Jin Tae-woo's eyes fluttered open.

For a moment, everything was blurry, shapes and light bleeding into each other as his mind struggled to piece together reality. His body felt heavy, a dull ache running through every muscle. He took a slow, measured breath.

The first thing he noticed was the ceiling.

It was familiar.

White. Plain. A little crack in the corner.

He had stared at this same ceiling countless times before.

A hospital room.

His fingers twitched, then his arms. He was alive.

A shaky breath escaped his lips as he pushed himself up, his head still spinning, his body protesting the movement.

And then, a loud, choked sob rang out.

Before he could react, something crashed into him, nearly knocking him back onto the bed.

"Oppa!"

Tae-woo barely had time to register the weight before warm arms wrapped around him, squeezing tight, almost painfully. His little sister, Ha-rin, buried her face into his chest, shoulders shaking as she bawled uncontrollably.

Tae-woo sat there, stunned.

He could feel her gripping his hospital gown tightly, her small hands trembling, her entire body pressed against him as if she were afraid he would disappear.

"Ha-rin…?" His voice came out hoarse, almost unsure.

"Y-you idiot!" Ha-rin screamed, pulling back just enough to punch his arm, though it was more of a weak slap. "You stupid, reckless idiot!"

Tae-woo winced, not from the pain but from the sheer emotion in her voice.

Her face was a mess, her usual composed demeanor completely shattered. Tears streamed freely down her cheeks, her eyes red and puffy. Her lips trembled, her entire body still shaking violently.

Tae-woo had never seen her like this.

Not even when their parents died.

"D-do you have any idea how scared I was?!" Ha-rin hiccupped, her voice cracking. "They told me you- y-you- you fell into the Abyssal Gate! And no one… n-no one comes back from that! A-and I thought I… I thought I-"

She choked on her own sob, gripping him even tighter as if she could anchor herself by holding onto him.

Tae-woo felt his chest tighten painfully.

He had never wanted to make his little sister cry.

Yet here she was, falling apart because of him.

"Ha-rin…" He exhaled, reaching up to pat her head, his fingers threading through her dark hair in a comforting motion. "I'm sorry."

His voice was soft, barely above a whisper.

Ha-rin sniffled, shaking her head furiously against his chest. "Y-you promised you wouldn't do anything reckless! You said you'd be fine!"

Tae-woo sighed, guilt settling deep in his bones. "I know. And I broke that promise."

Ha-rin punched his arm again, but this time it was weaker.

"You- y-you're so stupid! Always- always acting like you can handle everything alone! Always putting yourself in danger!" She hiccupped again, clutching him desperately. "I don't want to lose you too! I don't- I don't- I can't-"

Her voice cracked completely, and the dam broke.

Tae-woo could do nothing but sit there as his little sister sobbed uncontrollably against his chest, her emotions pouring out after being held back for so long.

She had probably been holding herself together since the moment she got the news.

Probably told herself to be strong.

Probably forced herself to act fine.

But now that he was awake, now that she could see him, touch him, hear his voice, she could finally let go.

Tae-woo swallowed hard, his own emotions clawing at his throat.

"Ha-rin," he murmured again, wrapping his arms around her, holding her close. "I'm here. I'm okay."

"But you weren't!" Ha-rin cried, her hands gripping his hospital gown like a lifeline. "I thought you were gone! I thought- I thought I'd be left all alone!"

That hit him harder than any punch ever could.

Alone.

She had already lost their parents.

And if he had died too…

Tae-woo closed his eyes, exhaling shakily. He hadn't considered how much this would hurt her.

He had been too caught up in his own situation, his own struggles.

But Ha-rin…

Ha-rin had been terrified.

He felt like the worst brother in the world.

"I'm sorry," he whispered again. "I didn't mean to scare you."

Ha-rin hiccupped, still crying. "Then don't do it again!"

Tae-woo smiled weakly, pressing his chin against the top of her head. "I'll try my best."

She didn't believe him, not really.

But for now, she just held onto him tighter.

