Solo Leveling EN [Jin Woo X OC]

Red Elixir

Rayna stood in front of the vending machine, her hands trembling with frustration. She kept pressing the button, watching the coin get stuck in the slot, refusing to come out. The irritation rose inside her like a wave about to overflow.

"Damn, fucking machine!" she growled, attracting the gaze of the few people in the room. But it was nothing compared to what she felt inside. A month of ICU duty, managing critically ill patients, running against time and energy, and on top of that, the torture of menstruation tearing at her insides. Sometimes, a simple incident like this was enough to make her nerves snap.

Ju Hee, her friend, had often told her that Rayna had mood disorders. But Ju Hee was so gentle, so calm, it was impossible for Rayna to hate her, even in her crazy moments. On the contrary, every time Rayna blew up, it was Ju Hee who brought her back to reason, simply by being there, by listening. But tonight, Ju Hee was not here.

Tonight, Rayna was on the night shift, and her task was even more arduous than usual. She not only had to keep her mana under control — a constant and exhausting effort — but also fight the sleep that was inevitably taking over. The night team was reduced, and she was solely responsible for aisle D, the area reserved for patients intolerant to mana, always in a deep coma.

The hospital had set up aisle D in the most isolated corner, at the far east end, a ten-minute walk away. A long trek from one end to the other, but Rayna knew it was necessary for the patients' well-being. After all, the hospital also hosted healer hunters, people whose mana could be too powerful and dangerous for such fragile patients. Distance had to be maintained.

She focused for a moment on a patient's file, an old man nearing the end of his life. Every word she wrote in her report weighed heavily on her conscience. What she noted could change the course of events for this patient — a decision that might grant him a few more days, or hasten his passage to death. It was a burden she never handled easily.

She took a deep breath before standing up and heading to the coffee machine at the far end of the room, hoping the warmth of the hot drink would comfort her. But as she passed the nurses' station, a strange noise caught her attention. She stopped abruptly, eyes searching the source of the sound in the heavy silence of the night.

The hallway was empty, dark as always, ceiling neon lights casting distorted shadows. Everything seemed normal. But then, a cold shiver ran down her spine. A feeling she knew well — that of a portal, the heaviness in the air, the sense of a supernatural, oppressive presence. An invisible energy, but very real, seeming to seep under her skin. She shook her head, refusing to succumb to paranoia.

She turned away to press the coffee machine button, but the anxiety wouldn't leave her. The footsteps, though light, had suddenly intensified. Rayna closed her eyes for a moment, forcing herself to rationalize. Creatures from the portals couldn't leave those dimensions — it was just a colleague who hadn't respected the no-access rule for hunters. Nothing more.

But the thought didn't calm her. The drops of coffee falling into the cup seemed to match the footsteps from the hallway. They were getting closer slowly, as if something was heading toward her, and she felt it in every fiber of her being.

Sighing, she decided to check. It was probably just a reckless person. She went through the door of the nurses' station and walked down the hall, her mind ready to confront the intruder. The figure at the end of the corridor did nothing to reassure her. It was so far, so blurry in the darkness, but the aura it emitted was anything but ordinary. The air around it seemed to vibrate, as if an invisible force surrounded it, crushing everything in its path. Rayna squinted to see more clearly, but all she could make out was a dark figure, almost distorted by shadows. A human silhouette, but something about its demeanor seemed... off.