The all-knowing Player (Solo Leveling)

Notice

A/N: This is mostly a message from me to you, but please stick to the end because I have a bonus for you.

I've decided to go on a hiatus to prepare for better chapters. You probably don't care about the reason so I won't write a whole paragraph on that (just know I'm okay, no accident happened). I should be back around September with a more consistent schedule, and hopefully one that doesn't involve publishing only once every month. If I'm not back by October, you're free to spam me.

That being said, I still prepared something for you to wait patiently for my return (and not hate me too much on the cliffhanger I left you with, I promise it wasn't intentional). It's an alternative ending to the staircase scene I wrote in Pounding Hearts (2), so I'd advise you to go back to this chapter before reading this.

During the night they spend at Radiru Castle, Hee-Jin starts being more honest toward Jin-Woo. That conversation in the staircase is important in the evolution, however it's not enough. But what if Hee-Jin had been a little more brave? 

Let's see...

PLEASE REMEMBER THIS IS A WHAT-IF SCENARIO, MEANING IT DIDN'T HAPPEN IN TAP!

"Yesterday..." Jin-Woo pauses for a moment. His mouth opens, silently forming words before choosing others. "Did you mean everything you said before falling asleep?"

My eyes widen. I watch him stand in the sun, his frame enveloped by its light for him to project a strong shadow on the step. An anxious ripple hums through his army, imperceptibly leaning forward while waiting for my answer. Only then do I understand what flickers in his eyes. The fear of being left behind.

My throat tightens. But I reply nevertheless. "There will come a day in which we will have made use of everything the system can offer us. There will come a day in which we will have to build our lives outside the quests and dungeons. Everything that ties us now will disappear. When that happens, what do you think will remain of us?"

"That's up for us to decide. We can build an us outside the dungeons too. I can be more than just your disaster partner."

The rhythmic thumping of my heart echoes in my ears as he lifts his hand for to me to take. In his gaze lies a warmth, a vulnerability that I have only seen him bare yesterday, when we sat so close that the rest of the world seemed to have shrunk to this small couch. It lures me in with an undeniable, irresistible pull. My hand finds his as if it was meant to, and I cross the step separating us as he gently tugs it forward, leading me into the light.

"And what would our relationship look like outside the gates?" I ask.

The sunbeams finally reach my skin. They wrap around me in a warm embrace—blinding and radiant, painting the whole world as orange as the first streaks of light at dawn. Jin-Woo remains there, just a step under me, his eyes almost on the same level as mine. His grip around my fingers tightens the slightest as he leans forward, as if he was scared I might run away, as if testing how close he can stand. His breath faintly brushes my lips—close, but not as much as yesterday. It's enough to have my heart answer with erratic beating.

"Whatever you want it to be," he replies, and his low voice unknowingly sends pleasurable shivers down my spine. "A place by your side is all I ask for."

"What if I demand too much?"

"I want you to."

My lips part, the shaky breath that escapes me closer to words I should not utter. Words that could break everything. He doesn't know what I desperately long for. He surely can't imagine that I could make such a shameless demand. So I should keep it to myself. But the words leave my lips anyway, encouraged by the softness of his whispers.