And he let her.

----------------------------------------

Ha-rin eventually calmed down, though she still clung to his hospital gown as if afraid he would disappear again. Her breathing slowed, her hiccups fading into soft sniffles. She wiped her puffy red eyes, taking a shaky breath before speaking in a quiet, almost meek voice.

"Sorry…" she murmured, keeping her gaze down. "I just… I needed to get that out of my system."

Tae-woo gave her a small, tired smile. "Don't apologize, Ha-rin. You had every right to be upset."

She sniffled again, rubbing at her nose. "I know you didn't mean to enter the Abyssal Gate, Oppa. It wasn't your fault." Her grip on his gown tightened slightly. "But when they told me what happened, I thought… I thought I was going to lose you forever."

Tae-woo sighed, feeling another wave of guilt settle over him. "I'm sorry for making you go through that."

Ha-rin shook her head. "Just… don't do anything like that again."

"I'll try."

She sighed, shoulders slumping, then pulled back slightly and looked him in the eye. "Oppa… you were unconscious for six days."

Tae-woo blinked. "Six… days?"

Ha-rin nodded. "I stayed by your side as much as I could, but the doctors said there wasn't much they could do except wait for you to wake up."

Tae-woo exhaled, leaning back against the pillows. Six days. That meant he had been lying in this bed for nearly a week. What the hell happened to him?

Ha-rin continued, her voice growing softer. "You were rescued by Seo-yeon Unnie and… oddly enough, Cha Min-soo-nim."

Tae-woo's eyes widened. "Min-soo-nim?"

She nodded. "The other S-Rank Hunters almost decided to abandon you inside the dungeon. They said a rescue mission would be too dangerous and that they couldn't risk losing more Hunters over someone with… well…" She trailed off, shifting uncomfortably.

Tae-woo understood. Over someone with his rank.

His stomach tightened, but he stayed quiet, waiting for her to continue.

"Seo-yeon Unnie was the one who proposed the rescue mission. But no one wanted to listen to her," Ha-rin said, her expression darkening slightly. "Then Min-soo-nim said something. I don't know what, but it convinced at least half of them to let them enter the Gate."

Tae-woo's mind raced. Cha Min-soo, the Guildmaster of Azure Sky, personally went into the Abyssal Gate to rescue him? Why? He and Min-soo had never even met in person before.

"They managed to find you and bring you back before the Gate vanished," Ha-rin continued. "Both Seo-yeon Unnie and Min-soo-nim are fine, by the way. They left after making sure you were stabilized."

Tae-woo let out a slow breath, processing everything.

Han Seo-yeon had risked her life for him. That wasn't surprising, as she was always like that. But Cha Min-soo? One of the most powerful and influential Hunters in Korea, as well as the guildmaster of one of the six Great Guilds in Korea, had helped bring him back, and Tae-woo had no idea why.

Before he could dwell on it further, the door to the hospital room slammed open.

"TAE-WOO, YOU LUCKY BASTARD!"

With a loud pop, confetti exploded into the air. A loud, obnoxious noisemaker blared in his ears.

Tae-woo groaned, already knowing exactly who had just entered.

Choi Ji-hoon stood in the doorway, a ridiculous party hat on his head, still holding the remains of a confetti popper in one hand and a noisemaker in the other. He grinned widely, looking like he had just walked into a surprise party instead of a hospital room.

"Congratulations on not dying!" Ji-hoon cheered, throwing his arms up. "I was gonna buy you flowers, but then I remembered you don't really deserve flowers, so I settled for this."

Ha-rin and Tae-woo both sighed at the same time.

Before either of them could say anything, a nurse stormed into the room, glaring daggers at Ji-hoon.

"Sir! This is a hospital! No loud noises inside the patient's room!"

Ji-hoon immediately straightened up, saluting like a soldier. "Understood, ma'am! My deepest apologies! I will now proceed to not make loud noises-"

Then he blew the noisemaker again.

The nurse fumed, reaching for her clipboard as if ready to throw it at him.

