Magnus of Ice

True Killer Pt.1

"Those bastards... are the <Lizards>!" Jin-Woo said out loud, with Magnus by his side.

"Lizards?" Jin-Ho asked as he ran towards them, clearly terrified by the noise created and confused as to why Jin-Woo would call them <Lizards>.

"I'll tell him," Magnus states. With a nod, Jin-Woo agrees. 'This reminds me of when it was explained to me....' He thinks as he watches Magnus explain what <Lizards> are.

*Flashback*

"Lizards?" A younger version of Jin-Woo asked another hunter. He was doing a Gate without the help of Magnus; thus, people found him more approachable.

"Sometimes, there are lizard-like people...." The hunter started. A man appeared to be in his late forties, curly black hair, worn grey sweatshirt with a white outline. He had wrinkles on the corners of his eyes, stubble on his chin, and a reddened nose, probably due to allergies before entering the Gate.

"Hunting is a pretty dangerous job, so accidents are quite common." He continues as they continue making their way through the dungeon. "And if a crime occurs inside a dungeon, it would be hard to prove... so that's commonplace as well." At this point, Jin-Woo was shocked by this information that he just stood in place, wide-eyed and disbelieving. This was around a time when he was new to the dungeon raiding scene.

"There is no such thing as a CCTV camera that can monitor the inside of a dungeon, so who could stop a wayward hunter?" The man continues, as he doesn't notice that Jin-Woo stopped following. Not receiving a response from the still learning Jin-Woo, he answers his question while turning to Jin-Woo.

"No one, that's who. And don't just stop walking; you never know when you might get ambushed." The hunter says and motions for Jin-Woo to catch up at the mention of not walking.

"Why are you telling me this?" Jin-Woo asked as he finally caught up with the man. Instead of directly answering him, the hunter goes on in a roundabout way.

"The weaker you are, the faster you get thrown away." The hunter said this as he side-eyed Jin-Woo. Jin-Woo was wearing a white polo shirt with a grey hoodie; he had a brown backpack filled with food that Magnus had packed for him. His straight black hair obeyed the rules of gravity and was down, while he too had a reddened nose due to allergies.

"But if you're strong, then people will seek after that strength." The hunter continues but is interrupted by Jin-Woo's comment, "Oh, like my best friend." "Your best friend?" The hunter questions as he is now facing Jin-Woo. "Yeah, his name is Magnus. People usually refer to him as 'Dragon Reaper of Ice.' He says that the nickname is cringey and doesn't like it, but people still call him that."

"Ah, him. I've heard of him, but why isn't he with you now?" The hunter asks, intrigued at the fact that the famous Dragon Reaper of Ice would be best friends with this weakling. "Ah, he runs a coffee shop left by his parents. So he often takes breaks from hunting in order to run and manage the shop." 'Interesting...' the hunter thinks as he opts to end that conversation and continue the original one.

"Well, back to what I was saying. If the lizard-like people say you're useless or that you get in the way...." He says as he turns and starts walking forward once more—Jin-Woo right by his side.

"Like a lizard leaving behind its tail, they'll simply cut you away." He finishes. As Jin-Woo realizes that the man finished, he hurries to question, "I appreciate you telling me this, but... why?"

"I'm telling you... to be careful, 'World's Weakest Hunter.'" If Magnus were here and heard this, he would have tried to behead this hunter. Only for the fact that he thrust the nickname that he had been guarding Jin-Woo against knowing. He thought this would be a blow to Jin-Woo's confidence, but he was wrong.