"Hey, you heard about Jinwoo? That Hunter Hunter.!" A young man brought out a conversation along the friend group sitting in a restaurant.
"Yeah. It's all over the news. Who wouldn't? He was just captured yesterday along with his accomplice. Uh... What was his name?" Another one spoke, picking up a beer glass.
"I think it was Hyunsoo. They both are in the awakened prison now." The waiter came up, showing interest in the conversation.
"..Awakened Prison?" The third friend said curiously.
"What!? You don't know about the Awakened Prison? Have you been living under a rock?" The second one yelled, gulping down the beer in a single go.
"Bah!" He slammed the glass on the table and looked him dead in the eye. "Listen Yunhoo, open that ear of yours and let me preach!"
And then, he began.
"The Awakened Prison is a special Prison!"
Yunhoo interrupted "I can guess that much."
"Shut up!" He once again shouted. Then— started explaining.
"So.. it's a prison for the Awakened ones that break the law. Now. You must already know but you can't put the hunters in ordinary prisons. The awakened prison contains the hunters, and also. Their hunter license is revoked, depending on how bad the crime is. It is sometimes temporary, and sometimes permanent."
"The Awakened Prison consists of levels. Going from C class, all the way down to S-class."
"Why underground?" Yunhoo questioned.
"You are so dumb! They built the higher levels underground because it's much easier to contain. Look! If an S-class breaks out, the only way he would be able to go is upward. It's so deep inside that even if they would break out the walls, only dirt would await them!"
"And you know. I heard you can't even use your powers there. It's like you become a normal person! So, there's literally no chance of escaping. At all!"
"Wow.." Yunhoo applauded Yuseoul, amazed by his intelligence.
---
The news had spread everywhere. And it was true.
Jinwoo and Hyunsoo, both S-Class hunters, were now captives of the Awakened Prison.
They both were in separate rooms. However, They were right next to each other. But, they couldn't communicate.
The room in which jinwoo was, was small, about the size of a small storage room. It had a bed, exactly the size of Jinwoo. A bar just in front of him, with a chair on both sides. He sat on it for some times, staring at the metal door. His expression wasn't sad. Rather, it was more like he was... Confused.
"I am pretty damn sure I was fighting myself a moment ago. How come i am in a prison?..."
"Status window." He muttered under his breath.
Ding!
Along the familiar bell echoing in his mind, the blue screen floated right in front of him.
---
[Player Status Window]
[Name]: Park Jinwoo
[Age]: 25
[Height]: 181 cm
[Weight]: 67 kg
[Title]: [Battle Maniac, Forest Annihilator,+3 ]
[Level]: 60
[EXP]: 3749/4892
[Class]: [Spellweaver]
[Job]: Hunter
[HP]: 11000/11000
[MP]: 0/6000
[Strength]: 73
[Agility]: 68
[Stamina]: 52
[Intelligence]: 82
[+Abilities]
---
"Oh wow. Now more [Luck] or [Charisma]? That makes me kinda happy" He kept his eyes locked on the screen until realizing something.
He took a closer look at his MP.
[MP : +30] [MP: 30/6000]
[MP : -30] [MP: 0/6000]
"Huh? My MP just decreased. What the hell?". He panicked a little.
"Hey, system. What's up with my MP? Why's it glitching?" He asked, suddenly looking upward.
[Dunno. It's not a glitch. Your mana is being sucked by something.]
"What is he talking abo—..." He paused. He then closed his eyes and tried to feel the mana threads. From his heart, it was producing. Then, it flowed through the blood vessels to his feet and then got absorbed into the ground.
He abruptly opened his eyes and looked at ground. It looked like a normal metal. Maybe, Tungsten? Titanium? Still.
How could they absorb mana? That was ridiculous.
Suddenly. The door opened. A figure walked in, holding a number of pages in his hand.
Jinwoo instinctively looked, his eyes widened. It was Seokjin.
He wore a dark green millatry uniform, with a symbol of the Hunter Association embedded on his chest, as well as him cap.
"Good morn..." Seokjin paused. Took a look at his wrist-watch and then continued again, "Good morning, Jinwoo Park."
"..eh...Good morning?." Jinwoo replied, confusion filled in his eyes. He couldn't believe himself. In front of him, was Seokjin. THE Seokjin, the strongest hunter of Korea. He kept staring at him intensely, of which Seokjin misunderstood.
He put the documents on the metal table extended from the bars, and sat on the chair, fixing his cap. "Looking quite angry, i suppose."
Jinwoo was taken aback by the sudden comment on his emotion.
"Angry? No. I am just confused. Why am I here? Did you raid my house and took me here while i was sleeping?"
Seokjin's smile dropped. He paused for a moment. "What... Is he trying to gaslight me? No. There's no way he thinks that's actually going to work. Then.... Does he actually think we captured him in his sleep?"
Seokjin sighed, calming himself before glancing at Jinwoo. "So, we captured you because you commited several illigal activities. Also, No. I don't know if this is some sort of trick. But. You, as well as I, both are aware of the fact that you were captured during a retaliation."
"I dunno." Jinwoo rejected flatly.
Seokjin didn't say anything. He just stared at Jinwoo's face.
"Are you lying?"
"Nope"
Seokjin facepalmed. He then began explaining Jinwoo every detail about the battle. Hyunsoo, their victory, his entrance, foreign hunters coming in and eventually his defeat.
Jinwoo listened with great interest. His expression kept changing with every twist, like he was listening to some kind of fictional fight.
"..and then, We had Mira heal you and you were sent here."
"I understand." Jinwoo nodded.
Seokjin was surprised by Jinwoo's calm. He was currently in the world's most inescapable prison, and he was still keeping his cool. It was shocking to see, but Seokjin shook it off.
"Well. I guess that's the end of our conversation." He got up from the chair and started to collect the documents.
"Hey. I have a question. No, actually. I got two." Jinwoo called out, hands joined together resting on his lap.
Seokjin turned. "Well, it's not an interrogation anyways. Speak up."
Jinwoo chuckled at the remark. Then— with a serious tone he spoke.
"Why's my mana being drained?"
Seokjin didn't reply. He narrowed his eyes just a little, enough to show his leafy green iris glowing with caution.
"Yes?" Jinwoo said, bringing his face a little closer, hinting him to reply.
"Well, I guess it's not surprising considering it's you." Seokjin sighed, "It's Junerilium. A special ore found in the S-Ranked gate during the "Era". Unlike you, we couldn't find out it sucked mana until recently."
"Oh.." He blinked, "anyways. What's my sentence. It's not death, right?"
"Originally it was. But, Miss Harin fought back to reduce it to 15 years. Hyunsoo on the other hand, got 20"
"Phhft!"
Jinwoo immediately covered his mouth to hold back his laugh.
"Okay. Thanks."
"Welcome."
Seokjin gathered his document, and held them in one hand. He glanced one last time, gave a smile and left.
"Thanks, huh. Strange bastard. Both of them, in fact. However, they act differently. One's a calm storm, while the other's a feral one."
Seokjin thought to himself, walking down the hallway.
"...Scary bastards."