Uber-Talented Gamer in the Omniverse

A/N :

" " : Dialogue,

' ' : Thought,

[ ] : System, Akasha, Minerva,

"Italicized text" : Telepathy,

« » : Artificial Intelligence,

| | : Sung Jin-Woo's System Panels, Sung Jin-Woo's System Messages,

"Bold text" : Shadows & Deathborns.

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Narrator POV

South Korea was in a frenzy after the massive Gate appeared in the sky, with the only news on the television being about the Gate. Regardless of which news channel that anyone in Korea checked, they would see reporters speaking on the Gate above Seoul.

Most people were panicking about the situation, especially when Dr Belzer came out saying that it was possible that more Gates like this one would appear, and the only thing they could do was pray and hope that the Gates didn't cause another tragedy.

Dante chose to stay silent on the details of the Gates, not wanting to cause more panic. After all, if he told them that all the monsters they had fought were on leashes, and the ones within the Gates are the real deal, and they're also coming with a massively more powerful general, despair would be ever present for everyone.

But the worries over the Gates, although warranted, weren't going to get anything done, so the Hunter's Associations around the world told the populace to calm down, but remain prepared to move away from the area around the Gates at a moment's notice, whenever they would show up.

The few details that everyone knew about the Gate in South Korea were that it somehow caused no more new Gates to spawn around the world, and that it couldn't be entered by any Hunter. Taking advantage of this, many Hunters busied themselves with working to clear the Gates that were still present.

The Hunters moved so efficiently that all other Gates in the world, apart from the one hanging over Seoul, had been cleared in just two days. But, out of a sense of preparation, many Hunters and Guilds moved to get better gear to outfit themselves with.

As for Thomas Andre, he had decided to stay in a hotel in Seoul, causing Laura, who had some understanding of his eccentricities, to ask him why exactly he chose to remain in Seoul. "Why would I leave when something this big and beautiful has appeared?" He said, while pouring himself a cup of whiskey.

"It's definitely big... but beautiful?" Laura said, and he smiled. "Anything that makes your heart beat faster is beautiful. Whether that be a fire-breathing dragon, that large Gate, Hunter Sung Jin-Woo's power or Hunters Dante and Shiraori Invictus' battles – Everything possesses a certain beauty." He said wistfully.

"I see. Now you have something that you can never possess, Master." Laura said, and Thomas laughed lightly. "Yes. I never knew that something like this would appear. And anyway, there's no Gate to go back home to return to." He said, smiling as he looked out of his hotel room window.

"That's true, but the Hunter's Bureau is getting worried." Laura said, implying that the Hunter's Bureau in the US thought that whatever would come out of the Gate would be dangerous to Thomas Andre. "Worried? That's funny. What place is safer than the Dominion Guild's base?" He said, then quickly downed the cup of whiskey in his hand, before refilling it.

"And besides, if we don't stop whatever is behind that Gate here, there'll be no safe place on the planet to return to. And so I want to witness it, whether this moment will be the thing that kick-starts the end of humanity or a new beginning." He said, his eyes fixed on the gargantuan Gate in the sky of Seoul.

...

In Sung Jin-Woo's home, something pleasantly strange is going on. Sung Jin-Woo had dressed up in a black turtleneck, trousers and dress shoes, with a dark gray trench coat over his top. "My liege, I shall do everything in my power to make sure that you and the lady aren't disturbed." Beru said, knowing that Sung Jin-Woo intended to go on a date with Cha Hae-In today.

"Just... Don't go overboard, Beru." Sung Jin-Woo replied with a sigh, then left the house, heading to a café, where he and Cha Hae-In had agreed to meet up. When he reached there, he saw her dressed in a slightly baggy, beige long-sleeved shirt, white trousers, white sandals, and a light brown trench coat.

"Hey, Hae-In. Sorry for making you wait." He called out to her, and she looked at him, only to faintly blush as he got closer to her, his pleasant scent filling her nostrils. "H-hey, Jin-Woo. Don't worry, I've not been here for long." She said, trying to refocus herself.

"Well, shall we?" Sung Jin-Woo said, offering his hand to her, and she grabbed it, her blush slowly intensifying. Sung Jin-Woo then took her to an amusement park that wasn't too far away, where, to their surprise, a large number of people were present, despite the presence of the Gate.

Quickly summoning his shadow soldiers, he used them to clear out a path for himself and Cha Hae-In to walk without anyone blocking them. The people around them looked with amazement, whispering in hushed tones that were all too easy for the two Hunters to hear.

"Sorry about this. I thought there'd be fewer people due to the situation, but I was wrong." Sung Jin-Woo said, and Cha Hae-In just nodded, still remaining silent. Suddenly, Sung Jin-Woo started turning his head left and right, as if looking for someone.

