Kang Ji-Hoon woke up. He smelled something that was, like the stuff they use to clean wounds you know that antiseptic smell. It was really strong. It filled his nose. Kang Ji-Hoon did not like it the smell of antiseptic was not what he wanted to wake up to.
White ceiling. Soft humming machines. A steady beeping somewhere to his left.
Hospital.
The man tried to sit up. He failed to do it. He just could not sit up.
Pain flared across his ribs. It felt like his body was on fire. The pain, from his ribs was really bad. His ribs hurt much from the pain.
"…Tch."
You are awake now.
The voice came from the side. It was a voice that came from the side of the room. The voice was loud. It came from the side.
Choi Hae-In was sitting on a chair near the window. She had her arms folded. Her combat coat was hung up neatly of being worn. The sunlight came in from, behind Choi Hae-In. Made long shadows all across the room.
The woman told me that I had been out for twelve hours. I had three broken ribs bruises on the inside of my body and my mana was totally used up.. That did not make any sense. The woman said that my mana was exhausted, which was really weird because that is not something that usually happens to people, like me. The woman was talking about my mana exhaustion. I was trying to understand what she meant by my mana being totally used up.
Ji-Hoon looked around slowly. He took his time to see what was, around him Ji-Hoon looked at everything. Ji-Hoon wanted to make sure he did not miss anything.
The man said that there were no restraints. This means that he was not put in handcuffs or anything, like that. So he was not arrested by the police.
Hae-In let out a breath. "I got into an argument " Hae-In said.
The man looked over at the corner of the room. He took a look, at the corner of the room. The corner of the room was where he was looking.
The knight was there.
Standing silently, just as always.
Hae-In saw that he was staring at her. She became really tense. "It did not disappear " Hae-In said. "It was still there when you fell down. The healers came close, to you and it was still there."
Ji-Hoon closed his eyes for a moment.
The System was not keeping it a secret anymore. The System had finally stopped hiding things from everyone.
"People are asking questions " Hae-In said. "The Guilds are asking. The Associations are asking. Even the Central Hunter Bureau is asking questions, about the Guilds and the Associations and everything.
Ji-Hoon opened his eyes again. He then asked the person with him ". You?"
She stopped for a moment. Did not know what to do. She just hesitated.
She said that she was curious. She was also feeling a little angry about the thing. The woman felt that she had a right to know what was going on with the situation and she was curious about it. She was feeling angry, about the situation too.
"Why angry?"
The woman told him that it was because he almost died. He had a close call.. Even after that he still went into the place by himself.
Ji-Hoon did not answer away.
The man thought for a bit he said, "If I do not try new things then the person I am will not change and get better."
Hae-In looked at him. Said "That is not how power works".
"It is for me."
The room was really quiet. There was silence in the room. The silence, in the room was pretty weird.
Then—
The door slid open.
Yoon Seo-A walked into the room with her spear case hanging over her shoulder. Her eyes were really sharp just like they always were. She asked if he was awake now.
Ji-Hoon said that unfortunately was how he felt about the situation.
Seo-A gave a smile. "That is good. Because Seo-A can see that you are already very popular, on the internet."
She picked up the tablet. Then she tossed the tablet onto the bed. The tablet landed on the bed.
The headlines were moving fast on the screen.
Some solo hunter that nobody knows has cleared the breach zone. This solo hunter has made it through the breach zone by themselves. The breach zone is now clear because of this solo hunter.
NO MANA SIGNATURE DETECTED
'KNIGHT-TYPE ENTITY' SPOTTED MULTIPLE TIMES
Ji-Hoon winced. He said "That was really fast."
Seo-A said to me "You saved civilians." She told me that people saw what I did.. When people see something like that they start to talk. Seo-A said that trouble always comes when people notice something, like the civilians you saved.
Hae-In leaned forward. "The people who find members, for guilds are waiting outside. They want to make deals with us, which means they want contracts."
Ji-Hoon handed the tablet back to the person who gave it to him. He made sure the tablet was safe, in their hands. The tablet was a thing for Ji-Hoon to return.
"Tell them no."
