice and left overs from the week. As they eat he tries to think of how he could scare this kid straight, when an idea comes in the form of a text from Woo Jinchul.

-i need a favor

Well, thinks Jinwoo, that would work.

Four days later he's standing beside Han Songyi in front of a blue swirling gate with caution tape around it. A few others are waiting around as well, all looking like complete newbies with a few low rankers that he recognized.

"Ah, Sung Jinwoo! I barely recognized you! It's like you grew taller or something!" Says one D-rank hunter, his name was Park Chul. "Damn, you go to the gym or something? I haven't seen you in a few months at the gates anymore— I thought you quit!"

"Ah, just busy with other things." Jinwoo admits sheepishly, looking away as he blatantly lied.

"Oh? And who is this with you? You coming on our raid today with the newbies?" Park Chul asks Han Songyi. She has a pinched look on her face as she nods.

"Yes," Answers Jinwoo, placing a hand on her shoulder. "It'll be her first gate, so I decided to come to help."

"Ah, I see! You look pretty young," Park Chul addresses Han Songyi directly, "you still in high school? You should be studying, shouldn't you?"

Jinwoo suppressed a smile. Park Chul was right, it was almst finals season for the students. Han Songyi stayed quiet, looking over to the gate instead.

"Oi, don't be rude to your seniors." Chided Jinwoo, flicking the back of her head.

"Ow!" She complained before bowing politely to Park Chul and introducing herself properly.

Jinwoo sighed, this would be a long day wouldn't it? He looks over to the side where a black car pulls up, three men in black suits and glasses exit the vehicle.

"Who are those guys?" Han Songyi asks, trepidation in her voice. She looks wary of them, taking a step closer to Jinwoo.

Jinwoo snorts and shakes his head, "The Association." He answers before walking over to them and leaving Han Songyi with Park Chul.

The man in the middle had medium lenght blonde hair slicked back as usual. "Agent Woo." He greets with a small smile.

"Ah, Hunter Sung." He answers in kind, bowing. His two coworkers bow as well before excusing themselves to speak with the raid team leader. "So this is the favor you want to cash in? I would have just done it, no favor needed." Woo Jinchul said.

After texting him for a favor, Jinwoo had done as asked and gone back to the Association the next day to retest again. They had said that they would contact him soon about his results. It hadn't been a big favor to accomplish, so he figured asking something small like this in return, was a fair trade.

"Yours wasn't hard to fulfill, afterall. I didn't want to overstep." Jinwoo answers.

"So that's the kid?" Woo Jinchul nods over to where Park Chul and Han Songyi are talking. It seems Park Chul has taken to introducing her to the others.

"Yeah. I just want to scare her straight… Nothing intense. This is a D-rank gate, right?"

"That's correct. There shouldn't be any kind of issues. The team leader is Kim Chul, over there in the gray armor. He's an A-rank tanker from the White Tiger Guild. You shouldn't have any problems, aside from maybe his attitude. I've heard he can be a bit … rash."

Jinwoo looked over to Kim Chul who was a large and muscular young man with bluish-gray hair styled in a buzz cut. He had a scar above his upper lip on the right side. His armor had a furry collar and a white tassel cloth over a simple black undershirt. His helmet resembled a monster's head and he wielded a large shield, a long battle axe, alongside a longsword strapped to the left side of his hip and was currently smiling while talking to Park Chul and Han Songyi.

Great.

Well, at least with an A rank here, he didn't have anything to worry about.

"The Association still hasn't given me a rank." He mentions to Woo Jinchul, looking back to the man. Behind those black glasses he couldn't tell where the man was looking at all. It was slightly annoying.

"I'll look into it. Usually they're pretty good about that, leave it to me."

"Alright." Jinwoo agrees, feeling a little awkward. He wants to keep talking to him, but he's not sure what to say so he stays quiet instead.

"I'll see you soon?" Woo Jinchul asks after the pregnant pause between them drags on a little too long.

Jinwoo nods and scratches the back of his head. "Yeah. Are you staying?"

"Just in case someone needs healing, we brought two B rank healers with us."

"Sounds good. I'll uh… I'll see you in a bit." Jinwoo says before turning back to their group. He introduces himself and Han Songyi to the team leader and they all gather around for the debrief on the gate.

"You're all newbies, so make sure to listen to us." Says Kim Chul. "A gate like this is low level, so we will let you guys tackle most of it, but we're here if anything goes wrong— so don't be anxious." He explains with a confident smirk. Beside him was a B-rank mage named Park Haejin. She smiled at Jinwoo. "The White Tiger Guild is excited to have you on, so make sure you learn well here, and most importantly, don't die!"

Jinwoo sighed. This guy needed to work on his pep talks.

He waited for the rest of the group to enter the gate before looking back over his shoulder at Woo Jinchul. He'd be back soon, so he wasn't too worried.

Only— he took three steps inside only to grab Han Songyi's arm and shove her behind him suddenly.

"Ah! Wha?!" She exclaimed as the ground started to shake.

"OUT!" Jinwoo shouted to her, shoving her to the gate. "HURRY!"

Without question, she jumped out of the gate.

"Why are you shouting? It's just a little earth quake!" Complained one of the other hunters before Jinwoo pushed against the gate exit.

"This isn't a normal gate!" Jinwoo argued. "It's—"

Woo Jinchul rushed over as the girl jumped out of the gate. The ground was shaking and he could feel the power fluctuation of the gate. "Back up! Get away from it!" He shouted, running over and help her up. She looked confused and scared. The swirling mass began to grow bigger and bigger.

"What is happening?" Asks Han Songyi, close to tears. "Why did he push me out?"

"It's—"

The gate's color suddenly changed, even as Woo Jinchul tried to reach in and grab Jinwoo who was likely right at the entrance. His hand connected with a force field, bouncing off the red surface.

"It's a red gate!" Woo Jinchul said, panic gripping him. No matter how good Jinwoo was— there were a bunch of low class hunters inside! There was no doubt that there was going to be a body count from this one. He held the kid close as he pulled her away from the large swirling mass.

"Contact HQ and the White Tiger Guild immediately!" He ordered, helping her over to a bench.

"I-I.. I don't understand!" Han Songyi said, still shaken as she stared at the gate. She'd almost been inside that— "How did he know? What's going to happen now?"

Grimly Woo Jinchul looked at the red gate. "All we can do now, is wait."

"What?"

"Once a gate turns red, there's only one way out: you have to kill the boss. The entrance disappears and traps the hunters inside, and the time moves differently inside. What could be minutes for us, is hours for them."

"I almost…" Han Songyi starts panicking, guilt and fear swallowing her while Woo Jinchul crouches in front of her.

He calms her down the best he can as cars start arriving with personnel. He hands the kid off to a medic and rejoins his own party, worry in his gut.

"See you in a bit." That's what Jinwoo had said. Now there was a possibility that could have been their last interaction.

"Goddamnit!" Woo Jinchul curses, punching the side of the car. He ignores the way it crunches under his fist and pulls out his phone as it starts to ring.

Today was going to be a long day.

They split into two teams. It's the dumbest shit Jinwoo has ever heard, but he takes the weaker guys anyways. With his system now unlocked, he wasn't too worried. Nothing in here felt like it was going to immediately kill them, if the icy weather didn't do that first.

"We need shelter and food." He says logically, looking around. Luckily for them, well for Jinwoo, there was an ice bear nearby.

It took no effort to kill the thing, and getting out of this clearing and away from those ice elves was first on his list.

With the system, he was able to craft warm clothes with the ice bear's pelt, and butcher the beast so they could make food. All that was left was to find a place to camp.

"You…. you're not really E-rank, are you?" Asks one of the hunters. "Park Chul said…"

The memory of Park Chul catching one of the ice elves' arrows to the chest was brought back up to the group. They all looked down at the ground and frowned. Right after that, their supposed team leader had abandoned them in search of the boss.

"It's… Complicated." Jinwoo said slowly, handing them each a winter jacket, gloves, boots and hats. "Put these on."

"Woah! Where did you—"

"I think it's better if you didn't ask questions." Jinwoo cut him off, looking back to the treeline. He could feel the eyes on them. They need to get out of this clearing. "Let's go in deeper, if we stay out here they're just going to pick us off one by one."

"But the ice bears…"

"They're really territorial right?"

"Exactly!"

"Then, they wouldn't be in each other's territories much, we just killed one, so now we should be alright for a while, don't you think?" Jinwoo explained as he started to lead them deeper into the forest.

"R-right…."

Park Haejin was the first to agree and follow. The other two were so scared that they had no choice but to follow.

"Here should be good." Jinwoo says after they walk for what feels like at least two hours deep into the forest. It's already starting to get dark, and they need to craft a shelter. "If we can get some wood, I can make us a fire and some food. Do any of you have something like a tarp that we could use to make shelter with?"

They all search their bags before coming up short, so Jinwoo looks through his crafting options while the others chop wood. He's holding his chin while looking at the screen for a while before eventually the other's come back with lots of wood.

They start a fire and make camp quickly after that. He's able to use the last of the beat pelt to make a small tent. It wasn't much but it was enough to hide from the wind and sleep in if they all stayed sitting instead of laying down.

"Sorry, it's not much." Jinwoo said, unhappy with the end result. It wasn't made very well, but it was enough shelter to protect them tonight, as long as nothing attacked them.

"Are you kidding? Without you we would have been frozen to death by now!"

"Yeah!"

"I agree with Yoon Kijoong and Go Myung-Hwan." Says Park Haejin. "We're really grateful to you, Sung Jinwoo."

"I'm just doing what I can." Jinwoo says before poking at the fire. "Anyways, you guys get some rest, I'll stay up first."

