16 Chapter 16 : Hope And Despair

After the short meeting with the Director, the regulars finally reached the main location for the test. As per the instructions, Bam and Rachel got inside the shinsu bubble and were moved inside the wine glass through a separate route. Ho, despite his injury, had to take part in the test as well and decided to move with the rest of the regulars. Everyone regrouped into different teams and split away, each team with their own role.

The spearbearers along with Hatz and Ho were sent to monitor the movements of the barnacle goblins. Their role was to get rid of the worms when the time comes, thereby removing the chances of them interfering with the activity of the net dolphins.

Lauroe, was teamed up with Sunwoo Narae (One of the scouts) and Cheonhwa (One of the fishermen). Their role was to locate and reroute the striped ground pigs into attacking the goblins.

Khun and the remaining lightbearer had their usual job - Relaying information from and to the different teams involved. Khun himself acted as the brain of the entire operation.

Finally the team of Jinwoo, Shibisu, Anak and Endorsi were instructed to keep a close watch on the net dolphins, and to protect them in case the bull appears.

**********

"Shibisu, any movements on your end?" Khun asked through his pocket.

"Nope. So far everything's going smoothly. The dolphins do seem a bit slow, but that's to be expected." Shibisu relayed back.

"What about Jinwoo and those two princesses? Are they still with you?"

"I am still here." Jinwoo responded from the side. "But the same can't be said for the two princesses."

"...They ran away to look for the bull themselves, didn't they?" Khun let out a sigh. "I don't know what I was expecting..."

"Atleast they are acting a bit more like siblings now..." Jinwoo had a faint smile, thinking about his sister Jinah and all the stuff they used to get into when they were kids. 'I wonder how she is doing right now...'

"Khun, wouldn't it have been a better idea if Jinwoo were to move with one of the other teams?" Shibisu asked him. "For all we know, the bull might not even make an appearance. So wouldn't concentrating all of our heavy hitters at this single location be a little wasteful of utilising their potential?"

"Yeah, I am aware." Khun replied after a short pause. "Maybe I am being a little paranoid, but I get the feeling that the bull will most definitely make an appearance."

"... And so you decided to put me here as well? Me? The weakest member of our team?" Shibisu lamented.

"Don't worry. I'll take of the funeral, if it does happen." Khun replied in a flat voice.

"..."

Jinwoo merely stood at a distance, looking at the ongoing interaction between the two with amusement. A fact he noticed was how much he had bonded with most members of the team, despite being around them for only a little over a month.

'They are a lively bunch, that's for sure...'

Taking his attention off the conversation, Jinwoo opened the system interface to look at more details regarding the newest quest he received earlier.

[Main Quest : The Submerged Fish Hunt

Although avoidable, you have decided to take part in the exceedingly difficult test that was issued by the administrator of the floor. Pass the test inorder to continue climbing up the tower.

Rewards: C-Rank Equipment Box, Nightshroud Robe]

'Kinda weird that the system knows almost everything that's going on here.' He thought to himself. 'Come to think of it, if it's a system... Does that mean it has some sort of operator?'

*BEEP* *BEEP*

"Huh?" Shibisu looked at his pocket that seemed to have gotten some message.

"What's the matter?" Jinwoo asked him, quickly equipping both of his daggers.

"One of my observers stopped working. Strange, it was on invisible mode. It shouldn't have been possible to detect it..."

*BEEP* *BEEP*

"What the... My second observer as well?! What's going on?"

"Shibisu, try to contact Khun. Something feels off... " A sense of urgency was clear in his voice.

"... I- I can't! The call function of the pocket is not working!"

"A communication jammer? But that would mea- SHIBISU! WATCH OUT!!"

*CRASH*

Jinwoo tackled Shibisu away, just in time as something big suddenly shot past them, crashing on to the rock pillar they were hiding behind.

"You okay?" Jinwoo asked him, keeping his focus on the creature that attacked them.

"... Yeah. Thanks for the save." Shibisu replied, getting up. "Is that..."

"Yeah. Looks like Khun was right after all."

