Chapter Text
“All witches are selfish, the Queen had said. But Tiffany’s Third Thoughts said: Then turn selfishness into a weapon! Make all things yours! Make other lives and dreams and hopes yours! Protect them! Save them! Bring them into the sheepfold! Walk the gale for them! Keep away the wolf! My dreams! My brother! My family! My land! My world! How dare you try to take these things, because they are mine!”
He startled awake, a cold sweat covered his body, legs trapped in damp sheets. His heart pounded in his chest as he swung his arms up into a defensive position. Something was watching him.
Nothing made itself known, just white walls and equally blank curtains, which swayed in the gentle summer breeze. It was a familiar sight. All hospital rooms had the same tone, sterile and lifeless, his home away from home.
He attempted to relax but his muscles were locked. Sweat had soaked straight through his hospital gown, which made him want to crawl out of his skin.
Crashing back into the bed, his eyes locked on the blank ceiling.
He wondered how he got here this time.
A voice floated through his mind, familiar and light. He’d been with Lee Joohee hadn’t he?
There must have been a raid then.
Until-
The second gate of the double dungeon opened wide before him. The force of the wind created by the movement worked like a vacuum to suck them in.
Towering statuesque gods grinned down at him, blood dull against porous stone. His body seized in terror, as he remembered the way his party members had been cleaved in half, incinerated in an act of mass carnage.
Jinwoo clutched at his head, eyes shut tight as if to block it all out. But the images refused to stop.
He screamed in terror, the ground under him now gone as he fell to the floor. Desperation gripped him as he tried to crawl away, but he was missing a leg. Where had his leg gone? Where was Joohee?
His hands, they were covered in blood, a pool of it surrounding him. The pool rose as it sucked him in despite his struggles to keep his head above, but it was not use. His severed leg provided no force and the viscous liquid was stronger than any glue trap. It pulled him down as teeth like a cemetery grinned at him.
The pool spat him out on an altar, helplessly he watched his last two party members slipped through the door to safety. Alone on the altar, they would be safe but he was as good as dead.
Jinah would have to drop out, wouldn’t she.
A scythe cut the air to spill his guts, but before it could his heart gave out.
Some kind of dialogue box appeared before him reading the words,
SIR, SIR YOU’RE IN
[LOCATION: THE HOSPITAL ]
PLEASE, SIR
He slammed his head into the altar ground, unsure of how to respond. But a soft touch on his arm broke through his self inflicted star studded haze. He blinked.
The stony dungeon disappeared and around him once more were blank walls and a cold tile floor. Harsh breaths escaped him, his frame shook with the force of it. With slippery palms and a fatigued body he sat up, arms coming up to defend himself.
But he knew it was too late, he was too weak, and NEVER strong enough-
A voice cut through, “Sir, sir, you are currently in the hospital. Please, take a deep breathe. Everything is going to be alright.”
His head swung to the source, a petite woman in a nursing outfit was crouched next to him.
His lungs filled with the stale hospital air and he let the panic go. Somehow, he’d ended up on the floor. The lady helped him to his feet so he could clamber back onto the bed and she began to fiddle with the medical equipment next to it. Everything about her was calm like a stone step in a river as she looked him over with a professional gaze.
Once his heart had slowed, the monitor next to him evened out as well.
It was simple after that, a procedure he’d gone through many times over his years of hunting. She asked the standard questions, told him of what had occurred and how he got here. It helped.
Once he was evaluated to be in stable condition she informed him that he would have to stay here for the next week at least.
Despite all reason to not be, he was alive. He was healthy. And he had made it home.
He focused his attention on himself, ignoring his sweaty skin to find possible sources of any pain. There was nothing of note, but he assumed that might be the morphine. It was peculiar though, the way he could feel his toes flex, almost like he still had both feet.
Fingers danced lightly along his leg, they brushed what should have been a precipice of skin into a valley of nothing, but instead revealed a smooth expanse of skin.
The nurse cleared her throat sharply and gestured at some documents he needed to sign. But he was distracted by a familiar floating box that stated simply, ‘MESSAGE: YOU HAVE UNREAD MAIL.’
She waved a hand in front of him, but made no mention of the otherworldly box even as she followed his line of vision into the distance. When she turned back to him, her eyebrows were creased with worry.
“Are you seeing something, Hunter Sung?” she asked politely.
It unnerved him, this thing floating there. His skin crawled warning him to stay away from the unearthly apparition, reminiscent of the vision he’d seen alone on a stone altar.
