Ch 206: The Hunters’ dark side.

"Hey, Jinah."

"Yes?" asked Jinah as she turned to look at her closest friend. She was sitting just behind her in the classroom.

"You haven't been in school much since the start of the semester." continued Song-Yi. "What's going on?"

"I've been dungeon hunting."

"That's strange. I remember you saying that it was very dangerous, and you only did it for your mom and brother. But your mom has recovered now, so why do you keep doing it?"

Jinah hesitated, then examined Song-Yi thoughtfully. She quickly decided that she wanted Song-Yi to gain immortality as well. She was a beautiful brunette with neck-length hair in a bob and emerald eyes. She wore the standard uniform for their high school, with a pink sweater between her shirt and her blazer. She was certainly attractive, and Jinah felt confident that Akeno wouldn't reject her.

"Hey, Song-Yi… You told me you wanted to become a Hunter, right?"

"I already am, actually. At least on paper. I just got my license. I'm an E-rank like you."

"That's great. How about you join my hunting group, then?" asked Jinah.

"I'd like to. But would they be willing to team up with someone who hasn't yet done a single dungeon run? It's hard for E-rankers like us to find a group."

"Tell me about it." agreed Jinah. "I didn't have that issue thanks to my brother, but I know he struggled a lot for months, until he became friend with a B-rank healer. But with me, you don't have to worry about that. Besides, our group divides the loot evenly based on participation, not on killed monsters."

"That sounds ideal for us." nodded Song-Yi.

"Yeah. How about we do a dungeon tomorrow? My usual group probably won't be available on short notice like that, but we'll be okay for a D-rank."

"Are you sure?" hesitated Song-Yi.

"Yeah." grinned Jinah. "Dungeon divers going into D-rank dungeons usually are a mix of C-rankers and D-rankers, with the occasional E-ranker. We'll join a group and be fine. We won't have much loot, but it will be fine as a first experience for you."

"…Yes. Thank you."

"What weapon do you plan on using? Maybe I can help with that?"

"I have a dagger, and a few throwing knives. I have trained a lot to throw them correctly. They gave me an Assassin class, by the way." smiled Song-Yi.

"Hum, so you can fight both in melee and from a distance, that's good."

The bell rang, signaling the end of the afternoon break.

"I'll call you after class for the detail." smiled Jinah.

"Yeah, thanks."

…

The next day, Song-Yi, dressed in a white and pink sweater, black leather boots with low heels and black leather pants, reached her destination. She had her main dagger sheathed against her right thigh and with four throwing knives strapped on her left forearm.

She entered the building where the gate had spawned, right inside an apartment. The family living there had quickly evacuated, taking with them anything worth stealing and putting tarps on the floor to try to protect it.

The gate had opened two days ago, meaning that they had about five days left before the monsters inside would be released. The whole neighborhood would be evacuated before it happened.

The real danger was the gates that opened in places rarely visited. There were multiple cases of dungeon breaks every year because the gates weren't discovered in time. But for some strange reason scientists hadn't been able to explain, gates always opened within cities. If gates ever opened in the middle of forests or other isolated areas, the world would really be in trouble.

"Hey, Song-Yi." waved Jinah with a grin as Song-Yi entered.

"Hi, Jinah... It's the first time I see a gate from so close."

"Yes. That one's a C-rank dungeon." smiled Jinah as she glanced at the shimmering vortex.

"A C-rank!" paled Song-Yi, looking worriedly at the gate as if expecting to see powerful monsters erupt from it at any time.

"Relax, I found us a group of C-rank Hunters, and they have a lot of experience, from what I've gathered. As long as we don't do something stupid, we'll be safe. Safe-ish. Also, I've got a gift for you!" grinned Jinah as she handed her a leather pouch.

"Oh?"

Song-Yi opened the pouch and saw inside two sheathed daggers, as well as six throwing knives on an adjustable leather strap meant to be worn over the thigh or arm. She drew one of the knives, and it seemed to be of a significantly higher quality than those she owned.

"What the… Where did you find those? How much did they cost you?"

