CHAPTER TEN!
────a-rank gate.

❝SHOULD WE JUST CUT IT UP?❞

JIN-WOO SAT AT HIS computer desk in his room, scrolling through the online hunter market.

[y/n] had brought up that the higher floors in the demon castle are covered in flames and it won't be long before it starts physically affecting them.

so here he was, scrolling through the market while his best friend unexpectedly fell asleep on his bed.

his grey eyes trial her figure, watching as her chest rises and falls at a steady pace. she was hugging one of his pillows like a teddy bear and her [h/l] hair sprawled behind her.

his eyes soften when she unconsciously snuggles her face into the pillow. 'she must really like cuddles...' he assumes as he goes back to his computer.

'it'll take some time before we obtain our s-rank license. but as of right now, they'll suspect why an e-rank hunter has an unimaginable artifact.' he guesses with sigh as he continues scrolling. 'they won't suspect us as much if we had an a-rank gate entry in our hunter record. but that would be...'

jin-woo's eyes widen when the one thing he thought wouldn't happen is happening. "there's actually a team that's currently recruiting?" he mumbles, taking a look at the forum.

───── ⋆⋅ ☽ ⋅⋆ ─────

"SO YOU TWO you two are e-rank hunters?" the head of the mining team asks the two.

"yes, sir." they reply with hands behind their backs. jin-woo and [y/n] stood side, both dressed in the mining attire.

"are you two experienced in this line of work?"

"no sir."

the head looks at them curiously. "then what's your combat type?" he questions.

"we're physical combats." jin-woo answers for the both of them seeing as [y/n] was quite shy this time around, seeing as she was the only girl on the team.

"well that a relief." the man sighs patting both of their shoulders. "there aren't many people like you here. just don't get nervous and work diligently. you two will be on stand and entering with us later. just don't forget your equipment." he explains and they nod understanding his instructions.

he leaves and [y/n] lets out a sigh she didn't know she was holding.

jin-woo glances at her as she fidgets nervously, noting that she was obviously uncomfortable. "you okay [n/n]?" he questions softly, looking down at her.

she doesn't meet his eyes or responds and this obviously makes him worried. he notices when a group of men pass by them, [y/n] shuffles closer to him, their hands brushing against each other.

then it clicks.

he grabs her hand, holding it. "just stick by me, okay. i won't let anyone come near you." he whispers and she nods, squeezing his hand.

'if i had known she was uncomfortable around groups of men, i would have gone by myself. her team must have harassed her a lot when she was still an e-rank...' jinwoo thinks, slightly angry that his friend, someone he cared for, had to go through that.

'i'm just glad she's with me now. they won't bother her if i'm near her.'

the two grab their equipment and begin to stare at the large gate. "so this is an a-rank gate?" [y/n] mumbles in awe.

"it's good we decided to come since we'll be entering gates like these in the future." jin-woo whispers to her and she nods as she keeps staring at the gate.

───── ⋆⋅ ☽ ⋅⋆ ─────

SUDDENLY, PEOPLE LOCATED near the gate began to shout, saying that the attack force was exiting the gate. 

'they're finally done...' [y/n] thinks as she and jin-woo hang back, watching the strongest attack force in south korea step out of the gate.

their eyes land on choi jong-in and they immediately cover their faces with their hard hats has to not be seen.

"number 2 of the hunters is also coming out." someone says, catching the player's attention.

they peak under their hats to see the last person walk out of the gate. south korea's only female s-rank hunter (for now) and she wore a neutral expression as she walked.

VICE-MASTERS OF THE HUNTERS, CHA HAE-IN.

───── ⋆⋅ ☽ ⋅⋆ ─────

CHA HAE-IN, ONE of the only women in south korea who's an s-rank.

[y/n]'s eyes followed her as she walked. 'she's very pretty and her energy reminds me of the chairman's...'

