Canon Fodder

CHAPTER 336 FRIENDSHIP

Hancock and I spent more than a little time getting acquainted with the new bodies. When we finally took a break we dressed and made plans to meet. When I unlocked the door the guards rushed in, and surprisingly the S-Class heads of the Hunter Guild too. 

“What the hell is your problem?” Hancock asked as they pushed me back into the room. 

“What was going on?” The red headed guild master asked. The blonde girl that Hancock called her friend moved over to her. The bed and our hair in disarray it was pretty obvious. 

“Fucking,” Hancock said. “By the way, this is Weston. My boyfriend.” 

“Boyfriend?” More than a few people asked. 

“You said you didn’t know him,” the blonde woman said, giving me a disgusted look. 

“I lied,” Hancock said. “You all don’t need to know everything that goes on in my life. By the way, I will be taking a break from the guild.”

“What?!” The guildmaster asked. 

“I don’t have my strength back. I want a few weeks of leave,” she said.

“We will get the best doctors, Hancock,” the blonde woman said, trying to comfort her. 

“Yeah, whatever,” Hancock said. “Anyways, Weston here is my boyfriend. So stop giving him the evil eye, alright?” 

“Love you too, babe,” I said. “I’ll see you later.” 

I moved to leave, but the 2 guards blocked my path. “Cut the crap, guys,” Hancock ordered. They frowned but stepped away. I could feel the animosity from the 4 members of the Hunter Guild. But I ignored it. A world with magic powers, I doubted brain washing was impossible. I could almost feel the guild master thinking that I had control of her mind somehow. 

Once outside, a doctor and nurse walked into the room. I headed over to where the Inspector said Sung Jin-Woo’s room was. Knocking, I let myself in. Inside was the mirror-image of my room. Much smaller than Hancock’s there was a small sofa with a girl sitting on it. 

“Weston, I was heading to your room next,” the girl said. Standing up she was a little shorter than me. Long brown hair tied back she was in a school girl uniform. White button down shirt. Long skirt. 

“Jin-Ah,” I said. Opening my arms wide. “As pretty as ever.” I grabbed her in a big bear hug and she laughed while tapping my back. 

“Yeah, yeah,” she said. “What the hell happened to you 2, anyway?” 

I looked over to the bed. On it was my oldest friend. Sung Jin-Woo. He was shorter than his sister, at about 5 foot 6 inches. Short black hair, he had bandages on his body. He looked up at me in confusion.

“Nothin,” I assured. “How’s school?” 

“Don’t give me that,” Jin-Ah said. “My brother is in the hospital, and the way I hear it, you kidnapped a girl from the Hunter Guild.”

“What? No…” I struggled to think of a way to change the subject. “They said I can’t talk about it until their investigation is done. Give it a few days and I will tell you the whole thing.” She frowned but accepted the offer. Sitting back down on the couch we talked for a bit but she headed out. 

The nervous Jin-Woo turned to me as he left. “What the hell is going on?” He asked. “You weren’t down in that dungeon, were you? In…that room?” He leaked fear and pain as he recalled the test. 

“I was not,” I said. 

In the original story Jin-Woo and the others from the Hunter Guild would have been subjected to a test few could survive. Forced to solve puzzles to not be mercilessly killed, Jin-Woo had been left behind so everyone else could escape. He was lucky to be alive. 

Leaning back on the sofa I decided to stick to the truth as much as I could. “I was sitting in my room, minding my own business when I got this…calling? Something told me you were in trouble. You didn’t tell me where your dungeon was, so I ran to the HQ. Bribed a girl to tell me, and I headed to you.”

“A feeling?” He asked. “What kind?”

“Dread? I don’t know, it’s gone now. We will see if you get in trouble and it happens again,” I said. “Anyway I got to that room where all the Hunter Guild members were running from. You were missing your leg. All bloody on that altar. Those statues moved to strike us. That Hancock woman just showed up naked. Then I got some notifications.” 

“Notifications?” He asked, perking up in excitement. 

“Yep, the same I assume you and Hancock are having,” I said. “Something about being a Player and getting a quest?” 

“Thank god,” Jin-Woo said. “I thought I was the only one.” He pointed to the empty air in front of him. “Can you see this?”

“No,” I said. “You can’t see mine either.”

“Well, what the hell is it? What happened to us down there?” He asked. 

I let out a long sigh. Chewing my lip as I thought of the best way to put it. “I became a Hunter a year before you, remember?” I asked. Jin-woo nodded. “I thought it wasn’t fair I was D-Rank.” He chuckled, shaking his head. Everyone felt like they should be stronger. “Anyway, I was in the waiting room, for my strength to be tested for the 2nd time, just to be sure. And I heard this story from another one of the Hunter’s there.”

“What was it?” He asked, engrossed in my fabrication. 

“He said that he heard from a friend of a friend that there were Growth Hunters.”