"They cost me nothing. I just used one of my connections. Do you like them?"

"…Yeah. Thank you, Jinah. I'll test them in the dungeon to be sure, but they seem to be pretty good." smiled Song-Yi.

"Yeah. You'll have to tell me about their balance, though. The one who made them specializes in swords and large weapons, not knives. She told me that if the balance is flawed, she'll redo them. And she'll make us both a set of body armor in the near future as well."

"What? Just who is that connection of yours? Is she going to make us pay? I don't think I can afford it."

"Her name is Akeno, and she's a A-rank member of the White Tiger guild. Not just a weak A-rank, either. With her focus on speed, I wouldn't be surprised if she could defeat some of the S-rankers. You'll meet her this week-end, probably. When you do, you'll understand why preparing this for you isn't a big deal for her."

"Akeno?" frowned Song-Yi, sure she had heard that name before, then she remembered, and her eyes widened. "You mean Akeno Himejima, the Healer who healed your mother and everyone else?"

"The very one." nodded Jinah. "We've become close friends since then. About half of the dungeon dives I do is with her and the other regulars. I talked to them yesterday, and they agreed for you to join the group."

"B-But she's a A-rank. Why would she waste her time helping us in low-level dungeons?"

"Well, there's a reason for that, but I won't tell you immediately. Our group is… a little special." shrugged Jinah. "But don't worry, they won't hold it against us if we can't perform to their level. Akeno and the others value friendship more than money… Well, there's one or two who may grumble, but they won't cause you trouble."

Song-Yi was about to ask about it when they heard noise coming from the hallway. A group of Hunters entered the apartment.

"Oy, you're here already. I hope you didn't have to wait long." said the tall and muscular man leading them, smiling. He had short dark brown hair and black eyes. A longsword and a shield were strapped on his back.

"Are you Hwang Dongsuk?" asked Jinah, and he nodded.

Jinah had used the Hunter Association's matchmaking service to organize the upcoming dungeon dive. She has searched for a group willing to accept two more members, that would be willing to take on a D-rank or C-rank dungeon.

"As you know, I am Sung Jinah, and this is Han Song-Yi. I hope our cooperation will be fruitful." said Jinah with a bow of her head, and Song-Yi nodded in greeting.

The five men behind Hwang Dongsuk introduced themselves in turn. Cho Kyuhwan, a mage, had black neck-length hair and black eyes. The others didn't give Jinah any lasting impression, and she forgot their names almost as soon as she heard them.

Hwang Dongsuk was the tank of that group, Cho Kyuhwan the only mage, one was armed with some kind of rapid-fire crossbow, another with twin daggers, and the last two with longswords.

Once the introductions were over, Song-Yi quickly equipped the weapons Jinah had given them, and they entered.

They had a short discussion about roles and responsibilities. Jinah and Song-Yi's duty within the group was to act as meat shields (although they didn't quite phrase it like that) to protect the mage and the ranger on the back line, while the rest of them would form the front line, with Dongsuk at the center.

Jinah was fine with it. She didn't expect much in terms of loots, as she would be forced to hide her strength and act like a E or D-rank Hunter, and this outing's main purpose was to give Song-Yi some practical experience.

They had entered the first dungeon room, dome-shaped with a radius of maybe thirty meters. There were well over a dozen tunnels branching our from that room, including on the ceiling, and Jinah stated hearing a skittering sound. But the rooms' acoustics didn't allow her to identify its source.

"Everyone, get ready." ordered Hwang Dongsuk.

"Should we retreat in the hallway we came from, to avoid being attacked from different directions?" nervously asked Song-Yi.

Jinah agreed with her, as her suggestion made sense, but Hwang Dongsuk shook his head. His ego wouldn't allow for a retreat, unless it was really justified, and they had yet to see a single monster.

"No need, little lady. We are quite strong." said Chol Kyuhwan with a confident smile.

The melee-focused Hunters had adopted a semi-circle formation around the ranged-focused ones, ready to intercept attacks from anywhere but the tunnel leading to the gate.