"OUT. NOW."

"Okay, okay, I get it!" Ji-hoon laughed, raising his hands in surrender. "I'll be good, I promise!"

The nurse gave him a long, pointed glare, then turned and stormed off, muttering about "annoying young men with no sense of respect."

Ji-hoon grinned. "Man, hospital staff have gotten way stricter since the last time you were in here."

Tae-woo gave him a flat look. "Or maybe you've just gotten more annoying."

Ji-hoon gasped dramatically, placing a hand over his chest. "Wow. I throw you a celebration, and this is how you repay me?"

Ha-rin crossed her arms, unimpressed. "This isn't a celebration. Oppa almost died."

"Yeah, but he didn't. Which is miraculous! Hence, celebration!" Ji-hoon threw his hands up. "Seriously, man. You fell into an Abyssal Gate and came back alive. That's like… a world record for surviving the impossible. How does it feel to be the most interesting F-Rank in Korea?"

Tae-woo sighed again, rubbing his temples.

He was too tired for this.

----------------------------------------

Choi Ji-hoon leaned back in his chair, arms crossed behind his head, watching the hospital room in relative silence. The obnoxious energy he had when he entered earlier had mellowed out, replaced by a rare moment of calm.

Ha-rin had finally fallen asleep, her exhaustion catching up with her after days of stress and worry. She had slumped against the edge of the bed; her small hands lightly curled into the fabric of Tae-woo's hospital gown as if making sure he wouldn't vanish again.

Tae-woo absentmindedly patted her head, running his fingers through her hair every now and then, careful not to wake her.

Ji-hoon smirked. "You're a good brother, you know that?"

Tae-woo blinked, glancing at him with mild confusion. "That's weird coming from you."

"Hey, I can be serious sometimes," Ji-hoon said, grinning. "I mean, not often, but I have my moments."

Tae-woo snorted. "Sure you do."

Ji-hoon shrugged. "All I'm saying is, you're a broke-ass Hunter who can barely afford rent, yet you still take care of your little sister like it's the most natural thing in the world. Not everyone does that."

Tae-woo didn't say anything, just continued gently patting Ha-rin's head.

After a moment of silence, Ji-hoon sighed, stretching his arms. "So, the Abyssal Gate is gone now."

Tae-woo's fingers paused for a split second before resuming. "Yeah?"

Ji-hoon nodded. "Vanished right on schedule, ten hours after it appeared. Nothing left behind, just like always."

Tae-woo exhaled slowly. That meant he had been rescued just in time. If Seo-yeon and Cha Min-soo had been even a little bit later…

Ji-hoon continued, his tone a bit more serious now. "The whole situation blew up. You probably don't know this yet, but you kinda became… infamous online."

Tae-woo groaned, already dreading where this was going. "Let me guess. The internet is mocking me?"

"Oh yeah," Ji-hoon said with a chuckle. "The memes are everywhere. 'The First F-Rank to Enter an Abyssal Gate and Somehow Live.' Someone edited your face onto an old-school fantasy hero poster, except they added 'Weakest Hero Ever.'"

Tae-woo rubbed his temples, feeling a headache forming. "Great. Just what I needed."

Ji-hoon smirked. "I mean, it's kinda impressive. Most people get famous for doing something cool. You got famous for almost dying."

"Thanks, Ji-hoon. That makes me feel so much better."

Ji-hoon laughed before leaning forward slightly. "Jokes aside, the discussions are getting intense. A lot of people think your rescue was a complete waste of resources. Some are calling Seo-yeon reckless for trying to save you. Others are making conspiracy theories about why Cha Min-soo got involved."

Tae-woo frowned. "I was going to ask about that. Why did he help?"

Ji-hoon scratched his cheek. "No clue. He's been completely silent since the whole thing happened. Reporters have been hounding him, but he hasn't given a single statement. No interviews, no press releases, nothing."

Tae-woo's frown deepened. Cha Min-soo was one of the most influential Hunters in Korea. If he wanted to, he could have easily put out a statement and shut down speculation, but he was staying completely quiet.

