A Deal Too Small
By the time the morning work ended, Hyun-jun had eaten a simple lunch with Tae-min at a nearby restaurant and returned to the guild office. It was already past two in the afternoon.
“They’ll have already left. We should probably get ready too.”
Tae-min spoke, and Hyun-jun nodded. They had cleared a lot of the backlog in the morning, so it seemed about time to move to the reception room and wait there.
“Ten minutes left.”
They relocated to the reception room, and while Hyun-jun handled a bit of work on his smartphone, Tae-min checked the time and informed him that the appointed hour was drawing near. Hyun-jun finished up the last of his work. No sooner had he put his phone away than Tae-min received a report from a guild member that the person sent by the Dungeon Management Bureau had arrived on the first floor of the guild office.
“He’s on the first floor now.”
“Tell him to come up.”
There was no need to go down and meet him. Tae-min seemed to agree, since he nodded and gave the order to the guild member through his phone. And after waiting about five minutes, the reception room door opened and a man with an unremarkable face walked in.
“Good to meet you. You must be Park Kyung-ho.”
It wasn’t their first meeting. When Hyun-jun greeted him first, Kyung-ho approached with a bright expression and offered a handshake.
“Yes. I’m Park Kyung-ho, assistant manager, Team 2 of the Hunter Division at the Dungeon Management Bureau.”
“Have a seat.”
“Yes. Thank you.”
Hyun-jun and Kyung-ho sat facing each other. Tae-min stood behind Hyun-jun.
“You’re here about the rank-up issue, right?”
Hyun-jun did not want to waste time on a long preamble, so he cut straight to the point as if urging the other man to do the same.
“Yes. That’s the main reason, but we also came because our side has one proposal we’d like to make to Kang Hyun-jun.”
“Then give me the Hunter license first.”
“Ah, my apologies. I’ll hand it over right away.”
Kyung-ho took the newly issued Hunter license from his briefcase and passed it to Hyun-jun.
A-Class... just as expected.
After checking the grade engraved on the Hunter license, Hyun-jun nodded and smiled. Not long ago, Tae-min had also guessed that he would probably be promoted to around A-Class.
“Hunter Kang Hyun-jun is now an A-Class Hunter. Your rank-up information has been registered in the network, so the license is usable immediately.”
Kyung-ho finished speaking and took a small booklet from his briefcase, placing it on the table.
“This booklet summarizes the various privileges granted to A-Class Hunters. I’d recommend reading it carefully when you have time.”
“Thank you. Then that’s it for the rank-up issue, right?”
Hyun-jun asked while quickly skimming the guidebook. Most of it was material he had already seen on Hunter community boards, so it did not seem necessary to read it in detail.
“Yes. That’s everything.”
“Then let’s move on to the next matter. You said you had a proposal for me? Go ahead.”
At Hyun-jun’s prompt, Kyung-ho opened his mouth with a tense expression.
“Our Dungeon Management Bureau would like Hunter Kang Hyun-jun to become a nationally attached Hunter.”
A nationally attached Hunter was exactly what it sounded like. In most cases, signing such a contract meant being assigned to the Martial Enforcement Bureau, the Special Police Bureau, or the Dungeon Management Bureau.
“Let me ask you directly. If you’re making an offer for a nationally attached Hunter, that means you came with decent terms, right?”
For a moment, Kyung-ho could not answer. It wasn’t because Hyun-jun’s words were absurd. It was because Team 2 leader Lee Sang-hoon had brought over terms so laughably bad that he was at a loss for words, ashamed to be the one presenting them.
“These are the terms our side prepared.”
Kyung-ho took the contract out of his briefcase and placed it on the table. Hyun-jun picked it up and ran his eyes quickly over the terms.
“Do you mind if I read it too?”
“No. Please do.”
When Hyun-jun shook his head with a hard expression, Tae-min, who had been standing by, asked carefully. Because he was on Hyun-jun’s right, he could make out at least part of his profile. Hyun-jun readily allowed it and handed the contract to Tae-min.
“This is basically the treatment of a level-six attached contract. Considering the guild leader’s Hunter rank and potential, this contract is ridiculous.”
Tae-min’s face hardened as though he were the one being treated unfairly, and his voice rose. Kyung-ho could not even try to defend it.
At a time when the screening division had already decided on Hyun-jun’s promotion to A-Class, offering contract terms meant for a B-Class Hunter was practically the same as Team 2 leader Lee Sang-hoon deciding to go completely off the rails. Most likely, he was staging an open protest after getting chewed out by his superior this time. After all, with his backing, he had no real risk of being fired, so he could afford to act this way.
“You’re assistant manager Park Kyung-ho?”
The one who stepped forward and raised his voice was Tae-min. Hyun-jun remained silent.
“Yes... Park Kyung-ho, Team 2, Hunter Division.”
“Yesterday, the recruitment manager from Innovation came to see us.”
“I-Innovation? You mean the Diamond-tier guild?”
Kyung-ho’s face turned pale. Hyun-jun had become somewhat famous after the video uploaded to Tube blew up as a hot issue, but he had never imagined that a Diamond-tier guild, one of only fifteen in all of South Korea, would have made a recruitment offer to Hyun-jun.
“The same Innovation you’re thinking of, yes.”