The skittering sounds had intensified a lot. The monsters were close, and a lot of them were coming.

Jinah suddenly lifted her head and saw what looked like giant red termites jumping from the top tunnel, landing on the ground before them. More of the same monsters appeared from two more tunnels at ground level, and the fight started.

Hwang Dongsuk used a taunt skill, attracting the monsters to him, and his companions took position beside him, covering his back and flanks.

The mage and the rangers were hard at work thinning the insects' ranks, but when the effect of the taunting skill dissipated, two termites skittered toward Cho Kyuhwan.

Song-Yi threw one of her knifes at the first, and the blade sunk into the termite's flesh, but didn't stop its advance. She gritted her teeth, dagger in hand, ready to receive the monster's charge and try to avoid its jaws, when Jinah's spear flashed by, cutting all three of the insect's right legs.

Jinah has already moved away and sunk the head of her spear inside the second insect, near the joint between the head and the rest of its body, stopping its charge.

Jinah put a foot on the monster's head and pushed to free her spear, only to stab it again, delivering a fatal blow.

As she did, Song-Yi had exploited the other termite's reduced mobility to sink her dagger into its eye, finishing it.

She and Jinah looked around for any other termite coming close, but the insects were focused on the front liners and quickly killed.

The whole fight had only lasted about twenty seconds.

"Thanks." said Song-Yi to Jinah with a low voice.

"No problem. So, how was your first fight."

"Scary." admitted Song-Yi. She wanted to become a Hunter because it was an occupation that paid very well, as long as Hunters could get more than one or two cores per dive, and didn't have to replace their weapons too often.

"But you didn't freeze, and that's what is the most important." nodded Jinah.

"Yes. And you're pretty decent with that spear, miss Jinah." cut in Cho Kyuhwan with a smile.

"Thank you." nodded Jinah.

There was something in the way the mage looked at her and Song-Yi that she didn't like. She was used to men (and a few girls for that matter) looking at her like she was eye candy, but she suddenly had the feeling that this man would want more than a look.

After the fight was the looting. Jinah and Song-Yi opened the bodies of the monsters they had killed with their weapons to dig up their cores.

As they only had killed one each, they were the first to be done, and Jinah observed the other C-rank hunters carefully. She didn't see any sign of hostile intent toward her or Song-Yi, but the contrary would have surprised her as the Hunters were all focused on taking the cores.

Once they were all done, the group resumed their progression. Every few minutes, they were attacked by large groups of giant termites, but none of those encounters were particularly dangerous. The one with the highest number of kills was the mage, as some of his big spells would kill a dozen monsters in one large explosion.

After the ninth group and exploring several passages, they finally found one who was partially blocked by large spider webs. An eerie blue glow could be felt coming from the other side.

Jinah could feel it. Something dangerous was waiting down there.

"That must be the boss room." smiled Hwang Dongsuk with a satisfied expression.

They started walking toward the web, when suddenly, Hwang Dongsuk pivoted and walked the other way, sending Jinah and Song-Yi a strange smile as he passed them by. Not only that, but the other melee-focused Hunters did the same, and Jinah frowned as the two girls found themselves separated from the others by five meters.

The C-rank hunters looked at the girls with sinister smiles, and Jinah sank as she could already notice a few bulging pants.

"What's happening?" asked Song-Yi, confused.

"Stay behind me, Song-Yi. I'll deal with it." said Jinah as she put herself in front of Song-Yi, her eyes not leaving Hwang Dongsuk.

"It is still possible to walk away from this, Hwang Dongsuk. Nothing has happened yet, and we can leave the dungeon and pretend it was just a misunderstanding."

Song-Yi wasn't stupid, and she paled as she understood the situation.

"I think not, little miss." grinned Hwang Dongsuk. "How about this? if you lay down your weapons and do not resist, I we'll have some good time together, and you will leave the dungeon unscathed."

Jinah didn't need Noah's skill to know it was a lie, but it was nice to have confirmation.

"How many women did you rape, after luring them into dungeons with you?" asked Jinah. She really didn't want to kill people. Which was why she had offered them an off-ramp. But she already guessed that thing would turn out this way.

