Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It had just been a favor. Joining a low level raid on a favor to a friend of his that couldn’t make it. Byung-Gyu honestly would have dismissed Juhee’s minor request if he’d had a proper reason other than not wanting to do it. He didn’t have any classes to study for or to even attend and, really, he did owe her. (Don’t tell anyone but they were actually cousins and she had saved his ass one too many times to ignore a small favor like this.)

The raid itself was a D-Rank gate that the Association contracted hunters for. Not something he had ever stepped foot into. After awakening right off the bat as an S-Rank Healer, Byung-Gyu had only ever gone into high ranking gates. If Yoon-Ho saw him now he’d be laughing his ass off. Him, the only S-Rank in Korea to retire with all limbs intact and in perfect health, going on a D-Rank raid. The other gathered hunters couldn’t believe it either by their whispers. Casting glances at him but no one approached him for a chat.

It was kind of sad. He liked talking to people. But after nearly seven years of being a hunter of his rank, he knew that most people wouldn’t step up for a simple conversation. At least he could feel the relief in the air that he was giving everyone. If he was there then no one would get hurt. That he could almost guarantee.

Still, he offered smiles to those that would meet his eyes.

Loud greetings to someone caught his attention. Byung-Gyu had glanced at the registered hunters for this raid so he was vaguely familiar with the man that joined them. An E-Rank hunter. It made him curious why everyone was greeting him but he supposed this was just a good team of friends. People that had hunted together before. He had tried to introduce himself to the others but it had been obvious everyone had already known him. So, he stepped forward to say ‘hello’ to the last hunter joining them.

“Hey, there.” Byung-Gyu waved at the man - maybe a year younger than him - with a bright smile. “I’m your healer for this raid so don’t worry about getting hurt in there, yeah?”

“Oh, right, hi.” Hunter Sung gave him a small wave in return despite them being in front of each other. “You must be Juhee’s cousin, she told me she couldn’t make it this time.” Something a little disappointed was in the man’s voice.

“You guys friends?” He hadn’t heard Juhee mention a boyfriend recently.

“Ha, well…” There was an embarrassed flush to Hunter Sung’s cheeks as he looked away. “She’s always the one to heal me during these raids. Guess you could say we’re friends.”

Oh. He knew who this was now. Juhee’s personal little thorn that she both complained about and complimented in the same sentence speaking about him. The E-Rank hunter that couldn’t stop getting hurt but always had the fire to continue doing raids. As far as he knew, she had a crush on the guy.

“Well then, I’ll take good care of you for her.”

It wasn’t until they were knee-deep into the dungeon that Byung-Gyu realized that he hadn’t actually introduced himself to Hunter Sung. The bite of embarrassment at getting distracted had him sticking far closer to the man than the other hunters to find a moment to correct his misstep. That resulted in him making sure the E-Rank was buffed against the simple goblins to avoid him getting hurt. Juhee’s complaint about him always getting hurt made more sense now.

“I don’t mean to come off as condescending,” Byung-Gyu started as he healed the stab wound in Hunter Sung’s thigh, “but shouldn’t you be using a weapon?”

“Ah, well, about that…” Hunter Sung once had a beet-red face and refused to meet his eyes. There was no attempt to explain.

“Here.” He picked up his mace off the stone and held it out the hunter. “You can borrow this for now. I doubt I’ll need to fight anyway and you look like you need it.”

“Oh, um, thank you.”

The sincere gratitude in the man was nice to see. Byung-Gyu set the teal, black, and gold mace in Hunter Sung’s hands before getting to his feet. It didn’t matter to him to give up his weapon. This was such a low rank dungeon that he wouldn’t even need to fight, let alone need a weapon to do so. (Eunseok and Yoon-Ho had trained him well in close quarters combat.)

It was far easier for Hunter Sung to fight with a weapon but it was also clear that the mace was a heavy instrument to wield. He winced at the way it bounced off the stone with an overcorrection but didn’t say anything. First timer mistakes were common, he’d made them too. Still, it eased some of the concern at seeing the Hunter use a weapon instead of fighting goblins with his bare hands. Even Brawler fight-classes had gauntlets or knuckle dusters. No one ever went in barehanded.

When the dungeon boss was defeated there was the usual expectation for the dungeon to start trembling with it closing. Byung-Gyu furrowed his brow at the lack of typical shaking and searched the area for something to explain it. The sight of a separate passageway leading into the dark unknown had unease curling his gut. Double Dungeons were rare and typically dangerous.

A word of warning was given to the raid party but ultimately the decision to go in deeper or to leave wasn’t his alone to make. As he had told the hunters before entering the gate, this was their raid and he was simply the fill in. When it came down to a vote, Byung-Gyu settled on a resolute ‘no’ on entering. He knew that they were likely going in deeper and knew that he could likely handle a C or B-Rank boss if push came to shove, but it wouldn’t be easy. Anything higher and none of them were making it out alive.

It was a long walk. Well over forty minutes down a deep tunnel. Byung-Gyu held his spellbook in his left hand with a useless curl and uncurl of his right hand. The lack of mace was a little unsettling given where they were going but he would rather Hunter Sung have a weapon to defend himself. Even if it did have him missing the comforting weight.

The massive double doors that they came to had everyone stopping. A sense of foreboding leaked out from them. His perception was high enough to know that there was a single very powerful Mage behind those doors. Several times stronger than him. It had him warning the hunters to leave. He could heal them all in a powerful fight but he knew in his heart that not everyone was going to leave this dungeon alive.

To his horror, the hunters pushed on. Byung-Gyu couldn’t help catching Hunter Sung’s arm as they stepped through the doors. This was Juhee’s friend, he wasn’t about to let him die here. Gray eyes looked up at him in confusion but he could only shake his head in warning. If no one was going to listen to him then he was just going to have to make sure someone made it out. (The nightmare of Jeju Island flashed behind his eyes with the familiar sense of dread curling in his bones.)

“Don’t approach the statues,” he warned the hunters. They might only be puppets to the Mage holding the stone tablet but that didn’t mean they weren’t dangerous.

There were a couple mutters from the hunters about ‘overly cautious Healers’  that he ignored. Just like they ignored his warning. The leader of the party at least had the sense to stay back from the Mage statue while reading the commandments on the tablet. Byung-Gyu didn’t want to take his eyes off the angel statue but he found himself glancing over his shoulder on instinct. A massive statue was looking at them.

His head snapped to the doors when they closed and his hand tightened around Hunter Sung’s arm out of instinct. The commandments were turned over as he glanced at the Statue of God again. Those eyes were back into a forward facing position. Knowing that the puppet was being controlled had him looking at the angel statue. Absolutely nothing had changed about it.

Maybe it was a Mage channeling magic through it. Either way, this wasn’t a good situation.

“The statues move,” Byung-Gyu said even as one of the hunters went for the closed doors. “Stop!” He didn’t have spells that could freeze someone’s movements and as he watched a knight statue swing down an axe he wished he had learned some.

Despite being an S-Rank Healer, he couldn’t heal the dead. The moment that hunter’s heart and brain had stopped working there was nothing he could do. And it happened in a matter of milliseconds when that axe severed his head. A scream from one of the other hunters echoed in the chamber. Byung-Gyu looked over at her but couldn’t help the automatic turn of his head to the stare on his back. The massive statue was looking again.

“Did that…” Hunter Sung’s mumbling had him glancing at the man. “Everyone get down!”

Byung-Gyu found himself being tackled to the ground just as a wave of impossible heat rushed over their heads. The crack of his head off the stone hurt but it was easily taken care of. A sharp breath was taken in. Charred flesh met him and fresh blood. Smelling an injury, he forced himself to sit up. Arm protectively over Hunter Sung even as the man sat up with him.

There was a large molten red strip carved out of the stone between them and several of the other hunters. All it took was a single glance to find that there were only eleven remaining hunters out of the thirteen there had been. Vaporized instantly, it seemed. Byung-Gyu had seen a lot in his six years as an active hunter but nothing that could eliminate someone down to atoms like that. That was well beyond an S-Rank boss.

“Hunter Song!” A concerned cry had him turning his attention to Hunter Sung at his side. The man was looking at the leader of the raid party.

“Oh, sorry, let me get that,” Byung-Gyu apologized while reaching out his hand.

