- AAAAH!!! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! Somebody! PLEASE! AHHHHHH! GHHHHHHHHHHH!"
There was a girl screaming in the dungeon. The reason was clear, a huge wolf composed almost entirely of rye-colored crystals had bitten through her arm, along with her right shoulder.
The rest of the group stood still, watching the horrifying scene before them. Ooh! They wanted to help her! But they couldn't. You see, her entire group of four? was frozen in crystals that looked like huge blocks of ice. The monster of the dungeon, the Aragonite Wolf, had cunningly cast its paralyzing *Aragonite Imprisonment* spell on them, and was now viciously feasting on them in front of a cheerful audience.
Clang, clang, clang! CRUNCH!
With one clang of teeth, the wolf ripped off the girl's arm, thrusting it into its transparent maw and began chewing. Its jaw was semi-visible, so all onlookers could see how the once beautiful arm of the young and ambitious Stone Spear Shaman was turning into meat mush under the monster's sharp fangs. The victim herself, from this spectacle, lost consciousness, a clue to which was her swollen eyes and profuse salivation.
The closest lump to the horror of all that was happening, imprisoned in the crystal, all in tears, was suffering Hyun Yu. Her friend, right in front of her, was being tortured and killed, and she... couldn't do anything. The once pretty face of Hyun Yu, who used to be one of the ten most beautiful Hunters in Korea, was now smeared with mascara and various kinds of dripping makeup, making her look like an ugly, crying little girl trying to cosplay a ghost. The pale skin and white robe helped her a lot in this.
Hyun Yu closed her eyes and summoned all her mana in a desperate attempt to cast the strongest " purification" spell she was capable of. In a matter of seconds, she felt her mana drain, and steam began to pour out of the crystals where the members of her group were, as if they were melting. A golden glow flickered on the surface of the crystals, the so-called "Purification" spell that removed all the negative effects from the allies. However, even though Hyun Yu was the top 2 Priestess in the World Hunter Ranking, her spell was a crushing fiasco, as soon after applying it, the glow faded and disappeared, and the blocks remained standing.
What had happened caught Wolf's attention. He turned his gaze to the already pale Hyungyu and with slow, steady steps walked toward her, the wolf felt his power over people, he was in no hurry, he enjoyed the short flow of time and the pleasure of the moment. Having completely lost interest in Shaman, the Wolf now wanted to feast on Hyun Yu. As he approached the crystal that hosted Hyun-Yu, the Wolf stopped, a luminescent crown appearing on his head, signifying his majesty. HE IS THE BOSS HERE! THIS IS HIS DUNGEON! With a slight wave of his head, he dispersed parts of the crystal so that only the lower part of Hyun Yu's body was frozen. It wasn't that it was necessary, she didn't have the strength to even move a finger. Having done so, the wolf walked imposingly close to Hyun Yu and touched his nose to her face. And then... He took one deep breath and turned his head toward the Group Leader, a young man in his thirties dressed in beautiful pearl-colored armor with a Chakram in his frozen hands. It turned and... smiled.
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Lim Ho could have sworn that the damn monster was taunting him! Gloating! He had the feeling that the wolf could see right through him, that he knew! Knows what kind of relationship he has with Hyun Yu! Knows and that's why he's laughing because she's in his clutches and he, her boyfriend, can't do anything about it. He, Lim Ho, Korea's strongest hunter, ranker, and B++ grade dungeon conqueror, was now no stronger than an ordinary fly who can't protect his beloved. He did not know how this monster had found out about them, perhaps from her remaining scent on his body or from his worry about her, but he knew one thing, the Wolf wanted to kill her. To kill her so that Lim Ho would suffer, and the wolf would enjoy this blatantly blissful suffering of feelings that the wolf himself was incapable of. Turning his head back to Hyun Yu, the wolf breathed in her scent one more time before opening his huge crystal mouth.
"Noooooo!" - Lim Ho wanted to shout, but his mouth was tight, and so was his whole body. The power he possessed was now worthless, meaningless, useless. What did he need power for if he could not use it at a critical moment! Unable to watch Hyun Yu die, Lim Ho forcibly closed his eyes.
*CLANG* BAAAAAAAAAAM.
