Tentative

The fight (1)

A/N: the cover page is hand drawn by me!!!

Sung Jin-Woo was here once again. The place where it all started, the place where he got his newfound powers from, the place where he got a new life.

Ever since he had left the double dungeon, he was plagued with nightmares of that fateful encounter. He had suffered a lot of panic attacks due to this exact place and now, he was here to face his fear.

He knew that the panic attacks and the nightmares won't go away so easily but he owed this much to his younger self. The young Jin-Woo who had lost almost everything was traumatised beyond perception. The Jin-Woo who had been so young and yet had to face betrayal and almost death.

The Jin-Woo was still plagued with nightmares and panic attacks due to that incident.

Both of them deserved some closure. He knows that the nightmares and panic attacks won't be cured with this one face-off but at least he won't be terrified of the fact that this monster is still present out there.

He needs to finish this fight once and for all.

Just as Jin-Woo was about to enter, he heard a voice calling for him in the distance. Jin-Woo was very confused, who would want to follow him this far to the doorstep of danger?

He knew that even though he now held the position of 'the world's strongest hunter', he was still just as much uncared for as he was back when he used to be an E-rank hunter.

Then, they didn't think that he would ever make it out alive of any of the dungeons and now, they all believed that he would be able to clear every dungeon by himself. They care for his well being, neither then nor now.

Even though his position and strength changed, he still didn't hold an important place in anyone's heart except his own family.

He knew that if he were to die one day, the world would mourn for the loss of a powerful S-rank hunter rather than Jin-Woo.

He knows that most of the population and even some hunters don't see him as a human so who could this person be? Why were they venturing into this dangerous place searching for him? And why did they sound so distressed?

Worried that something happened outside, Jin-Woo called out in the direction of the voice," I'm here, at the end of this dark cave."

As soon as he spoke, the panicked voice stopped shouting and he heard footsteps rushing towards him.

After some time, he saw Woo Jin-Chul running towards him.

This was the first time Jin-Woo has seen Jin-Chul in such a dishevelled appearance. The A-rank hunter had always been pristine and calm under all circumstances, so what could have happened to make him this distressed?

Before Jin-Woo could ask for the sudden appearance of the hunter, Jin-Chul started speaking," Hunter-nim. I am sorry to run after you like this but I was worried that this double dungeon might be hard even for you so I wanted to make sure that you're alright.

Please don't misunderstand, I am not looking down on you. I just thought that entering a double dungeon once again might not be a pleasant experience for you so I wanted to provide some moral support."

Looking at Woo Jin-Chul's dishevelled appearance, flushed face and panting breaths, Jin-Woo knew that this man had rushed here as fast as he could. And he felt warm in his chest that at least someone was willing to care for him. Him. Sung Jin-Woo. And not the S-rank hunter that everyone saw.

Noticing that Woo Jin-Chul was still rambling and apologising for stopping Jin-Woo in his path, Jin-Woo decided to cut him off before his rambling gets worse and he starts apologising for all the issues Jin-Woo had to ever deal with.