The world didn't slow down for anyone, least of all a swordswoman and her self-proclaimed strategist. As Sarah and I kept our hustle going, the cracks in the global hunter infrastructure widened. Reports of dungeon breaks spiking across the globe reached even the smallest guilds. S-Rank hunters were in high demand, leaving freelancers like us to handle whatever scraps we could claim.
Then there were the headlines.
"S-Rank Sung Jinwoo Conquers Dungeon Break Single-Handedly!"
"New Guild, Ahjin, Challenges National Guild Structures!"
"Mysterious Gate in Japan Baffles Experts!"
Everyone was whispering about Sung Jinwoo. I'd never met the guy, and I didn't need to. To me, he was just another big name in a world of hunters. But Sarah? She kept quiet whenever his name came up, her eyes narrowing like she was trying to solve a puzzle.
"Something wrong?" I asked after one particularly quiet moment over dinner.
"No," she said curtly. Then, after a beat, "Just wondering where this is all going."
---
The Scam That Went Too Far
Our latest gig brought us to a small port town facing repeated B-Rank dungeon breaks. I'd worked my magic to secure an independent contract directly with the local government, bypassing the guilds entirely. Sarah was hesitant but couldn't argue when the numbers rolled in.
"Triple the market rate?" she repeated, frowning.
"Hey, they're desperate," I said with a casual shrug. "Who better to step in than us?"
Sarah sighed and grabbed her gear. "If this goes sideways, it's on you."
"Isn't it always?" I shot back with a grin.
The dungeon itself wasn't anything special: your standard collection of trolls, ogres, and mana-drunk wolves. Sarah was her usual efficient self, cutting through the monsters with almost mechanical precision.
Until we hit the boss room.
---
The Unexpected Twist
The "B-Rank" dungeon had a surprise waiting for us. Instead of the expected troll chieftain, we found something far worse: an incomplete shadow creature, flickering and unstable but brimming with power.
"Sean!" Sarah barked. "This isn't B-Rank!"
"I… might've overlooked a few details," I admitted, edging toward the door.
She glared at me, her katana already drawn. "Do. Not. Move."
The fight that followed was unlike anything I'd seen before. The creature's form shifted unpredictably, and even Sarah struggled to keep up. She fought valiantly, using every technique in her arsenal to keep the thing contained.
But it wasn't enough.
As the shadow creature broke through her guard and lunged for the kill, I did the stupidest thing I'd ever done: I grabbed a discarded torch and threw it at the creature's face.
The fire didn't kill it, but it distracted it long enough for Sarah to recover. With a feral roar, she drove her katana straight through its core, dispersing it in a cloud of shadowy wisps.
Breathing heavily, Sarah turned to me. "What the hell, Sean?"
"I saved your life," I said, grinning despite the fact that I was shaking like a leaf.
She stared at me, a mix of irritation and grudging respect on her face. "Don't do that again."
---
The Fallout
When we returned to town, I was ready to celebrate. Sarah? Not so much.
"That wasn't just a random shadow," she said as we sat in a cramped tavern. "It felt… unnatural. Like something was controlling it."
"Could've just been a dungeon glitch," I said, waving it off. "They're rare, but they happen."
Sarah shook her head. "No. This was something else."
"Okay," I said, leaning back. "Then what do you think it was?"
"I think there's more going on than we realize," she said quietly. "And if you keep dragging us into jobs like that, we're going to end up dead."
I didn't have a response to that, so I stayed quiet.
---
Whispers of Jinwoo
A few days later, news broke of an S-Rank dungeon break in Japan. The Hunter Association released grainy footage of monstrous shadow creatures pouring out of a gate—and Sung Jinwoo standing alone against them.
"It's him again," Sarah said, watching the TV intently.
"What about him?" I asked.
She didn't answer. Instead, she stood and grabbed her sword. "We need to take better jobs."
"Better-paying ones, you mean?"
"No," she said, her voice uncharacteristically serious. "Ones that help us survive what's coming."
I watched her leave, the weight of her words sinking in. For the first time, I wondered if maybe this wasn't just a game I could charm my way through. Maybe, just maybe, we were both in way over our heads.
But hey, at least I wasn't alone in it.