Tic, tac, tic, tac, tic, tac...
The old clock made a continuous rythm in the quiet room followed by shifting of pages.
A minute goes by the hand of the clock while the rain outside the windows poured.
The room is filled with books in every corner, there's a study desk just close by the window where notebooks and papers are neatly arranged on top of the table. In the left corner of the room is a display of a twelve inch diameter globe with red pins attached to it.
The sound of the paper page being flipped sounded again. But not at the study desk. The person who looked as young as ten, sat on the floor, leaning his small back on the shelves while reading the children's book with a serious look on his face, pretending to be a little adult. Beside him, a small wheelchair, just parked and ready for use.
The clock still continued to click that hour with the book leafing slowly until it disappeared.
The door was then opened by a girl around the age of fifteen. Her dark and gradient blue hair flowed softly from every simple movement she made.
"Young-Jae, are you here-" the young lady's voice abruptly stopped as soon as she saw the small body lying on the ground. "Jae!" She ran towards the child in a panic, her hands trembled and just as she was about to carry him, her hands stopped moving forward.
Ever since she awakened, she was not allowed to touch her little brother at all cause. The doctors told her so or he will just get worse!
The young lady ran out as fast as she could. He feet tripping a couple of times towards the telephone to call the doctors, her mind was filled with panic. When the doctor confirmed that they're coming, she ran back upstairs to see her brother.
Entering the library, she sat beside the young Lin Young-Jae, observing him. His healthy skin was becoming sickly pale the moment he started getting sick. His previously pure obsidian hair became snow white and his previously lake blue eyes became lighter as if his color was fading. The doctors said that this was the effect of awakening, and that he has the rarest pure mana they have ever seen.
She didn't understand much of that when they were young. But after awakening at the age of fourteen, she finally knew why it's called purest. The cause of people's awakening is an evolution that is caused by the dungeon. It is a change necessary to survival. Like sponge, they absorbed what the environment have and become one with it. Since the change is from the dungeon, it's also inevitable that they absorbed the contamination that came from it. That's why the moment they awakened, five percent of malicious mana is already injected in their cores with no possibility of going down.
This is why, the doctors forbid even a single touch from awakened. Even unawakened individuals who carries his brother must wear layer of protection to avoid making a mistake.
The moment she awakened, she was never allowed to touch Lin Young-Jae again even with gloves.
Although through the years, they developed an item that can allow her to touch him briefly and carefully, but that's still in the future five years to come.
.
A dream?
No, a memory that is neither his or Lin Young-Jae. Or a vision in a third person's perspective of sort?
"His core is currently tainted with an approximately 15% contamination." A voice he was familiar with, was speaking within his groggy consciousness.
Steps could be heard. "For the past eight hours, it's back to 7%. He seems to be cleansing it on his own." The other spoke.
"The blood samples are low, we'll have to wait another seven hours to be able to get a sample."
His hearing was slowly fading again as if he was being pulled back into a dream. But right now, he thinks that he should wake up. But as his body's senses slowly fades, he had an odd feeling around him, like something was wrong but could not point it out.
But maybe it's because he wasn't feeling well so he's being paranoid. He decided to relax, letting himself go back to a deep slumber.
As he drowns into the Dreamworld, his body also began to feel light and helpless as if truly submerged into a tub.
Well, he was not wrong.
He is currently in the laboratory submerged in a tube filled with fluid. There is an oxygen mask covering his mouth and nose with apparatuses sticking in his body.
Eight hours or maybe seven. He didn't know how long he was stuck there, but it was the first time his body was placed in this kind of equipment.
Maybe because he had a peculiar sickness? He really didn't know what's going on in the minds of intellectuals with low human empathy.
"How is his body?" A man entered the room, his eyes hidden in a thick rectangular glasses shining from different light spectrum from different equipments.
"Dr. Woo, you're back!" The other doctors greeted politely. "Lin Young-Jae is currently given time to recuperate. There are still internal injuries that need to be fixed, although it's not life threatening, it may cause permanent damage in the body."
One of the doctors immediately handed him a tablet wherein it had a digital detailed diagnosis of Lin Young-Jae's body. His eyes scanned the findings, swiping from page to page to check the several laboratory results in his hand.
Director and doctor Woo Eun, the head of the laboratory department who mandates the hospitals experiments. A successful man in his forties with a strict and serious demeanor.
He looked at the pod where the young man was currently submerged, his hand reaching for the side of the glass. His stare was unreadable, but it could be seen that he did care about this child. "How about Hunter Lin Ji-Young? Did she come?" He asked.
"She's not back yet, doctor. Is there something wrong?"
"None. Continue looking after the boy for me. We have a board meeting in ten minutes." Looking at his wrist watch, he turned around, returned the tablet back to the doctor and left.