If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

"That's… strange," Tae-woo muttered.

"Yeah. Some people think he saw something inside the Abyssal Gate that spooked him." Ji-hoon's voice lowered slightly. "You were in there for, what, a few minutes? Maybe longer? Even S-Ranks don't talk about what's inside those places. But something in there made Min-soo, one of the most powerful Hunters in Korea, refuse to talk."

A chill ran down Tae-woo's spine.

Had Min-soo seen something?

Or… had he seen Tae-woo?

Or that figure?

His thoughts were interrupted when Ji-hoon scoffed, his usual smirk returning. "Oh, and by the way, you might find this interesting. Kang Joon-seok? You know, that arrogant bastard from White Lotus?"

Tae-woo's jaw tightened, but he remained silent.

"Well, it turns out he's the son of one of the higher-ups in White Lotus Guild. One of their executives." Ji-hoon leaned back, tapping his fingers against the chair. "Which explains why his role in all of this has been downplayed."

Tae-woo stilled. "Downplayed?"

Ji-hoon nodded. "Yeah. No one's talking about what he was doing when you fell into the Abyssal Gate. Even though there were plenty of witnesses, the story going around is that it was just a freak accident. You 'lost your balance' near the portal, and that was that."

Tae-woo clenched his fists.

Ji-hoon let out a dry chuckle. "Even the supposedly most moral Guild isn't above sweeping things under the rug when it involves their own."

White Lotus Guild had a pristine reputation. They were known as one of the most ethical and just guilds in the country. But if they were covering for Joon-seok, then that meant even they had their fair share of corruption.

Tae-woo felt a bitter taste in his mouth.

Of course.

The strong always protected their own.

Ji-hoon sighed. "Anyway, the whole mess is dying down for now. But something tells me this won't be the last time it comes up."

Tae-woo leaned back, exhaling slowly. His head was still spinning from everything. The Abyssal Gate, his rescue, Min-soo's involvement, the internet making a mockery of him, and now the person involved in getting him in this mess being let off the hook.

He had barely woken up, and it was already too much to take in.

Ji-hoon stretched his arms behind his head. "Well, on the bright side, at least you're alive."

Tae-woo gave him a flat look. "That's the bare minimum, Ji-hoon."

Ji-hoon grinned. "Hey, sometimes the bare minimum is all you need."

Tae-woo sighed.

He had a feeling his problems were just beginning.

As Tae-woo sighed, a new voice suddenly broke the moment.

"Answering questions shouldn't be too hard for someone who just spent six days sleeping, right?"

Ji-hoon yelled, nearly falling out of his chair.

"WHAT THE HELL-"

Tae-woo's head snapped toward the doorway, where Cha Min-soo stood, leaning casually against the doorframe. His signature dark blue coat hung loosely over his shoulders, his sharp eyes studying the room with the same unreadable intensity he always carried.

Ji-hoon clutched his chest, staring at him wide-eyed. "Damn it, Min-soo-nim! Are you trying to give me a heart attack?! When did you even get here?!"

Min-soo laughed, the sound light but vaguely amused. "You should pay more attention to your surroundings, Ji-hoon."

Ji-hoon gawked at him before groaning. "How are you so damn stealthy? You're a mage, not an assassin!"

Min-soo shrugged. "I have my ways." Then, turning his gaze toward Tae-woo, he asked, "Do you have time to answer a few questions?"

Tae-woo hesitated for a moment.

Cha Min-soo, the Guildmaster of Azure Sky, one of the most powerful Hunters in Korea, had personally helped rescue him from the Abyssal Gate. And now, he was standing in his hospital room, wanting to talk.

Tae-woo had no idea what to expect.

But he nodded anyway.

"…Yeah. I have time."

----------------------------------------

The hospital room had grown quiet again.

Ji-hoon had left, mumbling about how he was "too normal" to sit in a room with one of Korea's strongest Hunters and "a guy who somehow survived an Abyssal Gate." That left only Tae-woo, Min-soo, and Ha-rin, still sleeping soundly against the side of the bed.