"Alright." Park Haejin says, smiling before casting a spell that she said would last for a few hours. "If something comes inside the ward that's higher than a C rank, it will make a sound like broken glass." She says, before crawling inside their makeshift tent.

Jinwoo thanked her before she left. With them gone, he finally had time to make a real game plan. The only way out of here was to defeat the boss, which was probably whoever was in charge of those ice elves from before. The others didn't really stand a chance, maybe Park Haejin did as a B-rank, but mages were hard to use on the front lines, usually you had the tankers like Kim Chul to defend the others while they cast spells.

He sends out a few shadows to the perimeter, despite her spell, he was worried it might not catch everything. "Report back if you see something suspicious."

The shadows melted away and left him, four in total, one in each direction.

Satisfied that they had decent security for the night, he leaned his back against a tree and sighed. On his own, he would have been able to push through and kill the boss as soon as possible, but these other hunters were weaker and newer and unexperienced. He couldn't drag them into this. If he wanted to kill those ice elves, he needed to get stronger.

He glared at the fire, trying to picture how exactly he was going to be able to do that while they were camped out here.

At least he'd gotten Han Songyi out of here. The last thing he wanted was to be responsible for the teacher's daughter dying. He's pretty sure she'd kill him herself if that had happened.

By the time dawn comes and they've switched the watch shift so that Jinwoo could rest, he's come up with a plan. He'll have the group stay at camp, inside the warding that Park Haejin put up alongside his shadow guards. He'll leave ten of them here to watch the group, it should be more than enough but he's erring on the side of caution for now.

"Where are you going to go?" Asks Yoon Kijoong looking anxious. In the daylight, his dyed blonde hair looked lighter, contrasting with the natural dark color of his undercut. He side eyed the soldiers that just melted out of Jinwoo's shadow like they were going to attack, one hand nervously resting on the hilt of his sword.

Jinwoo looked over his shoulder at Yoon Kijoong and the other two hunters. "To find the boss, so we can get out of here." He replied, like it was obvious. If he didn't, there was no chance of these guys surviving long term. Not with those ice elves hunting them. They were lucky that they hadn't been bold enough to follow them into the ice bear territory… yet.

"If you're going, shouldn't we come too?" Asks Go Myung-Hwan. He was a young man of average height and build with spiky black hair, matching black eyes, and slight chin stubble.

"…" Park Haejin was silent while watching them, looking to Jinwoo for an answer.

"Look," Jinwoo says, trying to be gentle with his words. "The truth is, I don't want you guys getting hurt. So just let me handle this one. I'll be back before dark, and if anything happens to the shadow soldiers, I'll come back immediately. I told you before not to ask too many questions. I know you don't know me but I'm asking you to trust me. I'll make sure you don't die in here, so just trust that I'll get us out." His mind took that moment to flash images of dead bodies from the double dungeon in his mind.

'Trust me.' He'd said it back then too, when telling everyone about the rules on the stone tablet. He just had to hope that this time, the group with him would listen.

Jinwoo shivered with the memory of the sound of bodies being crushed to death under the giant statue's foot and the screams…

No. He had to focus.

He didn't have time for him to be paralyzed with fear.

He hardened his gaze as it landed on Park Haejin, who had yet to say anything.

"Alright. But before you go, let me cast a few buffs on you, you might be strong but that doesn't make you invincible." She smiles, letting out a defeated sigh.

"Oh and take this too!" Go Myung-Hwan says, pulling off a silver bracelet he'd been wearing. As Jinwoo was forced to accept it, he felt mana radiating off it subtly. "It's enchanted to heal minor wounds, it might not do much but it'll save you from the little stuff."

[Silver Serpent's Circlet Added to Inventory!]

[This Item is Enchanted.]

When he inspected the silver bracelet, he noticed it was actually shaped as a snake, with two small red eyes on the head. The System listed its qualities, which just as Go Myung-Hwan said, healed minor wounds.

[May heal up to 10 points of Health. Activates automatically when user sustains minor injuries.]

Jinwoo was felt a little overwhelmed, even as Yoon Kijoong started digging in his pack for something as well. "It's not much," he says as he pulls out four energy bars "but you gotta keep your strength up! Take them, we've got enough of the bear meat here from last night that should last us a few days anyways. Plus, if you see more bears out there, I'm sure you can bring us back more with that subspace magic thing you got going on."

Unable to refuse them, Jinwoo accepts the gifts with a little confusion. Why were they being so kind? They should be scared and wary of him, for how he told them to keep it quiet about his abilities, for how strong he secretly was, for how he wasn't telling them anything or letting them participate in the hunt for the boss….

"Um… Thanks?" Jinwoo says sheepishly, still a little confused even as he puts on the bracelet and adds the energy bars to his inventory. Park Haejin's soft smile turns more genuine as she takes her staff to begin casting her buffs.

[Mage's Blessing Added!]

[+5 Defense!]

[Mage's Blessing Added!]

[+30 Health!]

[Mage's Blessing Added!]

[+2 Agility!]

Jinwoo's eyes widen at the System notifications. The buffs were definitely going to be useful, though he wondered how long they might last.

"These should be good for at least two hours." Says Park Haejin, as if to read his mind.

"Thank you." He says, feeling a little moved by their generosity. They definitely could have just huddled in the tent and let him do all the work. Instead they were helping him…

This wasn't something he was used to. He was used to being ignored and left behind, as an E-rank. And as a… Whatever-rank that he was now? He was used to being left to handle it all alone.

"Of course, you didn't really think we'd let you do this on your own, right?" Yoon Kijoong asks, smiling despite his obvious anxiety. He scratched the back of his head with a nervous laugh. "We're hunters too, y'know?"

"He's right. We're all in this. Together." Go Myung-Hwan agreed.

"We'll be waiting for you to come back." Park Haejin says, looking a little sweaty. Those buffs probably took a lot out of her, considering she was also maintaining the wards around their small camp. "So, don't be stupid."

Jinwoo smiled, a small and barely there thing. "Alright. I'll be careful." He agreed, waving them off before facing north. He could sense something strong in that direction, so he followed it, sending a soldier ahead to scout the area.

Maybe it was because they were so kind, or maybe it was just because he hadn't been inside a gate in a while… But seeing as this wasn't some cave and was a totally different landscape than most gates tended to be— He felt a little excitement in his gut.

It churned and twisted but instead of making him sick with anxiety, it was like someone had pumped him full of adrenaline. He was ready for whatever might come— in fact he was waiting for it. He wanted to fight. He wanted to save these people.

At the very least… He could save these three, right?

The snow got deeper as he walked, leading him to have to stop the hike and use some wood from his inventory to craft something that would help him.

[Birch Wood Added to Inventory!]

[Would you like to craft hide lacing?]

[Yes] [No]

"Yes." Jinwoo says, after working on the wooden framing for a solid hour, sat on the base of the birch tree stump. The wood was just flexible enough for this, and for once he was grateful for those documentaries about random stuff that Jinah liked to play in the background. He'd never thought he'd need to make something like this.

[New Crafting Recipe Unlocked!]

[Would you like to Craft Snow Shoes?]

[Yes] [No]

"Yes." The frames and the laces in his inventory disappeared and in his hands was a bright blue light before two large snow shoes appeared. He was quick to lace them on his feet and stand up, satisfied that it kept him from sinking down into the deep snow that had been slowly reaching his mid-calf.

[Snow Shoes Crafted!]

Although he couldn't run in them, he'd be able to at least travel deeper into the woods without anymore issues. He figures if he needs to take them off, he has plenty of hide left to make new laces if he breaks them.

Without further ado, he casts out his senses. He was still getting used to these shadow soldiers, but it was definitely nice to be able to feel where they were. He checked the ones at camp, and found that they were not only fine, but were… Bored? Was that possible? To feel emotions of non-living things through their bond?

Jinwoo chuckled to himself and shook his head. He wondered what Igris would be feeling, if he could tell what the knight felt to any extent. He had a feeling it was more that they shadows were letting him feel it, rather than something he could detect whenever he wanted.

As he traversed deeper into the woods he started to see claw marks on trees and other signs of wildlife. He kills a few uneventful ice bears, barely breaking a sweat, before he finally finds what had been giving off such a strong aura that he could sense it from camp. A cave that clearly had ice bears living inside.

"So… This is where you were hiding?" He asks the frozen air, his breath coming out in white puffs.

At the sound of an intruder who was slipping off his snow shoes and entering the cave, a resounding roar of an ice bear could be heard, echoing off the stalactites. Jinwoo grinned, using a burst of energy for speed as he rushed into the cave. His weapons, Knight Killer in one hand, and Kasaka's Venom Fang in the other, materialize as the first enemy appears.

[Quest: Frozen Maul]

[Objective: Defeat the Ice Bears in the Northern Cave]

[Enemies Defeated: 1/30]

Chapter Text

Jinwoo lands on the ground with the sound of snow crunching underfoot.

[Quest: Frozen Maul is Complete!]

[30/30 Enemies Defeated!]

As the last of the ice bears from inside the cave die, Jinwoo looks around at the carnage with a grim face. Igris trods over to him, having finished his own task of killing the others.

"Good work." Jinwoo says to the shadow. Igris kneels silently, hand over his breast. "I'll handle the rest."

From there, handling the alpha ice bear is no problem, and soon a new general joins his ranks, named Tank. He's a little unsure how to feel about the beast so far, but he is most definitely going to live up to his name, considering his size and strength alone. Jinwoo extracts a few more ice bears, but he still can only preserve 20 shadows so he doesn't do more than five bears, preferring to keep his knights instead.

A humanoid shadow was more useful in more ways than one compared to a bear.

