A/n: I uploaded two auxiliary chapters, please check them out.
| The Evening | “I guess they did all they could,” Siwoo muttered as he stared at the television screen.
Every domestic Korean media outlet, along with several prominent international networks, was flashing the same breaking news bulletin.
A new S-rank hunter had officially emerged in South Korea.
Almost immediately, his smartphone began vibrating violently, bombarded by incoming messages from practically anyone who had managed to obtain his phone number at any point in his life.
He glanced to his side, catching sight of Jin-ah, who was wearing a dreadful expression.
“What’s got you looking so worried?” Siwoo asked.
The girl turned her head to look at him with agonizing slowness.
“Now everyone at school is going to corner me and ask about you all day long.
Waaah, I just can’t get rid of you no matter what!” She wailed dramatically, immediately undermining her own complaint by flopping straight down onto the couch and resting her head directly on his lap.
“Boo fucking hoo.
How about you start by actually getting away from me?” Siwoo countered, his lip twitching with an annoyed expression.
He physically demonstrated how to accomplish that feat by firmly pushing her away, forcing her to slide off his lap.
“See?
Simple,” he added, rising to his feet and relocating to a separate couch across the room.
Jin-ah pouted and pulled out her own phone, only for her disgruntled expression to twist into a grimace.
Her device was practically exploding with notifications, as friends and classmates continuously tagged her in various school social media groups.
She pointedly ignored the incoming voice calls, but she ultimately decided to answer a call from her best friend, Han Song-Yi.
“What’s up?” she asked into the receiver.
She paused for a moment before replying sarcastically, “Yeah, I heard.” She listened to the voice on the other end before raising an eyebrow.
“The cute one?” Hearing that particular description, a smug smile spread across Siwoo’s face.
“No, the manhwa villain-looking one,” Jin-ah corrected her friend loudly, sticking her tongue out at Siwoo.
“Whatever you say, Song-Yi.
Get your eyes checked, I guess.” She sighed and hung up the call, though the faint sound of Song-Yi giggling on the other end was still audible right before the line disconnected.
“At least someone out there appreciates my charming looks,” Siwoo remarked smugly, smoothly dodging the foot Jin-ah swung to kick him.
A/n: I did’nt write the other side of the conversation because I wrote Jin-ah dialogue in a way that I would not need to.
Do tell me if I should have and I made the chapter unnecessary confusing.
Their playful banter was cut short by the ringing of Siwoo’s phone.
Jin-ah naturally assumed he would ignore it like all the other random contacts, but his expression shifted slightly as he answered it.
What she could not see from her position was that the incoming call was from the local hospital.
“Hello?” “Yes, this is Kang Si-woo.” “I will be right there.
Thank you for calling,” he said before immediately ending the conversation.
“Who was that?” Jin-ah questioned, looking up.
“It was just someone from the Hunter’s Association.
I’ll be heading out for a little bit, so make sure to take care of the house while I’m gone,” Siwoo lied smoothly.
He exited the apartment at a leisurely pace, ensuring he didn’t exhibit any outward signs of urgency that might cause Jin-ah unnecessary worry.
However, the moment he stepped completely out of her line of sight, his body blurred into motion.
Moving at impossible, superhuman speeds, he traversed the distance in a minute, arriving directly in front of the hospital entrance.
The surrounding pedestrians startled wildly at his sudden, abrupt appearance out of nowhere.
Siwoo ignored their shocked gasps entirely, pulling his hood forward to obscure his face as he walked straight toward the reception desk.
“I’m here for Sung Jin-Woo,” he stated simply.
He pulled his hood back just far enough to briefly flash his face to the receptionist.
The woman behind the desk blinked in surprise, her eyes darting toward the television screen mounted directly behind Siwoo, which happened to be broadcasting a profile on his newly revealed S-rank status.
“Room number nine, Sir,” she replied, quickly regaining her professional composure to avoid causing a public commotion in the lobby.
Siwoo gave the woman a grateful nod and navigated through the corridors toward the designated room.
He clicked his tongue in irritation when he approached the door, discovering the four hunters Jin-woo had entered the dungeon with standing in a tight group right outside the entrance.
