Chapter 3

The final decision depended on him. He fidgeted again with the E-Rank magic core in his hands, then looked to his side. Juhee shook her head at his eyes. She had a bad feeling about this. Well, even Jinwoo felt the same way. Under any other circ.u.mstance, he would not have dared to jump into danger. After all, he lacked the skills and courage to do so. But Jinwoo had a little sister, who was preparing for college.

‘I don’t have anything saved up for that…’

He was 24 years old, but he had to give up on college due to their poverty. He didn’t want that poverty to hinder his sister’s life as well.

Their lives were counting on every penny that came and went. Mr. Park wasn’t the only one who needed money.

Jinwoo raised his hand.

“I’ll also go.”

At his side, Juhee let out a small sigh disappointedly.

-2. Double Dungeon-

The tunnel went on and on and on. At the vanguard stood Mr. Song and other veteran Hunters. Led by the light from the fireball in Mr. Song’s hand, the party walked through the dimly lit tunnel.

Mr. Kim spoke up from the party, “Isn’t this going in a little too deep? Maybe we should think about turning back.”

“How long have we been walking?”

Mr. Kim checked his watch, “About… 40 minutes.”

“When we take down the boss, we’ll have 1 hour before the Gate closes. Taking into account the time for the return trip, we still have a breathing room of 20 minutes, right?”

“Then if we don’t come across the boss after 20 more minutes of walking, we should leave, right?”

“I suppose so.”

Nodding, Mr. Song pointed towards his back with his thumb.

“Hey Mr. Kim, it’s dark ahead of me, so fall back a little bit."

Mr. Kim looked at Mr. Song’s fireball, then took out his cellphone and turned on its flashlight function. The light from the phone brightly illuminated their path.

“…”

Looking back and forth between his fireball and the phone’s light, Mr. Song quietly searched pockets for his phone.

–

At the rear of the party walked Jinwoo, who was injured, and Juhee, who had no fighting skills. Jinwoo scratched his head.

“I’m… sorry.”

“For what?”

“Dragging you along like this.”

“I’m fine. You don’t have to worry about me.”

Jinwoo discretely read her expression. It was not a face without worry. Tilting his head, Jinwoo carefully asked,

“Are you sure?”

Juhee abruptly turned to face him,

“Of course I’m not okay! Are you in your right mind?! Earlier, if the place you were stabbed in was just a bit higher, it would’ve pierced your heart! And what about the injuries on your wrist and thigh?! I barely healed all those, and you’re already jumping into another Dungeon? Especially when you don’t know anything about it?”

At her rant, Jinwoo felt himself becoming light-headed. But she was not wrong. Juhee was a Healer-cla.s.s Hunter, and more than that, a B-Rank Hunter. A rare sight in the a.s.sociation. If it was not for her healing, Jinwoo would’ve probably succ.u.mbed to injuries that would’ve put his normal life out of commission, much less being a Hunter.

‘I really owe her a lot…’

A Healer-cla.s.s Hunter.

Not only that, a B-Rank Healer-cla.s.s Hunter.

Whenever a Gate appeared, the a.s.sociation would request her as a healer, and of course, Jinwoo would always find himself sitting or lying down next to her in treatment in their Raids.

“You’re hurting, right? Please hang in there.”

“You look familiar… are you from that time…?”

“You got hurt again?”

“Seems like I see you again and again.”

“You said your name was Jinwoo? Are you… alright?”

“Do you ever think maybe the Hunter-life isn’t for you…?”

“…You’re here again.”

“Hold out your arm. No, not there, you can mend that with just bandages, the other arm.”

Surpa.s.sing his grat.i.tude, he now felt apologetic to her.

“…”

Seeing his silent face, Juhee felt bad about her rant and calmed down.

“Are you really sorry?”