Satisfied that they won't be facing any danger from the bears anytime soon, he's ready to start the trek back to camp. Jinwoo pulls on the snow shoes again from his inventory and starts back— only to feel a particularly cold chill run down his spine.

One of his shadows from camp has just been destroyed.

Woo Jinchul is managing the scene as best he can, when a time bomb arrives in the form of Hwang Dongsu.

"You have no reason to be on the premises, Mr. Hwang." Woo Jinchul says stiffly, standing his ground even as the S-ranked traitor towers over him.

"I don't need to explain why I'm here to the likes of you." Spits Hwang Dongsu. His beefy build casts a shadow over Woo Jinchul, a nervous B-rank agent is off to the side trying to calm the man down as he huffs and puffs around the locked red gate.

The media were already here, and it was enough that the public was starting to crowd around the gate— but to have this guy here right now? This was the last thing he needed.

"Mr. Hwang— Sir, I think we should go back to the hotel and—" The B-rank in charge of Hwang Dongsu was clearly assigned as his driver and body guard. He was the same height as Woo Jinchul, with short spiky black hair. He was sweating despite the chill in the evening air.

It has already been seven hours since they lost contact with the raid team. Who knows if they were even alive still?

"I'll have you know that just because you're an S-rank does not mean you can just throw your weight around as you like. The Association still has the right to expel you from the premises and send you back home." Threatens Woo Jinchul. He catches sight of something tall with red hair headed their way, and feels both relief and worry as Baek Yoonho enters the scene.

The media were going to eat this up, weren't they?

"Get those cameras out of here." Woo Jinchul says to one of the suits behind him. The Association's team starts asking for the media to back off, but how could anyone stop this face-off from happening now?

"Mr. Hwang, why don't you return to your hotel? If you wish to meet with Mr. Sung then the Association could arrange something at a later date." Woo Jinchul lies, frowning as Baek Yoonho walks towards them with purpose.

"This is bullshit! I'll just wait until that asshole comes out and pummel him to a pulp, myself!" Hwang Dongsu growls, pushing past Woo Jinchul roughly. Woo Jinchul has to use more effort than expected to keep from being knocked over by the force of it.

"Isn't this enough, Hwang Dongsu?" Baek Yoonho, leader of the White Tiger Guild, demands as he places himself between the gate and the S-ranked hunter. "Aren't you embarrassed at the scene you're causing?"

Hwang Dongsu ignores him, pushing past Baek Yoonho and placing a hand against the force field that locked the gate. "I'll sit here for as long as it takes…"

"B-but Mr. Hwang, I believe you're only granted access for 24 hours in Korea…" Says his handler, looking queasy as the glowing scowl of Hwang Dongsu lands on him.

Baek Yoonho smirks, crossing his arms. "So it's like that, is it?" He takes another step closer to the other S-rank and goads him a little, "did daddy only let you out of the country for a quick little trip?"

Hwang Dongsu's forehead vein bulges as he gnashes his teeth and throws a powerful punch at the red gate's surface. It bounces off without so much as a sound of the fist connecting with anything, but a swoosh of wind blows back from the movement. "Fucker! You tryin' to pick a fight right now?"

Baek Yoonho, who has never liked Hwang Dongsu to start with, only glances around at their audience and cracks his neck. "I never said that. I was just curious why someone like you wants anything to do with that guy? He's not even A-rank."

"That guy is the one who… You're all useless! Fuck this shit!" Hwang Dongsu growls, turning back to his handler. "Take me to the hotel." He barks. The handler rushes to lead Hwang Dongsu away, and completely misses the moment Baek Yoonho and Hwang Dongsu's glowing eyes meet.

Woo Jinchul's instincts make him move before he can think. One moment he's behind Baek Yoonho, the next he's between to S-ranks with a hand on each hunter's fist. The resounding BOOM of air destroys his sleeves as he uses his powers to enforce his arms from breaking. The crowd that had been slowly receding buzzes with shock. Somewhere there's the flash of a camera.

Great.

Just. Fucking. Great.

"Get him out of here." Growls Woo Jinchul to the handler.

"Well color me surprised, Mr. Agent, even though I pulled my punch I didn't think you'd be able to stop it." Hwang Dongsu laughs even as he's finally escorted back to the sleek black limo that he'd arrived in. Four agents follow the handler and Hwang Dongsu, even as the man continues to talk to himself.

"He's right," Baek Yoonho agrees, dropping his fist that had been ready to meet Hwang Dongsu's. "I know you're top of the A-rank hunters, but I'm seriously impressed right now." The man smiles, despite nearly starting a major fight with another S-rank just now.

Woo Jinchul glowers, his mood sour and his suit ruined, "if you'd gone all out, there was no chance I could have stopped that." He says. "I moved instinctively anyways." He pauses before taking off his destroyed blazer and trying to roll up the ruined sleeves of his white button down. "You owe me a new suit."

Baek Yoonho sighs with amusement, catching the jacket the chief throws at him. He looks around them and waves over one of his own men from the guild to speak to. Woo Jinchul is grateful for the help of the White Tiger Guild, as he stares at the red gate with anxiety. At the least, maybe they can get the cameras out of here with the promise of some interviews.

"How many went inside?" Asks Baek Yoonho later, once the crowd has been diminished and the cameras are taken care of. They're approaching the 9 hour mark now.

Woo Jinchul runs a hand through his hair, smoothing it down. "In total, there was ten, but Jinwoo kicked the kid with him out of the portal just before it closed."

"Kid?"

"She was taken home by her guardians, it was originally a D-rank gate, and Jinwoo wanted to scare her straight or something. She's still in high school."

"Ah," Baek Yoonho touches the force field around the gate. "This doesn't feel like a D-rank gate."

"I know, but there's no way to test it since a red gate locks the mana inside after closing. If I had to guess though, I'd say it could be B or A-rank, which is not very good news, considering."

"This was a training raid, right? So other than Kim Chul and Park Haejin, who are A and B ranked…" Baek Yoonho trails off. They both know what it means, and neither of them are excited to see the outcome.

"That's correct." Answers Woo Jinchul. "Even if Sung Jinwoo comes back out of this gate, the newbies that were with them, are likely already dead."

Jinwoo pants as he runs, he doesn't have the benefit of time to stop and catch his breath. Luckily, with his dash skill, the snow doesn't stop him because his weight doesn't hover in one place long enough to break through the drifts. It's been four nights since his shadows were attacked at camp. It's been four nights since he rushed back just to find a crude note and a destroyed campsite. It's been four nights since he's been running after them.

It's been four nights of hunting and fighting and killing and—

It's been four nights without sleep. Without pause for rest. Without more than a energy bar or potion to keep him going.

Luckily, there were no bodies. Yet.

This group of ice elves… They were smart enough to attack while he was away; and he'd assumed they wouldn't follow them this deep into the alpha ice bear's territory. He'd been wrong.

At the least, they had been stupid enough to think that killing his soldiers once was enough to destroy them. With the help of his shadows, he'd been able to track them easily enough, sending them ahead and when being able to pinpoint when they'd get destroyed. Between that and the physical tracks they left behind, Jinwoo finds them easier than he'd hoped to.

They've taken the group back the way they originated, through the clearing that the gate left them in and deeper into the woods to the west. Leaving a trail of bodies behind him, Jinwoo slowly makes his way to what seems like a small village.

As far as the eye can see, there isn't anyone here. But one of his knights stands dutifully in the shadows of the main gate, signifying he's in the right place.

[New Quest Unlocked!]

[Quest: Defeat the Hyakki Villagers]

[Objective: Kill the Enemies (0/15)]

So there were elves here, just in hiding. Jinwoo frowned and cast out his senses with his eyes closed. He took a deep breath to steady his breathing and then…

There. His face turns to the southern side of the village. He can feel the human hunter's energy. Around them are a two strong presences. He's relieved to feel all three of their auras still alive. Hopefully it will stay that way. Jinwoo has a feeling he was lured back here for a reason, so he doesn't bother staying in the shadows any longer.

"Tank." He summons the alpha ice bear from before and points to the wooden gates of the small village. "Get me in there."

Tank makes quick work of the gate, and the surrounding little huts. If he couldn't feel the auras that were spiking with energy, Jinwoo would have thought this place to be abandoned. He'll have to look around afterwards and see if there's anything worth looting.

With a roar, Tank plows through the first few huts and announces their presence easily enough. A few arrows fly his way, but Jinwoo is able to dodge and cut them down easily enough. He catches one mid-air and throws it right back, satisfied when his kill count goes up by one point when the arrow reaches it's target.

[Objective: Kill the Enemies (1/15)]

Everything is going well, as he summons his shadows to handle most of the elves. They blaze a trail of blood and gore deeper into the village until they reach the south end, where a large coliseum-like building with stone carvings and pillars. It reminds Jinwoo of an ancient Greek building, with a large statue of a hooded elven woman with a raven on her shoulder and another held up in her hand. The eyes of the birds are encrusted with a blue gem that radiates some kind of mana.

Jinwoo pushes open the solitary door to the building, his shadows rushing through the crack of the door before he enters. The moment the door opens he's hit with a huge amount of mana, higher than he's encountered so far in this gate, and its enough to make his stomach lurch.

Inside it is indeed some kind arena, and down on the center stage are the hunters from his party, tied together and unconscious. As he steps in, the door closes ominously behind him.

This must be the boss' lair… Thinks Jinwoo, looking for the auras that he senses nearby. He can't quite pinpoint them, even with his Bloodlust skill, he's unable to intimidate that which he can't see.

Laughter erupts suddenly as he steps down from the arena's seating area and into the open stage. It makes him flinch, despite his best efforts to hide any emotion.

