Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The world was unfair even before the mysterious gates started opening and some humans awakening magical abilities. Before dividing into hunters and non-hunters humanity was divided three ways. Alpha's. Beta's. And Omega's. Most hunters were from the first two categories.

In all honesty openly Omega hunters were so rare some doubted Omega could Awaken.

But hey could. The most simply chose to hide the fact. And for good reasons. There was no monitoring in the dungeons. Any crime committed inside was nearly impossible to investigate once the boss was defeated. So omega used suppressants. Luckily Hunter Associations around the provided them for both Alpha and Omega hunters free of charge to avoid anyone's rut or heat triggering inside a dungeon.

They were cheap suppressants of course but they did the job.

Now let's move to the beautiful city of Seoul, South Korea where the protagonist of our story lives. More precisely to a hospital he ended up in after surviving an extremely rare double dungeon.

Sung Jin Woo. An E rank hunter. Possibly the weakest hunter in the world. An omega. Just woke up with a start in a hospital bed. Checking the leg he was pretty sure he had lost.

He was wrong. His leg was there and perfectly fine. In fact he didn't feel any pain and he was usually in pain from various injuries he'd suffer in even the easiest raids.

Doctor who soon came in to check on him was as baffled. He saw Hunter Sung few times and was familiar with his injuries and their effects lingering despite boy's hunter status.

Hunter Sung Jin Woo was good as new. Literally. But the doctor insisted he stay in the hospital in case it was some temporary side effect of the double gate. A normal procedure whenever something out of ordinary for even their new reality happened.

Not long after the doctor left Jin Woo had another visitor. Two hunters from the Association there to remeasure his magical power and collect his statement. And of course the one who did most speaking was unfairly handsome while Sung was in a hospital gown likely looking like he died. Which he pretty much did.

"I'm Woo Jin Chul the chief of the Monitoring Division of the Hunter Association," the man introduced himself as Jin Woo fought with himself to keep looking at just his face.

He didn't want to look like a creep for checking out how well he looked in a suit. Not that he'd ever stand any chance. He was simply too average and even being an omega couldn't fix it.

Sung recalled to the best of his ability what had happened in the dungeon. Careful to not omit any detail that might be important.

"Normally this all would be hard to believe but since the story of all survivors matches I see no need to question it," Chief Woo nodded and pulled out a crystal from a bag his subordinate carried. "Just one more thing Hunter Sung, the protocol requires us to remeasure the magical power of everyone involved," he sounded a bit bored. Or maybe just tired? It was hard to say with sunglasses covering his eyes.

"So everyone else who survived also was..." Sung asked just to maybe hear some more of Chief's voice. Sue him, the man could read a phone book and Sung would listen to every word. And he had no idea when if ever he would meet the Chief again. E ranks like him didn't deal with the Monitoring Division often, most choosing to lay low or not hunt at all.

In the end measuring was unnecessary. 10. Still weakest. At least Chief Woo was polite about it even if his subordinate let out a brief chuckle that got shit down with a glare.

Once alone Sung stared at.... a window like from games his sister enjoyed. So the Chief didn't see it? He was strong. A rank for sure. And a really strong one. Maybe almost an S rank. Sung never saw anyone this strong up so close.

"So he couldn't see it?" Sung wondered and poked the window proclaiming he had an unread message. How was he supposed to do anything with it? No tutorial like in games Jin Ah occasionally forced him to play with her to relax.

Speaking off door soon opened again and a nurse informed him his sister came to visit.

Seeing that Jin Ah was safe and sound was reassuring and calming. Even if she should be at school instead of visiting him.

"I'll be out beofre you know it. Doctor said I just need to be observed for a few days," he assured after a stern talking to about worrying her. "It's not worth skipping school." Education got even more cutthroat since appearance of the gates.

Jin Ah wasn't happy. "If you don't want me to skip then stop getting hurt," she huffed.

Jin Woo just sighed. "I'll be even more careful now."

"Do you have to continue being a hunter? I'm sure you can find another job," she sighed.

"We both know most jobs won't want an omega and others I'm not qualified for," Jin Woo sighed quietly. "So please study hard and don't worry about me, I promise to do my best to avoid being hurt like this again."

They had this conversation many times. But being a beta Jin Ah had some difficulties understanding why her brother's secondary gender was so much of an issue. She was still at the age when one thinks it doesn't matter a that much. He hoped she'd stay like this as long as possible.

"Fine, but at least look if there's something. Maybe the Hunter Association needs someone to run easy errands or something?" she offered before leaving and promising to eat well and keep the apartment clean.

Okay. Now back to the mystery floating thing. "Open message?" he tried feeling a bit stupid. But it did work.

It all sounded like a prank. A bad prank. He? Grow strong? By running and doing exercises? Sure. He might as well be an S rank.

But it was too elaborate. And there was no way it was a prank. Not with those statues. Not with his leg being miraculously back. And there was no way the Association would be in on it.

So maybe he could try it. It wouldn't hurt that's for sure. Who knows some cardio might be good for him even if it's all bull shit. But not today. No exercise today. What kind of punishment could meet him in a hospital bed?

So he just went to bed and slept. Until what felt like an earthquake woke him up.

One moment he was in the hospital and the next in a desert. Supposed to survive being chased by a giant centipede for four. Freaking. Hours.

So it was for sure real. He decided once back in hospital. Exhausted and done with this thing. Will avoiding the centipede would be easy. Just do your daily quests. He thought bitterly over his terrible hospital breakfast.

So he exercised and accepted the rewards. Random items he didn't have use for and more importantly. Stat points. This system gave him points to allocate into five stats.

Most were pretty straightforward. What else could Strength, Vitality, Agility and Senses do but what it said. Intelligence was trickier. There was no way some points would make him stronger so he guessed it was to do with magic. For now he put all his daily points into strength. It seemed to be his best bet for now. Later he could invest in other stats to make survival easier.

After couple days the daily random box gave hims a seemingly better reward than random bandages and pens. A key.

A key proclaiming it would open an 'instant dungeon'. In the Hapjung stations third entrance no less. Should he report it to the Association? Maybe, there was a potential it could break. But if it was a dungeon only he could enter? Then he'd look like a lunatic.

So he went to check it out giving the hospital an excuse of having some errands to run. The nurse let him go so long as he'd return in time.

So he went to the station and opened the dungeon. If anything he could always run. He was pretty good at it now.

Not that it mattered. It closes behind him with conditions being that he either beat the boss or use an item de didn't have. Grand.

"Maybe if I level up on weaker monsters I can get strong enough to beat the boss? Maybe find something that can help?" he wondered while looking around the ruined station.

As he wandered the station looking for any monsters or whatever else he couldn't miss the smell. Whatever was around had to be beasts. It stunk like the zoo. Scratch that, this was worse.

When the first wolf charged out of nowhere he dodged shockingly easily. Not to mention how he managed to punch it strong enough for it to fly back a solid distance and hit a wall.

But it wasn't enough. The wolf got back up and howled. Bad. It would surely attract more. He had to deal with this one and fast. And he doubted his fists alone would be enough.

Then he remembered something. As he was exploring the system. In his inventory. Ha had a sword. Mr Kim's sword. After dodging few attacks he managed to pull the sword out and defeated the first monster.

Unlike normal monsters it didn't drop a core bit instead it's fangs. Gross, some part of him though dryly. Likely his inner omega he pushed down hard with suppressants and pure will.

With the sword and his strength stat combined the wolves weren't a problem. Besides.

After the statues they felt pretty weak.

After fighting the wolves for a while he leveled up. It got all his stats up by one. Nice to know even ones he didn't intentionally invested points in wouldn't lag behind too badly in case he suddenly needed mana for something.

He was certain he could defeat the boss if he leveled up enough.

So he fought wolves until his sword got dull. In meantime getting more fangs. A title that supposedly boosted his damage against beasts some daggers and a hearthstone

He could use it to leave. But so far he wasn't in danger. And who knew when he'd get a chance like this or what would happen to the dungeon.

"I have it in case things get bad, I can keep going for now," he nodded and kept fighting through the dungeon.

With monsters respawnig it felt like a game. None of them were particularly strong too. Even the monkeys and oversized cats that showed up later. Well, he was probably just getting stronger with all this levelling up. And he learned their patterns.

So he fought until his level stopped increasing. At that point there was no use fighting more beasts. Even if he wasn't confident he could beat the boss. He did have the heartstone if it went badly so he went downs. Slight goosebumps rising on his arms.

The boss was a massive snake. And broke his sword pretty much instantly. But Sung Jin Woo had no plan on giving up yet. It was strong. It had thick scales.

But he had conviction. He didn't want o be the weakest hunter. He didn't want to be seen a weak because of his rank or secondary gender. He was going to use this second chance life gave him.

After a long and tiring fight he managed to defeat the snake with pure, brute strength. Not the most elegant, sure, but it worked and he was soon outside. The dungeon cleared.

"You shouldn't... wait are you a hunter? There was a great break," suddenly a soldier stopped him for a second before dragging him towards a big commotion.

As they got closer Sung recognised one of the hunters fighting a golem who escaped the gate. Joo... No. He couldn't have her see him. So he just threw the broken sword.

It weakened the boss enough for other hunters so he didn't stick around. Just silently returned to the hospital.

Over the rest of his hospital stay he lay low in case anyone noticed anything. Especially the Monitoring Division's chief. Just doing his daily exercise until he was cleared to return home.

Of course he barely returned and his landlord was demanding rent. Not to mention his sister was being weird and claimed his appearance changed drastically. There was no way some exercise could... Unless it was the system's doing.

As handy and nice as it was it also had some drawbacks. It made him immune to poisons, sicknesses and so on. But it counted his suppressants as poisonous. And even if it allowed him to use that weird poison from the snake to get stronger. It meant he'd have to resort to more problematic ways of covering his secondary gender.

Scent blockin patches. He'd have to cover then well if he didn't want to be found out. Not to mention he'd have to request them from the association. Unless... he made enough to buy them himself.

But he'd have to do something until then. For now he still had a few stashed away from last year's suppressor shortage. They'd have to do for a couple raids. He needed money and he couldn't reveal himself yet.

So he joined an attack force as a filler member and a porter. There was of course a chance they were lizards with how good the offer was but he was confident he could run if needed. Maybe even fight back.

Chapter Text

Hwang Dong Suk and his team seemed decent enough folk, even if Sung had a bad feeling as he shook the man's hand. Usual ribbing not withstanding.

"Stop it. It's okay, numbers are most important here. Sorry about them," Hwang grinned widely. "Making a group of six was hard enough, and with the requirement of eight members in a C rank raid. You don't have to fight, we'll pay you two million won for just filling the number and if you'd be so kind maybe carrying some of our equipment so it doesn't weigh us down. No need to worry we've done this before," he explained while passing Sung a printed contract.

It was pretty rare. Most attack forces just send those through email. No need to pay for printing. Having a physical contract felt good. Maybe his feelings were wrong? He thought as he glanced around the team getting ready.

His thinking got interrupted. "Excuse me, it looks like we're both small fries. Yoo Jin Ho. I'm twenty-two, rank D," a guy in a rather gaudy and expensive armour introduced himself.

His name sounded familiar. Sung just hummed. This guy seemed to enjoy talking a lot.

Shockingly, there was no healer. Well, maybe Sung just got used to Miss Lee Joo Hee always being around? Besides, healers weren't that common and even slightly lower-ranked ones quickly got snatched up by guilds.

Jin Ho was indeed a yapper. Explaining the situation of the construction site, the fade opened in without any prompting.

The gate was pretty big. Not that he had any reference, he had never seen a C rank gate in person before.

Inside the gate were dark tunnels. No monsters yet, but there rarely were any near entrances. Sung listened for any sign of monsters with his sharper senses.

Skittering. "Above!" he warned everyone. "Insect monsters."

The attack force was pretty well equipped and cooperated really well. It was clear they had worked together for a while. No wonder they didn't worry abou healers. Aside from them being a bit... rough, they were essentially a perfect team. Good communication, good timing.

Hwan's attitude after the fight  had Sung's senses warning him again. Something was off about this group. "Stay close to mee, I have a bad feeling," he warned Jin Ho. He might be annoying but ultimately he wasn't too terrible. "Just be careful," he warned, raising a finger to his lips.

The whole time he could not shake that bad feeling off. It got even stronger when they found the boss. A giant spider. Who ate most monsters in the gate and was napping among mass of mana crystals.

When they stared pretending they forgot their gear Sung was already bracing for the lizard to cut it's tail. Points fo creativity in using the boss. He thought dryly as he dropped the backpacks he was carrying.

Jin Ho was quite nice to offer to protect him, but so far this gate wasn't very profitable to him. No cores due to the contract. No exp. No fun.

"Step back," he sighed as he pulled out his dagger.  He was looking forward to trying it out.

The spider was slightly tougher than expected. But he manager to kill it alone. A C rank boss. He. It felt nice. Even if he had to resort to using the daily reward.

"Are you okay? I wasn't really paying attention where he was stepping. Or she? No matter," he turned to the shaking D rank. Right it was his first boss. And it was under these conditions. He kinda felt bad for him.

"I'm perfectly fine. Would you like some water?" he asked loudly and fast.

"I'd appreciate it, thank you," Sung nodded and accepted the bottled water. He watched with some amusement as Jin Ho started mining. They had about an hour before the gate closed. And six B and C ranked hunters who would be back soon.

He already knew how it would end if they didn't already have it. Outside were the Association's agents in charge of monitoring that the right party entered and that everything went right.

But Hwang and his party were likely on their way already. Sung knew it was kill or be killed already. They made their choice; it was time he made his.

Being hit with a fireball as a greeting was rude. Luckily, his neck was fine, and the scent-blocking patches under his turtleneck were fine.

Trying to pressure already scared Jin Ho to kill him was even worse. And there was the system, he couldn't help but sigh.

The system wanted him to kill.

"You said so yourself. What happens inside a gate stays inside a gate, no?" Sung said flatly as he raised his dagger and easily beheaded the first hunter. Leaning cockily on his shoulder. "I don't like being touched without consent," he grimaced as he pushed the headless body off.

It was fast and shocking easy to kill humans. Sung noted as he calmed Jin Ho and assured him it was all in self defense and that nothing would happen if they told Association that spider wiped them, was barely alive and they finished it. It was believable.

Barely. Jin Ho had no experience but if he cooperated  and with his gear in the equation it was possible to pass it off as the reality.

Luckily Jin Ho was smart and played along. Agents monitoring the gate didn't question them much further.

With cores and crystals from the C rank gate Sung decided to lay low for a bit. If association called him for a gate he'd go like a good E rank. But other than that he'd behave. He didn't need anyone to suspect him of anything


Jin Chul was having a perfectly normal day. Look through and approve papers. Scold his employees. Throw away wrongly filled requests. Scold some cocky hunters. Send reports that made it wrongly to his desk to proper department. Monitoring wasn't in charge of blockers. Scold some S ranks causing trouble.

"Sir, there was an incident in a gate. Eight hunters dead," one of his subordinates approached him sheepishly.

"We have procedures for these things. Has the gate been closed?" he asked practically automatically.

"Umm yeat, by the two survivors. A D rank and an E rank. They said the boss barely managed to kill the test of the party.... The thing is it was... Hwang Dong Suk's party...."

