Sunlight stabbed through Si-Woo's eyelids. His muscles screamed as he pushed himself up from the thin mattress. The cheap apartment walls pressed in around him, paint peeling in long strips.
Blood had seeped through his bandages overnight, staining his sheets. He peeled back the gauze, wincing at the deep scratches across his chest. The Razorclaw's claws had caught him during the retreat – he barely remembered when.
"Oppa?" So-Hee's voice drifted through his bedroom door. "I made tea."
Si-Woo grabbed a clean shirt, biting back a groan as he pulled it over his head. "Coming."
So-Hee stood in their tiny kitchen, her thin frame swaying slightly as she poured the tea. Her eyes narrowed at his stiff movements. "You're hurt."
"Just sore from work." He forced a smile.
She set down the teapot. "Your shirt's bleeding through."
Before he could stop her, So-Hee lifted the hem of his shirt. Her sharp intake of breath made him wince more than the pain. "It's nothing-"
"Sit." She grabbed their first aid kit from under the sink. Her hands trembled as she cleaned the wounds, but her touch remained gentle. "The dungeons are getting worse."
"I'm fine. Really."
So-Hee's fingers froze mid-bandage. Her eyes glazed over, body going rigid. Si-Woo caught her before she hit the floor, cradling her head as the seizure took hold. Ten seconds. Twenty. Her limbs jerked against his grip.
Finally, her muscles relaxed. She blinked up at him, confused and exhausted. "Sorry..."
"Don't." Si-Woo helped her to the couch, tucking their worn blanket around her shoulders. On the kitchen counter, her medication bottles stood in neat rows – half of them nearly empty.
He checked their bank account on his phone. The numbers stared back, mocking him. Not enough for next week's treatment. Not even close. Min-Ji's injuries meant the maintenance crew would be down for days, maybe weeks.
So-Hee's breathing evened out as she drifted to sleep. The morning sun caught her face, highlighting how pale she'd become. How much thinner. Time was running out.
Si-Woo waited until So-hee's breathing steadied before slipping out. The hospital loomed ahead, its stark white walls a harsh contrast to the gray morning sky.
The sterile corridors twisted through fluorescent-lit halls until he reached Min-Ji's room. Her husband paced outside, dark circles under his eyes. When he spotted Si-Woo, his jaw clenched.
"How is she?" Si-Woo's voice cracked.
"Critical condition. The doctors say..." He ran a hand through his disheveled hair. "The poison from those claws, it's spreading. They've never seen anything like it."
Through the window, Min-Ji lay motionless, tubes snaking from her arms. Her skin had taken on a sickly purple tinge around the wounds. Si-Woo's chest tightened.
"Ji-Hun's inside." Min-Ji's husband stepped aside. "Maybe you can explain to him how this happened in a C-rank dungeon."
Ji-Hun looked up as Si-Woo entered, his maintenance uniform stained with coffee. "Those weren't normal Razorclaws."
"No." Si-Woo sank into a chair. "Too big. Too smart."
"Got a call this morning. Same thing happened in the Industrial District portal. Three hunters in critical care." Ji-Hun leaned forward. "Something's changing in the lower ranks. The classifications aren't matching what we're finding inside."
Min-Ji's heart monitor beeped steadily. Si-Woo stared at her bandaged chest, remembering how she'd pushed him out of the way when the largest Razorclaw lunged. If she hadn't...
"I should have noticed sooner." Si-Woo's fists clenched. "The scratch marks on the walls-"
"Stop." Ji-Hun cut him off. "We all missed it. But someone higher up should have caught this. C-rank dungeons don't just spawn A-rank monsters overnight."
The door opened. Min-Ji's teenage daughter stepped in, eyes red from crying. She froze when she saw Si-Woo, her face twisting with anger.
Si-Woo stood. "I'm sorry. I should go."
He hurried past her, her accusatory stare burning into his back. In the hallway, Min-Ji's husband grabbed his arm.
"The medical bills..."
"I'll figure something out." Si-Woo pulled away, shame burning in his throat.
