You Are Needed
You are needed.
The Oval Office.
Three men sat inside it now.
President Komoloff, President Yu Myeonghak. And me.
“Hunter Kim Seongho. Stop recruiting new members.”
President Yu Myeonghak skipped every courtesy and cut straight to it. I couldn’t blow cigarette smoke in his face with President Komoloff right there, so I settled for staring at him with a sneer just as ugly.
“And why is that?”
“If you take every last Awakened in Korea, what exactly are we supposed to use to handle the rifts inside the gates?”
“Stray Dog is already handling Korea’s rift problem, isn’t it? Just leave it to us.”
President Yu Myeonghak’s face flushed red. He still didn’t dare explode.
“Hunter Kim Seongho. We know the contract we signed. We also know how unfair it is. In exchange for Stray Dog handling the Republic of Korea’s rifts, you monopolize every Magic Stone that comes out of Korean territory!! Korea needs Magic Stones too if we’re going to develop technology or do anything at all!!”
“I simply fulfilled the contract as written.”
“It was an unfair contract you forced on the Republic of Korea by holding the Suwon rift incident over our heads!! We believe it should be returned to the same system every other country uses. Hunters belonging to the Republic of Korea manage the strongholds and gates, and Stray Dog only provides support! And every Magic Stone produced inside Korean territory goes to the Republic of Korea! India, Russia, Japan, Europe—they all do it that way. Why is Korea the only exception!!”
President Yu Myeonghak turned to President Komoloff. Fluent English poured from his mouth.
“Mr. President. Our South Korean government no longer wishes to maintain this unfair contract. If Stray Dog opens recruitment, every Awakened still left in Korea will flock to them. Then independent national defense becomes impossible for us. Without the ability to develop Magic Stone technology, we will naturally decline.”
President Komoloff lit a cigar and burst out laughing.
“Strange. It’s true that Stray Dog monopolizes the Magic Stones from Korean territory, but you’re still selling them to Korea, aren’t you?”
“You prioritize supply to the United States!! And high-level Magic Stones are barely supplied to Korea at all under the excuse that there aren’t enough! The only Magic Stones sold to Korea are low-level ones!”
“What’s the worry? Just buy Elixir from the United States. That cleanly solves the problem.”
Yes. In the short term that would work. But then Korea would become a country that could do nothing without America. Yu Myeonghak could not stand that sight. Leaving the highest-level hunters in the world sitting idle while buying processed Magic Stone products from another country?
In the short run it might not matter much, but in ten years a Korea without its own Elixir production technology would fall hopelessly behind. That much was obvious.
“We would rather become a country that produces Elixir ourselves than one that imports it. An ally of the United States should not end up depending on the United States. Your Excellency. Korea should be a reliable partner to America, not a parasite, don’t you agree?”
President Yu Myeonghak pressed on with passionate persuasion.
“We want the contract revised. We cannot allow every Awakened in the Republic of Korea to be taken. The same system as every other country! We want to restore a structure where the Republic of Korea manages Daejeon’s gate and the strongholds inside it, and Stray Dog only provides support. Exactly like the other nations!”
I looked at President Komoloff.
He held our leash.
If America moved, even we would have to follow.
President Komoloff seemed to chew over Yu Myeonghak’s words for a long while before turning his gaze to me.
“Guildmaster Kim.”
“Yes, Mr. President.”
“Follow President Yu’s request. The current rift-clearing contract is clearly far too favorable to Stray Dog compared to the ones signed with other countries.”
When the interpreter finished, I wasn’t particularly surprised. From President Komoloff’s position, those words made perfect sense. I had already expected them, so there was no reason to be shocked.
I nodded without resistance.
“If the President says so, then of course I must follow.”
Life returned to President Yu Myeonghak’s face at my words. I raised a hand and stopped that smile cold.
“However. There are conditions.”
“What are they?”
“Prepare ten parties. One hundred Awakened. Whether you use the Korean Hunter Association or conscript them the way you always have, you must secure a minimum force of one hundred Awakened to defend the strongholds inside the gate.”
I looked at President Komoloff.
“President Yu Myeonghak said the Republic of Korea’s gates and strongholds should be handled by the Republic of Korea. Then bring the minimum force that will handle those strongholds. Without that, I cannot accept the terms.”
President Komoloff nodded as if the point had merit.
“President Yu. Guildmaster Kim seems correct. At least a hundred hunters will be necessary before we can shift to a support-only model for Stray Dog. At minimum, stronghold defense itself should be within Korea’s own capacity, shouldn’t it?”
“Of course, President Komoloff. The Republic of Korea can arrange that much immediately.”
Yu Myeonghak spoke with full confidence.
It wasn’t hard to understand.
Hunters already discharged and sitting in Ministry of National Defense data alone numbered over five hundred. We had taken nearly two hundred of them when we left, so roughly three hundred remained. Gathering only those would easily produce more than a hundred hunters.
But a bitter smile formed on my face.
The numbers would certainly be around three hundred.
If they also searched for men with high mana affinity, even more.
But would they really
try to stay loyal to the Republic of Korea?
“And I should mention this as well. Discharged Korean hunters, and people with high mana affinity, must be given a choice. Whether they stand with Korea or come to Stray Dog.”
“That also makes sense. President Yu. The Republic of Korea already tried to use hunters by force once and ended up creating Stray Dog. If you handle hunters unstably in a similar fashion again, I would advise that simply maintaining the current status is better.”
In other words: don’t even think about threatening or coercing hunters into service—treat them properly. There must be no chance of another fragging incident making everything unstable again.
