Chapter Text
It was odd. Jinwoo had a lot to think about with the system as a whole but it was only growing weirder. Maybe not his but Hunter Min’s. That moment in the Demon Castle when his eyes glitched over and his words froze like the snow elf had picked at him. Just like that elf, the man hadn’t shown any signs of knowing that he had been stopped from speaking. On top of that, he was allergic to mana restoration potions now and had been given a quest of his own after leaving the castle. It just didn’t really make any sense.
Hunter Min wasn’t a player but a companion. Someone in his party but not directly in a place to get quests like he did. It had been companion specific too. Jinwoo had tried to find what the quest was but all he got was the system telling him that his companion was unavailable. There was something off about all of this.
He was contemplating sending a message to the man when the shadow he had on him was disturbed. The moment the blip happened he watched all of Hunter Min’s HP disappear. Ten seconds later his icon was grayed out with the familiar red ‘X’ of him being dead.
Jinwoo didn’t give any consideration to what or where he could be appearing as he used Exchange on the shadow. Rose from the thick surface of the dark spreading over a cave floor with a dagger twisted in his hand. The red splatter of blood over the stone painted a haunting sight but not nearly as much as Hunter Min’s headless body being dropped like a useless weight. A tall, black ant clicked blood soaked mandibles at him, standing over the corpse of his companion.
It was a cold fury that slid into his veins. Hunter Min was not to be carelessly tossed aside nor be some bug’s last meal. That was his companion. A kind and caring man that had stuck by his side and died with him in that double dungeon. An excellent healer and mage that took care of him after every penalty, daily quest, and dungeon. A genuine and funny college student that hated hunting and just wanted to teach history to a bunch of stupid high school kids. He was not someone that deserved to die. Let alone have his head bitten off like he was merely food.
It was blinding. Jinwoo’s sole focus was on shredding that insignificant insect down to atoms. Rip it apart with his bare hands and make it suffer. Drove two daggers through its exoskeleton to pry chunks off to dig the blades in deeper beneath it. There wasn’t a thought to avoid injury from razor claws. It was shadowy haze of murderous intent that seeped off him to suffocate this pitiful bug.
He didn’t stop until all that was left was a black husk and green inards puddling on the ground. A sneer was given the remains before he turned away. Swift feet carrying him back to Hunter Min’s body while his daggers disappeared into his inventory. Someone was on their knees next to his companion that had Jinwoo close to snarling at them until he caught himself. Hunter Baek was pressing a hand to his bleeding chest with his other hand on Hunter Min’s. The obvious care had something easing in his tension.
Jinwoo kneeled on the corpse’s other side with a prompt from the system to use ‘Revival’. He lifted his hand to summon his mana when he paused. Eyes scanned the gathered hunters until he spied the A-Rank with a camera on his military helmet.
“Shut that off,” he ordered, hand still hovering over Hunter Min.
“Huh? What’re you-”
“The camera,” a snarl almost leaked into his voice, “shut it off.”
In an instant the hunter removed his helmet and took the device off. It wasn’t until he heard the camera beep with being shut down that Jinwoo focused back on Hunter Min. Worry curled bright his chest that he fought through. The last time he had brought his companion back he had been dead for less than a minute. It had to have been close to five or six this time. He didn’t know how much of that changed the effectiveness of ‘Revival’ but he knew it couldn’t be good on Hunter Min to be dead that long.
“Arise.” Jinwoo ignored the thick shadow that tried to meet him and dug deeper for the physical body. But unlike last time, nothing happened. The system prompted him that he had two more attempts left. “Arise.” Fear sparked at the refusal of Hunter Min’s body to regenerate with his power and the lack of life taking over the shadow. He would not lose the only person that knew about the system and what all of this was like. “Arise.”
The third command did it. Roiling shadows filled the hole in Hunter Min’s chest and swarmed where his head should have been. Jinwoo went to reach out to lift him into a sitting position when he found an almost shadow solider like image settle over the man. Ethereal blue skin and white eyes with a wispy shadow in a hood hiding his hair. There was a sharp breath taken in from Hunter Baek that he ignored. This hadn’t been his intention. He wanted to bring him back to life, not turn him into a shadow soldier.
He sat back on his heels as Hunter Min rose to his feet on his own. Shadows almost seeming to puppeteer his body like none of his soldiers had ever done. They dripped like thick oil off the hunter as he reached out a hand to levitate his spellbook into his other, waiting hand. Jinwoo could only watch the man pull his mana up and throw it all into healing the downed S-Ranks.
Green particles fell like rain over the injured. A stronger spell than anything Hunter Min had used on him. And once everyone was back in perfect health, the spellbook snapped shut and the puppeteering shadows cut their hold. Jinwoo launched himself forward to catch the lifeless fall of Hunter Min’s body. Scraped his knees on the stone without a care as he cradled his companion in his lap. The shadows had started to drift and flake away to reveal the pale skin of the man’s face and brown hair.