Soon, he stopped, as if finding the person he was looking for. "What's wrong, Jin-Woo?" Cha Hae-In asked him. "It's nothing. It's just... My dad's over there with my mom." He said, pointing to an ice cream stand in the distance, where his parents were getting ice cream cones.

"Really?" She asked, then looked over and saw them. "Do you want to go and greet them?" He asked her, and she blushed, then nodded. They calmly walk over to Sung Il-Hwan and Park Kyung-Hye, with Cha Hae-In trying her best to keep a pleasant appearance.

"Hey, Dad. Hey, Mom. I didn't think you'd be here." Sung Jin-Woo said to his parents, who turned to face him. "I was wondering when you were going to come over, what with your shadows acting like a celebrity's bodyguards." Sung Il-Hwan said, with a smile on his face.

"Oh, stop it. And besides, with all he's done for humanity, I believe that he's more than earned the fame of being a celebrity." Park Kyung-Hye said, lightly tapping her husband on his chest. "And this must be Cha Hae-In." She said, looking at the orange haired Hunter with a soft smile.

"Ah, yes, Mother. I mean, Ma'am!" Cha Hae-In said, spluttering over her words, causing Park Kyung-Hye to let out a peal of pleasant laughter. "Well, it certainly isn't unpleasant to hear my son's girlfriend call me Mother. Please, take care of him. He might seem like he's got it all figured out, but he's only one man, despite what his powers might show." She said to a red Cha Hae-In, who nodded lightly.

"Well, we'll be out of your hair. You two have fun now." Park Kyung-Hye said, as she began dragging her husband away. "But not too much fun." Sung Il-Hwan said with a boisterous laugh, causing Cha Hae-In to look like all the blood in her body had rushed to her face.

After Sung Jin-Woo's parents had gone far enough away, he looked at Cha Hae-In, who was starting to lose some of the excess redness on her face. "Well, that was something." Sung Jin-Woo said, and received a shy nod from Cha Hae-In.

After some moments of silence, Cha Hae-In looked at Sung Jin-Woo. "Umm, do you enjoy visiting places like this, or is it a family tradition?" She asked him, but received an unexpected answer.

"Not really, and I really only wanted to experience a place like this at least once." He replied. "I see. But why here specifically?" She asked, and he looked up at the sky wistfully.

"The Gate that my father got trapped in all those years ago appeared here. So I wanted to come here ar least once. As for my father, it seems like he's trying to make up for lost time with my mom." He said with a solemn expression.

"I see." She said, then hugged him, which he quickly reciprocated. "Thank you for seeing me as that important." She said, fighting back tears from coming out of her eyes. The moment felt poignant and sombre, but it was interrupted by the shouts of other people around them, and the sound and light of camera flashes.

"Well, I guess we should get to our date." Sung Jin-Woo said as he walked away with Cha Hae-In. "So, you want to ride that?" He said, pointing to one of the park rides, and Cha Hae-In nodded.

"What about that?" "Looks good." "What about the one next to it?" "That looks good too." A short back and forth went on between them, causing Sung Jin-Woo to smile. "Everything looks good, yeah?" He asked. "Yes, everything looks good." Cha Hae-In replied with a smile.

"Then let's ride all of them." Sung Jin-Woo said, then he and Cha Hae-In took a single ride on all of the park rides, even going through the other attractions. But unfortunately, the experience was more disappointing than either of them had expected.

Due to their vastly enhanced physical capabilities and experience in engaging in battles against monsters, which were multiple times faster than any of the rides could get, the rides felt slow to them, and places like the haunted house looked like poorly done caricatures of the monsters they had faced, not even seeming the least bit scary to them.

Seeing as the experience was seeming more tedious, rather than draining, they decided to stop for a while and eat. While eating, Sung Jin-Woo suddenly had an idea. "Hey, I know that the rides have been a bit slow. So, do you want to ride something more exciting?" He said.

"What'd you have in mind?" Cha Hae-In asked, and he smiled, before pulling her away to a free parking lot. Flexing his power a bit, he called on the two shadows that he could use as flying mounts, Kamish and Kaisel.

Although he was used to using Kaisel as his transportation, he had also wanted to try doing the same with the much larger dragon. But he was shocked when he heard what Kamish said after a few seconds of silence.

"My liege, I understand that I am the more powerful and larger of us, but I believe that Kaisel is a better fit for your current endeavor." The shadow dragon said, patting the wyvern's head, then returned to Sung Jin-Woo's shadow, with Kaisel looking at him with a metaphorical tear in his eye.

"Well, shall we?" Sung Jin-Woo said as he mounted himself onto Kaisel's neck, and held out his hand to Cha Hae-In. Grabbing his hand, Cha Hae-In allowed herself to be pulled up onto the wyvern's neck.