What appeared before them was a tall, humanoid creature with black leathery scales, a long tail and the head of a fish. And right now, it had already set its eyes on the two potential meal infront of it.

"Shibisu, listen carefully to what I have to say. I'll keep it busy, while you try and search for the two princesses. We might need more firepower to takedown the reverse mermaid." Jinwoo told him his plan.

"Okay. Don't die, man." Wishing him good luck, Shibisu ran off to search for Anak and Endorsi.

As if by instinct, the bull's focus fell upon the escaping prey. Without any warning, it once more shot towards Shibisu.

'Oh no you won't.'

[Skill Activated: Sprint]

But no sooner than it had taken a few steps, when a foot crashed onto the side of its face, sending it flying.

"Sorry, but you are not going anywhere."

The bull recovered rather quickly from that kick. Shaking its head to clear the slight disorientation, it snarled menacingly at Jinwoo before charging towards him once more. Oddly enough unlike his usual strategy of outmaneuvering his opponent, this time Jinwoo unequipped his daggers and rushed towards it, facing the charge head on. The bull saw this as an opportunity and opened its mouth wide, aiming to bite off his head in one swoop.

On getting closer, he dropped to the ground and slid underneath the bull. It didn't realise what happened when it somehow tripped and fell face first onto the ground. But when it took a glance backward, it saw Jinwoo standing behind it with a smirk, while having grabbed its tail.

"Let's test the limits of my current strength, shall we?" The bull could only watch helplessly as it was pulled by its tail, and slammed onto the ground with enough power to make a small crater. But Jinwoo wasn't done with it, as he repeatedly slammed it a few more times, before taking it for a spin and yeeting it upwards.

'Something feels off...' He leapt high into the air and delivered a roundhouse kick to its neck, causing it to crash into the ground once more. 'My experience with hunting monsters is telling me that this thing should be dangerous, even at my current level... But then why is it so weak?'

While he was occupied with fighting the bull, some people had already arrived at the scene and were watching the battle with interest.

"Is this what you meant by 'Get Backup', baldy? He seems perfectly fine to me..." Endorsi asked Shibisu.

"Look, I just did what he told me to." Shibisu defended himself. "That being said, it does look like he has got this in the bag."

"..."

The trio then stood there in silence, watching the fight, or rather the one sided beatdown, that was happening in front of them. Although it wasn't unexpected as each one of them knew firsthand how strong he was, it was still a mystery to them on how a seemingly ordinary regular got this strong within such a short span of time.

"Hmm..." Endorsi took a glance at Anak.

"What?" She glared black.

"Nothing. Just wondering how he has a bad affinity with lizards in general. You of all people should know that, right?" She taunted her with a smirk.

"Shut up, old hag. Remove some of that makeup and he'll get a bad affinity with you as well." She shot back.

'Ah sh*t, here we go again.' Shibisu inwardly sighed. 'I am not getting paid to deal with this...' He walked away leaving the two princesses to bicker among themselves.

Meanwhile, Jinwoo was pretty much done with the fight. The bull was now lying on the ground, writhing in pain.

'Maybe I was overthinking?' His mind was still troubled by the fact that the battle seemed too easy.

"Looks like you didn't need their help after all." Shibisu approached him. "But why do you look troubled? Cheer up a bit, man."

"I was just... Not expecting it to go this smoothly, that's all." Jinwoo answered him. "Not that I'm complaining, but it just seemed a bit strange."

"Well, now that the bull has been taken care of, should we try and regroup with the other teams?" Shibisu asked him. "Staying here won't do us any further benefit."

"I was thinking the same thing." Jinwoo nodded. "But first off, are you able to contact Khun now?"

"Sadly, no." He shook his head. "There appears to be something interfering with the signals. If it's limited to this location, we can simply move out of its range. But if the entire test arena is affected, it won't be pretty."

'But what could be causing it?' Both of them had the same doubt in their minds.

"Hmm?" That's when Jinwoo noticed some movement from the corner of his eyes. "Wait. Don't tell me..."

