***
Kim Dokja sliced through the beasts with tremendous speed. In a few instants, the army of beats were all corpses, pools of blood seeping from their bodies. He huffed and his eyes glowed.
"Kim Dokja."
He turned and huffed.
"Those…traitors."
He stepped towards me and wiped the blood off of his face.
"You're not a traitor, are you?"
He smiled.
"But in the end, it will be I who will change the story."
He hugged my body and I froze. What was he talking about?
"And you will not suffer again."
His body collapsed onto mine and he huffed.
***
I am the sole person with access to this "system". I have not told anyone about it, but it allows me to do something.
Gain strength in a matter of months. My senses are dulled as if I were in a video game, gaining power in numbers and seeing it in my actions, but not feeling it too much.
However, things changed when I met him.
A voice trembled in my head when I saw him for the first time.
"Maybe this new variable will change the end of the game."
I carry him on my back and step out of the gate. The gate slowly closes behind me. The groups of hunters around the area gasp as they observe the man on my back.
"Did somebody get hurt under Yoo Joonghyuk's protection in an E-rank gate?"
No, this bastard fainted from shock himself. I ignored the people around and walked towards the guild's base.
I gritted my teeth and laid Kim Dokja down on the sidewalk. My hand slapped across his face.
"Ugh!"
He got up and rubbed his cheek.
"What was that for?"
I didn't respond and turned my back towards him.
*
I sat up on my chair and crossed my legs. Was Kim Dokja a monster? A prophet? Nothing made sense about him. All I knew is that he would call me his soldier each time his eyes glowed then he would not remember.
Perhaps, an unknown power? I was one of the rare people who had no registered element on my power, maybe it was the case for him.
"Whatever you're thinking, sitting there and waiting for something to happen will not do anything."
Lee Jihye crossed her arms, leaning on the doorframe.
"Whatcha thinking about?"
"Nothing of your concern."
"Ha…my boss is always so aloof."
I put my coat on and got up from my chair.
"I'm leaving now."
"Wait! You still haven't introduced me to-"
I glared at her and she sighed.
"Alright, I won't bother you."
***
What was that window and was Yoo Joonghyuk conscious of it?
Strength points…like some kind of video game.
I organized the items on the shelves and sighed.
"Not going to steal anything again, are you?" a familiar voice called out.
I turned around and Sangah waved, smiling with her eyes closed. She tossed her hair and helped me with the shelves.
"Sangah? You work here?"
"Yeah…as a researcher. I can't afford to awaken and waste my parents money on college."
"Right! What's your field?"
"Advancement of power. It's pretty easy if you have the right connections. You?"
"Oh…I'm a hunter now."
"Really?! That's why I haven't seen you at school."
"Yeah. I was applying to be a researcher but I ended up awakening. It's…complicated."
"You mean as complicated as opening a gate?"
"Ahaha…"
She laughed and rearranged the last boxes.
"I think that's all! See you around!"
She waved and turned towards the door and I followed.
***
As I walked out the door, Kim Dokja walked and talked to a woman beside him. His face was flushed slightly as he rubbed the back of his neck. I grunted.
Dating a colleague in the workplace? I'm disappointed.
"Kim Dokja." I called, approaching him.
"Yes?"
"Come with me."
"Oh okay."
He waved at Sangah and a surge of anger rose up my throat. How unprofessional of him.
*
I sat on my chair in the office and sighed.
"Do you know about the system?"
He scrunched his eyebrows and laughed nervously.
"What are you talking about?"
I opened the tab and activated "lie detector".
A huge red X appeared on his face.
"Kim Dokja, if you don't tell me the truth at this moment, I will eliminate you."
"And for what reason would you do that?"
I grabbed him by the collar and he shivered.
"As expected of a soldier." he whispered.
"What?!"
He smiled, looking down.
"Sure, I know about it. What are you going to do? You cannot kill me because it means you might lose your precious system."
He tilted his head up and smirked.
"Therefore your powers, am I wrong?"
I grabbed his neck and clenched my hands. He wheezed.
"What makes you think I don't think you are bluffling?"
He huffed and smiled.
———————————————————
Kim Dokja has used strength points!
———————————————————
He took my hands off his neck and slammed my body onto the wall.
"Trust me, Yoo Joonghyuk. I know you better than anyone else."
His eyes stopped glowing and the aura from his body disappeared.
He groaned. I glared at him and clenched my fists.
"If you really know about the system, prove it to me."
"How so?"
"Enter a Red gate with me next time it pops up."
***
A Red Gate?! He's really sending me on a suicide mission, huh. At this rate, dying by his hands would be safer than entering.
"Are you insane?!"
"You told me to trust you, no? This is the way you will gain my trust."
"Are you a psycho?"
"I don't have to answer that."
I gritted my teeth. If this is the only way I will gain his trust, I have to do it.
"And you will be going alone."
I sighed. I am in no place to negotiate. I do not necessarily a person in power or who has strength. The only person I think who has influence without necessarily using too much power is Han Sooyoung. She has a knack for shutting down press with her words in this guild.
I am not Han Sooyoung. I am Kim Dokja, the one who is a nobody.
And he is a…
Soldier.