Not Leveling Alone (Solo Leveling Story) (Patreon)

Hey friends and fans! Kairomaru is bringing you a new story! This one is for a very popular Series and one that I enjoyed, even if I thought it could’ve been a bit better overall. Solo Leveling! My buddy Primordial Vortex found this Series through me and one other person and it took hold of his Muse powerfully! Kek! I’ve had more than a couple ideas for how I’d have preferred the story to go, so here we are! Look forward to some AU changes to things here and there, as well as exploring some functions of the System that were only briefly mentioned or used seemingly once, and finally, I’ll also be challenging myself to write things I haven’t really tried before in a full story.

Just remember it’s all fiction, in a fantasy world that isn’t real, and none of these fictional people need you to defend them…because they don’t exist.

So, without further delay, please enjoy.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Chapter 1 – The Weakest Hunter: Sung Jinwoo

Ten years ago, the world changed.

Not from any war, disease, or natural disaster…but from the emergence of a completely new phenomenon.

Gates.

Swirling portals of an energy called mana that connected Earth to other dimensions or realms. What was through the Gates were dungeons filled with magical beasts, some of which were creatures of horror that humans had never seen before, while others looked like beasts and monsters of mythology and folklore. Seven days after a Gate formed, it ‘fully opened’ allowing the monsters within to pour out and attack anyone and anything they saw in what had come to be called a Dungeon Break; a localized disaster for a weak Gate, and a region destroying cataclysm for the most powerful Gates.

At the same time that Gates had appeared, people all across the world began to ‘Awaken’ to the power of mana. They became powerful beyond muscle, resilient beyond the durability of flesh, and many developed magical powers seen only in fantasy. Casting spells of elemental fury, creating barriers of magic, healing the sick or injured in miraculous ways, summoning forth strange creatures or spirits of their own, and all manner of ‘Skills’ that made them faster than any creature on Earth, or made them strong enough to fight monsters barehanded, even the ability to store items with small pockets of subspace.

The world had changed more from this Awakening than from anything else in human history.

But humans were resilient. After countries found that conventional weapons didn’t do much to harm the monsters pouring out of the Gates, they’d enlisted the Awakened to hunt the creatures, thus dubbing them with the title they’d carry from then on ‘Hunters’. Civilizations and nations collapsed in some places, countries that didn’t react quickly enough to the initial chaos or fought amongst themselves while Gates underwent Dungeon Breaks. But for the majority of nations, it was simply easier to pay Hunters lucratively to fight back against the monsters and enter the Gates, finding within them ‘Boss Monsters’ whose lives were tied to the Gate itself. Slaying the Boss triggered the dungeon within to collapse and the Gate to close.

What the Hunters brought back from within the Gates were new materials unlike anything seen on Earth. Essence Stones and Mana Stones…naturally crystallized and condensed mana that could be found within monsters and the Gates. Essence Stones, the cores of monsters, were found able to be shaped and molded by craftsmen to create weapons of magical power that could slay the monsters much more easily. Mana Stones, blue crystals that seemingly grew from the floors, walls, and ceilings of some dungeons, could be combined with metal and monster parts to the same effect, or to power new devices with the clean energy that produced no waste byproducts. The world of business: finance, trading, energy, materials…every sector and type, practically salivated over the new treasures from the Gates and poured billions, even trillions, into hiring teams of Hunters and training divisions of craftsmen to raid the Gates and bring back everything within.

What many believed would destroy modern civilization, was instead quickly subsumed by it. Gates became regulated, controlled, searched and patrolled for, and access was bid on to ‘buy the rights’ to certain Gates that put out more mana and were therefore guaranteed to have better materials from monsters and higher chances of large Mana Stone deposits. From this new paradigm Hunter Guilds rose as organizations and businesses…many as offshoots of long established corporations.

Hunters became famous, then stronger Hunters appeared as more and more of the population began to Awaken. The first wave of Hunters were eclipsed and rankings based on the amount of mana a Hunter possessed were established and used almost universally across the world. The first wave of Hunters were almost entirely of the E-Rank and D-Rank, the lowest of the low. C-Rank and B-Rank Hunters began to appear and conquer Dungeons faster and more efficiently with less loss of life, and they became the new celebrities. Only to be overshadowed as well, not long after, by the first A-Rank Hunters.

Then came the emergence of Hunters whose mana was far too great for any device to measure…the S-Ranks. Most nations didn’t have a single S-Rank among their Hunters…while other nations had a few or perhaps a dozen. These pinnacles of power among the Hunters quickly gained fame like no one else in history. Nations offered insane amounts of money, status, and luxury to tempt S-Ranks of other countries to immigrate, and many long-term allies now had strained relationships because of it.

But for there to be a ‘Strongest’…that inevitably meant that there had to be a ‘Weakest’ as well.

-Seoul, South Korea-

It was a normal day in the capital of South Korea. People went about their days: work, school, errands, enjoying games or entertainment, and all manner of tasks. Among the crowds in the city, a young man with shaggy black hair, two small bandages on his face, wearing a grey hoodie over an orange t-shirt with blue jeans and a pair of sneakers, walked along the sidewalk with a green backpack on his back.

‘I’m Sung Jinwoo, an E-Rank Hunter.’ He thought of himself as he headed for his next job, his dark eyes holding an almost resigned look within. ‘Aside from having a slightly better build than an average person and a somewhat fast recovery rate, it would be an embarrassment to call me a real Hunter.’ Being constantly injured wasn’t out of the ordinary for Jinwoo. To be honest, he’d had more than his fair share of brushes with death. But he had to risk his life as a Hunter, unlike those who did the job because they enjoyed it. “Here it is.” Jinwoo sighed as he got to the location of the Gate that he’d signed up to help raid. It was in a construction site that had been evacuated as soon as the Gate had formed…but now, after almost a week, the Hunter’s Association of South Korea could no longer ignore this D-Rank Gate as it was close to a Dungeon Break. ‘I’m barely managing to pay for my sick mother’s hospital bills with the financial aid that the Hunter’s Association provides me. I’ve only graduated High School, there’s nothing I’m particularly good at, and I wasn’t able to go to University. So, I don’t really have any choice but to work as a Hunter if I want to keep a roof over our heads and food on the table.’

The food truck that the Hunter’s Association had sent out to the Gate for the Hunters was often gathered around by those waiting for a raid to begin. In this case, an older man in a blue jacket smiled as he was handed a cup of coffee from one of the two employees.

“Here you go. Good luck on today’s raid.” The employee smiled at the Hunter.

“Thanks.” The Hunter said as he took the warm drink and sipped on it.

“Hey! Kim Sangshik!” A raised voice got the older man’s attention, and he looked over to the speaker. “Long time no see!” A slightly younger man in a green jacket smiled and waved at the man with the coffee.

Sangshik laughed at seeing a familiar face. “Well, if it isn’t Park Beom-Shik! What brings you here? Didn’t you say you were quitting this business for good?” He asked with a smile as they shook hands.

Beom-Shik laughed a bit. “My wife’s pregnant with our second child…so, here I am!”

“Well there’s nothing like a raid to bring in the money!” Sangshik said with a grin. Even low-ranked Hunters like them made a good amount of money clearing out D-Rank Gates like this one. “Life ain’t so easy when you’ve got kids.”

“I’m worried…” Beom-Shik admitted with a sigh, briefly running one hand through his curly black hair. “It’s been a while since my last raid. I wonder if I’ll be okay…” He closed his eyes and let out a puff of breath. “My skills weren’t that great to begin with, and taking this break made me even worse.”

“Hey! Sung, what’s up!”

“Sung, it’s good to see you here.”

Sangshik glanced over when he heard the enthusiastic greetings from a few of the other Hunters.

One guy lightly patted Jinwoo on the back. “It must’ve been cold on the way here. Thanks for coming.”

Jinwoo bowed slightly to all the greetings as he walked. “Don’t mention it…” He did his best to laugh slightly while being able to clearly see the relief and mild amusement in the other Hunters’ eyes. “Looking forward to working with you today, as always.”

“Sung! Sung! What’s up?” Sangshik smiled and waved at the much younger man, making Beom-Shik look at Jinwoo too. “Have you had anything to eat yet?”

“I have, Mr. Kim. Thanks for asking.” Jinwoo smiled at the older man with his eyes closed.

Once Jinwoo had walked past the two older men, Beom-Shik looked curiously at Sangshik. “Is that guy a strong Hunter? Everyone’s so happy to see him.”

Sangshik chuckled with a little smile. “I guess you don’t know since he came around right after you quit. That guy’s nickname is ‘The Weakest Hunter of All Mankind’.”

“The weakest? Not the strongest?” Beom-Shik looked confused by everyone being happy about someone called the weakest showing up.

“Now look here, that’s what you’d call an S-Rank like Choi Jong-In. Sung’s the ‘Weakest Hunter’.” Sangshik corrected. “He’s always getting injured, even in E-Rank Gates…”

Beom-Shik blinked at that. “The weakest Gates?!” He’d only seen a couple Hunters ever get hurt in an E-Rank Gate, and that was always from either an accident or from two Hunters fighting over Essence Stones. “Is he really that weak?”

Sangshik nodded before sipping on his coffee again. “Probably the weakest of us all. The fact that he’s on duty is proof that the Dungeon is going to be easy.”

“Oh, I see…” Beom-Shik sent an almost pitying look at Jinwoo’s back.

“Let’s leave it at that; he might hear us.” Sangshik said with a quick glance over at Jinwoo.

‘I already overhead everything, you old geezers.’ Jinwoo sighed heavily as he approached the food truck. “Excuse me, may I order a cup of coffee?” He asked one of the two men working in the truck.

The worker looked apologetic. “Ah, Mr. Sung, I’m sorry, but we just sold the last cup.”

Jinwoo looked up at the sky for a second. ‘I can’t even get a cup of coffee? This sucks…’

“I’m really sorry, Mr. Sung!” The other man apologized with a short bow.

“No worries, I’m okay…” Jinwoo said, but the almost visible cloud over his head made it clear that he was just saying that.

Just as Jinwoo was about to sit down on some steel I-Beams that were set off to the side of the construction site, he was alerted to the presence of a very familiar person.

“Agh! Jinwoo! You’re injured again?!” A beautiful young woman with long, light brunette hair, which almost looked orange in the right light, called out in exasperation. Her gentle blue eyes were locked onto the bandages that Jinwoo had on his face.

“Huh? Oh, hello. I see that you’re going on this raid as well, Joohee.” Jinwoo greeted the woman with a smile.

Joohee sighed slightly. “Of course I am. But that’s not the issue here! What happened to your face?!”

Jinwoo’s expression went a little flat. “It somehow ended up this way…haha…” He faked a laugh, but Joohee only deadpanned at him.

“Geez…what happened to you?” Joohee wanted to know, even though she was fairly certain she already knew the answer. She was a Healer, a Hunter specializing in spells that healed injuries, removed status afflictions, and buffed allies. It was just in her nature to worry and care about others.

The two sat down and Jinwoo gave her a brief overview of how he’d gotten injured.

