#insight chronicles

By the Gods, that had been a hard day at work. Why did new hunters have to be so cocky? You were walking home late after finally finishing the paperwork for the hunters that got assessed today. It is your job to interview and evaluate all the new hunters to determine their skills and what guilds and parties they are best suited for. This was mainly so the Chairman would know if and when the balance of guides was tipping too far one way or the other.

The downside was that over half the hunters that got assessed were young males who thought they could impress you with their abilities. Even though if you were going to go for anyone, it would be one of the S- or A- Ranks you spent the most time around at the association. Why would you ever choose some immature start-up hunter? Not that you were interested in anyone.

A glass breaking pulled you out of your thoughts, and you realised that it may not have been the best idea to walk home so late. Especially when Baek Yoonho had offered you a lift home.

Shit, you thought, that may not have been my smartest move.

You thought back to the look he gave you after you declined, a mixture of surprise, suspicion and doubt. What was he doing at the association that late anyway? He hadn't been there for training that much, you knew.

You knew you weren't supposed to be drawing attention to yourself; this was exactly the sort of thing that makes people go digging.

Fuck.

Officially, you were an E-Rank healer, not much use for anything more than a scratch, even though your perception ability was so high that you could almost predict the future. All that allowed you to do was know when someone was going to get hurt. Not that you could do anything about it before or after the fact. That's why you gave up hunting and poured all your effort into the archives. There was only so much death one person could handle, knowing they could have done something about it if only they were stronger.

Of course that was before…

Now things are different. The system made sure of that. You'd fallen asleep at your desk for the hundredth time and dreamed of a game menu. Gaming was your escape, so it wasn’t that strange for you to dream of gaming, but something about this was different. It felt a little too real. Your suspicions were confirmed when you woke up, and the screen was still there.

The mission the System had given you was to ensure that no one else found out about it and protect the other players. It did not indicate as to who these players were or why the System needed to be protected. Surely having more players put the System at risk? So why add a player specifically for protecting the System?

Occasionally, when you stumbled upon the right piece of information, a pop-up would occur, giving you a new sub-mission which revealed a little bit more about the System. You kept all this information at the office in a filing cabinet that only you had the key for, in a folder labelled “system” that everyone just assumed was the instruction manuals for the computer system the archives are run on. For the last few years, this had worked wonders. Until a few months back, you got a pop-up saying a new player had been added and he would need “extra protection”.

That was when you took on the role of assessing all new and re-evaluated hunters so the records could be updated. You kept an eye out for anything out of the ordinary. The only strange thing that happened was Sung Jinwoo. An E-Rank hunter who was nearly killed but miraculously survived. He was re-evaluated when he first recovered but was still an E-Rank; only recently, when he got re-evaluated, he’s now an S-Rank. But you received no pop-up from the system like you would have expected. So it can’t have been him.

However, there was something different about him.

As part of joining the System, you got some skill boosts, and as long as you completed the daily quests, you continued to level up. This meant that your skills were through the roof, easily at an A- or even S-Rank level. You spread your skill points across all the categories, with your focus on perception and intelligence to help you achieve the mission the System had set for you.

What this means is that you were stronger and faster and all around generally more powerful than you had any right to be. But there were downsides to having too high a perception skill; you could basically read people's minds and were constantly feeling what they were feeling. This was reasonably easy to ignore when one-on-one with someone, but in crowded areas, you got overwhelmed easily with all the extra feelings coursing through your veins. As a result, you didn’t leave your house much except to go to work, although your best friend did bribe you with free chai lattes to go to her cafe once a week, so you weren’t a complete shut-in.

But unlike everyone else, you couldn’t feel anything from Sung JInwoo. Why was that? What was so different about him? He must feel something, but you couldn’t sense anything from him. Even when all your colleagues were in awe of his aura when he came in for his re-evaluation, you felt nothing. The man was a mystery to you. One you weren't sure you wanted to solve.

A shout from behind made you look over your shoulder just in time to see a gate close.

That wasn’t there when you walked that section of the street earlier. Perplexing. You saw someone stagger before collapsing to the floor. With only the slightest hesitation, you ran over to the person.

By the time you reached them, they had dragged themselves over to lean on the wall of the adjacent building. You slowed your approach as you took in the scene.

Jinwoo?

You couldn't quite believe your eyes; the man was exhausted and…shirtless.

He looked up as you approached, a slightly panicked look in his eyes as he glanced around as if to check if anyone else was around.

“Uh, hi” his voice was a rumble.

“Are you okay?” You had reached him now and crouched down, eyes scanning his body to check to see if there were any injuries. Miraculously, it appeared not; it was just exhausted.

“When you've finished checking me out. Yeah, I'm fine.” he sounded almost annoyed at your presence.

“Hey, you're the one that just collapsed out of a gate.” Your voice now took on an annoyed tone; if he didn't want your help, then so be it. You stood up, getting ready to leave.

“I-I'm sorry.” he had the decency to look sheepish. “I wasn’t expecting anyone to be here. What are you doing out so late anyway?”

“Looking for night fairies, what do you think?” sarcasm laced your voice; when he just kept looking at you, you continued, sighing, “Walking home from work” he seemed even more confused by this answer, but before he could question you “Look do you want my help or not?”

“What could you do for me? It’s not like I'm injured” The anger had left his voice, but it still felt like it rumbled through your chest.

“You'd be surprised what a skilled healer can do.” You shrugged.