No wonder the man looked terrified. Man's younger brother was a very unpleasant S rank. Luckily he lived in America. It was still bad but at least they had time.

"Anything else?" Jin Chul wasn't really interested in talking to the survivors. Someone would call them with a warning later.

"The E rank... is the same from the double gate," the agent said.

Double.... Sung Jin Woo? He remembered the name and along with it disappointed face of a scrawny young man. Man who looked younger than he actually was. Why was he in a C rank gate? Just filling numbers for quick buck? Likely.

"Let me know if he enters any gate," he requested. He'd warn the man in person. Just to get another look at him to make sure nothing changed since hospital. Getting a Hunter's personal address from. their database for something so small seemed like an exaggeration.


Sung though surviving the situation deserved celebrating. He made more money than in half a year. Confirmed his new strength beyond instant dungeon of the system. And he needed to get drunk.

Not that he could. He had a feeling it would be the case same as his suppressants and the snake venom drop. Shame. Oh well. "I'll go to bed earlier, you enjoy yourself Jin Ah," he yawned as he patted his sister's head.

"Who are you and what did you do to my stingy brother," she laughed.

He was glad he could do more nice things for her now. He just had to be careful so today's incident didn't repeat.

He barely entered his room when Jin Ah calle dhim about someone calling him. Jin Ho He wanted to discuss something. Jin Woo agreed even if just to make sure his secret stayed a secret.


Turns out Jin Ho pulled on some contacts within the Association to get his numer. Low rank hunters didn't get much anonymity and protection huh? Luckily his secondary gender wasn't in their database. Sung didn't mind that badly.

"You did keep my secret so we're fine," he shrugged. Not to mention how profitable the dungeon was.

"We were just defending ourselves, they attacked first," Jin Ho shook his head slightly.

"Anyway. Why did you want to meet? As far as I'm concerned we're even," Sung moved to the main point.

"I'm creating an attac..."

"Declined," Sung cut him short and turned to leave.

"Please, hyung hear me out," Jin Ho practically begged. People were staring.

"I have no intention of playong around with a rich kid," Sung huffed. Annoying he thought.

"Just twenty... no nineteen more gates. Please," he asked with forehead hitting the table.

This amount.... "You're trying to become a guild master," Sung guessed as he sat down. Okay if the kid was serious then he might at least hear him out.

The plan wasn't terrible. Many companies associated themselves with big guilds. Samsung had a close relationship with Hunter's guiltd. A company having their own guild was even more beneficial.

 "I have a condition. Just you and me, no one else enters the gates." Jin Ho had some reservations as expected. "We'll do what Hwang did, hire hunters who can't normally raid. Injuries and so on, pay them a flat fee for just hanging out outside," Sung shrugged.

Jin Ho agreed even if a bit hesitantly.


The next day when exercising with his sister Sung discovered something. Daily quest could go over the stated amounts. But by how much and would there be better rewards?

Turns out it could go up to double.

And it got him a random box with another instant dungeon key. Key to the Demon King's Castle. To be used at Song Pa Gu tower. An S class item. It was no doubt going to be a hard dungeon. But also a good source of exp that wouldn't be in his raid history in the association.

If things went wrong he still had the heartstone from the last dungeon. Curiosity and need to know how stromg he was exactly wouldn't let him stay away.

Inside he was greeted by flames, another gate and it's guard. Massive three headed hound, Kerberos as the system stated.

It wasn't an easy fight. Kerberos was stronger so status effects had issue landing. It was fast for its size. And hit like a truck.

And it had a skill that doubled it's stats. As expected of an S rank gate. It was hard.

He had to once more rely on the daily reward to stay alive. "I'll die if I open that door," he groaned while checking out the loot from the hound. A rank necklace that wasn't visible. Good. "I'll return when I'm stronger," he decided.

Chapter Text

A few days later Sung got an emergency call. Normal thing for a lower rank hunter not affiliated with a guild. It was a D rank but it was better to show up. The Association could be unpleasant if one slacked off.

"Mister Sung?" he heard a familiar voice as he waited for everyone, hiding in his hood. 

"Mister Song Chi Yeol?" it was a shock to see the older hunter. Sung thought the man would retire after losing his arm.

"I barely recognised you, I'm so glad you're okay," the man smiled widely and honestly. It felt nice.

Turns out it wasn't just them. Several survivors of that day were gathered. Including miss Ju Hee. Sung wasn't sure how to feel. He was still angry he was abandoned. Not as much at Ju Hee and Mister Song, they stayed until there was no choice. Yet it still stung deeply.

But their reunion got cut short. They were to be accompanied by prisoners who awakened and a member of the Monitoring Division. Strangely the agent gave Sung worse feeling than the prisoners. He tried to get Ju Hee to withdraw but she stood her ground.

Kang Tae Shik. Sung was dedicated to keeping an eye on the man. There wasn't much difference in their power from what he could feel so he wasn't confident in what he'd to if his feeling was once more correct.

An apology from mister Song was in the grand scheme of things unnecessary. Sung didn't hold any grudge against him. Not anymore since he seemed sincerely glad he survived and took care of Jo Hee that day.

Goblins. Easy. Boring really. Not much exp. But it was nice to raid with some familiar faces. Even if he constantly kept an eye on the prisoners and the Association agent.

The split was good. He could easily locate the boss and guarantee some more exp. But they weren't even halfway down their tunnel when an extreme killing intent followed by screams hit. 

Something was wrong. They ran towards the noise without much thinking or talking.

Danger. Sung's brains screamed and he barely stopped the agent's dagger aimed at Jo Hee.

The prisoners. Kim Sang Shik. He killed them all. 

"Why?" Sung asked but didn't really listen to the chatter the agent tossed. Coming up with excuses. Gross.

This will no doubt raise questions. How could three low rank hunters beat an association hunter? But Sung didn't really care.

He was about to charge when mister Song, holding a sword, stood in his way. Yes, he was still supposed to be an E rank.

"A mage using a sword, buffed by a traumatised healer protecting an E rank. How pathetic," the agent laughedand the fight started. 

Mister Song held his ground surprisingly well. Didn't he once say he was trained in using a sword? An instructor of some sort?

He did really well. Hitting a strong spell but it wasn't enough to win and was the limit. With dagger coming onto the older hunter Sung entered the fight. Easily blocking it to everyone's shock.

He sighed while spinning his dagger. He felt warm. His heat was still long time away. Stress heat? Might be with everything going on lately. 

"What's your rank?" the agent asked grimacing.

"Sung Jin Woo, an E rank," he introduced himself politely while shielding Song and Ju Hee. It would be best if they retreated but it would be hard to protect them. while they moved. 

"Sung... how?"

"Please stay back. I got this," Sung said confidently. He was about the same level as this guy. And he still had the daily reward. 

The man chattered some theories about Sung.

"No... You're not a false ranker, you're reawakened. Now that I think about it my boss recently went to re-evaluate someone," he chuckled.

Sung just sighed. "Why?" he asked.

"How can I say no to a father's plea for justice for their child," the agent shrugged in a mocking manner.

"No," Sung shook his head. "That's an excuse. You just enjoy killing, and I hate that kind of people," Sung sighed and they jumped at once.

Their speeds were pretty evenly matched but Sung still had his sprint skill ready. And of course the system activated on its own. Another reason to get rid of this bastard.

It was time to give it his all. "I'm learning a lot actually, like that talkative guys are generally useless," Sung hummed and activated sprint.

Of course his opponent was a bit too strong for his daggers effects. And he had stealth. Sung's skills were barely enough to detect incoming attacks in time. Annoying.

With his tendons severed he couldn't walk. And the bastard was open to attack his allies. Well.

"Accept reward, status recovery," he mumbled and was healed in an instant. "You talk too much. Anger is a wasted on the likes of you," Sung shook his head slightly, focusing on just detecting agent's blood lust. His stealth couldn't hide that.

From there the fight was quickly over. Sung won even if there were couple close calls. He had to get even stronger.

After Sung decided to close the gate on his own. It was best as little evidence as possible was left. 

When mister Song and Ju Hee went to inform the Association, Sung quickly dispatched the boss and the last surviving prisoner. 

When outside he sadly couldn't just go home. He had to wait until the Association agent, the same handsome alpha form the hospital, allowed them to leave. Oh, well, at least the view was nice...



Jin Chul always had a feeling Kang was doing things he wasn't supposed to. It was just really hard to prove anything. So he wasn't too shocked he was involved in an incident. But seeing name of Sung Jin Woo again? Third time couldn't be a coincidence, he'd have to keep an eye on the young hunter.

Speaking of. He barely recognised him. He was well over a head taller than last time and much better build. If last time he was cute now he was quite handsome.

"We meet again," he greeted, as the chief it was his duty to apologise for his agent's actions.

"You're.... from hospital," so hunter Sung rememred him. Most hunters didn't bother remembering members of the Association.

The story that a C rank mage and a B Rank healer defeated Kang would barely be possible. Maybe if the prisoners managed to weaken him which Jin Chul doubted. Maybe if both hunters were in peak condition? Not that they were, one missong an arm and other with severe trauma. But he had no reason to suspect Sung Jin Woo of anything. 

"Hunter Sung if I could talk to you for a second?" chief asked before leaving.

Hunter nodded. He didn't look too well. Stress response? But that would mean... an omega. They were sending an omega into dungeons. Not that it was against the law but it still left a bad taste in his mouth. 

"Can I help in any way?" the hunter asked politely but his breathing was heavy and eyes unfocused.

He could barely smell it but it was undoubtedly there. Scent of an omega in a stress-induced heat. He'd be fine in couple hours but Jin Chul stil worried. 

"It's about Hwang Dong Su, you and one other hunter were the only survivors. His younger brother is an S rank based in America. He might seek revenge so I'd advise laying low or maybe even leaving the country," he said flatly, fighting the urge to comfort the omega. Be professional he scolded himself. He can't loose control just because of one handsome omega. 

"Thank you for the warning chief, I'll do my best to stay out of trouble," the hunter smiled slightly.

"And here, it should help you get home safely," he couldn't just let a hunter under association go home in that state and he doubted Sung would accept a ride. So he passed him his blazer.

Sung blinked couple times before blushing slightly. "I apologise, suppressants stopped working on me for some reason and I didn't have time to get better blockers," he mumbled.

"Association will do their best to assure comfort of hunters under it's protection," Jin Chul assured and left. He had a report to write. 


Sung was grateful for chief Woo's blazer. Without it he'd have trouble getting home safely. It smelled of a strong alpha and kept anyone who might smell his scent away. 

On the other hand he couldn't stop smelling it as he waited the sudden, but at least brief, stress heat out in his room. He left a note and money for Jin Ah explaining the situation.

Once he woke up he was perfectly fine. If very guilty he slept cradling chief Woo's blazer. The man had a pleasant smell, okay. Mix of mint and fresh mountain air. First thing he did was quickly wash, dry and iron the garment. He was going by the association building to request better blockers before first raids with Jin Ho.

"Where did you get this thing from even?" Jin Ah asked, shocked to see her brother ironing a blazer that for one wasn't his size and fir two, was too expensive for them even eit Sung suddenly becoming stronger. 

"Someone loaned it to me," Jin Woo avoided the question. "Today's gate will be much less stressful. Compared to yesterday it might even be relaxing," he assured with a chuckle.

Jin Ah just rolled her eyes, reminded him he could always quit, and went to school. She long accepted she couldn't get her brother to quit but still occasionally asked him to stop.

He didn't often have to visit the Association's building. Mostly just to exchange crystals for money but that could be done in few other places. 

It was crowded but Sung knew his way to the medical supply department. Without Association's support he'd be fucked long time ago. Quite literally....

"Hunter Sung?" he did not expect to almost crash into chief Woo as he turned towards the supply office. "What brings you here?"
 
"Chief Woo," he nodded politely. "Just about the thing from yesterday. And I was going to leave your blazer in the reception but... since we bumped into each other I might give it to you in person, sorry." Sung rambled before offering the plain paper bag he was holding to the chief.

Chief accepted the bag even if he was holding a coffee and a thick file. He looked exhausted. Was this due to yesterday? "You didn't have to return it, certainly not that fast," he chuckled slightly. 

"I was coming by anyway. Well, I'll stop wasting your time chief. Thank you for the save yesterday," Sung slightly bowed and was off for those damn blockers.

Getting the better stuff would take some time. And signatures. Including from his doctor. Maybe he should just buy some himself? For now.

"We'll inform you when your request is processed," the polite woman assured and he left. He went straight to rmthe nearest pharmacy. 

It wasn't cheap but he could spend some money on them now. With that handled he quickly went home to change his blockers and clothes. It was time for the first dungeon with Jin Ho.

Even if he said they'd use the same strategy as Hwang and the reality was quite a shock. Injured. Struggling with life. Hunters with licenses who couldn't participate in dungeons normally. 

Jin Ho wrote a pretty solid contract binding everyone participating to keep details to themselves at a solid payment. More than they normally would make from a dungeon this rank. He was one talented beta.

As his companion explained their rules once more Sung couldn't help but take in his... equipment.

"It's hideous," he commented. 

"If we're going in alone I should prepare at least this much," Jin Ho beamed.

Sung sighed and tipped him over with one finger. "Take it off, it'll just slow us down," he rolled his eyes. 

It went pretty fast. Experience was good. And he could practice his skills. Overall it went better than he expected.

Unknown to him their mass reserving of gate caused some issues to nearby White Tiger guild. Setting eyes of some of their employees on him.

While clearing the third gate of the day he received a message from the system that he was ready for a job change quest.

The system did so far state he had none. It sounded interesting. And like a great chance to get stronger.

As they were leaving the gate he asked Jin Ho to cancel tomorrow's plans. This job change would take priority.

"Ah, Hunter Sung, nice to meet you," a man in a suit he never saw before introduced himself while offering a business card. He was some paper pusher at White Tiger guild. But more importantly, he had to suspect something.

It was bad. So Sung agreed to talk with him despite preferring to go home to prepare for this job change quest.

Luckily the man got hasty and came to him before informing his supervisors so it was easy to shut him and his assistant up. 

Chapter Text

The job change wasn't quite what he expected.

There was no new notification as he entered, no quest. Did he have to find something specific in this dungeon? Likely. 

So Sung explored. Fighting animated suits of armour. They weren't easy. Mostly because he specialised in daggers which weren't that effective against them.

So back to brute strength he went. But he couldn't keep it up for long, his hands and legs had their limit even with his daily training.

"Did I do my daily quest today?" he wondered. He might have forgotten in the excitement of this opportunity. "I'll do it after," he decided and returned to exploring. There was no way this would take that long. Right?

More armour was already waiting to fight him.

As he checked his loot he discovered he didn't have to worry about just one kind of monster. There were mages and assassins as well.

It almost felt like the dungeon was throwing his past enemies at him. At least the loot was good. Armour he didn't have to show (thankfully , he didn't want to parade around Seoul in miss matched pieces) and gold for the system shop. Not that he could use it at the moment. Or restore health through leveling up.

And when he tried to rest to lower his fatigue archers attacked. Various enemies he needed various stats for. It was really testing all his skills. 

As expected of a job change quest.

