He suddenly opened his eyes, feeling threatened.
Then he jumped up and looked around in fear.
His surroundings were... a hospital room?
He felt the smell of detergents irritate his nose, and with a delay, he also felt the feeling of a hard mattress beneath him.
Was he in the hospital?
Since meeting B-rank healer Ju-Hee, his frequency of visits to hospital rooms had decreased somewhat, but hospitals were still a familiar place to Jin-Woo, as was the local grocery store.
So much so that he even heard a rumor that a special place was reserved for him in the hospital that accommodates hunters from the association.
Jin-Woo lifted his upper body. He then placed his hand on his chest and felt the beats coming from there.
His heart was beating without any problem.
It wasn't just that.
His body felt so light and...easy to move.
No matter how stupid it sounds.
Every time he woke up from the hospital bed, he felt heavy and tired.
He was often in pain, and once even high on painkillers.
But now it was a different story.
Now he felt as if he had woken up in his own bed after a good night's sleep.
What...?
This did not make sense.
Before he lost consciousness...he was on the verge of death.
His bones were broken, his chest was pierced by a spear, and...
He quickly uncovered the covers, looking with disbelief, relief, and growing happiness at his two intact legs.
The sword fell on his head right before his eyes.
His leg was cut off. And because of this...Ju-Hee had exhausted all her mana.
So how come?
Even if he was lucky and the sword missed, he was still surrounded by countless terrifying enemies. Those damn things were strong enough to give an assault team made up entirely of A-rank hunters - no, S-rank hunters, a real beating.
And yet here he was.
He, is an E-Rank hunter.
Alive.
This all definitely happened. He couldn't have dreamed it.
These memories were real.
Memories full of blood, screams, and pain. Or was he wrong after all?
-Are you finally awake?
Jin-Woo was startled by the heavy male baritone voice coming from the corner of the hospital room and hurriedly turned his head to look in that direction.
Two tall men dressed in black suits entered through the door of his hospital room.
It's been a long time since he had such dissonance when looking at anyone.
On the one hand, the man who entered the room first was sinfully handsome.
He had dark blond hair combed back, apart from one small strand that fell gently on his forehead, his eyes were dark brown and his face clearly indicated that he could earn millions by posing for photos.
On the other hand, he looked as tired and tense as if he hadn't slept in two weeks. His suit, although well-fitted and impeccably clean, showed signs of creases and wrinkles. And there were dark circles under those pretty eyes.
The second man, looking slightly less tired, closed the door to the room and stood behind his companion.
- Who are you?
The tired man who had spoken earlier handed him a business card.
- Sorry for the intrusion.
Jin-Woo took the man's business card and read what was written on it.
— Woo Jin-Chul, Chief Inspector of the Hunter Monitoring Department Association. —
The Monitoring Department was the only department in the Hunters Association with many strong hunters on its payroll. Well, since this department was tasked with managing the Hunters in the country, it was obvious that they would hire many high-class Hunters to facilitate this goal.
- What could the Monitoring Department want from me? - Jin-Woo asked carefully.
Woo Jin-Chul moved the chair closer to the bed and sat down.
Hell, this guy even sat with grace and attractiveness. He was definitely impressive.
But he definitely needed to sleep.
The other man, who must have been his subordinate, stood behind him.
The unspoken pressure emanating from two guys looking down in close proximity was quite intense.
However, the story they told was quite surprising.
- I was unconscious for four days?! What happened to Ju-Hee and Mr. Song Chi-Yu? They are safe.
The man nodded with a reassuring expression.
- They're in no danger. Song Chi-Yul lost his arm and will probably have to give up being a hunter and retire. Le Ju-Hee is still under surveillance and the entire incident has left her severely traumatized. It is not certain whether she will be able to return to work. As for the other hunters...
- NO. - Jin-Woo interrupted him. - I just wanted to know about these two. Thank you for the information.
The man was surprised by his lack of concern for the other survivors, but he didn't show it.
In general, his tired, handsome face was a mask of polite calm and professionalism.
- Six people managed to survive. Massacres like this are rare even in such a dangerous profession. Maybe you remember what happened before you lost consciousness?