The older man was missing his left arm. It only took a small dip into his mana to completely restore the destroyed limb. At his side, the spellbook flipped open at the use of his magic. Pages rustling to settle on the regeneration spell he had personally recorded down in the book. They weren’t necessary for Mages or Healers but he found that he had the ability to use any spell he had studied so long as he had written it down. Healing spells were simply where he excelled and what he focused on.

Something was said to Hunter Sung about the statue that he listened to without commenting on. His eyes found their way back to the angel statue. It might have been his imagination but he was certain there had been a flash of red eyes within the dark hood for a single moment.

“Hey, hey, what’re you doing?” Byung-Gyu asked when he noticed Hunter Sung moving away from him.

“Testing something,” was the simple answer.

That test was apparently to get his head seared off. Byung-Gyu yanked the man down with a hiss of scolding that he couldn’t help. There was a look in Hunter Sung’s eyes that had him biting his tongue on the next scolding for being reckless. He had been too busy worrying about the Mage statue while the other man seemed to have worked something out about the Statue of God.

The order to bow to the statue had several of the remaining hunters cursing at Hunter Sung. Byung-Gyu wanted to question what difference that would make until the commandments Hunter Song had read off clicked into place. Worship God was the first one. It was a rather straightforward commandment actually. One he berated himself for not putting together sooner as he got into a bowing position. On his knees with his hands planted flat and his forehead pressed to the stone.

And once everyone had copied there was thick silence in the chamber. At his side, Hunter Sung was warm and slowly rising from the bow. He copied him without a second thought. There was no way to determine if they had done the commandment right unless someone tested it. So, Byung-Gyu rose to his feet despite the protests. A hand gripped his wrist as if to stop him but he gave Hunter Sung a reassuring smile.

When no eye lasers came the other hunters started to rise as well. There was speculation on what was coming next and if they could leave when the Statue of God moved. Face splitting open into a demonic smile as it rose to its feet as well.

Byung-Gyu made a decision then and there. No matter what came out of this, he was never stepping foot into another dungeon.

The second commandment to Praise God had one of the hunters stepping forward. He knew his fair share about religion but whatever this man was saying didn’t apply to this God. They each had their own praises and prayers and proverbs and verses. Whatever this God Statue was, it certainly wasn’t going to stop based on Christianity.

His call out for the hunter to move came with Hunter Sung’s. Moments too late. Again. The Statue of God stomped on the hunter in a sickening crunch of bones. One of the other hunters fell to her knees in despair and Byung-Gyu went to shoot forward to grab her when someone yanked him away. Hunter Song’s caution about it being too late came with another echoing thud of stone on stone and wet squelch of a body being crushed between it. He was an S-Rank but this well beyond even him.

A call out to head for the statues had Byung-Gyu shoving Hunter Song towards the distant wall. He searched for what Hunter Sung must have noticed and picked up on the statues holding instruments and books. Those statues must move like the others.

There was a break away from Hunter Song to let him reach the statue holding a trumpet. The screams of dying hunters when they fell to the stomping God or when they picked the wrong statue filled his ears. He had been through several horrible situations and knew how to keep his cool but even this was getting to him. It was Jeju Island all over again. Ants swarming his companions and murdering them faster than he could heal them. Stronger and faster than he was, more durable than a Tank, magic resistant. He knew what death on the air tasted like and this chamber was filled to the brim with it.

“Hunter Min!” A shout of his name had him snapping out of his frozen state. Hands yanked him out of the falling foot of the massive statue and shoved him into a run.

“Sorry, I’m sorry.” Byung-Gyu stumbled over his uncoordinated feet. He didn’t even know who he was apologizing to until Hunter Sung pulled him to a stop beneath a statue holding a set of drums. It didn’t play like the others. “I-I think they only work for one person.”

“Okay, you stay here,” Hunter Sung said while letting go of his arm.

“Wait!” He stopped the hunter. “I’m faster than an E-Rank.”

There was a protest on the man’s lips but he was already gone. That mistake before had almost cost Hunter Sung his life to save his and it was only fair that he took the risk here. He was far faster than an E-Rank hunter. Than even a B-Rank if he really pushed himself.

The whisper of mana into a spell for speed had him escaping the downward crash of large foot. He could hear the flipping of pages from his spellbook to accommodate for his use of it. There weren’t anymore statues with instruments that he could see. Byung-Gyu searched the line of statues around the circular room for one that stood out amongst the others. The painful race of his heart was ignored to the best of his ability to focus.

There! A statue holding a book with her mouth open like she was going to say something. He slipped on the edge of a slick puddle of blood and had to catch himself on his hands to continue. Pushing himself up the moment his palms touched the stone. It was with a trip that he managed to roll into the stone base of the statue right as the God Statue went to stomp on where he had been a moment ago. The sound of ethereal vocals filled the air as he pressed his forehead to the cold stone.

Never again. He was retired already. No way in Hell would he be entering another gate.

The shaky rise to a normal sitting positions was met with the remaining hunters talking. Byung-Gyu stared at where an altar had risen in the center of the room. It was a little hard to breathe as he took it in. There was only one reason for something like that to appear. And he wasn’t the only one to come to that conclusion.

Being unsteady on his feet wasn’t quite normal for him but he did his best to ignore it. No one tried to stop Hunter Kim from ordering Hunter Song to the altar as the sacrifice with his sword out. A red flame came into existence the moment the older man reached the altar. It brought a new sense of dread to the air. Did it require all of them? Was that what the third commandment meant? For all of them to prove their faith?

Byung-Gyu didn’t like the idea of that but he still stepped towards the altar. Clenched trembling hands at his sides and gritted his teeth. A second red flame burst into light. It was Hunter Sung that called out the possible meaning behind them as he walked closer. He wanted this to be over as he sat on the edge of the first level of the altar. Eyes taking in the dimly lit edges of the chamber. His spellbook was sitting near the Mage statue and Hunter Sung had dropped his mace a few steps out of the red flame ring. Neither would help in this situation.

The moment all six of them were around the altar a ring of blue flames sprung up around the red ones. And the doors opened. Byung-Gyu’s head snapped over to them but he made no move to rise to his feet. That was a trap, no way it wasn’t.

Not everyone picked up on that. The only remaining woman hunter disappeared in a dash through the doors and they closed an incremental amount. Then it was a man next to Hunter Sung. There was a call out for him to stop but met deaf ears. It left the four of them and the slow scrape of moving statues when someone wasn’t looking at them. Byung-Gyu looked away from the doors to keep an eye on the statues moving towards the ring.

“I can’t do this.” Hunter Kim’s sword clattered to the ground even as Hunter Sung tried to stop him from running. It left a hole in their defense against the statues.

“You two go,” Hunter Song said in the sketchy silence. “You’ve got several years of life ahead of you. I’ll stay behind to keep the doors open.”

“I’m not going anywhere.” Byung-Gyu was never going to leave someone behind.

“We just have to wait out the timer.” The wavering confidence in Hunter Sung’s voice was nice to hear even in this situation. “Keeping an eye on the statues isn’t impossible yet.”

No, it wasn’t but it wasn’t easy. Byung-Gyu got to his feet with a careful step towards the edge of the ring to reach out for his mace. The only telekinetic spells he had were for objects lower than a certain weight. It was a flash of his arm out to grab the edge of it that had him breaking his gaze from a statue. Stone scraped on stone as he grabbed the mace. Then stopped when he looked at it again.

Behind him there was another scrape and one to his left. They couldn’t look at all of them. He tightened his grip on the mace and fell into a stance Eunseok had taught him. There was going to be a fight.

And with only six of the blue flames left, one of the statues breached the circle. Byung-Gyu heard Hunter Song call it out but a moment later there was a splash of something hot and wet across his back. The blood had his veins filling with ice. He snapped around with a lift of the mace to block the sword coming down on him. His arms buckled beneath the force and had him throwing himself to the side to avoid being cleaved in half. A swift turn with a speed and agility spell gave him the opening to bring his mace down on the stone ankle.

All that happened was a chunk breaking off. The proof that he was weak and useless here almost had him giving up. Then he heard Hunter Sung cry out in pain. An automatic link of mana was created to the hunter to heal him even across the altar from him. His spellbook flipped open to the draining spell. Another statue reached them and he moved to leap over the alter to avoid the falling weapon coming for his head.

The fall of his body to protect Hunter Sung with a strengthening spell came with an axe speeding through the air. He wasn’t a Tank but he couldn’t let someone die like that. Hands curled into the sides of his armor with Hunter Sung telling him to run, that at least one of them deserved to make it out of here alive.