Even after leveling up significantly. And gathering some good equipment. The boss's aura was overwhelming. Whatever was there was strong.

With other monsters not giving much exp he pushed the door open.

What met him was a massive hall with decorative columns. And on it's other end an empty throne.

Sung's eyes narrowed as he looked for boss. He didn't have to wait long. He felt it deeply in his bones. Same feeling like in the double dungeon.

This guy was strong, he thought as he watched the tall and lean set of crimson red armour with cape and long plume in it's helmet take it's place by the throne. 
 
Bloodred Commander Igris. 

The name was in red matching the armour. And so edgy....

Sung watched carefully as the armour descended the stairs from the throne. His sword was massive. He couldn't be....

Fast. He was damn fast for a pile of metal. Much faster than anything else in this dungeon. He had to have well over fifty strength.

Sung barely dodged a swing that cut the pillars like tofu. Along the flurry of slashes that followed.

Fast and strong. And armour too thick for his dagger to be of any use. 

Fists then, Sung decided and with a measured breath and dismissed his blade.

Shockingly Igris tilted his head and stuck his sword in the ground and removed his cape and threw his daggers to the ground.

"Chivalry?" Sung had no idea if he should be glad or insulted.

Igris was not much weaker without his blade. Taking a hit form him without armour would end with broken bones. At least....

It wasn't a long fight. Sung found himself barely alive landing in the throne with Igris and his blade looming over him.

But he wasn't dead yet. He managed to catch Igris' blade that flew to him with help of gloves he looted earlier and strabbed into eye socked of Igris' helmet. Followed by ramming him into a wall at full speed, squeezing the armour with all his strength. And then more stabbing.

Finally Igris was down.

Did he finish the job change quest?

/Congratulations, job change quest can start now/

That wasn't it?

/Survive as long as possible, amount of points gained will determine the outcome of the quest/

Or so the system said as portals openend and the room filled with knights. A timer hovering ominously under the ceiling. It had to be kidding.

It wasn't, the timer has already started 

He wasn't too worried. The knights pouring into the room were nothing after Igris. He could take them out even in his current condition.

Besides. All he had to do was last as long as possible. And he still had decent amount of mana. 

So he used stealth. Hoping to buy some time to rest a bit.

No.

Mages had detect skill. It was really build just for him wasn't it. 

For just a second he considered using the hearthstone. 

No. He was weak for too long. He would not pass this opportunity. 

So he fought. Number of knights not decreasing at all. He could swear he could hear his past self mocking him. But there was no way. No version of him wouldn't want to get stronger. To protect Jin Ah, mom, all his new friends.

But the more tired he got the louder was the voice. Until he got knocked to the ground. Status window appearing to count down his daily quest.

So much for doing it later. But lucky for him, it teleported him away from the dungeon. 

"What a good timing," he sighed as he got up. Last time he was running. This time would be different. He wasn't running ever again.

He could restore his fatigue with potions. Buth his health was too low for them. He'd have to heal through leveling up, he decided while stretching.

Even if he was dead in one hit he never felt better.

As he had hoped, unlike the job change dungeon, Penalty Zone allowed him to heal through leveling up. After almost four hours he was in almost perfect condition. And spend last minutes coming up with a plan.

He used the dominator's touch rune he got from Igris. With it he can throw his dagger at the mages and get it back easily.

He also looked through the store and found Knight Killer dagger with solid armour penetration. It was better than Rasaka's fang for the knights. He also got some bandage he got from random boxes to attach the new dagger to his hand. He was not repeating dropping the hearthstone.

When he returned to the dungeon amount of knights grew a lot. At least with his preparation it got easier. 

But most curiously he didn't get any exp. Not even a single point. That didn't happen....

"Summons. Mages left the portals last," he realised as he dodged some arrows. So if he killed the mages would knights they summoned also disappear. But how to find them? 

"Stealth," he grinned. It would cost a lot of mana. But dominator's touch didn't need any. 

Stealth. Kill as many mages as he can before they hide again among knights. Repeat. 

It worked. As soon as he fell the first mage number of knights fell and dissolved into scrap metal. So he kept killing mages until nothing was left in the room but him and metal scrap.

He was pretty sure his class would be assassins or something similar. So far he used daggers almost exclusively. He had low intelligence compared to his other stats.

'A job will be granted.'

"I don't get to choose?" he sighed. Whatever new class was it would be assassins of warrior anyway.

'Wherever the player goes the ripper follows.'

Huh?

'The player's path is littered with blood and corpses. The player doesn't leave anything to his teammates and overcomes everything with his own strength.'

That sounded like warrior.

'Your desire for strength burns strong enough to call those who wander the valley of death, and the army of dead which follows  your command shall create a path where your thread will be long and you would not need another's help again.'

"Army of dead?" That didn't sound like either warrior or assassin.

'Your job is Necromancer.'

A magic class? What was he supposed to do with that? Wait. It was a hidden class?

He considered pros and cons. His stats could become useless. But as system said, Necromancer was a hidden class. But...

Wait.
 
The mages. He could call them necromancers. Their biggest weakness was relying too much on their summons. But it he fough alongside them. Then he wouldn't have to worry about using the summons to defend himself as much. He could use them purely offensively. And there was a solid chance they would grow strong with him. With an army he could clear harder dungeons than alone. And weaker ones faster. And gain stronger soldiers if the necromancer part was what he guessed.

Once he accepted system gave him bunch of points and new class.

'Shadow Lord'

Was it a mote advanced necromancer? Like a warrior may advance to berserk or mage to grand mage?

That sounded less ominous. But he got new skills and a title. Suddenly hearing screams wasn't fun. He looked around for the source. 
 
Extract shadow. Better than having shambling corpses follow him.

"Command phrase? Arise..." that sounded good. Nice and simple. "Arise," he repeated with intent.

Instantly shadows began climbing out the corpses of knights. Wow. He expected like three or four. Maybe less.

But he got like thirty shadows, with ability to save twenty. And they had levels and ranks. So they would get stronger, no? 

What if he got shadows of stronger monster...

Igris.

He suddenly remembered the red knight. He was still there slumped against the wall.

He approached with beating heart. If he managed to get him his army would be significantly stronger. He was surely strong enough to double if not triple it's overall power all on his own. He sent away the eleven weakests shadows.

"Arise."

A wave of negative energy hit him.

'Failed to extract a shadow. Two attempts remaining.'

So he had limited chances and stronger enemies would need some convincing. Okay.

"Arise," he tried again, putting more vigor into it. Failed again.

What did he know about Igris? Knight. Chivalrous. Likely loyal to whoever's throne that was.

An empty throne.

"Stop protecting an empty throne and protect the one in front of you. Arise, Bloodred Commander Igris," he tried again, throwing in knights full title for flare. And respect. Igris was a chivalrous knight so maybe he'd like it. While extending an arm.

That worked. Igris' shadow got up just to immediately kneel followed by all the other shadows.

Even as a shadow, Igris' presence could be easily felt. And he was high enough in rank to be named. Could he still be stronger than Jin Woo?

"Just Igris," full title was too edgy, Jin Woo decided. "I'll be in your care guys," he smiled slightly nervously. A whole army of his own.

It wasn't much of solo leveling anymore, was it?

After returning home he all but passed out. Just to be woken up in couple hours.

He forgot Jin Ah's school haf parent-teacher meetings today and as his sister's guardian he was obligated to show up.

"I'll be there on time," he promised.

He had no clothes good enough. But thanks to the raids with Jin Ho he could afford some nice new clothes. And a fast haircut.

After visiting the bank, clothing store and a hairdresser he was outside his old school. A bit earlier than he had to be. Ready to meet his sister's teachers.

Chapter Text

"Are you really Sun Jin Woo?" was the first thing Jin Ah asked once she spotted her brother. Other students and teachers, especially female ones were looking at them with wide eyes.

"I can't meet my sister's teachers in joggers and sneakers," he rolled this eyes. "It's just clothes and a haircut."

"Yeah and I'm huntress Cha, whatever, let's go," Jin Ah sighed and led him to her homeroom teacher's office, glaring at some students she knew when she spotted them looking.

It wasn't a teacher he recognised from his time at this school but it's been a while. And she had only good things to say about his sister. He knew Jin Ah worked hard to become a doctor. And assured the woman he'd do everything to support her and keep her from overworking herself.

He also assured her that he'd never allow Jin Ah to be a hunter. Two in their family were enough. She was talented enough to not have to do something this dangerous.

It turns out Jin Ah's good friend awakened and was planning to quit school. The teacher asked him to talk to the girl. Since she was his sister's friend he saw no reason to refuse.

In an even funnier turn of events, it was the same student for Jin Ho's party.

And she wasn't willing to quit her plan of dropping out of school. If so then he'd have to train her a bit. She was his sister's friend and he knew Jin Ah didn't have many. Pouring most of her time into studying and helping at home.

Maybe he could have some of his knights clean? He wondered.

"No, I'm not going to stop you. I'm going to make you a great hunter," he assured, glad he kept the number for that White Tiger recruiter. He might as well show Song Yi a higher rank dungeon. He was confident he could keep her safe after all.


Unknown to Sung Jin Woo, a certain S rank hunter from America landed in Korea with the intention to kill him.

"Jin Chul, want to go to America with me?" Hwang wasted no time getting handsy with the chief wrapping an arm around the other alpha. 

Damn S ranks always feeling they can do whatever. Especially to him, Jin Chul thought bitterly. 

"I'm here merely to escort you on your visit as protocol states," he said flatly, easily slipping out. S ranks rarely used their full strength on him. Too worried to damage their favourite toy too badly. "Where would you like to go?"

"A gate, my information says someone I want to talk to just entered one," Hwang Dong Soo said casually.

Sung Jin Woo, Jin Chul's mind supplied for some reason. So he wasn't hiding. Not his problem. Hwang Dong Soo was the problem. At this point Thomas Andre was probably the only person who could stop the man.


Ahn Sang Min was more than happy to let Sung Jin Woo and his young friend observe their training. What he regretted was that the gate turned red. There was no way everyone would survive. He just hoped he wasn't wrong about how strong the E rank actually was.


Jin Woo sighed. Red gate. What a mess. They could be stuck here for a while. With an arrogant jerk as their leader. He didn't prepare any meals for Jin Ah.

Not to mention. Hyakki. Ice elves.

They barely had time to realise what was going on before being shot at. Jin Woo caught the arrow aimed at Song Yi.

And they left quickly. Likely to inform the boss. Good. Sung didn't want to look for the bastard.

Maybe he could make them into more shadow soldiers? They seemed strong. The boss had to be pretty strong too. The memory of struggling to extract Igris' shadow haunted him for a second.

Would he have to convince every stronger monster he met to join him?

Kim Chul, the A rank declared himself a leader and that he'd split them in half. A hot headed idiot wanted to go after the elves with just a few hunters.

Sung remained quiet as they split. One B rank female mage switching to stay behind. Five people total.

They made their way into the forest.

"Sir, that's ice bear territory," someone noted pointing at claw marks on a tree.

"Exactly. Meaning we'll only have to deal with bears. They seem more reasonable than ice elves," Jin Woo noted calmly as he approached an ice bear. 

The female mage tried telling him to get back but Sung had different idea. He killed it with one punch. Too bad he couldn't extract it with all the observers. They were quite cute.

"I'll take care of the safety of everyone here, but I have three conditions. One, no questions. Two, nothing that happens here leaves the gate. Three don't demand anything of me," Sung announced, sat on the bear. It was soft too. Would it translate into its shadow form?

They made a camp near a pile of fallen trees. Good for making fire since lower layers were dry. He used the system shop to get tents and clothes for everyone and went for a run. 

He still had to keep up with his dailies after all. Couldn't land in penalty One with people depending on him. He left a soldier behind in Songi's shadow just in case. 

Plus the system promised it would be harder this time. He didn't want to see what it would come up with.

Dailies were one reason. The other was that he wanted to see how his army fared against the bears. And to get some bear soldiers. He couldn't exactly extract the first bear's shadow in front of everyone. But he knew now that he wasn't limited to humanoid monsters.

Finding the bears wasn't hard. He just had to follow their marks to a massive cave. 

Their numbers were roughly the same. But it was undeniable the bears were slightly stronger.

"Come out," he said and his shadows emerged. Igris perfectly still on his right. "That's your first mission, go," he ordered to all but Igris. It wouldn't be a good experiment if his strongest soldier participated.

The soldiers were doing better than he expected. Their regeneration could be compared to immortality even if it did drain massive amounts of mana.

But they managed normal bears. Until the leader appeared and killed them faster than they could regenerate. Draining all his mana.

"Igris," Jin Woo commanded. 

Shadow Igris was as impressive as when Sung fought him. Maybe more since this time he was using his sword. The bear couldn't land a single hit.

Igris' fight was beautiful and brutal. And one sided. The knight made the bear kneel before beheading him for his insolence when he didn't surrender.

If Igris used his sword back then Jin Woo would be dead. He decided as he watched the knight force the bear to kneel in front of his king before beheading him. He even presented the head to Jin Woo kneeling and all.

Was this what parents felt when their child brought home good marks? It was sure close to how he felt hearing about his sister's good marks. 

"Good job," He praised as he patted the knight's shoulder. Were they even? No. Igris was still a bit stronger. "Arise," Sung commanded and gained bears, including their leader as his soldiers.

Not bad. He thought, as he returned to their camp. Now he just has to find the elf boss. And soon. All this stress wasn't good for him. It could trigger another stress heat. He didn't want one inside a red gate.


It was three or four days later (so several solid hours outside) when they saw Kim Chul again. Sung just sighed as the man tossed accusations at them.

"One you talk too much," he said as he got up. "Two, thank you for saving me time looking for the boss," in his current frantic state the man wouldn't remember anything he saw here so Sung knocked him out and tossed him back towards the camp. He didn't want to even consider turning humans into shadows. "I suggest you guys step back and don't interfere," he told his companions while cracking his knuckles.

"So he was right, there is someone interesting among the trash," the boss laughed.

"Did you just call us trash?" Sung asked, shocking everyone. He can talk to monsters? Whatever.

"You're even more interesting. My subordinate here is the one who informed us there's someone interesting...," the boss introduced the elf from when they entered.

'Rude bastard,' Sung heard a heavy gravely voice. What? 'My apologies my liege, you shouldn't hear that,' the same voice said a lot more politely and less annoyed.

'Igris?' He asked in his mind. 

'Indeed, my liege,' the knight confirmed. 'This shouldn't be possible....' he could hear the grimace in the knight's voice.

'We'll go over it later,' Sung decided as he cut the offending elves head clean off. "Anything else to say?" he asked the boss.

"You're an amusing guy," the elven leader grinned widely and dismounted. "But are you really going to fight me alone?"

"No. Come forth," Sung shook his head. And summoned Igris. No need to overwhelm the hunters just yet. And he boss seemed quite talkative. Maybe they could talk it out?

The first thing he noticed was... Igris had a face. And was a bit more colourful. His cape was crimson red and flowed like a shadow behind him. But... no helmet. Pale face, red eyes with vertical pupils, pointy ears, white hair tied in a messy bun. No expression for a second before he grimaced, flashing sharp teeth for a second, and poked his own face. There were still shadow particles rising from him.

