Chapter 312
Two weeks after that.
Since it was government-hosted training, I thought there would be quite a bit to prepare, but there was nothing in particular even up until the day before. The only thing that came down was one recommendation telling us not to enter any high-rank Dungeons because we had to attend the event tomorrow.
'What the hell kind of bullshit is this?'
Whatever else, it was funny that they told S-rank Hunters not to enter high-rank Dungeons because they were worried they might not attend the event. Of course, since it had only come down as a recommendation, nobody particularly listened.
The event started at nine in the morning. Thanks to that, I had to arrive at the Haeseong building two hours earlier than my usual work time, then get into a company car and head to the event venue again.
“You said it was two days and one night. Why from the morning?”
“They said they’re going to interview every single Hunter. There’s a lot of stuff, too. As soon as we arrive, we have to listen to safety training....”
“Yes.”
“...Right!”
Since it looked like the explanation was going to get longer, I cut Seok Jiwon off at a suitable point. Do Yehyun, Seok Jiwon, and I arrived at the event venue in a van driven by another guild employee. Im Haekyung had a meeting with other guild masters in the morning, so Haekyung had arrived even earlier than us.
When we moved inside the venue and followed the stickers attached to the floor toward the large auditorium, round tables had been set up here and there.
“Yehyun!”
Just then, I heard a familiar voice.
“Hello.”
“It’s been a while. Hunter Seo, hello to you too.”
It was Hunter Kim, someone we had entered Dungeons with a few times back when I was at SH. Kim was much closer to Do Yehyun than to me. Well, that was only natural, since Kim had gone into Dungeons with Do Yehyun quite a lot.
“Have you been well?”
“Yes.”
“You look it. You transferred to Haeseong, right?”
“Yes.... With my brother.”
“Yeah, I figured you would. You flatly refused even when I asked you to come with me.”
Asked him to come with them? This was the first time I was hearing that.
'Well, with someone like Do Yehyun, it makes sense that he’d get transfer offers from all over the place.'
On top of that, Do Yehyun did not bother telling me about transfer-related matters. It seemed like he judged that since he was not going anyway, there was no particular need to tell me.
“If it was Damyeon, that would be top level too, but since you went to Haeseong, I’ve got nothing to say....”
Hunter Kim, who deliberately narrowed their eyes as if sulking, rose slightly onto their toes and patted Do Yehyun’s shoulder as if encouraging him.
Aside from Hunter Kim, I saw quite a few Hunters who had worked at SH and then transferred elsewhere. After exchanging greetings in turn, right around the time I was starting to no longer want to greet anyone, the host made an announcement asking everyone to take their seats.
No sooner had I gone to the assigned table and sat down than Seok Jiwon came rushing over in a fluster and took a seat.
“Did you say hello? You must have met a lot of your old coworkers.”
“Yes. Everyone seemed to be doing well.”
“Really? That’s good.”
By the way, did they know that Song Hwayoung had woken up? Ever since I heard from Im Haekyung that Song Hwayoung had opened her eyes, I had been waiting for an article to come out, but no proper news had been reported.
There was no reason for Im Haekyung to lie to me about that, so I wondered if Haeseong had blocked the articles.
'Or maybe she really did only “wake up.”'
As I was thinking that, the lights on the audience side went out, and someone came up onto the stage amid applause.
“Hello. It is a tremendous honor to have with us the precious Hunters who protect our Republic of Korea. I am Ahn Sigyeong, Minister of the Administrative Office, which operates the Special Gate Task Team.”
Once the middle-aged woman with a benevolent expression finished introducing herself, applause broke out naturally.
'The scale is pretty big.'
For reference, Ahn Sigyeong, the current Minister of the Administrative Office, which was chiefly in charge of Hunters and Gates, had originally been a National Assembly member who was enthusiastic about defense-industry-related administration. Right around the time her arguments, which were quite far removed from human rights, were being heavily criticized and public opinion was bad, the upheaval broke out with exquisite timing. Using that opportunity, she instantly expanded into Gate-preparedness administration, abruptly gained trust and support, and, riding that momentum, recently rose all the way to Minister of the Administrative Office. Separate from whether she was a good person, she had certainly seized her chance well.
