"Guess we should introduce ourselves - My name is Kyu-jang Kai, and this idiot genius over here is San-kang Min." The taller guy murmured, attempting to offer some sense of reassurance but failing to mask the shock in his voice.

                "Mhmm, but you can always call us mother and father because, you know, technically we gave you life." San-kang giggled, clearly unannoyed by Kai's insult.

                "Yeah, please don't."

                "Come on Kai, why be such a buzzkill?"

                To be entirely honest, their voices were mostly grating. Although it was useful to learn their names, the entire ordeal was too much to process; Drowning out their voices as background noise, I tried to make an assessment of the situation. First, I flexed my muscles and ensured I could attain some level of control before moving to feel the ground. Like I'd previously thought, I was on a small cloth surrounded by hard rock which just confirmed my suspicions that all three of us were in a basement.

                "Hey, you listening?" San-kang tilted her head.

                "... We may have got ahead of ourselves; do we know if he can even hear us?" Kai added.

                "But there's a body! He's moving..." Some of the pre-emptive celebration had disappeared from her voice, replaced by a small amount of frustrated cynicism.

                "Do you have the guide?"

                "Yeah, of course..."

                I decided to remain silent - despite their friendly appearance, I was unfamiliar with wherever I was and their intent and therefore staying silent seemed like the best option. I wanted to gauge their aims. I watched with a mixture of unease and curiosity as I observed San-kang reach into a small rucksack to pull out a small notebook. With an unassuming black cover, it lacked a sense of magnificence that I'd expected considering the situation. Flicking through the pages, San-kang paused - Gazing down at the page, she raised her eyebrow.

                "Sun King, can you hear me?" Her expression was empty, a sharp contrast to her earlier emotive face.

                Without being able to shake the uncomfortable feeling of being tested, I tried my best to act oblivious. Stopping my movements would be a clear reaction, so I merely looked around the room and rotated my limbs as before.

                "San-kang, what are-" She cut him off with a brutal glare before he could even finish his sentence.

                The silence was uncomfortable. As the seconds passed, I found it harder and harder to not react. And then it happened.

                As if in a movie, the world froze as San-kang suddenly lunged towards me. Snap - She leapt closer to me. Snap - she swiftly retrieved a small blade from her pocket. Snap - She thrust the blade into my leg; fuck, that stung. It drew blood and left a burning gash against my leg.

                Instinctively, I punched her. Startled, she did not react fast enough to block it as she staggered backwards, her nose bleeding slightly from the hit. Worrying she would be irate and witnessing Kai shakily draw out a small throwing axe of his own, I jumped to my feet. It was an unwinnable fight, but I was surprised I'd even managed to properly damage her nose like that.

                "So, it's like that, then." San-kang's expression was as dark as expected, but her eyes were concentrated far below my face. Following her view, I audibly gasped as I watched my skin rapidly repair itself, bridging together to cover the wound.

                "I was right, Kai - The summon was fully successful."

                "Get away from him, then! If he's angry..."

                I was lost. I'd expected them to attack me again already, but the situation was largely incomprehensible; why stab me then stop? Why summon me if only to kill me? Why did I recover so fast from my injury?

                This wasn't a situation where I could spend my time pondering the possibilities. I was stronger than I'd expected, based on the fact my punch left her nose bleeding, so I had to make the most of it. Plus, I would have to manipulate the information I'd understood so far.

                "Stay back, if you want to live - A summon like me has inhumane strength." I spoke with as much conviction as I could muster, deepening my voice to appear more intimidating.

                San-kang laughed, and my heart sunk. Her giggling felt sinister against her cold expression, but the worst part was the fact I was entirely unsure regarding the source of her amusement.

                "Of course, you do," She rolled her eyes, "But do you even know how to use it?"

                "Don't underestimate me, San-kang Min." I figured throwing her name into the situation would portray myself as knowing and wise, but that didn't work either.

                "Alright, mind explaining why you gasped upon seeing your temporary heal?"

                'Temporary Heal' was not a phrase that filled me with hope, considering its implication that I would soon suffer the pain of the wound. If that was the case, I needed to act fast.

                "Just grateful my powers were working so effectively so soon in this new place and besides, a wound like that can easily be dealt with later."

                With that, Kai sighed heavily and hence reminded both of us of his presence within the room. As if something had finally clicked, his eyes darted between the two of us for a second before he interrupted our conversation.

                "I understand now; Sun King, please relax, we don't mean any harm."

                Like hell was I going to believe that, considering the fact both still gripped their weapons tightly in their hands. Sensing my lack of response, he seemed undeterred and rephrased.

                "Even if you wanted to fight us, you can't win. You're outnumbered and even with your runes, you lack the skills and knowledge to exploit them to the level that you'd even stand a chance."

                "Like I said, don't underestimate me. You two are mere humans compared to a summon like me." I snarled, bolstering an act of arrogance to prevent myself from being forced into the inevitable losing hand.

                "If you know so much, why did you gasp when noticing your runes at work? Before you interrupt me and say you were surprised your powers were working so fast, why didn't you correct San-kang when she called the rune a 'Temporary Heal'?"

                Correct San-kang? Ah. It looked like I'd fallen into a trap of some kind, but I could get out of this.

                "Why would I want to correct her misconception? If anything, her misunderstanding only benefits me." I countered, but I was shut down immediately as San-kang interrupted.

                "Trust me, I didn't have a misconception - this book right here," she lifted up the notebook, "contains all the key information available regarding the runes. The rune you possess isn't <Temporary Heal>, it's <Vampirism>."

                Vampirism... Thinking back, the situation made more sense. Sensing I was deliberately ignoring their actions or hiding my abilities, San-kang wanted to test if my runes were working. By attacking me, she forced me to both speak and encouraged me to attack back, allowing her to check if my <Vampirism> trait was working properly if my wounds healed upon punching her back. Does that mean she'd planned to let me hit her?

                "Please, don't worry. I have no reason to tell you that unless I'm actually on your side, and we both are. I figured you were skeptical of us in some way, and I guess I was right considering your silence. Hey, I don't blame you - you're in an unknown location, with unknown powers and unknown people; I'd be scared too! But you have to trust us, we're on your side." San-kang continued, but it was difficult to take her words at face value. 

                "Seriously, please trust us." Kai said, dropping his axe to the ground with a clatter as if sensing my uncertainty, causing San-kang to place her knife back into her pocket in suit. "We can explain more later, but for now, what would it take for you to trust us?"

                It was an unwinnable fight. I had no way to trust them after they stabbed me like that, but it was absolutely unwinnable. So, I conceded.

                "Tell me everything you know about who I am, this body and the runes."