❛ 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐇𝐀𝐃𝐎𝐖 𝐈𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐋𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓 ❜ ━━━ (𝘀. 𝗷𝗶𝗻𝘄𝗼𝗼)

| eleven ; cha hae-in

"yes, the monsters are bigger than expected," jin-woo replied. "all the monsters have been eliminated but the boss has been left alone, right?"

"that's correct. they can't kill the boss since the gate will close." the foreman answered. "the boss won't be eliminated until the collecting team and mining team have finished their work."

"what happens if the boss leaves its nest?"

"those kinds of situations are very rare, but...everyone in here will die."

jin-woo nodded his head, "are you not scared by the horrifying monster that's looming behind your back?"

"not at all," the foreman said. "i've worked for the hunters guild for three years and there have never been an accident."

jin-woo then walked away and began to do his work; mining the crystals. the other miners all looked at him in surprise. it was as if he was experienced, and he certainly was strong enough for the job.

"team leader, didn't you say that this was his first time?"

"...i did."

"is he really an e-rank? his work rate and skills are not normal," the miner commented.

"of course, i checked his license. did you think i would accept without checking their license first?"

"then can you explain that?"

"...mister sung is surely a miner blessed by the heavens. i really have an eye for people."

just then, a voice shouted in the cave. "it's time for lunch! let's all take a break and go eat!"

"aren't you coming along, mister sung?" the team leader asked.

"i'm fine, i already ate," jin-woo answered.

"oh? then you can do as you please," he said and left the dungeon.

jin-woo waited till everyone left before dropping his pickaxe. i'm finally left alone, i can't miss an opportunity like this. i have one hour of free time. i'll just take a quick peek and come back.

jin-woo stopped when he arrived at the entrance of a huge chamber. its room was bigger than the cavern itself.

just then, he spotted a lone humanoid monster standing still at the end of the room. a giant-type monster.

it's definitely stronger than metus. my current strength will be enough, but my inner conscience is telling me that this is wrong.

"should i just cut it up?" he asked himself.

the gate will start shutting down the moment i kill the boss and the hunters guild will take a huge loss.

"what are you doing there?"

jin-woo froze at the new voice. he heard footsteps growing closer to him.

"i asked you a question."

jin-woo sighed and kept his dagger away. "i got lost and ended up here somehow."

"you got lost?" the voice asked. jin-woo turned his head slightly and knew it was cha hae-in.

"are you from the mining team? that's where the boss resides, please step back." she said.

jin-woo turned around and she looked down at his hand. her eyes widened as she thought that there was a weapon in position.

"please leave quickly. if you were to aggro the boss, a lot of people would die."

"ah, i'm sorry," jin-woo responded and walked past her.

hae-in's eyes widened as there was no foul smell coming from him. "hey, hold on a second!"

"huh?" jin-woo asked before hae-in closed in, smelling him even more.

there's no stench, just like y/n! hae-in thought happily.

"is there a problem?" jin-woo asked.

"are you really a hunter?" hae-in asked back. she looked at his hunter identification card and scanned it quickly before looking back at him.

"e-rank...sung jin-woo...hey, aren't you the guy y/n keeps talking about?" she asked.

"you know y/n?"

"yeah, she's my friend," hae-in replied with a smile. "she's very kind and strong, i look up to her. so what is your relation with her?"

jin-woo blushed as he averted his eyes, "uhh..."

"hae-in, where are you?!"

hae-in smiled and waved her hand, "i'm over here y/n!"

y/n turned around and quickly ran towards her, "gosh you gave me a heart attack. i thought i lost you!"

hae-in blushed and lowered her head, "i'm sorry, but this man was dangerously close to the boss."

y/n immediately looked up, her eyes widening as she shouted, "jin-woo?! what're you doing here?!"

"uh, surprise?" jin-woo grinned.

"this is the guy you've been talking about right?" hae-in asked.

y/n quickly laughed as if trying to cover her embarrassment, "whaaat? me talking about sung jin-woo? no way!"

jin-woo smirked as he bent down next to her ear, "someone's been talking."

"what is your relationship with each other?" hae-in questioned. it was clear that she was very interested in this topic.

jin-woo grinned, seeing an opportunity. "well, i'm y/n's boyfriend."

"what?!" both hae-in and y/n shouted.

y/n nervously chuckled as she quickly turned him around, urging jin-woo to leave, "ahahah, i think lunch time is ending! best for you to start heading back! be careful next time, the dungeon is huge!"

jin-woo laughed as he waved his hand, taking his leave. as he walked away, he heard hae-in teasing y/n. 

"i can't believe you have a boyfriend."

"no i don't!"

"then you must like him right?"

"hae-in!"

"you didn't deny it, y/n!"

jin-woo chuckled and saw that the rest of the miners had returned from their lunch break.

"oh, mister sung, what're you doing there?"

"i got lost," jin-woo answered.

"you should be more careful," the leader advised. "how did you get back here?"

"i ran into hunter cha hae-in and hunter y/n."

"woah, you got lost, met hunter cha and hunter y/n? aren't you a lucky guy. it's rare to even get to talk to hunter cha, let alone hunter y/n whom we've rarely seen."

i guess i am lucky. jin-woo wondered as he thought of y/n.

heh, maybe i do like her.

｡☆✼★━━━━━━━━━━━━★✼☆｡