"My apologies, my liege," he said as he knelt. 

"No it's fine, we have a rude guy to kill," Sung shook his head. It would be nice to have someone who knows everything going on to talk to. And maybe Igris could teach him some cool moves?

"Why are you serving a human?" the elf asked Igris who made a disgusted face.

"Why shouldn't I serve my king?" Igris asked, head tilted while spinning his sword.

"If you leave other humans I'll let you and your king leave," The elf offered.

For a moment it was silent. Then Igris burst out in borderline maniacal laughter, sharp, slightly uneven teeth in full display. There was no way he was ever just a human. "You think you can make demands of my king?" he asked, his grin vanishing, replaced by a cold blank stare. "My king said to protect them so I shall." 

"Who are you and where do you come from?" Sung asked, hand on Igris' shoulder. The knight was clearly itching to put the elf in his place. On his knees in front of Sung Jin Woo, his king.

"We...." the elf started and stilled weirdly. "If you're his king then there's no need for us to fight. We'd hate for unnecessary losses on our end. Hand over the humans and you can leave. How about it?"

"I refuse," Sung said simply. So something would stop monsters from telling him too much? Okay. Interesting.

"You and a single knight are supposed to defeat us?" suddenly there were more elves.

"Of course not," Sung smiled and released the rest of his soldiers. So talking it out didn't work. Unfortunate. Numbers were slightly in his favour, but even with Igris he knew it wasn't going to be easy.

The hunters who were shocked to see Igris appear out of nowhere and talk were even more freaked out now. How could an E rank summon a small army?

Other elves wouldn't be too problematic since his shadows levelled up and he had the bears. But the boss was killing them too fast. 

"My name is Baruka. What are yours?"

"Sung Jin Woo, and this is my commander, Igris," Sung said while trying to come up with a strategy. If he had a tank... But he didn't want any more people to die. So he and Igris would have to be enough.

'We can distract him until other elves are down?' Igris' voice said in his mind.

'Excellent idea, as expected of my commander," Sung praised and he could swear Igris smirked slightly. What a funny guy.

It wasn't an easy fight. The elf whatever his name was was fast and nimble. Even Igris had a hard time hitting him or dodging his attacks. But they managed to hold him back until other shadows were done with the other elves.

Meaning they could support them. So Sung tossed them between the elf and himself and Igris. Using every dirty trick he had. Until finally, to both his daggers and Igris' sword, the elven commander died.

"Arise," Sung wasted no time trying to get the annoying guy as his soldier. 

It failed. Second attempt too.

"If you join me I'll never turn any other ice elf into a shadow," he said, releasing all shadows of elves. "Arise," he tried one more time.

This time it worked. "You better keep your word, King of Shadows," the shadow sneered and then stuck his tongue out at the hunters looking in terror.

"Well, let's leave, I'm beat. And last thing, not a word to anyone," he reminded the hunters before they left.

Outside the gate was a small crowd. Guild master of the White Tiger guild. And some members of the Association including the handsome chief Woo, his arms didn't look too good. His sleeves were shredded.

Sung felt like fainting. He was bloodied, dirty and exhausted and he had to see chief Woo with his arms out? Did he really survive?

He had to go home before he did something stupid. Like offend and S rank guild leader.

"I saved as many as I could, now if you excuse me, I'd like to go home," he glared at the S rank. Close. He could probably take him on with Igris' and Blades' help. It would be a long and brutal fight though.

"Do you and the young huntress need a ride home?" chief Woo asked once Sung released himself from Baek.

"I have a car near..." Sung started but soon fainted. Falling right onto chief Woo's arms.


"Hunter Sung?" The chief asked before it hit him. Stress heat, again. But worse. He likely fought it back as well as he could in the gate. "Where is his car?" he asked the young huntress who stuck close to Sung. "I'll take you both home," he clarified.

She showed him a way to get to her home and then let him know Sung's address. He could find it all anyway in the Association database so he didn't feel too terrible.

He was just hoping someone was home. "We can get him up, since the princess is asleep, but you can't tell anyone," he suddenly heard a gravely voice.

"One word and you're dead," another, cold but bordering laughter voice added.

He could trust mystery voices or risk worrying the hunter's family... "Fine but I'm coming up to the door with you," he decided.

The voices agreed and soon he was joined in the small car by two figures. In the back seat was an ice elf with a weird shadowy aura and next to him a pale knight with red eyes and the same aura.

"Not a word to his Highness," the knight said eyes narrowing. Jin Chul nodded. This was officially the weirdest thing that ever happened to him. Was it hunter Sung's skill?

"Am I right assuming he wouldn't approve you two showing up like this?"

"Yes, but we couldn't leave him in this state with you," the knight scoffed and the elf nodded. "Find the keys, top left inner jacket pocket," he told the elf who gently, as to not wake their 'king', retrieved the keys.

"We weren't told to stay hidden were we? So stop being grumpy," the elf complained. The knight just stared at Jin Chul.

Was he really going to keep this a secret? He'd have to. In case Sung's friends were as independent as they seemed. Because they were for sure strong. At least upper A rank magic power if not S. Just what could hunter Sung do?

If he turns out as an S rank it would be good to have his trust.

Once at the apartment the elf carried the hunter as the knight led the way with Jin Chul in the back. Despite their equipment, daggers on the elf, and knights armour the two moved silently like shadows.

"We're here, enjoy your night Chief Woo," The knight said sternly. 

Jin Chul nodded before giving them the remains of his blazer. "This should help him," he shrugged and left.

"Lover Boy isn't that bad," Blades noted as Igris' silently opened the door. 

"Still an Alpha, we should keep our eyes on him," Igris huffed as he opened the door. The apartment was quiet and dark. The Princess was asleep. Good.

They silently tucked their king into bed. With the blazer as it seemed to calm him down and hid in his shadow.

Chapter Text

Sung woke up disoriented but in his room. With another of Jin Chul's blazers in his arms. Another stress heat. He should take it slowly but today it was back to raiding with Jin Ho.

Well, with his shadows he could take it slow. Just hang back and let Igris, Blades, and bear leader handle anything more dangerous for a couple dungeons.

"Igris, Blades?" he called out remembering the two could talk.

"My liege." "Boss." They both greeted him politely. 

"How did I get home?" he asked hoping his shadows didn't reveal themselves.

"Handsome Chief Woo, brought you home, even left a souvenir," Blades said with a snicker. "Igris wasn't too happy about it."

Igris made a face at the comment.

"Get along, you two," Sung sighed and yawned. "We have some dungeons today but I'm beat so I'll depend on you two and the bear leader to handle it," he said and the two nodded. It felt nice to have someone to rely on. Even if he didn't plan to make a habit of depending too much in his shadow.

One day of rest wouldn't hurt him too badly. It would likely actually be good for him.

Jin Ah was already off at school so Blades made Jin Woo breakfast, insisting he was still recovering so it was only natural. He was a pretty good cook. Meanwhile Igris cleaned up a bit. Or more like commanded two smaller knights to clean the apartment.

The feelings of paternal pride has returned.

When Jin Ho arrived by taxi, with more ridiculous equipment. Igris was not amused but said nothing. At least that's what Jin Woo assumed by Blades' amused chuckle.

"You took a cab with those?" Sung asked before yawning. "Sorry, I had to stay up because of a thing."

"We can reschedule if you'd like," Jin Ho offered. 

"I'll be fine, there's something I want to test out," Sung waved the offer off. "We'll be picking someone up on our way," Jin Ah left him a note that Song Yi wanted to thank him for last nights raid.

She was quitting being a hunter after their raids were done and returning to school. Sung was glad. Dungeons weren't a place for someone her age.

"Hyung? What happened last night?" Jin Ho asked as Song Yi politely greeted Sung.

"We got stuck in a red gate," Sung shrugged as if it was nothing.

"I see," Jin Ho nodded but he didn't seem to believe him. 

"I'm friends with Oppa's little sister," Song Yi added. That ended the conversation.

At the gate Song Yi stayed outside to make sure everyone else behaved. Sung left a knight in her shadow to keep an extra eye out on everything. Once he entered he summoned all his shadow.

"Jin Ho, my soldiers, guys, Jin Ho. He's a friend so be nice," Sung introduced before letting all but two go crazy on the monsters. This rank of gate didn't stand a chance against his shadows. "These two, Igris and Blades, are stronger," he explained as he introduced them with a proud grin.

"Hyung... since when..." Jin Ho asked with wide eyes.

"Recently," Jin Woo shrugged and observed. C rank gate wasn't enough to drain a significant amount of mana. Normal monsters at least. Without Igris and Blades he'd say he's barely an A rank, maybe just barely B. They really contributed a lot to his strength.

Killing monsters, collecting cores and mining crystals became quite easy too. He didn't have to rely on Jin Ho's assistance.

"I feel useless," the young man sighed.

"You're the king's friend, why should you do manual labour?" Igris asked, his head tilting. One smaller monster lunged at him but the knight just off-handedly slapped it away. It wasn't even considered an opponent, just a pest.

Igris speaking so casually seemed to freak Jin Ho off even more. Sung was just happy his shadows could be nice to other humans. Even if Igris carried certain air of arrogance and had a tendency to subtly insult people. 

"Don't sweat it kid, we'll protect you the same way we protect his highness," Blades promised as he kicked a stray monster dead. Somehow he was less mean than picture perfect knight, Igris. Or maybe just better at hiding it?

"Thank you?" Jin Ho mumbled as he shuffled a bit closer to Sung.

Outside a surprise was waiting. Woo Jin Chul from the monitoring division. "Chief Woo?" Sung asked shocked. He'd nearly forgot he fainted into the man's arms which ended in him being taken home by the handsome alpha. He wasn't suspecting anything?

"Hunter Sung, a couple words if I could?" he requested and Sung saw no need to refuse. He could not help but feel sorry at the state of their party. 

"How can I help? If it's about last..." 

"No, it's not, relax. Hwang Dong Soo was in Korea yesterday, he's convinced you've died in the red gate," Jin Chul said. Short, concise and to the point.

Jin Woo felt a bit dumb. But he has no idea who that was. "That's good, no?" he said instead of admitting he forgot about whoever it was and whatever they might want from him.

"So long as he's convinced you're dead, you're good," Jin Chul nodded and glanced at his watch. He grimaced.

"Is there anything else? We're on a schedule." Jin Woo asked, desperately hoping Woo Jin Chul wouldn't pry why only two of the party were entering and how they managed to clear D and C rank gates like that.

"That's all, hunter Sung," the chief shook his head but he could swear he glanced over the party. 

"Ah, sorry and thank you about yesterday," Sung barely remembered. A lot happened in the last twenty four hours.

"Don't mention it, and no need to return the blazer," Chief Woo smiled briefly and left. Jin Woo stood there stunned for a brief second before he remembered Jin Ho and the rest of the squad were waited impatiently for him.

"We can carry on, Chief Woo was here about something unrelated," he explained shortly.

"What did the chief actually want? Since when does someone like chief inspector Woo of the Monitoring Division deliver messages for E ranks?" some party members asked.

"Some Hwang Dong Soo, was in Korea yesterday wanting to kill me. He's convinced I'm dead now," he shrugged. That got everyone shocked. "I'm not sure why though," he hummed.


"The Hwang Dong Soo?" Jin Ho asked shaking. "He's a Korea born S rank with the American Scavenger guild, we kind of met through his older brother, hyung," he quietly explained.

Jin Woo hummed. Maybe he should get re-evaluated soon? Stop being as much of a headache for Chief Woo?

'So that's the boss' taste? Overworked?' Blades mused. He didn't have to see it to feel Igris roll his eyes.

Driving was nice but he couldn't do it in.... Maybe he could ride one of the bears? If he ever ends up in a field type gate like that red one. It would make everything faster. And if the system allowed it.... Then a flying monster would be high on his list of shadows he wanted.

The next day marked the end of the raids with Jin Ho. They celebrated afterwards. Sung of course was unable to get drunk but still had a few to keep up appearances and to not look like a weirdo.

"I'll be gone for a few days. I have an important errand," Sung informed his friend.

"If I'm a bother just say so and I'll stop," Jin Ho sighed over his drink.

"What am I to you?" Sung asked instead of questioning why Jin Ho would be a bother. Their raids together were good for them both. Jin Ho could become a guild master with clean record and Jin Woo got experience. And it was fun.

"My older brother feels like a stranger. We barely talk anymore. In comparison, Hyung-nim saved my life several times and helped with my problem. To me Hyung-nim is more like a brother than my actual brother," He confessed, words slurring from all the alcohol he had.

Would he be saying this if he knew Sung is an omega? Betas usually didn't mind but who knew with him.

"Then I'll consider you my little brother," Sung nodded and raised his glass.

To say Jin Ho was overjoyed would be an understatement. As Jin Woo fought off drunk hugs accompanied by amused chuckle of one of his strongest shadows an interview with the master of White Tiger talking about the red gate incident.

One week. He was giving himself one week to beat the demon tower. Or as much as he could. With an option of retreat if needed.



A field type. He wasn't expecting that from a dungeon from a key. But before him were burning ruins of Seoul. 

A quest as soon as he entered was refreshing. He didn't get one in a while. Rewards were something else even if he had to collect a lot of demon souls. Any item from the store? There were some expensive things in there. Like some really nice daggers and mystery boxes. The last Cursed Box was good. It gave him a key to this place. Maybe he could get more keys?

Will a week be enough, he wondered as he started slaying demons for now on his own. Well, at least he had an exp indicator now. Even if only inside this dungeon.

He decided to test his mount idea. It worked, he could sit on top of the bear leader. System didn't mind it. Of course just as he mounted the bear more demons showed up causing it to charge without any warning. It was was like a friggin tank.

"That's your name now. Tank," Sung laughed as the bear charged to the gate to the next floor. He wanted something flying now. Don't tell Tank though. He was still prime cuddle company.

Jin Ah was bound to love the bear once he got to telling her. When he was ready to become an S rank. Then he could tell her.... a lot. Everything seemed like a bit much.

After some exploring Sung established some facts about the area. Every floor was a separate area. On every floor there was a demon with a permit to enter the next floor. It was possible there were even up to one hundred floors if not more.

He got to floor twenty seven at a solid pace. But if it really went up to a hundred.... He'd have to pick up the pace. "Come out guys. Time to speed up," he grinned, his expression matched by Igris and Blades brandishing their weapons.

With shadows out and searching for permits with him it all sped up. Not to mention his soldiers grew stronger too.

The fiftieth floor faced him with a boss. Avaricious Vulcan. A big fat demon.

Igris and Blades were enough to handle his guards. The knight looked almost bored but Sung knew that it was just his combat expression.

Outside fights Igris was a bit like an angsty teen. Full of attitude and opinions on anyone Jin Woo crossed paths with. But with proper manners of a high ranked knight. When fighting he was completely focused.

Blades just sassed everything that crossed his path before slicing it to bits. And seemed set of getting Igris to relax a bit. How he acted towards the knight reminded Jin Woo of his relationship with his sister.

Sung was proud of his two angsty teenagers.

Vulcan was something else entirely. Sung thought the demon would be slow. But even Igris and Blades. Both adapt at fast movement. Were barely managing to dodge.

Sung had to join the fight himself. As much as he liked to watch his shadows like a proud parent. He'd blame his omega side for that. 