He shook himself, the stiff crackle of sterilized hospital sheets beneath his palms loud in the silent room. This wasn't a dungeon, he was safe.
“Sorry, just distracted,” he told her instead of the truth. She wasn’t a hunter so he wouldn’t involve her.
A frown marred her pretty face even as she acquiesced.
The nurse turned to leave, but startled as she opened his door. Jinwoo craned his own neck to see two men in black suits materialize in the empty frame.
She quickly recovered, “Who are you?”
The blonde man with tired eyes pulled out an ID, “Ma’am, sorry to intrude. We are inspectors for the Korean Hunter’s Association and have business with Hunter Sung Jinwoo.”
Her eyes found his own over her shoulder and he nodded his head.
She turned back to them, a quick but firm warning passed her lips to keep their visit short.
Jinwoo was exhausted, but knew he couldn’t put this off. As an E-rank, he had no authority in their world, the world of hunters.
They sat across from him and introduced themselves, but their names passed like most did right over his head. He hoped they wouldn’t become necessary to know.
The blonde man began to speak, but he interrupted. If he was going to be victimized by the Association for information, the least that they could do was return the favor.
He needed to know what had happened to Mr. Song and Lee Joohee.
Tension leaked out of him despite the depressing details of it. It was to be expected after all. Lee Joohee had never had the constitution for this work and he’d always wondered after every raid they did, which one would be her last. Retirement was better than death.
The news of Mr. Song startled him, his hand subconsciously traced the nonexistent seam on his leg.
The other man continued, “And other hunters like Kim Sang-”
Just the name was enough to cause his hand to crush the white sheets, he didn’t need to hear anymore.
Lee Joohee and Mr. Song’s abandonment had hurt, but her legs had stopped moving and his own leg had been severed. It was only natural for Mr. Song to take Lee Joohee instead of him, for them to escape without him.
He could forgive that.
But that man, the others, had fled. So wrapped up in despair for their own lives they hadn’t considered anyone around them. He could still hear Kim Sang’s offered excuses of family, they had rung hollow on that stone altar and that was just as true now.
The image of his back turned to him curdled his stomach.
The blonde man took over once more, explaining what had been found at the scene. And despite Jinwoo’s disbelief, the thing that scared him most was hearing the words ‘double awakening’ directed at him.
His heart trembled in ways other than terror, tentative hopeful ways. It was so much worse. It was every E-rank’s dream to be re-awakened. For their pitiful abilities to have jumped to something serviceable, something that could support them.
But that’s all it was, a pipe dream. A dream where he never scared about his mother’s hospital bills or providing for his sister. A dream where he was safer in the dungeons, and Jinah could stop worrying so fervently.
When the testing machine was offered, he reached forward to try. He had to.
He reminded himself that he was Sung Jinwoo, the world’s weakest through and through.
Unless…
“What’s the result?” he asked, the way his voice squeaked up at the end a dead give away.
It did nothing to dampen the blow of hearing the black haired man sigh regretfully and glance at his watch, already mourning lost time. “Looks like we suspected you for no reason,” he said while shuffling his bag closed once again.
And that was it.
Sung Jinwoo, the world’s weakest hunter. He should have no distance left to fall and yet the floor gave out on him anyway. His fists clenched in anger and remorse, they held tight to his last fragile hope that maybe, this time, things would change for him, for his family. And as he breathed out, he let it go.
It would be fine, it always was.
The black haired man was nowhere to be seen when he looked up, only the blonde remaining now. And his gaze pierced right through Jinwoo.
Well, not him, but in some liminal space around him. Right into where he’d heard people’s mana was.
“I know it’s hard to see,” he joked bashfully. Nobody could sense his aura without a detector, the signature was just too weak. Not even higher ranked hunters spared him a glance. He pulled the sheet up to his chest as if to disguise it, his skin heated at such close inspection. The man’s eyes bore into his soul.
Those weren’t the familiar eyes of pity he’d seen at the testing center. His were sharp, analytical, bright beacons glowing a luminous violet, as the signs of sleep deprivation disappeared with the glow.
When the man blinked next, his concentration broke and his eyes dulled back to a dark brown, almost black.
He cleared his throat, straightening his tie with nervous fingers, “Sorry, it’s not that. It’s, well, I’m unsure, but it should be nothing of concern.”
He stood suddenly, deep creases on his pants refusing to yield under his hands.