With Cha Hae-In leaning against his chest, Sung Jin-Woo spurred Kaisel to take off, and he did with great speed. In less than 15 minutes, they had gotten close to the shores of South Korea, and away from the visible reaches of the Gate.

"How's this?" He said, looking at Cha Hae-In with a smile, as their hair was ruffled by the wind. "It's fast, and really high... and... Beautiful." She said, looking at the sunset.

After a few seconds of silence, Sung Jin-Woo spoke up again. "There's something else I'd like to show you." He said, then commanded Kaisel to head towards Jeju Island, where the city was still undergoing reconstruction.

After landing on Jeju Island, Sung Jin-Woo and Cha Hae-In alighted from Kaisel, who returned to Sung Jin-Woo's shadow, and walked into the forest area that had grown over the years that the ants had occupied the island.

Sung Jin-Woo stopped at a point deep in the forest, where the canopy didn't cover the ground, and looked up at the night sky. Cha Hae-In soon followed suit, and her eyes widened as she marveled at the beautiful night sky alongside her boyfriend.

Eventually, they turned to face each other, looking at their significant other with eyes full of love and expectation. They each took a step closer as their hearts pounded, and kissed each other under the moonlight, as a shooting star passed by in the sky.

...

The next day

Dante POV

Yesterday was pretty fun. Shiro and I decided to have an underwater date, checking out the lifeforms in the ocean depths, and taking some pretty good photos.

I guess the whole debacle about the Gate simply gave us all a bit more focus on our loved ones. Il-Hwan went out with Kyung-Hye and pretended to like the amusement park rides. Jin-Woo went out with Hae-In and had a short tour of the sky. And Shiro and I had a siesta down where it's wetter.

It was all pretty pleasant, but that's not what's on my mind right now. What's on my mind now is the fact that I've successfully created a version of what is arguably one of The Gamer's most important skills ever, and I'm going to properly test it out today.

«Hey, boss. Jin-Woo is back.» Aurora tells me, and I nod, telling her to call him up. After about a minute, he gets to this floor, and has a little pep in his step. I guess his time with Hae-In gave him a confidence boost.

"Hey, Jin-Woo. I see your date went well." I say, looking at the clear smile on his face. "Yeah... So, what'd you call me for?" He asks and I smile and tell him to follow me to the rooftop. He does so without question.

"Hey, babe. I'm planning on using that now. Wanna see?" I say, connecting to Shiro. "Really? Right now?... I'm coming. Don't you leave without me!" She responds. "Wouldn't think of it. We're heading to the rooftop." I tell her, as Jin-Woo and I move up the stairs to the roof. "Okay. See ya." She says, with a jolly tone.

"So, what are we headed to the roof for?" Jin-Woo asks me. "Well, you know how I've told you that my system has quite a few similarities with yours? You know, the stats, quests, inventory, and the like?" I say, and he affirms.

"Well, don't you think it's strange that I haven't once made a proper dungeon that I could just use whenever I wanted?" The question stuns him into silence, as he thinks through the time that Shiro and I have been here, eventually coming to the conclusion that I really didn't.

"So, what'd you do?" He asks, wanting some details. "You see, I had something similar, but it was only limited to my own soul. So I went to the past and copied something that's a bit familiar to you." I say, bringing out the Instant Dungeon Key he used to get to Kasaka's lair.

"After a bit of analysis, I was able to create something of a spell that would allow me to enter instant dungeons anywhere." His eyes widened at my words. "That's crazy. With that, you could level up, even without Gates around." He says.

"You're right. With this, even you could level up without Gates around." He stops walking as he hears my words. "What?" He asks, not sure if I'm joking. "If you think I'm kidding, you can follow me and see if I'm lying or not." I say as I continue moving.

Eventually, we reach the rooftop door and open it, and see Shiro waiting for me. Walking up to her, I kiss her for a bit over a minute, which sends pleasure signals rushing through our brains, before I eventually release her lips.

"Well, good morning to you too." She says, licking her lips sultrily, before quickly returning to her poker face. "Hey, Jin-Woo. I see you took care of my friend well. You also did the responsible thing, not trying to bring kids into the world as it is now." She says, causing me to snort out a laugh.

"We've not gone that far yet." Sung Jin-Woo says, after clearing his throat. "Okay~. But when you do, understand that I'll be your firstborn's godmother, without question. Got it?" She says, suddenly looking at him intensely. "Yes, ma'am." He says, quickly acquiescing to her demand.

"Okay, now. Come on, I want to get this done quick. So, hold on to me." I say, and Shiro holds my hand, while Jin-Woo puts a hand on my shoulder. Suppressing the excitement in my chest, I say the words I have been wanting to say for quite a while now. "ID: Create." In an instant, we all feel the space shift, and a wide grin makes its way onto my face.

Chapter End.

Word Count: 2,803

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