- Yes, I remember. - Jin-Woo admitted grimly.
Jin-Woo told them everything truthfully, apart from the strange hallucinatory words he heard before he lost consciousness.
It must be due to the blood loss.
- And then you passed out, didn't you?
- The next thing I remember was waking up right here.
Woo Jin-Chul and his subordinate exchanged significant glances. For some reason, they seemed perplexed by Jin-Woo's lack of knowledge.
In fact, Jin-Woo was the one who wanted to know the most about what happened at that temple.
- When the inspectors and members of the White Tiger guild arrived at the scene. There was no trace of the monsters. We only found you. No hall, no statues, or any other clues.
The White Tiger Guild was the second-largest Guild in Korea. The Association saw the danger, so it turned to such a huge Guild as the White Tiger Guild for help. Which would make sense and be quite reasonable.
But...
What happened there?
Jin-Woo swallowed nervously, feeling his throat constrict with nerves.
- It was hard for us to believe what we saw there. If the survivors' testimonies had differed in even one place, or if we had not found all the bodies, we would probably consider a different scenario.
Woo Jin-Chul pursed his lips into a thin line.
It had been six years since he had received his "A" rank and started working in the Monitoring Division. He could confidently say that he had experienced almost everything during his career. But this situation was new and a real mystery to him.
Despite being twenty-seven years old, he had no idea how to reasonably explain the situation.
He asked other Guilds as well as Associations in other countries, but the end result was not satisfactory.
Woo Jin-Chul opened his mouth, choosing his next words carefully.
They had to consider all the possibilities. Even if the odds were low, they had to confirm them all.
- There was no doubt that there were powerful creatures in this chamber. But none of them made it out of the gate.
It is also not known exactly who killed them... This is just our theory. But we believe that you have received a second awakening.
Woo Jin-Chul carefully studied Jin-Woo's reactions as he continued.
Another awakening!
Jin-Woo's eyes opened wide.
Although extremely rare, there have been cases of a human increasing his abilities as a Hunter by undergoing a second awakening.
Originally, when the Hunter rank was assigned at the beginning, it changed terribly rarely.
However, there were a few who underwent the process of a second awakening.
After waking up again, it happened that a C-rank hunter went straight to A rank. Or even from B rank straight to S. To the very top.
- You can check. - Jin-Woo said after a while, suppressing all hope.
He has always been a useless E-rank hunter, and he doesn't want to get his hopes up unnecessarily. He knows his strength. And nothing has changed in this respect.
- But I think you guys are wasting your time.
***
When the disappointed agents left his hospital room, Jin-Woo's eyes suddenly appeared...words?
Additionally, he heard a female voice reading these words, which seemed familiar to him...
He looked up without thinking and then saw the "words" floating in the air.
[ MESSAGE! ]
[ YOU HAVE AN UNREAD MESSAGE ]
He closed his eyes tightly, only to open them again after a moment.
[ MESSAGE! ]
[ YOU HAVE AN UNREAD MESSAGE ]
The words floated there without any change. He shook his head hard a few times and even rubbed his eyes, but they were still there.
Jin-Woo rubbed his aching forehead and lowered his head.
Could something in his head really be broken?
After all, there was a condition called PTSD. People who have been through a huge accident or traumatic event have usually suffered from this condition.
Just a few days ago, he had witnessed the death of many of his comrades, not to mention almost dying himself, so it wouldn't be that strange to hear or see unusual things as a possible side effect.
However, there were a few things that prevented him from accepting this explanation.
Jin-Woo's gaze fell on the leg - the leg that had been cut in half by the stone statue's shield, and yet it was now intact, intact, and not even a scratch on it.
That strange female voice.
And those words floated on nothing before his eyes.
There was a chance that all of these things weren't isolated events, but were related. As his thoughts arrived here, his aching head seemed a little clearer.
He needed to think about all this calmly.
However, before he could think about it any longer, his younger sister in a school uniform burst into his hospital room.
- I'll murder you! - Jin-Ah announced furiously, storming into the room.