He send Vulcan flying with just one hit. Yeah, all his strength points....

But that only enraged the boss. Making him faster and more annoying. 

"Igris!" Sung yelled sure he wouldn't dodge. The knight was far, but Sung trusted he'd get there in time. 

But Igris didn't move just tossed his sword at Vulcan with all his impressive strength, forcing him to pivot and run into a building to avoid being impaled. The demon destroyed three smaller buildings before it stopped.

That was close. And the blade of course flew back to Igris. He still had his Dominator's Touch skill.

This demon was really challenging his whole team. If only he had a dedicated tank or stronger range... Wait he had some random bow from when fighting elves. And all the elves seemed to switch between bows and their blades.

"Blades," he yelled and tossed it to the elf who caught it. "Limit his moves!"

"Got it boss," the elf saluted before showering the boss with a barrage of arrows. He was as dangerous with bow as with his daggers. If not more.

If he wasn't set on talking to Jin Woo he could just sniped their whole squad without being detected.

Limiting Vulcan to a smaller area where he couldn't utilise his speed was a good idea. It limited his defensive and offensive options against Igris and Jin Woo. He couldn't swat the two flies slashing at him if a third fly was shooting arrows that exploded into ice at him.

"Let's bait him into running into that building, and finish him off while he's recovering," Sung decided, pointing to a skyscraper even Vulcan wouldn't want to run into. Too much rubble. The two shadows silently nodded, fully focused on their orders.

Somehow the plan worked and Vulcan finally fell.

The loot was good. Worth the pain. The earring and the orb in particular. Well orb less.... His eyes landed on Blades and Igris kneeling with heads of demons around them.

"Good job, but it's really unnecessary, we're a team," Sung sighed. Blades still had the bow. He allowed him to keep it since he himself wouldn't ever have similar results. And called a magic unit.

"Hold this and cast a spell there," he pointed at a building.

It indeed worked, it doubled he effect of an average magical attack, making it an impressive explosion. If only he had a mage at least close to Igris or Blades or even Tank.

For now he put the orb in the inventory. Best keep it safe until he decides if he'll sell it or save it for future strong caster shadow.



He continued fighting demons until he met the next boss. A necromancer.

"Trying to copy me?" Sung joked. "Igris, Blades, clear the path."

The way the two shadows could cooperate even if outside fighting they tended to biker like teenagers was impressive. Igris slashed the enemies as arrows flew by his pointier than normal human's ears but not as pointy as Blades', keeping him from being swarmed by small demons. Not to mention how well the two worked around Sung. 

Keeping smaller enemies from bothering him as he beat the rather weak necromancer. 

"Look at that, my kids were stronger," Sung huffed as he lightly kicked what was left of the necromancer. What a good reminder to not ignore his own skills too much.

As expected he got a necklace matching the earring he got from Vulcan, improving the set bonuses.

As for the store. He got another Random Cursed Box. The last one got him the demon castle key. And this one got him a key too. But it was a mystery key.

"Interesting," he hummed. Maybe once he clears this dungeon it'll unlock or something. Or when he levels up enough.

But the hidden reward was most exciting. A recipe for a cure all potion. He could wake mom up. 

If only he finds the last ingredient. He guessed it was on the final boss.

"Okay I'm beat and the week is over, let's leave the rest for another day," he decided and got an applause form his summons. They started doing it whenever he did anything resembling a speech or explained his plans.

Once outside he sent Blades to check up on Jin Ah and some soldiers to clean up the apartment. He knew it would be a mess after a week of no shadow cleaning.

Himself he went to the hospital.

Mom was as always peaceful asleep and the staff left him alone but he still had Igris keep an eye on the door. He didn't want anyone overhearing him.

"Hi mom, I found it. A way to wake you up," he smiled gently. He knew she likely didn't hear him but he liked to talk to her. "I'm sorry, I'm still a hunter. I doubt I'll be able to quit. I might be a big deal when you wake up. I promise I'm careful. I have those two great guys keeping me safe. I'll introduce you when you wake up," He chatted.

"My liege, the doctor is coming," Igris warned and Sung nodded, dismissing him into his shadow.

Once he left the hospital Sung felt all strength leave him. A heat? Or just another stress heat? Or side effect of stopping taking suppressants? "Igris, get me home," he ordered in panic.

The Knight wasted no time. Taking a discrete route to his king's abode. It was hardly worthy of his status but if his king liked it he wouldn't complain.

Inside was already clean with the elf waiting with updates about the princess.

"Again, it may be a proper one, I don't know," Igris said sternly. 

"Should I borrow something from the bureaucrat?" they once overheard the princess call men in suits on TV that, so they used it for their king's favoured alpha since he wore suits.



Jin Chul was sure he left his blazer in his office, but when he returned with his coffee it was gone. His mind went to Hunter Sung. No way. There was no way those two could be that far from him. He must have just left it somewhere.

Chapter Text

The next morning their king wasn't much better. So they assumed Igris' guess was correct. It was a proper heat. So they had to take care of him and the princess.

"We'll need to talk to the princess," Blades insisted. She was already back from school and guessed what may going on.

They couldn't let her take care of herself and her brother alone. And doing it sneakily wasn't much of an option.

"I know," Igris hissed, desperately trying to come up with a different solution. He hated disobeying his king. And they were forbidden from talking to the princess. And they already disobeyed their Monarch once. Kind of....

"Who are you?" well, that solves it, Igris thought bitterly. The princess found them before they could make a decision.

"My lady please don't panic, we're just humble servants of your brother," Igris instantly jumped into charming knight mode. Anything so she wouldn't panic. "He forbade us from talking to you so you wouldn't be scared but this is an emergency. We promise we're here to help while our liege is indisposed," Igris explained with the elf nodding along.

"Am I still sleeping?" she asked and pinched herself. "Nope. So you two are real?"

"As real as shadows can be," Blades said, as gently as he could. This was their master's sister. She was to be protected. At all costs.

"So it was you who was cleaning lately? I swear I saw something shadowy with a broom once."

"Not personally but I often command the knights in charge of maintenance," Igris confirmed with a polite bow. "And he often cooks for his highness," he added pointing to Blades.

Jin Ah took the whole thing pretty well. So while Jin Woo was indisposed in his room all she did was go shopping once, with Igris in her shadow to keep her safe with shadows dealing with everything else.

Seeing their princess carry the shopping even once was breaking Igris' heart but what else could he do? Break more orders? Keeping an eye on her personally did lower his worries.

Sung Jin Woo recovered in just two days, a stronger stress heat, he concluded later. He was mildly confused as he looked about. Why did he have one of Woo Jin Chul's blazers with him? The man wasn't anywhere near when... Just Igris.

"Igris, Blades," he called the shadows forth. They appeared instantly and kneeling expressing their relief he was okay. "Why is this here?" he asked waving the blazer.

"We might have silently borrowed it to alleviate your suffering, my lord," Blades said. He was really picking up smooth talking from Igris. "I can return it as quietly," he assured.

"You will, once I washed this thoroughly, and get him a coffee as an apology," Sung huffed, not really thinking how a random coffee just appearing on Jin Chul's desk might look. "How's Jin Ah?"

They were silent for a moment. "The princess is doing well," Igris eventually spoke up. Stiff and stressed.

"She saw you two," Jin Wo sighed. It was unavoidable in an apartment this small. In all honesty it was a miracle it took this long.

"We did our best to avoid it but we worried we wouldn't be able to care for her appropriately while hidden for longer since we had no idea how long your highness would be unwell," Igris confessed.

"How did she react?"

"She was wary at first but quickly acclimated," Blades said.

Sung nodded. His kids were smart.... Dumb omega brain. He was planning to introduce his sister to his shadows soon anyway. "Okay, let's do an official introduction before I go to the Association, I need to get re-evaluated if I want to get decent supplies to continue in the demon tower," Sung decided and after a quick shower and starting wash of Chief Woo's blazer, formally introduced Jin Ah to Igris and Blades.

"They refused to tell me their names. Will be nice to stop using Knight and Elf," she rolled her eyes as Blades served pancakes. She did let him watch a lot of cooking shows while her brother was indisposed meaning he could cook things other than ice elf food adapted to what was in the pantry.

"After re-evaluation I might be able to have some weaker shadows go shopping with you when you're alone," Sung hummed. He was more than looking forward to having bodyguards openly around his sister.

"You know we'll be famous if you get an S rank, right?" Jin Ah pointed out. More reason for guards.

"There's no way his highness is anything but," Igris said smugly. Blades nodded.

Sung rolled his eyes. His shadows were really confident of his ability. "We'll see, if it gets to it I'll move us but keep this place. S ranks get paid a lot after all," He shrugged but did add looking for a more secure place to his to do list.

The Association building was a bit less crowded than last time. He was mildly stressed. What if his strength didn't register the way normal hunters did?

'You'll do great, my liege,' Igris assured. Blades was scouting returning Chief Woo's blazer along with leaving him a coffee.

That calmed him down as he registered and then waited his turn. He had no clue about the commotion it caused at the White Tiger guild.

There were more recruiters than when he got assessed for the first time. There were more guilds needing strong hunters nowadays and any advantage, even being a bit faster than bigger guilds, mattered. Even if their mortality rates were bigger.

The man next to him seemed extremely nervous. And for a good reason. Getting at least a C rank could change one's life around. He was so nervous he let Sung go in first.

They updated some of the equipment. Nice.

"You're here for re-evaluation?" the agent doing the test asked.

"Yes, I recently noticed some changes, I hope it's not a hassle I want to make sure," he smiled politely.

"Not at all, simply put your hand on the crystal and wait," she instructed but she didn't look too confident.

Sung did just that. She seemed shocked. Good news? It had to mean his mana was read.

"Just a moment we'll try again, this has never happened to me," she chuckled nervously. And soon called her superior.

"It's likely you're an S rank sir, but we'll need to do another test with a more sensitive crystal in a few days," the superior said politely and scheduled him for an appointment. "We need permission from higher ups since it's rather powerful and only matters in situations like this," he explained and Sung nodded.

Jin Chul liked his job. Most of the time. Like when S ranks like Choi Jong In weren't trying to ask him out on a date while meeting for professional reasons.

"Unfortunately I'm pretty busy the next few months," he lied and hunter Choi froze. There was a spike in energy from building B. Did someone strong get evaluated? The mana felt familiar...

Hunter Sung Jin Woo. Last time he met the hunter he felt something very similar. Was it...

"Building B is pretty noisy. Should we go check it out?" Choi proposed, offering him an arm.

Jin Chul nodded but ignored the offered hand. They were both alphas. How was this delusional S rank thinking it would work?

Building B indeed was loud. The clerks were rushing around.... And exiting the evaluation room, looking at a small note in his hands, was hunter Sung Jin Woo.

"Tenth S rank?" he overheard Choi whisper. Grand. Just what Jin Chul needed. S ranks fighting over the new guy. Who also happens to be an S rank and will likely have opinions. And an omega.

"Chief Woo," Hunter Sung beamed spotting him, approaching while ignoring Choi Jong In's introduction. "I hope the Monitoring Division doesn't have too much work, you looked exhausted last time we spoke," he chatted, smiling.

Chief Woo didn't look like he enjoyed his current company. Sung himself wasn't too fond of Choi Jong In, mostly because their nicknames used to be opposites. Well, he might as well save the chief.

"I should have let you know I'll be around earlier than we agreed," the young hunter laughed lightly. It was a lie, that had nothing scheduled. "How about we catch up over coffee?" he offered, his smile not faltering for even a second.

Jin Chul had no idea what Hunter Sung was talking about. But his business with hunter Choi was done. The menace just refused to leave after being done.

"Ah, yes, I apologise hunter Choi but here's my prior commitment," he said flatly and followed the new S rank to the coffee shop on the ground floor.

"I hope I'm not getting you into trouble," Sung was still smiling. It was bad for Jin Chul's heart.

"No, hunter Choi simply has too much free time and assumes everyone can be impressed by his rank into a date," Jin Chul shook his head. "That was a nice save."

Sung nodded. Good, he wasn't starting being an S rank with causing issues. Even if he yet wasn't one officially.

"Could we actually get that coffee? I really need one and I have no clue what being an S rank looks like," he admitted sheepishly. "I just need to not be an E rank anymore for a thing."

Having coffee with Hunter Sung was probably the best thing to happen the whole of Jin Chul's week. Finally a reasonable S rank. But worryingly an omega one. An unclaimed omega one.

Well, he seemed to have it covered if lack of scent was anything to go by. If not the past two incidents of stress heat he'd have no idea.

"How long did you know you're an S rank if I may ask?" He asked since they were in a secluded corner.

"Little bit, I sure wasn't one when we met," Sung chuckled. "I apologise for not coming here sooner. But I... I was the weakest for a long time so I wanted to be sure it wasn't a fluke," he rambled slightly.

"Most would rush here instantly for re-evaluation but I understand," Jin Chul nodded.

Turns out Korea's newest S rank hunter liked his coffee sweet. With lots of milk. It was damn endearing. He also had two dangerous summons with shocking amounts of free will.

"I think I relied on suppressants for too long. Now whenever I go to a stronger gate I get stress heats," Sung complained quietly.

It was shocking he brought it up. "Have you seen your doctor?" Jin Chul had no idea how to feel knowing hunter Sung trusted him this much.

"I did, they said it should all normalise once I my regular heats return. So probably not that much longer," the hunter sighed. "Do they do that often?"

"Who and what?" Jin Chul had an idea what Sung Jin Woo meant.

"Do S ranks often ask you out for dates and would it make my chances of getting one lower?" he asked with an even more charming smile.

"They do, even if I'm an alpha and most of them are too," Jin Chul groaned. "But I wouldn't mind one with you, at least you asked nicely, instead of just dropping it on me like it's a given I'll agree."

Jin Woo cringed. "Did no one teach them manners?" he mirrored Igris' opinion.

"If anyone did it was all forgotten when they received their rank. Even Cha Hae In asked me couple times but at least she stopped after I refused a couple time."

"Then Chief Woo, what time could I kidnap you from your very important job for a dinner?" Sung asked, shocking himself with how confident he sounded. An omega asking an alpha out? It was unheard of. He could feel his shadows clapping for him.

"How about I text you when I finish? My boss will want to talk to this new S rank as soon as possible and I don't know how fast we can get that done," Jin Chul chuckled over the rim of his coffee

"I heard from a trustworthy source that he might be at Seoul General Hospital around eight visiting someone," Sung said before leaving, to get groceries as he said.

Well, that was a date. And Go Gun Hee was proud he knew where they could catch their newest S rank hunter alone

When he returned to his office he miraculously found his missing blazer. Neatly folded and under his couch.... And a cup of coffee on his desk. It was those two, he thought as he recognised Sung Jin Woo's detergent scent of choice. Lavender and lemon grass.

Those two summons could go that far away... or at least one of them could. He thought with a sigh. Maybe hunter Sung would be troublesome after all. At least he was polite. And the coffee was nice.

In the evening Sung went once again to see his mother. He couldn't help the excitement. Once he has his new rank and gathers supplies he needs he'll get the cure and his mother back.

He wasn't shocked in the slightest to see Woo Jin Chul waiting outside once he was done talking to his slumbering mother.