"Come out, you want to fight, don't you?" He calls out.

The laughter pauses before increasing in volume and number. Suddenly there isn't just two huge mana signatures, but five— ten— thirteen—

Jinwoo summons Igris and Tank instinctively, looking up into the seats of the arena to what looks like a throne. In the dark, two eyes glow with amusement and power.

"Oh, how wonderful! I'll get to enjoy a good show, this time!" Cheers the blue elf. Jinwoo jolts back, he can hear that he's speaking something… non-human. But he can also understand him perfectly as if the ice elf was speaking fluent korean. "Kill him, but do it slowly, I want to enjoy this one." Commands the elf, his purple leaf in the middle of his forehead glowing with mana.

[Objective: Kill the Enemies (1/15)]

"Protect them and get them out of here if you can, Igris. Tank, you watch my back." Jinwoo orders, seconds before ice elves are jumping out of the shadows like his own knights do.

The arena descends into chaos while the elf in the throne laughs wickedly. Jinwoo looks up with just enough of a chance to see its name: Baruka. It was dark red.

Once the crowds and media had realized that there was no likelihood of the hunters (if there were survivors) returning that day, it was much easier to get the place cleared out. Woo Jinchul set up a perimeter a block away and was currently on the phone with Chairman Go, when Baek Yoonho appeared again.

He'd left to get food, it seems, and reinforcements. The White Tiger Guild felt responsible, as it was their training raid that had gone wrong; and it seemed that bringing in his own team was his way of apologizing for the mess that had been caused.

"You should eat something." Baek Yoonho says as he approaches Woo Jinchul. He holds up a takeout bag and a cup of hot coffee.

Woo Jinchul pauses his conversation to eye him before accepting the coffe and turning away. "Yes, I had to make a few deals with the press to get them to back off, you will need to contact them for a press conference about this as soon as possible, perhaps in the morning…" He says to Chairman Go.

Baek Yoonho rolls his eyes, handing the food off to one of the suits that trailed behind Woo Jinchul before taking a seat on the hood of the car he came in. "Looks like there's nothing we can do but wait now," Baek Yoonho says to his little group of A and B-rank hunters that he brought with him.

Combining forces would be the best way to address whatever came out of that gate. For now, he had his team set up a make shift hospital and relieve the paramedics that had been on standby.

Woo Jinchul sips his coffee after hanging up with the Chairman and comes back over to Baek Yoonho, taking a seat beside him on the hood of the sleek black car. "The press is going nuts." He announces as he settles against the car.

"Yeah, this is the second red gate in this side of the world in the last month or so, right?"

"Yeah." Woo Jinchul pinches the bridge of his nose. He's running on a little too much coffee and not nearly enough sleep for this. He can feel a migraine coming. "At least with the other one, Liu Zhigang went in. The highest ranked on in there, between us, is Jinwoo. But that won't be enough to save everyone in there."

"Kim Chul is A-rank, and Park Haejin is pretty handy as long as someone can tank for her. The others though…" Baek Yoonho hums in agreement. There would definitely be a few funerals after this.

It was a shitty feeling, being so powerful and yet powerless in the face of something like this. What was the point of being awakened, of having these powers and abilities… If they couldn't do anything but wait for the gate to unlock and spit out the bodies of their comrades?

"I just hope they're able to kill the boss." Woo Jinchul says quietly. Otherwise… They'd have to wait for everyone to die in there.

"See you in a bit." Jinwoo's voice echoed in Jinchul's mind. He clutched his coffee tightly.

Even Baek Yoonho, who was usually oblivious to other's feelings, could fee the worry coming off of the guy. "Hey," he places a hand on Woo Jinchul's shoulder "why don't you take a rest in the car. I'll come get you if anything happens. We're no good to them if we're burnt out by the time they come out." He says, offering the agent a smile.

Woo Jinchul frowned before sighing. Baek Yoonho was right. He wasn't about to let Jinwoo down, a second time. "Alright. Wake me if anything happens."

"Aye, aye captain." Baek Yoonho teases, giving a mock salute before taking away the coffee and shooing the agent off to his own black car to rest.

"Guild Master, we've set up the temp hospital and relieved all the public service workers, is there anything else we can do?"

Baek Yoonho stared at the red swirling gate. "No." He answers. "Now all we can do is be ready for them to come out."

Fighting off the barrage of ice elves wasn't too bad, but it was hard to do it while defending the unconscious bodies of his raid party. Jinwoo couldn't move freely, as every time he stopped guarding the party, one of the elves would shoot and arrow or lunge for them.

Although Park Haejin's blessings had worn off, the Silver Serpent's Circlet was still pretty handy, healing any minor wounds without so much as a thought.

Jinwoo sliced through the neck of an elf just as Tank lunged behind his back and caught another one midair with his jaws. "Thanks, Tank."

The laughter had subsided. Baruka was not as amused once he realized that Jinwoo was able to hold his own against the elves. Not that they weren't hard to kill or that it was easy— but the ice elves attacking him weren't as strong as Baruka, their titles only highlighted in yellow by the System.

Igris was defending the group valiantly, but even he was getting a little overwhelmed by the constant barrage of ice elves attacking. Between the three of them, plus his extra shadows though— it was easy enough to fend them all off.

[Objective: Kill the Enemies (12/15)]

Jinwoo pants as he pulls out another potion from his inventory and downs it one go. His health was nearly halved and his mana was running low. At this rate, he wouldn't be able to sustain his shadows much longer.

He had to end this.

"Protect them!" He shouts to his soldiers, before he uses the dash action and Ruler's Authority to jump up into the seats of the arena and towards Baruka's throne.

"Bored so soon? I was just starting to enjoy the slaughter!" He says, before jumping from his seat.

Jinwoo throws Kasaka's Venom Fang right for his throat, but the elf is much too fast.

They parry and jump away from each other quicky before meeting again and again. Baruka moves so fast that Jinwoo doesn't have a chance to look back and see if Tank and Igris are holding up against the last few elves or not.

[New Quest Unlocked!]

[Quest: Defeat the Boss]

Jinwoo glares at the creature, narrowly missing a blade to the gut, and flipping away from him.

"Oh? You are different, aren't you?" Baruka grins, his blank white eyes glowing as he lunges again.

"What do you mean?"

"Oh it talks too! Wonderful!" Baruka manages to catch his shoulder with his blade and Jinwoo lets out a shout of pain as he jumps away, holding his shoulder as blood starts to seep through his jacket.

"Shit."

"Why do you bother pretending with these humans?"

"What?"

Baruka tilts his head and pauses, standing on the back of one of the arena's chairs. He hops down onto the ground again and flips his dagger in his hand. "Why does a non-human like yourself, pretend to be something so weak and pathetic?"

"I am human, I don't know what you're talking about!" Jinwoo growls before lunging again. His wound will heal, eventually. The System needs him afterall, doesn't that mean that he won't die so easily?

[You have leveled up!]

Jinwoo smirks, feeling his health bar starting to replenish as he breaks through another level. His wound begins to start knitting back together even as he meets Baruka's blade again.

"You're not making sense. Can you really understand me? Humans cannot understand us."

"Well maybe I'm just lucky, I guess!" Jinwoo dodges again before jumping back from Baruka, panting. "Let's finish this, enough talking!"

"Are you not curious? Do you not wish to know..? Of course you can use █████."

Part of the words that Baruka says are bleeped out and an error message appears on his System screen.

"What?"

"I said █████. Unless… You…. You're not one of the █████? That… Impossible!" Baruka's face flushes before his attacks beging again and the intensity is much greater than before.

Confused and focused on not dying; Jinwoo has no choice but to fight back. The System is hiding something from him, that much is obvious. But now was not the time to be worried about it!

They fight until they reach the main arena's floor, and Jinwoo puts himself between Baruka and his party. The floor is littered with elf corpses and blood.

"This ends here." Jinwoo says, holding his side where Baruka cut him. "I'm not letting this go any farther."

"There's no way you're a █████. You're too weak. I'll kill you where you stand!" Baruka lunges.

Jinwoo ducks and parries, before flipping around behind him. "I'll show you weak!" He growls and with a quick motion with both daggers, he beheads Baruka from behind.

Blood sprays everywhere, soaking him. Later, as he's untying and waking the others, Park Haejin shrieks in terror and Go Myung-Hwan faints right after waking.

"You— The blood—!"

"It's not mine." Jinwoo answers, drinking a potion for his side that had been slashed.

"I-I see…" Park Haejin says weakly before he helps them up and out of the arena. They don't find anything of use, although he does find the bodies of Kim Chul and the others. Curious he wants to try something, so he lets the others go ahead before attempting to summon Kim Chul's soul.

"Arise."

The soul of the A-rank asshole rises easily, who he renames as Iron.

He feels bad that they died here, but he also knows that if Kim Chul had found his way back to them, he's almost certain he'd be blamed for all their downfalls.

Either way, when the gate finally opens again— Jinwoo herds the hunters out again, carrying Go Myung-Hwan on his back.

Woo Jinchul wakes with a jolt as someone shoves his shoulder. "Sir, they're returning!"

What he expects is Jinwoo and Kim Chul, maybe Park Haejin.

"How many?" He asks, fixing himself before exiting the car. It's past 4am.

"Four, sir."

"Four?" Who was the third? Baek Yoonho had said there were some B-ranks, maybe….

"Medic!" Shouts Baek Yoonho from the gate.

Without another thought Woo Jinchul shoves through the crowd and freezes at the sight of Jinwoo, head to toe in blood. He's stomach drops.

"I'm fine." Jinwoo says as he hands off Go Myung-Hwan to the medic who rushes over. "It's not my blood." He says over and over as people rush them.