'she's at least on choi jong-in's level, maybe even higher than that. she may be on a similar level to go gun-hee.' jin-woo thinks as the two watch her walk.

the girl suddenly stopped, turning her head in their direction. a bit confused when she felt two powerful presence but it disappeared without a trace.

she covers her mouth with her handkerchief preventing herself from vomiting and continues walking.

they sighed in relief once she was gone. "she's sharper than i thought." the [h/c] haired hunter mumbles with a sweat with her friend humming an agreement.

the head of the mining team turned around and announced that it was time for them to enter the dungeon.

───── ⋆⋅ ☽ ⋅⋆ ─────

THE TWO PLAYERS soon entered the gate, they suddenly feel the wind rushing past them.

they soon realized that it wasn't wind but in fact waves of magic energy.

'it has to be coming from the boss.' [y/n] thinks, holding a pickaxe imbued with magic in her hands.

the two admire the large dungeon when they hear voices talking about them.

"have you guys heard? the new recruits are e-ranks and one of them is a girl." 

"what? they recruited an e-ranks?" 

"that's right."

"what on earth was the team leader thinking? can e-ranks even control their strength properly?

"can that girl even swing a pickaxe?" 

"that's what i'm talking about." 

"i'm not sure if we can finish work on time today." 

the two deadpanned at their conversation as they faced the wall.

'e-ranks are faced with discrimination wherever they end up. well, it's not like we'll be sticking around for long.' jin-woo thinks, making sure [y/n] stayed close.

"hey, let's pick up the pace!" one of the workers shouted, bumping his shoulder against [y/n] on purpose.

clearly not expecting it and having a bigger build than hers, she bumps into jin-woo's chest a bit harshly. he holds her shoulder with his free hand, steadying her body.

'this bastard...'

the tall man looks down at her with a glare. "don't just stand there when the path is so...!"

the man's eyes widen as jin-woo glares at him. his eyes emitted a dangerous glow of electric blue, scaring the man to the core.

"n-nevermind, it happens from time to time," the man stutters and watches the two walk away. jin-woo guides [y/n] by the small of her back.

───── ⋆⋅ ☽ ⋅⋆ ─────

THE MINING TEAM gets to work on mining the crystals in the dungeon.

suddenly, the other miners stare in shock, clearly surprised at what they were seeing.

[y/n] and jin-woo expertly worked on mining the crystals, as if they were experienced with the job.

their muscles tensed with every swing, along the way, it got too hot them so they unzipped the top part of their uniform, leaving them in tank tops they wore under it.

"team leader, didn't you say that this was their first time?" 

"...i did." 

"are they really e-ranks? their work rate and skills are not normal." a miner comments to his boss. 

his boss sighs. "of course, i checked their license. did you think i would accept without checking their license first?" 

"then can you explain that?" the miner gestures to the two as they continued mining.

"...mister sung and miss [l/n] are surely miners blessed by the heavens. i really have an eye for people." his boss replies with a pleased smile.

───── ⋆⋅ ☽ ⋅⋆ ─────

HOURS LATER, IT was the mining team's lunch break.

"aren't you coming along, mister sung and miss [l/n]?" the team leader questions.

"we're fine, we already ate," jin-woo simply answers.

the team leader blinks in surprise. "oh? then you can do as you please." he states and left the dungeon. 

the two waited till everyone left, they glance at each other before dropping their pickaxes and running off in a certain direction.

'WELL JUST TAKE A QUICK PEEK AND LEAVE...'

they think together, running a bit faster. they slid to a stop when they arrive at the entrance of a huge chamber. its room was bigger than the cavern itself. they then spotted a lone giant humanoid monster standing still at the end of the room.

"that's totally a giant boss type..." [y/n] mumbles, her lips quirking up into a smirk.

"definitely stronger than metus." jin-woo adds, almost smiling.

they know it's wrong, the mining team will gain a huge loss if they defeat the boss now.

their respective hands start sparking blue, summoning their daggers. they lock eyes and it seemed like they were thinking the same thing.

"should we just cut it up?" they ask themselves and before they could do anything else...

"WHAT ARE YOU TWO DOING HERE?" 