"Chief Woo," he greeted the man with a slight smile.

"Hunter Sung," chief returned with a slight head tilt.

"Am I right assuming you'll be free after this?"

"I'll likely have to remind chairman about that, but yes, and please ignore any comments about my schedule he might make," Jin Chul sighed and lead him to a secluded part of the hospital.

Go Gun Hee was strong. Very strong. Stronger than any S rank Sung met so far. Part of him itched to fight him. But he shoved it down. It would add to Chief Woo's work load and delay their date.

"Hunter Sung, it's a pleasure to meet you in person," Chairman greeted him with a smile.

In short the wait was a disguised opportunity for Association to hire new promising hunters before Guilds could sway them with promise of wealth.

It wasn't a bad proposal he could do a lot with Association, with Go Gun Hee, backing him up. But it would also be a limiter. The Association didn't get many high ranked gates.

"I'm sorry chairman but I'll have to refuse. I want to fight."

"Do you mean with the monsters?"

"Yes." Sung replied shortly. "I believe the place where I have to be is inside the dungeon," he added.

"I understand," Go Gun Hee nodded with a poorly hidden smile.

"However, I'd like to keep a good relationship with the Association so if my help is ever needed don't hesitate to ask," Sung added as he got up. "I'll have to leave, I have another appointment today," Sung ended, glancing at Jin Chul.

Go Gun Hee smiled as he watched the young hunter leave. "This young man is strong. Really strong," he said. "Would you go with me for drinks?"

"Your wife is waiting at home, chairman, besides, I have the night off," Jin Chul said stiffly. Begging whatever diety was watching so his boss and closest person to family he had didn't connect the dots.

"Ah, to be young again, enjoy your evening, Chief Woo," he absolutely did connect the dots.

Chapter Text

Sung Jin Woo was waiting for him outside the hospital with.... A bouquet of flowers and a box of chocolates. Where did he hide those?

"Shouldn't it be the other way? And unfortunately I'm allergic to pollen," Jin Chul smiled slightly as he removed his glasses and loosened his tie.

"Oh, sorry," Jin Woo smiled and the flowers just vanished, his eyes flickering to Jin Chul's neck. Just what was his power? Jin Chul was sure he would be a summoner since he met that knight and elf duo. "I hope you like chocolates then, I asked the cashier for the most popular brand. It's been ages since I even thought about a date," he admitted with a chuckle.

"I do occasionally enjoy chocolates," Jin Chul admitted, relaxing slightly. So he wasn't the only one without any experience. "And this might be my first date in nearly ten years," he chuckled. It was easy to talk to Hunter Sung.

Jin Woo took them to a small, private restaurant Jin Chul has never seen despite living quite close by. Hell, he likely walked past it on his way to work.

"I hope the chairman didn't give you a hard time," Jin Woo said when they settled. The hunter removed his oversized sweater revealing a dark form fitting turtleneck underneath. Now that he thought about it aside from their first meeting he never saw Sung's neck exposed. Well, scent blockers would give him away pretty fast.

"He didn't today, tomorrow I'll probably get some jokes but it's nothing I can't survive," he assured. 

From there they got to know each other. Admittedly Jin Chul already knew a lot about Jin Woo but it felt good to listen to him talk about his family. He was an impressive person even without his new rank being included. 

For one person to bear all he did. Omega or not. Jin Chul doubted he'd do the same things if he found himself in such a situation. 

They didn't spend much time together but Jin Woo was even more sure that if he was to settle with an alpha he'd like it to be at least someone like Woo Jin Chul. The man himself of course would be preferable. And maybe there was a chance. As busy as Jin Chul seemed to be he expressed interest in more dates. Even drove Jin Woo home. 

"So who was that?" Jin Ah asked when he entered home. 

So she saw. "A friend," Jin Woo shrugged. "Why aren't you in bed? You got school tomorrow," he tried to change the topic.

"It's not every day my older brother has a date. How was the re-evaluation anyway?" Jin Ah had some mercy and dropped the topic. It was good she couldn't smell Jin Chul's smell on her brother.

"S rank, but it'll take a few days for it to be official," he saw no reason to hide it from his sister.

"I knew it, you couldn't be less with summons that cool," she nodded, looking at where Blades was cleaning up after making her dinner. "I'll need to practice my disguises," she chuckled.

"Fine but first go sleep," Jin Woo rolled his eyes.

"He's a looker by the way, even from a distance and even if he's a bureaucrat. Bring him home sometime so I can give him the shovel talk," Jin Ah, smiled before running off to her room.

Jin Woo just sighed, slipping the bear leader and couple knights into her shadow. He'd swap them once he got stronger shadows. After that he went to bed. He had to look at artifact auctions and new apartments tomorrow. And maybe he'd make time to sneak by Jin Chul's office with coffee. Especially since he knew what the Chief liked now.


The auction websites both had what he needed and not. His savings were not enough for what he needed. Fire statuses were becoming more common in the Tower not to mention the field itself was consistently burning. He had to protect himself.

There was no choice left but sell the Orb of Avarice. Not like had any use for it anyway. But he'd need an excuse as to where he got it from. An item like that couldn't be found in the C and D rank gates his recent history is full of. 

He'd have to find his way into a B or even an A rank gate. 

Solution was pretty simple - he'd join a mining team. His record wouldn't say what exactly he was doing in the gate, just the rank of it,after all.

He had no clue how big of a headache he was about to cause Jin Chul. Not just with that but also a mysterious coffee cup. Though this time he attached a note with his number saying, 'Sorry, forgot to give it to you yesterday - SJW.'

The first day of mining went well. He enjoyed the atmosphere. It reminded him of the old days before the Double Dungeon. He enjoyed it so much he signed in for one more day. Sending Jin Chul another apology coffee. 

He didn't end up mining but instead as a porter. Not that Igris or Blades liked either option. Pacing in his shadow as he observed Hunters guild's team B.

They changed their mind when high orcs showed up and Jin Woo ended up using his stealth to help the Hunters guild's second team.

Well things went back down when they entered the boss room. Or maybe up? For Jin Woo at least. The room was full of strong, potential soldiers. And he had slots to fill.

"This gate belongs to the Hunters guild so I'll need your permission. Can I kill every enemy in this room?" He would lie if he said he wasn't giddy to add these orcs to his army. With their leader he could sell some weaker items from the store. He'd finally have his elite caster that the Orb would make real difference with. 

Doubling that guy's magic would really speed up exterminating demons. He was guessing even their fire resistance wouldn't matter much with the orb.

As he waited for his answer one of the boss' guards charged at him so he tossed him into the ceiling with Dominator's Touch. "Interrupting is rude," he muttered. "Can I kill all the monsters in this room?" he asked one more time.

"Please, save us," party leader said, barely audible due to his wounds. 

"You have quite the talent for a mere human," the orc leader mused. He was having fun. "But how long can you fight us on your own?"

"That's some strong magical energy. Impressive," Jin Woo smiled standing up casually. 

"Hahaha, isn't it obvious."

"Unfortunately this is a terrible match up, for you I mean," he smiled coldly and summoned his army along with his daggers.

Faced with his full power even the high orcs took a step back for a second. Finally a chance to test his Domain of the Monarch skill. The buff it provided for his shadows was even more impressive than he assumed when reading the description.


Jin Chul knew Hunter Sung would be a headache no matter how charming he was on their date. The man was an S rank. They were never normal. But couldn't he wait until his rank was official?

"What are inspectors doing in a place like this?" a man who looked like leader of Hunters mining team asked.

"We're looking for hunter Sung Jin Woo?" Jin Chul said simply as he eyed the gate. It wasn't just some A rank gate. It would need at least one S rank hunter. But reports said Hunters send their second squad. Was the original reading wrong?

"He joined the attack force as porter so he's inside. Has he done something wrong?"

"You'll find tomorrow on the news," Jin Chul said and entered the gate. Sung would need help leaving unbothered if Cha Hae In was also looking for him.

When he found the hunters he lost all words. The only word he had in mind was a massacre. High orcs were being slaughtered by shadowy soldiers and bears while the two he recognised stood by Sung's side. The knight perfectly still while the elf slightly bounced up and down spinning his bow.


The fight was going better than he expected. Even if every fallen orc cost him a lot of mana. "Let's speed this up," Sung decided.

A mere nod was enough for Igris to charge forward, no expression as he easily slashed the orcs. One reached Blades who dropped the bow which disappeared into the shadows and switched to his daggers. Disappearing with his stealth ability for second. Killing the orc as it looked for him and then several more before returning to supporting Igris from distance.

Even without his new Domain skill the two would win but it was helping other shadows match orcs better. They still died a lot though.


Cha Hae In couldn't look away from the pale, white haired knight. He moved like her. No, she thought as she saw him slice several orcs with one elegant move, no sign of effort on his face. He was better. Could she win against him? No. She'd be dead.

And there was hunter Sung himself. From a brief encounter the day before she had a suspicion he was an omega. Her nose could smell through some of the best blockers after all. How was he taking down orcs so effortlessly? How strong was he? Close to the chairman, that's for sure. Was an omega really capable of moving like this? All omega hunters she knew were either healers or mages specialised in buffs.


Boss joining the fray wasn't pretty. He made weaker shadows pretty useless. Well, there was a not insignificant amount of dead orcs around.

"Well it's time to even the odds, no? Arise," he said raising the already fallen orcs. "You're next," he smiled pointing his dagger at the shaman. 

Seeing orcs raise as shadows and charge had some observers fall to the ground. Hunter Sung Jin Woo was something else.

After the fight was done everyone was stunned for a long while. Everyone but Hunter Sung who added the boss and his elite guards to his army. The knight somehow retrieved and dragged the one orc stuck in the ceiling to him. Getting a gentle praise and a shoulder pat as he knelt.

And then to everyone's shock all but two shadow soldiers vanished. The knight and the elf who took posts on right and left of their master.

Jin Chul could swear the knight offered him a slight nod and that the elf winked at him. This man was going to generate so much paperwork just by existing.

"I apologise for interfering," Jin Woo turned to the vice guild master of Hunters. "But I'd hate for the party to be wiped."

"No thank you for your assistance," she squeaked while hiding the pickaxe behind her back. She, an alpha was squeaking at words of an omega. Jin Chul privately found it amusing.

"Chief Woo.... I'm really sorry about this," he turned to Jin Chul, his smile widening as he practically skipped towards the chief. "I only wanted to observe high ranked raid."

"I'm glad everyone survived but couldn't you wait couple days before causing me a headache?" he asked and excused them. "Hunter Sung is under the Associations protection. Please forward any questions our way," he said and led their tenth S rank out and to his car. Leaving his agents to help clean up. At least the shadows left them before they left the gate.

"How about a dinner? As an apology?" Jin Woo offered, shuffling in the passenger seat. He refused to sit in the back. "I'll be going on a trip few days after my rank is announced, it's important, but I have no idea how long it'll take," he rambled.

"You can tell me over the dinner," Jin Chul sighed. At least hunter Sung had some remorse and apologised. Even offered to fill any paperwork needed. Jin Chul thanked him but he preferred to fill it himself.



"Actually, and it's top secret but since it'll likely involve you," Jin Chul said over their dinner quietly so no one would overhear. "Fourth Jeju raid might be happening soon."

"Why? Ants are stuck there," Jin Woo asked but internally wondered how strong they are. Was he strong enough to clear Jeju alone? Maybe with few more levels, once he clears the Demon Tower. There had to be something in there he could turn into a shadow.

"They evolved. They can fly. One flew to Japan, they discovered a corpse," Jin Chul said solemnly. That it was a matter of time before one arrived alive was left unsaid.

Sung hummed. "When would it be?"

"No date yet."

Sung nodded. "If my health allows I might be interested," he was very interested. Ants were bound to have some strong units. And even with all the orc he still had some slots to fill with shadows. Increasing his intelligence was a very good idea.

Jin Chul's eyes going wide told him he understood. His first proper heat in four years.

"I'll inform you when we have a concrete date and we can work around it?" Jin Chul offered. He was right to ask ahead of time. He had no clue if Sung would even be open to discuss closer to his time.

Sung chuckled. "Any other alpha would immediately offer to help me alleviate my state," He whispered with a slight smile. "Not that I expected anything else. You've always been accommodating and nice.

"It's not hard to respect people's boundaries," Jin Chul shrugged and comfortable silence fell as the waiter brought their orders.

"If there would be no other options I wouldn't mind accepting your help, but only if you're completely willing. No forcing yourself," Jin Woo said after a long while.

"It's a bit forward...."

"Isn't me asking you out on dates bit forward already?" Sung joked and sipped his champagne. 

"I think your new rank matters more in this situation," Jin Chul shook his head.

Jin Woo grinned. "Does it mean I can ask you out to more dates?"

"Does it mean I can refuse to deal with your messes on account of being your boyfriend?" it was his turn to be a bit forward.

"But who else will deal with them as well as you would? And how else would I see you be all professional? Knowing others can see you in this suit is bad enough," Jin Woo pouted.

Jin Chul laughed. "I'm sure we can come up with a compromise."

"Chief? Would it add to your paperwork if I used my shadows to help me move? I'd like to move somewhere with better security to protect my sister from the media," Jin Woo suddenly inquired.

"So long as they don't harm anyone and you warn us they'll be around, there shouldn't be any trouble," Jin Chul saw no reason to even try to come up with an excuse to refuse. Chairman would surely approve, even if just to maintain Sung's friendship.

After that they moved to more casual topics. Like that apparently hunter Sung couldn't get drunk. Same thing that made blockers useless the hunter said. At least it meant Jin Chul didn't have to worry about him being poisoned.

Chapter Text

Jin Woo woke up the day of his final evaluation full of energy. Excited even. He had an unofficial, handsome, alpha boyfriend. Soon, he would be an official S rank so he could sell some equipment. He was much more hesitant about the orb now that he had Tusk. Orc's magic was impressive even without it. Just how strong would he be with it?

There was always the system store. He could just buy some weaker equipment and sell that. Less attention on him, now that he thought it through.

Before he, of course, had a meeting with Jin Ho. Seemed important.

"I have a final evaluation later," he said as he sat down.

Jin Ho explained some worrying things. His father knew about the red gate and wanted Sung in his company's guild.

"I'll have to refuse, I'm planning to create my own guild. Not yet, I still have some things to do first, but if it doesn't work out with your father, I'd be glad to have you as my vice-guild master," Sung confessed.

Jin Ho nodded silently. "You're certainly strong enough to attract many strong hunters to join."

"No, I'm planning to create a guild where I would clear dungeons alone," Sung corrected. "Besides," he really should have said it sooner, "who would like to be in a guild where the master is an omega?" he ripped the band-aid off.

"Hyung, you're...." Jin Ho choked out with wide eyes. "Wow. I'm no longer surprised you occasionally leaned harder on your summons," he eventually said. "And no worries, Hyung, I won't tell anyone."

He was shockingly okay with it. It could be because he was a beta. Or just the influence of his university friends. Any of that, or he was just a nice guy.

In reality, Jin Ho was indeed just that nice, but also still too scared to do anything that could annoy Jin Woo.

Jin Chul tried warning Jin Woo about the media; he really did, but Chairman Go Gun Hee thought it would be funny to make everyone turn their phones in. So no one leaks anything about Hunter Sung before he's officially an S rank.