“You were hospitalized?” Joohee almost fretted over that, having saved Jinwoo from hospital visits with her magic on dozens of occasions.

“Yes… It was an E-Rank Dungeon, but I was the only one who got hurt.” Jinwoo looked down a bit at admitting that.

Joohee looked at him, concerned. “How is that even possible?” It was just common sense to take a healer on a raid. Even a D-Rank Healer would’ve been able to patch Jinwoo up enough to save him the hospital stay.

“All of the others were D-Rank, so they didn’t bring a Healer with them.” Jinwoo explained how he’d been hospitalized by such a weak Gate.

“Still, even if they were confident that they wouldn’t be hurt, how could they not take a Healer along?” Joohee asked with a small shake of her head.

Jinwoo appreciated Joohee’s concern for him; she was truly a good person with a caring heart. “It’s all right. It’s my fault since I’m weak… So, I’m used to it… You know this already, Joohee.” Seeing Joohee looking at him with worry and concern, he changed the subject. “I was surprised to see you here. I thought you were retiring from being a Hunter to work at the hospital. You earned your certification already, right?”

Joohee allowed the change of subject with a little smile. “Yeah, I did. I’m retiring at the end of the month, barring an emergency. Then I’ll be fulltime at the hospital.”

“That’s good.” Jinwoo gave her a smile. “You’re gonna help so many people, Joohee.” Seeing the other Hunters gathering before the Gate, he stood up. “Well, it looks like it’s time to head into the Gate. Let’s get going, Joohee.”

“Okay…” Joohee stood up as well and they both joined the crowd in front of the Gate.

A familiar man to both Joohee and Jinwoo stood before everyone in front of the Gate. Song Chiyul was a somewhat thin middle-aged man with brown hair, some prominent wrinkles, and a lively personality. He wore a blue jacket with a large beige collar, simple brown cargo pants and dark grey work boots.

“Listen up, everyone!” Chiyul called out to get everyone’s attention. “I’m sure we’re all looking to have a good time and hit the jackpot today. That said, even though I’m not in any place to say this, I’m thinking about taking charge and being the party leader. How’s that sound to everyone?” He asked with a small smile, wanting to get everyone’s agreement to his leadership instead of just assuming.

“Song, you’re the highest rank out of everyone here! I approve.” Sangshik said with a grin, his arms crossed in a relaxed position.

Beom-Shik agreed with a chuckle. “Yeah, we can count on Song. Let’s see those skills.”

Everyone else quickly agreed to let the C-Rank man be the Party Leader.

“We’ll be counting on you, Mr. Song!” Jinwoo gave the friendly older man a smile.

Chiyul smiled and nodded to the group. “Alright, let’s all head in then. Time to get crackin’!” He entered the swirling blue Gate, vanishing within the mana on his second step.

“Sung, keep behind us so you don’t get hurt. Take it easy!” Sangshik told the much younger man with a smile just before he stepped into the Gate.

“Okay…haha.” Jinwoo agreed, even though Sangshik had already vanished.

Joohee gave Jinwoo a real smile. “Come on, Jinwoo.” She stepped into the Gate and disappeared.

Jinwoo stopped just before the Gate and took a steadying breath. “I’m going to give it my all today!” With that, he stepped into the Gate and vanished from Earth as well.

The two men working the Hunter’s Association food truck watched the last of the Hunters enter the Gate. But the young man who hadn’t been able to give Jinwoo coffee let out a concerned sigh.

“What are you so hung up on?” His partner asked as he took off his work cap.

“It’s just that… I feel bad…for not being able to give Sung Jinwoo a cup of coffee before heading off.” He said with his arms crossed.

His partner looked towards the Gate. “Ah, the guy that’s the weakest of all the E-Rank Hunters? What’s this Gate’s rank again?”

The worried guy glanced over. “I heard it’s a D-Rank.” He sighed. “While working for the Hunter’s Association, not once have I seen Sung Jinwoo come out of a Dungeon without being injured. I guess that’s why I’m being like this.”

“Well, it’s just a D-Rank Dungeon. What’s the worst that could happen?” His partner questioned rhetorically. “Let’s go.” He got into the driver’s seat of the truck. As soon as his colleague was in the passenger seat, the truck drove off to get restocked.

-D-Rank Dungeon ~ Later-

“Hyah!” Beom-Shik’s axe lopped off a goblin’s head, sending it flying.

Sangshik’s sword stabbed straight through the snarling jaws of a lizard-like monster. “Hah!”

Fwooom

Chiyul’s fire magic torched a bipedal dog-like monster, sending it falling in a cloud of black smoke.

Off to the side, Jinwoo was being healed by Joohee from a knife wound to his stomach, courtesy of a goblin that had managed to sneak up on him. He’d managed to beat it to death with his bare hands and get its Essence Stone, but the bleeding wouldn’t stop, and Joohee had been at his side when he collapsed to the ground.

“Jinwoo, why are you so set on being a Hunter?” Joohee asked him softly, her hands glowing with a soft green light. Being a B-Rank Healer, she could easily heal such a near-fatal wound. “If you keep fighting like this, one day you’re going to get in big trouble.”

“I’m sorry…” Jinwoo apologized, only to be cut off.

“I’m not saying this because I want an apology! I’m just worried about you.” Joohee said, looking at him with concern as the last of the injury vanished under her power. ‘At least this raid is about over.’ She thought to herself with relief. She wasn’t good in dangerous situations like this; it was why a B-Rank like her stuck to just E-Rank and D-Rank Gates. Her desire to help and save others had led her to use the money she made from being a Hunter to enroll in a medical program and get her certification to work at a hospital. There she could heal all sorts of patients without having to worry about death around every corner.

Jinwoo knew Joohee was just worried about him, so he remained silent and looked over at the rest of the raid party as they finished off the largest monster in the expansive cavern, a werewolf whose body had been stabbed, slashed, and then burned before it had finally fallen.

Chiyul looked around the cavern, making sure that all the monsters were dead. “Looks like we’re just about done here.”

“Park, you’ve still got it.” Sangshik said to his old friend as they started collecting the Essence Stones of the monsters they’d slain.

“This one was a piece of cake for being a mix-up of so many different monsters.” Beom-Shik said with a chuckle. “Too bad there’s no Mana Stones to collect.”

Sangshik shrugged at that. “This Dungeon was one dry cash cow.”

Jinwoo looked down at the single Essence Stone he’d earned. ‘All I get for risking my life is an E-Rank Essence Stone…what a pitiful reward.’

“Everyone! Come take a look at this! There’s a cave over here!” One of the other men called out from near the back of the large cavern.

Everyone walked over and looked at the cave, most not knowing what to make of it.

“A Double Dungeon…so things like this do exist.” Chiyul said as he peered into the darkness of the tunnel. With a crackle, a small fireball burst to life in his hand, and he threw it down the rocky corridor. The entire raid party watched as the fireball illuminated the tunnel as it passed through, getting further and further away until it dispersed. “Never seen one before, myself.”

“The Dungeon hasn’t shown any signs of closing, even after we beat the werewolf.” One man mentioned.

“I guess the real Boss is somewhere down there?” A woman looked thoughtfully at the cave.

Beom-Shik smiled as he looked into the dark tunnel. “That means there could be more.”

Sangshik agreed with his friend. “Maybe this cash cow isn’t as dry as we thought.”

“Everyone, listen up for a second.” Chiyul spoke up, getting everyone’s attention immediately. “Double Dungeons are incredibly rare phenomena when it comes to Gates. Usually, we’d report this to the Association and wait for them to make a decision. However, that means that the ones investigating will be handling whatever’s down there and taking everything as well. So, I think we should handle the Boss of this D-Rank Dungeon ourselves.” Almost half the group nodded slightly in agreement.

“Why not, right?” One of the younger men said with a shrug.

“I saw online that in the U.S. they’ve found six Double Dungeons in the last year, up from four the previous year. So, maybe they’re becoming more common?” The tallest man in the party said, looking curious about what they could find at the end of the tunnel.

Chiyul saw some hold outs in the group and knew, as the leader, he needed to be fair in the decision-making. “It could be dangerous, so how about if all seventeen of us here vote on it? But once the decision is made, you won’t be able to change your vote.”

Sangshik and Beom-Shik glanced at each other. “I’m in!” Both men said at the same time, casting their votes.

That opened the floodgates and the votes poured in rapidly until everyone had spoken…except for Joohee and Jinwoo.

“I’m sorry… I don’t want to go.” Joohee said as she looked down at the floor.

“We have eight votes to go and eight votes to stay.” Chiyul said with a nod before looking at Jinwoo. “How about you, Sung?”

Jinwoo clutched the single E-Rank Essence Stone in his hand. ‘I have no savings… Mom’s care at the hospital isn’t fully covered by the financial aid I get from the Hunter’s Association… And I have to have money to send Jinah to University soon… This is for my family.’ He looked at Chiyul with determination. “I’m going, too!” He needed to have courage, just this once.

With the votes cast, nine to eight in favor, the party entered the dark cave and began to walk. Chiyul lit up a flame in his palm for light while one of the other female Hunters created an orb of light magic as well.

The group walked, and walked, and continued walking the length of the tunnel that had no twists or turns and not a single monster either.

“How long have we been walking?” One of the group asked.

“About forty minutes.” Sangshik said after glancing at his watch.

Chiyul looked over his shoulder at the group. “The Dungeon closes exactly one hour after the Boss dies; that gives us twenty minutes extra to get out once we’re done.”

Jinwoo looked over at Joohee and couldn’t help but break the long silence. “I’m sorry, Joohee…”

“For what?” Joohee asked without turning her head.

“You were forced to come here because I voted yes to go into the Double Dungeon.” Jinwoo explained what he was apologizing to her for, knowing that she’d wanted to just call it quits and not take an unknown risk.

Joohee continued walking forward without looking at him. “I’m fine, don’t worry about me.”

Jinwoo felt like she wasn’t really fine. “Are you…sure?”

“Of course not!” Joohee glared at him, her eyes practically glowing with fire. “I’m totally NOT okay! Do you realize that if you’d been stabbed a bit higher you’d have a hole through your heart?! You’re so reckless! How could you vote to come here?! Did you hurt your head too?!” When Jinwoo recoiled, Joohee leaned forward. “Answer me!”

“I’m sorry…” Jinwoo apologized to the angry Healer.

“Are you actually sorry?!” Joohee was more frustrated than actually angry. After all, Jinwoo was in the most danger out of everyone there.

Jinwoo hung his head and nodded. “Yes…”

The two were broken from their back and forth suddenly.

“This is it! The Boss’s lair!” One of the group called out.

With the lights on the massive double doors in front of the group, everyone realized that they had to crane their necks to see the top of them.

“Never seen a door in a Dungeon before.”

“It’s massive.”

Sangshik narrowed his eyes at the large, stone doors that were currently closed. “It almost feels ominous.”

Beom-Shik nodded once. “Yeah, I think so too.”

