Chapter 3

A hospital?

Jinwoo opened his eyes, staring at a bright white ceiling. The unpleasant smell of disinfectant wafted into his nose.

There was a comfortable heat that wrapped around him, surrounding him in it's embrace. It buried itself under his blanket, as if encouraging him to snuggle closer.

What's this thing?

His hand moved slowly under the bedsheets, trying to get a feel for the soft object reclining on top of him.

Your eyes fluttered open as you felt a hand slowly stroke you. Sleepily peering through your lashes, you spot the arm of your friend. You smiled happily as his gentle thumbs brushed against your hair.

"Uh…?" Jinwoo blushed as you hugged his body tightly to your chest.

"Have you regained consciousness?" A voice interrupted, causing you to startle, quietly scampering away to stand at the edge of the bed.

Surprised by the sudden voice, Jinwoo turned to see a man wearing a black suit walk towards him.

"I'm Woo Jincheol, Chief of the Monitoring Department at the Hunters Association." He flashed his badge. "And I'm sure you know of her, our Vice-Chairman." He gestured at you, sighing.

"How did I end up here?" Jinwoo asked.

"That's the thing." Jincheol replied. "With the help of the White Tiger Guild, our surveillance department arrived at the scene only to find…"

"To find…?"

"Nothing. No traces of the double dungeon or any monsters, only the Hunter Sung Jinwoo lying unconscious in our Vice-Chairman's arms."

"What?" Jinwoo looked up in disbelief. "What happened to the stone angel, and statues and…"

"That's right, we couldn't believe it either." Jincheol glanced at you. "Since our witness mentioned you were stabbed through the chest, only to miraculously heal moments later."

He held up a magical measuring device, gently placing it below Jinwoo's hand.

"That's why… we believe there is a possibility you have undergone a second awakening."

A second awakening!

You stared, feeling surprised at the revelation. Reawakenings were extremely rare, and as far as you knew, the number of hunters that underwent one could be counted on two hands.

Could another fragment have taken interest in Jinwoo? But didn't all of them already have a vessel…?

All three people gazed at the magical measuring device in anticipation, waiting for the results. Would Jinwoo become S-rank? SS-rank?

"..."

An innocent power level of '10' blinked repeatedly on the screen. He was still barely stronger than the average human.

Looks like we were all worked up over nothing...

»»————-

"Hey Vice-Chairman, can you see... this?" Jinwoo frowned at the message floating nonchalantly in front of his face.

[Daily Quest - Become Powerful]

[Push-Ups 0/100]

[Sit-Ups 0/100]

[Running 0/10 km]

"Hm?" You turn, looking away from your phone to stare at him with confusion. As far as you could tell, there was nothing there. "What am I supposed to be looking at?"

"Nevermind…" He sighed, looking at you with exasperation. He'd thought if anything, you would be able to decipher floating words, but that didn't seem to be the case.

"So how long are you in for?" You ask, reaching into your bag to take out a packet of potato chips, wiggling it enticingly in the air. "Want some?"

"I do." A voice interrupted, and you felt someone roughly snatch the snack from your grasp. She removed her school bag, carelessly dropping it onto a nearby chair.

"Hi Jinah…" You awkwardly greeted, avoiding her hostile eyes as an expression of disgust pulled at her lips.

"Oh, you're here too." Jinah looked rather displeased as she spotted your form resting next to her brother. Seeing you around him all the time was disconcerting, and she slowly began associating your appearances with her brother's frequent injuries.

She then turned to Jinwoo, looking wearily up at him. For the space of a second her expression was blank, then she hurled herself at him with a crushing hug.

"...So you're really okay, right?" Jinah scowled, tightly clenching him with her fists. "I told you to stop getting hurt! Do you know how worried I was?"

"What if you were mained? What if you were killed?" She turned to you. "It's all your fault! You're the reason he even became a hunter in the first place!"

You gasped as you found yourself being roughly pushed aside, slamming painfully onto the cold hospital floor.

"Jinwoo… now how did this bad lady hurt you?" She glared, looming menacingly over you in her self righteous fury. "Everyone else seems to do just fine! So why is it only you…that...always ends up in the hospital..."

You flinch, seeing tears form at the corner of her eyes.

"Didn't I tell you… to stop getting hurt…?"

"I'm sorry…" Jinwoo whispered, gently thumbing a lock of hair aside before pulling her forward in a tight embrace.

"I'm sorry…"

»»————-

Seoul was filled with bustling bodies yearning to quickly reach their destinations as the sun slowly disappeared below the horizon. Orange leaves laid limply on the ground, whistling beneath your feet as you languidly stepped past them.

You had left the Association not long ago, looking forward to your evening after a week of exhausting meetings and reports. You had even been sent to poach a newly discovered A-ranker of all things. Unlike other guilds, the Association did not have much to offer in terms of wealth, but apparently prestige could change the minds of some indecisive newbies.

