Duo Levelling

Chapter 17

I awoke inside a hospital bed once again, I could hear screams coming from the outside, but I was so tired I didn't even care. Chief of the Monitoring Division, Woo Jin Chul, walked into my room.

"Hello, Mizuki." He opened, I nodded to acknowledge his presence, I would hurt like hell to even talk after the battle with the Sovereign of Beastly Fangs.

"I am the Association President, Woo Jin Chul. I believe this is our first time meeting." He greeted me with a bow, I opened my mouth and started coughing, words didn't come out, only blood did.

"Unfortunately, Chairman Go Hun Hee was killed in some sort of secluded space, when Hunter Sung tried to save him, it was already too late."

Secluded space? Wasn't that what I was attacked in?

His voice sounded so sad at the passing of his senior that I was afraid to ask, he was the one allowing my stay in Korea anyways, if I offended him I might get booted back all the way to Japan.

"What was it that attacked you? What monster could hurt a National Level hunter this badly?" Jin Chul asked me, I took out my phone and wrote down the following

"A monster called the Sovereign of Beastly Fangs, it completely overpowered me, Sung Jin Woo is humanity's only hope currently to beat it, I would need to clear more dungeons to try and reach the same level, but as you see, I am not in the right condition to do so."

I showed it to him, the Association President thought for a while. I opened up my stat window to check how strong I was. I am level 118, while Jin Woo is 124. He is so much stronger than me it isn't even a joke.

I squinted out the window to try and find out the reason what was causing all the noise and I was met with a sight that I would never forget.

A gigantic, purple gate in the sky.

So large, so much magical energy coming out of it I can't believe I didn't notice it when I woke up.

Strangely, a word I would use to describe it was...Beautiful. It made my heart flutter with the pure energy radiating out of it. There were many things I would describe as beautiful that nobody else would call, Jin Woo's power, the strength of an S Rank beast, and this gate, all of those things would make people's hearts flutter.

"Don't worry, Mizuki, I have already called your family to evacuate them."

I felt as if a weight had been lifted from my chest, I probably showed a look of worry on my face, I was going to run home once I could to protect them, but thank god. I stumbled out of the bed, Jin Chul looked surprised that I could even stand.

I examined the cuts on my body, permanent scars on my back and stomach, a few unhealed cuts on my face and arms that were just starting to close.

I bought a few healing potions and drank them, only the claw marks on my back and stomach remained. I was in fighting shape, but I wasn't going to the gate yet. I checked Jin Woo's location, for some reason, he was in Japan, he probably is doing something private.

News headlines were filled with the discovered bodies of great hunters that were murdered by the Sovereigns, Korea's Go Gun Hee, America's Christopher Reid, and Brazil's Jonas. Top S Ranks were continuously getting murdered by the Sovereigns, there was also an image of me, me in a hospital bed with cuts and bruises all over my body.

"S Ranks getting killed, National Level Hunter dead and another injured, what is happening?"

I bought a hat and clothes from a shop nearby the hospital to change into, I didn't want to walk in public in a hospital gown. I hid my face and walked towards the gate, I wanted to see it up close. Before I reached it, a large hand touched my shoulder, I turned back and saw The Goliath, Thomas Andre, fully recovered from the battle with Jin Woo.

"Don't touch me." I spat and shook his hand off my shoulder, I stared up at the Gate, it truly was beautiful, I felt sort of a connection to it, it called me here, just like the Carthenon Temple when I hit level 100.

"Truly magnificent isn't it? Even the gate Kamish leapt out of was smaller compared to this." Thomas wondered, he had the same thoughts as I, he thought this gate was beautiful. I knew that this will probably result in the deaths of many people, I might even die fighting against whatever comes out of this gate, but at the moment, it looked like a beautiful art piece.

"It's still dangerous here, I think you should go home and recover, you may be a National Level Hunter such as I, but as you are now, you would hopelessly lose to me."

I wanted to stay, but there was a ring of truth to his words, my mana reserves were at only a quarter of what they were. That battle with the Sovereign of Beastly Fangs really left a number on me.

I turned back and walked to my house, I knew nobody would be there but I still wanted to spend the last moments of what could be of my life at a familiar place, the streets of Seoul were filled with panic, I didn't bother trying to reassure them, I can't do anything to change their mood, I was scared too, but I just could hide it behind a cold exterior.

I opened the door to my home, the windows were still destroyed from the battle with the Sovereign of Beastly Fangs. Apparently, when the Sovereign left, it was when Kyoko and Mom came home and saw the scene that was left behind. There were countless texts from Kyoko that were on my phone, I didn't even need to read them to know that she didn't want me to take part in this raid.

Bloodstains still dyed the walls, it looked like a haunted house from a cheap amusement park, except for the fact that it was real. The scars on my body throbbed a little at the sight of the crimson stains. I walked up to my room, a neat room with an expensive computer, the first thing I bought when I signed into Draw Sword, memories of Goto Ryuji came back to me, the last words we exchanged rang in my head.

"I'll definitely come back alive huh...why did you not keep that promise?"

I felt a tear come out from my eye, I didn't even bother wiping it off, Goto was the one that made me the person I am, as much as I hated his training sessions, I still respected him as a superior. I jumped onto my bed, drowning in the mistakes I made in the past, why did I let Goto die? Why was I so weak that I couldn't save Byung Gyu?

I don't deserve this title as the strongest in Asia, even Regia said it, I wasn't supposed to exist, The true Sovereign of White Flames died a long time ago. I really need to rest, I can't go into battle with thoughts like this.

As a final tear escaped my eyes, the endless darkness of sleep greeted me once more.

Author-san here again! I kind of want to explore Mizuki as a character more, though Jin Woo is the star of the show to the world of Solo Leveling, in my heart, it's Mizuki ;)