Chapter 6

"Hey." Something slapped the side of your check.

You groaned, doing your best to turn away from the source of annoyance. It was late, and you were tired. To make matters worse, you couldn't get comfortable, somehow ending up in an awkward position with your cheek pressed against the window.

"Wake up." You were slapped again, much harder this time.

"Wha…?" Blearily, you opened your eyes, spotting Jinchul's form looming over you.

"I told you." He sighed, fighting the urge to smile as you let out a massive yawn. "If you're going to pass out, you should have just gone home."

"It's fine." You managed to croak out as you stumbled out of the car, doing your best not to fall flat on your face. "I'm just tired."

It was a bad night to be caught in the open. The sky was murky, and the chill wind blew droplets of rain down at regular intervals. This neighborhood was long abandoned due to the frequency of gate appearances, making the area feel more eerie than it already was.

If you strained your ears, you could hear a low hum in the air. It was barely discernible over the constant wind, but the sound was unmistakable. It was the telltale sign of a gate nearby.

"Hey!" A voice called.

You turned, spotting two men standing on the side of the road.

"Didn't expect you to come." Baek Yoonho said, raising an arm in greeting. He leaned against the side of a rundown convenience store, dressed in a form fitting suit - probably called here in the midst of work.

It didn't surprise you that the leader of the White Tiger Guild came personally. His guild was the ones who organized the raid after all, which meant he had the most to lose if it went badly.

He walked towards you, leaving his colleague behind.

"It's cold out here." You muttered impatiently. "Come on."

Grabbing his arm, you pulled him off the street, over a fallen streetlight and through a short alleyway, finally coming to rest in front of the entrance of an abandoned family diner.

"Let's talk here." You said, peering inquisitively at a booth near the entrance. It was out of the wind, but you still had to suppress a shiver as you sat down, the cold seeping through your pant legs.

Yoonho grunted, stretching his arms as he dropped down next to you.

"So, any idea of what to do?" He asked.

"Nope."

"Huh?"

"There's not much I can do now." You emphasized. "We'll have to wait for the dungeon break tomorrow."

"But the hunters aren't strong enough." Yoonho pointed out. "By then they'll all be dead."

"Not necessarily."

"What?" He looked up at you, expression incredulous. "You're saying that there's someone in there that can clear A ranked gates?"

"Yeah." You said, thinking of Jinwoo. If there was a chance of anyone clearing the gate, it would be him...

But deep down, you doubted yourself. Could he really do it? The last time you'd seen him, he had definitely grown stronger. He certainly wasn't at risk of dying inside. But what if it wasn't enough to beat the dungeon boss?

You got up, walking towards the red gate.

It hummed loudly in the air, luminating the street with an eerie red glow. Assuming Jinwoo decided to wait it out, it would still be a day or so before the dungeon break. But if he challenged the dungeon boss…

You stopped in your thoughts, straining your ear towards the gate.

The rumbling was getting louder.

"T-The gate!'' One of Yoonho's employee's ran up towards you, chest heaving. He pointed in the direction of the red gate, his expression ecstatic. "Look!"

You followed his gaze.

The red mana protecting the entrance of the gate was fading away, slowly dissolving like steam off a mirror.

They've cleared the dungeon! You thought, stepping forwards towards it. There's a few of them coming out now, but...

"Where's the rest of them?" Baek Yoonho asked. "Only the low ranked hunters survived? Where's Kim Chul?"

The question hung silently in the air.

"They're dead." A voice replied.

It was Jinwoo, slowly walking out of the gate. As he spoke, the gate faded, flashing out of existence behind him. Even though he'd just cleared a red gate, there were no visible injuries on his body.

"You're back!" You called, running towards him. "What happened inside? Did you kill the boss yourself?"

"Yeah." He replied simply.

You looked towards the surviving members of his group. None of them said a word to contradict him.

"I'll be going then." Jinwoo said, walking past you. He was followed closely by a female hunter. They moved towards his car, together.

"Who's that?" You stared at her curiously. She seemed like the weakest out of everyone in the raid. Jinwoo had an excuse - he was reawakened. But this girl had absolutely no reason to be here.

