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(*)
Level 006
Two Years Ago, Seoul, South Korea, Solo Leveling Earth.
"What do you think about, Jinwoo?"
The simple question Joohee had asked her this afternoon during their coffee break had taken Helia by surprise.
It was like someone had thrown a bucket full of ice-cold water at her.
Why was Joohee asking this? What had brought this up?
Helia formally sweated under the blue eyes of the B-Rank Healer.
"Jinwoo is my friend." Helia crooked out finally.
What else could she say?
Joohee was her friend, but they both liked the same guy; only it was clear in the redhead girl's mind how Joohee would win Jinwoo's heart.
There was nothing she could offer Jinwoo. She wasn't pretty, well-off, or an amazing Hunter, just a reincarnated freak with a System, while Joohee was a talented and beautiful Hunter.
That was not even a competition if the winner was so clear.
Joohee hummed and took a sip from her coffee. "Would you be cross with me...if I asked Jinwoo out?"
And just like this, Helia felt like her whole world crumpled.
(*)
From one moment to the other, Helia felt a cold shiver down her body.
Something was off.
Her hand reached for Jinwoo's side on the bed, but it was empty.
Ah, that's why she woke up.
Carefully, she swung herself out of the bed and waddled like a cute penguin out of the master bedroom in search of her husband.
She found him standing before their massive windows in the living room. Jinwoo had his arms crossed and looked thoughtful down at the still bustling Seoul.
"Hey Baby." Helia murmurs. "Why are you up?"
Her husband turned to her with a small smile, waving her over to him. Not a second later, the couple was hugging each other tightly.
"Is it about today?" Lia just asked.
She didn't need an answer; she knew her husband, but Jinwoo still nodded and buried his head in her neck.
Today, his boring D-Rank Raid had first turned into a bittersweet reunion with the other survivors of the Double-Dungeon, then prisoners joined their Raid, and Kang Taeshik, the overseer of the Hunter Association, showed his true face as a Serial Killer, and Jinwoo had to end his life to save his, Joohee's and Mr Song's.
"This is the second time I killed," the black-haired man whispered. "Will it always be like this? Will I get better and better at it, and one day not feel any remorse?"
As an answer, Lia kissed his cheek and rubbed his back lovingly. "As long as you still think this, as long as you still feel bad at the end of the day, you will not turn into a monster. Also, I will gladly slap humanity back inside you, IF it happens."
Jinwoo couldn't help but chuckle lightly. He had needed to hear his wife's reassurance and jokes.
Tenderly, he kissed her temple down to her cheek before kissing her sweet lips.
"I thank the gods every day that you stepped into my life, Lia, my princess, my warrior queen, love of my life, my light in the darkness. I would be lost without you."
"I would be lost without you, my knight, my hero, my beautiful moon prince, love of my existence," Helia murmured against his lips, before they kissed again.
They kissed just gently for a while, bathing in their love, when their baby kicked.
Helia laughed while Jinwoo rubbed gently the spot on her belly, where the little kick had been.
"I think our Little One wants to tell us to go to bed," the man mused with a playful grin.
His wife matched the grin.
"Or maybe they're already cockblocking us!"
A wicked glimmer appeared in Jinwoo's eyes, and before Helia could react, he had picked her up, encouraging her to wrap her legs around his waist.
Giggling surprised the woman who held onto her husband.
"My knight, what?"
"Are you playing coo, Princess? I can formally smell your arousal."
"Uurgh, why does this sound so sexy?"
"Because you have a voice kink," Jinwoo replied, carrying her back to their bedroom. "How often did you jump me when I just read you instructions?"
"A lot of times! But hey, don't kinkshame me, your voice is pure sin!"
"I would never, baby."
The married couple snickered like naughty children as Jinwoo opened the bedroom door and then kicked it closed behind them.
For now, all was alright with the world again.
(*)
In the following days, Helia just imitated a sloth. A heavily pregnant sloth.
Jinah was in school and then studying with friends, Jinwoo had joined Jinho for the first C-Rank Raids and Youngmi and Youngsoo didn't need her input for the guild or at least only a minimum.
All was going well, so Humanity Strongest could just enjoy being pregnant and lazy.
She stayed the whole day in bed, besides when she did her Daily Quest, ordering meals from different restaurants and watching anime to no end. When she got tired, she read manga.
Lia even got back to writing some fanfiction. Just little One-Shots, but it felt good returning to her old hobby.
More often than not, Jinwoo would find Helia and Jinah engrossed in an anime when he came home in the evening.
It was cute seeing his two girls cuddle up and fangirling or buuhing at the television.
He did wonder if one day, WHEN, his mother would be back with them, if she would join them.
Jinwoo knew his mother would love Helia, how could someone not love his ball full of sunshine, sass and passion?
God, he remembered when he realised he was in love with her.
It had been during a Raid, where he had been separated from the group, and Lia had found him.
Together, they tried to go back to their group, as goblins attacked them.
One goblin had broken his arm, and Lia, LIA, had gone all berserk on them!