The sound of his approach caught the attention of the female hunter in the group.
She looked toward him, her eyes instantly widening in sheer shock and recognition.
“H-hunter Kang,” she stuttered out, bowing deeply.
Her sudden deference immediately drew the attention of her other companions.
“I warned you, didn’t I?” Siwoo said, his face souring as he recalled the moment he had questioned them about whether they had a healer in their party before entering the gate.
The four hunters remained entirely silent.
There was nothing they could say to justify themselves in this situation, so they simply kept their heads bowed in a silent apology.
“Why are you guys even hanging around here anyway?” he asked, reaching out to grasp the handle of Jin-woo’s hospital room door.
He was undeniably angry with the four individuals standing before him, but he also recognized that Jin-woo hadn’t been forced to join their raid.
He was an adult who fully understood the inherent risks of the job.
“We were about to leave, but then we saw the news…” the female hunter muttered, leaving the remaining thought unsaid.
They had discovered his true identity as an S-rank from the television broadcasts and wanted to apologize to him in person, fearing they might incur the wrath of a high-ranking hunter later on.
“Well, it’s not like you forced the idiot to go in.
Just do better next time,” Siwoo sighed, stepping into the room and effectively terminating the conversation.
The sharp, sterile smell of medicinal rubbing alcohol hit his nose the moment he crossed the threshold.
He found Jin-woo sitting up, sporting various minor scratch marks across his cheeks and legs.
Si-woo could see the wounds even though they were covered by bandages.
The black-haired man was sitting on the hospital bed, using his phone as if the hospital room was his second house.
“I heard you talking about an idiot when you were standing at the door just now.
I really hope it wasn’t me you were slandering out there,” Jin-woo initiated the conversation with a dry joke.
He then turned his phone screen around to face Siwoo.
“Look at this.
Someone’s suddenly famous.” Siwoo walked up to the edge of the bed without a word, delivered a swift whack to the back of Jin-woo’s head, and then placed his hand directly beside a prominent wound on the man’s knee.
A vibrant green glow emanated from his palm, and the various scrapes and lacerations visibly knit themselves back together in a matter of seconds.
Following that, Siwoo shifted his hand to the top of Jin-woo’s head, channeling the magic to seamlessly heal the minor cuts marring his cheeks.
“Whoa, thanks,” Jin-woo murmured, swinging his legs over the side of the bed and standing up, instantly feeling lighter and more energized than he had in days.
Siwoo offered no verbal reply, turning on his heel and walking out of the room, with Jin-woo falling into step right beside him.
Unlike the circumstances of the original timeline, Jin-woo wasn’t desperate for cash, as Siwoo had been assisting the Sung family with the ongoing medical expenses for Park Kyung-Hye’s long-term hospital stay.
Jin-woo possessed the seeds of the Shadow Monarch’s pride long before the system ever integrated with him.
However, he wasn’t a fool, and he had gladly accepted Si-woo’s support over the years.
That acceptance stemmed from the fact that Jin-woo had grown up alongside the silver-haired boy and understood his unique personality.
He knew for a fact that Si-woo viewed wealth and money through a completely different lens than most of society.
What Siwoo could not comprehend at this moment, however, was why Jin-woo remained so stubbornly desperate to fight.
He couldn’t understand why the man insisted on constantly risking his life inside low-rank gates and putting himself in hazardous situations.
“Why are you so desperate?” Siwoo asked directly, choosing to voice the question rather than pondering it in silence.
He had already processed Jin-woo’s official discharge paperwork at the front desk, and the two of them were now walking down the familiar streets toward home.
“Because this is all I can really do,” Jin-woo began, looking forward.
“Si-woo, monsters are real.
They exist, and they can just stroll right into a peaceful civilian street with the same ease as someone taking a casual walk through a public park.” He gestured animatedly with his hands to emphasize the point.
“I have to do my part.” Siwoo nodded slowly, absorbing the answer.
“Makes sense,” he muttered.
“Just make sure you know your limits.
Lying to Jin-ah back there wasn’t exactly fun,” Siwoo remarked as they finally reached the entrance of their apartment building.