“Go on then, surprise me” A smirk graced his lips. A cocky smile that on anyone else would have made your blood curdle, but on Jinwoo, it didn’t. It reminded you of when you used to know him.

You crouched back down next to him and held out your hands. “Full Recovery” A green glow emanated around him briefly before dissipating, and he signed with relief. Full Recovery was a skill the system gave you when you reached a high enough level, but you had never used it on someone else before. Satisfied it worked, you met Jinwoo's eyes, which were full of confusion. That was your cue to leave.

You got up quickly, collecting your bag where it had fallen when you crouched down.

“Right, well, you're all better now. Bye.” You waved as you turned to continue your journey home. You could hear him calling after you, but you just ignored him; picking up the pace, you nearly ran the rest of the way home.

You slam the front door to your apartment shut behind you. Only slightly out of breath, you made your way to the kitchen, only a few steps from the door of your modest home. The events of the night run over through your head.

You had been so careful for so many years, and tonight, you had made 2 people, 2 S-Rank Hunters, suspicious of you. You make yourself a cup of tea to help calm your nerves, which were shot after the day you’ve just had. As you sip from the too-hot drink, you survey your surroundings, wondering how easy it would be to pack up your life if things got too heated here in Korea. Your worn-in sofa and bookshelf, sagging from the weight of the books on its shelves, were things you definitely could not live without. But then, so was your gaming set up with sat on the opposite side of the room complete with state-of-the-art PC (that you didn't even want to think how much it cost you, but it was more than a couple months rent), dual screens and surround sound set up.

No! Think positively! You scolded yourself, both mentally and on your hot tea. Tomorrow was your day off work, so you could hide out in your apartment and come up with a plan of action if either Baek Yoonho or Sung Jinwoo started to ask the wrong questions.

You knew if they looked too deep into your files, they would see that you were no ordinary E-Rank, thanks to the twice-yearly physical you had to do because you worked for the association. Luckily, though, you were the only person with access to those files, so they had to go through you to get them. And you could always fudge the results if they were a little too extraordinary. You breathed a sigh of relief, thanking the Gods you had chosen the right career path to help keep the Systems and your secrets.

Having finished your drink, you were ready to call it a night, thankful you had the beginning of a plan. Your bedroom was a reasonable size, complete with a double bed and a wardrobe for your clothes, as well as enough room to actually navigate around them, unlike some of the apartments you had looked at during your house-hunting days. Exhausted from the day, you fell into bed and slept deeply that night, dreaming of the mystery player that had awakened and why they needed additional protection. What could they possibly do that would draw so much attention to them that people would start to question if another force was involved?

Next chapter >

6 Months Later

It had started off as a lovely day, the sun was shinning, you had had a good night sleep and you even had the ingredients in to make panakes for breakfast. You had an amazing feeling about today. That feeling didn’t last long after you arrived at work.

It had been just over a week since the raid on Jeju Island, where so many of the Japanese S-Rank Hunters had lost their lives, and the Korean S-Ranks would have also died if it had not been for Sung Jinwoo and his perfect timing. The fact that this man, that was only recently been re-evaluated as an S-Rank Hunter, had destroyed the beast single-handedly, and on live TV no less, was nothing less than a miracle. The ‘Ant King’, as the media referred to the monster, very nearly took out all of the Hunters sent to clear the island, but the footage that was supposed to ease the public's fear instead showed them a different kind of monster. One that lived among them, one known by the name Sung Jinwoo.

The footage of Hunter Sung defeating the Ant King had been replayed many times since the completion of the raid, making people question why Hunter Sung had not been part of the original raiding team. At any given time, you could turn on the TV or open your phone to 10 different news sites either praising or cursing his name. The ones coming to his defence were using his mother as an excuse, saying he should be allowed to spend time with her as the first person to wake up from Eternal Slumber, and no one knew if or when she might succumb to it again. The ones dragging his name through the mud were also blaming the Hunter Association for not forcing him to fight or calling the Association incompetent for not knowing how strong he was and that he could have raided the island by himself without risking the lives of others.

You weren’t sure what to believe; one thing you did know for sure is that there was no indication in Hunter Sungs' file that he would have been able to take on the island raid by himself. You knew because you had checked his file probably 100 times since that day. Hell, you had checked it 10 times that morning alone after you had heard that the Chairman of the Hunter Assocation, Go Gunhee, had requested a meeting with you that afternoon.

You stood nervously outside the Chairman's office. It's not like it was your fault you didn't know the extent of Hunter Sung’s power. Chairman Go had been at the evaluation as well and had not indicated that he thought the power that Hunter Sung showed then was anything less than his full potential. So how could he blame her for this? Of course, she could just be overthinking it, and he wanted to see her about something else, but the timing was too coincidental to be about anything but Hunter Sung.

Taking a deep breath, you knocked on the door.

“Come in”, you opened the door and stepped inside. Chairman Go lifted his head from the report he was reading through and smiled warmly at you, “Ah, Ms L/N, please come in, shut the door behind you and take a seat.” He gestured to one of the two chairs facing his desk. Whilst your back was turned shutting the door, you took another calming breath and wiped the palms of your hands down the front of your trousers. Feeling slightly steadier, you made your way across the office to sit in one of the plush armchairs.

“No need to look so worried, Ms L/N”, came a voice from behind you. You hadn't seen him when you entered the room, but your perception skills never let you down, which is why you were not surprised when you turned and offered a gentle smile to Woo Jinchul, who stood in a darkened corner behind you. You shook your head slightly, suppressing a laugh, at his attempt to be cool and mysterious as usual, or was he trying to intimidate you?