All Byung-Gyu did was push his mana outwards in a constant healing spell to fight the bloodloss. Pages flipped in his book to keep up with the multiple spells he was using. The painful slice of something stabbing through his chest came with that same anchor tearing him back from the hunter he was trying to protect. He choked on the blood filling his mouth. Healing mana flooded his body but the weapon shoved through his body wasn’t taken out.

The slam of his body to the ground with the point of the spear through his chest being driven into the stone had the last breath in his lungs escaping. A tiny flicker of a blue flame went out. From his fading vision he found only one left. He cancelled the healing spell on his body and forced every last bit of mana he had into the regeneration bond spell he created with Hunter Sung. One of them had the chance to get out of here alive. As a Healer it was his job to make sure the hunters in the party survived.

Even if it meant not seeing them heal and recover.

Chapter Text

[Congratulations! The Great Sorcerer Kandiaru has chosen you as a Companion for the Player. Your loyalty and sacrifice have proven that you have the mental strength capable of taking on such a grand task to come. In the trials to come your healing expertise and wealth of mana will be a great help to the Player. Your life depends on the Player so do your best to keep them alive.]

Byung-Gyu pulled in a sharp breath as his eyes snapped open. Then closed a moment later at the bright sunlight piercing them. Trembling hands curled into fists in the blanket they were resting on as his heart raced out of his chest. A beating, living heart. One that he had felt stop.

He opened his eyes again with a distinct thought that it had been a nightmare. The sight of a hospital ceiling dashed that. Never once in his hunter career had he woken up in a hospital room. It had him pushing himself up into a sitting position on shaking arms that he tried to strengthen. What he got in return was a painful race of lightning across his chest and back where he knew he had been run through with a spear. He yanked at the hospital shirt to see a nasty scar.

Faded and white but ugly in the ripped, starburst pattern of torn skin around a large blade. A heavy breath was taken in through his nose even when it ached. The very race of his heart caused his chest to spark with pain, running outwards from the scar. He shoved a hand under the shirt to touch the smooth edges. It was terrible work. Normally healing magic never left a scar unless the caster ran out of mana part of the way through.

“Hunter Min?” There was a knock on the room door followed by it opening a crack. Byung-Gyu lifted his head while removing his hand. A familiar man pushed open the door farther upon meeting his eyes. “Are you well?”

“Ah, I think so,” he replied. Chief Woo was a man he had spent quite a few hours in meetings with over the last six years of his hunting career. “A little sore.”

“I’ve got a few question for you,” Chief Woo said as he entered the room.

“I have a few myself.”

The tall man took a seat on the chair next to the window with a cross of one leg over the other. “Feel free to ask yours first,” he said, polite head dip towards him. Despite being five or so years older than him, Chief Woo had always treated him with the respect of someone closer to Yoon-Ho’s age.

“What happened? I-I don’t remember how I got here.” Byung-Gyu wanted to ask about the Double Dungeon but he still wasn’t sure if that was a dream or not.

“You were part of an Association scheduled raid that you should not have been.” A stern look was given to him but no other scolding came. “From the various reports of the three survivors, it was a Double Dungeon incident. Before I confirm any details, I’ll need to know your view of the events.”

Byung-Gyu couldn’t meet the man’s dark violet eyes as he recalled all the details he could about what had happened. From taking on the D-Rank raid on a favor to finding the Double Dungeon. To the statues and trials and the deaths. He picked at the blanket as he tried to give over the facts and not his personal notations on the events. There was hesitation when he got to the altar and how those three other hunters had abandoned him and hunters Song and Sung. Worse still was getting into what actually happened after they left.

“I-I don’t know how I’m alive,” he murmured, eyes staring unseeing at the white blanket. “My heart stopped.”

“I’m afraid we don’t have an explanation for that either,” Chief Woo said, “but we do have a working theory that the E-Rank with you, Hunter Sung Jinwoo, had a Reawakening.”

“He survived?” Byung-Gyu lifted his head to look at the ginger haired man.

“Yes, he’s currently still asleep in the room next to yours.”

“How…how long have we been out?”

“Three days.”

Three days, he was asleep for three days? What about his classes? Byung-Gyu put his head in his hands with the sudden rise of a headache. “I am being held under observation?” He asked, not lifting his head. “Or am I free to leave whenever I like?”

“Well, I would personally suggest you stay for at least another day,” Chief Woo said calmly, “but I’m certain you’ll be free to do as you please soon.”

“Sorry about all of this, chief.”

“I don’t believe it’s your fault beyond entering a gate you weren’t scheduled for.”

There was a rise from the chair as the man prepared to leave the room. “Um, my stuff,” Byung-Gyu lifted his head, “my spellbook and mace, were they found?” He really didn’t want to lose access to his spells like this.

“The only things recovered were you, Mr. Sung, and the dead.”

“Ah…alright.”

Chief Woo gave him a brief but kind parting before leaving the room. It only took a few moments for a doctor to enter to explain to him the situation. Byung-Gyu barely listened to them as something started to appear in front of him as the headache settled.

A game screen. He acknowledged the doctor giving him the release forms necessary before finding his attention brought back to the green and white display. The message was read with a furrowed brow and creeping sense of dread. What did any of that mean? A Player? A Companion? Why was his life in threat over this Player person? Who was Kandiaru?

[Would you like to pull up your profile? (Y/N)]

Having played his fair share of video games he knew what the prompt was even if he wasn’t sure how to answer or if he should. Maybe he should talk to the doctor about visual hallucinations.

He accepted the prompt.

[Name: Min Byung-Gyu. Level: Sixty (Locked). Class: Mage. Title: Grand Healer. Job: Companion. HP: 70500. MP: 250000.]

[Skills: Spellbook - allows caster to use any spell within once studied and written down. Pocket Healer - all status effects to the Companion’s Player will be negated. Loyal Dog lvl 1 - increase of strength to Player by 30% when Companion is in a party.]

[Inventory - Store (Locked) - Inbox (0) - Gifts (1)]

It seemed rather typical for a video game profile but he wasn’t sure why he had it. He also wasn’t sure how to feel about this system treating him like a pet to this Player with his skills. Healers were support hunters, sure, but that didn’t mean they were useless in a fight. Or, well, he wasn’t. Not that he had any plans to do any fighting anymore.

With a sigh, Byung-Gyu decided to give in to the system and check what the Gift was.

[Gift: Great Sorcerer Kandiaru’s Favor - 25% proficiency to all spells (Accept Y/N?)]

Given what little he knew about this thing, he couldn’t say for certain if that was a good thing but in a video game context that was a nice perk. He tapped his fingers on the blanket before deciding to accept it. What harm could it bring? It’s not like he was an active hunter anyway.

With a swipe away of the screens, Byung-Gyu turned his full focus to his release forms. He couldn’t stay in the hospital for much longer.

It was a little past four in the morning when he was woken up by an electronic ding. Considering the fact that his phone was always on silent he wasn’t sure what could have made that sound. Byung-Gyu rolled over in bed with his eyes closed to reach for his phone on the nightstand. Juhee was never awake this early and if was Yoon-Ho then he’d kill him.

When he opened his eyes to see his phone screen he was bombarded by a green and white screen.

[Your Player has returned from the penalty zone. Would you like to gift a full status recovery? (Y/N)]

Status recovery? Player? Penalty zone? He stared at the prompt with blurry eyes and a fuzzier mind. Was he still dreaming? A glance at his phone showed that he had guessed right on the time being a few minutes after four in the morning.

With a groan and set of his phone back down, he accepted the prompt while rolling back over. The moment he hit ‘yes’ there was a draw from his mana. It wasn’t unfamiliar when he healed someone but it had never happened like this. He didn’t quite like it. There was an almost itchy sensation that came with the long-distance healing that had him shifting under the comforter.

In a moment it was gone to leave him staring into the darkness across his bed. This was going to be irritating, wasn’t it?

It was a week of the system prompting him to heal this Player. Byung-Gyu noted the minuscule dip in his MP every time during class but tried his best to ignore it. His mana recovered a few minutes afterwards anyway without adverse effects. Though, it did have him wondering both who this Player was and what they were doing. The system hadn’t really changed anything for him so he hadn’t been too concerned about it but if someone else had a similar one that kept getting them hurt then it might be a serious problem.

What really got him was one afternoon after his last class was the system prompting him to grant a status heal twice in the span of thirty minutes. It wasn’t a strain on him but he was concerned about what the Player was doing to need the healing. Byung-Gyu wondered if they were a hunter or something. That would be the most likely conclusion to draw.

