Lee Ju-Hee closed her eyes, a sphere of magic created in front of her. She could feel the wave of her power surging through her body, the mana turning a bright green. Her feet on the other hand trembled. There was a stone deep inside her stomach weighing her down. She couldn't breathe anymore.
That smile .
Lee Ju-Hee moved away from the golem when it began to roar. It wasn't directed at her, or at any one of the healers brought here. Those statues. Her breath hitched. Those statues. She backed another step. She opened her eyes. The damage of the golem was still nowhere to be seen. Ju-Hee unconsciously retreated once more.
"That's enough." All of the sudden, a hand stopped her from behind. Ju-Hee looked around to see her brother's somewhat dull expression while he was cleaned entirely despite coming back from fighting 40 or so minions on his own. The eyes glared right back to the golem that kept attacking everywhere nearby. The floor had already shattered as I'd it was made of glass. The nearby civilians that lived here had evacuated. The solemn hunters fought as a group of interested viewers, simple humans , watched behind the army's crossing line.
He turned to Ju-Hee. "Don't overuse your mana healing all of a person's wounds." Then brought her closer to the battlefield even as Ju-Hee was dragging her feet and looking down at the ground instead of the fight. "If you aren't close enough to the dealers, your mana will run out even faster."
"Yes Oppaya I know but aren't we getting too clo- watch out!" In a second, a sudden crack was heard that made her eyes snap back to the front of the battle. Ju-Hee quickly embraced her brother, he fought back against the attack that came straight to him.
Debri collapsed onto them. He extended one of the wings to cover them while the rest of the fighters remained with a few scratched injuries over the attack. It directly, unfortunately, tried to attack them of all people.
Ju-Hee only opened her eyes again when he nudged her to do so. One blue eye ready to tear up as she looked up towards the red bright scales. Her other eye stepped out from hiding under her brother's embrace. As they focused their sight on the fight again, he patted the light ginger hair. Weak as she is, a sacrifice is a commendable act of loyalty to be done for a dragon. It's an act of trust between commanders and their kings. Between elders and the newts. He smiled back at her, without even knowing what she did was purely a natural act, although it would take years for a dragon to even get to that level of kindness in the first place.
After the shock of the attack, the hunters all looked back to the place where the rock had shattered.
"Eh? The S rank is back?"
"Does that mean all the other magic beasts have been killed by him already?"
Even the public across them had begun its gossip and finger clicking on as many photos as they could.
"Wait, wasn't he a healer?"
"How was he able to destroy all the magic beasts around him?"
"He probably buffed himself."
"Nuh uh, didn't you know even S rank Min Byung-Gyu has the strength of an A rank all on his own?"
"So why is he just watching there?"
"Did he just get here?"
"Can't he kill the beast right now?"
[Buffing up Hunter's stats]
The C ranked suddenly felt all of his mana surge back again even though he knew his body was ready to kick the bucket. In just a moment, all of his power was replaced with a stronger force, his body burned excitedly as he noticed a new found strength within his muscles. With a shaking hand, the tanker pushed back the Golem as it stumbled to the ground from simply being slapped away.
Another dealer also felt his body burn as sparks of fire suddenly surrounded his weapon that pierced into the heart of the golem, breaking it instantly.
The crowd was amazed, it cheered on for the hunters with the soldiers themselves. One by one the damage dealers did their own attack to the golem cutting and slicing down its legs like a toy, shattering stone with their bare hands.
They are nothing but a pack of hungry wolves tearing apart the meat of one bunny.
"Oppa, that was you wasn't it?" Ju-Hee could breathe a little better, even after the attacks still spread around the battlefield. Her hands weren't trembling anymore, the same could be said about her legs. Her fear wasn't entirely gone, but the relief of seeing no one die in front of her was more than enough.
"I just gave them a little boost." And with it came the crazed side effect, a thrilling joy of the kill even after it was dead. The hunters never stopped stabbing until Antares called back his power.
_______________________
A month has already passed since the System stopped working manually. Kang-Dae took another look at the rest of the functions to see if he could contact the Architect directly. He only found out that it was useless. The Alusi no longer operated in the small world that they were supposed to be working in. The System was truly carrying its sentience without its master. It was wonderful work, but he still needed to contact them nonetheless.