The other doctors also watched his retreating back that is neither slow or fast. Just a pace that didn't look like a person in a hurry. When he finally reach the door and disappeared, the others sighed in relief when the man left.
"That scared me." One of the doctors leaned on his swivel chair.
The others looked at each other quietly, as if wary of that person's sudden arrival. They're not afraid of him in terms of personality, but they feel cautious because he might sniff out something that they've been doing.
.
After getting out of the barriers of the closed laboratory, Woo Eun was immediately welcomed outside by a group of familiar and unfamiliar people.
He scanned them under his glasses, finding the mark of Legion in their armbands and some are even from Aegis as well. A total of twelve individuals assigned to guard the person inside.
"Director Woo." Lee Seok Jin greeted, his eyes were expectant for news.
The middle aged man nodded to greet back. "Hunter Lin Ji-Young and Guild master Shin In Soo is currently at the Legion guild, aren't they?" He asked in confirmation.
"Yes sir. That's right." The redhead replied.
"I see. Tell Lin Ji-Young this for me; his brother is currently submerged in the regeneration pod. The potion he took didn't completely heal the wound in his back and the bones that broke from that 'event'. Basing on the number and size of the damage, he will be taken out in three days. Tell her to wait and not cause trouble." Saying this, he left the corridor with the same calm pace.
Everyone always had the scary impression on this man. Not that it was repulsive in any way or neither had he done anything wrong or violent. He just have this aura that's like that of an S-class, but isn't. Like a superior molded by years of professional expertise.
The right word would be, a respectable man that no one could just treat casually.
But after hearing what he said, he immediately messaged Park Do Hyun and told him the news and pass along said message.
The healing potion is not an omnipotent item. It has limits depending on the class of item. Whenever a party enters a dungeon, it's always a requirement to bring at least one potion that is equivalent to the dungeon rank. So Lee Seok Jin had an A-class potion with him which can heal a lot of injuries, but it's not strong enough to fix internal injuries and deep wounds. He didn't see the injuries properly and the wound was covered in blood so he was not sure.
One thing he was certain about is the fact that the boy did not complain about any pain in his body so he thought that he was completely healed, but it looked like the boy had a problem speaking out his opinions.
Thinking about it, he felt sorry and amazed by the delicate and sickly boy.
After a few more hours standing at the corridor, he ordered someone to buy them breakfast, exactly when the sun was about to rise up at 5:30 in the morning.
With a sigh, he leaned back on the waiting area. "What's taking them so long, I want to take a bath." He complained. He had been itching since getting out of the dungeon with all those monster bloods and dried leaves stuck in his clothes starting to make him feel uncomfortable.
"You can go if you want."
Lee Seok Jin blinked, looked up and saw Shin In Soo walking towards them with a smile in his face. Behind him, was the ever ice cold huntress, Lin Ji-Young. When she raised her head and their gazes met, the side of her eye suddenly twitched and her already cold expression suddenly became even more visibly freezing and the corridor gave literal chills.
Shin In Soo who felt it as well simply laughed. "Let's calm down, hunter Lin Ji-Young. He's not at fault." He just waved one hand, as if that would help the poor guy be shielded from her wrath.
Even Lee Seok Jin is confused. What did he even do to receive such a below degrees greeting from the ice queen? And what does the guild master of Aegis mean when he said 'he's not at fault'?
The ravenette woman sighed, composed herself and as soon as the two party were face to face, she gave him a polite bow. "Hunter Lee Seok Jin, thank you for saving my brother and taking care of him on the way back." She expressed her gratitude with formality.
"A... Oh, no. That's just. It's fine, hunter Lin. It's all because we're lucky." He sheepishly scratched the back of his neck awkwardly.
"No. I owe you a life." A life she can never live without. "I promise to repay you."
The redhead blinked surprised. Wondering if the ice queen just said that with a softer tone. Which reminds him, didn't Lin Young-Jae said the same thing? The idea made him chuckle but immediately explained when those cold eyes looked at him. "It's nothing! I remembered the little guy saying that he'll repay me too." He explained.
"Young-Jae did?" Lin Ji-Young taught him stranger danger, to be wary of strangers. She hadn't taught him how to repay favors yet.
"Yeah..." He paused, and then suddenly became serious. "I know it's not my position to pry. But when I was carrying the little guy, a notification popped up." He started.
Lin Ji-Young and Shin In Soo also became serious. Lee Seok Jin also knew. While the two contemplated what to do with this young redhead, a ringtone suddenly rang from the person's pocket.
He fished out his phone and saw the guild leader's message, ordering him to report back in the afternoon.
With a sigh, he didn't even notice that the two already had a plan to bury him somewhere just to keep the secret safe. "Well, the boss calls! We'll be off now, guild master Shin and hunter Lin." He stood up, said his goodbyes and took the Legion's men with him.
Seems like someone survived today.