The bull, which was lying on the ground seemingly defeated, was now back on its two feet and running away deeper into the caverns.

'I knew something was fishy.' Jinwoo cursed himself for being careless. 'Damnit. I should have finished it off when I had the chance.'

And right on cue, the two princesses who were still quarrelling with each other suddenly stopped, their gaze falling on the figure of the escaping bull.

"Hey lizard, want to make a bet?" Endorsi asked her.

"What is it?"

"If I manage to find and kill it, you'll give me the Green April and the Black March."

"... And if I were to win?"

"... I'll become your slave for the rest of my life."

"Deal." With a huge smirk plastered on her face, Anak immediately ran after it.

"Hey! I wasn't done yet!!" Endorsi shouted at her.

"You can explain it after you've become my slave, you old hag!" Anak however, didn't stop her pursuit.

"Stop right there!" With no other options left, Endorsi too ran after it leaving behind Jinwoo and Shibisu.

"I swear to god, those two are going to be the end of me." Shibisu sighed. "What's the point of being in one team, if you aren't going to act as one?"

"Shibisu, I think we should follow them." Jinwoo spoke with a serious tone.

"Why? Didn't you yourself say that it was too easy to defeat?" He questioned him.

"That's the thing." Jinwoo clarified. "You saw it right? How the fight between us went? And if despite all the damage I dished out, if it was still able to stand straight and outrun us... What would it mean?"

"You mean to say... It didn't take as much damage as we assumed it did? It was acting like it was weak?" Shibisu was confused. 'But that would mean...'

"Its a trap." They both said simultaneously.

"Let's move." Shibisu was serious. "I'll keep trying to reach out to Khun."

Jinwoo nodded as they both entered the caverns that led deeper underground, unaware of what was lying there, waiting for them.

**********

"Seriously, how far have they gotten within this short period?" Shibisu was out of breath after running for so long. "Are we even going the right way?"

"No clue." Jinwoo was comparatively, in a far better shape. "The routes are branching out too much."

"If only my observer was still working..." Shibisu cursed his luck.

"Well, nothing that can be done about it now..." Jinwoo shrugged. "Wait. I think there's something ahead of us. I saw something move."

"You can see in this darkness?" Shibisu was quite surprised. "Damn, you really are built different."

'Must be due to my heightened senses.' Jinwoo hypothesised.

Moving forward they reached a relatively wider region in the cavern, compared to the more cramped routes they have been in till now. Oddly enough, something seemed different about it. Almost as if it was man-made, rather than being natural.

'This...' Jinwoo unknowingly shuddered a bit. 'It's bringing back some bad memories...' There was some degree of resemblance between this region and the throne room in that dreaded double dungeon, the place where it all began.

"Strange. There's nothing here." Shibisu commented. "I don't see any of them. Not even the bull."

"That's because they are not here." He flinched when a completely different voice announced its presence. And as if to accentuate the new appearance, a torch lit up on one of the surrounding walls. It was followed by another, then another, and it continued till the entire room was illuminated.

And standing infront of them, at the centre of the room, was a person they were least expecting to see.

"Hey. Is that..." Shibisu whispered to him.

"Yeah." Jinwoo replied. "That's our position instructor."

"Nice to see you again, Mr. Sung Jinwoo." The man donning the plague doctor mask greeted him. "I must admit it, you are simply my best student from this batch. Even better than the two princesses. Or rather, the princess and the fake." His voice echoed throughout the area.

"Its a shame, really." He slowly pulled off his mask, revealing the face that was hidden beneath it. "If only you weren't an irregular, I wouldn't have had to eliminate you."

Shibisu's eyes widened on hearing this. 'So my hunch was right! He was an irregular.' But his attention then fell on the man standing in front of him.

The face that the two saw was one that could give children nightmares for years. The man was bald with a diagonal scar travelling across his face from one end to the other. Beneath the scar was the portion of his face which served as the only proof that the man standing infront of them was a human. Above the scar, there were simply no features that were visible. It was simply a lump of flesh with no eyes or anything of the sort.