“Growth?” 

“That’s what I said, don’t be a parrot,” I chided. He grabbed his pillow and threw it at me. I caught it and put it on the arm rest, laying down on the couch. “Anyway, you know how Hunters have the capability for X amount of magical power, and that is what they are stuck at, giving us Ranks? He said that there were very very very rare trials to go through for Growth Hunters. These Hunters would start out very weak, but could kill monsters, absorbing their magical energy. Thus adding it to their own.”

Jin-Woo was quiet for a long time. The young looking man, fully invested in the story he tried to put together what I was saying.

“So…what is with this quest?”

“No idea,” I said. “But I plan to complete it. Care to join me?” I moved to the tiled floor and began doing push-ups. 

“Uh sure,” he said, getting up and doing the same. At a base strength it took time to finish all 100. Jin-Woo continued with his as I moved to squats. I spoke as we did. 

“This seems to be like a game interface,” I said. “Maybe whoever gave us this power is making it easier for us to understand. Giving us quests, and maybe monsters to fight eventually.” 

“You-think?” He asked, between push-ups.

“I hope so, because right now I’m as weak as you,” I said.

Jin-Woo stopped his pushups. Sitting up he caught his breath as we locked eyes. “I heard,” he said. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. This could be a good thing later on,” I said. “Keep going, idiot.” He cursed but joined back in. When it was time for the run I had more than 1 nurse try to stop us. With a glare I got us past them and we stepped outside the hospital. The sky darkening I waited until it was full on dark before throwing a few pebbles at Hancock’s window. 

She opened the window and climbed out. Using chakra to hold onto the wall she pretended to struggle as she moved down the side of the building. 

“This him?” She asked, looking Jin-Woo up and down. “My lord, you’re like a baby.” She squealed and grabbed onto him. The poor man became lost in the cleavage of the much taller woman. 

“Uh, you are?” He got out, blushing and pulling away. 

“Weston’s wife,” Hancock said. 

“Wife?!” Jin-Woo asked. “You’re not-”

“Girlfriend,” I corrected. “We aren’t sure why she showed up, but she has the same quest we do. Let’s start running.” I began jogging away from the hospital. The other 2 caught up. “Finish the other physical stuff?” 

“Yeah, yeah,” Hancock said. “Practically had to threaten to kill the others to get them to leave. They were convinced a spell was used on me.”

“Maybe there is one,” I said. “Sung Jin-Woo, Byeun Hancock, Hancock, Jin-Woo.”

“Nice to meet you,” Hancock said as her tits flopped this way and that with each footfall. “Weston says you’re friends? Tell me about younger him.” 

“Not much to say,” Jin-Woo said through ragged breath. “We went to school together. He became a Hunter, then I did.”

“I hear you are known as the weakest Hunter,” Hancock said.

“Not for long,” I said. “I think this new power will be just what we need. What was it like being A-Rank?”

“So cool,” she said. “I did this dungeon once with a bunch of crystal monsters…” She spoke for a while as we ran the 6 miles. Hancock and I did the run easily, using chakra to strengthen ourselves. Jin-Woo about collapsed when we got the notification we were done. 100 pushups, 100 sit-ups, 100 squats, and 6 miles done, we received a notification. 

“What should we do?” Hancock asked. 

“Stat Points,” I said. We both clicked it. Bringing up my new status screen I could really feel the 45 Fatigue. 

“What should I put them in?” She asked. 

“I’m planning to spread them out,” I admitted. “Strength, Agility, and Sense.” 

“Feel anything?” Jin-Woo asked, his eyes wide. 

“My fatigue dropped, but not really,” I said. “You get stats?” 

“I’m considering doing Status Recovery,” he admitted. “I’m exhausted.” 

“What’s your Fatigue at?” 

“85,” he admitted. 

“Jeez, still you shouldn’t waste it. Fatigue will go away if you sleep. I’m guessing stats are with you for life,” I said. He frowned but nodded. After using his points I noticed that he actually grew. “Where did you put it?” 

“All 3 in strength,” he said shyly. 

“Of course,” I said, rolling my eyes. “What about you?”

“I’m thinking Intelligence this time,” Hancock said. “I regret not going that way in the last…game.” I nodded, she would have been a good healer in the Tutorial is Too Hard. If we could guide her skills to healing, she would be indispensable in my Challenges. 

“What now?” Hancock asked, excitedly. 

“Get out of here, keep doing quests,” I said. Throwing my arm over her shoulder we walked inside the hospital. “I can’t help but wonder what would happen if we did double what was asked of us. Maybe we can get double the rewards. Random Boxes sound useful…” We walked in and made our plan for the coming days.

Hancock kicked her guards out when they tried to block me from heading into her room with her. It wasn’t long until we were doing it in the shower then sleeping on her small bed. All in all it was a fun world so far.