His anger also died down for the time being. One can never get too used to that kind of thinking or else you might explode on who you don't want to. For now he just decided to watch the human's growth in other gates that the system opened up for him.
Each day a new key just happened to get inside his pocket after a workout. Jin-Woo often called him when that happened. He didn't know why, but he didn't mind the calls through the [Chat] function either, and in the end got to meet up with him at his house almost every day of the week. Secretly meeting up of course. Since every time he appeared to show his face, there would be someone looking to get in his space and take a photo of him. Had it not been for the system, and the favorability he had been building up since then, he would have started melting people the moment they tried to touch him. Instead, it was fun to watch as their phones cracked from the overheating and their bodies would suddenly feel like they had entered a dessert.
Nothing but a small trickle of heat compared to the times when he burned their cities in a matter of seconds, when he would smell the ashes and blood piling among the skies, when he could hear the sounds of precious screws that filled a never ending void in his heart. Screams that would never know the feeling of a calm death, but a complete inexistence in chaos.
Kang-Dae snapped out the thoughts as they both sat down in a park. Jin-Woo had offered to give him some free ice cream after he let the E rank have a sum of his money for destroying the D rank mob boss. It was all technically done by him, but since they both hid Jin-Woo's actual power from the press, it seemed as though the power had come from his boost. He started to accept that, in order to actually fight monsters and get away from the people's eyes, he would have to lie and say that the power came from the S rank buffs. But what caught him off guard was the fact that his Ahjussi wasn't willing to take all the money for himself, and let him have the core of the D rank monster for himself. Since he was also an S rank it's not like anyone would try to tell him to do otherwise.
Now that Jin-Woo was able to pay his mortgage in time and have some free money to spare, he thought of giving a small gift to his Ahjussi. But since the other only seemed interested in little things like food and hunting down monsters from the dungeon breaks, Jin-Woo could only ask his sister for some advice on where the best ice cream seemed to sell.
And if his Ahjussi like them enough, maybe he could get more information about the system, right?
"Ahjussi, are there any other players in South Korea?"
"Other players..."
[A player is a human possessed by powerful beings of this universe.]
So Monarchs and Rulers .
"There is another." Then it would be fair to say that Go Gun-Hee would be a player, no? As well as the rest of the monarchs.
"He is the chairman of the assosiation, but he doesn't know he is a player, yet."
"The Chairman..." He has heard about the few feats and power of the old man, no one could doubt much that he was strong enough to still be a formidable opponent despite his old age although something feels a bit alienated here. "Why doesn't he know he is a player?" Jin-Woo tilted his head.
Kang-Dae took another bite of the ice cream, it seemed to melt too quickly within his mouth, but the sweetness was still there. It was a nice drink for once that seemed to contrast his temperature to a fair degree.
"Amongst all the 'players' a certain number of them shape their... bodies to fit the standards of their powers." Without the usage of the System that is. They quickly just start to integrate into society and blend with humans until their powers are fully developed. To the weakest it takes little time, which is why they are the longest that live here. "Although other players don't know about the origin of their powers and are simply granted a limit." Like him, yet he still needs to grow his powers once in a while. The System will tell him when it's time. Hopefully.
Jin-Woo stopped licking his ice cream. "You know the origin to... the system? The mana? What about the gates?"
"Of course I know." Kang-Dae straightened back his posture. His eyes narrowed a bit. "•♡♤○♧°♤○..." And smiled as he saw Jin-Woo almost drop his ice cream when the words became incomprehensible as soon as it entered his ears.
[Player '001' is unable to hear certain information until he has reached level 100.]
Kang-Dae laughed from the turn of events.
"What did you say?"
"Nothing."
"Please can't you just write it?"
He took another bite of the ice cream. "I doubt you can read what it would say."
Jin-Woo pouted. "Maybe a text message?"
"You can try."
...
And it happened all afternoon. There is indeed no sign of communication that could be unfiltered by the System. Halfway through the attempts, the bugs within it were too heavy for Jin-Woo's mental capacity that it ended up fainting him from exhaustion. The System was part of himself too, so if it happened to break, Jin-Woo would break as well, and if it happened to be under control, then so could the system be under control.
Right now he is burned out.
"So Jin-Woo-ssi isn't in a coma right now?" Ju-Hee said as she sat down next to Kang-Dae.