"Hideous isn't it?" He calmly said. "Its the price I paid. For once daring to face the man who stands above us all. But now, I serve him. Ironic indeed, but reality is often harsh."

'He sure is talkative.' Jinwoo gulped as he equipped his two daggers.

"And regarding your two companions, don't worry. One of my allies should be entertaining them by this time."

[ALERT!]

[An intense amount of bloodlust is directed towards you]

[Activating Emergency Quest]

[Emergency Quest: Survive the confrontation

As you are right now, you are nowhere near powerful enough to defeat a ranker. Survive, no matter what.

Penalty: Death]

'... Even the system is telling me this is a hopeless situation?!' He gnarled his teeth in frustration.

"Who are you? Someone like you shouldn't be the actual instructor for the test floor. Did you kill the real one before taking his place" Shibisu asked him, trying to gain as much time as possible.

"You're quite smart, young Shibisu. Just like that redhead said." He praised him. "As for my real identity, I am the Royal Enforcement Division Unit #69, Graham Lasher."

'A member of King Zahard's army?!' Shibisu was taken aback. 'This day keeps getting worse.'

"You know what? There's no need for the both of you to die today. I am only interested in the irregular. So..." He tossed him what appeared to be a long black metal rod.

"Kill him." Lasher ordered Shibisu. "If you kill him with your own two hands, I'll let you walk away alive."

Shibisu stood there in silence for a few seconds. He looked at the metal rod that was lying infront of him, then at his own two hands. But he couldn't bring himself to pick it up.

"What are you doing?" Lasher asked him. "My patience is limited. You can either kill him right now, or die alongside him. Do you not wish to go up the tower?"

Shibisu didn't reply. After a few more seconds of contemplating, he slowly picked it up with shaky hands. Then he turned to face Jinwoo.

"Jinwoo... I-" He stammered.

"No need." Jinwoo said calmly, but with a  crestfallen look on his face. "Go ahead. I am used  to getting betrayed anyway..."

Shibisu was not used to this sight of Jinwoo. He felt conflicted at the sight - The man whom he thought was invincible was now standing infront of him, looking as if he has lost everything this day. Only a few minutes ago, they were talking with each other freely as if they had known each other for a long time. But now? They felt like complete strangers.

'Wait. What was I even thinking about?'

"I am sorry..." He muttered softly.

Jinwoo sighed and closed his eyes. 'Why was I even surprised? Its how this always ends...'

*CLANG*

But surprisingly enough, the sound he heard was that of a metal rod falling on the ground.

"I am sorry..." Shibisu muttered. "... For even thinking about doing that." He looked straight at the ranker. "I am not going to betray my friend for something as trivial as my life."

"Shibisu..." This was a new experience for Jinwoo. 'I guess I am the one who should apologise, for doubting that someone like you would do it.'

The ranker merely stared at him before looking at the rod that he tossed away.

"... Very well." He outstretched his palm, as the steel rod began floating in the air.

"Your choice."

With an unbelievable speed, the metal rod flew towards his target - The fool who refused his offer. Jinwoo noticing the attack, rushed and barely managed to deflect it with his dagger.

But as if it had a life of its own, the metal rod began moving once more.

Only this time... No one could intercept it.

*STAB*

"... Huh?" Shibisu could only watch helplessly as he was impaled through his gut. After a few moments of silence, the metal rod seemingly vanished into thin air, as a new one appeared in the ranker's palm.

"One down. One to go." He said coldly, just as Shibisu dropped to the ground, unmoving.

"SHIBISUUU!!!!"

_________________________________________________

Name: Sung Jinwoo

Level: 10

Class: None

Title: One Versus All

HP: 4600

MP: 431

<Stats>

Strength: 60

Vitality: 45

Agility: 50

Intelligence: 30

Sense: 42

Available Stat points : 0

<Active Skills>

-Sprint (Lvl 1)

-Shinsu Boost (Lvl 1)

-Bloodlust

-Vital Strike (Lvl 1)

-Dagger Throw (Lvl 1)

<Passive Skills>

-Tenacity

-Dagger Arts (Lvl 1)

_________________________________________________