As he stared at the half-empty coffee in his cup he pondered over if there was a way to get in contact with the Player. Surely there had to be.

[Companion ---> Player: (message prompt)]

The sudden screen had him startling. There was slosh of the coffee in the cup that had him humming and adjusting his hold to lick the spilled coffee off his hand. Dark eyes took in the display. It seemed he could send a message to the Player. He ignored the stare of the young boy across the cafe from him - likely with a parent - to set his cup down and pretend to do his college homework while sending a message.

[Companion ---> Player: Could I get some information about this situation from you? I’m Min Byung-Gyu and it appears this system has linked us together somehow.]

With that sent, he actually went back to his homework. Tapping a pencil as he tried to take down notes on the essay he was supposed to be writing. While he loved his chosen research field for the essay, it was certainly far from the easiest subject he could have chosen.

[You have one new message.]

Byung-Gyu didn’t lift his head too much as he opened the inbox then selected the message to pull it up.

[Player ---> Companion: Probably don’t know much more than you. I’m Sung Jinwoo, we met a couple weeks ago almost. Are you who I’ve been getting healed from?]

[Companion ---> Player: Oh, hi there! Don’t worry, there’s no forgetting you. System here doesn’t give any names is all. And, yes, I’m the one that’s been healing you. All status recoveries and probably your regeneration.]

[Player ---> Companion: Ah, sorry if that’s a problem. Don’t mean to disturb you with all that.]

Byung-Gyu couldn’t help smiling at the message. That was a kind thought to have for a total stranger. Even if something as minor as those status recoveries could never cause him any problems.

[Companion ---> Player: It’s alright, nothing I can’t handle ;) tho, whatve you been doing to need those?]

[Player ---> Companion: daily quests. Had some lizard trouble today in a dungeon if you’re gonn ask about that back to back heal.]

[Companion ---> Player: sorry to hear that, lizards are pretty much the scum of hunter society.]

[Player ---> Companion: yeah…got some nice level ups out of em tho :D]

The off-handed snort at the message had him reaching out for his coffee to smother it. Byung-Gyu downed the last of the cold liquid with a reminder to himself that he was in public and to not bring attention to himself. Especially without his phone out to hide behind. The press would have a field day about a retired S-Rank hunter cracking in a cafe.

[Companion ---> Player: level ups? Are you growing as a hunter with the system?]

[Player ---> Companion: can you not?]

[Companion ---> Player: no, I’m level locked at sixty. Tho, I don’t mind considering I’m retired and don’t need to gain strength or what have you.]

[Player ---> Companion: to each their own ig]

The rather abrupt cut of conversation had Byung-Gyu furrowing his brow in confusion. He couldn’t have offended Hunter Sung, could he have? It was always an option, he supposed, but the man hadn’t seemed like the type to get offended that easily.

He debated on sending another message before he decided to go back to his essay. There was actual work he needed to do.

Chapter Text

It was close to two weeks before Byung-Gyu met with Hunter Sung after their brief message contact. Not on purpose but rather entirely on accident. He had been leaving his last class to meet up with Juhee for late lunch/early dinner after she finished her dungeon raid. The sun was lowering in the sky with the minutes ticking closer to four as he walked down the street to follow the address his cousin had given him.

When he reached the gate site he had every intention of simply waiting for the hunters to come out. But then the System was prompting him to heal the Player and Juhee came running out of the gate to crash into him. He caught her with a question of concern, unable to understand her panicked word vomit.

“Hunter Sung told me to run,” his cousin said in a rushed breath, “he’s facing that-that Association agent that tried to kill us.”

“Alright.” Byung-Gyu held her shoulders and gave her a small shake to get her to focus on him. “I’m gonna go in, I need you to get a hold of the Association and explain the situation to them.”

“But you’re not a fighter!”

“I have more than enough strength to deal with a lower rank hunter.”

And he didn’t have any actual plans to fight. He was going to make sure Hunter Sung made it out alive to avoid the System giving them both a penalty. Having his life tied to another person’s hadn’t felt real but he wasn’t about to risk it. Personally, he quited enjoyed living.

Juhee looked like she wanted to argue but he was already moving around her. Stepping into the gate with a running start. Byung-Gyu had a good sense on where people tended to be in a space so he had no trouble heading right for Hunter Sung and the KHA agent. It would have been impossible to not notice the intense bloodlust pouring out of one of the tunnels anyway. The touch of it had a shiver running down his spine. He didn’t like blood or violence and while he wasn’t nearly as bad as his cousin, it didn’t make these situations easy to handle.

The immediate appearance of the System opening his inventory when he reached the blur of fighting hunters only had him pausing for a moment. A reach for his spellbook came with cry of pain from one of the hunters. Byung-Gyu ignored the prompt of the Player being injured to activate a healing spell on Hunter Sung. Mana flowed between them and a flash of gold was illuminated within the fighting pair.

A crash of someone into the stone wall had him wincing. Even more so at the sight of his mace in Hunter Sung’s hand dripping blood to the floor. While that explained why his inventory only had his spellbook he wasn’t thrilled with the idea of his weapon being used to murder someone. It was for monsters not people.

“Thank you.” Hunter Sung’s voice had him tearing his gaze away from the mace. The man was turning towards him. “For healing me again.”

“Ah, well, it’s sort of my job now, I guess,” he replied. He closed the spellbook and set it back into the inventory. “I’m gonna need that back.” Byung-Gyu nodded to the mace still dripping in that agent’s blood. “Can’t exactly sell the story of me helping without the weapon, ya know?”

“You’ll take the fall for this?” The surprised question came with the hunter holding out the mace.

“Unless you’d like to admit to no longer being an E-Rank?”

Byung-Gyu took his weapon with a heavy heart. He knew it was in self-defense but it still didn’t feel right. There was a noise from Hunter Sung that had him looking at him only to find the man moving down the tunnel. With a hesitant step, he followed.

One of the prisoners was pushing themselves up off the stone. On instinct he went to heal them only for Hunter Sung to hold out a hand to stop him. A question was asked about a girl that was raped that had his heart clenching along with his hand around the mace. The reply that came had some of the faith in humanity dying. Which one. Which girl had this bastard raped. Byung-Gyu didn’t like violence, didn’t like death, but he turned a blind eye to whatever Hunter Sung had in mind.

The sound of the prisoner screaming as he was used as bait for the hobgoblins in the boss cave had him walking away. He couldn’t listen to that no matter how well deserved it was. Slow steps taken to lead him back to gate that he knew Hunter Sung could catch up with.

This was supposed to be a calm evening with his cousin before she returned to Busan. Not him helping in a double homicide. Byung-Gyu tightened his hold on the mace with a grit of his teeth. He wasn’t meant for this life. For the blood and death like other hunters immersed themselves in. There was no drive to heal people, he simply couldn’t stand seeing someone hurt that he could help. His passion was history, not this.

Hunter Sung joined his side as he reached the gate entrance. Nothing was said as they exited. Juhee was pacing outside on her phone but came to a dead stop at the sight of them. The relief on her face quickly fell to something heavy that he recognized. Byung-Gyu didn’t have anything to say to her when she no doubt already knew that he felt terrible about all of this.

They weren’t meant for this lifestyle.

“You seem to be getting into quite a bit of trouble, Hunter Min,” Chief Woo said as the initial questioning for the incident was over.

“I don’t mean to,” Byung-Gyu replied honestly while letting his mace disappear to his inventory. There was only a blink from the KHA agent at the spatial magic. “Honestly, I just wanted dinner with my cousin.”

“The path to hell is paved with good intentions.” Hearing the saying had him sighing. “Please do your best to keep off my radar. This incident will be put as self-defense considering Kang’s previous actions but another like this will not be concluded so easily.”

“I appreciate it, chief.”

The ginger man gave him a short nod before walking away. Byung-Gyu knew that Chief Woo took his job very seriously so it wasn’t lost on him how much the man was bending the rules for this case. He had always liked the man for his honest morals and this was another show of them.

“Do you still want to get dinner?” Juhee asked quietly as she came up at his side. “I invited Jinwoo along but you don’t have to come if you’d rather head home.”

“Ah, thanks for the out.” He turned to face his cousin with a half-smile. “I’ll see you off in the morning, if that’s cool?”

“Yeah, it’s fine."

