Rows upon rows of glass windows, ten, twenty, forty floors down, a long way to fall before he would reach the cement below. It was a good thing that Hajoon wasn't scared of heights, because he could enjoy the view for what it was, busy and suffocating, but dazzling all the same.
The sea was dyed with the red of the setting sun, its waning light filtering through the city skyline to prove its namesake Redtide as it framed the largest of the spires in a snapshot of red and gold. It was the Hunter's tower, one of the many headquarters under the Hunters Association, the pseudo government and military establishment that 'fortified' the East, North, and West. This particular one was the most grand in Hwanryeo, the vassal nation declared as Hawren on any world map.
It was a mispronunciation turned anglicisation that no one knew the source of. Of course, that didn't matter to an anglicized city with its architectural roots in western design. The prime example was the Hunter Tower itself, a marvel built of glass, held strong by a metal skeleton that represented the silver phoenix; which fortified it against wind and storm. Its height cut through the perpetual smog and cloud cover to reach the blue sky above, a sight reserved only for the Hunters that resided on the top floors.
Unfortunately for fans of the celebrity status Hunters, storming the building would only yield clerks and police officers. It doubled as the Jeokjo police department, a fact that made Hajoon reject all offers from Ando Natsuki to visit the place together, hoping to meet the elusive Hunters. Talking to a hallucinated doctor was a better use of his free time than that.
Speaking of hallucinations…
Hajoon glanced to his right, where a man was standing on the roof's ledge. The wind was strong, violent as it often was, but the man's coat and hair remained eerily still. It was as if he was in his own pocket of time, clad in western garb at least half a century old.
"I Can'T– cAn't do tHis anymore..!! They can't make me do this–!" A face with its mouth and eyes sewn shut yelled into the wind, going unheard by the employees that took up the rooftop break area. All but one, Of course.
Why am I seeing ghosts everywhere? I didn't see them yesterday. So what changed?
"I will stay human. This way, I can..!"
Hajoon kept his expression blank as the man steeled himself and stepped forward, then fell through the sky and into the grey canopy, disappearing under smog, fog, and rain clouds.
He couldn't acknowledge it, the figure that had reappeared at the roof's ledge. Again and again he fell. Sometimes it was a different story, a different face, but they all fell the same.
Ha…this is one popular skydiving spot. I do see the draw of it–
He watched another jump, sobbing about overwork and bullying, inhaling sharply as the body bounced off the building and ragdolled.
Nevermind. The cliffs are better, less mess to scrape off the road.
"Hey, Hajoon-ssi?"
"Hah?" Hajoon glanced back at Lee Hyejin, who sat on a bench further from the ledge, the smoke from her cigarette swirling with the wind to leave the rooftop to reek of tobacco.
"Don't try jumping, it's no fun without a rope to catch you."
Her bland delivery of the dark words caught him off guard, so it took a few extra seconds to school his expression.
"...Do you mean bungee jumping?" He laughed awkwardly, taking a step back from the safety wall to meet her eyes.. "Have you...gone bungee jumping before?"
"Pfft–" Her uncomfortably cold stare devolved into a laugh as she snuffed her cigarette on an ashtray built into the bench. Hajoon was glad for it, because he wasn't a fan of second hand lung cancer.
"You sure are a professional at being obtuse." She squinted at him before standing, her hair flowing almost too smoothly in the wind as she stared out at the horizon. For a moment, he thought that she could see them too, the ghosts that stood by her, then jumped. But as their scream rang through his ears, she didn't so much as flinch.
It's really not fair.
Ha. Doesn't this just mean I've gone crazy? Should I start looking at asylum prices? Do I have to rent a room or what?
"You know…I actually did."
"What?" He blinked, having forgotten her presence for a few minutes.
"Bungee jumping. I tried it."
"Ah."
"It was up in Inje, a historic bungee jumping spot, they called it. I thought, maybe if I did that, I'd get braver." She laughed after that, pushing back the bangs to her hair, then clenching her fingers on her scalp.
"While– while I was falling..! I–" Her voice wavered, being drowned out by the ghost's sobs, a voice that emanated fear, disdain for life, and guilt.
"I realized, this was what they felt, when I let them die. When I looked away, and did as I was told." A foreign voice came from her lips, the cadence lower, more solemn than her own.
