CHAPTER THRITY-THREE!
────stay with me.

❝PLEASE, STAY WITH ME.❞

EVERYTHING WAS HAZY.

how long had she been unconscious? minutes? hours? her weak hand reached for her face, feeling the blood dripping.

was it still fresh?

or was it semi-dry?

she suddenly became aware of her nerves and she softly whined in pain, all of her senses were heightened except for one of her eyes.

she lost her left eye trying to protect a 'friend.'

the pain of it hit harder than expected.

with that, she started noticing the kind of state the rest of her body was in.

she felt violated.

but she couldn't pinpoint why it felt like she was.

her scrambled brain tried to remember all the details, she could only remember that she was sitting with a friend as the statues loomed over them, he had stayed with her, saying that he wouldn't betray her like the rest of the guild did.

she must have fainted from exhaustion because when she woke up, she didn't hear his voice next to her.

was he asleep?

when she tried to move thinking it would catch his attention but throbbing pain in her core prevented her from doing so.

that's when the violated feeling rose again.

what happened?

[y/n] couldn't remember, it was hazy and blurry when she tried to.

she softly called out his name but she received no response and panic bloomed in her chest.

did he leave?

he promised he would stay with her. so why isn't he responding?

why is her core hurting so much? why did it feel so disgusting and sticky?

why did she feel so VIOLATED?

her hands fell to her lap and her blood ran cold.

where were her pants?

she finally looks down to her lap to only see her underwear shorts and the pieces click together.

she didn't remember this happening?

DID HE DO THIS?

the person she knew wasn't who she thought he was because no sane person would violate a person's body in a place like this.

fat tears slipped down her cheeks as she starts noticing red hand marks on her thighs and she lets out a heartbreaking cry.

the more she looks at her lap the more she hated herself, the more she did, the more she wanted to rot in this place.

thundering footsteps echo across the dungeon and she looks up to see the statues closing in on her. it angered her. if she was gonna go down, she was gonna take one of them with her.

"DO YOUR WORST!" [y/n] screams, her voice shot as she reaches for the extra dragger she stored in her hoodie pocket.

'mom... dad... i'm sorry i couldn't
be a better daughter...'

she points the dagger at the stone statues with a glare but her hands was shaking. a statue plunges its sword towards the girl.

"BUT I WON'T GO DOWN WITHOUT A FIGHT!"

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[Y/N] SHOT HER eyes open with a loud gasp and quickly sits up, almost falling.

her breathing was ragged and tears slipped from her [e/c] eyes. she immediately hugs her body, shaking.

'c'mon, [n/n]! get a hold of yourself!'

she felt like she was back at the hospital back in [y/t] all over again, she felt like she was back at square one.

she bites her lip keeping herself from letting out a sob causing a few whimpers to escape. after a few minutes of crying.

'breathe, it was just a
dream, [n/n]. just breathe...'

she reminds herself, trying to get her breathing back to normal. she takes slow deep breaths and after a minute or two, her breathing was back to a steady pace.

she finally looks around and that's when she realizes she's in the hospital and it was nighttime. then, all the memories rush back to her and she lets go of herself with a sigh, she was in no real danger.

'okay, so i'm not dead or back in [y/t]...' she concludes, laying back down on the bed.

she runs a hand over her face tiredly, wondering how many days was she's been asleep.

she looks to the side and with the light of the moon, sees a silhouette on the other side of the curtain. meaning she was sharing a hospital room with someone else.

curious, she gets quietly gets off from the bed, looking behind the curtain to see who was next to her.

relief washes over her to see it was jin-woo, sleeping peacefully on the hospital bed.

she sits beside him with the available chair that's next to his bed. she gently strokes his face with the back of her hand.

'he looks pretty even when he sleeps, i'm jealous.' she chuckles to herself with a small smile.

she retracts her hand and places it in her lap as she continues to stare at her lover.

feeling nostalgic, she thinks back to when
they met for the very first time.

how funny was it that their fateful encounter started out with holding daggers to each other's necks.

'i felt so bad afterwards, i could have seriously hurt him!' [y/n] muses with guilt but the smile on her face was evident, meaning it was a fond memory.

she props her elbow on the bed and she starts playing strands of jin-woo's hair with her free hand.

'to think he would let me stay by his side, since that day... i thought he was crazy.' she giggles silently. 'but maybe i'm the crazy one since i agreed to it. or maybe we're both crazy.'

she admires her lover's face and smiles. "thank you for letting me into your life, i love you." she whispers, reaching over and kissing the corner of his lips.

'i feel better than when i woke up... just by being with him makes everything better.'

the female player stands and turns to go back to her hospital bed when she feels something grab her wrist, stopping her.