As if anyone ever would. The building was mostly staffed with monitoring division agents at the moment. To keep up the secrecy.

And then there were Baek and Choi, already waiting for their chance to recruit Jin Woo. Jin Chul had a feeling they would be sorely disappointed. What use did this man have for any of the current guilds? 

With a sigh, he went to keep an eye on the door. ignoring the chairman's jokes about young love.

Jin Woo was confused about the reporters. But since they didn't seem to recognise him, they probably were here for something else. Like the guy who didn't want to let him enter.

"This man is my guest," Chairman Go Gun Hee, with Jin Chul behind him, interfered. Just in time, Igris' patience was pretty short with people in Jin Woo's way as of late. "Hunter Sung Jin Woo, let's head inside."

Jin Woo nodded, more focused on Jin Chul's slightly crooked tie. He wanted to fix it. But he had no idea if Jin Chul would appreciate it, so he didn't. For now, he focused on getting this part of his day over and done with.

He missed the gathered media representatives whispering theories about who he might be. He did not miss Igris calling them pests. He agreed.

Chief Baek of the White Tiger guild and President Choi of Hunters were already waiting for a while, according to the chairman. 'Wasting their time more like,' Igris huffed, and Sung agreed, he had no interest in joining either guild. 

'Exactly~,' Blades giggled. Jin Woo smiled slightly. His two strongest soldiers got along pretty well despite the rocky start. Tusk wasn't as talkative as when alive, even if he could talk. And keep up a good conversation. Turns sadly couldn't talk, but maybe if he got stronger?

The chairman took him to a large empty room where he was asked to show his powers. He wasn't expecting that. How much should he show? People already saw a lot more than he'd want to show.

With a sigh, he let out a single knight. "That's not all, is it?" The chairman had a good eye; he had to admit that much.

With an even bigger sigh, Jin Woo filled the room with his soldiers. "I can summon about a hundred more," he low-balled his army's maximum size. Igris and Blades were obediently silent on his sides as an employee measured a few select summons. B, C, A ranks. Tusk was the strongest, an A rank, but very close to S. Turning into a shadow did weaken him a fair bit.

But then came his favourites. Both were measured as unmeasurable. It had been a while since they joined him, so they did get stronger a fair bit alongside him. Sung felt weirdly proud as chairman, and the employee's eyes went wide. Jin Chul was harder to read due to his glasses, but his breathing did speed up.

Igris and Blades glanced at him. Are we allowed to speak? Was the silent question. Jin Woo pondered it for a moment. Did he want to give the Chairman a heart attack? 

'He did allow for this 'media' crowd to gather outside,' Blades noted.

'Leaving will be annoying without using any skills or involving Chief Woo,' Igris grimaced. He did appear with his helmet.

'Sure, speak up and you may remove the helmet,' Jin Woo allowed and nodded slightly.

Igris removed his helmet and sighed. "I'm used to going around without it now," he said as he mocked taking a deep breath in.

"Stop being so delicate," Blades chuckled. The knight just rolled his eyes as the female employee blushed. His children were quite handsome, Jin Woo had to admit that.

Was his omega side getting louder? Maybe, but that would mean he didn't have much time to clear the demon tower.

"My liege?" Igris asked, falling to one knee upon feeling his master's inner turmoil. The elf did the same.

"It's nothing," Jin Woo shook his head and parted the kneeling knight's head. "These two are quite special, but I assure you, chairman, all my summons are completely loyal to me."

"They better be," Igris huffed under his breath, and even the shadows shuddered. Jin Woo just laughed. 

"So they possess intelligence and awareness?" the agent said, still glancing at Igris, who looked frankly bored. He even yawned to show off his teeth.

"Depending on their level. This guy could talk before, but seems to have lost the skill," Jin Woo shrugged as he pointed to Tusk.

"I believe this will be enough," the Chairman nodded with a smile. What an impressive young man. He needn't have worried about Chief Woo's choice. And there was no need to annoy the new S rank with his curiosity just yet.

Jin Woo still couldn't believe he had an S rank license. He was so occupied that he nearly walked out to the reporters. Luckily, he got stopped. Well, it wasn't really accidental. It was part of his plan to get Choi and Baek off his back with recruitment attempts until his secret guild plan with Jin Ho came to fruition.

"Apologies, my Liege, but the reporters?" Blades was suddenly out, holding his wrist.

"Damn, I nearly forgot, good save," Jin Woo noted calmly.

"Maybe Chief Woo would be willing to assist with an alternative exit?" Blades proposed, shocking the two guild masters further.

"Chief Woo would be delighted to assist," Chairman Go Gun He said, pushing the man in question forward.

Jin Chul didn't mind telling the reporters nation's newest S rank was busy. He was glad Jin Woo at least offered the camera a reluctant smile and a wave. He was not ready for the media circus that being an S rank was connected to.

He did quietly promise to steal some more of the Chief's time later. After his errands.

With his new license, Jin Woo went to the auction house and appraised some low-level equipment from the system store. The Orb of Avarice would be staying with Tusk. Doubling his firepower was worth some system gold.

Especially since even what he considered useless for a while sold for a good price. Good enough that by the time he stole Chief Woo for dinner. Well, intercepted on his way home and redirected his evening. He and Jin Ah were in a new, secure apartment. Some pretty well-known idols, actors, and so on lived in the area, so security was pretty tight about reporters. He left a few shadows looking at their old apartment in case their father ever showed up.

Well, it was more for mom than that man.

Then, with all his affairs in order. Tusk's old guards were hidden in Jin Ah's shadow. Fire protection relics in hand, he was all set to climb the rest of the Demon Tower. Leaving Jin Chul time to decide if he wanted to be bound to someone like Jin Woo. Well, after he settled in Jin Ho in a nearby hotel, since he had been kicked out for agreeing to Jin Woo's offer.

After he's done with Demons and Ants, he'll create his own guild. In the meantime, Jin Ho would get everything ready.

Chapter Text

Once he entered, he got a new quest. Defeat the Demon King Baran at the highest floor. Well, he was going there anyway. And the rewards were good—a job-specific skill, especially.

He was right to save the Orb for Tusk. With it he had no issues defeating even the demons with fire resistance. At least the weaker ones.

He split his forces into several teams to speed things up. And everything went well for a while until his soldiers started dying way too fast.

After some consideration and recalling defeated High Orc Team B, Sung decided, correctly, that the next target would be Tank's team.

A noble demon and three knights. 

Sung had no issue with the knights. Once again finding it a shame he couldn't raise demons into his army. At least he confirmed that monsters, at least demons could experience fear.

The noble wasn't hard, but shockingly, as he was about to finish them off the enemy, it spoke. 

"I give up. I give up," it called from under its helmet with a female voice.

Jin Woo tilted his head and removed the noble's helmet. So he heard correctly.

"I'm sorry we were in the wrong. P-please spare my life," she begged his forgiveness.

"You attack my soldiers and now beg forgiveness?"  Sung asked, calling all his soldiers to gather. Maybe he could use this demon as a guide? He was having issues finding the scroll.

"I've committed a great sin, but my clan is obliged to protect these lands," the demon girl informed, freezing when Igris lightly landed next to Jin Wo,o barely glancing at her before kneeling.

"We still failed to find the scroll, my lord," the knight apologised.

"It's okay, Igris, I think I just found us a guide," Sung grinned. "I'll spare you if you guide me to where Baran is," he graciously offered.

The demon was pale. "Igris the Bloodred," she said with wide eyes.

"You know each other?" Jin Woo asked, not expecting an answer.

"I vaguely recall being well known at some...." Igris started but then grabbed his head, wincing.

"Igris?" Jin Woo asked, worried for one of his most loyal soldiers.

"It's nothing, my liege, I simply seem to have recalled some of my past.... My old lord must have found this amusing," Igris admitted, kneeling once more. "I was quite well known before pledging my blade to him," Igris admitted. He didn't sound like he ever cared much for being known.

Sung nodded. So some monsters may recognise Igris. But old lord? Amusing? Was that person connected to his reawakening?

"I can't exactly recall why my lord sent me to that dungeon, but I assure you my loyalty to you shall not waver, my lord," Igris assured.

Sung nodded. Okay, so long as he doesn't have to fight Igris again, he'll be fine. 

"You're that ready to submit to someone who killed your people?" Igris asked the demon blankly.

"It was their duty to protect me, I'm sure they'll be glad I survived...." she started, but froze as Igris' face scrounged into a grimace. 

"Whatever, so long as my lord's mission can continue, it doesn't matter," he shrugged.

Sung nodded. As expected, Igris didn't like this too much. 'It's a temporary alliance to speed things up. I don't plan on talking to other clans,' he assured.

'Be careful, my lord, demons are treacherous creatures with little honour,' Igris warned as Sung dismissed all his soldiers but him and Blades.

As Sung was distracted, the demon tried to stab him but was stopped by Igris. "Try this again and you're dead," the knight warned before returning to his post on Jin Woo's right. 

"If you spare me, I'll give you anything you want," and she was begging again.

"The key to the next floor, and the location of other keys, my time and patience are limited," Sung sighed.

"My clan is guarding it and the gate," the girl admitted as Tusk made her float so she wouldn't do anything dumb again. "If you return me home unharmed, we'll grant you both," she nodded furiously.

"I was wondering why even Igris had such a hard time; he's annoyed," Sung mused. Igris seemed quite famous.

"Keys of all higher floors are protected by clans. I even know where other clans settled here," the demon woman offered. "I can guide you if you assure the safety of my clan."

She was going to be a better guide than expected. After a quick test, he decided to trust her. For now.

"First, who are you guys and what are you doing here?" he asked over his shoulder.

The demon girl was Esil Radir or something. The eldest daughter of her father. They appeared in this copy of Seoul from nowhere with a command to protect their areas. Originally, the demons lived in their own world.

"Any idea why you ended here?" Sung asked.

"Entertainment," she said, weirdly stiff, before recovering with a confused expression.

So, whoever created the system wanted to watch him for fun? Okay. Maybe even the whole gate business was their definition of fun. How barbaric, he agreed with Igris and Blades.

"You have exceeded the allowed information," Esil suddenly said and fainted.

He didn't even ask any hard questions. No answers for him....

'Maybe after you beat the screacher on top of this tower,' an unknown voice said in his head. 

Neither Igris nor Blades have heard it....

Esil's father was more than grateful that his daughter was fine, even if more than a bit terrified of Jin Woo's portable army. Igris being out and visible seemed to calm him, so the knight and the elf, just to be fair, stayed with Jin Woo through the dinner.

"You're not eating Sir Igris?" the head of Radish or whatever clan asked.

"Shadows don't need to eat," Igris said sternly. Blades nodded. Jin Woo had no doubts they didn't need to eat. But he also knew they could, and that while Blades preferred fruits, Igris liked sweets.

Igris' iron will was proven by his lack of reaction to the dessert. Jin Woo made sure to sneak some into his shadow with stern intent that it's for Igris, same with some fruits for the elf. At that, the knight's stern expression softened for a second.

After dinner, Jin Woo and his army left for the next floors with Esil as his guide. Her plan was to nicely convince the demons to pass the scrolls to him.

Jin Woo wasted enough time and exp already. Besides. He decided Radical clan would become the top demon clan.

"You may leave, I know you demons respect this guy," Jin Woo offered her an out just before entering the final floor.

Esil refused and watched in shock as Jin Woo, Igris and Blades, with the help of other shadows, took on the near pinnacle of demonic power.

Demon King Baran.

It wasn't an easy fight. It took all of Sung's skill and thinking to beat the King, his guards and his wyvern.

But it was worth it. A skill that allowed him to switch places with one of his shadows, with the downside of a long cool down. Baran's sword and dagger. The earlier he gave to Igris, since he himself preferred daggers. Blades did get better bow and daggers from the heads of demon clans. 

But most importantly, he had Kaisel; finally, he had a flying mount. 

And even more importantly - The cure for mom.

"Sorry, Esil, you'll have to make it home on your own," Sung grinned, excited that he would have Mom back.

She just nodded and thanked him on behalf of her clan. And promised Igris she'll become a better knight. The knight just shrugged.

Before he left, he heard the voice from before, say 'Humanity is just an entertainment to them, prove you can survive their trials and gates will calm down,' it said and didn't answer when he tried to ask for more. Who was 'them?'

Once out, Sung summoned Kaisel, and after sending an apology to Jin Chul, flew to the hospital. He could teleport, but he decided to save it for now. The cooldown was long on that ability.

He was nervous to cure Mom. He had no idea how she would react to him being a hunter. There was no way he could hide it from her. She'd understand. With slightly shaking hands, he poured one portion of the potion into her mouth. He waited with bated breath for a few seconds before her eyes blinked open.

"Jin.... Jin Woo?" she asked weakly.

"It's me, Mom, it's.... It's been a while," Jin Woo nodded through tears. "I should call the doctors so they can release you, I have so much to tell you," he smiled before texting Jin Ah. 

The doctors wanted to keep Mom for a few days, but Sung wasn't afraid to flaunt his new S rank. Even if it wasn't how he planned to tell mom about it.

"Doctor," he said coldly, one hand on his mother's shoulder, the other holding Jin Ah's. "Do you want to keep a member of S rank hunter's family against their will?" he asked sternly.

Mom twitched but remained silent. 

The drive home was silent and awkward. No one was willing to broach the subject. For a while, at least, Jin Woo could only stand the tense atmosphere for so long.

"I'm sorry, Mom. I know you said it was not to be a hunter but.... I didn't have any other options. I had to do something to take care of Jin Ah," He started explaining himself.

"But S rank?" Mom asked. "I was still here when you awakened. I know you're an E rank, son.\, not to mention an omega. You can never know who's in those dungeons."

"It's a recent development, I had reawakened," he explained. His mother nodded. But remained silent, giving him a chance to explain himself. "Well, I have these two watching my back at all times," Jin Woo smiled and summoned the knight and the elf. "I can summon over a hundred more. I don't have to fight my fights," he decided to omit his impressive combat skills. For now, to not worry her too much.

"It's not the best part," Jin Ah grinned just for a second before shutting up under her mother's glare. Park Kyung Hye was a formidable woman.

"Introduce yourself guys," Sung smiled with a nod.

"Igris, it is a great honour to meet my king's mother," the Knight introduced himself, offering Park a perfect bow.

"Blades, it is an immense honour to protect our king and his family," the elf said, mimicking Igris' pose. 

"They're the only two who can talk," Sung explained. He was so proud that his children were so polite. He gave up arguing with the omega side of his brain. "For now. I might find another one that talks someday. Anyway, Mom, would you like some tea? Something to eat?" Sung asked, glancing at the two shadows.

"Some tea would be nice. All this is...." She paused as Blades went to the kitchen without a word to start making tea and plate cake, "...a lot. You are like your father. Nothing I say will stop you, will it?" she asked while moving to the table. Igris soundlessly pulled a chair out for her. "Well, I guess I'll have to trust these polite young men to look after my boy," she smiled as Igris retreated with a bow. Jin Ah excused herself to run to the bathroom, but Jin Woo knew she wanted to text Jong Yi about the situation.

