CHAPTER ONE!
────fateful encounter.

❝SO, YOU'RE A PLAYER?❞

SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA.

sung jin-woo stood in front of a glittering white gate. in his hands was a delicate gold key embedded with [f/c] jewels.

'though it doesn't have a time limit... the key peeked my curiosity.' he muses as his eyes stare at the gate.

"i still have two days before i take song-i to a raid... so let's finish this quick." jinwoo smirks as he enters the gate.

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[YOUR COUNTRY], [your city]

[y/n] [l/n] stands in front of a swirling purple gate. in her hands was her black metal key, the key of beginnings.

she adjusts her old white hoodie with a sigh though she's calm, she is excited about what the system would hold for her.

"i'll take all the time i need... it's not like anyone is waiting for me back home." she scoffs rolling up her sleeves as she walks into the gate.

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"EITHER THIS place is where the king of emo's lives or someone really likes the color black." [y/n] jokes as she takes in her surroundings.

it was a dark normal castle hallway, torches lined up across the walls with red tapestries with gold details. the windows were covered with black curtains shutting out the light.

it was a castle made for a king.

[y/n] tucks a strand of her [h/c] hair behind her ear out of habit as she looks down the hallway, seemingly to have no end.

she takes a couple of steps and stops when she feels a presence.

'WHO'S HERE?'

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"OKAY, IT is way too bright in here." jin-woo complains as his eyes rapidly blink trying to adjust to lightening in the gate.

once he does he marvels at the hallway's elegance. royal white walls with blue tapestries with gold details. windows lined the on hallway's walls revealing a bright blue sky with the sun's hues shining through.

it was a castle made for a queen.

jin-woo takes a cautious steps observing the hallway he's in, he doesn't know when the system will switch on him.

he stops when he feels a presence.

'WHO'S HERE?'

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THE TWO players summon their weapons to their hands from their inventory and run at full down the hallway.

they've gotten used to being cautious, the system likes to tease them from time to time. so they've learned to keep their guard up.

though it seemed endless, the two hallways did meet together at the middle. where light and dark were split in half, adjourning to a door, the right door being black and the other white.

without realizing it, the two players run past each other but quickly turned around and clashed, creating a gust of wind that felt powerful.

the two held their daggers to their necks soon realizing that the other was no threat.

[y/n] eyes blinked and widened in shock. lowering her dagger quickly seeing rather handsome dark haired man before her.

jin-woo was the same, he sweats as he lowers his dagger when he realizes the he held it up to a rather pretty [h/c] haired girl stand before him.

"I'M SO SORRY!"

they say at the same time not realizing they spoke two different languages.

they didn't dare say anything else but stare at person before them.

in jin-woo's eyes, [y/n] shined. the sun's hues from the elegant hallway behind her brought out her her [s/c] skin, her [e/c] eyes glittered in the light like jewels. though a bit messy, her [h/c] tresses framed her face perfectly.

in [y/n]'s eyes, jin-woo glowed. the dark hallway behind him brought out his features more than she liked to admit. his cold grey eyes seem to stare into her soul and his dark haired was parted perfectly.

it was like they were looking at their polar opposite.

"hello?" [y/n] greets with uncertainty. her voice melodic and soft, though liking the sound of her voice, jin-woo tilts his head in confusion.

"hello?" he replies, his voice also soft but a bit low, sending shivers down her spine. but that's when the girl knew why he looked so confused.

'HE SPEAKS KOREAN...'

'SHE SPEAKS [YOUR LANGUAGE]...'

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'THIS BECAME complicated...' [y/n] thinks as she puts her dagger back into her inventory. she played with the sleeves of her hoodie anxiously.

jin-woo opened his mouth but quickly closed it knowing it was useless. he had so many questions and she probably did too.

soon a screen pops up in front of them.

PLAYER 1 AND PLAYER 2 HAVE MET. THE SKILL 'LANGUAGE OF THE PLAYERS' HAS BEEN ACTIVATED AND WILL STAY ACTIVE.

the two glance at each other and back at the screen, it disappears as the new skill takes over them.

after a moment, jin-woo is the first one to speak.

"hello, again."

[y/n] blinks and cracks a grin, she was able to understand his korean flawlessly.

"hey!" she greets back happily and jin-woo lets out a breath of relief, understanding her korean.

"i'm [y/n] [l/n]! a hunter from [y/c]!" she introduces herself with a smile that could sway a nation.

the male hunter blinks at her warm personality. "i'm sung jin-woo, a hunter from korea." he replies.

"so you're a player?" they both ask immediately after. they pause taking a moment to realize what they said, then the women giggles at their own eagerness to get some answers while the man adverts his gaze.

'she's very carefree..' he thinks as he glances her. you could almost see flowers radiate from her.

"yep! i'm a player!" [y/n] smiles and throws up a peace sign, as she shows jin-woo her stats.

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NAME: [Y/N] [L/N]
LEVEL 50
FATIGUE: 0
JOB: MISTRESS OF LIGHT
TITLE: WOLF SLAYER (1+ MORE)
MP: 1030
HP: 10933

STRENGTH: 127
AGILITY: 130
SENSE: 93
VITALITY: 90
INTELLIGENCE: 68

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the dark haired man looks at her stats a bit confused. 'her stats, their a little bit all over the place...'

she notices his confusion and nervously chuckles, scratching her cheek. "i'm not very good at handling my stats, so sorry if your a bit disappointed." she mumbles as she swipes away her screen.

jin-woo blinks and gives an even more puzzled face and looks over to her. "who said i was disappointed?"