───── ⋆⋅ ☽ ⋅⋆ ─────

JIN-WOO AND [Y/N] freeze at the sudden appearance of a new voice as they hear footsteps growing closer to them. 

"i asked you two a question."

jin-woo sighs and [y/n] smacks herself with the palm of her hand. they almost did something stupid, even by their normal standards.

"fuck... we're dumb." the [h/c] haired hunter mutters, scolding herself.

the two put their daggers away. "we got lost and ended up here somehow." jin-woo lies, hoping they would buy it.

"you got lost?" the voice asks as the two players turned their heads slightly and not to their surprise it was cha hae-in. 

she furrows her brows. "are you two from the mining team? that's where the boss resides, please step back." she instructs, covering her nose and mouth. 

they turn around and she looked down at their hands. her eyes widened as she thought that there was a weapon in position. 

"please leave quickly. if you were to aggro the boss, a lot of people would die." she explains.

"ah, i'm sorry," jin-woo replies and they walk past her.

hae-in's eyes widened as there was no foul smell coming from them. "hey, hold on a second!" she calls.

"huh?" [y/n] asks before hae-in closed in, smelling her first.

'there's no stench!' hae-in thinks happily and smelling jin-woo next, getting the same result.

"is there a problem?" the dark-haired hunter asks with a raised eyebrow.

she puts up her hand on her hip "are you two really hunters?" hae-in asks back.

she looked at their hunter id cards and scanned it quickly before looking back at them. "e-rank... sung jin-woo and [y/n] [l/n]..." she mumbles, realizing they were just weak hunters

she clears her throat and closes her eyes. "...nevermind just be careful. the dungeon is huge after all."

the two sweatdrop, utterly confused about what just happened and they walk away from the s-rank hunter. once she was out of earshot...

jin-woo sniffs himself. "do i stink?" he questions, turning to [y/n].

"yeah, like a wet dog." she retorts with a sarcastic smile, earning her a smack upside the head.

───── ⋆⋅ ☽ ⋅⋆ ─────

"SO, TOMORROW WITH the b-team?" [y/n] asked as she munches on some pork belly.

after finishing working with the mining team that day, the [h/c] haired hunter suggested that the two of them go out to eat.

jin-woo nods take a bit. "yeah, i thought it would be a good idea." not noticing her sour mood.

when she doesn't respond and takes a sip of her water that's when he notices. "hey, are you okay? you've gone all quiet again." he points out.

[y/n] flinches, adverting her gaze. "it's nothing." she simply replies.

"is this about not feeling comfortable around men."

she sweats and panics. 'shit, he has me all figured out?!' she thinks but composes herself.

she sighs and leans her cheek on the palm of her hand, refusing to look at her friend. "it's uh... a delicate subject. it's not that uncomfortable around them, per se... it's just i don't feel safe around certain types of men." she explains, not letting her mind wander to certain events

jin-woo furrows his eyebrows. 'what happened to her...?' he wonders, clearly worried for his friend.

noticing his silence, [y/n] panics a bit. "it's not like a feel unsafe around you! cause i totally feel safe when i'm with you! it's just— it's just..." she trials, her face turning sad.

the dark-haired male now was a bit confused. though he was grateful she felt comfortable and safe around him, he was still concerned.

she looks down and stares at the palms of her hand. "it's just, it's something i'm not ready to talk about yet. i'm sorry." she mumbles, hoping he wouldn't get mad.

the look on her face told jin-woo everything he needed to know.

"YOU CAN TELL ME WHEN YOUR READY."

[y/n] perks up to look at him, his face held sympathy and understanding. "i am obviously worried for you but if you aren't ready to tell me then that's fine." he states with a kind smile.

tears prick her [e/c] eyes and she mutters a quiet thank you, immensely grateful that he didn't push the topic further.

she was half expecting for him to pry the secret out of her but when he didn't, she was filled with warmth. he understood and wanted her to tell him when she was ready.

that kind of consideration is something you don't find anywhere else.

BUT [Y/N] IS GLAD SHE FOUND THAT IN JIN-WOO.

CHAPTER TEN! END!
────a-rank gate.