The all-knowing Player (Solo Leveling)

Hapjeong Station (1)

Corresponding episodes: 13, 14

The tapping of our soles against the floor echoes in the empty hallways, regularly overlapped by the sound of water dripping into puddles with ominous regularity. Flickering lamps bathe the station in a white light that flashes on and off indecisively. Climbing plants have invaded the hallways, clinging onto grey walls and piercing through cracks in the tiles to take a better hold in the ground. The place reeks of mold and desolation.

Sung Jin-Woo's grip around my hand tightens in anticipation. I grit my teeth and answer with a light squeeze, silently letting him crush my knuckles with a pinch of regret. I should have guessed my hand wouldn't come back unscathed when I reached out for him. But his gaze holds determination, and though the fear in his eyes hasn't completely subsided, his steps remain firm. I can let him have this for now if it helps him overcome the crippling unease spreading in both our chests upon feeling the chilly mana waves brush past us with a quiet howling.

"There's a foul stench," he whispers, not daring to lift his voice lest he should attract monsters. "Is this the smell of a beast-type monster?"

Right on cue, a red figure pounces on us from around a corner. I barely have the time to see white fangs flash in the dim light before I yank on the boy's hand with a shout of warning. Sharp claws graze past us, missing us by mere millimeters. We tumble to the ground with a loud thud.

Pain shoots through my arm upon colliding with cracked tiles. Pieces of rubble dig into my palm as I try to cushion our fall with one hand, failing miserably as soon as his body crashes into mine. My chest is pushed mercilessly to the ground, ripping a pained grunt from my lungs.

"Sorry," he apologizes before crouching up, and his grip around my fingers tightens again.

My gaze rises to meet the eyes of the beast that attacked us. My heart pounds loudly in my chest upon meeting its gaze. Its red irises gleam with bloodlust, an echo of the dirty brick color of its fur. The wolf's lips curl upward in a hungry snarl to reveal razor-sharp fangs. Steel covers its jaw, extending to another set of metallic fangs. The air above its head momentarily glitches, revealing a dark window displaying the beast's name in orange letters.

[Steel-Fanged Lycan]

"My hand," I say.

Sung Jin-Woo turns toward me, eyes wide in horror. "What?"

Only now do I realize his hand has started trembling again. Beads of sweat trickle down his face, and his complexion has turned pale.

"I need my hand back, Sung," I insist with an unnecessarily sharp tone.

"O-oh."

His quivering intensifies as soon as he lets go. We stand back up, leaning on shaky legs without letting the lycan out of our sight. It stands a few meters away, greedily eyeing us up and down, and in its eyes lies a reality that freezes me to the bone. To this wolf, we are nothing but prey to be hunted down. Its front paw scratches impatiently on the floor, adding more cracks to the ground. And, without any more warning, it lunges forward.

I instantly jump out of its reach. But Sung Jin-Woo doesn't.

"Huh?" His shaky voice rises in the hallway, laced with blank panic. "My legs... They won't move?"

Thrill sparks in the monster's eyes upon seeing its prey stand so helpless and unmoving. I throw all caution aside. I may not be a hunter, but Soo Hee-Jin is. Her body will surely respond automatically if I try to attack, right?

Blue streaks erupt from my hand as I plunge it into my inventory, pulling out a kitchen knife found in the hospital. Refusing to think it through, I rush against the lycan just as it is about to reach Sung, my fingers firmly wrapped around the utensil's handle. I push the knife into the beast's fur upon colliding with it at full momentum. And the blade shatters instantly. Splinters fly off to cut through the tender skin of my hands, yet none of them so much as scrape the wolf. The monster simply digs its claws into the floor, resisting the impact effortlessly. It spins around, ready to bite my head off, and I push myself away with gritted teeth. Its snapping jaw closes around nothing but air, right where my throat was a heartbeat prior.