"you missed."

[y/n] turns around to see jin-woo awake with a small smile, but she could see the tiredness in his eyes.

she furrows her eyebrows and faces him. "go back to sleep. don't will yourself awake, idiot." she mumbles with a frown.

"but i wanted to see you." he replies, his voice sleepy.

she feels heat creep up her cheeks at his statement. why did he have to be so cute even when he's half-awake?

she then bends down to kiss his forehead. "you can see me when you've properly rested, okay?"

but it seems like jin-woo was determined to have his lover by his side. cause the grip he had on her wrist tighten.

"don't go... stay with me." he mumbles and his voice makes [y/n]'s heart clench.

knowing he wouldn't let go, she caves in and climbs into bed with him. he lays his head on her chest and arms around her waist.

he hums in delight as he snuggles his face into her chest causing her to giggle. she begins to play with his hair again, lulling him to sleep.

the smile on her face never disappeared, she loved moments like this. where they're can relax in each other's arms.

EVEN POWERFUL MONARCHS NEED THEIR REST.

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SOON, THE TWO players recovered from taking on the double dungeon, jin-ho was extremely worried for them saying he thought they died.

after they calmed him, they asked him about what happened in the tokyo dungeon break.

it wasn't a surprise that when he said that raid was a failure.

───── ⋆⋅ ☽ ⋅⋆ ─────

BOTH PLAYERS WERE discharged from the hospital that same day. now back home, the two were watching the news of what's happening in tokyo.

it was disastrous.

[y/n] leans forward in her seat as her eyes never leave the screen. 'if this continues like what happened in the jeju island raid... all of asia could be in danger.'

she looks over to jin-woo and he looks back, it seemed like they had the same idea.

THEY NEEDED TO HURRY.

"don't go."

the two players turn to look over their shoulders to see jin-ah standing by the doorway of her room.

she looked... mentally tried.

the sight of her broke [y/n]'s heart, she couldn't bear to see the girl in such a state.

"oppa, unnie, don't go." she repeats but she sounded like she was on the verge of crying.

"you told us not to go..." jin-woo trials but the young girl cuts him off.

"BUT YOU'LL GO ANYWAY."

she whispers and grits her teeth. the two observe her body language, realizing she was still traumatized by the gate incident at her school.

"no, we're not." jin-woo counters and rises from the couch, walking over to her with [y/n] following close behind.

she gently holds the girl's face in her hands. "we've been overworking ourselves lately. so we decided to take a break."

"so, don't worry." the male player states, patting her head with a small smile.

she nodded and the female player lets the young girl hug her older brother. he placed his arm around her shoulders, caressing her hair with the other.

"i need to run an errand. [y/n] will take care of you until i've returned, okay?" jin-woo asks, looking to his lover who only sent a thumbs up in understanding.

jin-ah nodded her head once again and looks at her older sister. "do you want to cuddle for a while?" she asks in a soft voice and a small yes is heard.

[y/n] turns to jin-woo, who grabbed her hand and kisses the back of it as a silent goodbye. she smiles at him as heat rises to her cheeks.

with that, jin-ah retreats to her room with [y/n] in tow.

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THE FEMALE PLAYER held her younger sister in her arms and she laid between her legs and rested her head on her stomach.

she was sound asleep leaving [y/n] to her thoughts.

those thoughts wander to her leveling system. 'though i didn't even use my sun knights, the architect was about the same level as me and woo. even if we're over level 100. that could only mean that there are people way stronger than us.'

she feels jin-ah snuggled against her stomach and the [h/c] haired hunter looks down at her in adoration, she was adorable.

but the smile from her face falls and
looks up to the ceiling of the room.

'the world is vast. there are plenty of people who are stronger than us. stronger than me.' she assumes, fluttering her eyes close for a moment. 'i don't think of myself as a hero, not everything will be resolved even if one of us goes. if i were to choose...'

"hey, unnie... can you sing me a song?"

jin-ah takes [y/n] out of her thoughts and she looks down at her with a motherly smile. "sure jinnie, what song would you like to hear?"

"you pick, i don't mind." she mumbles as she hugs her big sister a bit tighter.

the female player hums, trying to choose a song that would be good for the young girl to hear. then she gets an idea.

"do you want to hear a song that my mom used to sing to me?" she asks and the girl nods.

she purses her lips and sighs. 'it's been a while since i actually properly sang... let's hope i don't mess this up.'

then, she starts humming the intro of the song and starts the first verse.

❝time is an illusion that helps things make sense.
so we are always living in the present tense~❞

jin-ah's eyes widen when she hears [y/n] sing. though it wasn't perfect, there was certain uniqueness to her singing voice.

it made her feel safe and warm.