“I would appreciate it if you would think of today’s gathering as a place prepared so that we may discuss with the Hunters here how we should handle Gate-related administration going forward, and how we should move ahead to make the Republic of Korea even stronger, while exchanging opinions with one another. I am very open-minded. You know that, right?”
At that, laughter burst out here and there.
'It’s not that funny.'
I patted Seok Jiwon’s awkwardly laughing shoulder and lowered my voice.
“Is the Guild Master not coming?”
“Huh? I don’t know. The Guild Master said there was a meeting this morning, so maybe it hasn’t ended yet?”
For that to be the case, I could see other guild masters in various places.
After that, the minister’s boring speech continued. Since they had gathered people from the morning, turned off the lights, and started giving a speech in such a quiet atmosphere, more and more people here and there began slowly closing their eyes to think.
'They’re all sleeping.'
Do Yehyun, too, repeatedly closed and opened his drowsy eyes very slowly.
In the heavily subdued atmosphere, I listened to the minister’s words in my own way.
'Hm.'
The speech was long, but the conclusion was clear. They intended to actively collude with the Hunter Association and increase support for guilds.
'As expected....'
Even before, the Association had intervened in quite a lot of things under the name of being an association. After all, they could nitpick every single action of individual Hunters on the grounds of safety.
Because I knew roughly how things would flow from now on, there were things I could see more clearly. If the Administrative Office openly colluded with the Hunter Association, then the position of the Special Response Team originally under it would become ambiguous. It was ambiguous even now, and this meant it would become even more severe going forward.
Aside from that, the fact that the office was openly declaring that it would move together with the Hunter Association was also a problem. Currently, guilds and the Association were independent places with entirely separate aspects, but if the government started shielding the Association, guilds would naturally have no choice but to fall under the Association’s influence.
'And the support funds sound like they’re openly planning to use that as an excuse to control them.'
Instead of calling in guilds that really needed support, they had called Haeseong in and sat them down, so it was not a particularly meaningful thing to say.
“We will strive for a better tomorrow and a safe Republic of Korea.”
Once she finished her final greeting, applause broke out here and there again. Judging by the fucking number of bastards who raised their heads late, it seemed like more than half of them had not heard a single word because they were sleeping. Well, what the hell were they doing, gathering up bastards who used their bodies instead of their heads and making them sit through this? Of course, the same went for me too.
The minister went down, and just as the Hunters, who were gradually checking the time, started checking the next item on the program, another person came up.
“Hello. Ah, I am Hong Namsu, chairman of the Hunter Association.”
At that, the Hunters whose eyes had briefly come back to life just now closed their eyes again and began sinking into deep thought.
Do Yehyun’s eyes, which had been slightly open, closed again as well. Well, Do Yehyun had also been inside a Dungeon all afternoon the previous day because there was no healer, and only came out of the Gate once night fell. Of course, there was no guarantee he would not have been tired even if he had rested the day before.
With a comfortable heart, I listened to the Association chairman’s bullshit. He was a bastard who had been appointed relatively recently after the previous chairman resigned, and most of the problems that occurred in the Association started from this fucker.
'Can’t I just kill him now and be done with it?'
If he happened to slip on ice laid across the floor and died, who would they hold responsible? Though it was October, when winter was still nowhere close.
While I was thinking of accidentally killing the Association chairman in various ways, his speech ended before I knew it. As soon as the Association chairman stepped down, the host naturally took the microphone again.
“Thank you for those impressive words. Next, we will invite the guild master of Haeseong Guild, who will speak on behalf of the many guilds regarding the direction guilds should take going forward.”
What?
I almost spat out the water that had been placed at my seat.
Seok Jiwon, who had been sleeping, opened their eyes wide, grasped the situation, and quickly began clapping.