He has been carefully holding on Jin-Woo's body until he woke up for two hours now. Around this time Ju-Hee had already finished her studies, and since Kang-Dae couldn't carry his body everywhere with him. (He could, but the System and him got into an argument that it would look suspicious.) She had to come to where he is instead.
"Did he go hunting again?"
"He did not."
She put a hand against his face. "My, it's almost burning up."
"Explain yourself?"
She squinted her eyes back at him. "I mean, I think he is having a fever. But it doesn't look like he is sweating, nor are his cheeks burning up." Her hands began to emit a light glow. During all her years as a healer, and dealing with Jin-Woo time and time again she had discovered how to treat his illness right from the get-go. However this new revelation within Jin-Woo's body was strange.
It's not a fever, but his body is warm. It's as though he is wrapped around a blanket. Ju-Hee turned to her brother with a raised eyebrow. She proceeded to do the same. Her actions left Kang-Dae confused until she removed her hand and coughed. "Oppaya. Is your skill also some sort of warmth sheet over someone?"
"I have the ability to raise a temperature over objects and people, however that is not a skill I possess." It is just a part of his physiology as a dragon. The more anger eluded the harder it would be to control the [Invisible Touch] which was a skill, but it wasn't to warm lost puppies in his arms, it was to burn away those that came near the scales of a dragon. This change was... something unexpected to say the least. He was even doing it unconsciously, but there hasnt been any activation of his skill whatsoever, aneither was it a humam trait. Does the system have anything to do with this?
He sighed, waiting once more until the Alusi revealed themselves. He couldn't wait to rip out their wings the moment they came back.
"..." Ju-Hee kept looking back at them. "Oppaya, since when did you two become friends?"
"A month ago." He thought the term of friends met something else entirely.
"Huh."
Kang-Dae stopped looking at Jin-Woo and raised an eyebrow back at her. "Is there something strange?"
"Kind of."
He tilted his head to let her continue.
"Well, I've been with him for almost a year and... I don't think he ever told me about his family or where he lives." Her face kept itself towards the trees and the bird's nests. "I've never seen him so close to anyone really." With a small beverage in between her hands. Ju-Hee opened it up, the bubbles rising and cooling before she could drink it.
"All I'm saying is that, I hope he gets to open up. He never opened up to me as to why he always chose to go back into the dungeons despite getting himself killed a lot of times." Her smile turned into a sad frown. "And I always knew that deep down it was due to something else. The only time I got confirmation of what his reason really was happened to be when Mr Woo Jin-Chul told me about his major frequent accidents in the raids."
That his mother was sick. Of what? She didn't wish to intrude about it anymore.
It was another reason why she couldn't feel happy leaving the organization just yet. There was one hunter, one man, that needed her most of all. Even then, Ju-Hee knew nothing about him until the end. She never wanted to push anything on to him, that was her flaw too.
"I wanted to know if there was some way I could help. I wanted him to reach out to me, or at least to someone else. Anyone. Yet the longer we went on those raids, the more closed he seemed to become with every hunter around him."
And who could blame him. He was the corpse waiting to die. He was the broken mummy that never knew when to stop. He was on the course of death, waiting to be served in front of him.
Looking back at his sister for a while, Kang-Dae spoke. "You don't have to worry about that." The fingers tracing the small black hair on his shoulder. "I will keep him alive for you then." And for himself, so that he can become a being strong enough to challenge the authority of the Rulers, so that he can become yet another commander at his side.
I won't let him go, no matter what.
_____________________________________
"Oppa... pst . Hey oppa..."
"Eh?!?" Jin-Woo jumped out of his bed, his cheeks flushing as he remembered his weird dream of being cuddled up by someone. Such an embarrassing dream managed to make his body so warm that he could still feel the touch against him.
"Oppa! Oh good, you really are awake." Jin-Ah laughed back at him as she sat by his bed. "You know, you are starting to weigh a shit ton these days."
"Wh-what are you talking about and... just how did I get here?"
"Oh. Someone carried you from the park and plopped you down on the bed. I haven't seen their faces ever but they told me they were your friends so I let him in."
"Him? Them?" Then he remembered. Oh no.