Byung-Gyu gave her a small nod before walking away. The desire to do anything other than soak in a hot bath had disappeared after that dungeon. His hands were stuffed into his jacket pockets as he took the path back to his apartment.

Early the next morning he brought Juhee coffee and walked her to the station. He understood completely why she would be heading back to Busan. After the last Jeju Island raid he had taken an extended stay there before coming back to Seoul to go to school. There was comfort in returning home for a while to ease the troubled mind. He really hoped this would do Juhee some good and let her find what she really wanted to do with her life.

It was a little over a week later that Byung-Gyu was startled by a pop-up screen from the system during a shower. The time was getting late in the evening so he was surprised by anything interrupting him. His first instinct had been to swipe it away and continue what he was doing. When it didn’t disappear he wiped the water out of his eyes to squint at the white words.

[The Player is currently undergoing the Job Change Quest and will be unavailable until its completion.]

Byung-Gyu had no idea why he needed to be alerted of Hunter Sung doing another quest but he hit the [OKAY] prompt to get the screen to go away. It wasn’t much of a concern to him that he couldn’t reach the hunter. They had only shared a few other messages across the system so it’s not like they were friends or anything.

After finishing his shower, he got ready for bed. All thought to the system had disappeared as he fell into his bed for the night.

[Healing Potion has been added to your skillset.]

An electronic ding had Byung-Gyu opening sleep blurred eyes. He squinted at the screen before lazily swiping it away to go back to sleep. He was far from awake enough to ponder the addition of that.

[The Player requires a full status recovery. Would you like to gift one? (Y/N)]

Without even opening his eyes, Byung-Gyu accepted the request. Could this thing let him sleep? He had class in a few hours and didn’t want to be dead tired during his lectures.

[Companion has received the ‘Revival’ bonus skill.]

Less than an hour later another prompt at him glaring at the screen.

[Upon your death should the Shadow Monarch use Shadow Extraction on you there’s a 95% chance of you coming back to life.]

What? Byung-Gyu stared at the explanation for the new skill with a sinking heart. Did the system expect him to die? Why would he need a skill that gave him a near one hundred percent chance of coming back to life? He swiped away the screens with a groan and buried his head under the pillows. Hunter Sung must have gained a Necromancer class for the Job Change Quest and since he was the Companion, it applied to him as well.

He was not nearly awake enough to deal with the implications of possible immortality. The comforter was pulled up as he went back to sleep. He’d worry about that at a later date.

It was a constant thorn in the back of his mind throughout the day. Byung-Gyu wanted to study the system and the new skill while at the same time questioning Hunter Sung about his class. Necromancy was a very unique and beyond rare skillset. Most of them were feared due to a human’s natural instinct to dislike something that represented so much death. That and no one wanted their corpse brought back into the fight after they died.

His real concern was that the skill was ‘Revival’ not ‘Resurrection’. Hunter Sung could bring him back to life. Heart, mind, and soul, not just his physical body according to the skill’s explanation. The very idea of that made his hair stand on end. He had no intentions of getting into anything that would end his life prematurely but there was a heavy sense of foreboding in the system screens. Like it would make scenarios to test this new skill for both him and Hunter Sung.

[The Player has entered a Dungeon and shall be unavailable.]

It was close to ten in the evening when another system prompt interrupted him. Byung-Gyu stared at the lack of explanation for this one for a long while before he swiped it away. There had to be a reason for these unnecessary screens to update him on what Hunter Sung was doing but he wasn’t sure what it could be. Unless this was the system’s way of urging him to be at the ‘Player’s’ side. He would not be doing that if that was the case.

What he did was carry on with his homework and tried to not overdose on caffeine to stay awake. He might have forgotten about the assignment on accident - due to the Double Dungeon Incident - that left him only tonight to finish it. There would be very little sleep to be found tonight.

[The Player has exited the dungeon.]

Byung-Gyu snapped awake with the electronic ding. Blurry eyes squinting at the screen while he rubbed the back of his neck. The ache of having fallen asleep leaning over his laptop was easily healed but he still enjoyed the act of physically soothing it. It certainly gave him more to do than the system’s once more unnecessary prompt.

Then he glanced at the time. It was almost four in the morning. Had Hunter Sung been stuck in a dungeon for the last six hours? That was nearly unheard of for a raiding party, let alone for low rank gates.

[Companion ---> Player: you okay? System prompt said you were ina  dungeon for six hours]

He checked his work on the laptop to make sure it was finished before he shut it down. The empty energy drink cans and take out containers were picked up to be tossed into the trash while he waited for a reply. His condo wasn’t exactly small by any means but it was a little more than a single person needed. It made him loathe cleaning. Meaning that it tended to get out of hand, especially with his classes.

Truth be told, Byung-Gyu only bought this place because Eunseok and Yoon-Ho used to be around all the time. Before they lost Eunseok at Jeju and Yoon-Ho started his own guild, and he disappeared to Busan for a few months; before he started school. Before their lives took very different paths. Looking at the place always made him miss when they were all part of Reaper Guild with Tae-Gyu. It also made him feel like a terrible friend for never reaching out to the Ranger.

They had never been as close as they were with Yoon-Ho and Eunseok but it had been the four of them at the top. With Tae-Gyu being their de-facto leader since he was the guildmaster. Hell, Byung-Gyu had been with those guys since he awakened at eighteen and had no idea what he was doing. Seven years later and he only talked to Yoon-Ho.

Eunseok’s death had broken them all apart. His retirement, Yoon-Ho’s parting from Reaper Guild, it put them at a distance from Tae-Gyu. Someone Byung-Gyu just knew blamed himself for how everything went down because he hadn’t been there with them. It wasn’t the guy’s fault when he had been stationed half-way across the island with Ma but he knew from experience that guilt was hardly ever linear. It also only made him feel worse about not getting back in contact with him after he returned from Busan like he had with Yoon-Ho.

A ding from the system pulled him out of the spiraling thoughts. After tossing the trash, Byung-Gyu fell onto the couch while pulling up the system to answer the message.

[Player ---> Companion: just fine. Got caught in a red gate. Been a long few days. Lvled up nicely tho :P]

[Companion ---> Player: well, I’m glad you’re alright and that you got something out of it. Red gates are harsh]

[Player ---> Companion: you been in one?]

He stared at the message with a slump down and kick of his feet up on the coffee table. What a loaded question.

[Companion ---> Player: once. Beginning of my hunter career. Scariest moment of my life. Probs woulda died without a friend of mine saving my ass]

[Player ---> Companion: guess it would be scary without the ssytem there for items.]

[Companion ---> Player: what type of gate was it?]

[Player ---> Companion: snow forest. Ice bears and white walkers. Got some nice shadows out of it.]

Byung-Gyu couldn’t help the amused smile that crawled on to his face at the message. Hunter Sung truly had an interesting outlook. Which was probably a good thing with this system and his remaining job as a hunter.

[Player ---> Companion: oh, don’t think I said anything but I got a job change the toher day. Shadow Monarch, ican raise the shadows of the dead and make an army :D]

[Companion ---> Player: I got a prompt for it. Got a skill from it too. Revival. Your Shadow Extraction can, well, bring me back to life should I die. 95% chance of that actually. Little ominous, haha]

[Player ---> Companion: that mean you’re gonna be joining my dungeon crawls?]

[Companion ---> Player: no. Not unless I’m not given a choice]

[Player ---> Companion:…oh. That’s fair I suppose. You are retired after all.]

The lackluster reply had Byung-Gyu feeling bad for upsetting the man. No doubt Hunter Sung had been interested in the idea of someone that knew about the system joining him but he simply could do it. Not unless his hand was forced. This wasn’t his life anymore.

Chapter Text

[Companion required to go any farther.]

[Player has requested the Companion to join their party.]

Byung-Gyu swiped away the notifications as he tried to focus on the lecture going on in front of him. As much as he didn’t want to leave Hunter Sung hanging, he really needed to get through this class before thinking about any of this system stuff.

An hour later he dropped his bag onto his couch and fell down next to it. The system pulled up the same party notification that he had swiped away during class. It was sort of mocking. Byung-Gyu tried to swipe it away a second time but it remained steady and green in front of him. Was he really being requested to go on a quest with Hunter Sung? It most likely meant a dungeon and he really didn’t want to step foot into another one of those.

But he still sent accepted the request while climbing back to his feet. There was a ding of the system connecting him to the Player in a formal party instead of two co-existing systems. A status block for Hunter Sung’s health appeared in the corner of his vision. Byung-Gyu got the ominous sense that there was no backing out of this now that he had fully accepted being a Companion. Tied into a quest that he would rather not be facing. He wanted to do his homework and order take-out for dinner.

