Memories flooded Jhin's mind, like a torrent of emotions, emotions he had locked away for so long. They made him sick every time he revisited them.
"When did it all start, my terrible life? Was it that gate? Sending me to that unknown world with my girlfriend along... suffering to feed both of us and survive? No, that wasn't what broke me. It was..."
However, the vivid memories were soon overwhelmed by something else: gates appearing out of nowhere across the whole world, monsters, people dying here and there after the world went into chaos.
Suddenly, his eyes opened, and his vision blurred momentarily.
"Why... why am I in pain? My neck hurts, and it feels like... I can't breathe!"
As his vision sharpened, it seemed to dim simultaneously. Eventually, a pair of bulging eyes became clear, staring right at him. Now, he recognized the sensation of fingers clenched around his throat.
"I've escaped death before, and now this? I'm being strangled, facing death again!" Jhin thought. "If I were to die, I'd never choose something this painful! I won't die again, especially not in the hands of a mere weakling!"
He saw his attacker: a man draped in black garments, his face obscured, leaving only his eyes visible, reminiscent of an assassin.
Struggling, Jhin pressed his hands against the man's stomach.
"Let's see how you like having your insides torn out!"
Jhin pushed, but nothing happened. No explosion, no reaction from his assailant, who kept tightening the grip on Jhin's neck.
Before he could put a sense to this situation, his vision changed and Jhin's eyes fully opened facing the same old ceiling of his room.
Taking a deep breath to calm his chaotic mind and heart that he hadn't known fear for a million years, Jhin slowly left his lying position and sat on the bed.
' Seems like seeing my girlfriend after all those years reminded me of the day when she almost succeded in killing me with her new lover.' Jhin thought,' Did she leave when I was taking all of that information back again?'
Instead of an ashen face invaded by fear of death, Jhin had a devilish smile as he imagined the fun time he would have with his sweet kind girlfriend of a hunter.
" Speaking of which... Isn't this the day where I was gonna take on the test for the hunter certificate for the third time?" Jhin murmured as he recalled the origin of gates and the purpose behind them from the experiences he had as a constellation.
" Now that I think about it, aren't gates supposed to be a type of battleground to recruit experts to join us ' Constellations' from across the globe? Why is this world's case so different?" Jhin's cold face had a confused look as he failed to remember any information about such a unique world from his long life experience.
***
On January 1st, 2010, the world changed.
Gates, monsters, system, players.
These new concepts sprang up from nowhere.
Those who protect and those who invade.
These two powers fought all over the world.
1 year, 2 years, 5 years...10 years.
On December 7th, 2024, all players received a message from the system.
[Hellish Devil, the first S rank gate for the area Earth, has appeared.]
[Upon its wipe, one out of the three main missions will be cleared.]
'The first S rank gate that appears in the world! If we just wipe it out, we can make sure that no more human lives will be wasted in future raids on lower gate ranks!'
Countless players were filled with newfound determination, and their hope was restored.
One day.
That was how long it took for hope to become despair.
On the day that the S rank gate was cleared, people found out that only ten people survived the raid in total.
It should be known that over a hundred A-rank hunters went inside the gate at the same time. Yet, out of all these hunters whose names were renowned across the whole world, only ten survived.
After that event, people came to realize that humans were still too weak and needed even more strength.
The ten people who survived that day grew to become the first S rank hunters, each creating his own guild to train new talent and aim for the future.
And since that day, every hunter and human kept in mind one single thought about their new reality.
Two more similar S-rank gates if not stronger will be appearing in the future, and humans will have to wipe them if they ever wish for their normal lives to return.
***
" That to be said, I still don't know why gates still kept appearing even after 24 years on earth," Jhin rubbed his chin as he thought about this weird phenomenon.
He wasn't ignorant of this kind of event since he himself started many of them to recruit experienced soldiers at the beginning of his journey as a constellation. And even though the same process was done, the duration was entirely off.
" From what I know, constellations should have gotten enough talent after 10 years and ended the event at that time, giving the humans living on earth their normal lives back. Yet, even after 24 years had passed, gates are still appearing, and a weird mission even popped out in front of everyone."
Jhin kept racking his mind to find any clues about this weird matter, but no matter how many times he thought about it, none of what was going on here made any sense to him.
Click!
A young woman opened the door as Jhin was thinking about this troublesome matter.
She had Brown, sleek hair double braided to reveal a long, wild face. Lidded green eyes, set elegantly within their sockets, watch hungrily over the career she worked so hard for this whole time.
A tattoo resembling a small wolf is proudly worn just above the left side of her left eyebrow and leaves a captivating memory of her fortunate survival inside the multiple gates she raided before she became an A-rank hunter.
" Your mother came to check on you earlier but you were deep in sleep," Elina informed as she pointed a finger to the table next to Jhin's bed." Call her since you woke up."
" Sure thing," Jhin nonchalantly responded as he looked at Elina, all the way smiling.
Despite his warm and welcoming behavior, Elina felt disgusted by his smile and it even creeped the hell out of her.
" I have told you many times that my love for you has nothing to do with our current situation, you are a weakling who can only carry dead monster's bodies out of wiped gates. To earn my love, you will have to become stronger," Elina helplessly reminded as she got ready to leave.
Her footsteps on the other hand halted before exiting the room," Oh I almost forgot, you have a one-week vacation starting today, I have spoken to your director so don't worry about any documents or similar paperwork to fill out."
Without bothering to even hear his answer, she abruptly left leaving Jhin deep in thought.
' Elina, 23 years old hunter that recently climbed to become an A rank hunter her name is known by all in the Dragon Empire. However, cause of the debt her father owed to my family she was forced to act as my lover and soon marry me.' Jhin thought as he stood up facing the mirror.
' Now that I think about it, I was actually fooled by the lies she was giving me this whole time. In fact, I didn't even know she was acting till that day inside the mysterious world we were thrown into. Maybe that event was more of a blessing than a curse at the end.' He laughed as he slowly scanned his whole body with his hands.
White skin with an age of 24, thin skin almost appearing like a humanoid stick from the outside. His hair was dark similar to his eyes and almost non-existent beard.
If anyone were to look at Jhin in any given moment, wearing a uniform or a casual clothing, they will all have the same thought about him.
Weak!
Pathetic!
Cannon fodder whose life is worthless!
" This body is way too weak, I'll have to start working from today onwards if I want to get back my past strength," Jhin said as he put on his shoes and got ready to leave." My strength huh... No, that's not enough, not even close to being enough. I have to gain even more power, more and more power, and even much more after that."
" That's it, my goal from now on will be to get more power to surpass that old man from back then, the people behind him, and the so-called titans inside the Holy Land. And to do that, I have to first visit that place."
With a gaze that appeared to be able to penetrate anything in its way, Jhin looked in a direction only 1% of the people would look at in the Dragon Nation.
The building owned by the Royal Power which is known as the Business Titans, a place where countless people from different globes wish to buy items from.