The morning air carried the chill of early spring, crisp and sharp against the skin.
Gilran adjusted the strap of his black hunter's bag as he and Jin-Woo stepped out of the small apartment they shared with Jinah.
Jin-Woo locked the door. "You sure you're not coming with me today? It's a D-rank dungeon. Could use backup."
Gilran gave him a measured look.
"D-rank, with you in the party, means you'll come back with at least three cuts, two bruises, and a lecture from me. But…" he slung the bag over his shoulder, "…I already signed up for a C-rank job with some old guild friends."
Jin-Woo smirked. "Fine. But if I don't come back, you better avenge me."
"Don't joke about that." Gilran's tone was sharper than intended.
Jin-Woo nodded, and for a moment, there was unspoken understanding a bond that didn't need words.
Gilran's Raid – Abandoned Mall Dungeon
The Gate was inside the skeletal remains of an abandoned shopping mall, its glass façade shattered and weeds creeping through cracked tile.
Gilran's team consisted of five hunters: himself, a shield tank, a healer, and two ranged DPS.
As they passed through the shimmering Gate, the world shifted to a decayed interior lit only by shafts of pale green light. The monsters — Wraith Hounds prowled between toppled shelves and shattered escalators.
The tank called, "Gilran, you're on left flank."
He nodded, but in the back of his mind, the Heaven Gate stirred.
He hadn't tried a full Blood Summon since the Double Dungeon. Now seemed as good a time as any. Crouching behind a collapsed pillar, he whispered to the System:
> [Blood Summoning Activated]
[Target Race: Orc Warchief – Ironhide Clan]
[Source: Preserved Blood Sample – King Tier Storage]
The air before him warped into a swirl of deep crimson mist. Out stepped a massive orc with skin like forged steel, tusks sharp enough to pierce armor, and a double-headed axe resting on one shoulder.
The Warchief glanced around, then rumbled in a voice like grinding stone, "Who dares summon me?"
Gilran kept his tone calm but firm. "The one who gives you an enemy worth killing."
The orc's grin was all teeth. "Point me."
The next five minutes were pure chaos the good kind.
The Warchief waded into the pack of Wraith Hounds, his axe cleaving through shadow-flesh in single strikes. Each swing carried a shockwave that shattered nearby debris.
Gilran used Arctic Step to dart between flanks, cutting down stragglers and intercepting attacks aimed at his ranged allies. He moved with surgical precision, and the others in the party quickly realized they barely had to cover his side at all.
By the time the last Wraith Hound fell, the Warchief vanished in a swirl of blood mist, leaving behind the faint metallic tang of his presence.
> [Blood Summon – Duration Expired]
[Bond Progress: 3%]
Bond progress? Gilran filed the thought away for later.
---
Meanwhile – Jin-Woo's Dungeon
While Gilran's party exited the mall Gate, Jin-Woo was miles away, standing in front of a set of heavy stone doors deep inside a seemingly simple D-rank dungeon.
The party's leader a man too confident for his own good pushed the doors open, revealing a vast temple chamber lined with massive stone statues.
Gilran wasn't there to see it, but later, he would feel something a faint, sharp pull in his blood, as if the System itself wanted him to know.
Something had just shifted for Jin-Woo.
That evening, Gilran sat on the apartment's worn sofa, flipping through the Heaven Gate's interface in his mind.
A new notification pulsed at the edge of his vision:
> [Bloodline Resonance Detected]
[Related Entity: Sung Jin-Woo]
The words sent a cold thrill down his spine.
If Jin-Woo had gained something from his own ordeal, then both of them were now bound by more than just family.
And in this world of Gates and monsters, that bond might be the sharpest weapon they'd ever wield.