the shadow in the light
chapter eight ; jin-woo's retesting
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"a little progress each day adds up to big results"
─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───
i hope i'm not late! i thought as i hurried into the car. i swear if someone tries to make jin-woo join their guild before i even step into the building, i will commit arson >:D
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"the next person can come inside." the employee said as she ushered one of the awakened hunters out of the room.
she smiled as she looked at the older man sitting next to jin-woo, "are you feeling a little ill?"
"no, it's not that..." the man answered shakily. "i'm a bit nervous right now so...would you like to enter first?"
"sure," jin-woo said and stood up.
jin-woo followed the lady into the room and closed the door behind him.
"what is your name?" the lady asked in a business-like manner.
"sung jin-woo," jin-woo answered.
"are you being re-evaluated?" she asked as she saw that he had already gotten an e-rank.
"yes."
"please place your hand on the black crystal and wait." she instructed. jin-woo nodded his head and placed his hand on the black crystal.
it lit up as it measured his magic level. the lady looked at her screen and saw an error. "just a moment. we'll try again."
an error appeared again as she kept trying over and over. "huh? this has never happened before. i'm sorry, we'll try once more."
she kept pressing the screen but the word error kept appearing on the screen. "what's wrong with this machine?"
"what? where's chang-sik and why are you alone?" manager jung gi-soo asked as he entered the room.
"he left for a washroom break."
"that guy...leaving his post during the busy hours..." the manager responded and walked over to the machine, "so what's wrong?"
"there's something wrong with the detector. look, i keep getting an error." she said and pointed to the screen.
manager jung gi-soo's jaw dropped as his expression froze up. "how long have you been working here?"
"it's been about six months...did i do something wrong?"
six months...this hasn't happened since cha hae-in about two years ago, and this is the first time since then. it's not surprising the newcomer doesn't know.
"no. get chang-shik here immediately." manager jung ordered.
"huh?" the lady asked cluelessly.
"the washroom isn't the important issue right now. get him over here quickly!" manager jung repeated.
"assistant manager? what's wrong?"
"this isn't an error. it's immeasurable. do you not understand what that means? it means that our detector is incapable of measuring his magic power!"
"what?! then this man is south korea's eleventh...!"
"that's right. he's an s-rank!"
outside the building was s-rank hunter choi jong-in and jin-chul who were conversing together.
"chief woo jin-chul. about hunter hwang dong-su from the scavenger's guild. is it true that he's not connected to the recent red gate incident?" jong-in asked.
"yes, hunter hwang dong-su is not the assistant despite your suspicion. i can assure you as the person who was at the scene of the incident. you can always ask y/n too, your favourite rival."
jong-in frowned, "then you must also know the identity of the assistant. regarding y/n, i'd prefer not to ask her as i fear that she'll attack me by wrapping me in toilet paper again."
jin-chul chuckled at the memory of y/n wrapping toilet paper around jong-in while he was asleep in his office.
"i didn't remain at the scene until the very end so i don't have the exact details. if i were to suspect someone..."
no, i can't assume anything again after the previous conclusion.
"you certainly don't open your mouth until you're positive with information. i understand," jong-in said. "anyways, i'm more curious about the discovery of an ant with wings."
jin-chul sighed as he crossed his arms, "we only discovered a dead corpse, but if we were to confirm that they can fly to the mainland without dying...no, i'm sure that the guilds will be called up before that."
"i understand." jong-in flicked his cigarette and looked at jin-chul, "the hunters guild will fully cooperate."
jin-chul nodded his head and watched as jong-in pointed to the building behind them. "by the way, building B is rather loud today."
"building B? i don't hear anything..." jin-chul murmured.
"i'm a bit sensitive." jong-in said.
"a new hunter is probably causing a ruckus due to his rank. i'll go check it out."
"no," jong-in interrupted and discarded his cigarette. "i'm also a little curious. let's go together."
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i parked my car outside the association and quickly went in the building.
unfortunately, the moment i stepped into the building, i met gazes with jin-woo's...and a s-rank hunter i considered my rival.
choi jong-in.
"oh come on, why are you here?!" i shouted with frustration to jong-in. i looked next to him and my eyes widened, "jin-chul, you're here too? oh my god."
"hello there y/n," jin-chul greeted with a wave. he gave me a look that practically said he was shock to see that jin-woo was an s-rank.
"my name is choi jong-in, a representative from the hunters guild. it looks like you just received your evaluation, but do you have a guild in mind? if not, i would like to take some of your time and discuss that matter with you."
"i'm sorry but i decline," jin-woo said and swiftly passed jong-in.
everyone was shock to see the famous choi jong-in get rejected by korea's eleventh s-rank hunter.
jin-woo stood in front of me with a smile, "you sure took your time."
"i tried my best to hurry okay?" i replied with a huff.
"uh huh. let's go now, you're supposed to treat me now." jin-woo said.
"yes, i didn't forget," i smiled. jin-woo took my hand and led me out the building quietly.
when i turned around to look back at the building, yoon-ho had just arrived. by the looks of it, he must've transformed to hurry here.
"keys," jin-woo said and i tossed him the keys to my car. i entered the passenger seat while jin-woo took the driver's seat.
"alright, mister jin-woo, what would you like to do as your first day of being an s-rank?" i asked with a smile.
"well, we are going to eat first. then, we're going to see my mom again." jin-woo informed as he began driving us to the destination he had in mind.
"okay!" i responded and looked outside the building.
fifteen minutes passed and jin-woo finally stopped the car. i looked out and saw it was a cafe that decorated cutely.
i got out the car and entered the cafe with jin-woo. "this cafe's really a hidden gem. how'd you know of its existence?"
"jin-ah brought me here years back. she wanted to get some cupcakes and wanted me to tag along. of course, i was still the young and weak me then." jin-woo answered.
"aww, that's cute. i'd like to meet jin-ah soon, she sounds like a caring sister," i said.
"yeah, she is. can't believe i almost left her behind if i were to die in the double dungeon," jin-woo chuckled as he led us to the corner of the cafe.
"well i hope that serves as a lesson to not be so careless anymore."
"yes miss y/n~" jin-woo teased with a playful grin. i smacked his arm with a laugh.
"alright, hurry up and order what you want. it's my treat today as i promised."
݄⿴݃*₊↷TIMESKIP。
✧∘* ೃ ⋆｡˚.
"if i look at her, it seems that she'll open her eyes without any problem at any moment..." jin-woo muttered as he looked at his mother.
eternal slumber, a sleep that one cannot wake up from. it's a disease that broke out after the gates appeared.
"i will save you, just wait for me until then..."
jin-woo stood up and nodded towards y/n, who was watching him with sad eyes. the two left the room but were surprised to see jin-chul outside of the room.
"that day...were you the one that defeated the monsters in the double dungeon?" jin-chul asked. "thanks to you, i was able to learn that my viewpoint wasn't accurate."
"we meet again, mister chief." jin-woo said.
"the monitoring division's primary goal is to deal with humans instead of monsters. in other words, we must monitor and punish law-breaking hunters."
"if possible, i'd like to not get involved with the monitoring division," jin-woo retorted and held y/n's hand, walking away from jin-chul.
this action, however, alerted jin-chul further. "well, our existence is the only shackle to hunters."
"it's meaningless to a s-rank though."
"there's someone who wishes to meet you. can you spare some time?" jin-chul asked.
"who wants to see me?" jin-woo asked.
"hunter's association chairman, go gun-hee. he's waiting for you here."
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