“Oh, I'm not worried. I'm just wondering what it is I can do for you, sir.” As you finished your sentence, you turned back to the chairman, a small smile turing up the corners of your mouth.

“Well,” the chairman cleared his throat, “I assume you are aware of how the raid on Jeju Island panned out.” You answered with a nod of your head. Once again, Chairman Go coughed, clearing his throat. He seemed worried to ask you about something. “Well, you see, we,” A glance at Chief Inspector Woo, “That is, I, was just wondering as to the details of Hunter Sung’s file. The results of his latest evaluation did not suggest that he was showing us just a fraction of his power, but the footage from Jeju Island would suggest otherwise. Of course, we all know that you are meticulous in your record keeping and would hate to suggest that there was a mix-up on the numbers, but we must face the facts. Did you see or feel anything that day at the evaluation that would suggest that he was not showing us his full power?” So that was it. Chairman Go was worried to ask you about the archieves; after all, he, more than anyone else, knew how hard you worked on them. When you started here everything was a mess, so unorganised. You had spent countless hours of overtime and even slept in your office on occasion - keeping a change of clothes in your office and using the showers attached to the training gym to remain presentable - to be able to re-organise everything on top of your normal workload. That was how you had risen through the ranks so quickly and how the System had found you.

You glanced down at your lap, stifling a chuckle. You made an S-Rank Hunter nervous! Tilting your head back up, you met Chairman Go's eyes, formulating a response.

“Uh, no, I can’t say I felt anything.” Not the lie that would usually be when you thought about it, considering you don’t feel anything when it comes to Hunter Sung. The higher-ups in the Association know that you have a higher than normal perceptive ability, but they are not aware of the extent, and you would like to keep it that way.

“Right, well, in that case, I think it pertinent that we learn as much as we can about this young man. His power is beyond anything I have ever seen, and he seems to keep getting stronger or at least revealing more and more of his strength” The chairman looked deep in thought for a moment before continuing. “I think this is a job for you, Ms L/N” Um, what?! Your mind screamed whilst you tried to keep your face impassive. “We need you to get close enough to Sung Jinwoo to get him to trust you and reveal the extent of his power. Ordinarily, a security operative would have this task, but Mr Sung would be able to spot them a mile off and become suspicious of their motives. Whereas you, my dear, are a lot less suspicious looking.” A cough came from the corner of the room, Chairman Go smiled “No offence, Jinchul.”

“None taken”, although some definitely was.

“So what do you say, Ms L/N?” You opened your mouth to speak, but no words came out. Chairman Go just continued to smile encouragingly.

“Uhh, I mean, that's not exactly in my job description,” you hedged, buying yourself time to come up with a better excuse to stay away from Jinwoo. You really didn’t want to encourage him to ask questions about that time by the Gate.

“I understand completely,” you nearly sighed with relief, but then he continued, “consider you job description changed.” he looked so pleased with himself, but you just glared at him, “Of course, you’ll be compensated for this change in you duties.” This was so NOT what you needed right now, but you didn’t know what you could say to make the chairman change his mind on this.

“Okay, fine” you sighed. You would have to just find a way to uncover Jinwoos power without interacting with him too much.

“Excellent!” The chairman leaned back in his chair and clapped his hands together once, “I’ll get your pass updated so you can enter the training grounds whenever needed, and I’ll make sure that there is someone around to cover the new hunter evaluations so you can concentrate all your energy on this assignment. If you need anything, just ask, and I’ll get it done.” his gaze was so intense as he said that last bit that you were a bit worried about what you had just agreed to.

In a slight daze, you nodded, got up out the chair and made your way to the door. Just before opening it, you turned and clarified,

“Am I reporting my findings straight to you?”

“Yes, probably for the best. We don’t need more people than absolutely necessary knowing that we have no idea what Hunter Sung is capable of.” This was serious, you could not fuck this up. You nodded and left.

Out in the hallway, whilst waiting for the elevator, you shook yourself. You could do this. You could figure this out without revealing anything about yourself. Most people would see this assignment as a blessing. Being able to get close to South Korea's hottest up-and-coming Hunter AND be paid for it - who wouldn’t want that? Not to mention the cherry on the top for someone like you. You don’t know almost exactly what he's thinking and feeling all the time! Instead, you would be sitting there questioning why you can’t feel anything from him the whole time and would never be able to relax. As it was, you spent way too long thinking about Sung Jinwoo, you didn’t need more reasons!

The elevator doors slide open revealing Baek Yoonho, you smiled politely and gestured for him to leave before you got on. After all the chairmans office was on the top floor so he must have been coming here to see him.

“No, I, uh, just took one going up rather than down” he offered an awkward smile whilst rubbing the back of his neck. You breathed out a laugh, shaking your head before entering the small space and pressing the button for the basement where your own office was. “So, you just come from a meeting with the big man?” you nodded in response. “You’re not going to tell me what it was about, are you?” You shook your head no, Yoonho chuckled, “You're in a talkative mood today.” When you finally turned to face him, he caught sight of the worried look on your face. “Wait, are you okay? What did Go say to you?” His eyes started to glow golden, and you felt the air begin to vibrate as Yoonho tried to hold back his anger. In a panic, you reach out your hand, placing it on his bicep.

“Woah there, big guy, it's nothing, honestly. I’ve just got a lot on my mind.” Your words and the reassuring smile on your lips seemed to calm him enough to keep his beast from showing. You did not need the distructive power Yoonho was capable of to be unleashed in such a small space.