“If you want to head back empty-handed after walking all this way, you can.” Chiyul told the group as he stood in front of the door. “But we would appreciate everyone staying until we’ve at least seen the Boss. After that, if you’re one of the ones that voted not to come, none of us will hold it against you if you leave.”

Getting nods from the Party, Chiyul turned and pushed against the massive stone doors. With the sound of two smooth stones rubbing together, the doors opened.

“It opens easier than I expected.” Chiyul noted as several wall sconces within the room beyond lit up with blue flames and illuminated the interior.

Everyone had their hands on their weapons, just in case the Boss came charging at them immediately. When both doors were fully open and nothing happened, everyone began to look into the room beyond.

“This place is huge…”

“Where’s the Boss?”

Within the circular room beyond the towering doors was a colossal statue seated on a throne, while dozens of other huge statues lined the walls, most looking like knights in full plate armor and wielding various weapons. One by one, the group entered the room, glancing at the statues, looking up at the ceiling, and scoping the place out for the missing Boss Monster.

“Some of the statues are holding instruments.”

“These statues give me the creeps.”

Beom-Shik looked at the statue before him curiously. “There aren’t any monsters here either.”

Sangshik glanced over at the doors. “There weren’t any on the way here either. That seems strange.”

“That huge statue…you don’t think it’s the Boss, right?”

“Nah, that’s just a statue.”

Chiyul’s foot tapped on something, and he looked down. “What’s this…? A divination circle?” The center of the floor was a circle with five large circles along the edge and connected by lines to form a pentagon. Each circle depicted some kind of symbol that Chiyul had never seen before, and there was a slightly smaller circle in the center with an equally mysterious symbol.

“Song! There’s something written over here! I think you should take a look at this!” Sangshik called out from a statue of an angel that was just as old and partially moss-covered as the rest.

The entire party gathered around the angel statue and looked at the large tablet that it was holding.

Chiyul took only a second to recognize the writing. “Ancient script?” Something that had been found in the Dungeons and that most Hunters could read if they tried hard enough…some kind of translation through the mana that resided within their brains after Awakening was the best theory about why it was possible. “Let’s see… Commandments of the Cartenon Temple.”

“So this is a temple. I thought it looked sort of like one.” One of the guys nodded to himself.

“One… Thou shall worship God.” Chiyul read off the stone tablet held by the angel statue. “Two… Thou shall praise God.”

Joohee tugged at Jinwoo’s sleeve, getting his attention. “H-Hey, Jinwoo…” She pointed at the titanic statue on the throne. “Over…over there… That huge statue…”

“Three… Thou shall prove thy faith.” Chiyul continued reading aloud.

“Its pupils were moving…looking at us.” Joohee said, her voice wavering and her eyes wide in fright.

Jinwoo looked up at the statue’s face, but didn’t see any sign of movement. “Are you sure? Maybe you’re mistaken?” But that’s when Jinwoo’s senses noticed a subtle change in the entire room. The sense of danger that had been honed in him through countless near-death experiences in Dungeons picked up all the suddenly missing details. ‘What is this…feeling…?! It got so quiet… Something’s not right.’ Not even the flames flickering in the sconces made a single sound when just moments ago they had been.

“Those who fail to obey these commandments…shall not be spared.” Chiyul finished reading the tablet.

BAM

The crashing sound startled everyone as they turned to face the doors, only to find them closed again without anyone near them to have done so.

“What the hell?! The doors closed?!” One of the guys cursed.

A woman looked at the doors but didn’t see anything happening in the room. “I’m sure we can open them again…” She was cut off as the tallest man in the party shoved past her.

“Damn it! I’m at the end of my rope!” The man grumbled out as he walked towards the doors. “I’ve tried to be patient, but this nonsense is the final straw! We should’ve never come to this damn Dungeon in the first place! I’m leaving!” He nearly stomped towards the closed doors before looking back over his shoulder at the rest of the party. “Take all the Bosses and treasure for yourselves! I don’t give a damn!” He reached the doors and took hold of the two ring-shaped handles. “Good luck!”

“Stop! Get away from the door!” Chiyul yelled out a warning as he saw the massive four-flanged mace in the giant statue’s hands move.

Wham

Blood sprayed across the stone doors.

The Hunter was now missing his right arm and shoulder, along with his head.

The towering statue wielded its equally massive weapon as if it weighed almost nothing. Blood dripped off the head of the mace as the statue retook its previous position, the heavy weapon creating a loud ‘thud’ as it was tapped against the ground.

“KYAAAAAA!!!” Two of the female Hunters, along with Joohee, screamed in terror at what had just happened in the blink of an eye.

“TH-THAT THING IS MOVING!!!” Beom-Shik yelled in panic, his eyes wide in terror. “WHAT THE…WE HAVE TO FIGHT THOSE THINGS?!”

Jinwoo was looking at the corpse of the Hunter, now leaning up against the door while kneeling in a pool of its own blood. His breath was coming in shallow gasps and his eyes were wide, refusing to blink again. ‘Wait…’ He recalled what Joohee had said only a moment ago. ‘If what she said was true…’ Jinwoo slowly turned his head to look over his shoulder, his eyes trailing up to look at the face of the titanic statue…and saw its eyes glowing a baleful yellow that was growing brighter.

Jinwoo was reminded of his first time in a Dungeon and how he’d almost died when he got separated from his Party. Not long after that, he was hospitalized for weeks when an E-Rank monster had attacked him from behind. He’d even almost starved to death in a labyrinth too; despite all of them being low-rank Dungeons, he always had to put his life on the line. While most Hunters collected Essence Stones and sold them to buy better gear, enabling them to hunt more monsters with less risk to themselves, he couldn’t do that. Almost all of his money immediately went to his mother’s hospital fees, the food he and Jinah ate, the rent for their apartment… He could only afford mediocre weapons that usually broke before he’d even earned back the money he’d spent on them. That left him with just his body and his fists to fight the monsters. Day after day he’d done this job, putting up with the mockery, the danger, blow after blow. He wasn’t skilled, but he kept doing the job even as it chipped away at his soul.

But maybe that’s why he noticed the danger right away.

Grabbing Joohee, Jinwoo yelled out the fastest warning he could. “GET DOWN!!!” He threw himself and Joohee to the floor in the same instant.

The eyes of the colossal statue emitted a beam of heat and light so intense that it tore up the floor and melted it as the hidden monster swept its gaze across the room. Those not swift enough to heed the warning only had a fraction of a second to scream before they were ashes. Everyone else had thrown themselves to the floor and barely dodged the beam of death.

“Hey! Wake up!” Beom-Shik shook Sangshik, both of them barely a meter away from the floor that was glowing and molten from heat. “You okay?”

“Yeah…you?” Sangshik asked as he pushed himself up onto his hands and knees.

Beom-Shik nodded once, staying on his knees with his head ducked down. “I’m good.”

“KYAAAA!!!” One of the remaining girls screamed out as she saw a severed and charred hand that was the only remains of the Hunters that had been incinerated by the eye beams of the colossal statue.

“So many casualties…” Beom-Shik breathed out heavily.

Sangshik glared at the massive statue with his head still low. “I got out of the way by the skin of my teeth. If Sung hadn’t shouted out…all of us could’ve died.”

Jinwoo pushed himself up a bit with a grunt. “Joohee… Joohee…” He tried to get her attention, but she was trembling and had her eyes squeezed shut, tears escaping them.

“EVERYONE!!! STAY WHERE YOU ARE!!!” Chiyul yelled out loudly. “IF YOU STAND UP, WE’LL BE ATTACKED AGAIN!!!”

“Song…”

“Okay…”

No one was going to argue in this situation.

“Mr. Song…” Jinwoo said to the older man as the C-Rank Hunter shuffled over to him and Joohee on his knees.

Chiyul shook his head once. “Joohee can’t handle situations like this. That’s why she only goes on easy E-Rank and D-Rank Gates.” He glanced up at the towering statue on the throne, its eyes still letting off wisps of smoke. “But this dungeon…doesn’t seem easy at all… Only the people who moved were attacked. Those who listened to you and ducked survived.”

Jinwoo blinked once at that. “Ah…I see…”

“What the hell? I thought you shouted because you figured something out?” Chiyul looked at Jinwoo with confusion.

“I… I just sensed danger…” Jinwoo got out before his eyes widened as he saw Chiyul’s condition. “Mr. Song, your arm!”

Chiyul grimaced through the pain as the stump of his arm continued to drip blood. “It’s bearable. Just help me stop the bleeding.” He unzipped his coat and shrugged off the half over his missing arm, giving Jinwoo the access needed to tie bandages tightly around the stump. “Sung… How high do you think that statue ranks?”

Jinwoo shook his head, still taking care of Chiyul’s injury. “I’ve never been in a Dungeon higher than D-Rank.”

“I’ve been on a few B-Rank raids…but this place is way beyond B-Rank…” Chiyul told Jinwoo quietly as the bandages were tightened on his bleeding stump. “There weren’t any monsters in the B-Rank Dungeons capable of insta-killing so many Hunters.” He glared up at the statue on the throne. “That thing is A-Rank…no…maybe S-Rank.”

“The commandments of Cartenon Temple were ‘Thou shall worship God’, ‘Thou shall praise God’, and ‘Thou shall prove thy faith’… ‘Those who fail to obey these commandments shall not be spared’…that’s what was written.” Jinwoo recalled the words from the stone tablet. “Mr. Song…the ‘God’ in these commandments…is probably…referring to that statue, right?”

Chiyul gave a slight nod at that, forcing himself to focus through the pain in his severed arm. “I’m sure that thing is the only ‘God’ in this horrid temple.”

Jinwoo noticed that the bandages around Chiyul’s stump were already beginning to soak through with the man’s blood. “Are you going to be okay? You haven’t stopped bleeding yet.”

“I don’t have a choice.” Chiyul said with some sweat dripping down his face as he fought off going into shock. “I thought we’d clear this dungeon with ease, so there were only three Healers, but…there’s no trace of the one that got hit by that beam…” He looked over at the other Healer who was huddled against some of the rubble, hands over his head and muttering that he wanted to live over and over again. “…and the other one is sitting over there scared out of his mind.” Chiyul looked down at Joohee next to Jinwoo, the young woman still trembling in fear and panic. “It’s going to be hard to get any healing right now.” Looking up at the statue on the throne again, Chiyul could only grimace. “We shouldn’t try to do anything against an opponent like that. Once things have settled down, let’s just try to figure out how to get out of here. Though it won’t be easy…”

The cries and whimpers of the surviving Hunters were quiet in the huge temple, many of them keeping themselves hushed in terror that they’d be targeted if they drew any attention at all.

‘Mr. Song believes we’ll be attacked the second we make a move. Even if we were to get lucky and somehow make it all the way to the exit, there’s another statue guarding the doors…which means they had no intention of letting us leave in the first place!’ Jinwoo grimaced at the trap they’d all fallen into, sweat dripping down his face from stress and fear.

“I refuse to die like this!” One Hunter yelled out as he took a runner’s position. “I just signed with a major Guild! I can’t die here!” His feet cracked the stone floor as the muscles in his legs bulged significantly.