Another ping from the system gave him the location of the quest. Daesung Tower was a bit out of the way from his apartment all the way in the Songpa district but it didn’t seem he was getting out of this any time soon. There was timer ticking down on the quest as well. He had an hour to get there.

Byung-Gyu tried to not drag his feet as he grabbed the armor case out of his closet and left the apartment. He had the horrible sense that this was a death sentence.

The afternoon light was growing closer to dark as the sun set in the sky. People were going about their days and didn’t pay him much attention as he paused in front of the tower. His hand curled tighter around the case handle as the timer reached zero. He made it so what now?

“Sorry for dragging you out here.” Hunter Sung’s voice behind him had him partially turning to look at the man. He got a haircut. “The System wouldn’t let me enter the Demon Castle without you being part of my party.”

“It’s alright,” Byung-Gyu said with a dismissive way of his free hand, “not your fault.”

“C’mon, I’d rather no one sees us disappear.”

Hunter Sung walked towards the alley next to the tower building that he trailed after him into. There wasn’t a single explanation for what he was planning when a hand grabbed his wrist and the system prompted him to the Player using Stealth. Byung-Gyu had a better sense than to say anything even as he was tugged out of the alley. A red key appeared in Hunter Sung’s hand and was inserted into the air in front of Daesung Tower like there was a door there.

And to his immense surprise, a gate appeared with the movement. Hunter Sung pulled him through the gate into a fiery place that he could place as literal hell on earth. Daesung Tower was wreathed in flames and chains in front of them with the rest of the city burning around it. Byung-Gyu swallowed down the immediate urge to turn tail and run. He didn’t like fire. It reminded him too much of Hunter Choi, who reminded him of Jeju Island where the worst day of his happened.

The hand around his wrist disappeared. There was a prompt from the system about their party entering the Demon Realm that made his already troubled heart unsteady. Unconsciously, Byung-Gyu brought his free hand up to rub at his chest where the scar over his heart sat. It ached sometimes.

“You should probably put on your armor,” Hunter Sung said after they had been standing in the same place for almost a full minute.

“Ah, right.” Byung-Gyu dropped his hand and lowered down into a crouch to opening his armor case. “How long does this quest last? I’ve got a class at eight in the morning.”

“Erm, I planned on taking a week or so-”

“What?”

Byung-Gyu’s head shot up at the answer to stare at the hunter. There was an almost embarrassed turn of the man’s face away from him as he repeated what he had said. A week? That wasn’t feasible for him. Two or three days was going to be pushing it on how much time he could miss from class. Not to mention not having any actual supplies for this kind of venture.

“I can’t be stuck in here for that long,” Byung-Gyu said while curling his hands around the edge of his armor case. “Not only do I have class, my mana can only regenerate so much.”

“Then…we get as far as we can before I run out of supplies for both of us,” Hunter Sung said. Like it was the simplest thing in the world.

“I want you to know,” he looked back at his armor as he pulled it out, “that my mana is connected to both of us. It’ll wear down faster when I’m constantly on the move with you.”

“It’ll be alright.”

The easy reassurance was as comforting as it was terrifying. They were going to be in this dungeon until they no longer could be and Byung-Gyu didn’t know how much he could actually take of it.

It was horrifying. Not just in the destruction and vast expanse of each level of the castle but in the suffocating heat and sickening efficiency of Hunter Sung’s shadow army. The steady drip of his mana into both of them to keep his cooling spell active - one he learned when he almost lost an entire party in a desert dungeon - increased exponentially with each level. His eyes were constantly flicking to the blue bar depleting in the corner of his eye as he stuck to Hunter Sung’s back.

His mace was clutched in one hand and his spellbook in the other. Held so tight that his gloves creaked with each movement and his joints were starting to hurt. But he couldn’t loosen the hold. This was one of his worst nightmares. Being trapped inside a massive dungeon for days at a time without an end to the fighting in sight. The only possible saving graces were that he didn’t have to fight and he only had to worry about keeping one person alive.

“Mana’s getting a little low,” Byung-Gyu piped up for the first time close to eight hours of this. “We’ll have to stop soon.”

“Mm, it is close to midnight back home,” Hunter Sung agreed with a nod.

The problem was finding a place in this burning apocalypse to settle down in for a few hours of sleep. That Byung-Gyu knew he would never get. He was too wired with anxiety and fear to even think about closing his eyes in a dungeon. When dungeons had taken a few days to clear when he was still a hunter he had never been able to rest inside them. Not even when he had Yoon-Ho and Eunseok protecting his back.

Which was a bad thing when the entire party was relying on his mana and strength to keep them alive. It was why he so often focused on buffing and healing instead of turning his mana towards more offensive spells. He couldn’t afford to waste even a single ounce of it when he didn’t have a way to replenish it. Not when he couldn’t find rest anywhere but his own home.

Worry circled in a vice grip around his heart as he followed Hunter Sung through the burning wreckage in search of somewhere sheltered from the fires to rest for a few hours. They found a mostly intact building with some stairs that led to a few floors up that were sturdy and out of the flames. Byung-Gyu clutched his spellbook close as he settled in the farthest corner from the broken wall overlooking the mirror image of Seoul on fire. His chest hurt something fierce from the smoke even with the continuous flush of mana to clear it from his lungs; exactly like he was doing to Hunter Sung.

“Here.” A vial of blue liquid was held out to him. “It’s a mana replenishing potion.”

“Ah, thank you.” Byung-Gyu turned it over in his hand. It was about the size of his palm but only two to three inches tall full of glowing blue fluid.

“So, do you not have a store to access?” Hunter Sung asked as the man settled down across from him. A few other things were pulled into existence and set on the concrete between them. “Food and stuff,” he explained easily at his staring.

“I have a store,” he pulled the cork from the bottle, “but it’s locked by the system.”

Byung-Gyu sniffed at the open top before putting it to his lips when he didn’t find an off putting smell. There wasn’t much a taste to it. The liquid itself was cold and thinner than water that went down surprisingly easy. Almost instantly he felt his mana levels come back up from the quarter that he had left on the system bar. It was an odd sensation.

“That’s a little odd,” Hunter Sung said while pushing something towards him. “It might get a little tedious for me to give you mana potions every few hours.”

“Mm, yeah, probably,” he agreed. The labelless plastic container had him questioning what exactly the hunter packed into his inventory for this trip but he didn’t ask. “I suppose you could pull out a stock pile and I can put them in my inventory.”

“Eh, I don’t know if they have expiration dates.”

“That’s…a good point.”

A teal colored metal water bottle was dropped in his lap after a couple minutes of them sitting together. Byung-Gyu turned it over with a single hand while shoving the last of the protein bar in his mouth. The bottle was cold to the touch and had a little engraving on edge. He ran a thumb over it but he didn’t recognize the symbol. Dark eyes lifted from it to where Hunter Sung was pointedly not looking at him in return.

“It, uh, matched your armor color,” the man said.

“Ah, well, thanks.” Byung-Gyu didn’t comment on the pink on the man’s ears.

“You should probably get some sleep.” Hunter Sung gathered up the plastic containers and no doubt put them in his inventory. “You need it more than I do.”

“You’re the one fighting,” he countered, “and, frankly, I won’t be able to sleep.”

Something almost worried crossed the hunter’s face before it was gone as fast as it came. “At least try.” The simple request came with Hunter Sung getting to his feet. Byung-Gyu watched him walk towards the broken wall and sit on the very edge with a knee pulled up to rest his arms on.

There was no hope of sleep but he still tucked himself into his chosen corner and clutched his spellbook to his chest. He rested his head back on the stone with his eyes closed to at least rest his body even if his mind would remain awake and active. Ears pricked to listen to the crackle of the fires down below and Hunter Sung’s occasional murmur to himself.

To his immense surprise he did doze off. Not for long but enough to leave him sleepy when he opened his eyes at the unfamiliar drape of something cool over him. A black shadow rested next to his feet that had a bright red plume draped like hair down the familiar knight’s back. Byung-Gyu had picked up on the names and appearances of the most distinctive of Hunter Sung’s soldiers so he recognized Igris sitting with him. His eyes dropped a little lower to where the knight’s cape was resting over him like a shadowy blanket.

