The all-knowing Player (Solo Leveling)

Dungeons and dragons (1)

A/N: Like promised, a long chapter (guys I'm sorry for the wait this one took forever to write).

Also, two new OCs are introduced in this chapter! I'll show you their faces with a picrew or neka if you want. By the way, some of you requested to see what Hee-Jin looks like. It's just a suggestion of course, since she resembles the reader of her other life. But the picture above is how I picture her.

Corresponding episode: 78

"There they are!"

I tense as the shout rises over the parking lot. But we can't escape the reporters' gazes as their heads all turn to follow the direction pointed at by the journalist. And, at the other end of his finger, stand Jin-Woo and I. We stare back with the wide eyes of deers caught in headlights in the dark of the night—motionlessly watching the vehicle approach before the unavoidable hit. Yet what lunges at us isn't a car, but a horde of wild reporters shouting our names, pushing their elbows in the sides of their competitors, or lifting their precious cameras over their heads to protect them from the bedlam.

They race forward in utter chaos, all actor gossip forgotten by the tantalizing news of the appearance of two new S-ranks. Within mere seconds, we find ourselves swept into the tumult, facing the blinding flashes of the reporters' cameras.

The men guarding the main entrance of the Association's building rush to our help, led by Woo Jin-Chul. They fight their way through the crowd, mercilessly pushing people aside and glowering at others until reaching our side and spreading their arms out in a protective barrier.

But that doesn't prevent a journalist from thrusting a microphone under our noses, his eyes shining brighter than the unwavering flashes. "Mr. Sung Jin-Woo! Ms. Soo Hee-Jin! Are you the E-ranks Sung Jin-Woo and Soo Hee-Jin who were working under the Association?"

Other shouted questions follow as the reporters fiercely push against the men in suits.

"You just became two of the rarely witnessed double awakened hunters! How do you feel at the moment?"

"What's your relationship?"

"How come you both took your reevaluations on the same day?"

"Miss Soo Hee-Jin! Please look over here!"

"Mr Sung Jin-Woo, smile for us! The entire nation is watching!"

I stiffen upon facing their frantic questioning. This is what awaits Jin-Woo and me for the next whole week—what every S-rank hunter faces after their evaluation. Hae-In warned me. I even saw it on my screen, yet I never believed it would be to that extent.

But it doesn't matter. I've faced hordes of monsters much more menacing than those journalists and looked fatal madness in the eye more than once. This is nothing.

I stretch my hand out to grab a microphone, putting on my best scowl. The questions instantly die down. A breathless silence sweeps over the crowd as I glare at each reporter. The Adam's apple of the journalist facing me directly bobs up and down upon meeting my eyes.

I bring the microphone to my lips, and the silence thickens almost unbearably until I speak. "We are hunters, not celebrities. As such, our job doesn't entail having to deal with the media or sharing personal information. I won't tolerate any behavior that might cross the boundaries of neither Hunter Sung Jin-Woo's nor my private life. That's all I have to say."

With those words, I shove the microphone back into the crowd and let it go without caring for the numerous hands that try to snatch it away from its owner. Protests rise from the crowd. I ignore them. My gaze shifts to Jin-Woo, whose eyes already rest on me. He has pulled his hood over his head, and his shoulders are squared with a lingering tension. But, despite the blinding lights and the answer-thirsty shouts, he waits for me.