Till this day, seeing Lia wielding her magic so deadly and precise to protect him had been the hottest thing Jinwoo had ever seen.
Lia had screamed and raged and cursed in Italian, meanwhile looking like Xena the Warrior Princess, showing this completely new side of her, that Jinwoo was hooked.
He remembered how he thought utterly besotted: Yep, this is the woman I will marry one day.
No question, just clarity.
He had liked the sweet, cute and shy Lia, and now seeing this other wicked and powerful side of her, made him realise how much he actually liked her.
What could Jinwoo say...he had a thing for strong women...and Helia was a War Goddess.
Still, it had been Lia asking him to go on a date, because Jinwoo thought he wasn't good enough for her, for which he was forever thankful.
Anyway, Jinwoo joined his girls then in their watch marathon and even read Lia's FanFiction.
All in all, amazing weeks.
Bonding time and levelling up, how more could one want?
Then, on a normal Friday evening, Lia was writing a new One-Shot, as her System binged.
Jinwoo had sent her a message.
//Alpha: Baby, you won't believe what is happening. A Mr Ahn Sangmin from the White Tiger Guild is trying to make me join them.//
//Omega: Huh? Really? LOL! Does he not know you're my husband?//
//Alpha: Seems like he didn't do his homework THAT carefully. I'm telling him how Jinho promised me Yoojin Construction their building worth 30 billion.//
//Omega: NO!!! You're so mean! XD How shocked is he?!//
//Alpha: Totally shocked. I will reply to you in a second.//
Amusend Lia waited for Jinwoo to write her back and couldn't help but shake her head over the shamelessness of the White Tiger Guild. They saw a promising recruit and just boom wanted them without doing background checks.
Her husband had told Jinho clearly that while he would do the 19 Raids with him, in the end, he would join Invictus.
As if a loving and supporting husband would go against his beloved and successful wife.
Ha!
Whatever, this wasn't right now important. Lia had the feeling Jin would play this Mr. Ahn.
One for spying on him, when he needed to stay under the radar, and two because Jin just hated to be spied on.
Her suspicions rang true as Jinwoo wrote her back, how he had played a little mind and intimidating game with Mr. Ahn and managed in the end to sell him three C-Rank Gates for a total of 600 million.
The red-haired woman could only playfully write back one thing.
//Omega: You little troll XD//
(*)
"Job-changing quest," Helia repeated as she sat on the comfy passenger seat of their luxury camper, eating a bag of chips. "Mine turned me from a magician into a priestess. Why do I have a feeling your system will screw you also, Jin."
Jinwoo snorted while he drove the camper onto the highway. "Being a priestess made you into Humanity Strongest. You can create life, make fallen enemies be reborn as an Avatar or a Wisp, I wouldn't say it screwed you over. It gave you your true potential."
"Not that I don't love my powers over life, creation and light and having a badass army...I will just remind you about this when your system turns you into a...mmmh....a paladin!" Lia shot, giggling back.
"Well, I'm already your knight."
"Oh, baby!"
The situation was this.
As Jinwoo reached Level 40, he got this job-changing quest. The same Helia had also gone through.
Since the portal to the quest couldn't just be opened in a backyard, not that they had one, the couple decided to drive to the countryside to begin it.
They had told Jinah how they would do a little day-trip and take the camper for it.
Of course, the couple could have just used one of their luxury cars, but Helia was so heavily pregnant that lying in a bed in the camper was better than on the backseat of a Maserati, for example.
Jinah had accepted it, but reminded her brother and sister-in-law that the next day was the parent-teacher meeting, so they had to be back by tomorrow morning.
"Let's hope it doesn't take so long, like it did for me." Lia signed, remembering her job-changing quest with a shudder. "I was fighting a whole freaking day, then had to kick Rose ass, then had to kill a lot of eniemes with a timer and then the Stystem turned me into priestess! I still think EDI played me!"
"You mean like it was staged?" Jinwoo replied.
"Yeah, like that baby. Get ready to not get what you want."
"So, not from a Novice going to a Master Assassin?"
"Did you just make an Assassin's Creed joke, Jin?!"
He just shrugs his shoulders, winking at her.
Immediately Lia started to purr: "You would look sooooo good in the assasin's robes though! I'm thinking young Ezio Auditore!"
"Maybe I will dress up for you," Jin said back with another wink, which made Humanity Strongest turn into a puddle.
"Baby, if I weren't pregnant, I would be it from your wink."
Together they laughed joyfully, driving further away from the city into the countryside.
(*)
???
How many years did he wait for his king's return?
10, 100, 1000?
There were days when he lost hope, when he raged quietly and bitterly, all in him screaming to destroy the sentinel of his imprisonment.
The throne.
He had been so close many times, the heavy sword in his hand ready to be raised, before he got a grip on himself.
He was a knight.
A loyal one, till his death.
He would defend the empty throne of his liege as long as needed!
May it be another 10, 100 or even 1000 years.
Never would he abandon his duty.
Never would he bring shame to the knighthood.
For he was Knight Commander Igris the Bloodred, chosen by his king.
(*)
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