"None, actually." said Hwang Dongsuk. "The others were all men. But we may or may not have robbed them a little."

"And you killed them to hide your crimes." flatly said Jinah.

Hwang Dongsuk stared at her for a few seconds, then shrugged.

"Maybe it's better that you already know. It's nothing personal, you see? Drop your weapons, and we'll give you a quick death when we're done. If not, it will hurt a lot."

"Nothing personal? Well fucking excuse me for taking it personally!" spat Song-Yi, clutching her daggers.

"That's not a word I'd have used in those circumstances, Song-Yi." sighed Jinah, before raising her voice to talk to the C-Rank Hunters. "I really didn't want this, but you don't give me a choice. What happens next is on you."

Hwang Dongsuk blinked as he saw Jinah change her grip on her spear, holding it with the spearhead pointing down. He realized too late, as Jinah was taking a step forward and suddenly raising her arm, that she held her spear like a javelin.

Jinah threw her spear with all her strength, aiming at the pervert armed with the repeating crossbow.

The C-rank Hunters were clearly surprised by the speed of Jinah's spear and didn't have time to intercept or evade.

The spear hit the crossbow-armed man in the liver, breaking a rib, severing two important arteries and causing damage that would quickly kill him from massive hemorrhage as he was knocked backward from the impact.

"Sukmin!" cried Cho Kyuhwan in shock.

Jinah was busy casting Augment while the C-rank Hunters were staring at their fallen comrade like idiots, not realizing yet the situation they were in, and by the time they turned their attention back to her, Jinah was rushing them, taking her swordstaff from her spatial ring. She turned one of the knobs on the weapon's shaft, activating its Light rune to make it completely transparent.

She slashed at Hwang Dongsuk. He managed to block with his shield, but wasn't braced properly and stumbled to the side. Jinah ignored him for now and lunged at the one she saw as the most dangerous, Cho Kyuhwan.

The mage stumbled back with an enraged expression, a sphere of energy appearing in his right hand, but before he could start his throwing motion, Jinah was on him, swinging her weapon hard. She cut off his right arm, and his spell detonated, injuring everyone around.

Cho Kyuhwan died, both from the huge gash Jinah's swordstaff carved into his torso, and from the explosion going off barely half a meter from his face.

Three of the C-rankers were hit by the shockwave and were projected against the nearby walls.

Jinah herself wasn't left unscathed, but between the passive strengthening bestowed by her Soul Contract with Noah, and the Armored part of Augment, she only suffered the equivalent of first degree burns and some bruising.

She gritted her teeth to stifle a yelp of pain and sunk the business end of her weapon into the throat of the Hunter with the twin daggers, before he could recover from the shock.

Half of her enemies were now gone, and Jinah created a half-dozen light swords, sending two at each of them. One was pierced by both, the other deflected one but failed to stop the other, and Hwang Dongsuk blocked one with his shield and the other with his sword.

Jinah controlled her swords to finish the injured C-rank Hunters, then moved them to surround her, ready to strike.

Hwang Dongsuk was stupefied. His whole team was gone, in less than 10 seconds. He stared into Jinah's eyes, and saw she was determined to kill him as well.

"Wait! I've got money! I can give you anything you…"

Jinah used Shunpo to appear on his flank and stabbed his throat.

Hwang Dongsuk stumbled back with a strangled cry, putting a hand on his throat to try to stop the bleeding. He gurgled as he started to drown in his own blood.

Jinah watched with cold eyes until he stopped moving, then turned made her weapons disappear, putting her swordstaff back in the spatial ring.

She risked a glance back to look at Song-Yi, dreading her reaction.

…

Song-Yi had watched the fight with her mouth wide open. She had flinched when the mage's spell had detonated, worried for Jinah, but the latter seemed barely affected.

"I… I'm sorry, Song-Yi." said Jinah with a pained voice. "This wasn't how things were supposed to go."

"…Understatement of the year." said Song-Yi, hesitantly walked closer to her friend. She didn't want to get close to the corpses, but she knew her friend needed support right now.