Min-soo's gaze lingered on Ha-rin, his expression unreadable. After a moment, he spoke.

"You take care of her well."

Tae-woo glanced at his little sister before turning back to Min-soo. "I try."

Min-soo nodded. "I have younger siblings, too. A brother and a sister. They're still in school."

Tae-woo blinked, a little surprised. "Really?"

Min-soo chuckled lightly. "What? You think people like me don't have a family?"

Tae-woo scratched his cheek. "No, it's just… I don't really think of S-Rank Hunters as normal people with normal lives."

Min-soo smiled faintly. "We were normal before we Awakened. Some of us still are."

There was something in his tone, something that sounded just a bit distant, but Tae-woo couldn't quite place it.

A moment of silence passed before Tae-woo finally asked the question that had been sitting in his mind since he woke up.

"Why did you agree to rescue me?"

Min-soo's expression didn't change, but there was a brief pause before he answered.

"I had my reasons."

Tae-woo narrowed his eyes. "That's not an answer."

Min-soo chuckled, crossing his arms. "It's the one you're getting."

Tae-woo exhaled through his nose. He had expected as much. If Min-soo had some deeper reason for saving him, he wasn't going to reveal it so easily.

Seeing the conversation shift, Min-soo leaned forward slightly.

"Now, I have a question for you."

Tae-woo straightened slightly, already knowing what was coming.

"What happened when you were inside the Abyssal Gate?"

Tae-woo hesitated.

He could still remember the whispers.

The relentless voices tearing into his mind.

The shifting, grotesque visions of beasts devouring one another.

And then…

That figure.

The dark presence that had watched him.

The blood that had dripped onto his tongue.

His fists tightened slightly, but he kept his face neutral.

"I didn't see much," he finally said. "It was dark, and I was alone. I don't even know how deep I was. The cave had these… glowing purple crystals, but other than that, I didn't see any monsters."

Min-soo listened carefully, his sharp gaze studying Tae-woo's face. "No monsters?"

Tae-woo shook his head. "None. But…"

He hesitated again before continuing.

"There were… voices."

Min-soo's expression didn't change, but his body stilled ever so slightly.

"They whispered to me. Mocked me. Tore into my mind. It was like they were inside my head, but also everywhere at once."

Tae-woo clenched his jaw, keeping his breathing steady. "It was suffocating. I tried to block them out, but they only got louder. Then…"

He paused, choosing his words carefully.

"I saw things."

Min-soo leaned forward slightly. "What things?"

Tae-woo exhaled. "Images. Like… flashes of something I couldn't understand. Beasts eating each other. Sharp teeth. Open mouths. Over and over again."

Min-soo remained silent.

It was a calculated silence.

Tae-woo wasn't sure what he was looking for, but the Guildmaster's sharp eyes never left him.

Finally, Min-soo sighed, leaning back. "That's… unsettling."

Tae-woo let out a dry chuckle. "Yeah. No kidding."

Another moment of silence stretched between them.

Tae-woo decided to shift the conversation. "You've entered the Abyss before, right?"

Min-soo's eyes flickered, but he nodded. "Yes."

Tae-woo hesitated before asking, "Did you hear whispers too?"

Min-soo was quiet for a long moment.

Then, he smiled.

It was a vague, unreadable smile.

"Let's just say… you're not the only one who's heard voices in that place."

A chill ran down Tae-woo's spine.

Min-soo didn't elaborate further, and Tae-woo didn't press.

Instead, Min-soo shifted the topic. "You should get yourself checked at an Examination Center."

Tae-woo frowned. "Why?"

"To see if your Class evolved," Min-soo said simply.

Tae-woo froze.

His Class.

He hadn't even thought about that.

Min-soo continued, his tone casual but his gaze sharp. "Falling into an Abyssal Gate and coming back alive? That's not normal. You should check if something changed."

Tae-woo's mouth felt dry.