Chiyul’s eyes widened at what the younger Hunter was doing. “What are you doing?! Don’t move!”

The other Hunter wasn’t listening. “Alright! I can do this! No matter who I’m up against, I’m confident I can be faster!” His bulging legs kicked off the ground so powerfully that he left a small crater in the stone as he blurred through the space between him and the doors. “I’ll break through the door in one go!”

The eyes of the ‘God’ statue flashed for only an instant. The entire temple lit up from the beam as everyone watched on. In that same fraction of a second, the fleeing Hunter was gone…only his feet remained to bounce across the ground and come to a stop a few meters from the door.

“KYAAAA!!!” One of the ladies screamed in terror at seeing another horrible death.

“Damn it!” Jinwoo punched the ground in anger as the situation became abundantly clear now. “Does this mean these statues could annihilate us at any given moment if they wanted to?”

Chiyul was sweating more from fear now than from his injury. “It’ll be easier than squashing a bug for them, that’s for sure.”

Jinwoo looked over at Chiyul. “They could kill us all right now…so why haven’t they?”

“Good question…” Chiyul grimaced as he looked around at all the statues surrounding them.

‘They have the power to kill us, yet they haven’t. They’re different from the monsters that attack the second they set their sights on a Hunter. A guard that attacks when you approach the doors. A God-like statue that shoots beams of light if you move. Their attacks are based on a set of rules!’ Jinwoo thought as he noticed the difference between these statutes and every other monster he’d ever seen before. ‘Rules? Wait!’ he turned his head, his eyes wide as he looked towards the stone tablet held by the angel statue. ‘The commandments of the Cartenon Temple! That’s got to be it!’ Swiftly looking back to Chiyul he questioned the older man. “Mr. Song! What was the first commandment again?”

Chiyul looked at him confused. “Commandment?” He thought for a second. “I think the first one was… ‘Thou shall worship God’.”

Jinwoo looked up at the statue on the throne. ‘God…’ He narrowed his eyes as he believed he understood how this strange dungeon worked now. “Mr. Song, this Dungeon has rules.” He said with certainty as he started to stand up.

“What do you think you’re doing?!” Chiyul would’ve reached up to grab Jinwoo and pull him down…if his left arm wasn’t missing.

“If what I’m thinking is true…” Jinwoo said, his eyes sharp and focused on the ‘God’ statue.

Chiyul saw the look in Jinwoo’s eyes and was surprised. “Your eyes tell me you haven’t given up hope yet.”

Jinwoo stood up to his full height. “That statue doesn’t attack everything that moves…” The ‘God’ statue whipped its gaze around, eyes glowing golden. Jinwoo dropped back down into a crouch, but didn’t even put his knees on the floor. The eyes of the statue dimmed again even as Jinwoo sweated heavily. ‘I was right…it only attacks if you’re above a certain height. I understand the meaning of the first commandment now!’ He quickly kneeled down and yelled to the group. “Everyone! Bow towards the statue of God!”

“What?!” Sangshik yelled back, clearly terrified and frustrated. “Have you lost your mind, Sung Jinwoo?!”

“What do you mean ‘bow’?!” Beom-Shik questioned, looking at Jinwoo like he was crazy.

Chiyul looked at Jinwoo closely for a moment. “You’ve figured something out, haven’t you?”

Jinwoo nodded once, never taking his eyes off the ‘God’ statue. “Yes. It’ll attack if you stand above a certain height, but won’t if you stoop down. That’s what ‘Thou shall worship God’ means.” He bowed low, prostrating himself with his forehead nearly touching the floor. “So if you lower yourself and bow before the statue…”

“I hope this isn’t just a hunch.” Chiyul said as he shifted to a kneeling position as well.

“…it’s not. For now, at least.” Jinwoo said as he kept bowing low to the statue.

Chiyul nodded and bowed low to the deadly statue. “I guess we have no choice.”

Everyone still alive prostrated themselves before the ‘God’ statue. No one dared to move; most were still trembling from fear, in fact.

‘We’re going to survive this?’ Sangshik wondered as he kept his eyes on the floor. ‘Just by bowing to the statue?’

'Is he saying we can make it out of here alive?' Beom-Shik thought to himself, still beyond terrified. Memories of his pregnant wife and child passed through his mind, along with regret that he’d gotten back into raiding Gates as a Hunter.

After a few moments, Jinwoo, Chiyul, and Beom-Shik looked up without leaving their prostrated position. The steady, dim glow from the statue’s eyes had gone out entirely now. A moment later they experienced a new level of terror as the colossal statue smiled. A face-splitting grin full of teeth and gums that wouldn’t be out of place on the most wicked and sadistic of serial killers.

‘What’s with that face?!’ Everyone thought as they waited for some kind of attack or movement from the ‘God’ statue.

Several minutes of silence passed with nothing happening. The statue was still smiling that twisted, disturbing smile the entire time.

“I think the attacks have stopped…” Beom-Shik said as he sat up from his deep bow.

“No way…” Sangshik said as he slowly pushed himself up as well. “It might attack us again.”

Beom-Shik slowly put one foot on the ground, now kneeling on one knee. “Is this really all we had to do?”

“H-Hey! Listen to me, don’t just stand up…” Sangshik cautioned his friend.

Beom-Shik slowly got to his feet. “L-Look! I told you! It stopped attacking!”

The fact that the wickedly smiling statue didn’t instantly vaporize Beom-Shik seemed to prove the man correct. Everyone slowly got back to their feet…and when no attacks came, relief began to flood the remaining Hunters.

“It’s not doing anything…”

“Are the attacks really over?”

“We made it!”

“We survived!”

Jinwoo’s eyes widened as he recalled two further commandments. ‘No… Not yet…’

Rmmmbbbllleee

The entire Cartenon Temple shook as the ‘God’ statue, still smiling like a serial killer, stood up from its throne. Dust fell down in clouds as the statue moved for the first time in who knew how long.

Boom

The first titanic footsteps shattered the floor beneath it into gravel.

“It’s not over yet?!” Sangshik craned his neck all the way just to keep the statue’s face in sight.

“Wait…” Another Hunter spoke, voice trembling in fear. “We’re not going to have to fight that thing, right?!”

Chiyul looked at Jinwoo as everyone gazed up at the ‘God’ statue in terror. “Sung! Sung Jinwoo! Got any other tricks up your sleeve?!”

Jinwoo blinked, still unable to pull his eyes away from the towering statue. “Even if you ask me that…”

The God statue’s evil-looking eyes swept over all the Hunters in the temple, the horrific smile still on its face as it raised one foot and took a step forward.

“Are you really out of ideas?!” Chiyul questioned as the massive foot of the statue moved forward towards the Hunters.

“I don’t know what to do either!” Jinwoo had only understood the first commandment after testing it out!

Boom

The second step shook the ground and made most of the Hunters stumble slightly.

“This dungeon has a set of rules!” Jinwoo yelled over to the other Hunters, wanting anyone else’s thoughts in hopes of figuring out the rest of the rules. “The first one is ‘Thou shall worship God’! The second one is ‘Thou shall praise God’! That’s the key!”

“Praise?” Most of them looked at each other confused.

“If by praise you mean singing hymns, I'll give it a shot!” One of the men with long black hair stepped forward, a golden cross hung around his neck. “I used to be in a church choir.” He held the bottom of the little cross between his fingers. “I’m confident in singing hymns!” With a steadying breath, he closed his eyes and began to recite a hymn. “Lord, I stand before you. Renew my spirit and shower me with grace, Lord.” The next thundering step of the statue shook the ground. “I’ve come to see the weakness within me. Let it be washed away by the power of your love.”

Jinwoo was sweating and breathing heavily as the God statue continued to walk forward.

The man continued to recite the hymn. “Your love keeps me in your presence…”

“Is it responding?” Sangshik asked, a desperate hope in his voice.

“I feel like it’s moving slower…” Beom-Shik said as the next step from the statue was slower in coming.

“Like an eagle flapping its wings, I rise.” The Hunter’s hymn continued, his eyes closed as he poured his belief into his words. “I rise with you, Lord, and walk with thee.”

Jinwoo saw the look on the God statue’s face, the twisted smile now a mix of sadism and amusement. ‘No… he’s praising a different God!’ He realized as the titanic statue’s foot came down. “MOVE!” Jinwoo yelled out, but it was too late. The statue stomped the man and blood splattered across the floor beneath its stone foot.

Terrified screams rang out at seeing another horrific death.

Sangshik bolted in the opposite direction and roared out to the others. “RUN!!!”

One woman had fallen down in terror and was stomped into a blood splatter a fraction of a second later.

Jinwoo grabbed Joohee’s hand and dragged her along. The beautiful Healer had terrified tears running down her face and she was nearly hyperventilating.

“It’s dangerous to stay in groups! Let’s split up for now!” Chiyul called out loudly, sending the remaining Hunters scattering.

Beom-Shik ran as fast as he’d ever run before. ‘I can’t die here! Not like this!’ He recalled last night and his wife asking him why he didn’t stay ‘retired’ from Hunter work. His response while sitting on the couch and enjoying a beer was to say that he needed to make as much money as possible since she was about to give birth to their second child. ‘I made up my mind to do everything I could to provide for my family!’ He thought in desperation as panicked tears escaped his eyes. “This should be far enough, right?” He skidded to a stop in front of one of the statues standing against the wall, which hadn’t moved since they’d entered the temple, turning around to keep the colossal ‘God’ statue in sight.

“MOVE!!!” Jinwoo screamed at Beom-Shik.

There was no thought…Beom-Shik saw the expression on Jinwoo’s face: fear, panic, desperation…all of them raw, primal emotions that made his body move instantly. He threw himself to the right as fast as he could and felt a white-hot pain erupt from his left leg.

“PARK!!! BEHIND YOU!!!” Sangshik yelled out at the same time that Beom-Shik threw himself to the side.

Boom

The massive sword of the statue behind Beom-Shik split the floor…and took the man’s left leg below the knee.

“MY LEG!!!” Beom-Shik screamed in pain as he scrambled away on his hands and knees, the adrenaline flooding his system pushing him along. A trail of blood was left behind him, but the statue didn’t chase after him once he was out of the range of the sword.

"Park!" Sangshik grabbed his friend and threw one of Beom-Shik’s arms over his shoulder to help him hobble away from the moving statues. “Come on! We’ve got to get out of here! You have to make it back to your wife and kids!”

‘Thou shall praise God. Thou shall praise God! There’s no way we could praise that thing! It's the Devil!’ Jinwoo screamed in his mind as he ran and practically dragged Joohee behind him. The danger had just multiplied now that the other statues could move too! The giant golem-like monsters were slaughtering the survivors that entered their range. Swords, spears, hammers, axes, instruments… ‘Wait, why do some of them have instruments?’ He looked at one that held a trumpet, and then he looked around the temple quickly, picking out other statues that were also holding instruments and the difference between the two types of statues became clear. The ones in robes and holding instruments didn’t move, while the ones in armor and wielding weapons attacked everyone in range. ‘They can only attack what’s in range…but if the ones with instruments can move, then…! Thou shall praise God!’ Jinwoo’s eyes snapped wide open as the puzzle pieces came together. “EVERYONE, GO TOWARD THE STATUES HOLDING INSTRUMENTS!!!”