They hugged each other tightly. Jinah trembled for a minute, once the adrenaline wore off, then calmed down.

"I'm… fine with you killing them. It was them or us, and they were scum. Rather, thank you for saving me. But how? Is your E-rank a fake one?"

"…It wasn't, until recently. But I suspect that if I were to be retested, I would be at least B-rank." admitted Jinah.

"Did you experience a second Awakening?" asked Song-Yi in wonder.

"…No. What I'm going to tell you, you can't repeat it carelessly, okay? You're going to end on the crap list of some powerful people if you do."

"I'm not the kind to tattle for clout."

"I know, and that's why I'm telling you. Two things happened, that made me much stronger than before. The first is that my group ran into a double dungeon, a very high level one, and our retreat was cut off. If Akeno, Alter and Jeanne hadn't joined us back then, none of us would have returned from it."

"After Akeno defeated the hidden boss, a S-rank one, all of us received a System as a reward."

"A System?" frowned Song-Yi. "You mean, like those tropes in bad quality isekai novels?"

"Yeah." sighed Jinah. "You can't see the status window and all that stuff, but I have stats who make me faster and stronger, and I have an inventory as well, like in video games."

"That's hard to believe."

"Yeah. I kill monsters, gain levels, and my stats improve. It's not all good, though. There's only one reason for this System to exist. Someone or something is grooming us to take care of some future threat. We're pawns on someone's chessboard, and we don't know the rules, or what we're going to face. And I did mention two things. The instant movement technique, the light swords, even the bladed staff I used? They don't come from the System."

"And those are things that you could gain, too, Song-Yi. If you're willing to pay the price for them."

"What kind of price?" warily asked Song-Yi.

"We'll discuss this with Akeno when you meet her. She's the one who gave me those abilities. For now, Let's take a break so I can recover fully. We still have a C-rank boss to kill. And from the looks of it, it's a spider. I hate spiders."

Song-Yi slowly nodded, understanding that she would have to curb her curiosity for now.

"Okay. I won't ask for now. It's fine if I just watch you fight the boss, right?"

"Yes."

…

The young woman adjusted her glasses with a finger as she looked coldly at the two E-rank Hunters in front of her.

"You want me to believe that all eight of you killed the boss, but all C-rank hunters were so heavily injured that they succumbed to the spider's venom, while the two of you were unscathed? Do I look like I was born yesterday?"

"It's the truth…" started Jinah.

"Cut the crap already! Do you know why I'm an inspector? It's because I'm a Ranger, and we're very good at detecting lies. I can tell you're lying just from noticing the clues about your tone or your body language!"

The two girls looked at each other, until one shrugged.

"Fine. You want the truth? Hwang Dongsuk and his colleagues wanted to rape us, then kill us. He admitted to robbing and murdering a number of male Hunters before. It was clearly us or them, so we fought, and I somehow managed to kill them. And I somehow managed to kill the boss after that. Song-Yi didn't kill any of them, so if you're pressing charges or something, do it with me only."

"…Tell me exactly what happened."

Jinah told her in details about her "discussion" with Hwang Dongsuk, but didn't say anything about the fight itself.

It was a preposterous tale, but the Inspector hesitated, as she didn't feel like Jinah was lying.

"…Are you really an E-rank?"

"That's what my Hunter card says." shrugged Jinah.

The inspector wasn't a fool, and recognized the non-answer for what it was.

"Fine, you can leave. Be warned that I'll recommend for the Association to test you again, so you can expect a summon. And… be very careful. You two may want to take an extended vacation somewhere no one would find you. And take your relatives with you, just in case."

"Why?" frowned Jinah.

"Hwang Dongsuk is the little brother of Hwang Dongsoo. A S-rank Hunter who left Korea to work for the United States. He has a bad temper, from what I heard, and if you killed his little brother, even in self-defense…"

"I… see. Thanks for the warning. Can we go now?" asked Jinah, frowning.

The inspector nodded, and Jinah and Song-Yi left.