The weight of failure pressed down on his shoulders as he left the hospital. One more debt he couldn't pay. One more life he couldn't protect.
A man in a crisp suit intercepted Si-Woo outside the hospital entrance. "Min Si-Woo? Please come with me."
He flashed a Hunter Association badge. Si-Woo's stomach dropped. The man led him to a black sedan, its windows tinted dark enough to hide the interior.
The Hunter Association Headquarters towered above them, its glass facade reflecting the morning sun. Si-Woo had only been here once before, for his failed Resonance test. The memory tasted bitter.
They led him to an interrogation room. Cold metal chair. Stark white walls. Two investigators sat across from him – one older with graying temples, the other young with sharp eyes.
"Walk us through what happened in the dungeon." The older investigator's voice carried an edge of exhaustion.
Si-Woo described the abnormal scratch marks, the coordinated attacks, the sheer size of the creatures. "They weren't normal Razorclaws. They moved like they had training, like they were thinking."
The younger investigator leaned forward. "Thinking?"
"They herded us. Cut off escape routes. I've cleared dozens of C-rank dungeons – Razorclaws don't do that."
The older investigator – Inspector Park, according to his nameplate – rubbed his temples. "Three similar incidents this week. All C-rank portals."
"Someone screwed up the classifications," the younger one snapped.
"Or someone changed them." Park's quiet words hung in the air. He shot his partner a warning look.
Through the door's window, Si-Woo caught fragments of a heated conversation. "...deliberate misclassification... profit margins... containment protocols..."
Park's expression softened. "Look, son. Until we sort this out, you're suspended from portal maintenance. Full pay, but stay away from the dungeons."
"I need the hazard bonus." Si-Woo's voice cracked. "My sister's treatment-"
"I'll see what I can do." Park slipped him a business card. "If you remember anything else, call me directly."
In the hallway, suits rushed past clutching tablets and documents. One dropped a paper – a portal classification report. Si-Woo glimpsed a familiar address before someone snatched it up.
The same industrial district where they'd been attacked. Originally marked as B-rank, downgraded to C-rank three days before their mission.
Si-Woo stepped out of the Hunter Association's glass doors into the afternoon heat. His chest wounds throbbed with each step as he trudged through Veridian City's crowded streets. Numbers cycled through his head – rent, groceries, medical bills. Their savings wouldn't last the week.
The apartment door creaked open. So-Hee sat at their kitchen table, her tablet displaying medical research papers. Dark circles shadowed her eyes.
"I heard about Min-Ji." She closed the tablet. "The hospital called about my next treatment."
Si-Woo's throat tightened. "I'll figure something out."
"I've been thinking." So-Hee's fingers traced patterns on the table. "Maybe we should pause the treatments for a while. Just until-"
"No." The word came out sharper than he intended.
"Oppa, look at me." Her voice steadied. "The treatments only slow it down. We both know that. And you're killing yourself trying to-"
Si-Woo's phone buzzed. An unknown number. The message was brief:
"Interested in real Hunter work? Triple your current pay. Meet tonight, 11 PM. Golden Dragon Bar, Industrial District. Come alone."
So-Hee watched his face. "What is it?"
Si-Woo deleted the message. The Industrial District – where the portal classifications had been changed. Where other maintenance crews had been attacked. His wounds ached at the memory of the Razorclaws.
But triple pay...
"Just work stuff." He pocketed the phone. "I need some air."
The sun set as Si-Woo paced their small balcony. Through the window, he watched So-Hee attempt to make dinner, her hands shaking as she chopped vegetables. She dropped the knife twice before giving up.
Si-Woo checked the time. 10:15 PM. The Golden Dragon wasn't far.
He grabbed his jacket, the one with the hidden knife pocket. "I'm meeting Ji-Hun about extra shifts. Don't wait up."
So-Hee didn't argue, but her eyes followed him to the door. She knew he was lying. She always knew.
Si-Woo stepped into the night, his decision made. Whatever was happening in those dungeons, whatever game the Hunter Association was playing – he'd find out. For So-Hee, he'd risk it all.