Chapter 33: It is time

I walked slowly, I wasn't worried of Jin-woo dying. He was the protagonist after all.

My steps echoed throughout the dark tunnel decorated with jagged sharp rock.

I stopped for a second before thinking about it all, I was a little bit anxious with

I sigh and picked up my speed, I now that Jin-woo will survive but I don't know about the others.

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Narrator's POV | Current Time; 1:43 pm | Place; hobgoblin dungeon

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Jin-Woo lifted his dagger to his left and blocked another dagger, one from Kang Tae-Shik. Kang Tae-Shik flicked his dagger from the lock and backed away. "You have good instincts. I'll praise you for that." He spoke while taking out his second dagger. "Why did you do this?" Jin-Woo asked. "Oh?" Kang Tae-Shik showed a knowing expression and pointed at the corpses. "This? Well, I was just doing the world a favour by killing scum, though it seems that it has to change since there were far too many witnesses."

Jin-Woo slashed his dagger forward with clear intent to kill, "Aiming for the head without hesitation, huh? You've killed already…." Kang Tae Shik pointed out. Song Chi-Yul and Ju-Hee showed surprised expressions at his words. "I guess we're from the same species after all!" Kang Tae-Shik commented while charging at Jin-Woo.

Jin-Woo did the same and dashed forward and exchanged strikes with Kang Tae-Shik. It was an all-out slash and hack to kill if you wanted to live, a fight that excited Kang Tae-Shik. "I really have to use it…" Jin-Woo curtly spoke as he stabbed at Kang Tae-Shik with sudden speed and precision and caught him off guard and managed to scratch his face.

"Wha-!" Kang Tae-Shik's body felt paralyzed for a brief moment before it wore off. "Poison?" he asked himself as blood travelled to his eye and stained it red. "Too bad, too bad…" Kang Tae-Shik spoke. He activated his stealth once again and disappeared from the sight of three and then slashed at Jin-Woo's ankle, severing his tendons.

Jin-Woo grunted in pain as he lifted his head to look at Kang Tae-Shik smiling. "Status recovery." Jin-Woo muttered. Golden speckles of light surrounded him and healed all injuries sustained. "Sprint." Jin-Woo's image flickered as he appeared right next to Kang Tae-Shik with his dagger aimed at the heart. Kang Tae-Shik dodged and returned the strike. 'Is he a skill user like me?'

They exchanged strikes faster and faster, their hands soon turning into merely blurs as sparks flew everywhere at the friction created by the clashing of blades. They dashed all along the tunnel using everything in their arsenal of attacks to kill their opponent, violet-blue blurs travelled across the cave tunnel as it gained deep scars each passing second. Song Chi Yul could only cover Ju-Hee from the threatening strikes that Jin-woo might not be able to block.

Jin-Woo finally had enough wearing down Kang Tae-Shik's stamina and used the skill he had recently received. "Bloodlust." Shadows engulfed Kang Tae-Shik's vision as he felt something deep down while staring all around him, the unknown abyss. He felt that he was stuck in muddy water, unable to move.

His senses were screaming at him to dodge but he couldn't see anything but shadows until two bright blue eyes that had a tint of violet pierced through the darkness and instilled something into him.

Fear. An emotion any sentient being could feel, a feeling that would grip at one's heart, a terror that would scar the soul forever.

*Pukch* (A/n: Stabbing flesh and blood spurting SFX.)

A dagger stabbed him in the heart, the very same dagger his opponent had used to fight him. The shadows faded as he looked at Sung Jin-Woo, fear had passed his eyes and was replaced with… nothing? His eyes were empty. "What even are you?" Kang Tae-Shik asked.

"Let's say that I'm a hunter that grows the more I fight." Jin-Woo answered. "How far do you think I'll grow." Kang Tae-Shik snickered. "You'll grow as far as your shadow goes, but you'll be lonely if that's the case. The light… you need to chase. But do not be hasty… the stronger the light, the deeper the shadow…. Kugh!" Kang Tae-Shik coughed up blood. "So, answer me, does the light chase the shadow, or the shadow chase the light?" Jin-Woo was confused by the cryptic answer and stood still thinking through the puzzle before taking the dagger from the corpse and found a rune stone.

<< Crush rune stone to obtain skill. >> The system prompted. Jin-Woo crushed the stone as he gained a new skill in his panel.

"Heyo!" Ye Jin shouted with a jolly voice before it died down as she stared at the scene with sharp eyes, Song Chi-Yul and Ju-hee looked back to see Ye Jin and sighed with relief. "So, what happened?" Ye Jin approached the trio and asked. Although she might be correct with knowing the future minor changes might have happened and she needed to adjust to them.

Song Chi-Yul explained what had happened and Ye Jin had told Jin-Woo, Song Chi-Yul and Ju-hee to leave first and let her finish the raid. Ju-hee tried to reason it was dangerous, but Song Chi-Yul guessed why Ye Jin was so confident at ending the boss. As the 3 left, Ye Jin kicked one of the rehabilitators and picked the guy by the hair, "I know you aren't dead. I could sense your life energy still swirling around you, indicating that you're still alive *****." Ye Jin dragged the guy towards the boss room as the guy tried to speak but couldn't do anything with his vocal cords shredded by Kang Tae-Shik. "Mmmph! Mmph! Rghhhh!"

She threw the rehabilitator at the goblins and watched as he was sliced, beaten, stabbed, chomped…. Heck. Even ****ed. Ye Jin had to erase that part from her memory with ultimate magic as she burns the room down to the literal ground until nothing, not even ash was left. "You're trash beyond the kang siblings…" Ye Jin caught up with the rest and left the dungeon as the gate collapsed and was met with the Hunter's Association staff members and more specifically Woo Jin-Chul.

