C2: Greetings

184 8 0
                                    

"She clouded my vision, yet it became clear."
______________

Ji-woo's POV

Sweating, I sit up, breathing heavily, grasping at my rapidly beating heart. A dream...? Was it a dream? I glance at my surroundings. A hospital... On my left at the corner of my eye, I see someone's shoes. I turn and directly look at them, from toe up to head. It's the girl from earlier, Y/N. "Are you finally awake now?" She says, her pretty face riddled with worry. Pretty? "Why are you here?" I ask. Guilt is written all over her face, and her hands are clasped. "I was worried about you... You were unconscious for three days. I was also the one who brought you here." She says, glancing down at her feet. "So you saved me?" Y/N nods. "Why? How?" I ask, confused. Before she could answer, two men in black suits enter the room. "Who are you?" I look to my left but Y/N suddenly vanished. One of the men hands me a business card. The text on the card says "The Korean Hunter Guild's Inspectors, Woo Jin-chul" "Why do you want to see me? What happened to the others?" I have so many questions, including some for Y/N. But since she disappeared, I'm assuming she doesn't want to get noticed by them. Jin-chul answers. "Hunter Song Chi-yuls missing arm will most likely impede his work from now on, so he may retire if he chooses to. Hunter Lee Ju-hee and many others are still getting treated due to their extreme trauma. It's uncertain if they will stay as hunters. The rest are pretty much fine, but have some mental issues so they might also retire." I am deep in thought, recollecting what happened. Jin-chul continues, "The number of people who died in the double lair is 5. That is a low amount for an unexpected double dungeon. When the inspectors and The White Tiger Guild reached the scene, there was nothing there except the altar. Not to mention the fact that all the hunters claimed that a woman named Y/N saved them. We couldn't believe it either. If the survivors testimonies had differed by even a little, or if some body parts of the dead weren't found there, we would've thought of a different explanation. This is just our theory but, we believe that you've received a double awakening. Also, we tried to find Y/N in our records but there were no results. It is possible but strange for such a powerful person to not register as a hunter. Do you know where she is? The nurses said that the very same woman brought you here." "I haven't seen her since the raid." I say. He stares at me for a few seconds. "Alright then. We're going to find out if you got a double awakening. This is the magic power detector. All you have to do is place your hand on the mana crystal." I place my hand on it and he stares at the device attached to the crystal. "What's the result?" "It looks like we suspected you for no reason." Damn... nothing, huh? The men swiftly leave the room. But aren't those people aware of that? I glance up at a screen that looks like it's out of a video game. Could it be that they can't see it? My torn leg is still there, and my impaled chest is back to normal. I can't tell what was a dream, and what was reality. I try to touch the screen, but it doesn't react. "Brother, what are you doing?" Promptly, my sister walks in, worried. "Your head's not hurt as well, is it? Didn't I tell you to stop getting injured? Do you know how worried I was?!" "Sorry..." "The others all return fine, so why are you always the one getting injured?" It could have ended much worse... My sister nags on about me getting injured. I interrupt her. "Jin-ah, can you see this?" I point to the screen. "What?" Jin-ah stares at me questionably. I ask her. "When there's an unread mail in a game, how would you read it?" "You really didn't hurt your head right?" I don't respond. "Well, you would have to open the mailbox first." "Open the mailbox?" The screen changes, with text on it that reads: Welcome, Player. [Daily Quest: Preparing to become strong] has arrived. "What, what is it?" my sister asks. "Nothing." Silence for a few seconds... "Okay then, I'll be going for now." Jin-ah leaves the room. More screens with text appear, I can't understand what they're saying. Now that I think about it, I remember seeing something similar when I was left on the altar... Wait... I also remember seeing the ghostly form of Y/N watching me on the altar, with a glowing figure behind her. "Y/N? Are you here?" Y/N instantly appears by the end of the hospital bed, staring at me curiously. I gesture at the screen. "How did you do that? Can you see this?" She shrugs, then looks stunned, and her eyes start darting all over the room. "Uh- I- Mayb- No- Uh-" Her face goes completely blank for a second. "I- I- can?" Y/N hesitantly answers, and looks like she's unsure. We both frown, not-knowing what's going on. "You're like me?" Y/N mumbles. "You have the screens too?" She nods. Yet again, I have so many questions, but I redirect my focus to the screen in-front of me. I view the question directions screen, Y/N still watching me.

 I view the question directions screen, Y/N still watching me

Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.

I stare at the screen in disbelief. "Haha.. what is this... this is a joke, right? Y/N, do you get these too?" She shrugs again as I flop back down onto the bed. There's too much stuff happening at once, and I'm too tired to make sense of it all. "Someone hospitalized doesn't even have the strength to do this." I say, suddenly very self-aware of how I might look in Y/N's eyes. I shrug off the feeling. "I'll check what this is, after I sleep..."
.
.
.
.
.
I wake up from a violent earthquake, clutching the bed tightly. Instantaneously, the bed turns into sand, and I'm somehow in a desert. The sun shines brightly. Was it actually all a dream? A shadow unexpectedly appears, and I look behind me. A giant monster centipede with large fangs comes out of the sand. A new screen pops up.

The monster stares at me, drooling

Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.

The monster stares at me, drooling. You're kidding, right...? Dread sinks in.
.
.
I scream and run as fast as I can. There's centipedes everywhere.
.
.

Y/N's POV

Turns out, Ji-woo is also a "player" and I don't know how to react. I was so confused and wondered if he knew the answers to this whole game thing. Judging from the expression on his face, seems like he knows even less than I do. I actually debated on lying to him about the screens thing, but it probably wouldn't turn out well. Considering the fact that if I can see his screens, he would probably see mine too. I sat idly in Ji-woo's room. He disappeared about four hours ago, but the voice says he'll be fine. Speak of the devil, Ji-woo suddenly appears out of nowhere. "Oh my god!" I exclaim. He dashes out from thin air and collapses on the floor, covered in sand. I run to his side, and pat off the sand while he gasps for air. He's sweating and looks fatigued. A screen pops up in front of him.

 A screen pops up in front of him

Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.

"Penalty quest...?" He says as he passes out onto the floor. "Someone! Come and help please!" I say as I run out to get a nurse.

Dual leveling // Female ReaderWhere stories live. Discover now