Chiyul noticed that the statue he was running past had a large horn and skidded to a stop in front of it. The statue’s eyes began to glow blue, and the sound of a horn began to fill the temple. “It…actually played?! EVERYONE! SUNG IS RIGHT! THE ONE’S HOLDING INSTRUMENTS WON'T ATTACK!”

Sangshik and Beom-Shik managed to get to a statue with a violin. But it remained motionless and silent. “What the fuck?! Why won’t it play?!”

“Sangshik…just leave me here.” Beom-Shik moved his arm and lightly shoved his friend away. “At least one of us should make it out.” He slumped down before the statue and let his tears fall. “J-Just look out for my wife and kids, please.”

“Park…” Sangshik had tears falling down his face as well, but the statue next to the violin statue had turned to face them both and raised its large axe. “Damn it!” He bellowed as he took off, only for the beautiful sound of violin to fill the air as soon as he was out of range. “What?!”

The armed statue returned to its previous position while Beom-Shik looked up at the violin statue he sat in front of with surprise. “It started…?”

“ONLY ONE PERSON CAN BE IN FRONT OF EACH STATUE!!!” Sangshik bellowed out to everyone else as he sprinted towards a statue with a harp; he barely avoided being in range of three other armed statues. As soon as he got in front of it, he nearly collapsed, his breath coming in heaving gasps. The strings were plucked and the statue’s eyes glowed blue as it began to play.

More and more of the surviving Hunters managed to reach safe statues, and the music began to fill the temple like a small orchestra.

Jinwoo and Joohee got to a statue with a drum. “Joohee, stay here!" Jinwoo yelled as he pushed her towards the feet of the statue and ran off. The statue’s eyes glowed blue like the others and it began to beat the drum in rhythm with the other instruments.

"Jinwoo!" Joohee called out to him, nearly sobbing as she saw Jinwoo sprinting for his life towards another statue, even as the ‘God’ statue focused on the E-Rank Hunter.

Everyone watched as the towering statue turned to Jinwoo and began stomping after him. Every large stride shrank the distance between the fleeing Hunter and the abomination of a statue. The statue’s foot was right above Jinwoo only two steps later.

‘Almost! Almost!’ Jinwoo yelled in his mind as he saw a statue holding some flat instrument. He flung himself away just as the colossal foot stomped down, shattering the floor where Jinwoo had been just a fraction of a second ago. He landed near a statue and gasped for air.

"NO! SUNG, YOU’RE GOING THE WRONG WAY!!!" Chiyul yelled out in warning.

The statue of the knight that Jinwoo had landed in front of raised its shield and brought the edge down on Jinwoo like a guillotine.

Boom

“NOOO!!! JINWOO!!!" Joohee screamed as a large cloud of dust obscured everyone’s view.

“An instrument… An instrument…” Jinwoo muttered out as he dragged himself across the floor. The thundering footsteps of the ‘God’ statue got closer, almost as if it was taking its time to enjoy Jinwoo’s suffering…which it very well might’ve been doing from what they’d seen of the abomination. ‘If there really is a god… Please… Life or death, I’ve been walking the line between the two for so long…will I finally fall here?’

The foot came down, and every one watching closed their eyes. But before the foot could hit the floor, the music of the various instruments was joined by singing. A beautiful voice came from the statue of a female angel holding a choir book that Jinwoo had managed to crawl to.

The smile gradually disappeared from the ‘God’ statue’s face, and it slowly pulled its foot back and just stood still amongst the music and singing of the other statues around the Cartenon Temple. Everyone watched on, holding their breath, until the towering statue had stood still for a full minute.

“Jinwoo, are you okay?!” Joohee was the first to run over to him.

“Yes… More or less…” Jinwoo answered her

Joohee’s eyes widened and tears fell as she covered her mouth with her hands. “Oh god… Jinwoo…”

Jinwoo looked confused for a moment. “What’s wrong?”

“Your leg…” Joohee uttered out as Jinwoo was missing everything below the middle of his right shin.

“Oh…” Jinwoo looked down at his missing leg numbly, blood running down his face to mix with his sweat.

Joohee wiped her eyes, not that it did much to stem her tears, and knelt next to Jinwoo, her hands glowing with almost golden light this time. “Hang in there just a little longer! I’ll heal you!” She promised as the light covered the stump of Jinwoo’s leg.

Jinwoo forced himself not to pass out, but his eyes drooped regardless. “That’s good enough, Joohee… You can stop now… The others…are injured too…”

Sangshik was helping Beom-Shik hobble over and he grimaced at seeing the state of Jinwoo’s leg. “That looks bad…”

“Shit…he’s in the same shape as me.” Beom-Shik cursed at the situation.

“Fix Sung up first…” Chiyul said as his bandaged stump had already soaked through the white cloth.

Jinwoo placed his hand on Joohee’s shoulder. “Please, Joohee…” He looked into her eyes and barely managed to push her towards Chiyul and Beom-Shik.

Joohee nodded, even as the tears welled up in her eyes. She turned to Beom-Shik and started providing the same healing to his stump of a leg, managing to stop the bleeding after a moment. Chiyul tried to send the Healer back to Jinwoo, but the golden light from Joohee’s hands alighted upon his wrapped injury and stopped his bleeding as well.

“I’ll heal everyone…I can…” Blood erupted from her nose and mouth as her body started shaking. Even as a powerful B-Rank Healer, she was now the ONLY Healer left, and was trying to restore three injuries that her magic would barely be able to handle even if she’d been in peak condition.

“That's enough, Joohee… don't hurt yourself.” Jinwoo was exhausted and he had enough experience to recognize the symptoms of mana exhaustion/overuse.

Sangshik let out a heavy breath. “We started this raid with seventeen members, but there’s only seven of us left…”

Chiyul glanced at his stump of an arm, then at Beom-Shik and Jinwoo. “Out of those that’re left, three people have sustained serious injuries…”

“I’m sorry you lost your arm, but as party leader…your decisions led us all into this situation.” Sangshik looked at Chiyul with tired anger as he continued to support Beom-Shik. “Song…you must prepare to take responsibility for all of this.”

“You’re right…” Chiyul placed his right hand onto the stump of his left arm, closing his eyes and hanging his head in shame at the lives lost because he hadn’t followed the rules regarding the discovery of a Double Dungeon.

And then the God Statue moved again. The colossus turned and walked with thunderous steps until it got near the center of the room.

“That bastard! Is it going to attack us again?!” One of the remaining Hunters demanded in panic.

The ‘God’ statue raised one hand, and the entire temple shook as if an earthquake had struck.

“What the hell is going on?!” Sangshik cursed as he barely managed to keep himself and Beom-Shik from falling over.

“An earthquake?!” Chiyul widened his stance to prevent himself from falling over. What he had thought was a divination circle in the center of the room rose out of the ground, forming a two-tiered platform.

Sangshik looked utterly spent after everything they’d already been through. “What the hell is that?”

“An altar.” Jinwoo said after a second to look at the stone platform.

Everyone looked at him in confusion as he sat on the ground.

“An altar?” Chiyul questioned, his tone heavy.

Jinwoo didn’t look away from the altar. “Yes, like the ones in myths. Altars are used to offer sacrifices to God… For example, livestock such as cows, pigs, and sheep are often sacrificed, as well as young children and maidens.” He sagged as if both exhaustion and weight were slowly crushing him. “The third and last commandment is… ‘Thou shall prove thy faith’.”

Chiyul looked grave, but his eyes were resigned.

“I may not be the sharpest tool in the shed, but even I get what you’re trying to say right now.” Sangshik said as he pulled his new sword from the small subspace he’d developed after his Awakening. While still supporting Beom-Shik, he held his sword firmly in his right hand. “Sung, you’re saying we have to make a sacrificial offering, right?” He aimed his blade at Chiyul. “You said that you’d take responsibility for all of this. Prove it to us, right now, Song Chiyul.”

“Mr. Kim, that’s…” Jinwoo tried to say it was wrong to make Chiyul take all of the responsibility when they’d all voted to come here. Especially when both Sangshik and Beom-Shik were the first two to vote to go into the Double Dungeon.

Sangshik raised his voice, cutting Jinwoo off. “You keep your mouth shut and stay out of this!”

“Kim is right. I have to take responsibility.” Chiyul said as he looked at the sword aimed at him. “Put that sword away. I’ll walk to the altar myself.”

“Mr. Song!” Jinwoo tried to rise, but Joohee put her hands on his injured leg, the golden glow still trying to heal him, even as it flickered from Joohee’s dwindling mana.

Chiyul reached the altar, only to flinch when a single orange flame erupted behind him, the fireball roughly the size of a volleyball.

Beom-Shik blinked at the appearance of the fire. “What the…? What’s happening?”

“Hey, Sung! Did I do something wrong?” Chiyul asked when nothing happened after the flame appeared.

‘A flame? What’s the meaning of this? I thought it wanted us to make an offering.’ Jinwoo was just as confused as the others. “I want to take a look at the altar. Can someone help me get to it?”

The last two remaining Hunters, a large man and a young lady with a tan, both looked at Jinwoo cautiously, but they eventually helped him up and nearly carried him over to the altar. Joohee followed behind, her breath ragged and sweat pouring down her face from the depletion of her mana.

As soon as Jinwoo and the two helping him stepped onto the altar, three more orange flames appeared, all equidistant from one another. When Joohee stepped into the circle, another flame appeared instantly, confirming what Jinwoo had begun to suspect.

‘So that’s how it works…’ Jinwoo thought to himself before looking at Chiyul. “Will other Hunters come to our rescue if we wait here?”

“Today marks one week since the opening of this Gate.” Chiyul said, reminding Jinwoo that the reason the Association had given urgency to this particular Gate was because it was close to becoming a Dungeon Break. “Those statues will probably make a move before anyone outside realizes something’s gone wrong.”

Jinwoo let out a sigh. “This Gate must be low on their list because it’s D-Rank. Still, they left it neglected for too long.” A Dungeon Break by these statues would be absolute devastation to the entire section of Seoul the Gate had formed in. Even if S-Ranks were deployed, the loss of life would probably be in the hundreds or even thousands before they arrived.

“Well, that’s the Hunter’s Association for you.” Chiyul said with the exasperation of a longtime Hunter dealing with the Association always being short-staffed.

“Mr. Kim, Mr. Park…come over here. The number of flames corresponds to the number of people. I think we all need to be on the altar to make something happen.” Jinwoo called to the last two who hadn’t come over yet.

Both men looked at each other before nodding as they hobbled over and joined the others on the altar. As the last two flames burst into existence, blue-white energy shot from the altar in all directions along the floor and touched the outermost ring surrounding the altar. Twenty-eight blue flames flared up into life before hovering above the ring, burning steadily, just like their orange counterparts around the altar.

