CHAPTER THRITY-SIX!
────tokyo gate (3).

❝HELP? FROM YOU?❞

THE TWO PLAYERS STOOD before the chained-up man who had a giant grin on his face. they could only wonder if he was the boss of the s-rank gate.

"the chains... free me from these chains." he spoke, desperately. "i know what the rulers are planning. the other monarchs must know, quickly..."

he pauses his words a gets a good look at the two monarchs that stand before him. his glowing red eyes then narrowed in on [y/n], she noticed and shuffled closer to jin-woo.

"you are not the one i know. where is aurora?"

the female player's heart pounded in her chest when she heard the familiar name. 'how does he know her name? does he know her?'

the hold she had on her lover's arm tightened. his only response was too wrapped around her waist and bring her close to his chest.

"are those rulers or whatever responsible for doing this to you?" jin-woo questions, hoping they might get some answers.

"they're trying to use me," the man replied. "as a stepping stone for the foundations of the true war that is to come."

the two have tried multiple times to communicate with monsters with intelligence but, none of them were able to explain their origin.

as if their minds worked as one, the two of them begin alternating in asking questions.

[y/n] then asked, "who are these 'rulers' you speak of?"

"they're ancient enemies of the monarchs." the man adds bitterly.

'enemies of the monarchs? does that mean they are our enemy too?' jin-woo ponders

he furrows his eyebrows. "so if they chained you up like this, that must mean..."

"YES. I, TOO, AM A MONARCH."

the question about aurora now made sense to [y/n], but did he know her personally?

"all the monarchs and rulers most likely have the two of you on their sights." the man speaks, taking her out of her thoughts. "as you are now, you two do not possess the strength to face them all. you require support."

"support?" the two players repeat.

"RELEASE ME FROM MY SEAL.
I WILL HELP YOU."

───── ⋆⋅ ☽ ⋅⋆ ─────

THE STATEMENT MADE [y/n] snicker a bit while jin-woo could only scoff.

"you'll help me? you, a monster, will help me, a human?" he spat as he glared at him. "i already have the help i need. do you seriously expect me to believe that?"

"then i'll make you believe me." the man states, almost bitterly.

suddenly, the man began to chant some kind of spell, it was in a language that both of the players couldn't understand. sensing the powerful magic energy that appeared because of the spell, the players summoned their daggers.

that's when a system notification popped up only for jin-woo.

───── ⋆⋅ ☽ ⋅⋆ ─────

[KING OF GIANTS, THE SOVEREIGN OF THE BEGINNING, REGIA, HAS ACTIVATED THE SKILL: PLEDGE OF HONESTY (DEAL).]

[ONCE THE 'SKILL: PLEDGE OF HONESTY (DEAL)' HAS BEEN GRANTED, BOTH THE INITIATOR AND THE ACCEPTOR CANNOT LIE TO EACH OTHER.]

[WILL YOU ACCEPT THE 'PLEDGE OF HONESTY (DEAL)'?]

YES / NO

───── ⋆⋅ ☽ ⋅⋆ ─────

jin-woo and [y/n] read the screens intently. the male player ponders on what he should do, he looks to his lover for any guidance. she looks back at him with a nod as if to say, 'we have nothing to lose.'

"yes, i accept," jin-woo states.

───── ⋆⋅ ☽ ⋅⋆ ─────

['PLEDGE OF HONESTY (DEAL)' HAS BEEN FORMED.]

[BY THE MUTUAL CONSENT OF BOTH THE INITIATOR AND ACCEPTOR, BOTH PARTIES WILL BE UNABLE TO LIE TO ONE ANOTHER UNTIL THE CONTRACT IS TERMINATED.]

───── ⋆⋅ ☽ ⋅⋆ ─────

"release me from my seal. i will help you." the man repeats eagerly.

"right... i completely believe y—"

the sound of jin-woo's voice seemed to be cut off causing [y/n] to look at him with a worried expression.

seeing him struggle, the man grinned, "yes, that is the power of the pledge of honesty. the curse prevents you from lying."