Seo-A blinked. "You did not even look at the offers from the companies " she said, looking at the offers from the companies that were right, in front of her.
I already know the answer to this question. The answer is something that I'm familiar, with. I do not need to think about the answer because I already know what the answer is.
Hae-In looked at his face closely. "You do not want a team " he said to the person talking about the team that Hae-In and the person were discussing the team.
Ji-Hoon shook his head. "I do not want to have a drink" he said or rather "I do not want to have one" was what he meant Ji-Hoon said to himself. What came out was "I do not want to have one" and that was that Ji-Hoon just shook his head and said "I do not want to have one".
The System was not working right it flickered faintly. The System did not seem to be working and this was because The System flickered faintly.
[Warning: External Dependence Detected]
If the condition keeps going on the efficiency of growth will be reduced. This means that growth will not happen well as it should if the condition does not get better. The condition is affecting the growth efficiency. It needs to be taken care of so that growth can happen properly. Growth efficiency is very important. The condition is reducing it.
Hae-In saw the faint light and her face got really serious.
So it is real she said to herself. There is some kind of restriction, in place. The woman thought about this for a moment. Then she said it again "It is real there is a restriction."
Ji-Hoon did not say a word.
That was answer enough.
That night after they left Ji-Hoon stood alone on the hospital balcony. The city was really pretty at night. The lights of the city went on and on below him. They looked like a bunch of dungeons that were hurting all glowing faintly like they were infected and they were all, across the skyline. Ji-Hoon looked at the city lights and the dungeons. He thought about how weird it all looked. The city lights and the dungeons were a sight.
The knight was standing next to the man. The knight was very close, to him. The knight stood beside him.
Ji-Hoon said something, for the time without looking at Ji-Hoons thing. Ji-Hoon just spoke up.
Do you remember anything that happened? I am trying to figure out what is going on. I was wondering if you remember anything at all, about what we were doing. Do you recall anything about the things that we did?
The knight was silent.
Then—
A faint echo reached his mind it was really distorted. The echo was very faint. It sounded weird to him like something was not quite right, with the sound of the echo that reached his mind.
Not words.
A battlefield.
Banners torn by wind. Countless armored figures standing in formation. A throne in ruins.
Ji-Hoon stumbled backwards. He grabbed the railing really tight.
[Memory Fragment Detected]
[Legion Archive: Locked]
[Requirement: Authority Sync 5%]
The mans breathing slowed down. His breathing became really slow. The breathing of the man slowed.
He said in a quiet voice "You are not just something that was called upon. You are what remains of something."
The knight turned the knights helmet a bit to the side.
As if acknowledging him.
Below the sirens wailed again which meant another alert was going off and another dungeon was stirring. The dungeons were always making trouble and the sirens were always wailing. The sound of the sirens was really loud. It meant that something bad was happening. The people had to be careful when the sirens were wailing and the dungeons were stirring.
The dungeons were a problem and the people had to deal with them all the time. The sirens were a warning that the dungeons were active and that the people should be prepared. The people did not like it when the sirens wailed and the dungeons stirred because it meant that they had to go and fight the things that came out of the dungeons. The sirens and the dungeons were a part of life and the people had to learn to live with them.
Ji-Hoon smiled faintly.
I think I will have a lot of things to do so I will be busy.
Away in a room that is underground and closed off a computer screen started working and showed pictures.
A man who was wearing a suit was looking at Ji-Hoons picture on the screen.
So the Legion has chosen a host. This is a big deal. The Legion is a powerful thing and it does not choose a host lightly. I mean the Legion is basically a group of entities that come together to make one big bad entity.. Now the Legion has chosen a host, which means that the Legion is going to take over this persons body. The Legion will use this person to do all sorts of things. I do not know what the Legion is planning to do with this host. I know it cannot be good. The Legion is known for being very evil and causing a lot of trouble. So now that the Legion has chosen a host we have to be very careful. We have to watch out for the Legion and its host because they are going to cause a lot of problems. The Legion and its host are going to be a threat, to everyone.
The mans lips curved upward. He had a smile, on his face. His lips really curved upward when he was happy. The mans lips curved upward. That was a good thing to see.
"Interesting."
End of Chapter 4