That was…rather sweet of the knight. Mostly likely done on Hunter Sung’s orders but sweet none the less. Byung-Gyu glanced over at where the man was still sitting on the broken ledge watching the fires. This place wasn’t safe but he supposed it was infinitely safer than the other dungeons he had stayed several days in. Enough to possibly get a full hour or two of sleep.

When they set off onto the next floor, Byung-Gyu was a little more prepared for what could be waiting. He was no more happy about doing this for hours at a time than he had been yesterday but he at least knew it was somewhat safe for him and Hunter Sung if they stuck together. Close together at that. He refused to let the man farther than fifteen from him even in the middle of a fight. In a place like this he could not afford to lose sight of him.

The steady rise in levels started to decrease the higher they got. More heat, stronger demons, more pauses needed to replenish his mana, and a harder time finding entry permits. Byung-Gyu pushed a little more mana into the cooling spell as the heat of the fires rose and had to keep replacing his consumption of anything actually health related with mana potions. He was exhausted by the time they reached the forty-ninth floor. Twelve almost straight hours of this was wearing down on him.

“You should eat something,” Hunter Sung commented as they sat together on a crumbling building over looking the golden light that would lead to floor fifty. “You haven’t since you woke up.”

“Those mana potions seem to suppress the appetite,” Byung-Gyu replied while turning the teal water bottle in his hands. “I’m not sure I can stomach eating something.” The idea actually left him a little nauseous. He knew he needed to but his body did not agree at the moment. “I’ll eat when we stop for the evening.”

“I don’t think that’s healthy.”

“I’m a college student. I survive on caffeine most days anyway.”

Hunter Sung snorted but quickly covered it with a cough. The attempt to hide his laughter had Byung-Gyu grinning into the lip of the water bottle when he lifted it. He wasn’t the funniest guy around but he could lighten a mood at least.

After an hour of sitting around and letting his mana restore itself, they set off for the golden light. It took them to the fiftieth floor where an immense amount of mana hit them. Byung-Gyu held his mace and spellbook tighter as he steeled his nerves against what was probably a boss fight. It was a little odd they hadn’t found one yet so it was about time.

And when they reached the massive demon he immediately applied a shield buff to Hunter Sung. The red name over its head had fear creeping like vines over his skin. Vulcan was several times stronger than he was. A single blow from that large club would kill him instantly he was sure. Something Hunter Sung seemed to realize too by his swift order for him to keep out of range and to stick with Tank.

Byung-Gyu did exactly that. His spellbook flipped through pages as he cast the buffs necessary on Hunter Sung to keep him protected while avoiding the demons attacking him and Tank. The Player was a little more important right now. An eye was kept on the worrying drop of his mana along with the rise in his fatigue. This needed to be finished fast before he ran out of the help he could give. If that happened he didn’t know if both himself and Hunter Sung would be walking out of this dungeon alive.

A swing of his mace knocked a demon away from where it had been on the forward step of an attack. Byung-Gyu casted a small levitation spell on his book as he tossed into the air to use both hands on his mace to defeat the demon. Blood splattered the ground and the metal of the weapon. Stomach turning viscera clung to the mace when he lifted it out of the caved in skull of the beast that tried to kill him first.

It never got any easier. Taking any sort of life made him sick. Violence in general gave him an ick that he hadn’t yet been able to harden himself to. Eunseok used to joke that he was a marshmallow that only got squishier with the fires of violence instead of toughening up like everyone else. There was no denying the truth of that either. He wasn’t meant for this life like Yoon-Ho and Tae-Gyu, and never had been. Not even when he had a guild protecting his back and lifelong friends that would rather sacrifice their lives than see him hurt.

‘Get down, Byung-Gyu!’ The phantom ring of Eunseok’s voice from Jeju circled in his head. ‘Now’s not the time be a marshmallow!’

It was an effective way to tell him to focus instead of getting trapped in the horror of what his hands were doing. An automatic response to the comparison that had his body moving on its own. Practically drilled into his head by the older man when they were training. The second that word came up his body knew to move even if he couldn’t consciously decide in which direction or how. Just that he either moved or he lost his life.

Even in a haunting memory, Byung-Gyu found his feet sliding a step to the right and his arms raising the mace to block an attack he hadn’t noticed. Eyes widened at the demon that had tried to take advantage of his distraction. It wasn’t ants but it was still death staring him in the face.

“Look out!” The nearly desperate call from behind him came with something stabbing through his chest. Right on the mark for the double dungeon scar. “Tank!”

Mana trickled through the wound the moment the spear was yanked out. Byung-Gyu pushed back against the sword on his mace and tried to keep his focus on the demon instead of the pain. He could survive this if he stayed focused on the real issue. His mana could heal that wound just fine. It just needed a little bit of time as it already started to knit together the torn skin and muscles.

The roar of the shadow bear at his back hammered home that this fight was far from over. With a grit of his teeth, he dropped his mace down to swung it out at the demon’s legs underneath the sword. It struck true like it always did.

A crackle of flames followed a clash of metal on metal. The heat dialed up several degrees as Byung-Gyu poured his mana into a healing spell instead of maintaining the cooling one. It was an icy blanket being peeled off himself even as he left Hunter Sung’s active. Just a little more, that’s all he needed. His spellbook dropped to the ground with the loss of mana holding it up as he cut off all non-essential spells.

A final swing of his mace struck down the demon in front of him. The wound through his chest was still bleeding but he wasn’t in danger of falling over dead any time soon. Relief started a small course through his veins. Only to get quickly flushed out by cold dread as his tired arms failed to block an attack from his left. Battle axe embedded in his shoulder that would have taken off his head if his mace hadn’t knocked it off course at the last moment. Death stared him in the face once more. His mana was too low.

Movements sluggish with the blood loss and mana exhaustion. He didn’t want to die. The demon ripped its axe out in a swift yank that quickly came back around in a swing. One that Byung-Gyu was too slow to dodge and too tired to block with his mace like he should have.

He didn’t want to die…

Chapter Text

Darkness was thick around him. Twisting and encircling his limbs to keep him within the ocean of shadows. There was no light to be found, nothing but the living dark. It wasn’t peaceful but nor was it stress inducing. It simply was.

Something vast coiled within the dark, looping around and around where he was within it. Threads of shadow slipped through the cracks of him to sew up what had been lost and broken during his time of life. Filling the empty spaces with living darkness. Shifting, sliding, and combining with who he was. A dip into the space that he lived within brought a closer loop of the vastness. Searching for an opening of its own.

Threads were tied off on stitched up wounds. Replacing blood with ichor and filling hollow spaces with shadow. It was not so much as healing that which had been damaged as it was sewing back together the tears. Keeping the new stuffing inside the old toy. Piecing together a different person from the remnants of whom they started out as.

But before it could be taken too far something light in nature came back from the spaces it had been blocked off from. Shadows and darkness fixed the physical body to allow something else to take over but the original owner was not to be lost to the depths of death yet. He had purpose left and the shadows knew that too. They backed off but what was already within the physical could not be removed. Shadow and soul were simply going to have to combine to exist once more.

Byung-Gyu sucked in a harsh breath of air as consciousness slammed back into him. Eyes snapping open to the fiery orange haze of a burnt sky. A chill settled over his body, radiating out from the painful ache in the center of his chest. Spots of drifting black lifted into the air that unfocused eyes followed.

“Hunter Min!” A fuzzy face slid into view as someone leaned over him. Cold hands touched his cheeks. “Hey, you’re alive, I promise. Not a shadow.”

‘You’re worrying our lord.’ Hazy, deep words slithered through his ears. ‘Please refrain from causing him any undue stress.’ Shadows crept across his mind with a nudge for him to get a hold of himself. ‘It would do you well to find your voice, healer.’

“Hey…” Byung-Gyu couldn’t quite feel his tongue but he was sure he spoke.

“Hey.” That fuzzy face cleared up a enough to show him a spreading smile with white teeth. “You’re back in the land of the living.”

It certainly did not feel like that. He was cold. Fingers and toes numb and mind in a slush of shadows. Limbs both weightless and heavier than stone. Each beat of his heart was slow with painful thumps against his ribs. Blood too thick in his veins to be normal that made it a struggle for the organ to pump it efficiently. Oxygen was in short supply to his brain despite his lungs working to pull it in while his mana cleaned it from the smoke.

“Let’s sit up.” Cold hands left his cheeks to curl around his arms to pull him into a sitting position. The sway into the hazy chill made it apparent that he couldn’t quite control his body yet. “Okay, um, that might be a problem.”