Thud

Everyone whipped around to see that the large double doors had swung open, the darkness of the tunnel beyond them.

“The doors opened?!” Chiyul exclaimed in shock.

“What the?!” Sangshik looked stunned at the open doors.

Thoughts rushed through the seven survivor’s minds, all of them roughly the same.

‘What’s going on?! Are we allowed to leave? No…something else might happen…’

The doors had opened so swiftly that the corpse of the first Hunter to touch them had been knocked backwards into the room. It was a stark reminder that the Cartenon Temple was a place that punished the wrong move…usually with death.

The first of the twenty-eight blue flames fizzled out, much to the group’s confusion.

Boom

The knight statues around the walls all began to move, each heavy step like thunder from their weight and power.

“What is it this time?!” Sangshik demanded as he glanced around, seeing every knight statue moving towards them from all directions.

“Th-They’re walking towards us!” Beom-Shik cried out, knowing that he was basically dead weight right now.

The second blue flame went out as the statues continued to approach.

Chiyul glanced to his right and left, seeing statue knights closing in one step at a time. “What are we supposed to do?!”

“What’s going on, damn it!” The large Hunter yelled out, still supporting Jinwoo so that the E-Rank could stand upright.

Jinwoo looked around, not understanding the rule that would keep them alive. The heavy step of a knight drew his attention, and he realized it immediately halted its advance while he looked at it. “Wait…” He lightly reached out to grab Joohee’s shoulder, “Don’t close your eyes, Joohee! It’s like the game we all played when we were kids! The rules are the same! They stop moving if you look at them!” Everyone looked at the approaching knight statues and watched the ones they looked directly at stop moving. “Don’t look away from the statues!”

Another blue flame went out.

Everyone began to stare at the statues, their eyes straining from the effort to not blink. As time dragged on, more of the blue flames vanished, but with every blink another statue or two got a step closer and more panic built up. Staring at the massive statues glowing slightly from within at certain places, all of them covered in moss and the blood of their slain colleagues was a staggering mental toll, and the atmosphere in the temple was becoming suffocating as their certain death closed in slowly. Finally, the tanned girl who had helped get Jinwoo onto the platform flinched, her eyes closing in terror.

Boom

Boom

The footfalls of the knight statues that she’d been keeping at bay sent her fleeing like a panicked animal.

“KYAAAA!!!” She screamed as she ran towards the doors. One of the orange flames around the altar vanished the moment she left the circle, and the doors groaned as they closed just slightly.

But the young woman made it out safely and vanished into the darkness of the tunnel outside the doors.

“Wh-What the…?!” Sangshik blinked at the girl escaping.

“What?! She made it?! The doors closed a little, but…” Beom-Shik said rapidly before the approaching statues forced him to focus on them and prevent their advance.

Chiyul looked towards Jinwoo for a second. “Sung, how is that possible?!”

Jinwoo wasn’t sure anymore. ‘How?! How is it possible?! The blue flames go out over time. The orange flames correspond to each person on the altar.’ He wracked his mind trying to figure out what was going on. ‘The first commandment was about worship. The second was about praise. These riddles aren’t symbolic; they have clear answers for what we have to do.’ The meaning of the open doors became clear. ‘The open doors are a trap. They give us false hope. The doors opened once all the orange flames lit up. They close a little every time one goes out. Which means the doors close when all of them go out.’

“Sung?!” Chiyul called out again.

“Prove thy faith…” Jinwoo said, loud enough for everyone remaining to hear him. "In the face of fear and menace. In the face of sweet temptation. The third commandment wants us to prove our faith even under these circumstances!”

The large man supporting Jinwoo trembled. “I-I’m sorry… I can’t take this anymore…” He practically dropped Jinwoo and bolted towards the doors. The instant he stepped out of the altar space, one more orange flame vanished and the doors closed just slightly. The large man rushed out and into the tunnel without looking back.

“H-Hey…!” Beom-Shik called out both his voice and his body trembling.

“Don’t move! We can’t have any more people leave!” Jinwoo called out before alternating his gaze onto each of the knight statues within his sight, trying to keep them all from moving any closer. “If anyone else leaves and a blind spot is created, we’ll all die!”

Chiyul glanced at one knight, but saw another move, so he glanced at that one to make it freeze, but from his peripheral vision, he saw two more move, their heavy steps forcing him to turn his gaze on them. “Sung, what’s happening? You need to explain to us what’s going on!”

Jinwoo spoke without taking his eyes off the statues that he could see, his eyes starting to burn from not blinking. “Keep looking at the stone statues! All we have to do is stay still! The blue flames act like a timer! Everyone will be able to make it out of here alive once all of the flames go out!”

“Look, Sung… What you’re telling us might be true, but… Realistically, there’s still a chance the doors will shut once time runs out, no? Are you sure about this?” Sangshik questioned Jinwoo’s interpretation of the commandment and the actions necessary to fulfill it. When Jinwoo couldn’t answer, Sangshik continued. “To be honest, I had no idea that you, the weakest of us, would play such an active role in this raid. I looked down on you. I didn’t expect much whenever you joined a party.” He took a shuddering breath as sweat from stress and fear continued to roll down his face. “Many have died after entering this Dungeon, but those who have survived were only able to do so because of you. Because you were able to solve all the riddles. Beom-Shik and I are both alive because of you, too. So thanks…”

Beom-Shik shook as tears began to fall from his eyes. “Thank you so much, Hunter Sung…”

“Mr. Kim…” Jinwoo couldn’t spare more than a second to look over at the man before he had to look back at the approaching knight statues.

Sangshik’s sword clattered to the stone floor. “But… But I have a family…” Everyone could hear the tears in his voice, even if they couldn’t see them pouring down the man’s face. “I don’t want to die yet. I don’t want to die.” He reaffirmed his grip around Beom-Shik. “I’m sorry… But I can’t do this anymore either.”

Jinwoo briefly looked over his shoulder, seeing Sangshik lift Beom-Shik into a fireman’s carry over his shoulders and start running towards the doors. “Mr. Kim! Mr. Park!”

“Sorry.” Both men said in unison, their voices thick with remorse, fear, and desperation.

“MR. KIM!!!” Jinwoo yelled out as two more of the orange flames vanished and the doors closed halfway.

Sangshik and Beom-Shik passed through the doors and disappeared into the darkness that lay beyond.

‘Thanks?’ Jinwoo thought to himself as he watched the two men escape. ‘Don't make me laugh!’ Tears of frustration poured from his eyes. ‘You two running away is going to get all of us killed!’

Boom

Boom

Boom

The thunderous footfalls resumed as the statues moved forward.

The remaining three looked at every statue they could, but there was now a gap that they couldn’t keep their eyes on. The knight statues were advancing faster now as the gazes had to shift almost constantly.

“You two should go.” Chiyul said to the younger Hunters.

“Mr. Song!” Jinwoo shot a quick glance at the older man.

Chiyul didn’t stop looking at the approaching statues. “The doors won’t close if one of us stays behind, right? You two have quite a few more years left to live than I do, so you should be the ones to get out.” He gave Joohee a strong look and his voice was sharp and commanding. “Joohee, give Sung a hand.”

“O-Okay!” Joohee said with a flinch. She stepped towards Jinwoo, only for her legs to give out beneath her the moment she tried to kneel down. “Huh? What’s wrong with me?” She tried to stand, but her legs only trembled with little spasms which quickly spread to the rest of her body. “M-My legs… My legs won’t move!”

“Are you low on mana?” Chiyul questioned, even though he knew the answer. “Looks like you used up too much mana keeping all of us alive.”

Jinwoo looked at the statues that he could see, halting their progress as he spoke. “Mr. Song, take Joohee and leave this place.”

Chiyul disagreed immediately. “I said I’m the one who’s going to stay behind!”

“Then who’s going to help Joohee?! We don’t have time for this! Go!” Jinwoo shot back, his missing foot making it impossible for him to carry Joohee out.

“No! Jinwoo, let me stay behind instead…” Joohee had tears in her eyes again, not wanting anyone to die for her.

Jinwoo looked over at her with a small smile, despite his injuries and the mental and physical exhaustion he was in. “You’re going to save so many people from now on, Joohee.” He told her sincerely while rummaging in his pocket and pulling out the E-Rank Essence Stone he’d gotten earlier. “Can you make sure my little sister gets this? Her name’s Sung Jinah. If I don’t make it back, I want her to have something to pay the bills with for at least a little longer.”

Joohee took the Essence Stone as tears poured from her eyes. “Y-You can…give it t-to her…yourself…” She was cut off as Chiyul chopped her neck swiftly and knocked her unconscious.

“I’m sorry, I really don’t think we have any more time to spare.” Chiyul apologized as he hefted Joohee over his shoulder.

Boom

Boom

Boom

The footsteps of the giant statue knights grew closer without anyone watching them.

“I’ll leave her in your hands.” Jinwoo said to Chiyul with a small nod.

“Alright.” Chiyul gave Jinwoo a look of utmost respect for what he was doing. But the self-disgust in his eyes couldn’t be hidden. He believed that an old man like himself should be the one staying behind so that the two younger ones could live.

Jinwoo took deep breaths as he watched Chiyul carry Joohee out of the Cartenon Temple, none of the approaching knight statues even acknowledging them. Once they stepped off the altar, two more of the orange flames went out, leaving only the one representing Jinwoo. He ignored the heavy footfalls of the statues as he watched Chiyul and Joohee make it out of the room, the double doors almost closed entirely now.

‘What a relief. At least I’m the only one that has to die.’ Jinwoo hung his head as a heavy breath escaped him. “If I had known this was going to happen, I would’ve signed up for more insurance. Glancing over, he saw Sangshik’s sword on the ground. He recalled the man saying earlier in the raid that it had cost him 3,000,000 Won, a weapon that was far too expensive for Jinwoo to afford. Picking it up, he held it as best he could, aimed at the approaching statues. ‘There’s no way out. But I’m taking at least one of you down!’

The knight statues stepped close enough to strike, even as the blue flames continued to go out on their timer.

“Come at me.” Jinwoo challenged as he held the sword as steadily as he could while leaning back against the altar.

That seemed to be what the statues had been waiting for as one with a spear thrust it forward in a blur, impaling Jinwoo through the torso. With a deft twist of the spear, a move so fluid only a master could perform it, Jinwoo’s body was split from stomach to shoulder and tossed into the air. Blood rained down on the floor from the mortal injury as Jinwoo spat out a mouthful of the crimson liquid. With a dull thud…more of a ‘splat’, really…Jinwoo landed back-first on top of the altar.

He very much looked like a proper sacrifice now as his blood poured across the top of the altar and then dripped down onto the lower platform.

Jinwoo choked on his blood, his right lung missing entirely from his split open torso made it nearly impossible to breathe. ‘I don’t want to die. I don’t want to die! Of course I’m not okay with this. ‘Thanks’? What a load of crap! They just used me to get out of here! How could they?! I have a family too! I don’t want to die either! I’m not relieved that I’m the only one who has to die! Who am I kidding?! I’m such a hypocrite!’ He saw one of the knight statues raise its sword above it head to finish him off, his vision going red with blood even as it started to fade entirely. ‘I don’t want this to be the end… One more chance… If I could just have one more chance!’