"Where's Kim Chul? The others? I—" Baek Yoonho demands, but Jinwoo solemnly shakes his head. "He…?"

"We'll discuss later," Woo Jinchul says, taking charge and approaching with a towel in hand. "For now, let's just get them taken care of."

"R-Right…"

"Ah, thanks." Jinwoo says, cringing as he wipes at the flaking blood off his hands. "I probably look really bad, huh? I'm sorry, I shouldn't have let them seperate at the start but I—?"

"It's fine." Woo Jinchul says, taking the towel back and starting to wipe at Jinwoo's face. "It's fine." He repeats, although if it was to himself or Jinwoo, he's not quite sure.

Chapter Text

Between the short debriefing, calling Jinah, and getting ushered around, Jinwoo barely gets a second to really scrub the blood off of him. Woo Jinchul finally takes pity on him, after a short call with Chairman Go and the media team to clean up this PR nightmare, and glances around before leaning in close to Jinwoo's ear.

"Let's get out of here, shall we?" He whispers to Jinwoo, leading him to a smaller black sedan. The hairs on the back of Jinwoo's neck stand on end. Woo Jinchul slides in the front seat, looking up when the passenger door opens and Jinwoo climbs inside. "Sorry for…. all of that. You understand, red gates are coming to be more common. People are getting nervous."

Jinwoo nodded. "Sorry for scaring you." He says quietly as the car starts and they begin to drive away from the scene.

"Me?" Woo Jinchul blinks before looking over at his blood covered friend (?).

"You looked like you'd seen a ghost when I came out of the gate." Jinwoo snorts, touching his hair before frowning; it was also tacky with drying blood.

"You are aware how you look, right now… Right?" Woo Jinchul asks, humor in his voice as he turns down a street that leads back to his apartment. "Nevermind," He says with a chuckle before Jinwoo can interject, "don't worry about it. I never doubted you were going to come back. It was more… The others with you, that I was surprised to see."

"Ah… Yeah. I see." Jinwoo looked out the window, the street lights illuminating his crusted face. most of the blood on his face had been rubbed off with a towel, but his clothing and hair were a lost cause.

It doesn't take too long to get to Woo Jinchul's apartment complex, yet when Jinwoo looks around in confusion, it's clear he was expecting to go home.

"You didn't think I'd let Jinah see you like this? Did you?"

"Ah shit. You're right." Jinwoo curses, pulling at his destroyed shirt and jacket. "Where are we?"

"My place." Woo Jinchul says, handing his keys to the man waiting at the doors in a suit not unlike his own.

"Welcome back, Chief." Greets the man. Jinwoo is distracted by looking up at the fancy glass fortress of an apartment complex to register their conversation.

"Follow me." Woo Jinchul says, nudging Jinwoo with his elbow as he walks past. They ride the elevator up to twenty-first floor, before transferring to another which was operated by a keycard. When Woo Jinchul can feel the other's eyes on him, he smiles a little. "I know, its a little over the top for me too." He admits before they are greeted with body guards at the floor they exit on. They nod them along, allowing Jinwoo to pass with not so much as a lingering look.

"Tight security." Jinwoo comments as they finally enter an apartment that has a touch pad for the code. Woo Jinchul laughs softly before opening the door for them and toeing off his shoes.

"Come in," he says with a smile, offering to take Jinwoo's coat. "I think I have some clothes that will suit you, you look like you'd fit in them." As he's handed the stained coat, he frowns. "I don't think this is really salvageable, though."

"That's fine." Jinwoo says, slipping off his boots and soaked socks too. "Can I borrow your shower?"

"Of course."

Jinwoo starts peeling off his clothes in the entry way, crusty bits of dried blood falling the floor every time he moved. Woo Jinchul quickly leaves to retrieve a housecoat for him and ushers him off to the bathroom while he takes care of the mess, insisting it was fine. Even as Jinwoo made a bigger mess the more he moved around.

When he finally gets the chance to scrub himself clean, Jinwoo is impressed with a large bathroom. He hadn't looked around much when he'd come in, but now that he was, he can tell this is a much nicer place than his own apartment. From the crisp white marble floors, to the large mirror with a touch buttons for lights and anti-fog controls, to the large window with a sheer white curtain that hid the breathtaking view of Seoul from above. The walls were mostly white marble tiles as well, except for the coffee colored vanity and glass walled shower. To the right of the shower, was a large white tub that was positioned so that one could look out the large curtained window and admire the cityscape below.

"Damn.." He mutters to himself before shucking off the housecoat, pants, and anything else before padding over to shower and closing the glass door behind himself. Despite the luxury bathroom, it didn't look like Woo Jinchul used many different concoctions like Jinah did, there was a bottle of shampoo, conditioner and body wash. Aside from that, there was some facewash and a bar of soap. Jinwoo didn't bother to ponder much about it, as he turned on the hot water and groaned.

Luxury or not… He really missed showers while he'd been trapped inside the red gate.

"Oh? Are you finished?" Jinchul asked from the kitchen when he heard the bathroom door open. He was making them both a cup of tea, and looked over his shoulder.

"Uh, yeah." Sung Jinwoo's voice came from the doorway, where instead of a bloodied hunter, stood a refreshing young man with his hair down and a towel around his waist. Water dripped from his hair, down his chin and throat. The droplet rolled seamlessly down his chest and… "Where did you say the change of clothes were?"

Jinchul blinked before jumping into action. "Here!" He shoved them at Sung Jinwoo and pushed him back towards the bathroom. "You should get dressed before you catch a cold!" The moment the door shut behind Sung Jinwoo, Jinchul felt the blood rush to his head.

No way, he wasn't feeling anything but embarassment. This wasn't… There wasn't anything…

Man. Jinchul groaned and dragged two hands down his face before ditching the tea and pulling out two glasses. Get your head out of the gutter! How old was Hunter Sung anyways? 23? 25? Young. He was awfully young. Too young.

Not that anything would be different if they were the same age. He would never get involved with a client! Jinchul pours his drink with a heavy hand, making a simple gin and tonic for himself.

"I think it might be a bit tight, but this should work. Thank you for the clothes." Sung Jinwoo says as he reenters the open concept living room. Jinchul looks back again, grateful that the man is clothes this time, wearing one of his white T-shirts and a pair of black sweat pants that he had lying around. They look a little small on him, compared to when Jinchul wears them, but it works either way. "I'll return them soon."

"Don't worry about it." Jinchul smiles, setting down his glass at the bar and wandering over. "Now then," he walks over to Sung Jinwoo and smirks, "should we dry your hair properly?"

Sung Jinwoo still has a towel draped over his shoulders, sitting loose on his head where the hair is still dripping. Jinchul huffs a little laugh before taking the towel and ruffling Sung Jinwoo's hair with it.

"H-hey!" Sung Jinwoo complains playfully, letting Jinchul do as he pleases. "I'm not a child!"

"Sure thing, Hunter Sung." Jinchul teases, coralling the taller man to the black couch and having him sit on the floor. Sung Jinwoo must be exhausted, because he doesn't put up a fight, leaning back against Jinchul's legs while he dries his hair. "I have no doubt that you are much too old for this, but I feel like I should do something, after all that you've done for the Association today."

"Mn. Don't worry about it."

"Very well."

They settle into a comfortable silence. Jinchul tries to focus less on the body heat on his legs and more on the flat black hair that he was drying. When he finishes he sets down the towel and sighs quietly. Its late.

"Why don't you just stay here tonight? It's late enough already." Jinchul finds himself saying.

Sung Jinwoo twitches in his spot, seeming to think it over before slowly nodding. "I'll take the couch."

"Nonsense, I won't let my guest sleep on the couch. You've been inside that gate for what? The equivalent of a week or so? You should use the bed."

"But—"

"No buts!" Jinchul tuts, helping Sung Jinwoo to his feet and once more coralling him like some kind of herding dog. Sung Jinwoo lets out a small laugh as he's pushed along, both of them aware that if he didn't want to move, he would not have been moved no matter how much Jinchul pushed and prodded.

"I can't just take your bed."

"Well, too bad. I think between the two of us, you're the one that needs the rest more. It won't be the first time I fell asleep on that couch anyways."

"That doesn't help your argument, you know…" Sung Jinwoo lets himself be bullied into laying down, despite his teasing remarks, he still seems exhausted.

"Quit worrying about me, we can argue in the moring." Jinchul teases, pulling the heavy duvet over Sung Jinwoo's shoulders. "For now, just rest."

Hunter Sung's eyes look heavy as he mutters one last complaint, but he's asleep within the next three minutes. Jinchul just shakes his head, chagrined, and turns off the light, leaving the large bedroom only lit up by the city lights from the big windows.

Jinwoo fakes sleep until he hears the tinkling of dishes in the sink from the kitchen. When he's sure that Agent Woo is out of earshot, he opens his eyes and rolls onto his back. He stares at the ceiling for a long time, feeling the blood rush to his head.

Was this how normal friends were? Was this something he should even get worked up over?? Woo Jinchul was just trying to help him, look out for him and keep him healthy. It's a normal thing that an adult would want for a younger person. So… So why couldn't his heart stop trying to beat out of his chest?!

He can still feel those warm hands tousling his hair and drying it carefully. He wishes he could tell him that he doesn't have to be gentle with him, that Jinwoo would not break if he was roughed up a little.

"Quit worrying about me, we can argue in the moring." Woo Jinchul teases, pulling the heavy duvet over Jinwoo's shoulders. "For now, just rest."

His heart jumps a little in his chest, and he can't tell if its the anxiety of sleeping somewhere new or if it's got more to do with the way the light glinted in Woo Jinchul's eyes as he smiled gently at him.

