CH 6: Sung Jinwoo and Hwang Dongsoo Meet Again (P1)

The bell rang and economics class ended. The students pushed out of their seats, grabbed their wallets, brought their phones, and walked out of the classroom with their friends. Except for Jinwoo. He drawled out of the classroom in silence and stealth.

He walked to the lunchroom with a group walking behind him. He turned around to observe them and saw three tall males. Two were black-haired, the other had dyed blonde hair and two females. A brunette who tied her hair in a tight bun, and another with black hair, furnished with a long bob haircut. The names of the strangers (whom he'll later be acquainted with) are Daniel, Jay, Zack, Mira, and Zoe.

They seemed to walk out together in joyous celebration, but if Jinwoo paid any attention to their conversation, the two of them seemed to be planning a secret escape from physics class.

The two troublemakers were Zack and Zoe. They didn't hate physics but Yeong was teaching it and the very idea of sitting in a classroom with his schooling, appalled them. Stupidly enough, they talked about this in the presence of Mira.

"Zack," the brunette called out. "Why are you planning on skipping classes when you know it's bad for your grades?!" Mira yelled as her styled hair droops down to her shoulders. Her hair was messy and her eyes flickered with blazing anger, not caring if the jet-black-haired boy cowered under her wrath.

Things went from 0-30 very quickly. Mira grabbed Zack by the ear and scolded him, but he quickly pulls away from her fingers by squatting down and trying to shield himself from her powerful (weak) punches. Zoe scooches over to the side, while Daniel tries to stop the chaos, with Jay supporting him.

After seeing this, Jinwoo decides to ignore them and continue his journey.

Five minutes later, Mira finally cools down and both she and Zack stand up, while the others followed after them to the cafeteria.

Jinwoo was long gone by now, he was just calmly eating his lunch in complete solitude. No one approached him, because it seemed like he wasn't there. He acted and embodied the saying of being invisible. A ghost. A killer in hindsight.

Once arriving, each member of the group grabbed a tray, stood in line, and patiently waited for their meals. Then, they find a place to sit and Daniel invites Vasco and Jace to sit down with them. He looks around for Crystal but she was nowhere to be found. She wasn't in class either. He began to feel worried until she saw her walk through the aluminum doors to the lunchroom.

He skits in her direction and asks her to sit with him and his group. She was about to refuse but then remembered that she needed more information regarding her confirmation about Daniel being the Fat Daniel she likes, so she said yes.

Hearing this Daniel, internally rejoiced in celebration.

The group greets Crystal as she maturely sits down at the table and eats her meal.

They all talked about the most random things until Zoe brings up Sung Jinwoo. Silence hangs over them as the six witnesses to the incident remained quiet in remembrance of that incident. It sent chills down their spines.

Since Vasco and Jace were not there to witness the spectacle, Vasco instantly got worried and protective.

"All of you...Please tell me, did he hurt you guys?" he asked.

Zack immediately defended himself. "Of course not! He only harmed some other guy!" he yelled. Vasco, being the sweet yet idiotic bum he is, decided to brazenly announce, in public (though more so to the group) that he will take down Jinwoo.

The optical orbs of all the witnesses comically widened in both surprise and excitement. They were ecstatic and elated to see a fight go down since these presses of people were naturally shallow. Daniel immediately told Vasco that it wasn't his fault, that it was out of self-defense. Listening to this, Vasco went to his feet and yell out a heartfelt apology to Jinwoo (Which he excepts).

The crowd was disappointed that a fight didn't go down but they were soon hyped up when a random nobody showed his face to him. A witness that was stupid enough to think he could handle Jinwoo.

The lunchroom became tamed with anticipation. Only snickers and chuckles of onlookers could be heard. Vasco listened to his announcement and was enraged. He stomps toward the teen in loud, angry thuds that boomed throughout the room like a clear ringing of haughty church bells.

Daniel nor Jace tried to stop him as they knew the teen made a mistake, besides they too would have done the same. It would be hypocritical of them to stop him, but Jinwoo is not a damsel in distress that needs to be saved by a knight in shining armor (Vasco).

He's strong and can hold his ground.

They pondered if they should stop him to see Jinwoo in action again? Or should they let Vasco take the reigns and send this teen to a five-month coma?

They chose the latter.

Vasco can beat the guy to shreds and save Jinwoo. By doing this, Vasco is also giving leverage to the gang by earning Jinwoo's trust (It wasn't his intention though), since every member of the group, fighter or not has and knows the look of someone who's in a constant trance of disarray. Jinwoo is one of those people that has a form of PTSD and trusts no one.

Daniel wants to befriend him because he thinks he's cool, but Zack, Jace, or those who were or are part of a gang, wants to get close to not only befriend him but also to keep an eye on him.

They don't know why, but something told them that Jinwoo is the real deal and pissing him off wouldn't give them a happy ending.

His calm stature gave off the feeling that he was much more dangerous and powerful than what he enticed others to believe? Or could this all be one big misunderstanding because they were still shaken up by Yeong's grand entrance of dominance and superiority?

They didn't know.

All of them except for Mira, Zoe, Jace, and the crowd wallowed in their thoughts, spacing out and not paying close attention to their surroundings or what was happening at the moment.