Whatever he’d seen must have not been this message system. Jinwoo couldn’t think of a bigger cause for concern than something so alien.
The man didn’t make a move to leave yet, instead his body turned to face him fully. He bent at the waist into a deep bow, “Before leaving, I just wanted to offer my apologies. It was never my intention to give you false hope, only to cover our bases.”
Jinwoo shrugged, “I’m sorry you had to waste your time on me. I wish I could have been of more use.”
It was a lie, but he couldn’t force himself to say the truth.
The man offered his own tired smile, “It was hardly a waste of time. At the very least, the Association needed to see the brave young man that your fellow party members have spoken so highly about.”
He scoffed, a dark look crossed his face. Brave enough to die for them, weak enough to have to.
“It’s true. They said without you they never would have gotten through even the first Commandment. A sharp intellect is far too lacking in our line, so if anything, I’m sorry to have wasted your time,” he said as he approached Jinwoo’s bed.
Out of his pocket materialized a sturdy business card. “If anything changes or you think of anything relevant in the upcoming weeks, feel free to call.”
Jinwoo reached up to take it, holding it gently between his fingers.
As swiftly as he had arrived, he was gone, leaving him alone in the hospital room.
The strange man’s words ran through his head, the feeling of those dark eyes and how they pierced right through him haunted his thoughts.
His intellect, what a joke. It hadn’t saved his life and it wouldn’t have helped him return to his family. It hadn’t even been enough to get them to stay.
What could someone like that know about him? It was easy for the strong to throw around worthless praise, like giving a dog a bone or a scratch behind its ears.
But the gentle lilt of the words, it hadn’t felt false.
His finger’s traced the edge of the business card, running over the printed words.
The Korean Hunter’s Association
Chief Inspector Woo Jinchul
xxx-xxx-xxxx
What a strange man.
Setting the card on the side table, he’s get someone to toss it later. He didn’t need anyone's help.
He moved his focus up to the dialogue box that had been haunting him for the past hour. It glowed that fluorescent blue, just like in the dungeon.
Sucking up his nerves, he checked the message. Or more accurately, he tried to check it, but the box remained stubbornly shut. It was only once his nerves were frayed and he frustratedly called out, “Just open the message already,” that the screen flashed and changed.
WELCOME, [PLAYER] (UNREAD)
[DAILY QUEST: PREPARING TO
BECOME STRONG] HAS ARRIVED
(UNREAD)
What the fuck, he thought.
The system flashed, breaking into multiple ALARM screens warning him of rewards, penalties, and growth. It called him the PLAYER.
He swallowed hard, opening up the next message. This one informed him of what it called, DAILY QUEST, which just looked to be a ridiculous amount of physical exercise that if left uncompleted would result in a penalty.
He rubbed his eyes, and dismissed the message. What a fucking joke. There was no way he was doing that while still in the hospital. He’d been missing a leg just a few days ago.
Instead, he curled up under the thin sheet and decided it was high time for a nap.
~
“Hey, sleepyhead, wake up! They’re gonna kick me out soon!” a loud but familiar voice pleaded with him.
His sister.
He sat up abruptly, blood rushing to his head with enough force to make him see stars. But he turned towards his little sister anyway with a broad grin.
“Then you should have woken me up when you got here,” he teased.
She huffed, clearly upset at him and said, “Then maybe you should quit worrying me!”
And ouch, he definitely deserved that. He ruffled his hair sheepishly, “Sorry.”
“I got here as quickly as I could. But I had to get through the principle first,” she said displeased. “That bastard is so old school. Like there’s gates now, people get hurt, let me out of here!”
He chuckled, “Well, I’m sorry I went down. But he’s right, schools import-”
“Ugh cut it out,” she said with an eye roll so hard they almost disappeared into her skull. “I’ve been going to school for the past two days. I don’t deserve this.”
He shut up, resistance was futile. It always was with her. Instead, he pulled her in for a long overdue hug.
She spent the rest of the time regaling him with what he’d missed. It started with their neighbor complaining about the way she sorted recycling, diverging into meaningless school gossip. They spoke about everything. Anything other than the dungeon.
He’d missed her. Even though to him, it had only felt like a day had passed, it must have been much worse for her.
But eventually their time was up and Jinah was sent home by the nurse. He worried about her, being home alone, but there was nothing he could do about it.
He just held on to the thought that in just a week, he’d be back with her.
Just a week.
He rolled over to go back to sleep, hoping ample rest would make the time pass faster.