"i see," jin-woo replies plainly. "more importantly, why is it possible to freely converse with you, unlike other monsters?"

"monsters?" the man repeats, quite confused.

"the monsters that come out of the gate." [y/n] explains, hoping for the man to understand them better.

"ah... you mean the denizens of the chaos world." the king of giants muses as he cracks a mocking grin. "well, i also have a question. how could you even think if placing mere denizens of the chaos world on the same pedestal as the monarchs who rule over them?"

"all the denizens of the chaos world that emerge from the gates are remnants of defeated armies. those who have been captured after losing to the armies of rulers. they have been leased for a painstakingly long amount of time, so it's natural that their egos have deteriorated. however, i am a king." he explains as he tilts his head up to the ceiling as if he ruled the world beneath his feet.

"unlike them, i have retained my sanity. i have been patiently waiting for the fated day when i can escape from their grasps." the man formed a thin smile next. "and now, here we are, you and me."

"when you said the armies of rulers, do you mean the ones clad in silver armor with wings on their backs?" [y/n] asks, thinking back in what she saw in aurora's memory.

the man nods at her question. "correct. they are the soldiers of the rulers."

"why do they keep sending those monsters... at us?" jin-woo mutters to her with furrowed eyebrows.

hearing his words, the man grinned.  "like i said. they are preparing for war. they intend to transform this world into a battlefield, and fight the monarchs once again."

"i don't quite follow..." the dark haired player admits. "sending those monsters turns earth into a battlefield?

"IT'S SIMPLE. IT'S ALL TO INJECT MAGICAL ENERGY INTO YOUR WORLD."

───── ⋆⋅ ☽ ⋅⋆ ─────

JIN-WOO AND [Y/N] feel their blood run cold.

if monsters were calamities spawned from the gate, magical energy was the blessing from the gate. not only did the hunters think this, but so did most civilians.

magic crystals and magic stones. these objects imbued with magical energy were the greatest sources of energy in the world. but they were all just footholds for the war?

"there is no better way to propagate non-existent power than using the blood of those who possess power. so, the rulers decided to use their captives." the king of giants explains. "the density of magical energy grows by the day. that is the fruit cultivated from the blood of the monsters. magical energy empowers the world. they plan to create a world strong enough to withstand the effects of war."

"and by war, you mean...?" jin-woo trails, narrowing his eyes.

"another battle between the monarchs and rulers. soon enough, the world you're living in will become hell." the man replies knowingly.

jin-woo's eyes widened at the thought of earth becoming nothing but a blood-soaked battlefield. he glances at [y/n] who had a horrified expression on her face.

"there is no time." the king continues, his voice becoming worrisome. "once it is known that you and i have made contact, both the monarchs and their rulers will intervene. it's even possible that the rulers' envoys have already begun to move."

the female player shakes her head in disbelief. "wait, you've been saying since earlier that they're targeting us... but why?"

"you really don't know anything." the man sighs. "the power you two possess isn't actually yours. the fact that you possess it is proof that the original owners have betrayed the monarchs. you've become an enemy to both the monarchs and rulers." the man quickly answers. "however, i swear that i will fight on your side. so will you help me?"

to say the least, the two players were extremely doubtful of the monarch.

"IF YOU'RE GOING TO BE ON OUR SIDE, IT'D BE BETTER IF I WERE TO SIMPLY TURN INTO A SHADOW SOLDIER."

"OR TURN YOU INTO A LOYAL SUN KNIGHT OF MINE."

the king of giants flinches in surprise.

it was only for a second but had seen the actual faces of the shadow monarch and the sun monarch overlap theirs.

the aura they emitted was so eerily similar to the original owners it was almost like they stood right before him.