Suddenly, right after the clang of teeth, there was an insanely deafening explosion that made everyone's ears ring and made them bleed. Disoriented, Lim Ho was on his knees, holding his hands to his ears and screaming as hard as he could. After a few seconds, when the pain faded into the background, he suddenly realized that he was on his knees and nothing was restraining him anymore. As he opened his eyes and staggered, he slowly stood up and looked around, Han Young and Han Jung, the twin brothers from his group, were lying on the ground unconscious, he turned around and saw the shaman Seo Yoon and Hyun Yu in the same condition. But that wasn't what caught Lim Ho's eye, where a second ago a three meter tall crystal wolf, the final A rank Dungeon Boss, was standing, there was a huge hole in the wall about forty meters in diameter. From the opposite wall was an identical hole. It looked as if someone had just punched something through the dungeon cave. Lim Ho's eyes slowly rolled over the orange scraps of what had once been the dungeon boss. All that was left of its body was part of its hip and tail, and the rest was simply gone. With his eyes bulging with shock, Lim Ho couldn't believe it. However, after gathering his thoughts, he still squeezed his chakram and made his way to the hole to see who or what had made it. Even though it was dangerous, he didn't care, he was already on the verge of death a few seconds ago, and the ringing in his ears made it hard for him to think straight. He stepped closer to the wall of the cave and leaned his chest against it so that he could slowly poke his head out to see what was behind the wall. As his right eye finally made its way from the blank wall to the hole in it he saw that. At the end of the tunnel, which outlined an almost perfectly flat circle, over 200 meters thick of stone, a humanoid creature was looking in his direction. With the eyesight of a high-level hunter, Lim Ho was able to see the visitor, though he wished he had not seen it better. At the end of the tunnel stood a humanoid figure, every part of whose body, was made of mirrors, reflecting all the surfaces around it. The figure had no eyes, mouth, or nose. Looking directly into its face, Lim Ho saw only his own reflection. He looked away for a moment, only for a fraction of a second, but that was enough for the figure. Enough to instantly teleport toward Lim Ho, right up close. The figure was almost a head taller than Lim Ho. Korea's strongest hunter instantly froze in fear, unable to even move. All he could think about was obeying, because the stranger's aura was pressing down on him with such force that there was no thought left to resist. Suddenly, the glass on the figure's face began to crack, and an unnatural-looking mouth formed from the cracked pieces.
- М? Was there someone else here?" - uttered the figure in an ordinary voice. But the power of the voice was so powerful and unwavering that just because of the ordinary words, Lim Ho instantly lost consciousness and collapsed to the ground like a stone.
-Hmm... I forgot to weaken my strength again..." - At these words the figure began to change, the mirrors, were now becoming transparent and detached from the body just as if they had been separated by telekinesis. As more and more particles separated from the figure's body, its true body became visible. Now, above the measuredly breathing Lim Ho, stood an ordinary guy of about twenty-five, in black pants, jacket, and tie, with an expressionless face. He looked around and didn't find anything worthy of attention, he stooped down to Lim Ho's body, unceremoniously grabbed him by both cheeks and held him up to his face to get a better look at Lim Ho. A sudden thought flashed through the guy's mind, one of his eyebrows going up a little. The edges of his lips lifted slightly and he instantly began to examine Lim Ho's armor. After a while, he pulled out a small, glowing turquoise blade from beneath the hunter's pearly armor, and with a slightly contented look, threw it into his spatial ring.
- Well. That'll do, I guess."
The guy released his grip and Lim Ho dropped heftily, face straight down, his chin bumping crisply against the rock.
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Her delicately thin scarlet lips, her slightly silky black hair, her bottomless green eyes that I wanted to drown in, her perfect curves that shot my eyes, I loved everything about her. Her name was Park Suyong, and I fell in love with her at first sight when I came to have a cup of coffee at a cafe called Myeongdong. The moment I first saw her, my heart stopped, which had never happened before, my breathing quickened, which was also rare for me, and what the heck, I even forgot that I only drink latte and ordered a double espresso, because my thoughts raced through my worldview like a herd of mustangs through a field. Even though, I had fallen in love with her at first sight and liked her to the point of insanity, in all the time I had never been able to approach her and talk to her. Although sometimes we talk, because I became a regular at this cafe from the day I came here the first time, but in general, I go here every day in the hope to see her. I don't know what it was that attracted me to her, I've seen a lot of girls with her looks and even better, but there was... there was something about her... I didn't want to leave her, but I didn't want to disturb her. Maybe she deserved more than a life with me... Anyway, fuck the misery. Oh yeah, did I not introduce myself? My name is Aiden Seo. Although you can't tell by my name, I'm Korean, but not pure-blooded. My mother used to say that my father, a visiting American tourist in Seoul, married my mother, a true Korean, gave me my name, and disappeared from our lives to an unknown destination without giving answers to many questions. My mother doesn't blame him for what happened, but sometimes gets angry with him because he probably didn't even tell her his real name. Though I think he's a total asshole to begin with, after all.
