Solo Leveling: Sung-Jin-Woo x Cha-Hae-In

Hurt

It was just a split moment.

For once, she wasn't fast enough.

"Hunter Cha! Can you hear me? Are you okay?" The panicked voice of Master Choi entered her ears and she forced herself to look up to see his stricken face.

Her back hurt and she hissed: she couldn't get distracted, they were still in the dungeon and the monster boss was still alive.

A shadow covered the two S-rank Hunters and they both glanced up, seeing the Orc Boss grinning maniacally at them, a huge spear raised up and ready to strike. Frantically Hae-in grabbed Choi Jong-in's arm and threw them both away from the range of the spear. Her back really hurt, so she guessed she had been wounded when she had moved to shield Choi Jong-in earlier. Hae-in quickly brushed her back with her hand and then looked at the traces of blood on it: clearly the armour hadn't resisted the blow she had been delivered.

"We have to finish this quickly." she said to Choi Jong-in, feeling weaker every second that passed. "I don't think that's a normal spear."

Choi Jong-in nodded, without taking his eyes of the Orc Boss, who was moving slowly towards them: in the corner of his eye he could see some members of the Guild getting ready to attack, while some others were laying down in pain.

"Yes, we need some kind of strategy to block his move-!" The mage couldn't finish the statement, as suddenly the Orc was before them, grin in place, spear just a few moments away from hitting them.

Cha Hae-in didn't know what happened, maybe it was because of the training and experience of years in the dungeons, or maybe it was her instincts kicking in, or both: but in a split second she was able to summon her blade of light and with that, she blocked the spear crashing down on them, pushing it back.

The Orc Boss evidently wasn't expecting that and stopped just for an instant: that was all Hae-in needed to pierce its chest with her blade. The Orc howled in pain, but it was too late: in a too fast motion, the young woman had teared it apart from one side of the chest to the opposing shoulder, splitting its body in two.

Choi Jong-in sighed in relief and, once again, thanked the fact that Hunter Cha had decided to enter his Guild. An alarmed shout recalled his attention and he watched in agitation as Cha Hae-in's body swayed and then fell down.

"A healer!" he commanded, rushing towards his fallen comrade: she was breathing heavily and her back was bleeding from the thin, but long, wound the spear had made tearing her armour.

'Damn it.' Choi Jong-in cursed 'She got this when she covered for me...!'

The A-rank healer was pressing down her glowing hands on Hae-in's body.

"Master!" she cried out, "I don't know why, but it doesn't work! I fear there is some kind of poison, I can slow down the bleeding but I can't close the wound!"

The mage's face grew darker. "We have to hurry and bring her to a hospital then!"

A hour and half later, Choi Jong-in and Association President Woo Jin-chul were waiting outside the hospital room where Cha Hae-in was being visited.

"So, there probably was some kind of poison on the spear?" Woo Jin-chul was murmuring, lost in thought.

"It was unexpected." Choi Jong-in confessed. "It was my fault, Hunter Cha got hurt while defending me."

Woo Jin-chul shook his head "It was normal for her to do that, Master Choi, after all you're the Guildmaster. I'm sure the doctors will be able to heal her."

However, he was proved wrong when the doctors and nurses exited the room with grim faces.

"It doesn't look good." One of the older doctors admitted, "We tried to stop and close the wound chirurgically, but it keeps opening and bleeding. We have put her on IV and we are giving her blood, however it's not a final solution."