❝it seems unforgiving when a good thing ends. but you and i will always be back then, you and i will always be back then~❞

the young girl continued listening to her older sister's voice enjoying how safe it felt. she knew she wasn't trying to impress her but instead comfort her.

❝cause you and i will always be back then. you and i will always be back then and so, you and i will always be sisters~❞

[y/n] hums the last note of the song and she kisses the top of jin-ah's head.

"you know i love you, right?"

"i know unnie."

she hugs the girl tighter, she feels tears prick her eyes.

'i have to choose...'

"jinnie... i'm going." she states and she feels the girl tense up and squeezes her waist.

she knows she has to keep going into the battlefield to get stronger. she wants to keep growing cause she knows that there are people who are stronger than her.

because she has people she wants to protect.

"but thank you for telling me not to go. i never had anyone say that to me before, not even my older brother. but trust me, i'll come back to you safely." she whispers and she feels jin-ah'a body shake.

she sniffed indicating that she was crying. "you and oppa are gonna go anyways..." she mumbles, snuggling her face into her shirt.

she looks down at the girl with glowing golden eyes and smiles. she caresses her hair with a hum as her sun knights hover over them elegantly.

"YEAH, BUT DON'T WORRY. I'LL PROTECT YOU EVEN WHEN I'M FAR AWAY."

───── ⋆⋅ ☽ ⋅⋆ ─────

JIN-WOO SMILES FONDLY at his lover and younger sister holding each other. he softly closed the door to the room, leaving them be.

he didn't want to ruin such a touching moment.

'it seems like she's already made her choice...' he thinks with a smirk and shakes of his head.

jin-woo goes to sit at the table for dinner, waiting for [y/n] as kyung-hye placed some of the dishes down.

soon, the female player joins him at the table and grabs the pair of chopsticks to begin eating.

"mom," the male player calls. "i'm going."

[y/n] scoffs at his statement and looks over at him. "i had a feeling you were gonna with that option." she points out gesturing to him with her chopsticks.

she knows that his reason for going to japan was the exact same reason as hers.

kyung-hye sighs and places her hand on the counter. "your father always went running if he heard there was a fire. even when he was in the middle of eating." jin-woo pauses his actions and looks up at his mother.

she turns around and smiled at them, "i'll help you two pack your bags after you're done eating."

the two players return the smile, grateful that she understood their choice to go to japan.

soon once dinner was over, jin-woo walked to jin-ah's room to talk to her privately.

[y/n] plops herself onto the bed she shares with jin-woo as she texts a very worried hae-in.

───── ⋆⋅ ☽ ⋅⋆ ─────

hae-in 🥺🌟:
you're going to japan?!

yeah, me and jin-woo decided we would go,
it could escalate.

hae-in 🥺🌟:
are you sure? didn't you just get discharged?! you shouldn't be overworking yourself :(

hae-in i'll be fineeeee, trust me
i'll come back home safely! so don't worry! 💛

───── ⋆⋅ ☽ ⋅⋆ ─────

the female player smiles at how worried the young girl got for her well-being.

she turns off her phone and sits in silence, thinking about the trip to japan. part of her was a bit nervous since it'll be her first time clearing an s-rank gate but...

SHE WOULD BE LYING IF SHE SAID SHE WASN'T EXCITED.

───── ⋆⋅ ☽ ⋅⋆ ─────

INCHEON INTERNACIONAL AIRPORT...

jin-woo and [y/n] interlock their hands as they calmly walk through the airport as people were being pushed aside by association workers.

reporter's cameras were flashing everywhere as to not miss a second of the s-rank hunters.

to humor them a bit, the female hunter waves excitedly at them with a bright and sunny smile. this causes an uproar of gasps and fast clicking.

she slightly shows off her outfit that resembles the male hunter's outfit.

───── ⋆⋅ ☽ ⋅⋆ ─────

───── ⋆⋅ ☽ ⋅⋆ ─────

the two turn their heads over their shoulders to notice that jin-ho was lagging behind. he was carrying a large backpack, overflowing with things they needed for their trip.

[y/n] doesn't hesitate to help him, she considered him a close friend now. with meant that'll she help him no matter what it may be.

so, she grabs one of the bags he was carrying with a smile. he was about to protest but she waves him off, saying it was fine.

jin-woo looks at the interaction with a chuckle and walks over to grab another bag he was carrying, to help lighten the load.

the three hunters all grin at each other and once again make their way through the airport.

WITH THAT, THE AH-JIN GUILD MADE IT'S INTERNATIONAL DEBUT.

CHAPTER THRITY-THREE! END!
────stay with me.