The last blue flame vanished just as the sword was swung down to end Jinwoo’s life…and then time seemed to stop.

Ding

[! Notice]

[You have met all the requirements to complete the secret quest: “Courage of the Weak”.]

‘What?’ Jinwoo’s mind was hazy from trauma and blood loss; he couldn’t quite comprehend the blue screen suddenly floating in front of him, nor the statue knights seemingly frozen in time. ‘Secret quest? I’ve met all the requirements? Where’d this thing come from?’

The blue screen changed.

[You now qualify to become a Player. Do you accept?]

‘Qualify? Accept?’ Jinwoo’s consciousness was fading; it was hard to even process what was going on. ‘What’s it talking about? I’m about to die…’

The blue screen changed again.

[You don’t have much time left. If you decline, your heart will stop beating in 0.02 seconds. DO YOU ACCEPT?]

On the bottom of the screen were two buttons, one marked ‘Accept’ and the other ‘Decline’.

‘Ah… If I accept… Does that mean I won’t die?’ Jinwoo felt the unconsciousness creeping in like a wave of darkness. ‘Alright… Make me…a Player.’

The ‘Accept’ button flashed once before the screen changed.

[Congratulations! You have now become a Player.]

A blinding light erupted from within Jinwoo and illuminated the entirety of the Cartenon Temple. The statue knights didn’t react to the light, the ‘God’ statue almost seemed to watch on as it looked down on Jinwoo before it too vanished in the light.

-Later-

Jinwoo’s eyes snapped open, and he shot up from the bed he was lying in, gasping for breath and clutching his chest. ‘A dream?’ He looked around for a moment as his heart slowed down and his breathing slowly went back to normal. ‘Was it all a dream?’ Recognizing the type of room he was in, he looked out the window. ‘Am I in the hospital?’ Pushing the blanket off of him, he saw that he had his right foot, even though he vividly recalled the pain of losing it. ‘But…it felt so real.’

The door to the room opened up, and two men walked in wearing black suits. One man had dirty-blond slicked-back hair. The other was more plain in his features with neat and tidy black hair. Both of the men walked over to his hospital bed “You’ve regained consciousness.” The blond man said as he held out a business card.

“Who are you?” Jinwoo asked as he took the business card but didn’t look away from the two men.

“I apologize if we startled you. I’m Woo Jinchul. I’m with the Hunter's Association Surveillance Team." The newly introduced Jinchul said simply.

Jinwoo read the business card once before looking back at Jinchul. “Why does the Surveillance Team want to talk to me?”

Jinchul’s response startled Jinwoo. “Well, you’ve been unconscious for three days.”

“I’ve been asleep for three whole days?!” Jinwoo exclaimed as multiple thoughts ran through his head. ‘What happened to Joohee and Mr. Song? Is Jinah okay? Have I missed any bills?’ He shook his head once as Jinchul and his assistant sat on the lone sofa in the room next to the window. “What happened to Joohee and Mr. Song? Are they safe?”

“They’re both safe, but…” Jinchul was clearly the no nonsense type as he answered the question without sugarcoating anything. “Mr. Song Chiyul lost his left arm, so he’ll have a lot of difficulty fighting as a Hunter. He might choose to retire. As for Miss Lee Joohee, she seems to have been traumatized by the incident, so she’s currently receiving therapy. We’re not sure if she’ll continue to work as a Hunter.”

The assistant pulled out a paper from the large bag he was carrying. “Also, Mr. Kim Sangshik, Park Beom-Shik, and…” He stopped as Jinwoo cut him off.

“No. It’s okay…I’ve heard enough.” Jinwoo said simply. There was bitterness and righteous anger within him for the four who had abandoned them in the Double Dungeon. He wouldn’t forget what they’d done…and he wasn’t sure he’d ever forgive them either.

Jinchul leaned forward slightly, lightly clasping his hands together. “Only seven people survived the Double Dungeon. Hunters are aware that their job entails danger, but disasters such as this rarely happen. After receiving the report from the survivors, we sent the ‘White Tiger’ Guild and our surveillance agents. But by the time they’d got there, everything was already gone. You were the only one we found lying unconscious in the Dungeon, and the statue of ‘God’ along with the other reported statues and the temple were nowhere to be found.”

Jinwoo balked at hearing that. “That’s impossible!”

“We’re in disbelief as well.” Jinchul said in agreement. “We would’ve considered other possibilities if we’d found the slightest discrepancies in the survivors’ accounts…but we found you lying on an altar and the remains of a few of the deceased Hunters were found nearby as well.” His eyes became a bit sharper as he took a breath. “This is just our guess, but we think you may have undergone a second awakening.”

‘A second awakening?!’ Jinwoo could hardly believe it.

A Hunter’s power and capabilities were determined when they first Awakened. But in rare cases, some Hunters ‘Reawaken’. There have been recorded cases of Hunters completely surpassing their old limits, such as a C-Rank becoming an A-Rank, or a B-Rank becoming an S-Rank.

Jinchul’s assistant placed a device on the bedside table that almost looked to be made of gold with intricate details on the top and bottom, and a ‘C’ shaped wall of the golden metal around it. At the center top of the device was a purple gemstone about the size of a baseball. “This is a mana meter. All you have to do is place your hand on this Essence Stone here.” He motioned to the purple gemstone.

‘If what the survivors said is true, and there were monsters high-level enough to insta-kill C-Rank Hunters, that means they can’t be taken down by an average Hunter. We may have to recruit not only A-Rank Hunters, but S-Rank Hunters to take care of them.’ Jinchul thought as he watched Jinwoo place his hand on the mana meter. ‘It’s hard to believe that such deadly monsters disappeared without a trace… Sung Jinwoo was the last survivor in that Dungeon, so it’s only natural that we suspect him of Reawakening. However…’

The mana meter beeped almost as soon as it began reading Jinwoo’s mana. The assistant was barely able to mask his expression as he turned the device enough for Jinchul to look at the small screen to reveal a reading of only ‘10’.

‘…I suppose trash will always be trash.’ Jinchul finished his thought.

‘Even the weakest E-Rank Hunters score at least a seventy.’ The assistant thought to himself at seeing the absurdly low number. If he’d compared it to Jinwoo’s previous reading from when he’d first Awakened, the man would’ve noticed that it had actually DROPPED from twelve down to ten.

“How are the results?” Jinwoo asked the assistant holding the meter.

“I think we’ve taken up too much of your time.” The assistant replied with professional business politeness. The mana meter was packed up into the bag and both men left his hospital room a moment later.

Jinwoo blinked at the sudden departure. ‘What the… I got all excited for nothing.’ He glanced in front of himself at the blue screen that had been floating in front of him the entire time. ‘But did this thing not bother those guys? Could it be that they can’t see it?’ He wiggled his right foot and ran his hand over his chest, reaffirming that the wounds he’d suffered were gone, as if only a bad dream. “Maybe I should’ve told them that I can see this stuff…” He tried to poke the floating blue screen, but his finger passed through it. ‘So it’s not a touch screen?’

The door to the hospital room slid open a second later and a familiar voice spoke up. “Jinwoo, you just woke up. What are you doing?” The speaker was a young woman with brunette hair that was tinted purple, appearing entirely purple in the right light, that was tied in a ponytail with bangs framing her face. She had fair skin and soft violet eyes, and wore a student uniform consisting of a long-sleeve blue blazer with black buttons, a long-sleeve white button-up blouse with a red bow around the neck. A black skirt clung to her hips and legs, stopping a bit above the knees, and finished the uniform while she wore simple tennis shoes on her feet. “Don’t tell me you hurt your head too.”

“Jinah!” Jinwoo brightened up immediately upon seeing his sister.

The instant the door closed behind her, Jinah dropped her school bag and was at Jinwoo’s bedside. “I told you to be careful! I was worried sick!” She nearly yelled, even as tears welled up in her eyes and she hugged Jinwoo tightly.

“…sorry.” Jinwoo apologized as he returned the hug.

“Why are you the only one getting hurt all the time?! Everyone else seems to be okay!” Jinah demanded as she tightened her hug and buried her face into his chest.

Jinwoo couldn’t help but smile softly as he gently rubbed Jinah’s back to soothe her. ‘I can’t believe that I was going to die and leave my little sister behind.’ They’d always been close, and in the last few years, especially, they’d come to rely solely on each other by necessity. Some might say they were oddly close for siblings, but neither Jinwoo nor Jinah would ever agree with that. ‘I still feel like this is part of a dream…but since it seems to be reality…’ He thought while looking at the blue screen in the air before him.

[You have unread messages.]

It even had a little envelope icon.

Jinah pulled back from the hug, her expression stern as she pointed at Jinwoo. “Alright! If you get hurt one more time, I’m gonna drop out, get a job, and make you quit this Hunter business! Got it?!” She’d been threatening to do so for a while now, hating to see her brother come back injured nearly every day and be hospitalized rather frequently as well. If she got a job, then Jinwoo wouldn’t have to suffer going on raids to provide for them all alone, or she believed so, at the very least.

“Jinah, can you see this?” Jinwoo pointed at the transparent blue screen.

“See what?” Jinah tilted her head with a flat look, wondering if her brother was really okay.

“Never mind…” Jinwoo said before asking something different. “When you have an unread message in a game, what do you have to do to view the message?”

Jinah’s flat expression became a little concerned. “Did you actually hit your head?” She let out a small sigh. “Though I guess you never really played video games.”

“Didn’t have much time for that since dad…” Jinwoo stopped himself; neither of them liked thinking about the situation their family was in. A father who had gone missing in a Gate and was presumed dead, their mother falling into Eternal Slumber only a few years later, it was little wonder they’d become so close and relied solely on each other.

“You have to open the message box first.” Jinah answered his question to move past the painful topic.

Jinwoo looked at the blue screen in front of him again. “I have to open the message box?”

The word ‘open’ seemed to work as the screen changed.

[Congratulations! You have now become a Player. (Unread)]

[Daily Quest: Strength Training. (Unread)]

“Why did you want to know that?” Jinah asked curiously.

Jinwoo didn’t have it in him to tell her that he was seeing and experiencing something so strange…not when he’d already worried her enough by being unconscious in the hospital for the last three days. Instead, he changed the subject with a warm smile. “Have you been okay while I was unconscious, Jinah?”

The two talked for a while after that, Jinah giving him updates on what had been going on…also pointing out how much he’d made her cry when she’d gotten the call that he was hospitalized and unconscious. Jinwoo apologized for that and gave her another hug, which Jinah returned warmly. Once they’d gone over the daily things, and Jinah was certain that Jinwoo was alright, they just talked about simple things like Jinah’s school, how one of her friends had recently Awakened and was going to be getting her evaluation soon, even mundane things like what Jinah had been eating while Jinwoo was unable to keep an eye on her meals and prevent excessive junk food consumption.