“If you're sure?” His hand reached to cover yours where it rested on his arm

“I am; everything is fine.”

“In which case, let me help you take your mind off everything. Let me take you out.”

Not this again. You thought. When will he get the hint?

Since he offered you that lift 6 months ago, he's been pretty relentless in trying to get you alone. It has all been pretty innocent…at least it would seem that way to most people, but you knew better. You could feel what he felt towards you, and it was anything but innocent. You were just about to reject him again when a thought suddenly occurred to you. He was at Jeju with Jinwoo. He would know what happened during the media blackouts! Maybe you didn’t need to get Jinwoo to trust you, maybe you could get Yoonho and the other hunters to spill!

“Um, sure” Whilst you weren’t 100% convinced of a plan you came up with 10 seconds ago, you agreed to go on the “date”, but maybe you could make it as least date-like as possible.”But it will have to be lunch, and I’m busy for the next couple of days soo…” You trailed off, but Yoonho has a massive grin on his face.

“Yeah, of course, no worries, whenever you can do. I'm just glad you finally agreed!” 

Oh god, what had you done? Agreeing to two things you didn’t want to do in the same day! Whats wrong with you!

By the time the elevator reached the lobby, Yoonho stop, you had both agreed to meet in a few days' time at a cafe down the street. As Yoonho made his way across the reception area and out onto the street, he seemed to have a bit more of a spring in his step than he had before. You shook your head as the door slid back closed and the elevator continued down into the basement where the archives were kept.

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@weaponxgames

Thanks to the holiday weekend, and therefore the lack of staff on duty, you had been too busy to think too much about your disastrous date, your failed plan and of course Him. But it was Tuesday, again, and that meant you were back in the cafe sipping your chai latte listening to Aera complain about how busy the cafe had been over the weekend, and how people expected places to be open and running at full capacity on holiday weekends, despite no one wanting to work them. You'd already given her the lowdown on your date on Friday night when she knocked on your door once she’d closed the cafe; she’d been yawning the whole time but was determined to know what had happened. Aera had taken one look at your dishevelled look, hair and clothes all skewed and crumpled, eyes rimmed red from tears, turned around and stomped back down the hall leading to outside. You’d called after her, but she ignored you in typical Aera fashion, and you were in no state to go after her yourself. Instead, you tried phoning her, but it went straight to voicemail, you tried again, same result. You half expected not to hear anything until the news reported that a local coffee shop owner had attacked the head of a Guild. Instead, the next thing you know, there was another knock on the door, and there she stood again, but this time with tubs of ice cream in hand.

The two of you had sat on the sofa for the rest of the night talking whilst some crappy action film played on the TV, even though neither of you were paying attention to it. Turns out she was set to go beat up Yoonho, but thought she should get the details first so she knew how bad to make it hurt, you were glad she hadn't just gone out guns blazing. She was especially glad when she realised it would have been for no reason at all and your tears had nothing to do with Yoonho. You were even more glad when she didn’t push you for details when you said it was your past that had caused the tears. You had only just stopped crying, and you really didn't want to start again.

“Anyway, I'd better go get back to work, you wouldn't imagine how much coffee we used over the weekend, so I need to sort out getting some more in. As it's quiet, do you want another?” She gestures to your mug, you glance around the room and see that only 2 other tables are occupied, so few that you can block out their emotions and relax. Enjoying being out of the house for once, you nod. “Awesome, I'll get that made and bring it over before I start doing the inventory. And before you say anything, no you will not be paying for it.” She walks away before you can reply. You learnt a long time ago that there was no point in arguing with Aera, instead, you'll put the money for the extra drink in the tip jar when you leave.

As you wait for your drink, you pull out your book, you open it to find you're still on the same chapter you were when you tried to read it last week. You’ve been too exhausted and emotionally drained to read this past week.

“Here you go darling, pop your head round the back when you're leaving, will ya?” Aera places a fresh mug in front of you and gives you a hopeful smile.

“Of course I will, thank you for this.” She waves her fingers at you in goodbye as she leaves.

“Ah ha, you can't use the excuse that you are just leaving this time.” So much for reading your book, you place the bookmark back on the same page and take a deep breath before turning to the voice. Jinwoo. Why is he everywhere?

“Well, I could, but that would be a waste of a perfectly good drink.” The smile you give him is tight and forced. Despite all the signals telling him the opposite, he sets his drink down on the table and slides into the booth opposite you.

“You fascinate me, you know.” His elbow finds the table, and he leans his head on his hand, gazing at you intently like he's trying to solve a puzzle.

“Gee, that's just what every girl wants to hear.” There's a forced cheeriness to your voice.

“Well, what can I say? I'm a master of seduction.” You scoff, “Almost every other girl in the city is throwing themselves at me after the broadcast of the Jeju Island Raid. But not you. You seem to be repulsed to even be in the same room as me.” You roll your eyes at his conceitedness, “And you see the thing is, it's not even like you hate me because I didn't get to the island quick enough. You hated me before then. You hated me when you healed me 6 months ago. I want to know why?”

“Can your fragile ego not cope with one woman not falling at your feet?” you fake pout at him.

“My ego is anything but fragile, and you seem to know it based on the jabs you’ve made at me. You seem to know something I don't.”

“Who do you think I am, some stalker?”

“No, but you know something. Have we met before? You said you knew me when we last met. What did you mean by that? How do you know me?” You just stare at him, not entertaining this line of questioning. “Is it some fascination with Hunters? S-Rank Hunters? I know you went on a date with Hunter Baek.” was that, jealousy, you could hear in his tone.