"I have a few hidden in Jin Ah's shadow, to keep her safe, I'd like to assign a few to you," he said once ot was just him and Mom.

"That's reassuring. This place is nice, but what about our old place?"

"I wanted somewhere safe for Jin Ah since being an S rank comes with annoying media hounding us. I kept our old place, as an S rank, I have no trouble covering it," he assured, feeling proud that he could take care of his family.

"That's all nice, but did you find a nice alpha to settle with yet?"

Sung froze. His mind summoned an image of Chief Woo. "Kind of, our relationship is still in an early phase, though," he admitted. Jin Ah would tattle something about handsome bureaucrats anyway. "He works for the Hunter Association. He's a very strong A rank. Very respectful and kind," he added, omitting the borrowed blazers.

After that, he and Jin Ah caught Mom up as Igris got a couple of knights tidying up the apartment. It got mom's approval. 'Polite and helpful. What a nice young man.' She said. For now, she didn't seem to mind Sung continuing his hunter career. But what would she say if she saw the email Sung received early the next day?

An invitation to discuss something important with Chairman Go Gun Hee and the nation's other active S-rank hunters.

Sung Jin Woo knew what to expect based on one of his dates with Chief Woo. Fourth Jeju Raid. Speaking of. He should invite the Chief out again. His first real proper heat was coming close. He could feel it was a matter of days, not even weeks.

When he arrived, everyone was already gathered. Some looked up with mild confusion at him. We're the blockers, not enough this close? Chief Woo was helpful and saved him a seat next to himself.

"Japan approached us with an offer. A joint raid on Jeju ants. And evolved flying and reached the Japanese coast alive. It wiped a small town before they managed to subdue it," Chairman didn't mince his words. 

They watched the pictures the Japanese side sent them with terror in most cases. Sung was more curious. How well would his shadow do against ants? He had two S-rank shadows. Tusk likely counts already as well.

"If my health permits, I'm more than willing to participate," Sung raised his hand as they voted. He wasn't sure if they'd need Japan's help, but didn't protest it. It wouldn't be very friendly of him.

Even the retired S-rank healed Min Byung Gu said he'd be participating. 

"Hunter Sung, about your health. Can the association help in any way?" The chairman asked when other S ranks started to slowly leave. Shuffling their feet for a chance to talk to Sung, the Chairman of Chief Woo.

"I'll discuss it with Chief Woo," Sung said, smiling slightly at the Chief, who nodded.

Jin Chul knew exactly what Hunter Sung meant by his health. So he took the man to his office and closed the door tightly.

The Japanese hunters were going to arrive any day. The Raid was top priority for both nations.

"Chief Woo," Sung smiled, pulling out chocolates out of nowhere. "How about a date later?"

"I wouldn't mind one," Jin Chul admitted. Hunter Sung was pleasant company, even if he was a trouble magnet. "About your health...."

"You don't have to force yourself,' Sung insisted.

"Quite the contrary, hunter Sung, I'm more than willing to assist you in any way you require," the Chief admitted, feeling himself blush slightly. The implications were pretty clear.

"It's appreciated, Chief Woo..."

"Just Jin Chul."

"Then feel free to call me by my name," Jin Woo's smile wasn't leaving his mind for a long while.

"Congratulations on your mother waking up, by the way, personal and in the name of the whole Association," Jin Chul sneaked in as they planned out how to handle Jin Woo's health issues.

Jin Woo was more stressed to spend his heat with Chief Woo than with the quickly approaching Jeju raid. He trusted his shadows could take care of some ants. His lack of experience? That they couldn't help him with. They and his mom weren't too happy he'd be spending his heat with some random alpha, but with a promise that he'd be introducing Jin Chul to her as soon as possible, at least his mother let it go. Somewhat.

She was very against him participating in the Jeju raid. Jin Woo offered a compromise there. He wouldn't personally fight unless necessary and just leave it all to his summons. He was officially a mage-class hunter after all.

With all that, he was ready to steal a couple of days of Chief Woo's time. Making their relationship official.

Chapter Text

The drive from the Association HQ to Jin Chul's apartment never felt as long as the one with a slumped, slowly heating S rank in his passenger seat. Sung Jin Woo has a slight smile plastered on his flushed face. His silvery-grey eyes were fixed on Jin Chul.

They were silent as he parked and led Hunter Sung. No, just Jin Woo to his apartment. "Would you like something to drink first?" he offered, and he swears Jin Woo's eyes are sparkling.

"Just some water," he says with a smile. Jin Chul doesn't see unless they're alone.

Jin Chul offered him the couch and went to get water for Jin Woo and tea for himself. No coffee with what they were about to do. Jin Woo being in top shape for Jeju was worth being exhausted tomorrow. No. Jin Woo's trust was worth being exhausted.

When he returns, Jin Woo has ditched his sweater and is sitting there in just his sleeves turtleneck shirt. The omega beams when he sees him before removing his shirt and trying to remove the scent blockers. "They itch," he complained with a pout too cute for a man as strong as he was.

"Wearing them every day, pre-heat included, will do that," Jin Chul sighed as he placed their drinks down before helping remove the sticky pads from Jin Woo's neck.

He smells nice, like rain and freshly cut grass.

They watched TV while waiting for Jin Woo's heat to build up to its full extent. Taking separate showers in the meantime. Jin Woo raided Jin Chul's closet for clothes to borrow despite having brought an overnight bag. Somehow, despite being just slightly shorter, he practically drowned in one of Jin Chul's button-up pyjama tops. He left his neck fully exposed.

"I.... I know it's forward even for us, but if.... If you're okay with it, I'd like you to mark me, I don't see myself wanting any other alpha ever," he confessed as he cuddled up to shirtless Jin Chul.

Jin Chul gave it a total of five seconds to think it over. He'd hate to see Jin Woo with any other alpha. To the point of doing something dumb, he worried.

"You're sure? Do your mother and sister know you intended to request it of me? We can wait until your next one if you'd rather talk to them," Jin Chul offered, unable to keep his hands from running through Jin Woo's hair. It was softer than he imagined.

"I did, and while they would rather meet you first, they understand it's safer for me to get marked sooner rather than later," Jin Woo confessed as he got into Jin Chul's lap. "And I would hate if it were anyone else. I.... I can't stop thinking about you. Whenever I let my mind wander, it instantly snaps back to you," Jin Woo confessed, his face red from more than the heat.

Jin Chul had some idea what it was. But just lending - willingly or not - his blazers for his stress heats wouldn't do it alone.

Sung Jin Woo. Korea's tenth S-ranked hunter has imprinted on him. And he likely, now that he thought back to all the times his mind wandered to the omega, did so as well.

What's that, you ask? It meant they were practically soulmates. Unless they somehow broke this bond, they wouldn't be able to become mates, a marked pair with anyone else, as well as Jin Woo would be able to mark Jin Chul. And how imprinting worked was still one big guess. He didn't even hear a rumour about such a connection ever being broken.

"I think we may have imprinted on each other," Jin Chul admitted, burying his face in Jin Woo's neck. He would willingly drown in this scent, quite frankly.

"That means we're stuck together, no?" Hi. Woo smiled cutely and pulled Jin Chul into a kiss. He didn't fight it. "We should go to bed," he mused between kisses, and Jin Chul agreed with him.

Back in Sung's new house, Jin Ah managed to lure Igris and Blades out of her shadow with candied fruits to join her and Mom in a game of Monopoly. Igris somehow ended up winning all rounds once he understood the rules.

Jin Woo could feel the eyes of all gathered hunters on his neck. More precisely, his fresh mating mark matched the one on Chief Woo's neck, who was silently following him. They were a bit late, and he should have still been resting. Jin Woo's neck was still tender, and covering it hurt. The media outside the training centre got some pretty clear pictures of it too....

"I trust your health issues have been resolved?" Chairman Go Gun Hee was the first to speak, shaking Jin Woo's hand.

"Chief Woo was extremely helpful," Jin Woo smiled, slightly scratching his neck. "What's going on here?"

"Bit of a bonding exercise before the raid," the chairman explained, but it didn't convince Jin Woo. Just alphas showing off, he thought bitterly. It was good that he got marked after all. If the glare Goto Ryuji gave him was anything to go by. He seemed to hate that an omega was as an S rank.

He watched the two A ranks duel, followed by all the S ranks aside from mages and healers. In all honesty, he was more focused on trying not to hug Chief Woo. It was just so nice and refreshing to have an alpha all to himself. He switched his attention to Goto Ryuji. He expected someone stronger. Not that the man was weak, just.... He expected someone who would be a challenge to Igris from all he had heard about the man. Now he just wondered how fast Igris would beat the man.

They watched from a distance the spar between the two nations. Jin Woo abandoned decorum about midway and cuddled up to Jin Chul. He'd, quite frankly, much rather be still cuddling his mate in their nest than be here.

"Goto Ryuji wants a duel with you," Jin Chul let him know before Ryuji's translator could do her work.

"But I'm a caster, and still recovering," Jin Woo pouted, but then grinned. "Would he be satisfied fighting my strongest summon?"

"Only if you fight him yourself when he wins," this time, the Japanese translator picked up her speed.

"Fine by me," Jin Woo shrugged. "Igris," he said with a slight smile.

An omega. Korea's newest S-rank hunter was an omega. Ryuji wanted to laugh. An omega assassin. Fuck what they put on their website. Of course, they didn't want to admit an omega was an assassin. But then the hunter threw something shocking at him. A summon? He thought a mere summons would be enough?

"Fine," he scoffed. "But he'll fight me personally after I win," he added in annoyance.

He watched Sung nod in agreement and then say, "Igris." Followed by his shadow expanding and a white haired knight clad in crimson armour stepping out of it.

The knight wasn't breathing, Ryuji noted as he looked about with a bored expression and then knelt before his king. It was unusual for a summon to look this human. Bah. If he didn't see him step out of Sung's shadow, and not for the weird smoke rising off his form, he could mistake him for a human.

"Hunter Sung explains the rules," Hanekawa let him know what Sung was telling the knight.

The knight nodded and looked at Ryuji briefly before nodding. In a flash of smoke, his armour was gone, replaced by a simple shirt and pants. Leaving his neck exposed, showing a clean cut on his neck. He was dead?

"What the fuck is that? Don't translate it," Ryuji caught himself.

"Don't kill him," Jin Woo said, patting Igris' shoulder before retreating with everyone. His summons being able to change their clothes was new. But by the design of what Igris wore now, he guessed it had to be something he wore when alive. Or just his preference.

"As you wish, my liege," Igris grinned slightly. Red eyes focused on his enemy. Grab his wrist or a pat on the back. He could work with that.

"So it speaks," Ryuji huffed, translated by the short woman.

"Of course," The knight responded with a grin.

For a while, neither of them moved. They just stared at each other. But then, in the blink of an eye, Goto Ryuji was the first to move. For a split second, those with enough perception could see Igris smile slightly as he effortlessly sidestepped the attack while at the same time tripping his enemy.

Goto barely managed not to fall flat on his face. As he turned to his enemy, his blood boiled. The fucker was smiling. Baring sharp teeth. From the sidelines, Sung Jin Woo and an elf with the same aura as the knight were clapping politely.

"Igris is playing," Blades mused just loud enough for Jin Woo to hear him. The summoner nodded. He was correct. Igris is stronger than Goto Ryuji.

"If he were serious, Goto would be dead already," he said with a slight, proud smile.

Goto Ryuji got up to his feet. "What's his name again?" he asked, since he had to take this more seriously than anticipated.

"Igris the Bloodred," the knight introduced himself in perfect Japanese with a polite bow before briefly turning to explain how he could speak Japanese to his master.

Ryuji scoffed and charged again. Igris dodged. Attack after attack that even S-ranking hunters had issues catching. This fucker was dodging with no effort. Even yawned occasionally.

Jin Woo watched proudly as Igris effortlessly, practically danced around everything Goto Ryuji could throw at him.

"He's moving a bit like Miss Cha," Ma Dong Woo noted as they all barely kept up.

"No," the huntress shook her head. "He's better. What weapon does Igris usually use?" she dared ask the newest S rank.

"A sword," Jin Woo said without hesitation. "Though he's also proficient to a scary degree at hand-to-hand combat," he added with a slight grimace.

As Jin Woo stood there, bragging about his oldest with a pleasant smile, Goto was getting fed up with Igris' ever-present mocking smile flashing his teeth.

'Fuck it, I should just tap the kid,' Goto scoffed, glancing at where Sung stood. Since when was there an elf? He thought as he felt something tap his back.

"I think we're done here if you have time to be distracted," Igris said politely and patted his back a couple more times before slowly returning to his king's side. Armour back on, a long shining blue blade emerging from the ground.

Jin Chul tried to take a step back from where he was on Join Woo's right to free Igris' spot. But the knight stopped him with a head shake. "It's only fitting you stay there, your highness," he said with a slight bow.

"Ah yeah, they'll do that now, sorry," Jin Woo chuckled as he patted Igris' shoulder. "Well done," he praised. He glanced at where Goto was chatting with Japanese hunters. Not that he cares what they did now. He confirmed they were weaker than him.

"So you'll participate in the Jeju raid? I haven't seen any confirmation yet," Baek Yoon Ho asked, eyeing the elf warily. The survivors of the red gate mentioned Hyakki. And now there's one with Sung, who was there.

"Since my mom is worried, I'll let my summons handle my fighting, but yes, I'll be there," Sung confirmed with a confident nod.

"That was an impressive fight," they didn't even realise Chairman Go joined them, followed down a set of stairs by Choi Jong In. "Would it be possible to introduce everyone to the summons you plan to use so no one freaks out?" he requested with a smile that didn't leave much room for discussion. He did let Jin Woo have Jin Chul all to himself until the raid, not just through his heat. And even if it was a ploy to get Jin Chul to rest for once, Jin Woo appreciated it.

And the request was logical. But he didn't want to show off too much. "Aside from these two, they all look more or less like this, Tusk," he shrugged and summoned the orc shaman. The orc did a slight bow under Igris' steady stare. The knight nodded ever so slightly. So he was teaching everyone manners, as Jin Woo suspected.

"And what does Tusk do?" Jin Chul asked what everyone thought. Igris, they saw, and Jin Woo got chatty about him. Blades was an elf, so those familiar with elves could guess. Tusk didn't look like a typical orc chieftain. Shamans of this level were rare, Jin Chul guessed.

"He's a mage, so some buffs, mostly to himself, and some solid damage," Jin Woo shrugged, but there was this proud spark in his eye.

The Japanese were furiously whispering amongst themselves. Sucks to annoy a strong hunter so early on in their career. They were probably why Jin Woo wasn't bragging more openly.

"Oh, and the orb he carries buffs his offensive magic a bit too," Jin Woo added on as the orc was retreating. He was holding a shining red orb with reverence.

"And by how much?" Chairman Go asked with an amused smile. It was obviously a high-quality artefact.

"I'm not quite sure, but enough for it to be quite impressive," Jin Woo shrugged. He didn't have to say all his secrets.

Jin Woo assured no one would mess with him just because he's an omega in style. Jin Chul thought, fighting a satisfied smile. His mate was so strong and pretty. He wasn't even going to argue with himself on that. Mostly because he was freaking out about what was happening next - he was to meet Jin Woo's mother and sister.