Deaths Grasp

Sung Jinwoo laid spread across the plinth. The once grey stone platform was now dyed a deep crimson, as viscous liquid crawled along every inch of the area.

Despite the agonising pain ravaging his body as the large stone figures crowded him and mutilated his body with their weapons, tears of despair refused to leave his body.

Even now, a burning desire to survive and escape this inescapable position he found himself in.

Most would have submitted to the hands of fate at this point, however, using his mangled limbs, Sung Jinwoo flailed erratically.

Eventually, his body lost its last reserves of energy, yet the statues were still looming above, with not a single scratch or scrape adorning their cold bodies.

'Ah, I should have taken out a larger insurance...'

His mind focused on his little sister who he would be leaving behind, as waves of bitterness assaulted his body.

As though to interrupt his thoughts, an electronic buzzing sounded out, stealing his attention. Simultaneously, what seemed to be a text box with writing in it appeared before his eyes, completely ignoring the axe barrelling down towards him.

Before he could comprehend what was happening, he noticed two options, 'Yes or No', followed by the warning that his heart would stop if he took too long.

'5'

'4'

'3'

'2'

The timer ticked as his imminent death grew closer. With one last primordial scream from the depths of his soul, Sung Jinwoo yelled out his acceptance. The last chance he had been presented with.

'1'

The timer hit zero, as Sung Jinwoos consciousness faded. The last image in his mind was the large unholy statue staring down at him, it's face covered with a distorted grin, elated at the suffering of Sung Jinwoo.

Darkness engulfed Sung Jinwoos conscious.

His body began to stir, as his senses gradually returned to him. The sound of rustling was the first thing which piqued Sung Jinwoos interest. Slowly opening his eyes, a somewhat familiar ceiling welcomed him from his slumber. It was a private hospital room, his time as an E-Rank Hunter had caused him to get personally familiar with this type of room.

"Did I fall in a dungeon again?"

His hazy memory slowly recounted the past events as cold sweat soon escaped from his every pore. The boys breathing grew fast as the image of the huge statues sadistic grin refused to leave his mind.

Thankfully, another worry soon flashed across his mind. The state of his body. Back in the double dungeon, Sung Jinwoo had not only lost his foot, he had been mutilated by a flurry of weapons from the stone statues, a feeling he still felt in the very core of his body.

Panickily throwing the covers off his body, a wave of relief soon swept his body as he saw the familiar sight of a perfectly intact body. There was not even a scratch.

"Not even slight redness or scarring? They have at least treated me with an A- Rank healer..."

Sung Jinwoo thought to himself as he assessed the current state of his body.

"Maybe that was all a dream?"

The thought left his lips as a rapping was heard on the hospital room door.

"Come in"

With those words, the door was opened, revealing two men in suits, men he had never met before.

'Lawyers? Or perhaps the Hunter Association?'

The formal clothing really threw Sung Jinwoo off. After all, no matter how many times he had been hospitalised before, the only form of welfare checks he had received from the Hunters Association was a single phone call each time. Additionally, he was not part of any guilds or strike teams, so only Jinah would frequently visit him.

'That's quite depressing now that I think about it...'

A slither of self deprecation passed through his mind before he turned his full attention back to the men, whom had already sat themselves down by the bed.

Before he could speak, the man who seemed to be the leader of the duo reached his hand out to shake, to which Jinwoo reciprocated.

"I am glad to see you awake Mr Sung, allow me to introduce myself, my name is Woo Jinchul, and this is my colleague Kang Taeshik. We are members of the Hunters Associations Surveillance Department."

Jinwoo nodded and introduced himself. The man named Woo Jinchul then proceeded further.

"We are here to do a check up on yourself, as one of the six survivors of the double dungeon disaster. Not only that, we are here to confirm a few suspicions."

Jinwoos mind raced with that sentence. He confirmed it. A member of the association had officially confirmed that the hell he had experienced, truly did happen.

'It's real...'

That thought floated to his mind as Jinchul continued.

"We suspect that you may have experienced a reawakening. Thus, we would like to retest you."

With those words, Jinchul gestured for his colleague to get out the equipment before hearing Jinwoo answer.

"A reawakening!"

Jinwoo repeated with excitement as he thought about that possibility.

A reawakening was something that could change his life. Those that had reawakened had almost always lead a better more luxurious life. This was due to them surpassing their initial ranking, which generally never changed, no matter how many dungeon dives or training sessions they did.

 Sung Jinwoo followed their instructions and operated the portable measurement device.

It wasn't long before a small sigh of what felt like derision escaped Kang Taeshik's lips.

Jinchul looked over before smiling awkwardly and reading the results aloud to Jinwoo.

"It seems that our hunches were wrong this time Mr Sung. Do you mind if we ask a few questions before we go?"

With an air of disappointment, Jinwoo answered the few questions they had before Jinchul stood up and headed towards the door.

"We apologise for disturbing your rest. If you would excuse us, we have to head back to continue our investigation. Your information will prove very useful."

Despite those words, Jinchuls mind was still baffled by the case. It made no sense at all. The one possibility they had arrived at, Jinwoos awakening, turned out to be a false alarm.

Leaving the room behind, Jinchul loosened his collar slightly as the two walked down the corridor.

The first to speak was Kang Taeshik.

"His ranking was low even for an E-Rank, it's a wonder he didn't die the moment he went to his first dungeon..."

Jinchul nodded slightly before adding onto Taeshiks evaluation.

"From our data, it seems Mr Sung often leaves the dungeons injured in some form, which makes this case especially odd. When the Strike team found him, he had no injuries at all."

It made no sense.

"The White Tiger Guild said they saw no sign of this temple, yet the injuries and stories of the survivors are all completely insync. What is going on..."

'I will have to tell the chairman that Sung Jinwoo has not reawakened.'

Meanwhile, Sung Jinwoo stared at the ceiling, his eyes captivated by the floating screen above him.

'They couldn't see it. I mean I didn't notice it until after the measurement, but those guys were staring in my direction the whole time. A bright blue panel would stick out like a sore thumb.'

Once again, a knocking was heard before the door was immediately opened.

Jinwoos head snapped to the entranceway, causing a small smile to creep upon his lips.

His latest visitor was of course, his younger sister, Sung Jinah.