“Why would I have a hunter fascination? I work at the association, I'm around them all day, why would I also want them in my personal life?”

“Hey, don’t ask me. You’re the one going on dates with them and saying you know me when all we’ve had is a couple of minutes' worth of conversation.” Jinwoo shrugs, a smug look on his face like he won a prize.

“Look, I don't want to play this game with you. If you say you don't know me, then, fine, you don’t know me. But don't expect me to hash it all out for you, not here, not now.” You finally managed to tear your gaze from his electric blue eyes. Even before he changed, you found them mesmerising. Now, everything about him has levelled up. You startle at the thought.

Leveled up? Could he be the player that joined? No, the System hasn't said anything. No EXP bonus. Nothing. It can't be him. Can it? It might explain why you have no perception of his feelings; maybe that skill doesn't work with other players. You've never met another player before to test the theory. The thoughts run rapidly through your head, barely giving you time to think about the first before another one occurs.

“What do you mean, if, I don't know. Before 6 months ago, I have no recollection of ever meeting you before. If not here and now, and when and where? I want to know. This connection, our connection, is driving me insane.” He reaches across the table, entwining his fingers with yours, pulling your hand away from the death grip you had on your mug. Sparks fly over your skin where he touches you, your nerve endings alive with electricity, sending pulses of pleasure up your arm, straight to your heart. He feels like he used to. He feels like home. No, you shake yourself, you cannot let yourself be pulled in by him. He forgot you; he doesn't deserve your forgiveness.

“Nowhere and never. You don't get to make me live through it again because you conveniently forgot. I'm not reliving that for your entertainment.” Despite this conversation bringing up the same memories as on your date with Yoonho, this time you're not on the verge of tears; you just want to punch something. Maybe you'll join a squad and take on a gate this afternoon.

“Look, bab-”

“Don't you dare ‘babe’ me.” You tried to keep your anger in check, but by the look on his face, you were not doing a very good job. His gaze zeroed in on you eyes, damn, were they glowing? You squeezed your eyes shut, trying to calm yourself, only to realise he still had hold of your hand. You wrench it out of his grip.

“What the-” it was said under his breath, but you still heard it. “How are you-” wrong line of questioning, please don't ask. You knew his grip had been too strong for a normal person to have been able to pull out of, but you had done it anyway. His phone was ringing in his pocket, but he was too busy staring at you, mesmerised.

“Aren't you going to get that?” You say, clearing your throat.

“Huh, oh yeah.” As if only just realising it was his phone that was ringing. “Hello. Okay.” His eyes don't leave yours, capturing you there, ensuring you don't leave while he's busy. “What's that got to do with me? Well, I'm in the middle of something right now.” he has the audacity to wink at you. “Can't you find someone else? Alright fine, I'll be there as soon as I wrap this up.” He still holds your gaze as he pulls the phone away from his ear and hangs up without looking. “Sorry, darling, but something has come up.” You breathe out a sigh of relief. “Don't look so relieved, this conversation is far some over. I want to know everything, “He says up bracing himself on the table as he leans over so his face is only inches from yours. “About you strength, your healing skills and about everything you won't tell me. I will not let this go. I will find out.” The threat paralleled Aeras, only this one made all other threats seem like jokes. And you were on the wrong end of it. Part of you was intrigued to see what lengths he would go to to get the information, another part of you was terrified to find out. You let out a shaky breath, it mingled with his in the air as you realised he had gotten even closer. Close enough to kiss you. You looked down at his lips, flashbacks to the kisses you used to share flood your mind. You could only imagine how much better he had gotten, and he felt so good before.

Snapping your eyes back up to his, you saw he too was looking at your lips, maybe wondering the same thing. Unfortunately, for him you would not have improved, having been with no one since he abandoned you. As if sensing your eyes, he met them with his own, glowing an electric blue that you knew meant he was just holding his power in check. The shadows of the room seemed to have a mind of their own. Writhing and twisting, awaiting order from their master. You knew if you looked in a mirror, you own eyes would be glowing green, meeting the challenge he had placed at your feet. You would not go down that easily. You would fight him every step of the way after what he did to you.

Suddenly, he pulled back, seeming to get himself under control. As gracefully as he could, he slid out of the booth and stormed across the cafe. Glancing back over his shoulder as he yanked the door open,

“This is not over”, were the last words you got from him before he used his speed to vanish to wherever he had be called to. You slumped back in your chair, letting out a breath as you did. All the tension leaves your body. That man, that infuriating man.

You sat at your desk later that day, anger and restlessness still filling your muscles. There was only one thing for it. Opening up your internet browser, you looked at listings for raids. There were a few that would have worked for you to be able to let off some steam, but only one A-Rank gate. It had been a while since you had been on a raid, and you’d leveled up a few times since then, so it would be good to test your new strength. There was a party that needed another member to help carry their gear, which gave you, an E-Rank Healer, a good excuse to join their party. Nobody would take you seriously as a fighting member of a party or even a healer.

Contacting the Captain, he seemed hesitant to accept you, but there was no one else who had applied, so you got the location of the gate and the time to meet them. A quick glance at the clock showed you had plenty of time to get there, but you had a thing about being late, so you closed out of your browser and shut down the computer before making your way to the bedroom to change.