“Mm…”

Byung-Gyu blinked slowly with the sluggish response time of his brain. There was a tip of his head down to put his forehead on a shadowy shoulder and longer time to get his eyes open again. A distinctly vanilla taste sat in the back of his throat that he couldn’t clear away. Cold hands held his arms but one let go to awkwardly pat his back.

His drifting mind was slow to settle back into place. Fingers and toes found their life again as his limbs agreed on a normal weight. Blood was still too thick but it was carrying the right amount of oxygen once more to his brain and body. His chest ached from more than his overworking heart with the spreading chill from the twice made scar but he could breathe easy. Mana levels rose back to normal as everything finally settled.

“Sorry.” Byung-Gyu sat up fully instead of leaning most of his weight on Hunter Sung. “Erm, thank you…for bringing me back to life, I guess.”

“Oh, you’re welcome,” Hunter Sung replied with an awkward sort of smile. “I, uh, wasn’t quite sure it would work. The system said there was only a ninety-five percent chance and that last five felt like a lot.”

“Yeah, I bet it did.”

Cold hands didn’t release him but Byung-Gyu wasn’t all that concerned. He still felt a little unsteady. Body not quite all there in a way that words couldn’t describe accurately. Like someone had taken an eraser and slashed it across his physical existence like an artist undoing their work. There in left over lines but drawn over with something else.

He was still Byung-Gyu but…it was sort of like he wasn’t anymore. His body responded to him and his thoughts were his yet there was a disconnect, almost, between him and the world around. A little hazy on the edges like he was in a lucid dream.

It was an uncomfortable sensation. Constantly sitting on the edge of waking even though he was aware that he was already awake.

“Are we continuing?” Byung-Gyu asked as he focused his blurring vision back on Hunter Sung. He wanted to leave but something else was telling him to wait for the Player to make the decision. That it wasn’t quite his choice on what happened beyond this point.

“Are you okay to do so?” Hunter Sung asked in return, concern sitting on his voice.

“Yeah…” No. He wanted to leave.

‘You shall get used to it.’ Slippery words of darkness crept through his mind. ‘The Shadow Monarch’s word is law for those connected to his power. We’re more than happy to follow them and you will be too eventually.’

Oh, that was terrifying. Byung-Gyu wanted the dark gone along with the words but there was no removing something in his head. The impending loss of who he was to the Shadows of Hunter Sung’s power because of his resurrection marked what he had known since he got that notification. ‘Revival’ was not for his safety or life.

“Let’s rest for a little while before continuing,” Hunter Sung said, hands releasing his arms. “You should eat and drink something.”

“Ah, I guess so.”

Almost as if ordered, Byung-Gyu plucked the teal water bottle from his inventory. While he did actually want to drink something it felt a little off to have an unconscious desire to do anything that was suggested by Hunter Sung. The slightest infliction of a suggestion or request and he was susceptible to following it. Persuasion wasn’t even a factor to consider when his body wanted to do everything he was told.

Partially erased and drawn over with someone else’s image.

They made it another few levels before Hunter Sung called it for the night. Byung-Gyu trailed behind him to another fireless building with too much ease in this place. The man’s shadow was casted over him and with each step he could almost feel himself sinking into it. Feet drifting with dark particles rising into the air. Creeping tendrils slithered over his armor even as his still aching heart tried to beat faster despite no longer having the means to do so.

Something grabbed the bottom of his foot the moment they reached one of the higher floors and shoved him out of the shadow. Kept him from sinking beneath the surface into the depths below. Part of him wanted to follow the disappearing dark. To keep sinking into the shadows and join those within. His higher mind was horrified at the very idea.

It was that horror that had him purposefully staying out of Hunter Sung’s shadow. Tucked his legs in close when they sat together and tried to ignore the conflicting emotions clawing at him. He forced his thoughts away from all of this and talked the man’s ear off about his classes, homework, and latest thing Ju-Hee had complained about to him. Anything to get his mind back to himself and out of the dripping dark seeking to wash over it.

It only got worse in sleep. Mind drowned in the dark of an unconscious haze. Body adrift in a disconnect from himself. Oozing ichor from sealed up veins and shadow threaded scars to keep him whole. Connected in strings of black and violet to a master’s fingers. A marionette waiting to be picked up again and used for another’s amusement. Predatory eyes glowed within the depths beneath him, waiting to accept him into their realm and open palms. Too many steps and he would find nothing left of himself.

The slow, painful beat of his heart didn’t get better. Byung-Gyu found himself rubbing at his chest as he trailed behind Hunter Sung through more and more floors. Spellbook clutched in his other hand with fluttering pages despite being closed. It hurt to breathe too. The higher they climbed the hotter it got and the more smoke that his mana struggled to clear away while keeping them cool at the same time.

In the corner of his eyes his mana meter continuously dropped until he was taking more of those restoration potions than the day before. Hunter Sung kept giving him concerned glances with each one handed over. At first it was every eight hours then it was every six. After dying and with the rising levels, it was every four and now in the seventies of the levels it was every hour. The heat was too much for his cooling spell to keep up with and was constantly draining him. It came to the point of warning eventually.

[Excessive consumption of MP potions has inflicted a status effect.]

[Mana Poisoning: foreign mana attacks the host until all systems are cleaned and rested.]

“Oh.” Byung-Gyu watched the tick of his health bar with a sinking heart. This thing was set to kill him. Setting up every road block possible to end his life, it seemed. He had the horrible feeling that his ‘Companion’ status wasn’t meant for him to be alive in it.

“What happened?” Hunter Sung asked, turning on a heel to look at him.

“Ah, well…” He tried to find a way to word what was happening without sounding like he was losing it. “It seems I’m allergic to those potions.”

“Uh, what?”

The bewilderment in the hunter’s voice had his tongue and lips moving to answer on instinct. But he was met with a glitch over his vision. Byung-Gyu felt his throat close up with the system suffocating the truth of what he had discovered. Stealing the words and means to say them from him. Sealing away the control he had over his own actions in the same manner that Hunter Sung’s Shadows were trying to do.

“It seems I’m allergic to those potions.” The same words were spoken without his consent. Ripped from him with a force that tasted like copper and oil on his tongue. “I guess you learn something new every day, huh?”

“Uh, yeah…” Hunter Sung looked conflicted for a moment before the expression was wiped away to nothing. “We’ll clear this last level then leave.” The man turned back to the distant throne they had been heading for. “We’ll have to find another way to deal with the heat instead of relying on your cooling spell.”

“Yeah, probably armor or something.”

Byung-Gyu hardly felt like he was the one speaking. Those were his words, something he would say, but he wasn't the one consciously saying them. The system was still glitched over most of his vision to hide all but the hunter in front of him. Tunnel vision on who he was bound to by shadow and death.

And when Hunter Sung practically obliterated the second boss they found, he could only stand next to Igris and watch. His mana was reaching dangerously low levels and his health wasn’t looking much better. Ticking lower and lower as once more his heart started to slow to that painful beat. Not strong enough to pump the ichor that had replaced his blood. Brain starting to fog over with the lack of oxygen brought to it. He didn’t know if the system would push him to death so soon after coming back but he wouldn’t put it past it.

A cold hand grazed his shoulder. Blurring vision looked at where Hunter Sung had returned to him. Byung-Gyu tried to process what was said but there was only cotton in his ears to be found. There was a different set of hands that grabbed his head to force it back and he was too tired to fight it. The tip of something into his mouth brought a gag up but a moment later his vision and head were clearing.

“Are you alright?” The concerned voice had him squeezing his eyes shut with a nod. “C’mon, we should really get you out of here. Probably to a hospital.”

“Nah, I should be fine.” It was a conflict of interests. The system wishing to keep him from drawing attention and the connection to the shadows to spill every little truth to the hunter. It made his head hurt. “I think I just need some serious sleep.”

“If you’re sure…”

“I am.”

He wasn’t. Byung-Gyu was so damn uncertain about everything right now. What he really wanted was to bury himself in his schooling and pretend that he hadn’t been brought back to life. That he wasn’t irreversibly bound to Hunter Sung’s Shadows. That he wasn't under the control of a mysterious system that was hellbent on killing him and probably using his body as a puppet for some nefarious purpose.

But he couldn’t say any of that. All he could do was leave the Demon Castle with Hunter Sung and go home. Where he showered, cried at the idea of eating anything, and curled up in his bed with a stuck gaze on the fluctuating health and mana bars.