Chapter 316
The place where the association chairman and the minister had been was prepared with sofas and refreshments, like a kind of temporary lounge. To call it a conference room, all it had was a sofa and table sitting there alone, so it was probably not a place where actual meetings happened. It looked more like a place where a few people gathered and exchanged simple conversations, like just now.
As soon as the association chairman entered the room, he smiled more familiarly than before and shook hands with each of us separately.
“Ha ha.... Originally, I should have seen each of you one by one and greeted you, but because of the circumstances, I couldn’t do that. Even though we invited such precious people here. It’s nice to have an opportunity like this to greet even just the two of you.”
The association chairman used a strange way of speaking, casually talking down to us just fine, then suddenly realizing it midway and throwing in polite speech once in a while, and sat on the sofa.
“You two sit too.”
“Yes.”
As soon as the association chairman sat on the sofa, he opened with useless talk.
“By the way, I hear Gates have been increasing lately. Are you two all right? Hunter Kwon, I’ve seen you on the news quite a bit. You’ve been having a very hard time lately.”
“Ah.... No, sir.”
Kwon Taehan replied calmly, but from a while ago, he had looked very subtly anxious somehow.
Even if he had died and come back to life several times, did this loser-like nature of his not change? In a way, it was truly fascinating.
The association chairman lightly patted Kwon Taehan’s arm, then belatedly turned his body toward me. He observed me closely, then smiled until the wrinkles folded and asked.
“Hunter Seo, how is working at Haeseong? Is it all right? Isn’t that the place where Hunter Im is the guild master? I’m somewhat close with Hunter Im.”
You do not look particularly close, though?
The association chairman took out a handkerchief, wiped away the sweat running down, and continued.
“Is Haeseong running well? Its performance has been tremendous even these days. Well, Hunter Im is so exceptionally capable, after all.”
“I’m on a field team, so I wouldn’t really know. I just go back and forth from Dungeons.”
“Really? Hunter Im has been very busy lately. In the old days, we used to eat together and such, but it’s terribly hard to see that face now.”
“Try contacting Guild Master Im.”
“Hm?”
The association chairman, who had been wiping his forehead repeatedly, stopped moving and asked back. I slowly looked around the room and continued.
“You said you’re close. Can’t you contact Guild Master Im and make an appointment?”
“.......”
Anyway, why had he made a separate seat like this? I stared blankly at the clock hanging on the wall, then asked.
“So what did you call us in for?”
“Ahem, just....”
The association chairman trailed off, suddenly sprang up from his seat, rummaged busily through a drawer, and brought over snacks. He set the snacks down on the table, curled his hand into a fist, and gave an unnatural fake cough.
“Eat.”
“.......”
What was this? Was he giving snacks to elementary-school students or something?
The association chairman peeled open one snack, munched on it, wiped his hand on his pants, and said,
“As you two know, the world these days is not just ordinarily chaotic. How old are you two? Are you in your mid-twenties? Anyway, to the point that I have to ask such dangerous requests of young people these days.... My heart is very uncomfortable too.”
“.......”
“But now, I’m in a position where I have to think about the safety of the people. Ahem.... So I had those conversations with the minister too. About how we should develop going forward. But now... the minister’s opinion is a little different from mine.”
Different?
It was an interesting choice of word. While I silently waited for the association chairman’s next words, Kwon Taehan was staring only at the edge of the table with his head completely lowered. He must roughly know what was going to come out.
'I don’t.'
Of course, I did have something that came to mind.
“The minister considers our Association very important. Originally, huh? No matter what country you go to, of course the Association is more important than guilds. Guilds ultimately move for private gain, but compared to that, what does the Association put first? Public interest. Isn’t that right?”
Hm? What was this supposed to mean?
“Doesn’t the Association ultimately move in a direction that pursues private gain too? It’s not a direct government agency either. If anything, I think the Special Response Team is closer to public interest.”
I had asked seriously, but the association chairman’s expression worsened at rapid speed. Was there anyone who did not know the Hunter Association was rotten?
“That’s not it!”
What? Why was this bastard suddenly yelling and making a fuss?
I quietly looked at the association chairman while eating the snacks placed on the table.
“That’s not it. The Special Response Team, ultimately, is one hundred percent affiliated with the government, so in the end, as policies or... things like that change, it can’t help being swayed. Yes, so more power should be given to the Association, which exists globally. In the end, if it’s for the people’s safety.”
“But it’s an independent organization anyway. If you look at it that way, wouldn’t guilds be better? Haeseong was doing very well.”
“No, how old are you?”
“I’m twenty-five.”
“You must still be young and not know, but originally, the world doesn’t run along that idealistically and neatly.”
Hadn’t he been the one talking ideally just now?
'Why does this bastard have no consistency in what he says?'
Right around when I was starting to get confused whether this was an intelligence problem or an aging problem, Kwon Taehan gently grabbed my arm.
I lightly shook off his arm, picked up one of the snacks on the table, and roughly handed it to Kwon Taehan. Then Kwon Taehan accepted the snack, only to place it back down on the table.
“Yes.... I don’t know what your conclusion is.”
Now it was really about time to leave. No matter how busily Im Haekyung was running around here and there, if I had been away from my place this long, that person would probably pay attention at least once.
I urged the association chairman, meaning that he should state his conclusion.
“So what is the conclusion?”
“Conclusion? I’m not talking about a conclusion! I’m talking about the situation. I’m talking about the situation and context that I’m working hard for the safety of the people, and that the minister says we should give power to the Association.”
Why are you telling me that?
I gathered the trash in one place and nodded.
“Ah, I understood that.”
“.......”