At the back of your wardrobe sat your hunting gear. It had been through a few different iterations over the years, with the most major one being when you became a player. The first few level-ups lead to some…drastic, changes in your physical appearance. You'd finally settled on a black long-sleeved top with cut-outs that left your shoulder exposed, tight black trousers and knee-high combat boots with built-in dagger sheaths. A utility belt sat around your waist, allowing you to carry almost anything you needed quick access to, such as health potions, food and teleportation stones. The utility belt was easier to explain the having access to the Systems' never-ending inventory. You finished the ensemble with a long black cloak complete with a hood that did a good job of hiding your identity from the people you had met through work. You didn’t share your name with everyone you met, but they would have seen your face, and as it's frowned upon for association workers to raid gates without approval, and you were technically a retired hunter, you shouldn’t really be doing this. You shrugged at your reflection in the mirror, oh well, you had to let off steam one way or another, and raiding was more fun than going to the gym.

You arrived at the gate with time to spare, perched against a nearby fence to wait for the rest of the party to arrive. It wasn’t long before a group made their way down the street to the gate.

“Right, this is it,” one of the part members spoke, you assumed it was the Captain from the authority in his voice, “We just need to wait for the E-Rank to arrive.” They obviously hadn’t seen you in the shadows, just as you were about to step out and reveal yourself, something made you pause. “Why’d you have to get an E-Rank?” A member of the party questioned.

“Yeah, now we’ll have to spend the whole time making sure they don’t get killed.” Came another voice.

“And all that would take is them to trip over something!” The first voice responded laughing, causing the rest of the party to break out in hysterics. It was the same everywhere. E-Ranks are the lowest of the low. They’re a joke to the Hunter community, and there was no way to prove them wrong because, quite frankly, it's true. Most E-Rank hunters have no business being in a dungeon, especially not an A-Rank one. But that doesn’t make it hurt less.

“Hey now,” It was the Captain’s voice, “We don’t have to worry about keeping them alive. What happens in a dungeon, stays in the dungeon. If they die, they die, that's not our fault. They knew what they signed up for when they joined the raid.” You should have known better than to hope the Captain would have been different. With a sigh, you stepped out of the shadows.

“Nice to know you all think so highly of me.” Your voice was flat, and you refused to show them any weakness. They, on the other hand, had the decency to at least look a little guilty, well, all except the owner of the first voice. A Tank, if you had to guess by the way he was dressed, a typical Tank based on his attitude. You locked eyes with him, even without the hatred in his eyes, you could feel his contempt for you. This was going to be fun, you rolled your eyes.

Clearing his throat the Captain spoke, “Right, uh, so you ready to go?” you nodded in response, “Good, this is the bag of stuff for you to carry, lets go then.” without hesitation the captain drops a heavily ladened rucksack at your feet and turns to walk into the gate followed swiftly by the rest of the party, with you following closely behind adjusting the straps of the bag as you go.

You yawn as the party stops to rest in a clearing before continuing to trek through the forest in search of the Boss.

“Oh, I'm sorry, are we keeping you up?” the group's Healer snarls at you.

“What do you have to be tired about? You haven’t done anything!” It’s the arrogant Tank again. You haven't bothered to learn any of their names, after all, it's not like you’ll be joining their party again. That was a rule of yours: if you were going to go into gates, you could never go with the same party twice, it ran too big of a risk of someone discovering something they shouldn't. He wasn’t wrong; you hadn’t done anything, you yawned because you were bored. Only one beast had appeared at a time, making it easy for the party to take them down without you being able to join in. What you needed was a big battle; multiple beasts at once would mean they were all distracted, and you could test out your new speed and strength. You hoped you’d at least be able to have some fun when you found the Boss, but that wasn’t going to happen at this rate. It felt like you’d been walking in circles for hours, never getting any closer to the source of magic you could feel in the distance.

You dropped the heavy bag you were carrying to the ground, letting your irritation get the better of you. You were spoiling for a fight, and if that had to be with members of the party, then so be it. Rotating your shoulders, releasing the tightness they held from supporting the bag, you took a step towards the Tank, only to pull up short. A massive source of magic was coming through the trees at speed. Turning slightly to face the oncoming threat, you dropped into a fighting stance.

“Ooo, look at this. Little E-Rank wants a fight!” You were too focused on the actual threat to care who said it.

“Oh, shut up. There’s something coming.” You didn’t take your focus off the woods before you.

“I don’t feel anything.” It came from the Captain as he walk up to stand beside you, facing a threat he didn’t believe existed.

“Focus. Something’s coming this way. And fast.” you felt the curiosity emanating off the Captain, there was an undercurrent of disbelief tainting it, but after several moments, almost too many, the Captain turned to the rest of the party and called battle stations.

Just as the party were getting ready to fight, a huge beast burst from the tree line. This was unlike any beast you had seen before. It had a huge lion's mane that steak out behind it as it ran towards you, but its face was too human to call it a lion. Whilst it was running, it used all four legs, but as it skidded to a halt when faced with the party, it stood on its back legs, stretching to its full height. Stood upright, it was taller than the trees that surrounded them.

“What the fuck is that?!”

“How did we not feel that coming?”

“How did the E-Rank feel it was coming?”

The questions came thick and fast, but there was no time for answers. Great swiping claws reached just inches from them as the beast attacked.

“Positions!” yelled the Captain, taking his eyes off the beast for a moment to check his party had heard him. It was enough time for the beast to aim another strike at him, sending him flying past you and into a tree before slumping to the ground. You followed the movement, double-checking the rest of the party were handling their own before running to his aid.