"She's Jinah's classmate." He answered easily, opening his car door and ushering her safely inside. "I'll be dropping her home tonight."

"That's kind of you." You mumbled, looking down to avoid his eyes. "Hey, are you free tomorrow? I have something I want to ask you-"

"Sorry, but I'll be busy for the next couple of days."

"Ah..." You dropped your arm. "Maybe next time then."

"Yeah."

He didn't speak further, starting his car and driving off.

You stared blankly as it slowly pulled away.

There were a million things you wanted to ask him. The details of what happened inside the gate. And the reason behind his sudden change. You wanted to find out for yourself.

But tonight he didn't seem to want to talk to you, and you didn't feel like pressing him for details either. Later then, you thought. For now, I'll just go home. And after that… well, you would figure it out later.

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You shifted your footing, tugging idly at the hem of your skirt as you searched through the pile of papers laid aimlessly on the floor. It had already been a few weeks since Jinwoo had cleared the red gate. But besides dealing with some issues regarding Jeju island and some annoying reporters, there was a lull in your work. Which meant you had time to do whatever you wanted.

And right now, you wanted to find out whether or not Jinwoo really had undergone a double awakening.

"Vice-Chairman?" Chairman Go Gun Hee sighed, massaging his temples as he stared at the mountain of paper scattered across the floor. "Please don't-"

"I'm sorry sir." You said absently, barely acknowledging him as you continued your search, rifling through the mountain of hunter profiles on the floor. You would definitely dread having to clean it all up later, but for now you were focused on something else...

Aha! You smiled, finally picking out what you were looking for - Jinwoo's earliest Association photos. You felt your heart pick up a little just looking at him. He looked so young in these! His face was a little pudgy, and his hair wasn't styled, but you would still recognize him anywhere...

"Good lord, girl." Gun Hee said as he watched you gushing over the photos. "I've never seen you this dedicated to your job before."

"How so?" You asked. "I'm in my office usually, so you wouldn't see me, per say"

"That would be true, but you don't do much work in your office." Jinchul butted in, turning towards Go Gun Hee. "The last time I was there, she was locked inside, watching another K-drama."

"That was only because I was ahead of schedule." You retorted, safely tucking the profile of Jinwoo away into your bag. "Why do both of you care so much, anyway?"

Jinchul shrugged. "I was merely curious."

"Stay curious then!" You snapped, glaring at him. "Must you be so interested in my life? It's undignified."

"The same could be said for your obsession with Hunter Sung Jinwoo."

"T-That's not true!" You felt yourself flush in embarrassment. "I-It's not an obsession!"

You paused for a moment, trying to pick out the right words. "It's more like curiosity… and part of my job. He's our new S-rank hunter, right?"

"Is that so?" Go Gun Hee chuckled, giving you a knowing look.

"Chairman…!"

"...Or maybe you did turn over a new leaf." The Chairman smiled, holding his palms outwards upon seeing your expression. "Many of us do become more focused on our work as we grow older."

"Exactly!" You nodded, making a triumphant gesture. "Speaking of Jinwoo, have we managed to recruit him yet?"

"He's not going to join us." Jinchul said dryly.

"Really? Why not?"

"We'd already asked him to join us after his re-examination, but he turned us down." He said, turning towards the Chairman. "It's like he wasn't interested in joining a guild at all. All he cared about were the dungeons."

You frowned, pulling out your phone and opening the Association database. That didn't make much sense to you. Unless he wanted to create his own guild, joining an existing one was a no brainer. It didn't make sense for him to stay solo like this.

But, you paused. Oddly, it seemed like your colleague was wrong.

"Uh, Jinchul? It says he's part of the Hunters Guild."

"Are you serious?"

"That's not possible." Gun Hee stated, his face suddenly serious. "They would have informed us first."

"But he's just joined a raid with them." You said defensively.

"Show me."

You handed over your phone.

"That's not a raiding team..." Go Gun Hee trailed off, his expression turning incredulous. "He's joined them as a… miner?"

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