[y/n]'s face heats up a bit in embarrassment. "i— uh, i don't know? i thought maybe you were? considering that's how everyone sees me." she rambles making the man raise an eyebrow but waves it off.

he shows the her stats and her face brightens. "wow! that's awesome! we're almost at the same level!" she praises with a grin, catching him off guard.

'damn, she's a flatterer.'

she reads his job title and blinks. "wait! can you summon shadows?" she asks with the tilt of her head as he clicks off his screen.

jin-woo nods and he summons igris next to him. shivers went down [y/n]'s spine, slightly intimidated.

he almost brings him back noticing her discomfort but what surprises him is that the shadow knight bowed to her as she walked up to him. a giddy grin appears on her face as she pats igris's head gently.

'WHY IS HE LETTING HER PAT HIM!?'

igris closed his eyes in happiness and if that shadow could smile he would've had the biggest smile on his face.

the [h/c] haired girl turns to him with bright eyes as she calls out a command:

"REVEAL YOURSELF."

a look of shock forms on jin-woo's face as figure appears next to her. it looked eerily similar to his shadow, the only difference that it was white and blue.

[y/n] smiles at jin-woo. "meet icarus, my trusty light solider!" she states hugging her summon who pats her on the head, lovingly.

the dark haired hunter couldn't really explain the emotion he was feeling.

it was probably confusion and awe.

he runs a hand through his air with a sigh and gestures to her summon. "okay, you have some explaining to do."

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FROM THERE, the two players got to know each other better and their skills.

they bonded over the fact they shared the same title and discrimination they got when they were e-ranks.

"i was always dead last when it came to getting healed, my raid team's healer hated me. she kept saying i was over working her with how badly i got hurt." [y/n] explains, sitting down across from jin-woo.

he raised an eyebrow at her claim. "really?" he questions and she nods.

"it wasn't surprising. i was the only e-ranker on the team so they'd blame me for dragging them down all the time."

jin-woo soon realized that the country [y/n] lived in was a bit more brutal with how they treated e-rank hunters.

they shared their experiences in what happened in the double dungeon, though the girl only talked about bare minimum to which he understood.

it wasn't long before they became friends, they joked with each other as if they've known each other for years.

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"WHAT'S MAKING you stay in [y/c]?" jin-woo suddenly asks.

by now [y/n] laid on the carpet floor with her hands behind her head as jin-woo kept sitting.

she stares at the ceiling and sighs dejectedly. "nothing really, it was miracle that i even got to level 50 in a few months. all my training came from the system and not actual gates."

she pauses as if she debated on telling him. so, she keeps it simple. "and i don't have any other family to worry about. i've been on my own for a long while now."

this catches jin-woo by surprise and he frowns. though they were similar, their upbringings were completely different.

'she went through all that on her own. with no one helping her or even encouraging her. she's strong-minded.'

"how about you come live in seoul?" he suggests and [y/n] bursts out laughing.

she sits up still giggling and notices his confusion, waving him off. "so-sorry jin-woo! it's just... with what money and where the hell am i gonna live?" she says in between laughs.

"YOU CAN STAY WITH ME."

jin-woo's statement causes [y/n] to freeze and she feels her face heat up in embarrassment.

'does this dude even know what he just said?!' she thinks with a sweat but shakes the thought away.

'was i too forward?' he wonders noting her flustered expression.

she clears her throat to regain her composure. "i— um, i wouldn't want to intrude. it would be rude of me to stay with you unannounced." [y/n] explains and jin-woo nods in understanding.

the [h/c] haired girl grows silent, thinking for minute. 'his offer is tempting. south korea has a thriving hunter community along with the hunter association. more so, that we're both players, it would only make sense for us to stick together...'

'or maybe...'

[y/n] glances over to jin-woo who was checking his stats or inventory items he gotten recently.

'maybe it's because he's the first person in a while that i've had a genuine conversation with.'

it's then, [y/n] [l/n] makes her decision.

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JIN-WOO RESISTS the urge to chuckle at the scene in front of him.

[y/n] was looking at the city of seoul with a bright smile and sparkling eyes.

'she's like an excited puppy.' he snickers, as she was amazed by the tall buildings of seoul.

she's been stuck in her hometown for most of her life so experiencing an entire new city half way across the world was exhilarating.

they figured out that they could end up in south korea from where jin-woo entered the dungeon, so they took no time in leaving and going back to the real world.

in the mist of the sight seeing [y/n] turns to her new friend with furrowed eyebrows.

"uh, jinwoo, i didn't pack my stuff."

his face falls at her statement, now realizing the consequences of their hurried actions.

the two stare at each other with a sweat but they erupted into giggles turned into laughter.

WHETHER THEY KNEW IT OR NOT. THESE TWO FIT TOGETHER LIKE MISSING PUZZLE PIECES.

CHAPTER ONE! END!
────fateful encounter.