Stretching your arms above your head, you sighed, eager to head home so you could bathe away the vestiges of the evening autumn chill. Delicious scents and languid laughter adorned various restaurants that you passed by, making your stomach grumble. You wondered if it was okay to eat out yet again; you certainly didn't feel like going through the hassle of cooking tonight.

"Who'd have thought I'd find you out here." An amicable voice startled you out of your reverie.

You turned towards the stranger, blinking a couple times before your face finally lit up in recognition. "Oh, Baek Yoonho."

"Long day?" He asked, eyes unwavering as he looked for any blip of emotion that might leak through your apathetic expression.

"Yeah… just got back from a meeting with the cabinet ministers…" You answered quietly, still somewhat shy around him.

Your words - spoken with such an eerie sense of weariness, made him smile.

Those geezers sure ruined your day, huh?

"You doing anything tonight?" The S-ranked hunter asked, finding himself walking alongside you as the two of you headed deeper into the city.

I'm going home. Those simple words almost left your lips.

But that wasn't what you really wanted, was it? Not anymore.

"I was heading to this barbeque place." You trailed off hopefully. "Do you... want to come too?" You tense, nervously waiting for his response with bated breath.

"A date?" He hummed with interest, laughing at your anxious expression. "Does that mean you're paying?"

"Of course." You scoffed, shuffling away to hide your rapidly darkening cheeks.

"Lead the way then."

»»————-

"Yoonho!" You called, peering at him across the corridor as you made your way to the second floor. Lightly wrapping your fingers around his wrist so he wouldn't get lost, you lead him to your favourite room, the one with two seats facing the window.

"Oi, have you been here before?" He swallowed, nervous at the sudden skin contact. Your hand was surprisingly soft, rare for a hunter.

"I've been coming here for ages, actually. It's kind of expensive, but the beef is… really good. Especially the marinated cuts." You respond softly, a light hint of nostalgia coloring your voice.

"So this is where you disappear to all the time? Yoonho wondered, looking down at the menu with appraisive eyes. "It's a wonder you still come here, with prices like these."

"Silence." You whispered under your breath, staring intently at the options in front of you. Did you want the beef short rib today? Or maybe the hanwoo steak… or both?

The waiter comes and takes your orders, eventually returning with trays filled with various cuts of beef, pork and pickled vegetables. You start grilling immediately, and the appealing scent of seared meat and kimchi quickly filled the air around you.

"...It's pretty good." Yoonho said, taking a piece of meat and swallowing it in one gulp like a voracious beast. "It's been a long time since I've had this stuff-"

"I thought you ate meat almost everyday?" You interrupted, thinking back to the time you worked with him at the Association and his impressively stuffed freezer.

"Not as often as you might think." Yoonho answered with a mouthful, munching on his food as you watched in quiet fascination. He demolished tray after tray of prime rib and pork belly alike, leaving behind only a towering pile of plates as the poor waiter tried to clear them before even more food was brought onto the table.

You can only stare in mortification at the ravenous beast that was your companion.

"Aren't you going to save some for me…?"

"Mmmph." He blinked at you innocently.

»»————-

The two of you walked the long road back to your apartment. There was a comforting crispness to the air, both of you were happy and warmed from the inside, courtesy of many, many drinks.

"Who knew you were such a messy eater?" You grin, raising a pointed brow at him.

"It wasn't my fault. I was just hungry!" He hissed, stubbornly looking away with shame burning his face.

"Right…" You say, pausing thoughtfully for a moment as you suddenly thought of something amusing.

"Does that mean you're okay with me posting these pictures on social media?" You tease, showing him the impressive collage of images you saved on your phone.

"Hey!" You pull your hand back just in time to narrowly avoid the grab that you're pretty sure would have crushed your phone, case and all.

"Watch it." Yoonho scolded, ignoring the tiny giggle the action elicited from your lips. "It's annoying enough dealing with the paparazzi, I don't want more attention from other sources."

"Oh." You blinked. That explained why you couldn't find his SNS profile earlier.

"You should've known that about me by now..." he sighed, thinking about the rumors that would inevitably arise if anyone saw you two together. "Your memory is horrible; we've been working as hunters for years."

You laughed quietly, putting a hand over your lips. "I remember. I was just teasing you."

Yoonho began walking again, and you fell in step behind him. All around you, bright lights shone down from shop buildings and skyscrapers, twinkling like Seoul's own manmade stars.

There was a long piece of comfortable quiet as you both savoured each other's presence.

"You could put your arm around me." You suddenly say, taking a sip of soju. "It's dark and we're both tipsy." Your lips curve into a shy smile. "Such things are permitted now, you realize."