Jinwoo rubs his eyes with one hand and sits up, looking out over the city from the large windows. Maybe he was just thinking about this too much. If he really thought about it, he had never really had a friend like Agent Woo before, someone who was willing to take care of him. It was… foreign. Not in a bad way, just… different.

Jinwoo found he didn't mind it as much as he expected to.

At some point he falls asleep for real, tucked away in the soft large bed of Agent Woo's apartment. When he wakes in the morning, the apartment is eerily quiet. There's a vague scent of coffee on the air, which draws him out of the bedroom and out into the common area.

"Hello?" He calls out, groggily, scratching his head as he walks out to the kitchen. There's still warm coffee in the pot, and a single mug in the dish rack. "Hm?" He catches sight of a white sticky note on the coffee pot and picks it up.

Went to the office, let me know when you get home. Door will autolock, take it easy for a few days :)

—Woo Jinchul

Jinwoo looks up from the note and grabs the cleaned mug off the dish rack. It's a cream coloured mug with the words 'Shit Show Supervisor' on it in English. He snorts at the note. If anyone was missing sleep, and should take it easy, it was probably Agent Woo.

With a roll of his eyes he helps himself to coffee and has vague thoughts of if this is what a normal sleepover in a normal life with norma friends would have been. Would he be thinking about how he literally beheaded a huamnoid creature yesterday? Would he be worried about the gates?

No. He shuts down that string of thoughts almost as quick as the pang in his chest hits him. There's no point in dwelling on what could have been. I should just be grateful to have a friend like Agent Woo. Gods know I don't have many…

With a glare at the mug in his hand, he seeks out sugar and creamer before sitting on the couch and reading through his phone notifications. Of course he had a bunch from Jinah and Yoo Jinho. He updates them on what isn't classified information and then finishes his coffee. His shoes are still stained with blood, but it looks like someone did put the effort in to make it a bit cleaner than before.

He debates on just stealing something from Woo Jinchul's closet, but it turns out he only has dress shoes and sneakers that are not in Jinwoo's size. He pulls on the crusty shoes and leaves the warm luxury apartment behind him. It feels like something has been cemented into place, but he's not really sure what it is.

After going home, Jinwoo is works on his daily quests for exercise. He's mostly lost in his own thoughts, barely noticing when he goes over the requirement for the quests.

"That's odd.. It's still recording even after I completed the goal… I wonder…" He muttered to himself while staring at the screen before making a decision. He'd double all his daily goals and see if he could get a better reward than usual!

It took another 2 hours to complete another 100 pushups, squats, situps and 10 more km of running. But then a chiming sound came from the System.

[Congratulations! You Have Completed a Hidden Quest!]

[You Have 1 Hidden Reward to Collect!]

A ball of light appeared in his hand after he selected the option.

"A key…?" Jinwoo examines the key for a minute before opening it's stats.

[Key to the Castle of the Devil]

[Item Rank: S]

[Item Type: Key]

[The user can use this key at Daesung tower in Songpa District to enter the Dungeon: Castle of the Devil]

"S rank? I figured I'd get a better reward, but isn't this a lot even for me?" Jinwoo turned the red ornate key in his hands a few times before looking around him. "Maybe I'll wait a day or two…"

Since it was an S rank key, it made sense that the dungeon it would open would most likely also be…

"Daesung Tower… huh?" Jinwoo placed the key back in his inventory before looking through the other rewards and items there. Amongst them was a familiar blade, that had an ominous energy. Baruka's Dagger. He materialized it in front of him, turning over the small dagger. It was a bright silver blade with a white glow, a curved edge, and a grey handle.

[Item Rank: A]

[Item Type: Dagger]

[Item Abilities: Attack +110, Agility +10]

It was much stronger than Kasaka's Venom Fang. Together they would be pretty good in a fight.

A small surge of energy trilled through his veins. He wanted to go into the new dungeon, but before that… he needed to get some experience in higher ranked dungeons.

Until then, he puts all his weapons and rewards away and glances around again in the abandoned park. It was odd that people had stopped going outside so much since the gates had appeared all those years ago. Jinwoo remembers vaguely going to the park with his parents and a toddler Jinah, but its a distant memory at best.

With a shrug of his shoulders he starts his way home, wondering if he should text Woo Jinchul or not.

"Chief, you should look at this." Says one of the agents that approach Jinchul's desk.

"What is it?"

"Durin this C-rank Dungeon raid, there were 8 casualties. All the survivors were E or D rank hunters."

"They probably just ran away, it happens."

"Except," The man hands Woo Jinchul the file folder, "they cleared the dungeon."

"What?"

"That's not even the strangest part," continues the agent. "while D-rank hunter Yoo Jinho's equipment is all pretty expensive, it's nothing higher than C-rank. But since the boss of this dungeon was a giant spider, it shouldn't have been a threat big enough to kill 8 people."

"Quit beating around the bush, Agent." Woo Jinchul felt a headache coming on. Somehow this felt like a can of worms he was going to regret prying open. "I know you, if it was worth reporting, you wouldn't have come to me, so…"

"Well…" The agent hesitates before gulping down their nervousness. "One of the survivors is the hunter from the Double Dungeon Incident, Sung Jinwoo."

Woo Jinchul's stomach lurches. Shit. "Leave it to me, I'll look into it."

"Yes sir." The agent bows and leaves the folder on Woo Jinchul's desk. "Ah.. and in case you were worried… This is the only copy of that file. I-if you know what I mean."

At the dark look he recieves, the agent scurries off, wiping sweat off his brow as he goes.

"Sung Jinwoo…" Mutters Woo Jinchul, frowning at the list of casualties. His finger stops over Hwang Dongsuk's name, connecting dots in his mind. "Just what did you get tangled up in this time…?"

Chapter Text

"Greetings, Sir."

"I wasn't expecting to return to South Korea so soon, but hmm," The owner of the deep voice inhales dramatically, "even the air here tastes different." Hwang Dongsoo muttered, ignoring the agent that greeted him at the airport. He let the man continue to bow politely as he looked around Incheon International Airport. Finally he takes a few steps foward, sticking out amongst the black suits around him in a bright orange polo shirt and nods at the bowing man cordially. "Well well, look who it is!"

The bowing man finally stands upright, letting out a small sigh.

"Good to see you again.." Hwang Dongsoo pauses, trying to remember the guy's name. He was the top A rank hunter, after all— oh right! "Woo Jinchul. What brings an agent from the Association here?"

"An S-Rank Hunter has just set foot in Korea," Explains the chief of the surveillance team. "Of course a hunter from the surveillance team has been dispatched."

Hwang Dongsoo laughs, towering over Woo Jinchul with his sunglasses gleaming while his face darkens with shadows. "The surveillance team? Aren't you still the Chairman's right-hand man?" He snorts. "If I were you, I'd make sure that old geezer can't do anyting without his subordinates and then take over everything myself."

"And how long does Hwang Dongsoo plan on staying?" Asks Woo Jinchul with the same chilling polite manner as before. As if Hwang wasn't insulting his career, his superiors and the very thing the Association stood for just by coming back to Korea like it was for vacation. As if he hadn't abandoned his country for power and glory, as if he hadn't become a traitor to all of Korea.

"Not for long. Not too fond of this country." He scoffs, starting to pull his suitcase, he throws a remark over his shoulder, "I'll be leaving right after I take care of business." He only makes it a few steps away before Woo Jinchul finds himself unable to keep from asking the question on his mind since he heard of Hwang's imminent arrival;

"You betrayed Korea and moved to the States. Returning to your homeland.. Doesn't that mean you've returned to do something about E-Rank Hunter Sung Jinwoo, and D-Rank Hunter Yoo Jinho?"

Hwang Dongsoo freezes before turning with a murderous joy on his face. He laughs again. "You're a surveillance agent, all right." A vein bulges at his forehead. "If you already know, then why'd you ask?" The air in the airport goes stale and thick. Woo Jinchul swallows, refusing to show it gets to him. "Is someone planning on trying to stop me? Is it," He looks over his sunglasses, eyes dark and almost primal with how they glow with killing intent, "you?"

Woo Jinchul ignores the way other hunters in the vacinity freeze, locking in on the dangerous aura of an S-Rank hunter. "I'm just doing my job, Sir." He says cooly.

"You know…" Hwang Dongsoo's hand lands on Woo Jinchul's shoulder heavily as passerby's complain of the heavy feeling in the air. "We would always take you at the Scavenger's Guild, whatever that old man is paying you… We could easily get you a great deal more."

Woo Jinchul keeps his poker face solid, looking down as if to submit to the S-Rank. The Association had always suspected his older brother, Hwang Dongsuk of killing hundreds of hunters inside dungeons, like a lizard cutting off its own tail. Yet they could never able to invesitgate due to his relation to Hwang Dongsoo. Looking back up at Hwang Dongsoo now, Woo Jinchul can see the resemblance between the two with their bloodthirst.

I guess the two are related afterall, neither have shown guilt for comitting heinous acts of murder. Woo Jinchul thinks. Scumbags…

"Next please." Calls a woman in a blue and black uniform from the desk of the post office. Jinwoo walks up with the small card that signifies he has to come to the desk to pick up a package, and hands over the card.

"I think there's something from the Association for me?" He asks with an awkward but polite smile. It felt a little weird to be running errands after everything recently. He hopes it's his new liscense that's finally come through the mail, it was all strange, considering last time they had announced his rank right then and there at the Association last time. Surely, this time he would be A rank… No, even B rank would be splendid.

"Oh, sure." The brown haired woman walks with the card holding his future into the back room of the small post office. There's an elderly man behind him leaning on his cane, who coughs softly while waiting his turn. It's all so… mundane.