"Yeah, it was a red haired dude, I think I've seen him somewhere but my head I just can't pinpoint it where... and then there was this other unnie that was really nice! Say you didn't tell you you had a friend that was also studying to become a nurse! You know I need help with my homework sometimes, she could have been a good help."
"And... one of them put me here."
"Yeah it was that red haired guy. Oppa~" She nudged back at him. "Since when did you have hot friends too? He has such a nice look too, with all the red hair in his low ponytail that seemed so catchy." She smirked. "And those red eyes too. Are you friends with models now? Is that why you seem so different nowadays? Hm hm?"
"No he's just-"
Jin-Ah booped his cheek. "What kind of friend is he? That he can call you by your first name too?"
"He calls me by..." He does. Jin-Woo forgot that he does, at rare times. He doesn't have the guts to tell him to say otherwise, and he doesn't mind the name calling either since he hardly does it. All Kang-Dae usually does is just look at him and talk while Jin-Woo will listen in his general direction.
"Is he a good friend to you?"
"Eh? Where is this coming from?"
"No, nothing, just wondering. He seemed somewhat dangerous, unlike Ju-Hee unnie."
"He doesn't talk much. He doesn't seem to like people who touch him or want to get close to him in general... but he is nice."
"Really?"
Jin-Woo nodded as he remembered him tending to his wounds every time he came out of a dungeon. So far only four of those instant dungeons and one more against the dungeon break, it wasn't a lot but it had caught his emotions really quickly. Every time that Kang-Dae would appear around the corner now would make the weight of his wounds all disappear as though arrived at a safety net.
But for how long. When will be the time he leaves just like the others, will he even do so? . They are both aware of the same system that binds them now. Just that small knowledge made him feel a little less scared about the idea of being left alone. Yet the clock also ticked. He could never keep someone alive for a long time. His father left. His mother left. Jin-Ah needs to leave one day. The people at the dungeon left him to die. His first mission he was left out and got lost. He was left to starve at other points. He was intentionally left as carnage in others.
Why does he think this will be different? He knows it will not.
"Oppa."
"Hm?"
Jin-Ah pouted. "Did you hear what I said?"
"No, sorry."
Then stuck her tongue out at him. "I was saying that, I hope I can see them again, your friends I mean." Her smile was genuine this time as she thought about them and the way he seemed to cuddle up to one of them even as he slept. There has almost never been any time for him to have a night out with some friends. Jin-Ah has never seen him gravitate towards a girl he liked. And yet, here he suddenly is, coming back exhausted at night but he is clear of wounds this time. He isn't a pool of blood anymore.
And just a little, maybe it's her imagination, but for just a small glance she can see a hint of his old self back when mom was awake.
"They aren't my friends." Jin-Woo said.
"Oh? That's not what unnie said."
She called me her friend?
"Or are you lying just so that you can hide that hot dude from me?" Her evil smirk grew wider. "You wouldn't do that to your poor sister right?"
"He is almost twice your age." Jin-Woo stated with a solemn face.
"I don't mind having a sugar daddy."
"JIN-AH!"
The pillow throw didn't stop her from laughing out loud.
_____________________________________
"Then there was this one time he fell down a hole. Mr Song and I had to call for some back up so that Jin-Woo wouldn't starve to death." Ju-Hee said it like it was the most normal thing ever. To an extent, it was when it came to Jin-Woo.
He sounds awfully weak. He still is, another part of Kang-Dae's thoughts said, but at least he was willing to beat up monsters instead of getting his ass kicked.
"Were you two able to free him in time?"
"It took us three days."
"How far deep was he?"
"Well it wasn't too deep, it's just that the place was infested with Lyndras, so we had to get rid of those things first and then get him out."
Kang-Dae grabbed another sip of his cup.
"You know at least it wasn't worse than the time he entered a layer of Gremory Ghosts."
"There are worse?"
Ju-Hee laughed. "This isn't even the bottom of the iceberg."
~~~~~_________________________________~~~~
Jin Ah the moment she finds out Kang-Dae is an S rank: Jin Woo if you can't be his sugar baby then I WILL!!
I VOLUNTEER AS TRIBUTE!
-
Ju-Hee: So anyways then he dalmost died that one time. But you know, normal Jin-Woo stuff hehe lmao so quirky.
Kang-Dae: Yo what the fuck-