Until a loud crash was heard.

Jace was yelling frantically worried about something. Mira, Zoe, and Crystal seem to have rushed out of their chairs. Zack snapped out of his thoughts because Mira left her seat and there they saw it.

Vasco was knocked out cold by just a judo flip from the opposition?

Daniel and everyone else was shocked by the revelation that the leader of the Burn Knuckles was defeated. Just like that and in a matter of seconds too!

Throngs and streams of words filled the room. Saying things in convoluted and densely packed ways. Daniel could pick up a few vague words of information regarding the assailant.

His name is Dae-Hyun. Challenged Vasco to a duel on his first day of school. Lost. Then made a comeback today and won. The only thing that's keeping him intact is his defined arrogance that was supposed to veer him off the course.

Vasco is strong. Incredibly so. He wouldn't lose to someone like him. There is a slim chance Dae-Hyun would win, against someone like Vasco, who has experience in the field. It didn't matter if Dae-Hyun was equally muscular, size didn't matter. Only the experience did.

So why?

'How could this be?' thought Daniel. 'Unless he decided to fix himself and train harder than anyone. Become a better fighter than he was in the past and use his skills for terrible means? Or was it just for revenge? Then why is he targeting Jinwoo? Was it because of the rumors? Or did he know him from before Jinwoo enrolled at J Won High?'

So many thoughts coursed through his cerebrum. He was having a migraine from the shock and the adrenaline rush that electrocutes his senses from time to time again.

As exhausting as it was, he needed to accompany Vasco to the nurse. Partially because he blamed himself for not stopping him and submerging himself in his thoughts. Theories.

He sighed in determination. He shouldn't immerse himself in his deepest and darkest thoughts. Not right now. He needed to check if Vasco was okay, alongside his best friend Jace whose worrying like a mother hen. Daniel would have laughed at it in bliss had it been under different circumstances.

Meanwhile, Sung Jinwoo looked at the one who challenged him, and a wave of familiarity momentarily obscured his vision.

'Sung Jinwoo of this timeline has no memory of this boy, which means it's on me. I recognize him. That doesn't mean it's a good thing either. Who is he? Where have I seen you?' Jinwoo ponders to himself, as he tried to figure out the links between himself and this person.

He couldn't find anything in the short span of 30 seconds. He decides to look closely at this boy. Scanning him, up and down.

Dae-Hyun was tanned in a dark shade of skin. He was big, buff, and brawny. He wasn't bald but most would mistake him to be bald considering it was cut to the size of small overgrown lawn grass.

He wore a white shirt, that shaped his muscles and black pants that fashioned his elephant-sized legs. Worse of all, the large, obnoxious grin that spread across his face reminded him of a certain, bastard statue that he would love to kill. Over and over again. Seriously, he wouldn't mind it. Not after what he did to Dokja and for everything else of course.

"Hey, Sung Jinwoo," Dae-Hyun greeted in mock courtesy. It was obvious that he didn't like him. For whatever reason, that may be. Jinwoo didn't respond but the other didn't backlash or get angry at his disregard to acknowledge his presence. Instead, he continued to stare down at him while Jinwoo sat down. Not moving an inch, as if waiting for something.

'What is he waiting for?' Jinwoo thought to himself. 'Shouldn't he attack me already?'

Jinwoo is officially confused, but he didn't miss out on the fact that Dae-Hyun might be a lot more clever than most would think. 'Never underestimate your enemy.' he reminded himself. 'He wants something from me, he's not like the other guy. The only question is, what does he want?'

Jinwoo closed his eyes and breathed in. Out. He was ready to move, stand up, confront him, and fight but then a definite memory thrashed against him like a thunderous hurricane of tsunamis.

✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨

The shimmering neon blue glow beamed off of the giant stash of crystals that laid bare to a sleeping giant (An eight-eyed spider to be exact). Cobwebs after cobwebs spiraled behind its body and in front of them as it laid dormant atop the many, large crystals that were stacked together. Embedded to the walls of the monster's (spider) sanctuary.

They were confused because they were sure this was an ants lair, not some other creature's den.

The rotting scent of half-eaten monsters was less than barrable but the members of the strike group didn't seem to mind. They seemed– ecstatic? Perhaps because an opportunity to get rich quicker than ever has arisen and who are they to say no. Then again, there was something off about the whole thing, because in the contract there was nothing about being excluded from mana crystals, only mana cores.

A boy named Yoo Jinho possesses light caramel brown hair, whilst wearing an expensive armory of white and gold. All too flashy and far too heavy to even be carried, asked the leader of the strike, Hwang Dongseok about it, and his reaction to it was strange. He couldn't see his or the other members' faces but he could tell they didn't look too happy about it either. Then he smiled and said, "Of course, we'll divide it up across all of us. I know this. But there's something we have to take care of first."

He then looked up and saw a giant spider that pointed his finger at the spider that was behind Jinho and the poor guy nearly shrieked when he turned around to see what Dongseok was pointing at.