It's nice to experience something so plain and boring for once, after all the excitement he's gone through in previous months. After coming back from the red gate incident, he sat down with Jinah, and talked a bit about what was going on. Not all of it… But he told her he was restesting his rank, and that he wanted to ensure her that she was free to go on applying for the universities she had in mind.

"Here we are. Please sign for it here," the woman says asks she walks back over and clicks around on her screen before pointing to a small electronic signature screen facing Jinwoo.

Aw, man. He hated these things. He could never seem to get his name just right on them…

After an embarassing amount of tries, he gets his mail and leaves, keeping his eyes on the floor with heat in his face. "Stupid electronic signature…" He mutters under his breath as he pushes open the doors and shivers. It was starting to get colder outside, meaning that winter was well on it's way.

He walks downtown for a bit, the mail burning a hole in his pocket until he finally decides to plant himself at a small street stall for rameyon, and open the damned thing. How bad could it be? Anything was better than E rank.

And he knew he wasn't E rank anymore, he could feel it— had the experience to prove it— and yet—

His hands shake as he pulls a the paper envelope, tearing the outside to access his new ID card and rank with all the paperwork required to be an official hunter of the Association. He slides it out of the envelope, oblivious to the news station on the screens of multiple TVs behind him from within the glass protection of the store they were housed in.

[BREAKING NEWS: NEW S RANK HUNTER FROM SOUTH KOREA AWAKENS AFTER RETESTING AT LOCAL CENTRE]

An old photo of Sung Jinwoo, from over a year and half ago now, shows on the screen while the news reporters speak a mile a minute. Many people pause what they're doing and point at the TVs or look up at their phones to talk to one another.

Jinwoo carefully pulls open the letter, slides out the paperwork and can feel the hard plastic of a Hunter's license inside.

Anxiety bursts in his chest like fireworks before he says "fuck it" to himself and pulls it out.

"Holy Shit!" Jinwoo exclaims as he jumps up and knocks over his chair, staring at his license. That… No way, right? That would mean…. He looks around and catches sight of his own photo on the news station playing behind him. He looks at the photo they used, the last one on his old license. He stares at the stranger that used to be him, wide innocent eyes, a confused smile and long messy hair.

His gaze focuses then on his reflection beside the image. Cynical eyes, a sharper jawline from his daily quests, taller, and shorter hair. Were these really the same person?

Jinwoo grabs his things and leaves calling out to the owner of the stall to cancel his order. He had to get home before— Before Jinah—

Riiiiiing

His phone blared loudly as he rushed towards the nearest train station. He holds it up and cringes, ah shit, Jinho was calling him. He probably saw it too. He silences the call, hoping to explain a little more to Jinah before she went and told everyone she knew that she was his sister. It would compromise her safety for one thing— for another it would totally change how people treated her— He didn't want that to happen!

Jinwoo feels like his heart is going to jump out of his chest, ignoring two more calls from Jinho as he waits for the train to drop him a block from the apartment.

Even as he pushes through people on the sidewalk, no one notices him because they're busy staring at their phones or the billboards on the sides of the buildings. Sung Jinwoo's face is plastered all over the city by the time he makes it home and nearly takes the door off the hinges as he bursts into the apartment.

"Jinah!" He calls, a little panicked as he tries to figure out what to say. "Jinah?" He calls a little quieter as he properly shuts the door to their humble little apartment. Her book bag is here, nestled by the shoe rack, meaning she is home— Somewhere. "Oi! Answer when you're called!" He grouses as he turns down the hall and knocks on her door.

From the bathroom, the squeaking of the knobs from the shower echo in the tense quiet of the hallway. Soon enough Jinah comes out, wearing one of Jinwoo's shirts an some baggy shorts.

"Ah? What's got your panties in a twist?" Her teasing smile falls at the look Jinwoo gives her, still panting from his run up the stairs. "Oppa? What happened?"

"Jinah, I need to talk to you. I know this is a little weird right now and stuff—"

"Uh.. sure. Okay, can we not do this crowded in the hallway?" She says rubbing her hair with her towel and frowning. "Whatever 'this' is, anyways…" She mutters under her breath as she pushes past her big brother to walk into the living room.

"Yeah, whatever. Listen— I wanted to tell you earlier but then it took the Association forever to get back to me and then that stuff with the red gate happened, that I did tell you about— But look, I want you to understand that what I'm about to tell you is going to change a few things. I don't want you to get overwhelmed by it or anything so—" Jinwoo rambles as he follows her out to the living room.

Jinah takes a turn for the kitchen, straight to the freezer for the mini tub of strawberry icecream in there with a spoon already procured from the drawer. Jinwoo takes the moment to sigh and smile, same old Jinah. Hopefully this really wouldn't change the way things were at home.

"Yeah yeah, get to the point! You already talked to me before about the red gate thing, honestly. I'm not a little kid anymore so…" She shrugs and digs into the ice cream with a big spoonful. Considering her silenced for a moment with her mouth full of icecream, Jinwoo decides to just bite the bullet.

"I got reasessed for my rank." Jinwoo says, "and it's a lot higher than I thought it would be."

Jinah swallows with confusion before her eyes drift past Jinwoo and widen dramatically. She squawks suddenly and points a spoon at her brother. "YOU'RE S RANK NOW?!"

"Huh?" Jinwoo turns to see what she's looking at and sees the muted TV is running, having interrupted Jinah's usual historical drama, and has his face on the screen.

[BREAKING NEWS: KOREA'S NEWEST S-RANK IS A FORMER E-RANK HUNTER!]

"HOLY SHIT? ARE WE GONNA BE RICH NOW? ARE WE GONNA GET A NEW PLACE?! WAIT DO I HAVE TO CHANGE SCHOOLS? OHMIGOSH— SCHOOL! I GOTTA—" Jinwoo flinches at her screech before nearly having to practically football tackle her before she can grab her phone on the couch.

"No! NO! Wai—WAIT A MINUTE!" Jinwoo and Jinah start to wrestle for the phone, the scene feels awfully familiar. Finally when Jinwoo is able to grapple his squirming sister, he's able to sit down on the floor with her held with her back to his chest. "Listen for just a minute!" He snaps.

Jinah goes limp, leaning her dead weight back on him. "Are things going to change now?" She asks in a smaller, less excited voice.

Jinwoo sighs. "Yeah. I'm not sure how, but I guess attention is gonna be one of those things. I think for now, you should keep it to yourself that you're Sung Jinwoo's little sister. At least until highschool is done for the year, alright? I don't want this to interfere with your university applications or anything. Especially where I imagine they're all going to try just about anything to get my attention. Remember that one guy with the red hair we see on TV all the time? What if we end up like that, stuck on talk shows and shit? I'd rather just… keep things normal. Deal?"

"Just until high school is over, right?"

"Yeah, at least that gives me time to figure all this stuff out."

"Deal."

Jinwoo drops his chin onto her head. She's gotten taller again since the last time he even… When was the last time they even hugged each other like this? He frowns. Is he a bad big brother?

"It's too bad though, I'd love to rub this in their faces at school…" Jinah says with a devious smirk. "And what's with that ugly picture they used of you? Is that the old picture from your liscense? Why are you smiling like that? You look like you're constipated." She laughs and Jinwoo looks up at the old photo and snorts. He does constipated, with a wobbly nervous smile; full of innocence too.

He lets Jinah go after she complains about her melting icecream, but can't help but feel a little bit… Numb, at the loss of physical contact. Pushing those thoughts back, Jinwoo sighs and goes to the couch to see what these news reporters really have to say about him.

Hwang Dongsoo sighed as he wiped his bloody knuckles clean with a cloth. "You really are a piece of work, you know? I'm impressed. For a D-rank hunter, I really wasn't expecting much."

There was a hole in the floor of the building they were in, one that was currently under construction and mostly just concrete and steel beams. Inside the crater in the concrete floor, weakly looking up at Hwang Dongsoo, was Yoo Jinho.

He was beaten badly, one eye swollen shut and his arm was most definitely broken from the weird way it was bent.

"Shit, I'll give credit where it's due, that's for sure." Hwang Dongsoo says, cursing in English. He shakes his head and turns to the two men with him. "Heal him a bit for me, if he can't talk he's no use."

One of the two men give a shaky nod, reluctantly kneeling by the crater in the floor and casting his healing ability on the man. It took more than ten minutes before Yoo Jinho came back to conciousness. He gasped wetly, his ribs literally knitting back together slowly as he spat out the blood in his mouth. His face felt like one big bruise, throbbing withe every breath as he slowly blinked away the blurriness around him.

Vertigo hit him immediately. Okay, not a dream— This was real. A freaking S-Rank Hunter was currently beating the crap out of him and all he could do was lay there and take it.

"Oh, welcome back, sleeping beauty." Sneers Hwang Dongsoo, who shoos away his two cronies. He squats by the hole in the floor where Jinho lay, a perfect outline of his body shape from being thrown violently by the S-ranker in front of him. "Now then… We were just starting to talk about your buddy, Sung Jinwoo. Why don't we get back to that? Hm?"

Yoo Jinho's pupils shrank in fear as he stuttered. "Y-you c-can't—"

"What, you think someone will stop me?" Hwang Dongsoo looked over his sunglasses, eyes burning with mana. "And just who do you think that might be?"

Yoo Jinho coughed weakly. Fuck, was he really going to die like this? There was a limit to how much a healer could do when he was repeatedly being beat like this. A single tear fell from his eye, panic swallowing him whole. Still— Still—

He refuses to betray Sung Jinwoo!