"both monarchs and rulers possess spiritual bodies. spiritual bodies are destroyed when they are killed, so they cannot turn into shadows or souls." the man interjects. "therefore, i cannot become your soldier. is this enough for you to help me now?"

there was an uneasiness in [y/n]'s heart. the fact he seemed to personally know aurora and that his gaze was onto her during the duration of their time here.

she takes a step forward while jin-woo's watched her do what she wants.

"how do you know aurora? you called her name when we first arrived." she questions, her eyes glowing a familiar gold.

he sighs dejectedly at her question. "i thought she would be the one to come and free me from these chains. the magical energy you release, it identical to her's."

'she must have been a kind person if she made friends with a man like him...' [y/n] thinks, joining back to jin-woo's side as she got the answer she needed.

the man looked at the male player and says, "unchain me now."

the two summoned their daggers and approached the king of giants.

but there was something... amiss.

"you said you'll be on our side?" jin-woo asks again.

"of course. if you help me, i will help you too. this is a fair and absolute deal between two monarchs." he says as the two swing their daggers, breaking some of the chains infused with magical energy.

"then... are you on humanity's side?" [y/n] suddenly asks, laying her hand on one of the shackles.

at that question, the king of giants goes quiet.

"answer her, are you on humanity's side or not?" the male player growls.

he tries to speak but his voice didn't come out, indicating that he was about to lie.

"why won't you answer?" the female player questions again and she is met with silence once more.

their eyes begin to glow in the darkness of the room. it was then jin-woo noticed a shining pink mana crystal embedded on the back of the king of giant's neck.

THEY'VE BEEN LIED TO.

"the mana crystal embedded on the back of your neck. as long that's there, you'd also hear the rulers' voice." jin-woo spoke almost sneering.

"kill all humans. just like the other monsters." [y/n] follows with a grit of her teeth.

with its now-free right hand, the king of giants took aim at jin-woo's head.

he simply dodged the attack, "forget about the deal. it's too dangerous to keep you alive. my love, you know what to do."

immediately after, [y/n] stabbed her dagger into the king's chest causing him to throw up a mouthful of blood.

"you might become a calamity if we do. so, my sincerest apologies." she sarcastically whispers to him, her voice alluring.

"no... you're wrong. the calamity isn't me... but you and him." the king of giants replies, his voice a bit weak.

its lunges an attack at [y/n], but she quickly evaded the attack before she and jin-woo stab the king of giants multiple times.

the king of giants vomits another mouthful of blood before slumping down to the floor in defeat. he was on death's door now.

"aurora, we were friends... you saved me." he mumbles to the female player who only scoffed.

"if you think an act of mercy is enough to make you think you and her were friends, then your delusional." she replies bitterly.

she spoke from experience, having been nice to a person in the past, making them think they could treat her however they saw fit.

it seems she and aurora had a lot more
in common than she thought.

the king of giants' eyes formed into a glare as he stares at the two players standing in front of him. "as the battles between the residents of your world and the captured denizens of the chaos world become more intense, your world will turn into a harsher battlefield. i hope... that everything you wish to protect will burn into ashes in the conflagration of the war."

"that won't happen." the two players mutter and jin-woo swings his dagger to cut off the man's head off.

[YOU HAVE DEFEATED THE DUNGEON MASTER.]

[YOU HAVE DEFEATED THE MONARCH OF BEGINNING 'REGIA', ONE OF THE TEN MONARCHS.]

"good riddance." [y/n] spats, putting her dagger back in her inventory.

jin-woo turns around, walking towards her. they looked at the dead body before turning around as well.

"what prize did you get?" she asks, her golden glowing curious as she hugs his arm.

the male player shows her the object he obtained and she pouts. "no fair, i want one!"

he chuckles at her childish behavior but before he could respond.

"then i'll take this as my prize instead."

[y/n] tugs jin-woo's arm down so that his face is close to hers. she pecks his cheek with a cute giggle before backing away.

he blinks, not expecting the surprise kiss. it was so adorable that he didn't know what to do with himself.

the [h/c] haired player giggles again at his expression. "i told you i'd get you back!" she sings with a smile.

the dark-haired player is taken out of his daze and averts his gaze, blush rises to his cheeks at her teasing.