Song Chi-Yul had claimed that he was the one to kill kang Tae-Shik and covered up for Jin-Woo while Ye Jin was sweating bullets and stood silently and only answered her part with small little bits of false information to not rouse unnecessary suspicion that she might be lying. She also had to lie about how Kang Seo-Jun had died.

Just as Ye Jin was about to leave with the rest… "Wait, I still have business with you Ms. Sung Ye Jin." She got confronted by the chief of inspection department Woo Jin-Chul to discuss what happened during the really, really delayed reawakening inspection. Jin-Woo receives some sparks of jealousy while this happens but doesn't notice it and heads home, while Ye Jin heads to the Main association building where she gets "re-tested" for reawakening. They passed each other walking in the opposite direction.

On the way to the building where multiple people were also there for testing had gawked at her for several reasons. Ye Jin secretly liked their reaction and entered the building and waited for her turn for testing. After it was her turn, she entered the room and put her hand on the mana crystal.

She smirked and then let out a small portion of her mana, and that small portion, corroded the crystal and made a fuss in the Association building. Ye Jin left the room as people parted like the red sea when mosses had struck it as they felt the aura radiating around her.

Choi Jong-In, who happened to be nearby sensed the abnormal amount of mana and choked on the cigarette he was smoking for a second. "What the…. Is it…? It felt just the same as 5 years ago." He hurriedly ran and met with Ye Jin at the door and was both scared and aroused by what he had seen. The powerful surge of warm/hot mana from Ye Jin left him stunned on spot.

Ye Jin then proceeds to walk out with graceful steps that alike of an angel out of the building while adding some additional lights around her to appear more mystical. She of course, used a fancy spell to teleport away. "Rain of feathers." She muttered and ended up back at home away from the public eye. There she met a slightly depressed looking Sung Jin-Woo. Perhaps because she revealed the brutal truth that she dealt with Kang Seo-Jun with one spell, which Jin-Woo considered on par with Kang Tae-Shik. The dinner that night was spent silently with Jin-Ah trying to lighten up the mood by bringing up funny subjects. Which had been successful endeavour.

Ye Jin spoke to her younger siblings that she'd go out for the night for some unknown reason. Ye Jin wore specific clothes for the cold night and went out the apartment. Sung Jin-Woo, who also had some strange things going on his mind had also gone out to clear his mind. Perhaps some dungeons. As they had gone out, Jin-Ah was left home alone….

Ye Jin's location was unknown, but Jin-Woo was jogging along the river towards somewhere he considered… special. Jin-woo slowed his pace down as he had arrived at his destination. It was an abandoned building beside the road parallel to the river. A place that THEY went to ever since his mother fell into eternal slumber, literally.

He went inside and climbed the stairs, his silent steps halted as he reached the top floor. He was met with the familiar silhouette of Ye Jin leaning on the rails. The moon gently shivered light upon her as she began signing a specific song. And the song, lit up the small candle flame into a smouldering inferno. It was a song he was familiar with, a song that his sister personally made for him when he was down and demotivated because she was too far and out of his reach, a song that she sang for him. This sparked the flames of commitment, conviction, and perseverance in his soul.

As the song faded, he rushed out, he ran with all his might towards his sense of must-be-in-presence. His destination? The dungeons. "You might be overpowered, but I'll soon become one too."

...…

As Ye Jin continued to stare at the river that reflected the lights of heaven, a shadow flickered behind her for a brief moment before light flashed and revealed a person fully armoured in white armour with gold accents, wafting off a golden aura that lit the surroundings. "You sang as beautifully as ever, my liege." The brilliant being commented with reverence clearly laced within its voice.

"Stop with the flattery." Ye Jin turned around to look at the brilliant being. "Haven't I told you, Charys?" She spoke curtly. As the brilliant being was about to speak again, Ye Jin dismissed the answer. "Forget it. (She'll do it regardless anyways…) By the way, Charys, what time is it?"

Charys flicked her left hand up and opened her palm and presented a projected clock with solidified mana and spoke as the short and long hand was about to strike 10. "Exactly 10 o'clock, my liege. *Dong*" A ringing sound emanated as the clock stuck 10. "It seems that it is time to finally do it. Time and space fluctuations has stabilised in this specific time range as predicted by my liege."

Ye Jin sighed with a tired expression and texted Jin-Ah that she changed plans and 'll be out for tonight. "It seems it is." She spoke and gazed at the stars while placing her left hand in her pocket. Ye Jin put her phone in the inventory and then took of her right earing. It resembled the long hand of a clock, she put mana into the earing and the once supposed earing, was now a long sword.

Ye Jin stabbed the sword into the ground and then slashed upwards, creating a rift in space, a portal you could also say. Ye Jin willed the sword's scabbard and sheathed it exposing the sword a bit and then threw it to Charys.

"Charys, hold the sword for me, will you? Also, close the portal once you enter after me." Ye Jin spoke as she approached the portal. "I hope Jin-Woo gets his flame of want for strength back." The rest of the Star Crested Warriors which numbered to about a total manpower of 1,250 strong appeared in the building and the nearby vicinity. "Let's go." Ye Jin ordered with an authority filled voice.

Ye Jin entered the portal and disappeared from the world. Charys, and then the other Star Crested Warriors soon followed into the portal. Once all had arrived in the unknown location, Charys fully sheathed the sword and the portal collapsed in itself, closing it. "Well, time for a little adventure." Ye Jin spoke.