"Tell me, where does this guy live? Or what about his family? Friends? Or are you the only one? You guys just go and murder my bro for fun, huh? You think this is somekind of game?" Hwang Dongsoo demanded, reaching into the hole and dragging Yoo Jinho's limp body out of the crater. He sits him down on the single folding chair they brought with them. "Or maybe we should try calling him again? Maybe you should rethink who you're willing to die for, kid. Some friend this Jinwoo jerk is… Doesn't even answer your calls…"

Yoo Jinho winces as his very much broken (thank you Hwang Dongsoo) phone is dangled in front of him. The screensaver is a selfie he took at one of their dungeon raids, a nonplussed Jinwoo making a peace sign under his arm while Jinho grins from under the shattered screen.

"Self…. D-defense… It…" He coughs again, flinching in pain at the abrupt movement. "It was… Self defense…"

"Ha! Sure, you guys enter a dungeon and you're gonna tell me that an E-rank and D-rank hunter are the only survivors while my higher ranked big bro got killed? Bullshit!"

Yoo Jinho was at a loss, and another tear fell as his eyes watered. It was the truth! If not for Jinwoo, he would have died back then to those assholes! They'd lured them into the dungeon and then tried to kill them off to steal their stuff! And from the smirk on Hwang Dongsoo's face… He knew it too.

God… Was he really going to die here?

"Oh? Well would you look at that…" At some point his eyes had watered so much he couldn't see clearly. He blinks away the wetness dripping down his cheeks to see what has Hwang Dongsoo cheerfully waving his destroyed phone around. "Looks like Mr. Bigshot finally called you back!"

Yoo Jinho tried to lean forward and snatch the phone, but his limbs wouldn't cooperate. He couldn't… He couldn't let Jinwoo meet Hwang Dongsoo..! If they did the very city might fall apart!

"Well, we shouldn't keep him waiting, right? Answer it." He says, picking up the line and putting it on speaker.

|Hey man, I'm sorry I missed your calls earlier. I know I should have told you about the whole rank thing earlier but I wasn't su—

"Hyung-nim…" Jinho coughs, wincing again.

|Are you alright? You're breaking up a little, I think..

"Hyung-nim… Don't come…" He repeats, feeling his consciousness start to fall back into the sweet darkness again. But it was too soon… He had… He had to make sure Jinwoo didn't..!

|Huh? Come where? Where are you?

"Don't… Please… Hyung-nim…" Hwang Dongsoo sighed heavily and stood up walking away from the young man. "Don't! Don't come!" Jinho shouts with the last of his strength.

"Shut him up already!" Snaps Hwang Dongsoo.

|Hello? Yoo Jinho?! Hey, this isn't funny! Oi!

"You heard the kid, you should come out and play." Hwang Dongsoo sneers into the speaker. "Honestly not sure how much longer he's gonna… Oh. There he goes. How many times has he fainted now?" Hwang Dongsoo asks with a scoff to his companions. They shrug like they don't want to be there, sitting the limp body of Yoo Jinho back up on the folding chair the best they can. His body moves like a rag doll, head lolling backwards.

|Who the fuck are you?

"We can skip the pleasantries. Get your ass to the construction site down by the White Tiger Guild." Hwang Dongsoo throws a look over his shoulder. "You should probably hurry, I'm not sure my buddy here can heal him much more."

|You—

Hwang Dongsoo clenches his fist around the phone, snapping it and losing connection instantly. "If that doesn't get his attention, then he's a real shitty friend afterall."

Jinwoo barely manages to explain to Jinah what happened over the phone before he dashes out of the apartment. Using his dash ability he's able to move faster than using the trains. When the White Tiger Guild is in sight, he sends forward his shadows who confirm Yoo Jinho is in the building down the street from the Guild.

A fury he didn't know he felt— A protective anger that Jinwoo didn't expect to have for the younger man, floods his veins and he nearly sees red.

"You think he'll show up?" Asks one of the men with the leader who is built like a truck. He wears an ugly orange polo shirt, gold chains and sunglasses.

The leader laughs, the voice from the phonecall echoes in the empty building. "If he doesn't care about this guy we'll just finish him off and have to try another method. I'm only in Korea until morning."

Jinwoo takes a few steps in the shadows, using his stealth skill to size up this man. He can feel the energy from here, this guy is no ordinary hunter for sure…

Suddenly the man twitches and his eyes fall right where Jinwoo is standing. There is no other indication he's been detected— There doesn't have to be. The moment the man grins and is grabbing him to throw his body into the wall, Jinwoo is already dodging and deflecting the blow.

A huge crack appears in the concrete wall as they jump apart, the building rumbling ominously.

"Well it's about time!" Hwang Dongsoo says, tilting his head with a taunt. "I thought you'd never show."

"Hand over Yoo Jinho, and I won't kill you and your friends right here." Jinwoo spits, pulling his Knight Killer dagger from his inventory and walking slowly to Jinho's slumped body.

Hwang Dongsoo laughs heartily before shaking his head. "You think you can kill me? An S-rank? Ha!" He gives into the chase, blasting through a pillar with his monstrous strength when he tries to grab Jinwoo again. "You might be fast, but once I catch you—"

"You won't." Jinwoo mutters, already behind Hwang Dongsoo. He moves to slice at his neck, but Hwang Dongsoo isn't S-rank for no reason, and he dodges the blow as well. Their eyes both glow with mana and killing intent as they fight so quickly that neither of his two followers can keep up.

"You, motherfucker! Admit you killed my brother! That you're a false ranker!" Hwang Dongsoo shouts as they clash together again. He's picked up a steel rod from the floor and uses it to deflect the Knight Killer blade.

"Me?" Jinwoo stops and tries to think about the men he's killed. A brother? Hm… Oh. That guy. "You mean that asshole Hwang Dongsuk? He tried to get us all killed, so I defended myself. Last I checked, that's not murder." He answers calmly.

Hwang Dongsoo attacks once more, oblivious to the shadows that knock out the two men with him. Yoo Jinho dangles in Igris' arms. The knight turns to his king, tilting his head. The building shudders again as the two S-ranks deflect blows, not quite trying to kill one another, but feeling each other out. Hwang Dongsoo is strong, terrifyingly so. But Jinwoo is stronger— even without his summons.

Sirens are starting to approach from the near off distance.

"Get him to the hospital, see that he's taken care of and stand watch until I get there." Jinwoo instructs Igris, who disappears with a small bow.

"You— Get back here!"

Jinwoo makes the mistake of showing his back to Hwang Dongsoo, and the man swings a comically large steel beam at him like a baseball bat. It narrowly misses him, but hits part of the load bearing pillars supporting the ceiling of this concrete mess.

"Shit.." Jinwoo feels that he's cut his cheek from a bit of debris and jumps away from both Hwang Dongsoo and the middle of the building. "This place is going to collapse!" He snaps at Hwang Dongsoo, like the man was a fool.

But Hwang Dongsoo was simply blind with rage— and swings the beam again. Frustrated Jinwoo returns to the fray, trying to keep Hwang from damaging anymore property. His Knight Killer and Baruka's Dagger cleave through the steel, slicing it like butter.

It falls to the ground with a thud, and Hwang Dongsoo throws it aside with a snarl. "That's it, no weapons. Just us two."

"Whatever you want, big guy." Jinwoo lets the daggers fade into thin air, back into his inventory. "Just know you asked for this."

"Shut up and fight me!"

The two S-ranks charge. Sirens get closer and closer while the surveillance team arrives and even the White Tiger Guild leader, Baek Yoonho, rushes out of the guild at the alarmingly huge prescence of two S-ranks duking it out down the street.

The building shudders again. Jinwoo stops holding back, recalling Jinho's desperate plead to not come. To not save him. If only he'd just answered the phone!

His frustration manifests in beating the literal shit out of Hwang Dongsoo. He sees red and it's only when the building is collapsing in on itself, that he has the frame of mind to pull them both— Hwang Dongsoo now unconscious— out of there before they were buried. In fact, he's so pissed that he might just kill this guy in front of the police and the surveillance team, as he throws the body of Hwang Dongsoo out of the rubble. He pulls Knight Killer out of his inventory again, eyes blazing with white energy and his killing intent leaking out of his aura like a faucet.

"Stop! Hunter Sung!" Baek Yoonho gets between them just as Hwang starts to come around, slolwy sitting up with a broken face. "That's enough!"

"You don't know what he did." Jinwoo growls, pointing to the other S-rank who was starting to stand up with his blade.

"You don't need to end this here. You can just turn around, and walk away. Don't make more problems for yourself." Baek Yoonho tries to reason, holding a hand on his chest to stop him from pushing through. Jinwoo could easily use a skill to reach Hwang Dongsoo, who was tottering back onto his feet with killing intent, but he wasn't thinking clearly.

My fault. It's all my fault. Once again… it's all my fault.

"Let him try!" Shouts Hwang Dongsoo, who spits out a tooth and looks ready to get back at it. Jinwoo would gladly entertain it but Baek Yoonho manages to disarm him, locking his arms behind his back. Jinwoo thrashes against him, but the Guild Master holds steady, growling with an animlistic tone.

"Don't!" He snarls to Jinwoo, his orange hair starting to fade white.

"I'll kill him!" Jinwoo shouts.

"Better yet, hold him still for me!" Hwang Dongsoo says at the same time, launching a punch that would knock both of the wrestling S-ranks off their feet. Except, instead of connecting, the punch lands against something solid, the wind snapping up the dirt and debris around them in recoil.

Standing between Baek Yoonho, Sung Jinwoo and Hwang Dongsoo, was a man in a black suit. His sleeve was once again ripped to shreds.

Woo Jinchul was standing there, panting and holding his hand up to catch Hwang's punch. "Look like I made it just in time."