BUT THE FAINT SMILE ON HIS LIPS SAID OTHERWISE.

───── ⋆⋅ ☽ ⋅⋆ ─────

THE NEWS THAT the giants have been wiped out spread across the globe quickly.

social media was going wild, saying that there may be two new national authority rank hunters.

the difference between this and the jeju island incident was that the koreans weren't the only ones saying it.

───── ⋆⋅ ☽ ⋅⋆ ─────

"WHY DOES SHE keep being a hunter?! isn't she ashamed?!" a man growls shutting off the t.v that reported the clearing of the s-rank gate in tokyo.

he runs a hand through his hair with a groan before slumping in his desk chair.

───── ⋆⋅ ☽ ⋅⋆ ─────

INTRODUCING...

RAY [L/N] CASTER, THE OLDER BROTHER

───── ⋆⋅ ☽ ⋅⋆ ─────

ray has more of a striking resemblance to his mother than his father, with the only expectation of his bright [e/c] eyes.

he traveled overseas to america at a young age, leaving his sister behind to fend for herself. from there he made is way up the tower of being a businessman.

as of now, he is a successful CEO of a magazine publishing company in america.

he kept his last name hidden and took on his mother's maiden name as to not associate himself with such a disgraceful last name.

as for that last name brought only nothing but painful memories.

the main reason, his little sister.

in his eyes, she was nothing but a murder. the main cause of his parents' death.

ray stares at the picture of his parents on his desk, admiring their smiling faces. he grimaces at the wonderful memories he made with them, almost tearing up.

'ITS ALL HER FAULT THAT THEY'RE GONE...'

───── ⋆⋅ ☽ ⋅⋆ ─────

TO CONTINUE, THE giant that was traveling across the sea, was taken care of by china's liu zhigang.

the japanese hunter association's president matsumoto gave himself up. whether it was to take responsibility for his own actions, his reasons for doing so remains unknown.

on the other side of the globe, in the state of maryland, the american hunters who successfully raided the s-rank gate were about to celebrate in the party organized by the u.s. government.

───── ⋆⋅ ☽ ⋅⋆ ─────

"HOW DO YOU like my necktie?" thomas andre, a national ranked hunter asks.

"it looks expensive, but i can't say it fits with your hawaiian t-shirt." replies laura, secretary of the scavenger's guild.

"that's what i thought as well." thomas grins as he undid the necktie and toss it aside

"we have a problem." laura starts. "the list of guilds invited this year by the international guild conference has been released, and the korean ahjin guild was included."

the tall, blonde man tilts his head. "ahjin guild?"

the quiet women nods. "yes. the guild formed by hunter sung jin-woo. hunter [y/n] [l/n] is also a member of the guild, she is the third founding member."

thomas lifts his sunglasses up with a wide smirk.

"SO THEY'RE COMING TO AMERICA."

───── ⋆⋅ ☽ ⋅⋆ ─────

"WOW! I CAN ALMOST SEE KOREA FROM UP HERE! AMAZING!" [y/n] shouts, standing on the shoulders of one of her summon giants.

jin-woo could only laugh at her childish behavior as a group of japanese soldiers stood behind him.

"this is incredible hyung-nim!"

"it's a shame i couldn't get the one that crossed the sea but with this, we've increased our strength." jin-woo spoke as he crosses his arms over his chest.

his attention is diverted by a giant's white hand lowered to the ground, with his queen in the palm of the summon's hand.

the dark-haired player outstretches his hand out for her take. she gladly does, jumping down from the giant's hand and into his arms.

"had fun my love?" jin-woo asks her with a small smile.

[y/n] looks up at him with an excited nod. "it was amazing! the view was so pretty!"

the two begin to chat quietly and lovingly as people behind stare at their summons in shock.

"just how...?"