In fact, just so you get a picture of what's going on in our world right now in general. Listen up. About 56 years ago, the world changed. It all started with a small portal that first appeared near the city of Laocai in Vietnam. A huge purple portal hovering a kilometer off the ground attracted the attention of the entire globe, such an anomaly could not be ignored. Only the news of the strange contraption traveled around all the world's powers, they instantly sent scientists to study it, no sooner had they stuck their curious eyes into the amazing, as the portal expanded, as if opening its wide mouth eating the sky and let loose monsters, remotely resembling overgrown mosquitoes. And in general, these monsters didn't exactly threaten people even with the weapons and technology of the times, if not for one thing... All people on earth, that day, unconsciously collapsed into sleep, which lasted for 36 hours. And for all those hours, new portals were opening in the world and new monsters were coming out, only to enjoy the meat of helpless people lying on the ground. It was a tragedy for humanity, no one expected something like this to happen, and if they did, they would be considered crazy, wouldn't they? Millions and millions of people died, many countries without firepower fell. The most critical moment happened when people woke up. Awakened from the nightmare, humanity reincarnated, all people without exception now had knowledge, knowledge of the power they wield and how to use it. With this power, the waking, surviving humans, who saw what their beloved world had become, directed their anger at those who had been responsible for its partial destruction. After the mystical dream, everyone on the planet received superpowers, powers, magic, whatever you want to call it, which depended on all their accumulated experience and their human potential, their personality. Those who had the power became known as hunters, for their sole purpose was to hunt down and kill the monsters that filled the Earth. For example, when at the exact same time another portal opened in the territory of modern Serbia, a heroic hunter named Zoran Ristic appeared. Using his newfound magic of salt manipulation, he was able to kill almost all monsters coming out of the portal alone by shooting huge marble-white columns and cones from under the ground, piercing the boar-like creatures. Meanwhile, in China, a hero named Wang Yibo, gained the ability of Vacuum and was able to destroy an entire mountain of slime-like monsters. Back then, many portals were opened, as many heroes appeared... Since you know the story, mankind has managed to survive the crisis and hold back the influx of monsters for now.
This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Since then, hunters have been revered and exalted by the Internet, the media, the government, and people in general. They have become part of the culture, as if they had always been there.
After all these years, abilities gradually began to appear among children around the age of 12, depending on their period of puberty. And as you might have guessed, not everyone could become a hunter, although every person on the planet got superpowers, not everything is as rosy as it sounds. Because while one kid gets the power to accelerate molecules, which can blow up any object from the inside, another kid gets the power to make tea... by the power of thought... Because of this, of course, people have a new hierarchy, a ladder of quality of human potential as an individual. Which in simple terms, the strong persecuted the weak. And although the government and many caring people have tried somehow to reduce the influence of abilities on the perception of others. But it must be remembered that children, not quite human, they cannot think in steps and intricacies, so they cannot understand how they, who possess strong superpowers, can be equal to these weaklings? Whereas before, prior to world change, people were judged by their skin color and it was called racism, now people were judged by their abilities, and it was called " Abilicism." And there were a great many Abilicists. So you get the gist of what's going on.
At this point, I'm working for a big company in one of Korea's top guilds, which has the braggadocio name "Emerald Dragon", as if they had no imagination to come up with something fresher and more impressive. My job consists of going to my office every day, walking past the pretty girls and guys fussing with computers and phones, who look like twins dressed in the same suits as me, walking into my sun-deprived cube of half-plastic boards, trying poorly to copy normal walls, turning on my PC and becoming as boring as everyone around me. In short, I give credits. Well, not just credits, but gear. My clients are young adventurers who are just starting out as hunters and need gear for their first trip to the dungeons, or they just need money and pretend to be hunters to get it. In any case, if one of them fails to pay on time, I knock on their door and settle the matter on the spot. Stick or carrot, that's up to them.
