Magnus of Ice

ATTACK FORCE! SET OUT! PT.3

*RIIIINNNGGG*

*RIIIIINNNNGGG*

"Is it from the guild?" Magnus asked as he started to clean. "I don't know, maybe." Was the last thing he heard before heading into the kitchen to clean.

"Hunter Sung Jin-Woo speaking." That was all he could say before being interrupted by a loud elderly voice. "YOU FINALLY PICKED UP! WHY HAVEN'T YOU BEEN PICKING UP LATELY?" Panicking, Jin-Woo replied as fast as possible. "I'm sorry, mister landlord. I got into an accident and was hospitalized."

"TSK TSK, NO WONDER. WELL, THAT'S THAT. BUT JIN-WOO... IT'S JUST THAT THIS MONTH'S RENT HASN'T COME IN YET..." the voice seemed to trail off at the end, prompting Jin-Woo to respond with an "Ah... Right...."

"IF YOU CAN'T PAY RIGHT NOW... SHOULD I DELAY IT FOR A MONTH? OR DO YOU WANT ME TO ASK THAT BOY RIGHT NEXT TO YOU FOR IT?"

"No, no, it's fine. I'll transfer the money soon." Jin-Woo said as he hung up. Seeing Magnus walk out of the kitchen and towards him, he asked. "When did you tell the landlord to ask you for my rent?"

Surprised, Magnus said, "I didn't. It's probably because I helped you pay rent for a while." Satisfied by his answer, Jin-Woo led him towards the living room to watch the morning news. "Mags, if we've really gone through a reawakening, and if we continue to grow at this rate, we'll soon become top-rank hunters," Magnus replied with a nod, indicating for Jin-woo to continue.

"Hunters kill monsters to make money. The higher the experience, and the higher the rank, the more valuable the magical core drops will be, right?"

"Yeah."

"High-rank gates lead to high-rank monsters. Low-rank gates lead to low-rank monsters. That's why there's a lot of competition for D-rank or E-rank gates, gates that can be entered by the throngs of lower-ranked hunters."

"What are you trying to get at?"

"I'm getting there. Because of that, E-rank hunters aren't accepted by guilds. And even if they were, it wouldn't be easy for them to find jobs. My rank is E, and I've never experienced a gate above D-rank before. People are chosen based on competence, and I haven't escaped from the title of 'World's Weakest Hunter.'"

Magnus got mad just from hearing that title, and Jin-Woo could tell, but he wasn't done just yet. "Should I just get reviewed and raise my rank?" That was the question he was building up, too, with all of the explanations he did.

It took a while for Magnus to reply, and waiting for his boyfriend's thoughts made Jin-Woo fidget on the spot, anxious to hear the answer.

"News of our reawakening would spread like wildfire if we were to get it revealed. I say we because if you go to reevaluated, then so would I. And you know how it is, people enjoy gossip, and hunters are a very popular topic." At this point, Magnus sat down in front of Jin-Woo's legs. Taking both his hands into his own, Magnus stared into the beautiful grey eyes of his loved one.

In a tone that revealed the full support he gave the love of his life, he continued. "Sure, the pay may get better, but malicious eyes would fall upon us as well. If they find out that we can gain exp and level up, or the fact that we can get stronger by doing the system's specialized dungeons, we'd be the hunted and maybe risk putting Jin-Ah and aunty at risk. So, if you need money, just ask me, or we can join an attack force."

Hearing that if people found out about their secret, they could be putting each other and his family in danger and instantly shelved his thoughts about getting reevaluated. "Thanks," that's all Jin-Woo needed to say to get his thoughts across. "No probs. Now, look for an attack force for today." "Already on it."