He had felt… different. His body still ached, but something inside him felt off like something had shifted in a way he didn't fully understand.

He clenched his fists, remembering the moment that figure's blood had dripped onto his tongue.

Could that have done something to him?

Min-soo watched him carefully as if measuring his reaction.

Finally, Tae-woo nodded slowly. "I'll keep that in mind."

Min-soo smiled faintly, standing up. "Good."

As he turned toward the door, he glanced at Ha-rin one last time before stepping out.

Tae-woo sat there in silence.

His mind was racing.

Something had changed.

And he needed to find out what.

----------------------------------------

Cha Min-soo walked down the hospital corridor, his steps steady, his thoughts heavy. The sterile scent of disinfectant lingered in the air, the soft beeping of machines echoing from patient rooms as he passed. His mind kept circling back to the same thing.

Jin Tae-woo.

Surviving an Abyssal Gate should have been impossible.

And yet, Tae-woo had returned.

Something about him felt different, though Min-soo couldn't pinpoint exactly what. It wasn't just the fact that he had survived, but also how they had found him.

He exhaled slowly, running a hand through his hair. He had seen too much in his life to believe in miracles. There was always a cost.

Turning the corner, he noticed someone standing in front of a hospital room, carrying a fruit basket.

Han Seo-yeon.

She was dressed in a black turtleneck, a far cry from her usual pristine white combat attire. The dim hospital lighting cast soft shadows across her face, highlighting the tiredness in her eyes.

Min-soo's gaze flickered to the fruit basket, then back to her face.

"For him?"

Seo-yeon turned slightly at the sound of his voice before offering a polite bow. "Min-soo-nim." She hesitated for a brief moment before nodding. "Yes. I thought he might need something fresh when he wakes up."

Min-soo studied her for a moment.

"You really care about him."

Her fingers tightened slightly around the basket handle, but she didn't look away. "He's important to me."

There was no hesitation in her voice, no need for embellishment.

Min-soo hummed, slipping his hands into his coat pockets. His sharp gaze dropped to her left shoulder.

"How's your shoulder?"

Seo-yeon's grip on the basket stilled for a fraction of a second.

Her fingers curled tighter, her jaw tensing ever so slightly before she quickly masked it.

Min-soo caught the shift in her posture, the way she almost instinctively rolled her shoulder as if testing the muscles beneath her sweater.

For a brief moment, neither of them spoke.

Then, Seo-yeon exhaled softly, her fingers relaxing.

"I already healed it. It's fine now."

Min-soo tilted his head. "That's not what I asked."

Seo-yeon looked down at the basket for a moment before answering.

"It wasn't his fault," she said evenly. "Whatever the dungeon did to him, it wasn't him in that moment. I know that."

Min-soo remained silent, his gaze still fixed on her.

He could see it, the way she refused to touch her shoulder, the way she kept one arm slightly closer to her body as if remembering the pain.

He had been there.

He had seen the blood, the raw wound where a chunk of her shoulder had been torn away.

He had seen the shock in her eyes, not just from the pain but from the realization that it had been Tae-woo who had done it.

She had felt his teeth sink into her flesh.

Had felt him rip something from her.

And yet, she stood here, defending him.

Min-soo let out a slow breath. "You don't hate him for it?"

Seo-yeon shook her head. "There was no reason to."

Min-soo studied her for another long moment before nodding.

"You're a good person, Seo-yeon."

She blinked, looking mildly surprised.

Before she could respond, Min-soo casually adjusted his coat, his expression unreadable.

"But I'll still be keeping an eye on him."

Seo-yeon frowned slightly. "What do you mean?"

Min-soo glanced at Tae-woo's hospital room door, his voice dropping slightly.

"I want to see what changes the Abyssal Gate brought upon him."

Without another word, he turned and walked away.

Seo-yeon stood there for a long moment, gripping the basket a little tighter, feeling a phantom ache where his teeth had once torn into her shoulder.

She could only hope…

That whatever happened to Tae-woo hadn't changed him forever.