"A S-rank after us…" muttered Song-Yi. Then she remembered what Jinah had said, about Akeno having killed a S-rank boss.

Typically, Hunters and Bosses of the same rank weren't considered equals. The boss's ranking was more of an indication of the type of party that would be required to defeat it without losses. And if Akeno really defeated a S-rank boss all by herself…

"Hey, Jinah. That price, whatever it is, I'll pay it, as long as Akeno can protect us."

Jinah smiled and squeezed Song-Yi's shoulder.

"It's not so bad. Look at me. I'm alright and happy. I need to call her, though, about what happened, and that Hwang Dongsoo guy."

…

Jinah nervously looked at her mother, took a deep breath, and knocked on the door.

The one who opened the door was a beautiful woman with long black hair and green eyes.

Jinah couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at what she was wearing, however. An elegant, if somewhat revealing, red and white maid uniform, of the same design she had seen Reina wear. Except Reina's has been black and white. And unless she missed her guess, the woman also wore an invisible collar, from the faint indentations she noticed on the sides of her neck.

"Uh, hello…"

"You must be Sung Jinah, Sung Kyung-Hye, and Han Song-Yi. I am Park Heejin, a B-rank Mage. It's nice to meet you. Please come in." nodded Heejin, stepping aside.

"Thank you… This is your home, right?"

"Technically speaking, I suppose. Now I'm…" Heejin abruptly stiffened, as if she had received an electric shock. "Well, Akeno's in the kitchen. There are two guest rooms upstairs that you can use."

"Thank you very much for your help." smiled Jinah as she bowed to Heejin.

"It's only natural, since it looks like we will live together for a long time. We may as well get along." nodded Heejin.

"A long time?" asked Song-Yi.

"That's the price I told you about. If you want the powers I used this morning, as well as more I haven't told you about, you must agree to become a maid and swear loyalty to the person Akeno is serving."

"That's…" hesitated Song-Yi. She decided to change the subject to get time to process what she had just heard. "…this aside, I've been meaning to ask, why is your brother not here with us?"

"He's… not available currently." sighed Jinah, opening the door to the living room.

"Hi Jeanne, Alter. How are you guys doing?"

"Fine. I am glad to see you well." said Jeanne before greeting her mother and Song-Yi.

Alter came to her and squeezed her shoulder with a fearless, no, eager smile.

"Don't worry! We're a lot stronger than we were in that dungeon. If that guy comes here, I'll skewer him."

Jinah nodded, remembering the sight of the skewered statues.

"Yeah. Thank you for helping us. I don't think I can deal with a S-ranker just yet."

"I certainly can't." said Song-Yi.

The kitchen's door opened, and Akeno came carrying a tray full of sushi and other appetizers.

"Hi, Jinah, Kyung-Hye. And nice to meet you, Song-Yi. I'm Akeno Himejima."

Song-Yi introduced herself and they sat down.

"So, Jinah, what is happening exactly? You haven't been very clear I the group chat." asked Akeno.

Jinah explained in detail what had happened inside the C-rank dungeon.

"And I expect an imminent summon to the Association for a new test, since we couldn't lie to the Inspector when we reported their deaths." finished Jinah.

"Well, you did great to ask us for help and come here. Song-Yi, what about your relatives?"

"…We're estranged. They have their golden child, and I was just… there. I moved out as soon as I could. I called them to warn them, but whether they do anything about it is their problem."

"I'm sorry to hear that. Maybe we can warn the government, just in case. I don't think even Hwang Dongsoo would murder people right in front of government agents, especially if they aren't directly involved." mused Akeno.

"What are we going to do about the System, though?" asked Jinah. "I could refuse the summon, but I'd be stripped of my Hunter license, and I wouldn't be able to enter any dungeon anymore."

"…Earlier today, I had a discussion with Noah." said Akeno. "He suggested I ask the other champions, just in case one of them knew about this timeline. And as it turns out, one of them does. Torri, Eir's Champion. I now know why dungeons started appearing on earth, and the purpose behind the System. I'm thinking about making it public knowledge, in order to gain priority access to high-level dungeons."