"is that hunter sung jin-woo and hunter [y/n] [l/n]'s ability...?"

a smug smile appears on jin-ho's face, overhearing their words. 'anyone who sees hyung-nim's and miss [y/n]'s ability for the first time would be surprised for sure.'

"uh, sir?"

jin-ho turns around to face hanekawa holding out a phone to him, "oh, if you're looking for hyung-nim or miss [y/n], they're right—"

"no, this call is for you hunter yoo jin-ho."

a surprised expression appears on his face as he takes the phone from the short-haired woman and he brings it to his ear.

"hello, this is yoo jin-ho speaking."

he listened intently until his eyes widened in shock. the call ended and jin-ho passed the phone back as he turns to look at the s-rank hunters.

"i'm sorry, hyung-nim and miss [y/n]. i'm gonna have to return to korea." he states to them.

a frown appears on the female player's face. "did something happen?" she asks.

"i don't know the details either. i was told there was a family emergency so i'll have to return," jin-ho answers, this catches the player's attention, already having an idea of what the emergency might be.

"i shall escort you to the airport." a japanese hunter's association employee states.

jin-ho turned with a frown before saying, "i'll be leaving first, hyung-nim and miss [y/n]."

unexpectedly, [y/n] leaves jin-woo's side and approaches jin-ho.

the hunter hums in confusion at her action until he yelps when he is suddenly hugged by the beautiful woman.

"me and jin-woo are always here for you, jin-ho. please know that." she whispers to him.

the young boy blinks but soon returns the hug. "thank you, that means a lot... [y/n]." he replies, using her first name without the honorific.

the [h/c] haired hunter smiles and pulls back from the hug, putting her hands on his shoulders.

"have a safe trip, don't die on me okay!" [y/n] jokes with a teasing grin.

"pft, please as if!" jin-ho scoffs with a playful glare, causing the two friends to laugh.

then, it was time for him to depart, the female hunter gives one last goodbye to her friend as she and her lover watch the helicopter take off in the air.

once the vehicle was out of their sight, the smile on [y/n]'s face fades away.

she quickly turns to jin-woo with determined eyes. before she can even say a word, he sighs.

"I KNOW MY LOVE."

───── ⋆⋅ ☽ ⋅⋆ ─────

"FATHER!" JIN-HO SHOUTS as tried to get into his father's hospital room.

jin-ho had arrived back in korea to hear the news of his father, yoo myung-han entering the final stage of enteral slumber.

"you mustn't get too close." their secretary, mister park said stopping his young master from entering. "hunters who are unable to control their magical power will only worsen the condition if they are in close proximity."

"is that so..." jin-ho mumbled laying his forehead against the glass. "i'm a useless son, even to the very end."

secretary park didn't respond, only passing the young hunter a black leather-bound case file.

"what is this?" he asks as he wipes away a tear.

"it is what the chairman was working on just before he lost consciousness." mister park answered. "i kept it in case he would look for it when he reawakens, but perhaps you need it more right now."

jin-ho looks at the case file and grabs it. hesitantly, he opens it, scared to see what was inside the file.

BUT WHAT HE FOUND WAS SOMETHING BEYOND HIS EXPECTATIONS.

rather than it being a normal case file, it was a scrapbook filled with newspaper clippings. every single page was full of articles from various newspapers that contained his name.

"like father like son, huh..." jin-ho mutters as tears pricked his eyes. "he also has the habit of keeping any news article he likes..."

"all the competitions, exhibitions, and concours you and your sister participated in... he saved them all." secretary park adds with a sad smile. "even recent events."

jin-ho flipped to the next page, seeing an article about him and the ahjin guild.

"ITS NOT THAT THE CHAIRMAN DIDN'T LOVE YOU, JIN-HO. HE SIMPLY HAD HIGH EXPECTATIONS, AS MUCH AS HE LOVED YOU."

jin-ho let the tears spill from his eyes, now knowing that his father truly did love him. but it was too late to let him know he felt the same.

secretary park patted his shoulder as he led him away, "let us return home first."

silence only followed until two figures gradually appeared in the hospital room.