“Hey, you back yet?” Jinwoo asked softly even as his party system came back online with Hunter Min’s full revival. All he received were cloudy eyes opening. “Can you see me?” He snapped his fingers in front of the man’s face but there was no response. Not to the sight nor sound. “Hunter Min.”
A cold hand rose to grab his. Fingers tight in their hold as Hunter Min took his hand out of his face. Jinwoo almost sighed in relief at the signs of life but was stopped by the man trying to rise to his feet again. Except, like last time, he didn’t have control of his body. It was a trip and stumble to his knees that had him reaching out to catch him again. Arms looping around his middle to hold him as he got his bearings.
“Hunter Sung,” one of the S-Rank’s addressed him. They were probably going to say more but were cut off.
“...hurts.” It was a quiet mumble from Hunter Min that immediately had Jinwoo holding him tighter. There was a tremble in the hand that skimmed his arms to grab at his chest. Fingers gripping the edge of the ruined armor with a broken and painful sounding sob. “It hurts.”
“What does?” Jinwoo asked softly, mind already searching for a way to help.
“Chest,” Hunter Min answered through the tears. His head fell into a duck with another shuddering sob. “S’too slow.”
The slurred words were a little hard to distinguish but Jinwoo found himself pressing his palm to the man’s chest on instinct. Waiting for the heart beat that should have come. His brow furrowed in worry when it took almost twenty seconds to feel a single one then another twenty for a second. Three beats a minute.
“You need a hospital,” Jinwoo muttered while taking his hand back. “C’mon, let’s stand up.”
“I’m okay.” Hunter Min pushed his arms away with the lackluster reassurance.
“You’re not.” There was no point in trying to pretend that everything was fine when Jinwoo had felt how dangerously slow the man’s heart was. No one could survive with a heart rate that low. “Even it’s just to get a heart test or something-”
“I said I’m okay.”
The unfamiliar snap had him narrowing his eyes. He rose to his feet with a grip on Hunter Min’s elbows to help him stand as well. “Look,” Jinwoo turned the man to face him, “I normally wouldn’t press but you weren’t like this last time.” Last time had been terrifying for a different reason.
“I didn’t lose-” There was a quiet catch of Hunter Min’s voice and a glitch of the system over his eyes. “I said I’m okay.”
The blatant interference of the system had Jinwoo catching his companion’s face between his hands. Dark eyes were still cloudy around the edges but what had him truly concerned was the electronic glitch of colors when he looked hard enough. What was Hunter Min trying to say? How much of what he did say was actually him and what was the system? Did he even notice that he wasn’t in control of his voice anymore?
Shadows drifted off brown hair and a blue shade flared through the glitched over eyes. Flushing it away for the briefest of moments to reveal the terror living behind the wall of mana. Jinwoo wanted to rip the system out of Hunter Min and shred it to pieces. To free the man from the prison that was his own saving grace.
“You can let go.” Hunter Min’s strained voice had Jinwoo immediately releasing him. The tips of his ears burned but he ignored them. “Um, thank you. For bringing me back once more.”
“It’s the least I could do,” he replied, “after all you’ve done for me.”
There was more he wanted to say but couldn’t find the words or confidence to do so. It wouldn’t have mattered as Hunter Min turned away from him. Swift feet took the man right to Hunter Baek. Where the beast class hunter practically fell apart in the engulfing hug he pulled the newly revived mage into. Jinwoo vehemently shoved away the prickling ball of emotions at the sight and turned in the opposite direction; ignoring the stares of the other hunters.
He went right for the troubled shadow of the dead ant. As pissed as he was about the insect killing Hunter Min, he had a rational enough mind to recognize a strong shadow soldier that he couldn’t pass up. The command was given with a raise of his hand.
At first nothing happened then a swell of shadows rose to cover his vision of the cave. Jinwoo put his hands in his pockets with a mental shrug at failing the first attempt and shifted on his feet as the shadows faded. He was about to try again when a presence at his back had him turning. The nearly blinding drip of blue shade into an ant shadow was almost impressive. His foot tapped on the stone as the newest soldier kneeled in front of him. A screen prompted him to give the bug a name. It had a rank he had never seen before.
When the shadow spoke, he narrowed his eyes at it. There was a request for a name then pledge to serve when he remained quiet. He was tempted to ignore the prompt and leave the thing nameless but for a reason unknown, he lifted his gaze over the kneeling shadow. Hunter Min was across the cave from him but he could feel the stare.
[Companion ---> Player: go ahead. It’s fine]
[Player ---> Companion: you sure? It did kill you >:(]
[Companion ---> Player: I’m sure]
The simple reassurance that Hunter Min wasn’t upset about the newest shadow soldier had Jinwoo looking back at the ant. He didn’t like it. Not one bit for what it did to his companion. But he still gave it a name. Beru would suffice.