Jinwoo couldn't remember clearly what they said but he did remember Hwang Dongseok gathering the Hunters, including Jinwoo and Yoo Jinho in a disheveled and spread-out circle. He said something about "Boss goes down. Gate will close. Mine mana crystals." Jinwoo looks around using his peripheral view to see that all the members of the group have nodded in agreement.

Hwang Dongseok turned to another Hunter and asked him if he grabbed the gear. The hunter shook his head and told him no, because he didn't expect to find mana crystals in a C-Rank dungeon. Hwang just scolds him lightheartedly telling him he should always be prepared.

The hunter apologized to everyone with a smile, but it didn't look sincere. It looks sarcastic and fake.

Hwang Dongseok scratched his head, before speaking in a manner that heightened Jinwoo's senses.

"Sigh, this is going to be a hassle. Can you two stay here while we go grab the equipment?"

"You want just me and Jinwoo hyung to stay here? In the boss room?" Hwang Dongseok turned around to meet Jinho eye to eye but there was a certain gleam of laughter in his eyes as he replied.

"The thing didn't even wake up after all that cheering. You guys will be just fine. I have some things I want to discuss with my teammates over a cigarette. We'll be back in a jiffy."

Jinwoo listened to Hwang Dongseok's offhanded explanation and remembered the words that Oh-ssi repeated every once in a while. Raids will always have dangers lurking in the dark and certain Hunters will be more than willing to sacrifice their comrades to escape safely. Whether it was because the victim wasn't a part of their crew or the victim was much weaker than they were, it did not matter. They would be thrown aside all the same. Like a lizard cutting off its tail to escape.

Oh-ssi would call those Hunters "Lizards".

Hwang Dongseok is a lizard and he wanted to get rid of Jinwoo and Jinho because they were of low ranking and because they are not part of the original group. Jinwoo smiled inside.

'It's all moving according to my predictions and expectations. I suppose this is good for me.'

Having figured out Hwang Dongseok's intentions, Jinwoo did not feel bad. Rather, it was what he wanted. However, Yoo Jinho, who was on his first Raid ever, was not as confident. He asked with a worried tone,

"Well, still… Don't you think we should all go together?"

Jinwoo noticed one of the Hunters move his hand toward his weapon. He went up and put a hand on Yoo Jinho's shoulder.

"It's alright. We'll stay behind and watch the spot."

The Hunter's hand stopped.

"Hyung…?" Jinho called out with a pleading expression. He was confused as to why Jinwoo gave in so easily.

The strike team left, and the two were left alone.

"Hyung, how could you say that? What if that thing wakes up?" he asked as he was terrified of the spider.

'Looks like he hasn't fully understood the situation yet. It would be annoying to explain every little detail to this kid.'

Instead, he bluntly ignored Jinho's frantic demeanor and started warming up his body.

Minutes later, Jinwoo turned around and felt his hair spring up. His senses were tingling as he shielded himself from the heinous, gradation of the explosion that blasts down the exit of the room. It ends with the alarmingly loud rumbling of colliding stones, awakening the beast.

He flipped his head to find that the spider has disappeared. Jinwoo's heart beat like an iron ball and he mistakes it for fear but no, it was excitement. He could feel the epinephrine course through his veins as his legs began to jitter with impatience. He has never felt this wave of confidence before. Especially when dealing with a high-level C-Rank beast, a class that is much higher than his.

A grin lapsed itself onto him.

Jinwoo slowly walked toward the spider and the spider moved its eight legs to face Jinwoo.

It was coming.

As if amused, the spider did not hurry. It took small steps with its long and thick legs. Slowly closing the gap between the two.

"Breathe-"

He controlled his breathing to bring down his excitement. He had to be calm. He had to focus.

The spider was close enough that he could see his face reflected in its eyes.

Jinwoo's eyes narrowed.

Then he moved.

It didn't take long to beat the spider, but too bad he traumatized Jinho in the process. Poor lad didn't know what to make of it. Jinwoo felt like chuckling at the remembrance.

However, his memories instantly came into a blur as it fast-forwards into the future of that moment.

He saw his hands covered in dried blood. 7 bodies were littered in the room and a headless body of a man that belonged to Hwang Dongseok lay in front of him. It quickly shifts to Hwang Dongsoo's framework as he could see him, standing a few feet away.

✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨

Jinwoo exhaled. He blinks and looks up to meet up with Dae-Hyun eyes. He didn't flinch nor look away despite the intensity of his gaze as he sat down before him.

Many would misunderstand and think their interested in each other because of the way they stared at one another for 11 minutes. Never looking away, but that didn't matter to them.

Jinwoo knew Dae-Hyun had a burning itch to kill him, right then and there, but he waited which meant Hwang Dongsoo's reincarnation has memories of his past life intact.

Meaning, he wanted him to remember. He wanted to believe he did remember, and if he didn't – he'd just beat him to a pulp, but Jinwoo did. It made Dae-Hyun hopeful.

It's as if, he's trying to make their fight seem meaningful and memorable.

It's almost miserable and painful to watch.

Not like he could blame him. He did, after all, kill his brother and enslave him in death.

Jinwoo smirked and Hwang Dongsoo's eyes enlarged before a small grin encased his face.

"Must be nice to be free again, Greed."