"he didn't have to cry." jin-woo muttered. "tsk, he made me feel bad and all."

he felt his arm being slapped by [y/n]. "of course he'd cry. it's his father for god's sake, woo!"

the dark haired player only rolled his eyes as he accesses his inventory and took out one of his five remaining bottles of the 'holy water of life.'

his lover lifted chairman myung-han's upper body, as he poured the bottle into his mouth.

the two watch the color of his skin return and [y/n] softly smiles.

'i'm not letting jin-ho go through
what i went through...'

the two quietly leave the hospital room, using their stealth skill. they deactivated once they entered the elevator.

they arrived at the first floor of the hospital, walking side by side as the female player held her lover's hand.

as they left, jin-ho's sister caught sight of them since they walked past each other.

'huh? that's...' her eyes followed their figures even after they left the hospital until she couldn't see them anymore.

she enters the elevator and went up to her father's room, opening the door.

instead of being greeted with the sight of him asleep, the man was wide awake and was sitting up in his bed.

"jin-hui...?" myung-han mutters with wide eyes.

"dad!" she cries, as hands shot up to her mouth, tears rolling down her cheeks as she looked at her father.

───── ⋆⋅ ☽ ⋅⋆ ─────

OUTSIDE THE HOSPITAL, [y/n] fondly looks at the room where myung-han reside in. the lights were on, indicating that everyone knew he was awake.

the two walk away with smiles on their faces. "it's a bit early, but happy birthday jin-ho." jin-woo mutters, keeping his lover close.

"never knew you were such a softie for others, woo!~" [y/n] teases, giggling as she pokes his arm.

she feels a hand guiding her face to look up and her eyes meet steel grey ones. the male player lays his forehead against her's and softly kisses her lips.

"only for you, my love." he whispers against them.

the female player feels heat rush to her cheeks, why'd did he have to be so attractive like that?

before he can pull away, [y/n] snakes her hand up behind jin-woo's neck, crashing her lips into his again

he wraps his hand around her waist bring her close, melting into the kiss as she laid her arms on his shoulders.

she curls her fingers into his dark hair and tugging on it not knowing what kind of switch she just flipped.

he pulls back for a second and jin-woo wasted no time in closing the distance again. he licks her soft lips before roughly pressing his mouth onto them.

softly gasping through the kiss, [y/n] clutches his shirt hard as the two walk backwards, almost stumbling.

the feeling was so overwhelming. the tingling sensation his fingers left behind as he ran them down her side as she let him take what he wanted. after a few minutes of intensity, his breathing had become erratic, like the action alone had deprived him of air.

jin-woo pulls back once again, as he stares down at [y/n] who had a flushed out look on her face.

never in her life had she experienced something like that before, her heart was going at such a rapid pace she felt like it would explode.

he chuckles at her confusion and kisses her cheek. "you doing alright there, my love?" he whispers and she could only nod.

"uh, di-didn't you say we have to finish things up back in japan?" she stutters, fanning herself as he pulls away from her face.

the dark-haired hunter clicks his tongue. "oh shit, yeah." he mutters as he checked his cooldown for shadow exchange

"1 hour and 54 minutes left."

"so what should we do for two hours?"

the question the [h/c] haired hunter had raised got him thinking. his mind, suddenly went back to a clear image of his lover's flushed face and half-lidded eyes.

a single thought he came up with
was out the window before he can even process it

"i mean we can find ownerless dungeons." jin-woo suggested, averting his gaze as he feels his face heat up.

"excuse me?! we just defeated an s-rank dungeon and now you wanna do more?!" [y/n] exclaims, deadpanning at him.

"...YES?"

"I'M GOING TO SEND YOUR ASS TO NEXT MONDAY! DON'T YOU DARE RUN AWAY FROM ME SUNG JIN-WOO!"

CHAPTER THRITY-SIX! END!
────tokyo gate (3).