Your sudden change in manner caught him off guard, and he glanced at your entwined hands before finally reciprocating, grasping you almost bashfully. He was so close you could feel the heat of him next to you.

"Vice-Chairman?" Yoonho asked.

"Yes?"

"I don't know if you remember," He said softly, not wanting to intrude upon the moment. "A conversation we had before. About the gates."

"I remember." You encouraged, watching as he nervously wet his lips before continuing.

"Do you think these gates will ever end?"

The question caught you unprepared. You thought about it for a long while, but didn't know how to respond.

"I… don't know." You mumbled.

"I figured you'd say that… but you could just tell me how you really feel." Yoonho pointed out, frowning as he glanced up into the sky.

"That's true…but..."

"It's okay, I understand." He scratched his head, looking somewhat troubled. "I'm just worried lately, with the rise of all these new gates. It feels like we're slowly approaching the end of the world..."

Yoonho paused, as if waiting for a response.

"But we'll be fine, won't we? We have you with us after all, our very own national level hunter." He laughed, turning towards you.

"Hey... you listening?"

"I am." You reassured, gripping his wrist and giving him a fond smile. "And I'm sure we'll be fine." You leaned forwards, pulling him towards you.

"Come, walk me home."

»»————-

The association still hasn't called huh?

Jinwoo sighed, browsing the job board. His income was solely dependent on dungeon raids, and as a low ranker, he was considered dead weight by most raid parties, making it incredibly hard for him to maintain a steady income.

Maybe I could call the vice-chairman and ask her if there's any new gates open?

He pondered what to do, idly scrolling through the hunters board.

[Mysterious hunter takes care of D-ranked dungeon boss (video).]

[Hunters Association's Vice-chairman spotted with Baek Yoonho. A steamy office romance in bloom?]

[Recruiting party members for dungeon raid, minimum D ranked or above.]

He browsed through the threads without much luck. Even though he leveled up recently, his official rank was still 'E', making it impossible to get accepted into any serious raid groups.

Hm? A new listing popped up, catching his eye.

[Looking for two hunters to fill in the minimum headcount. We'll take anyone, regardless of ranking. Reward: Two million won.]

His eyes widened. Two million won was an impressive amount, more than enough for this month's rent. He couldn't miss this chance.

For now, let's start with this.

He dialed the number.

»»————-

"Jinseok, Eleven o'clock!"

"Joontae, Sukmin, Gyuhwan! Watch your right!"

"Yes sir!"

Hwang Dongsuk and his group of hunters made quick work of the magical beasts, showing impressive communication and teamwork that Association raids often lacked.

Even Yoo Jinho, a D-ranker who was new to the party, had no problems dispatching the bugs with his rather expensive looking longsword.

Jinwoo could only stare at them in awe.

So this is the power of an experienced raid team...

The battle quickly ended and the group moved forward, cautiously picking their way over the huge mounds of dead, twitching insects.

"Hey… what's this?"

"There's something here!"

A hunter beckoned the others forwards, his voice tinged in excitement. What lay ahead of him could only be described as... majestic.

Massive, glowing gems stretched across an entire cavern, illuminating the dungeon with an otherworldly luminescence. They were mana crystals, what many thought to be god's gift to mankind.

Jinwoo gasped, unable to help himself. He'd seen mana crystals before, but not to this extent, and certainly not this size. How much could they sell for? Enough to support his family forever, no matter how viciously the school raised tuition.

"Splitting it nine ways, it'd make a pretty sum, eh?" Dongsuk laughed. It was an extremely lavish reward for the risk they had taken, akin to hitting the jackpot for most hunters.

"No." a voice whispered into the cavern.

Heads turned, and the entire group hushed, tense.

"No." Jinho said quietly. "You forgot Jinwoo. Nothing on the contract states mana crystals wouldn't be shared."

Jinwoo stood frozen in wonder. Never had he expected the hunter he'd just met to stand up for him - not when the person he was challenging was the leader of the entire group.

After a few long moments, Dongsuk turned his back on Jinho, facing his companions. "You hear that?" He asked his men. "I almost made a mistake!"

"But there's something else we have to take care of first." His face turned serious, gesturing to something hidden away in the far corner of the room. "That."

"Whoa…"

"That's the dungeon boss?"

Jinwoo froze, staring up at the massive spider that hung from the ceiling. Sharp, brittle teeth lined the maw of the magical beast, each one the length of a man's arm. Even asleep, its presence was sharp and deadly, akin to a bomb that could detonate at any moment.

"As you're all aware, we can't exactly mine these mana crystals after killing the boss; the dungeon would close." Dongsuk shook his head mournfully. "That's why you two will stay here, while we go grab the mining equipment."

The party leader laughed, gesturing for his group to head towards the exit of the cavern.