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After getting away from the retrospective of his life, Aiden looked again at Park Suyong fidgeting over coffee and buns. She was as gaily beautiful as ever. As she handed a cup of coffee to a customer, she looked in his direction and they met each other's eyes. Aiden didn't look away, and neither did she. Smiling slightly at him, she took off her work apron and headed straight for him. Aiden picked up his cup and sipped his coffee, wondering what she wanted from him.
Had she really noticed that he stared at her every day? Shit...
It was late afternoon and it was about 20 minutes before the cafe was supposed to close. She was walking toward him, with slow measured steps, Aiden's palms gently enveloping the cup, sweating profusely, either from the hot coffee or from the exertion...
- Hello, excuse me... I do not know your name ... how can I address you?" - She came up and smiled.
- Aiden. Aiden Seo."
- Park Suyong, nice to meet you. May I sit down?" - She looked at him expectantly, waiting for an answer.
- Of course you are, pretty girl," he replied.
Holy fuck, a pretty girl?! Seriously!? Relax Aidan, don't be nervous.
Suyong smiled sweetly and had no reaction, she sat down, folded her arms in a boat-like fashion on the table and stared at Aiden with a piercing stare.
- Aiden... may I ask you a question? Are you a hunter?"
- No, not at all, why would you think I am?"
- I don't know, you just have a certain aura of self-confidence about you. So I thought that..." - she stopped talking at the end of that sentence and wondered. - Aiden, wouldn't you like to be a hunter?"
- What? A hunter?" - Aiden replied softly, smiling stupidly at her, but met only her serious face.
- Yes. You see, my friends and I, are going to become hunters, and to begin with we want to gather a group of capable people with whom we can have our way. I was given the assignment to bring one person and.... for some reason I immediately thought of you..." - she said this and started twiddling her thumbs, clearly nervous.
- Mrs. Park, I'd love to take you up on your offer, but you see, I don't think I'd be of any use. My abilities are... are very particular, you see. I don't think you need someone like me." - Aiden said, sipping his coffee and not taking his eyes off Suyong.
- What are you talking about? Your abilities are not important to us. We already have a tank, a healer, and damage-dealers, including me. For now you can just walk around with us, cover our backs and collect items, and then, we'll figure out what role suits you best."
Aiden sighed and shifted his gaze to his cup, the coffee swirling slowly in draughty waves in a circle, gently hypnotizing him.
- I agree." - he said, without looking back at her.
Park Suyong, upon his agreement, immediately broke out into a smile and began to quickly gibberish, "Fine! We'll find you an outfit to start with, can you text me brief information about yourself? Including superpowers, your job, and so on whatever you think necessary, here's my phone number by the way, also I' ...."
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An opaque, dark veil of night fell softly over Seoul. Under the neon lights from the store banners and billboards, there was a young man in a black hooded jacket. The street was already sparsely populated, but here and there you could see people walking and scurrying through the alleys. The young man rounded a corner and came upon a beggar sitting right on the corner, absolutely exhausted, the man sitting on a cardboard that had been worn down for years, keeping his head off the ground, creating bright turquoise lights between his hands that ran playfully between his fingers and down his arm, changing their shapes to hare, lion, cat, and other animals in flight. Aiden stopped without apologizing to the beggar for having just bumped into him, though it was unlikely that the trickster had noticed anything. Aiden looked up and saw that a cloaked werewolf wrapped in a cloak was sitting next to the trickster, with a violin case in front of him that barely held enough money to last him another day. He was looking straight ahead with an expressionless face, holding the violin but not playing anything, not even breathing. Aiden immediately recognized the effects of a new drug that was flooding the lower levels of the city, called Bliss. Squatting down in front of the werewolf, Aiden took his hands out of his hoodie pocket and slapped both of the wolf-man's hairy cheeks unceremoniously with them.
Zero reaction. Tz.