Hajoon's eyes snapped to the man who had squatted on the ledge, staring at Hyejin, then back at him. The sewn shut lips stretched into a smile, a soft one that seemed almost relieved; then he jumped, again. But for some reason, there was a finality to it.
Ha. Haha. Excuse me? What am I supposed to do with that information??
"Ugh…my head. Maybe I'm catching a cold. It's cold enough up here for it." Hyejin rubbed at her temple, looking a bit disoriented as she sat back down on the bench.
"What? Did I grow an extra head too?" She frowned at Hajoon, who frowned back.
"Ha…Maybe."
"Sometimes I wish I would. Two pretty heads would scare off the drooling dogs, right? What do you think? Could I send our manager-nim running?" She groaned, rummaging for another cigarette in her black coat-dress, or dress coat?
Whatever it is, I hope she doesn't have any. Honestly I'm tempted to throw her cigarette pack off the roof.
"Hah. Doubt it. Rich fuckers are weirder than ya think–" He bit down on his togue to stop the slip of character, clamping a hand over his mouth and laughing awkwardly.
"Pfft–! Wait, was that satoori?"
"You said..! You said, Inje, right? Isn't that close to Soeul?" He cleared his throat and changed the subject.
"Wow! You dodged that so fast! So that's the skills of a Top Student!" She clasped her hands together and acted impressed. The tone she used was the same as a school bully.
Ha. Why do I have to deal with this? Why is she so stuck on that? Hells, why does she even know about it? I never told her.
"Wow, if looks could kill…" She chuckled, then patted the spot next to her on the bench. He didn't sit down because he knew a glare followed his every move. He was only lucky that Mr. Wrong was busy networking with the other higher ups.
"Fine, alright then. Yes, Inje is near Soeul." She sighed. "What about it?"
"Isn't it dangerous? I mean, the ruins are closed off for a reason. Transport in is only open for mining workers."
"Aw! Are you worried about me?" Hyjien clasped her hands together, cooing like the bully that she was.
"Sure."
"That face is definitely saying no." She snickered, then leaned back, closing her eyes and letting the wind sweep through her hair.
"You're asking how I got through the checkpoints?"
"Mn." Hajoon shrugged, leaning against the safety wall to avoid being seen too close to her.
"Connections!" She smirked, as if it was something to brag about. Maybe it was, if it got her through intensive security just to go be a tourist. "It's not as dangerous up there as they say– the fear mongering is just to scare off unprepared tourists."
What are you then?
"They? Do you mean the danger rating published by the Hunter Association?"
"When were they ever accurate? Come on, Top Student! You know they spout bullshit!"
Bullshit backed by guns and Hunters is enough for me to stay in my lane. But I guess she's the type of civilian they actually protect. Maybe she would be safe going into a monster ridden hellscape.
Can't say the same for myself.
"It's still an S-rank zone. You know what that means, right?" Hajoon crossed his arms against the wind, failing to conserve the warmth that his second-hand trenchcoat bled through its fabric. In comparison, Lee Hyejin was nonchalant, adjusting her neckerchief and pursing her lips as if she was a duck.
But before she could say anything, a chipper voice butt in, two coffees in hand.
"It means that only S and A-rank Hunters get the clearance to hunt there! It's the highest ranking they give! Next to the almost mythical SS-rank, though nobody's seen one of those since the calamity!" Ando Natsuki declared proudly, beaming as he handed Hajoon a fresh cup of sugary coffee. From the lack of froth, he could tell that there was no milk, camel or otherwise, so he murmured a "thank you" and took a sip.
"Like he said, you shouldn't be waltzing into places like that, Hyejin-ssi."
"I didn't go into Seoul, come on! If you can survive the Riotbanks, I'll be fine passing through some checkpoints."
She was calling him a weakass, that much was obvious. But just because he understood her point didn't mean he had to like it.
"Would you like one, Ms. Lee?" When Hajoon fell silent and dragged the atmosphere down with him, Ando broke through the awkwardness, offering a coffee to Hyejin as well.
"No, thank you! I was just smoking…"
"Oh. Alright…" His shoulders slumped slightly as he stared down at the bitter black coffee. Hajoon knew that drinking that would send Ando's taste buds into cardiac arrest, so he offered his cup to him instead.
"Here, let's switch."