"Don't you worry! We'll be right back."

»»————-

"That spider isn't going to wake up anytime soon is it?" Jinho shivered. "It's giving me the chills just looking at it…"

Jinwoo stood silently, not bothering to respond.

It had been four years since he had started work as a hunter, and there was a piece of advice you had always repeated to him.

"Watch out for lizards."

"What do you mean?"

"When there's real danger, most hunters wouldn't hesitate to use weaker hunters as bait, cutting off their tail so to speak."

"Isn't that illegal?"

"Yes, but there's no such thing as cameras inside the dungeon, meaning nobody would ever know… So just trust me and only join the Association raids, okay?" You smiled.

Jinwoo glanced towards the opening of the cavern, the one that Dongsuk and his men had recently passed through. Could he even trust his words? Perhaps it was his paranoia talking, but he felt something was terribly wrong. It was like they were aiming to isolate him...

His eyes widened, feeling a flash of cold sweat roll over him as he saw an orange light steadily grow in size.

Was that a... magical spell?

And the exit of the room exploded, the sudden wave of light and sound flowed throughout the room like a physical force. Large chunks of stone rained down from above, blocking the exit to the room.

"Those bastards! They woke the dungeon boss in order to get rid of us!" Jinho shouted. "Dongsuk doesn't want to share any mana crystals!"

"Calm down. I might be able to get us out of here."

Jinwoo ran towards the rocks that blocked the entrance, giving it a light push.

It budged.

Should I leave? Jinwoo thought, leaning back against the rough stone wall of the cavern. It was certainly a tempting option. But if he left in such a manner, how was he any better than the lizards themselves? He would be avoiding the issue, content in knowing the dungeon boss would be no longer his problem.

No. Jinwoo told himself forcefully. I've increased my strength many times since that day. This is a good time to test my abilities.

He narrowed his eyes at the dungeon boss, feeling the familiar weight of Casaka's Dagger slip into his palm.

I'm coming.

»»————-

Jinwoo plunged down from the sky, landing on the spider's back and stabbing deeply into its carapace, throwing up a spray of green blood before quickly jumping off to avoid being rammed into the wall.

It's tough. Jinwoo cursed. His dagger - albeit strong - was unable to do more than superficial damage to the boss. That was a huge problem - the longer the fight dragged on, the quicker his stamina reserves would drain away.

But he didn't have much time for thought. Even as he landed, the spider swung at him, forcing him to block. He felt the metal dagger quiver beneath his hands as he was pushed across the dungeon floor.

How long had the battle been going on? Four minutes, maybe five? The beast seemed perfectly healthy, yet Jinwoo felt his own body burn from overexertion. I have to finish this soon, he realized. I don't know how much longer I can last.

Something flashed in the air.

Viridescent liquid, steaming as it flew, launched towards him from the spider's mouth. He barely had time to twist himself out of the path of the acid before he felt a blow slam against him, violently pushing him into the floor.

Jinwoo gasped in surprise, breath knocked from his lungs, his vision swimming. He looked up, disoriented, surprised to find his body was no longer responsive.

He watched quietly as the spider stalked forwards, blood dripping down his face.

"Will you accept your reward?"

A voice suddenly appeared from the depths of his mind.

Jinho? No. This voice felt familiar. Where had he heard it before?

"Will you accept your reward?" It repeated itself, again. It almost sounded like… the system!

The daily quest! Jinwoo startled, remembering. He didn't accept the reward yet. The system was reminding him. Protecting him. Giving him power!

[Reward #1: Status recovery]

[Will you accept your reward?]

Accept!

The command came wordlessly, but the system responded instantly. Jinwoo gasped, drawing in breath. His entire body glowed with green light, and he felt the fatigue that had accumulated within his body suddenly melt away just as the spider pierced towards him.

If it had been moments earlier, there would have been no way to avoid the attack.

But he had dodged, suddenly moving with speed several times faster than before. Before the creature could react, he jumped, landing on its body, his dagger piercing deeply into the spider's eye.

I can beat this!

Jinwoo fought like a tempest, his body moving around in a swirling frenzy as he danced through the air, attacking the spider in a whirlwind of slashes.

He was no longer afraid - he had grown beyond such things. He had seen himself die - had felt the spear stab through his chest, memorized the feeling of his body slowly shutting down. And yet, he lived, each breath was unexpected, perhaps undeserved.

Once, he'd been terrified of the dungeon, seeing firsthand how easily his comrades were killed, how powerless he truly was compared to the beings that resided within. But, he had found his solution, in the form of something called a 'System'.

Something that allowed him to get stronger.

The spider hit the ground, slumping lifelessly onto the stone.

[The dungeon boss has been slain]

[You have leveled up]

[You have leveled up]

[You have leveled up]

»»————-