After watching the two beggars for a few more moments, Aiden raised himself up, slipped his hands into his pocket again, took out a couple of paper banknotes and threw them into a werewolf case and a trickster magician's hat. After walking about twenty meters further, he turned onto a stairwell, absolutely starved of light, where he couldn't even see his own feet, which led to his apartment on the 3rd floor of a dilapidated building.
***
When Aiden entered the apartment, he could smell his mother's cooking, the sizzling sound of something cooking in a frying pan came from the kitchen, along with the water coming from the faucet. His sister was sitting imposingly on the couch, legs spread apart, with a huge pack of chips, watching intently the new episode of the daily news, "Hunters of Korea." In her cradles she clutched a dakimakura depicting the top 1 Hunter of Korea, the Pearl Knight Lim Ho.
Aiden slammed the door and began to take off his sneakers.
- How was your walk, son?" - his mother in a purple apron came out of the kitchen, wiping down the washed dishes with a rag.
- Yeah, pretty good. Seoul at night is as inspiring as ever." - he replied a little tiredly.
At these words, Ji Yeon muttered something indecipherable with indignation.
- Is Ji Yeon still at the TV? How long has she been lying there?" - Aidan asked his mother as he walked into the kitchen and sat down on a creaky, barely standing chair.
- Only she knows how long herself, I went grocery shopping myself a while ago."
- Bought that?" - Aiden asked conspiratorially.
- Sure did, the best I could find. I spent all my savings on it." - His mother bent down to the well-worn refrigerator and pulled out a huge chocolate sponge cake covered in chocolate flakes with lots of yummy berries on top.
- Not bad." Aiden showed a thumbs up.
- Now, I'll finish the kimchi and we can hand it to her."
- Okay."
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Fifteen minutes or so later, the lights went out in the room with Ji Yeon lying there, she immediately jumped up and poked her head out from behind the couch to see what was going on. Aiden and her mother came out of the hallway, striding gracefully in their party hats, Aiden carrying a huge beautiful cake filled with multicolored candles shimmering with different lights against the walls of the room.
- Waaaah!" was the only words Ji Yeon could utter in amazement.
Coming up to her sister, Aiden held the cake out to her so that it was a few centimeters from her eyes and said: "Happy Birthday, Ji Yeon!" his mother immediately echoed from behind him, "Happy Birthday, daughter!"
Aiden then gestured for his sister to blow out the candles, which she instantly did, smiling ear to ear. Afterwards he placed the cake on the table in front of the couch. Without a second's hesitation, their mother took out a hidden gift box from behind her back and handed it to Ji Yeon. With shaking hands and wet eyes, Ji Yeon took the box with both hands and unfolded the ribbon.
- It's.... It's the new UPhone 14!" - she squealed, jumping on the spot. Then she turned around and hugged her mother. - Thank you! Thank you!!!"
- All right, Ji, let go of your mother, she's in pain. Don't forget I have a present for you too." - Aiden pulled an oblong box with an identical ribbon from his hoodie pocket and handed it to his sister.
Ji Yeon didn't hesitate long to open the box, but as soon as she opened it, the whole room glowed with an azure and turquoise light that blinded Ji Yeon and Mother for a moment. In the box, upon a red silk cloth, lay a short blade spreading a cold aura.
- OH. MY. FUCKING. GOD!!! - Ji Yeon screamed across the room, immediately getting a smack from her mother. - Ouch, ouch! I'm sorry, I'm sorry! Hey Mom, it's the Lim Ho's Azure Blade! Lim Ho, you know!"
- Is that the white weirdo in the tight pants and slicked-back hair from your TV?" - Mom asked inexplicably.
- Mom! His hair is fine! That' a replica of my Lim Ho's Azure Blade! What a quality, expensive one it must be! Brother I love you so much!" - She ran up to Aiden and took him in her arms.
- Yours?!" - Mom asked a perplexed, inaudible Jiyoung, who was already downloading Instadram onto her brand new UPhone, waving her blade in her other hand and kissing it intermittently.
- Looks like we lost her..." - Aiden said with a smirk as he cut the cake.
- Well, that's one less thing to worry about..." his mother sighed, taking the plate his son had handed her. - And by the way, you and I are going to have a serious conversation about the concept that giving an 18 year old girl a cold weapon isn't the smartest idea you can think of."
Aiden grimaced and tried to get a little smaller, dodging the answer.
Perhaps I shouldn't tell her it is a real magical artifact...