“When you hosted this event in the first place, wasn’t it because the Hunter Association wanted to become one group with the government? But the minister gave the Hunter Association less power than you expected. I don’t know what kind of power it is, but rather than money, it must be authority. You already receive plenty of money.”
“Money? What money does the Association have? The guilds take the money!”
“You said guilds are organizations that pursue private gain. Then isn’t it only natural they take the money?”
What kind of bullshit was this?
When I looked at the association chairman with an absurd expression, the association chairman looked at me as if I were ridiculous too.
“You....”
If he wanted to pretend to be clean and upright, he should have changed his shoes first. Fucking shoes—he had come wearing a pair that cost over a million won each, and now he was making a fuss.
“Judging by how you called me after hearing I was from Haeseong Guild, it seems you have complaints about Haeseong.”
“It’s not complaints! I’m talking about problems.”
“What problems?”
“When Gates occur, Haeseong currently has the right to take Gates first, doesn’t it? And Haeseong also decides whom it would be good to send in.”
“Aha....”
So even as the Association, he had an inferiority complex toward the number one guild in the country?
'It’s not that I don’t understand.'
Well, they carried the grand name of the Hunter Association, but when it came down to it, neither the work they did nor the treatment they received was greatly different from an ordinary guild, so it must have felt lacking to a bastard who had tasted power before.
I nodded and answered.
“I understand.”
“...Really?”
“Yes.”
That aside, the bastard had probably not grabbed some passerby from outside just to vent his resentment, and judging by how he reacted to “Haeseong,” he clearly seemed to have something else to say.
'Should I poke him?'
I looked at the association chairman quietly and asked.
“Are you curious about the information circulating inside Haeseong? How Haeseong will react to future policies? Or the personal information of Hunters entering Gates?”
“What?”
“If the Association wants to take superiority over a private guild, wouldn’t you need to extract a certain amount of internal information from Haeseong for negotiations with Guild Master Im to work?”
“.......”
Then the association chairman was visibly shaken. He took out his handkerchief and wiped away his sweat, straightened his body that had been leaning against the sofa, and looked at me.
“Do you know what you’re saying?”
“I do.”
“How would a low-level employee know deep internal information about Haeseong Guild?”
“I’m not low-level.”
“You aren’t?”
“No.”
“Ahem....”
The association chairman’s eyes rolled around. Was he thinking of looking up my name? Well, that was certainly a matter for later.
“Aren’t you close with Guild Master Im?”
“Me? I am close.”
“Then why are you so....”
“That’s why the Association should present me with good conditions too, shouldn’t it? I’ll hear them first.”
“.......”
Anyway, from the moment a conversation like this had come out, he could not back down. What did he think would happen if I immediately went to Im Haekyung and tattled?
'Of course, from the outside, nothing would appear to be revealed.'
The association chairman looked me up and down and asked,
“What conditions do you want?”
“Hmm....”
The conditions I wanted. There certainly were some.
Because illegal occupation of Gates had become almost impossible due to the Association creating a reporting system, there was definitely a limit to making a prison customized for Kwon Taehan.
I jerked my chin slightly, pretending to be conscious of Kwon Taehan beside me. The association chairman noticed that, cleared his throat, took a business card from his chest, and handed it to me.
“Contact this number comfortably. It’s my personal number.”
“Yes.”
“Well, it’s not that I’m telling you to steal Haeseong’s secrets, necessarily. I simply want to hear the words of a young and intelligent Hunter.”
The association chairman glanced at Kwon Taehan, took out one more business card, and placed it in Kwon Taehan’s hand.
“Yes, Hunter Kwon too. If there is anything you need... we should help each other live.”
“...Yes.”
After a moment of silence, the association chairman asked with a serious expression.
“Do you perhaps have some complaint toward Haeseong?”
“Ah, it’s nothing major. It’s just that the Guild Master is a little....”
“Hunter Im? Why? Is there a problem?”
The association chairman, who suddenly seemed excited, poured out questions as if curious. I answered calmly.
“Guild Master Im nags too much.”
“......?”
“There are quite a few other problems besides that. The person’s humanity isn’t very good either.”
“Humanity?”
“It’s not as if good employee welfare is everything, is it? A person being upright, kind, well, things like that are important, aren’t they?”
“.......”
Then the association chairman, whose gaze had turned strange, looked at me and said,
“Maybe because you’re young... your thoughts are very radical. Hm? I don’t view that badly. ...What kind of work do your parents do?”
“They’re not here.”
“Ah, your parents... aren’t here?”
“Yes.”
There was CEO Choi on this side too, so in truth, about half was there.
'Is half a little ambiguous too? Is it around one-fourth?'
While I briefly sank into other thoughts, a strange smile rose around the association chairman’s mouth.
“Mm, I see. Then that can happen. Has it been quite a while since they passed away?”
“Yes, somewhat.”
“It must have been hard to grow up alone. The relatives who raised you?”
“None in particular.”
“When someone grows up without parents, there are cases where they naturally grow up without manners toward adults. Ahem, I’m giving you this advice because I view you favorably. Since ancient times, respecting one’s elders has been proper duty....”
What was he talking about?
I roughly let the association chairman’s words flow past me. Anyway, whether I had parents or not... what did that have to do with me right now?
At that moment, Kwon Taehan suddenly opened his mouth.
“Chairman, you shouldn’t... speak like that.”
“What?”
Aha.... Here, he really had none.
'Now that I think about it, there isn’t a single bastard around me who has parents.'
To think I had averaged the number of parents, and the average value was zero. It was truly a pitiful situation in all sorts of ways. I glanced at Kwon Taehan and picked up one more snack from the table.