Sliding to a halt on your knees beside the Captain, you assessed his injuries. Four massive gouge marks lined his chest. If he wasn’t treated fast, he wouldn’t make it out of the gate. You had sworn to yourself that you would never leave a man behind. You now had the power to heal people even when on the brink of death, you would not allow yourself to waste it.

“Gods, damn it. Why’d you have to be such an asshole to me?” It's so much easier to heal people when they’d been nice to you.

“S-sorry”, his response was quiet; he didn’t have long. Knelt in the dirt, cloak spread out around you, you rubbed your hands together, warming them slightly before laying them flat to his torso. Covering as much of the wound as possible, direct skin contact was the best way to heal a wound without scarring. Closing your eyes, you channelled your mana into your fingers, visualising the injury and knitting it back together. In the back of your mind, you could hear the fighting that happened behind you, subconsciously you kept track of where in the clearing the fight was, tensing when the clashes and shouts got closer, before relaxing when they retreated again. Your perception skill allowed you to pinpoint everyone based on their emotions. The arrogant Tank was on the front lines, forcing the beast back away from the Healer who was helping a Mage who had been wounded. The beast was surrounded, but somehow still winning the fight.

Bursting through the defensive line the creature took a swipe at your undefended back.

At least, it thought it was undefended. At the last second, you took a dagger from its sheath in your boot and sliced. The paw that should have ended you instead landed, severed, next to you. The beast let out a roar of pain, swiping blindly with its uninjured arm only to be met by a shield, halting its progress. You turned to see the arrogant Tank looking at you with pure confusion. “What the-”

“Not the time.” You looked back down at the Captain to see that his wounds had healed with no visible scarring. The Tank pushed the beast back, straight into the path of an incoming attack spell. Flicking your dagger to remove the blood from it, you stood, slow and with purpose, weighing your options. The party knew, there was no going back now. No pretending you were some weak E-Rank. You might as well end this and hope they agree to keep your secret.

You take a deep breath, now is a good a time as any to test out you new skills. One foot in front of the other, you crouch slightly, stooping to collect the dagger from your other boot. You always loved dual-wielding in games, and it gave you a slight thrill to try it in real life. With one last scan of the area, you launch at the beast, using your speed to catch it off guard with a slice across the chest before ricocheting off a tree on the other side of the clearing to slice across its back. Landing in a three-point pose, you see the beast is stunned and confused, looking around to find the source of its wounds. Letting out a breath, you leap into the air above the creature's head before dropping onto its shoulders to slice your daggers across its neck, severing everything major. You feel the body beneath you wobble and tip as the life leaves it, as it tumbles to the ground, you jump off, leaving enough space to ensure you don’t get crushed under its enormous weight. A quick check over yourself makes you realise you're not a breathless as you should be, you have gained more stamina than you thought. You walk over the fallen beast and wipe your bloodied daggers on the scraps of cloth that cover its body before sliding them back into the sheaths at your calves. Straightening, you glance around at the rest of the party to ensure there are no more injuries that need to be taken care of. Instead, you are met with 9 pairs of eyes, all looking at you with a mixture of confusion and awe. Shit.

“What-” Starts the Captain, still struggling to get to his feet from the base of the tree you left him at.

“What the fuck was that!?” the Tank interrupted, he seemed to be the only one seething with anger, everybody else frozen in shock. You remained silent, unsure of what you could say to make this better.

“Hayoon, calm down, I’m sure there is a logical explanation,” the Captain, now on his feet, set his hand on the Tank's shoulder before returning his attention to you, “right?”

“Umm, I don't really know what to say.” You avoid eye contact, looking at anything but the 9 people who wanted an explanation out of you.

“How about you start with the fact that you are clearly not on E-Rank Hunter of any kind.” The Captain gives you a pointed look.

“I mean, technically, officially, I am an E-Rank.” You fiddle with the edge of your cloak.

“So you tricked the assocaition somehow?”

“No.”

“Then what?”

“I, um, well, I was an E-Rank when I got assessed but I trained and shit and now I'm, not?” you grimace at the weak answer.

“Wait so you reawakened?” A Mage across the clearing spoke

“Um…sure”

“And based on your reaction, the association doesn't know?” You shake your head, “And you don't want them to know.” You nod. “So you need us to keep your secret.”

“Yeah, basically.” You gave the Captain a hopeful look, knowing he gets the last say on what the party would, or would not, say.

“Give us a moment.” The Captain gestured to the rest of the party and walked off into the woods. You looked down at your hands, they were covered in blood, you could feel the adrenaline pumping through your veins slowly dissipating, leaving you trembling slightly. You wiped your hands on your trousers in an effort to get rid of the worst of the red, this was why you wore black. You had to walk through the city after this, and you didn't need anyone asking why you were covered in blood, and blood didn’t show up on black. You were still trying to get the staining off your hands when the group reappeared out of the trees.

“Okay, we'll keep your secret. It's the least we can do after you saved our lives. And, by the looks of it, took out the Boss single-handed.” The Captain shrugged before clearing his throat, his voice returning to the authoritative Captain he was before the fight. “On that note, we'd better harvest what we can from the nearby area. Now the Boss is defeated, it's only a matter of time before the gate closes, so we need to get out of here quick.” Everybody nods and gets to work.

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Jinwoo and Ma returned to their match, this time choosing to test their physical abilities against each other. Even though Ma was going all out you knew Jinwoo was holding back. His eyes constantly flicking to you.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Yoonho's voice reached your ears .You tare your gaze from

the fight in front of you and focus on him. His eyes shine with sympathy, flicking back and forth, still checking you over for injuries.