"Eh? But…you said you don't like it." He seemed to hesitate, and Hajoon groaned inwardly. It seemed that Ando had somehow equated his outburst by the coffee machines with an apparent dislike for bitter coffee.
"Ah, but I didn't? Can you restate my exact words?" Hajoon put on a smile, hoping to clear up the pointless misunderstanding.
"Um, so, you said, don't you dare. And piss off–"
"Pfft–! What'd you do to get this saint to cuss you out?" Hyejin laughed, leaving Ando wide eyed and glancing between his two coworkers.
"Eh?? Uh, um…I just–"
"Okay..! Nevermind that! Haha..!" Hajoon's smile twitched, taking the coffee from Ando's hand and forcing the switch himself. He felt cold sweat trickle down his back, but whether it was because of the attention they were attracting, or a ghostly curse, he couldn't tell just yet.
"You uh- you mentioned SS-ranked zones? Do you think there's any Hunter around that can still clear such a place?"
"Actually, yeah!" Ando perked up immediately at the question. "The last known one was tsushima island, and from what I know, Hojo-sama would be able to use the stormy weather patterns there to fry any monster within a 100 miles!"
"Singlehandedly?" Hajoon asked, only partially paying attention.
"Yeah!! Of course! He's already an S-rank! We all know our thunder dragon is going to be the first Eastern SS-ranker!!"
He sure is proud of him. It makes sense, with them both being Ashiharan. Can't say the sentiment is the same for everyone.
He glanced at Lee Hyejin, who looked a bit peeved, lighting another cigarette with the silver lighter she always had on hand.
"Right now there's only…two, right?" Hajoon tried to remember the names from Ando Natsuki's many ramblings, his eyebrows knitting together. "A Veincliff, and Kra…Kravshen..?"
Ando laughed, seeming happy enough at the attempt. "Zachary Veincliff, and Igor Kravchenko! They both carry the family legacies of legendary hunters, though the ranking system is a new thing. We never know, maybe our Hunters are already as strong as Lucius Veincliff was reported to be? If he can split mountains and create canyons, then Hojo-sama can do that and more!"
Sure he can, the bloody war criminal.
"Haha…yeah! He sure is impressive huh?" Hajoon laughed, losing grasp of the conversation after that as his attention was caught by the swaying electrical cords that spanned from building to building. They were gargantuan, and could easily support the weight of a whole bus, although no one would risk potential electrocution by trying to cross them.
Which is why it was strange that he saw someone atop the wires, a lone figure amongst the churning fog. They were watching the fog below them, their hands tucked into their pockets.
"Great, another ghost."
"Eh? Do you mean ghoul? I was talking about it with Mr. Seo, uh- from the sales department. Anyways, we were saying how stupid it is that they just classified it as a lower stage to all monsters, expecting us to believe it's real when we apparently can't even see it! It's so–Beh–!" Ado nearly choked on the coffee, having burned his tongue in the process of talking like a derailed train.
Hajoon patted his back absentmindedly, sipping his own, far more bitter coffee in hopes to wake himself up from this waking nightmare.
"Ghoul, ghost, what's the difference? Hunters just have to rank everything. Their ego's are higher than their tower." He heard Hyejin huff, earning a hurt look from Ando.
"T-They're heroic!"
Hajoon couldn't bite back a laugh at the irony of that statement, whatever response he got being lost to the howling winds as his eyes fell on a shadow that moved below the dirty cloudcover. The person on the wires walked with it, a leisurely pace as if walking a dog.
They paused, the fog, smog, and clouds rippling like sea above land; then a creature surged from within it, eclipsing them.
Hajoon didn't know whether to call it a whale, a snake, or a centipede; because it was somehow an amalgamation of all three. The incomprehensible creature's many legs twitched, rippling almost in harmony as the humanoid figure in front of it raised an arm. Hajoon had to squint, almost dumbfounded that the gun in their hand remained just that, a gun.
For a split second, Hajoon contemplated pouring coffee into his eyes as a makeshift solution to his hallucinations; but that moment ended when that creature surged past the ghostly figure and straight at him. He saw its many legs ripple across the sea of clouds, its fanged maw opening and casting his world into darkness.
He looked to his unaffected, infuriatingly ignorant coworkers, and laughed. The sudden, burning cold that surged through him made his eyes sting.
I want to go home.