“What is this?”
“I don’t know either. Why...? It must have been decided suddenly.”
Well, if someone was going to speak on behalf of the guilds... in a way, it was only natural that Im Haekyung would be the one to speak. After all, Haekyung was the guild master running the nation’s representative guild, personally an S-rank as well, and a famous person who appeared in media in various ways quite often.
Soon after, Im Haekyung went up onto the platform and greeted everyone.
“Hello. I am Im Haekyung... the one operating Haeseong Guild. It is an honor to represent this gathering.”
The familiar voice came through the microphone and out of the speakers. Perhaps because a Hunter they recognized had appeared, unlike earlier, the Hunters who had been closing their eyes and thinking finally opened their eyes and started thinking.
While thinking about the justification behind Im Haekyung giving a speech, I stared fixedly at that bastard.
Right. Im Haekyung was a remarkable bastard, one way or another. Remarkable enough to give a representative speech at a place like this....
'But this is fucking funny.'
I did not think I had felt this way while watching broadcast interviews.
Meanwhile, maybe it really had been prepared in a hurry, because unlike what I had seen on broadcasts, Haekyung’s overall clothes were not much different from usual work attire.
Im Haekyung’s speech ended simply.
“First, on behalf of this gathering, I would like to offer my thanks to the minister and the Association chairman for their excellent words. As they have already pointed out, the current frequency of Gate occurrences is rising further. I believe that even this crisis situation can be fully overcome with time, and as a guild master, I will strive to fulfill my duty. I know with what will every awakened person and related personnel attending this gathering has come together here. I will not treat individual convictions and will as meaningless, and I promise to provide every form of support I can from my position. Lastly, I would also like to take this opportunity to express my thanks to our precious guild members, who allow Haeseong Guild to operate in a truly practical sense. Thank you.”
Once Im Haekyung’s speech, delivered smoothly without stumbling even once, ended, fairly loud applause broke out this time.
'Popular, huh.'
Because Haekyung had bent down to match the microphone, I could see a tie slipping out past the jacket. Im Haekyung tucked the tie back in and walked over to our table.
As soon as Haekyung sat down, a lowered voice asked,
“Mr. Jehyun, you didn’t do anything, did you?”
This really.
No sooner had Im Haekyung sat down than Haekyung undid the jacket button and drank water.
“Are you hot?”
“I’ve been busy since morning.”
“You seemed like a very important person.”
“That is because I actually am.”
In order to extend some kindness, I lightly brought my hand to the glass cup Im Haekyung was holding and froze the outside of it. Perhaps feeling the cup turn cold, Im Haekyung glanced back at me. When I looked at that bastard and twitched one eyebrow, Im Haekyung narrowed their eyes.
“Guild Master, you were truly wonderful.”
Just then, Seok Jiwon, who had offered flattery to Im Haekyung, spoke with an expression that looked genuinely moved.
“You mentioned us too....”
“No. That was only natural.”
“Um, but if you don’t mind me saying, if you two are holding hands here, it’s a bit... wouldn’t it be?”
At those words, Im Haekyung’s gaze lowered.
'What?'
Naturally, I had not been planning to hold hands. I had only frozen the cup a little. Still, conscious of Seok Jiwon’s words, I withdrew my hand, and Im Haekyung smiled as Haekyung said,
“We weren’t touching.”
“...Yes!”
Was that the important part?
Im Haekyung set the cup back down and lowered their voice to whisper to me.
“It was decided suddenly. I didn’t want to do something like this either.”
“Why? You looked cool.”
Just then, I felt a gaze from a table fairly far away.
'He’s been fucking staring since earlier.'
The bastard was neither sleeping nor focusing on the speech. All he had been doing from time to time was looking at me, then turning his gaze away.
When I turned my head in that direction, our eyes met this time.
I crookedly lifted the corner of my mouth toward Kwon Taehan and tilted my head.
At that, Kwon Taehan’s head immediately turned back to the front.