Two conditions had been set.
Gather ten parties—one hundred hunters.
And give hunters and people with high mana affinity a free choice.
If that was possible, I was willing to accept Korea’s terms.
“I’ll give you two months. If you gather one hundred hunters in that time, I’ll grant Korea’s demands without a word of complaint. I’ll immediately return Daejeon to Korea and leave its management to you as well. We will remain only in a pure support role for Korea, exactly like every other country.”
Yu Myeonghak smiled from ear to ear.
“That’s a promise, Hunter Kim Seongho.”
“Of course.”
President Yu Myeonghak rose from his seat at once. President Komoloff watched his back leave the Oval Office with an expression full of hope, then asked me in a quiet but forceful voice.
“You think he’ll fail?”
“He will definitely fail.”
“A hundred hunters. A country the size of the Republic of Korea shouldn’t have trouble gathering that many.”
“Male hunters harbor enormous resentment toward the Korean government. There’s no way they’ll simply do as they’re told. No matter how good the conditions offered, they’ll try to come to us. And Korea won’t even be able to offer better conditions than we can in the first place.”
“There are women too, aren’t there?”
At that I let out a short laugh.
“Women?”
This was a matter of life and death.
One mistake and blood sprayed and organs spilled—that was the hellscape of Eldorado inside the gates.
Yes. Fine. I admit it. Not every Korean woman is the same.
But at least every female Awakened I had met so far—
“Korea’s female hunters will expect the men to do it for them. They are people who absolutely refuse to put themselves in danger.”
Most of them were people obsessed with claiming rights while taking zero responsibility.
Jeorg Wooyong was missing the index finger of his right hand.
During a raid inside a gate, a single Red Orc had bitten the finger clean off and eaten it.
Of course there had been no compensation.
The Ministry of National Defense had notified him that some clause about double indemnity or whatever made payment impossible. So he was preparing for employment with one index finger gone.
Because it happened to be a right-hand finger, gripping a pencil or mechanical pencil was difficult and his writing speed lagged, making it hard to keep up with coursework. Still he studied hard. He planned to earn an electrician’s license.
But lately Jeorg Wooyong had a new worry.
Should I just go to Stray Dog?
The internet and television were full of nothing else.
Stray Dog’s new recruitment drive.
The conditions were generous enough to call outrageous.
Base pay of ten million won a month, plus a share of the Magic Stone sales from whatever party you’re assigned to, plus a fixed percentage of the rift-clearing fees paid by each country.
He stared silently at his severed finger.
Even if he got the license and found a job—
Wouldn’t this finger keep holding him back forever?
Physical labor would be hard, and office work required typing as a baseline; missing a finger meant slower speed and inevitable complaints. Outside the gates, where there was no mana, he was just an ordinary man missing a finger. Inside the gates he was a Level 500-class hunter.
Wouldn’t it be better to put that career to use and become a hunter again? The thought rose naturally.
Missing a finger will make holding a weapon hard, but I should at least be able to handle odd jobs inside a stronghold.
Even just odd jobs would probably pay better than landing a job at some mid-sized company.
Jeorg Wooyong made his decision.
Yeah. Let’s give it a try. I don’t want to worry Mom any more than I already have.
He was firming up the plan to visit Daejeon tomorrow when the door opened and someone entered the house.
Thinking his mother had returned from grocery shopping, Jeorg Wooyong opened the door and stepped into the living room.
“Mom, what’s for din—”
And Jeorg Wooyong froze solid.
Men and women in suits were pouring into the room in a group with his mother. Her face was deathly pale. The moment talk of hunter re-conscription started circulating, his father had urgently called him home and hidden him tightly away. Apparently they had been found out.
“Wooyong, that is…”
His mother couldn’t finish the sentence. A neatly dressed woman in a suit stepped forward.
Conscription talk again?
He had thought he was well hidden. How had they found him?
Jeorg Wooyong broke into a cold sweat as the young woman approached. Then she suddenly beamed.
“Hunter Jeorg Wooyong! It’s a pleasure. Thank you for everything you’ve done for the country.”
Not the reaction he had expected.
Jeorg Wooyong looked at her with a dazed expression.
“Thank you.”
“Would you mind sitting for a moment? I have something important to discuss.”
The woman sat on the living-room sofa. Jeorg Wooyong carefully took a seat beside her while watching his mother’s face.
“I’m Yoon Hye-na, a recruitment officer with the newly reorganized Korean Hunter Association. The reason I’m here is that I have one request for Hunter Jeorg Wooyong.”
“What is it?”
Jeorg Wooyong asked carefully.
Yoon Hye-na firmly took his hand.
The hand missing its index finger.
“Would you consider running as a hunter for Korea one more time? This is not coercion. Your opinion is what matters.”
“……”
“We fully understand that Korea has failed to treat its hunters properly until now. We are thoroughly reflecting on that. I promise we will operate differently from before. There are many things we can guarantee for you. Would you like to hear them?”
Yoon Hye-na opened a booklet and launched into explanation after explanation.
Why Korea needed him.
How critical the future Magic Stone market and Elixir technology development would be.
National development, patriotism, and so on.
She spoke at length.
And at the end she added this:
“I know you’ve been deeply disappointed in Korea. But please give us one more chance. This is still your motherland, after all. The place where your parents live. Korea needs you, Hunter.”
Jeorg Wooyong heard every word.
But her bright smiling face,
and all the various benefits and hunter policies she had explained,
barely registered in his ears.
Instead he only saw his own severed index finger.
Suddenly a thought rose in Jeorg Wooyong’s mind.
Only now?