“To think even Innovation made a move...”
So shaken was he that the thought he had been holding in his mind slipped out aloud. Kyung-ho’s pupils trembled.
“I’m sure you understand what it means when Innovation’s recruitment manager makes a move.”
Tae-min spoke without hesitation.
“I’m sorry, Hunter Kang Hyun-jun. To be honest, I don’t have the confidence to secure anything better than this. I don’t have that authority either.”
Kyung-ho lowered his head.
“Innovation probably saw your potential. In my view too, your potential is exceptional.”
At those words, Hyun-jun nodded, a little embarrassed. From the start, he knew that someone with only the rank of assistant manager like Kyung-ho would not have much authority to negotiate recruitment terms.
“I have no intention of making an ugly scene and forcing the issue. It’s true that the current Dungeon Management Bureau is not enough to hold onto Hunter Kang Hyun-jun. But as a citizen of the Republic of Korea before I am an employee of the Dungeon Management Bureau, I’ll sincerely support you.”
After putting the contract back into his briefcase, Kyung-ho stood up. He had no intention of taking up any more of Hyun-jun’s time.
“Thank you.”
Because there was real sincerity in Kyung-ho’s voice, Hyun-jun could smile and nod in return.
“I’ll be on my way then.”
Without hesitation, Kyung-ho opened the door and left the reception room. Watching his back recede, Tae-min spoke in a calm voice.
“He doesn’t seem like a bad person.”
“I think so too.”
Hyun-jun answered with a faint smile at the corner of his mouth.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Time passed, and June arrived. As the heat began to build, the merger and absorption were also proceeding smoothly.
“There isn’t much left now.”
Hyun-jun said as he reviewed the report Tae-min had written. So-jin, who was seated at the secretary’s desk sorting documents, looked up.
“Yeah. I can see the end now. I think we’ll have everything settled in about a week.”
“Want some coffee?”
“I’ll get it.”
So-jin got up and left the room. Then, about five minutes later, the door opened again. Hyun-jun naturally assumed So-jin was coming back in, but contrary to his expectation, the person walking into the office was Kim Tae-min, the executive director of Wraith Guild.
“Guild leader. I have something urgent to report.”
Tae-min’s expression was unusual.
“Go ahead.”
“While taking over and organizing the executive office documents from Echo, we confirmed the existence of Guild Leader Choi Na-young’s slush fund.”
“How large is it?”
“I brought a brief summary.”
Tae-min took a document from his bag, quickly checked his surroundings, and then handed it to Hyun-jun.
“Once you’ve finished reviewing it, I’ll destroy it immediately.”
At that, Hyun-jun nodded and looked over the records of the slush fund.
“At this level, she could found a small guild and still have a little left over.”
He had seen a few related posts on hunter community boards before, so he knew roughly what it cost to establish a guild. After confirming the scale of the slush fund, Hyun-jun understood why Choi Na-young had screamed as though she were having a seizure when the guild war ended in Echo’s defeat.
If it were me, I’d pass out too.
Shaking his head, Hyun-jun handed the papers back to Tae-min. Tae-min took out a lighter in front of him and burned the document to ash. Then, with his usual composed expression, he spoke.
“What would you like to do?”
“What do you mean?”
“We could report it to the Guild Oversight Bureau, but if I act on it now, I can quietly ‘handle’ it.”
He did not bother to explain further, but Hyun-jun understood what Tae-min meant by handle. The handling he referred to meant that they could quietly absorb the slush fund.
“Is that possible?”
It was common for guild leaders to secretly build up slush funds. But hiding one of that scale was not easy, Hyun-jun thought.
“There’s still a little internal data left, but nothing has leaked outside, so it won’t be difficult.”
Tae-min answered with confidence.
“Then there’s no real reason to report it to the Guild Oversight Bureau.”
“I’ll handle it through a safe channel.”
With that answer, Tae-min left the office.
A voice sounded. Another past life had taken interest.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
After leaving the guild office building, Tae-min headed deep into an alley. Even in daylight, the alley was dark.
“Jong-seo.”
“You called for me?”
A young Hunter dressed in a black suit emerged from the shadows. His name was Ha Jong-seo, and he was the sort of man whose overall presence was sharp and snake-like. Among the Hunters attached to Wraith Guild’s executive division, he served as Tae-min’s right hand.
He had not been able to take part in the unofficial and official guild wars that had taken place recently because of injuries sustained in the conflict with Echo.
“The thing I asked you to look into?”
“I investigated it. I still haven’t identified who’s behind it, but the current security around the ‘target’ is abysmal. It looks like the force backing them has given up on Echo entirely.”
“Well, if it were me, I’d have done the same.”
After Jong-seo’s report, Tae-min nodded.
“Can you handle it?”
“Of course. Since Echo’s executive division has been completely dissolved, the target’s safety is currently being handled by a small number of private bodyguards. Their level is pretty low, so this should be easy to deal with.”
“Handle it.”
“That was the guild leader’s order?”
When Jong-seo asked cautiously, Tae-min shook his head.
“No detailed instruction was given.”
“Then may we move?”
“Everything is for the guild leader. We’re enough to dirty our hands.”
“Understood.”
Once Jong-seo vanished from sight, Tae-min took out a cigarette, put it between his lips, and lit it.