“Well, I’m off.” Jinah smiled at Jinwoo as she prepared to leave and head back to their apartment.

“Be careful on the way home.” Jinwoo said, as he always did, going so far as to leave a little kiss atop her head, making Jinah smile even as she playfully pushed him away and stood up.

Once Jinah was outside the room and the door was closed behind her, she turned to her best friend, who had been patiently waiting. “Let’s go.”

Her friend wore their school uniform haphazardly since they were out of school. The blue blazer was worn completely open and she had a pink hoodie on beneath it with the hood pulled up. Seeing the look of relief in Jinah’s eyes and the little smile on her best friend’s lips, she couldn’t help but joke. “Get enough love and reassurance from your big brother?” The other young woman teased with a little grin.

“Shut up!” Jinah lightly pushed her best friend along down the hallway.

Back in the hospital room, Jinwoo opened the first message on the screen.

[! Notice]

[This system will help the Player develop.]

[! Notice]

[Failing to comply with the System’s quests could result in a penalty.]

[! Notice]

[You have received a reward.]

“I have no idea what any of this means.” Jinwoo said to himself quietly as he looked at the three screens in front of him. Turning to the second unread message, noticing that it said ‘Daily Quest’, he was curious. “Strength Training? Open.” The screen changed immediately.

[! Quest Info]

[Daily Quest: Strength Training]

[Goals]

[Push-Ups – 0/100]

[Sit-Ups – 0/100]

[Squats – 0/100]

[Running – 0/10km]

[Caution! If the Daily Quest remains incomplete, penalties will be given accordingly.]

There was even a little green stopwatch icon at the bottom.

“Why does this routine seem sort of familiar?” Jinwoo questioned himself for a moment before putting it out of his mind. It was probably just something he’d heard from other kids back when he’d been in school, so it didn’t matter right now. “Haha…oh, man.” He gave the screen a flat stare. Is this some kind of joke? I’m still hospitalized. I don’t have the strength to do all of that right now.” He flopped back onto the hospital bed and turned over. “I’ll think about all of this after I get some sleep.” His physical injuries were gone, but he was still mentally exhausted by everything he’d gone through. Right now, he just wanted to sleep and figure things out tomorrow morning.

Jinwoo had no idea that by opening the message, he’d started a countdown to midnight.

The green stopwatch icon actually changed over time as the hand moved around the face. It turned from green to yellow just before the halfway point. Once it hit three-quarters of the way around the face, it turned red as time was almost up. Then, right at midnight, the icon’s hands pointed at twelve o’ clock.

[! Notice]

[You have failed to complete your Daily Quest. You will be transferred to the ‘Penalty Zone’ for an allotted amount of time.]

Jinwoo dazedly opened his eyes as the screen woke him up.

Rmmmbbbllleee

“An earthquake?!” Jinwoo shot up from the bed in a panic, only to blink and feel sand beneath him. He blinked twice more, seeing a large yellow sun on the horizon and dunes of sand in every direction. “I’m in…the desert?” The heat of the desert wasn’t horrifically oppressive, but Jinwoo was already beginning to sweat. “This makes no sense…am I dreaming?”

The sand shifting behind him as something massive rose up from below made Jinwoo slowly turn his head and look over his shoulder. Only to have to look upwards to actually see the monster that had risen from beneath the sands.

[Poison-Toothed Giant Desert Centipede] was the designation given to the monstrous creature. The fact that it was in a deep crimson-red color made it even MORE obvious just how dangerous this monster was.

[! Quest Info]

[Penalty Quest: Survival]

[Goal]

[Survive for the allotted amount of time.]

[Allotted time: 4 Hours]

[Time Remaining: 3 Hours, 59 Minutes, 57 Seconds]

“Please tell me this is a joke…” Jinwoo requested as the centipede’s long tongue trailed over its fang-filled maw.

“SKREEEEE!!!” The centipede monster shrieked at its prey.

Jinwoo bolted like a rabbit in the opposite direction, pushing himself harder than he ever had in his life. He heard the hundreds of legs of the centipede tearing up the sand behind him as it gave chase.

Time passed as Jinwoo did everything he could to stay one step ahead of the persistent centipede monster. He ran up sand dunes and then slid down the other side to break line of sight for even a few seconds. The giant centipede burst through the top of the dunes easily, scattering massive clouds of sand everywhere. Jinwoo had panicked even further when MORE of the Poison-Toothed Giant Desert Centipedes joined the chase, but had managed to make them occasionally collide with each other, slowing them down for a few moments to enable him to gain some distance. Still, he was matted with sweat and on the verge of collapse as he watched the notification count down the remaining time.

[! Notice]

[Penalty Quest: Survival]

[Goal: Survive for the allotted amount of time.]

[Allotted time: 4 Hours]

[Time Remaining: 0 Hours, 0 Minutes, 7 Seconds]

“SKREEEE!!!” One of the centipedes lunged for Jinwoo as he ran as fast as his exhausted and partially dehydrated body could go.

“AAAAHHHH!!!” Jinwoo screamed as the fangs rushed towards him.

[! Notice]

[‘Penalty Quest’ has been completed.]

Jinwoo’s next step found him back in his hospital room as he collapsed onto the floor, sand dusting the area around where he fell.

“Penalty…Quest…?” Jinwoo huffed out as he tried to get his breath back. Sweat coated every inch of his body as he lay on the floor.

[You have received a reward for completing the Penalty Quest.]

[Check your reward?]

The accept and decline buttons were there at the bottom.

Jinwoo was too far gone to choose anything as his eyes rolled up and he passed out right there on the floor.

A few minutes later one of the nurses doing night rounds found him lying there amidst a scattering of sand. “Oh, my God! What happened?!” She was kneeling down to check on Jinwoo and found him breathing. “I need some help over here!” She yelled out into the hall and heard the footsteps of other nurses and orderlies approaching only a second later.

-The Next Morning-

Once Jinwoo had woken up, he’d been checked over by a doctor for ‘falling out of bed’ last night. There were murmurings among the orderlies and nurses about the sand that was found scattered across the floor, but it had been swept up and tossed outside to keep the room clean. After he’d been cleared, breakfast was brought to him and he ate everything, down to the very last grain of rice.

‘Now that I’ll be left alone for a while. I should try to figure this out.’ Jinwoo decided as he thought about the screen and saw it appear instantly before him. “This was part of the first messages.”

[! Notice]

[You have received a reward.]

He mentally ‘clicked’ the screen and it changed.

[Quest Reward]

[Secret Quest: ‘Courage of the Weak’]

[The Great Spellcaster Kandiaru’s Blessing: The Great Spellcaster Kandiaru has gifted you a special blessing. As long as you have Kandiaru’s Blessing, you will always be healthy and strong.]

“But what does that mean?” Jinwoo questioned the screen…and was surprised when it responded.

[The Great Spellcaster Kandiaru’s Blessing]

[Temporary Effect – The Will to Recover: Any damage to the body will be restored.]

[Permanent Effect – Longevity: You will be immune to all diseases, poisons, and any other abnormal conditions, and your healing ability increases exponentially when you are asleep.]

Jinwoo blinked at the absolutely ridiculous blessing and even reread it twice. “That’s insane… Hunters all over the world would kill to have an ability like this.” After a moment to process, he switched back to the screen that had shown up last night after the Penalty Quest.

[You have received a reward for completing the Penalty Quest.]

[Check your reward?]

The ‘accept’ button flashed as Jinwoo ‘clicked’ it in his mind.

[You have learned ‘Skill: Tenacity Lv.1’]

[You have learned ‘Skill: Sprint Lv.1’]

“I just got more Skills?!” Jinwoo squawked out before slapping his hand over his mouth. He waited for a moment, but no one came to check on him for his outburst. “How do I check things with this?”

The screen changed to show Jinwoo a status page…for himself.

[Stats]

Name: Sung Jinwoo

Level: 1

Job: None

Fatigue: 0

Title: None

HP: 100

MP: 10

Strength: 10

Vitality: 10

Agility: 10

Intellect: 10

Perception: 10

Available Ability Points: 0

[Stats]

“I guess I shouldn’t have expected much from the ‘Weakest Hunter of All Mankind’…” Jinwoo sighed at the low stats. “Where are my Skills?”

The screen switched again.

[Skills]

[Passive]

(Unknown) Lv. Max

Tenacity Lv.1

[Active]

Sprint Lv.1

[Skills]

Jinwoo mentally poked the greyed-out ‘Unknown’ Skill a few times, but nothing happened. “Maybe I need to be a higher level to unlock it or something?” He could only guess at the moment. “What do the other two do?”

[Skill – Tenacity: When health falls below 30%, all incoming damage will be reduced by 50%.]

“Amazing…it’s a Skill that tries to keep you alive even when you’re on the brink.” Jinwoo marveled at the passive ability. “Where was this all those years I was almost getting killed in raids?” He deadpanned at the Skill that would’ve been incredibly useful since he’d become a Hunter.

[Skill – Sprint: Your speed increases by 30%. 5 mana to activate. 1 mana will be consumed every minute the skill is active.]

Jinwoo nodded as he took in the new information. “So the Passive Skills cost nothing and Active Skills require mana to use. I thought the only way for a Hunter to gain Skills if they didn’t get any upon Awakening was to use Rune Stones. But this system…thing…grants them as rewards?” That was also ridiculous. The more he learned about this thing, the more he was certain that nations would kill and wage convert operations against each other to try and claim it for themselves. “I should keep this quiet.”

[! Quest Info]

[Daily Quest: Strength Training]

[Goals]

[Push-Ups – 0/100]

[Sit-Ups – 0/100]

[Squats – 0/100]

[Running – 0/10km]

[Caution! If the Daily Quest remains incomplete, penalties will be given accordingly.]

Jinwoo stood up from the bed and stretched a bit. “I should make sure that this gets done from now on.” He certainly didn’t want to be sent back to the Penalty Zone again. He’d just change his clothes into the sweatpants and long-sleeved cotton shirt that the hospital provided and start with the squats. “I wonder what the reward for completing the Daily Quest is?”

-End Chapter-

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Wow…that was longer than I expected.

I didn’t realize that just the ‘intro’ to Solo Leveling was literally 5% of the entire manhwa! No wonder it took so many words and almost three days to finish this chapter!

Hopefully you’ve enjoyed it, so far! Jinwoo has already started to make some tiny changes as we’ve seen. Beom-Shik survived the Cartenon Temple…but lost a limb just like Chiyul. And now Jinwoo is already examining the System more thoroughly and coming to the conclusion that it would be best to keep it quiet, given what nations would do to obtain such an ability…or the one that possesses it, at least.

Perhaps exploring the System more thoroughly will lead to certain aspects of it (that were mostly used once and then glanced over in Canon) to be used further and taken advantage of?

Will Jinwoo make the same choices? Will things play out the same? Have I already changed up a lot of the background lore and you’ll only find out about it if you keep reading?

The answer is ‘Yes’! Kek!

Just how will Jinwoo develop in this story as compared to Canon?

Keep reading to find out!

Until I get your reviews, later!