"If we have to go public, we may as well go all the way. At least where the System and Dungeons are concerned."

"The public doesn't have to know about you sharing your powers, though." said Heejin, suddenly worried that the particulars would become common knowledge. She would be too embarrassed to leave her condo!

"No, they don't." grinned Akeno.

"Why did dungeons start appearing ten years ago?" asked Song-Yi, unable to restrain her curiosity.

"The very short and condensed version is a war between those known as the Monarchs and the Rulers is about to resume, and the human world will be the battlefield. Tens, hundreds of thousands, maybe millions of monsters will be unleashed on Earth all at once. The Rulers, who like Earth as it is and do not want humanity to be wiped out, captured some monsters and imprisoned them in dungeons."

"The dungeons release mana from their gates, which cause some humans to awaken, and the monsters inside are used for the Hunters to train themselves and gain combat experience, so that they would be able to limit Humanity's losses and become the core of the post-war recovery."

"…That makes sense, in a gruesome sort of way. And it explains why dungeons are always opening in cities." frowned Jinah. "…And the System?"

"It was originally created for a single player to grow in power, until their body would become strong enough to become the vessel of Ashborn, the strongest of the Nine Monarchs, and the only one on Humanity's side. Although for some reason Torri wasn't clear about, the Monarchs think that Ashborn would be on their side this time around. Apparently, just borrowing the body of a normal human would cause said body to simply explode. But Lilith-sama and the other divinities obviously did something, because we all got the System." shrugged Akeno.

"So I should stop using the system?" asked Jinah.

"No, we all need to become as strong as possible, to protect everyone else."

"Even at the risk of becoming possessed by this Ashborn?"

"You won't. Remember some of the gifts you got from Noah."

Jinah nodded slowly. She admitted that being possessed by an evil, or maybe not evil spirit, probably counted as a negative, as far as her immunity was concerned.

"We should tell the other System owners, at the very least." said Jinah. "They have the right to know, especially if they don't have our protection against possession."

"Yes." said Akeno. "But do you think we should tell the Association about the Rulers and the Monarchs? Song-Yi, I'd like your opinion as well, since you're already involved."

"I am? But I don't have that System." blurted out Song-Yi.

"You don't." nodded Akeno, smiling. "But do you think the Monarchs and their armies of monsters will care? If you want us to share our abilities with you, you'll have to fight. Maybe not the Monarchs themselves, but there will be no lack of monsters to kill. And since we'll need as many enhanced people we can manage before the monster apocalypse starts, consider yourself voluntold."

"Uh… okay." sighed Song-Yi, resigned. She somehow felt like she had just been scammed, but if it helped her survive what was to come… She would have to make do with the cards she was dealt.

"I think the Hunters should know, at least. We're going to need as many B-rank gates and above that we can get. That means telling them about the danger, and our System." said Jinah.

"I think the same." said Song-Yi. "Those are decisions with consequences that could potentially affect the whole world, and it feels wrong not to involve the government."

Jeanne simply shrugged. "I think we should tell the other Hunters. It will make our task easier."

"Yes. We're strong enough now that those who would try to kill us and are strong enough to be a threat are on a very, very short list."

Akeno nodded and started typing on her smartphone.

[Everyone, due to the murder attempt on Jinah and her actions taken in self-defense, the association is going to retest her. We won't be able to hide this for more than a day or two. I am thinking about organizing a meeting with the Hunter's Association and a few S-rank Hunters to tell them about it, as well as a few things I learned about the dungeons, and the System's purpose. Do you agree to it, or want to attend?]

"It may take a while to have their opinions, so let's eat for now." smiled Akeno.

"… How are you going to do for sleeping arrangements?" asked Song-Yi. "There are three rooms, right? Do you maybe have futons or something?"

"No need." grinned Jinah. "Akeno has many tricks up her sleeves."

"Indeed, I do… Considering the circumstances, it would be a bad idea for you and Jinah to return to school."

Jinah and Song-Yi nodded. Until Hwang Dongsoo was dealt with, they would have to be careful.