"Honestly I’m fine" you try reassuring him again but he still doesn’t look convinced. You know he's about to start fussing over you, being over protective. It'll only be a matter of moments before he asks you to go somewhere safer. You barely hold back an eye roll at the thought. You could take care of yourself. Not that anyone knew that.

Your eyes caught on Jinwoos again. Maybe he knew. He was far perceptive then the others. Maybe he had noticed your imperceptible dodge of that dagger and coupled with your unexplained strength when you pulled away from him the other day, you wouldn't be surprised if he was suspicious. With his gaze locked on yours, a smirk turned up the corners of his mouth. You were dimly aware that he still fought with expert precision despite never sparing his opponent a glance.

"Do you know what?” The words are rushed, almost frantic, they force you back to the real world. You crane your neck to look at Yoonho who now stood directly in front of you. "It's too dangerous for you to be down here. If you have to be in the room can you please go up to the observation deck." It wasn't really a question. You knew he wouldn’t let it go. He'd got himself so worked up that all he could focus on was your safety and not watching the fight he was supposed to be learning from. You wracked your brain trying to figure out what you could say to convince him everything was fine. He hadn't seen your infinitesimal dodge. All he saw was how close the dagger had been. You felt hands on your shoulders, forcing you to take a step and then another. To stop Yoonho would take an impossible amount of strength, you had that strength but could you justify showing your hand here, now? Instead you had

just let it happen. You wanted to stay in the main training area. The System wanted you to stay in the main training area. And yet you could not think of a way to do it without exposing your power. 

Suddenly the pressure from your shoulders disappeared, a gust of wind, followed by the crack of a body hitting the wall. You freeze momentarily, almost afraid to turn around.

The room had gone deadly silent, in the corner of your eye you could see only Ma stood in the ring, their opponent gone. In an instant you knew what had happened. Jinwoo.

Jinwoo had Yoonho pinned against the wall behind you. Rage barely contained. A deep purple aura spilling out around him. Yoonho tried to hold his own but he stood no chance.

"You dare touch her!" Jinwoo's voice was low "You dare try to force her to do anything. I let you protect her but she is not yours to order around." Around the room a few of the Hunters look like they might try to intervene but then think better of it. Like they knew it would just make matters worse.

"She is perfectly capable of looking after herself." Jinwoo eyes flash to yours as his lips quirks up "And anything she can't handle, I'll protect her from.” You feel your cheeks heat, reveling in him, before returning to reality and remembering he is cutting off Yoonhos oxygen supply. 

You move forwards and reach an arm out towards Jinwoo, keeping your movements slow like you're approaching a frightened animal rather than a human being.

"It's okay. I'm fine" The words don't get through so you make the final move, laying

your hand on his arm “Jin” it comes out as a whispered plea but in the silent room it was deafening..

A pin dropping would have sounded deafening in that room. A feminine gasp reached your ears - probably Cha, everyone knew she had a crush on Jinwoo. You could feel Jinwoo’s chest heaving in the effort to hold his power in check but at your voice his breathing slowed. Calmed. His aura shrinking. Slowly, almost menacingly he turned towards you, Yoonhos struggle renewed wanting to protect you from Jinwoo's wrath but you stood, unflinching. You knew Jin wouldn't hurt you. Yoonho tried and tried to get free of Jinwoo's hold but Jinwoo just stood looking at you with piercing eyes, seemingly unaware of Yoonho's fight. 

"Don't take this out on her " Yoonho wheezed out with the little bit of air Jinwoo's grip around throat would allow "Your fight is with me!" 

A dark chuckle left Jinwoo’s throat as he turned back to Yoonho, looking at him like he was a bug on his food. "You think I want to fight you?" His voice was darker than you've ever heard it before. "My only goal here is to protect her” 

Realising the men were not going to come to an amicable conclusion you decide you need to step in. 

"Jin, don't worry. Calm down." You reach a hand towards his face, as he returns his gaze to yours you cup his cheek. "I know you want to protect me, it's all you've ever wanted to do. But this is not the way to do it, especially because I don't need protection.” Your voice hardened with annoyance as you spoke. Something about what you said or how you said it got through to Jinwoo. He released his grip on Yonhoo's throat, the other hunter collapsed to the floor, gasping for breath. You dropped your hand from Jinwoo’s cheek. "You of all people know I can protect myself. I can't believe you would pull that 'macho' shit with me.” You felt like a child throwing a tantrum but you couldn't help falling back into your old ways of lecturing your best friend. He had always tried to protect you even before when he was known as the weakest hunter. Something like recognition flashed in his eyes, like after all this time he remembered you. 

No, you shook that thought out of your head. You couldn't think like that, not after all this time. It was too painful. And yet even as you tried to get yourself to stop you couldn’t help but hope. The painful thoughts filtered into your subconscious, making tears prick at the edge of your vision. Overcome with emotion you turn and run from the training room before your tears can spill.

You're running down the stark white hallway not really sure where your destination is when an arm wraps around your waist, pulling you back against a solid chest. In a movement so fast it should have left you dizzy, you’re whirled around and slammed into the wall. Jinwoo stands above you with confusion in his eyes. He traps you against the wall with a hand on either side of your head. He takes in your face, the tears streaming down your cheeks. He leans in, his face only inches from yours.

"Who are you? Why do I have insatiable need to be near you? To protect you? How do I know you?”

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