The Unfortunate Hunter's Protest

The next day, Baek Kang-hyun did not show up.

And in his place stood no hunter or Bureau official brought in to fill the void he left behind.

"Is it that guy over there?"

"His angle is just terrible."

Reporters who had caught wind of the story from somewhere had come swarming in. They weren't here simply to take pictures, either.

"You're the F-rank hunter, right? The one Baek Kang-hyun allegedly mistreated."

"Mistreated me?"

"Could you give us a statement about the incident? We're an investigative journalism outfit specializing in—"

"Haah..."

After shooing the reporters away, Ji-hoon retreated to a secluded corner and observed the situation from there.

This is bad.

Things did not look good. Anyone who had been close to Baek Kang-hyun, or who respected him, was not the problem, of course.

"No, I'm telling you, it's a misunderstanding! I'm friendly with the Vomit Hunter, I know him well!"

"I knew Baek Kang-hyun back when he was still a smug little upstart. Remember when he smashed every single mission site to pieces? Absolutely—"

...Just please, stop bringing up the Vomit Hunter.

Ji-hoon was letting out a small sigh when a visibly exhausted Jin Seo-yoon came up beside him.

"Wasn't this supposed to be an unofficial training camp?"

Jin Seo-yoon gripped the tablet she was holding hard enough to nearly crush it, then forced her hand to relax.

"Apparently it couldn't stay that way. Too many incidents."

Then, still looking at him, she added, "There's an article out about you, too."

He already knew about that one. When he'd woken up that morning and opened his phone, there was a message waiting from Woo-jae.

Still, something was off about all this.

Just an article like this—just some media play—and Baek Kang-hyun has to go into seclusion?

South Korea's number one hunter, forced to lie low over this?

"What about the Commissioner? And why did you show up? Orpheus doesn't play the media game, does it?"

"You want answers one... by one...!"

Jin Seo-yoon scratched at her head in obvious frustration, then leaned in and whispered so only Ji-hoon could hear.

"Orpheus didn't touch the media at all this time. The Commissioner is trying his best to smooth things over, and as for why I'm here..."

"You came as the camp supervisor in the Branch Chief's place, didn't you? On the Commissioner's orders?"

The way Jin Seo-yoon's face crumpled said everything.

"Obviously I'd accept the request to hush up my abduction case."

At his pointed follow-up, Jin Seo-yoon said flatly, "You clearly know everything already, so why are you asking?"

She pouted for a moment, then stared at Ji-hoon intently for a long beat.

"...What?"

"...Hunter Ji-hoon. Um... th... th... thi—"

What is wrong with her? Blushing and stammering out of nowhere.

Jin Seo-yoon's face flushed scarlet as she finally blurted it out.

"W-would you mind helping me out a little? We're short-handed, and, uh, Team C has the highest ranking, so I figured things would run fine even without you, haha, ahaha... haha..."

"Sure... So am I off today's mission, then?"

"W-well, no, but—anyway! If I ask for your help, then help me!"

What is she even saying.

"Fine. It's not like I can manage the kids without the Branch Chief around anyway."

After all, word had gotten out that Baek Kang-hyun had tamed Poppi, Choco, and Ddubu. If it came out right now that they'd actually been tamed by an F-rank hunter all along, all hell would break loose.

Best not to create an unmanageable situation—lying low for a while was an option, too.

Besides—

"The Commissioner's here!"

"Move, now!"

"He's doing interviews with the hunters!"

Even watching the reporters move with such military precision, Ji-hoon's conclusion was the same: for now, staying quiet was the smart play.

"Let's just stay quiet for now. You're all officially under my care anyway, so you should be fine as long as it stays that way."

Tagging along on camp missions would be difficult, but looking after them? That much they could manage.

Ji-hoon was still mulling this over when—

"He's here!"

One of the reporters shouted, and every camera in the vicinity swung up. A baptism of flashing light began.

Click— click—

Fwoom— fwoom—

Through the entrance gates of the Bureau's Hunter Training Academy walked a man in a jet-black suit.

"...Rather blinding."

The man muttered, shielding his eyes. One by one, every hunter inside the academy turned to look at him.

"No welcome? Has the announcement not gone out yet?"

"Our apologies, Director. The notice must not have—"

"Tsk. And this is why you're all still floundering—sloppy work."

The aide trailing behind him bowed his head.

"No idea."

"Still, don't you want to see Ruby?"

"Yes, yes."

In any case, everyone seemed to agree on one thing: that man reeked of bad luck.

"Of all people, it had to be him..."

"You know him?"

Jin Seo-yoon nodded. "Work with him once and you'll know."

"Ah, Seo-yoon, there you are."

The man approached her with an oily, unctuous tone.

"Friendly, are you?"

"Friendly enough. Haah..."

"Seo-yoon, I've been following your activities. You have quite the fanbase, you know. Plenty of people around me admire you."

"Yes, thaaank you."

Jin Seo-yoon responded with a distracted half-attention that practically radiated disgust. The man, entirely unbothered, kept the small talk rolling.

"So about the upcoming event—"

"Well, I'll be going now."

Seizing the opening, Ji-hoon tried to slip away from the annoying encounter. Poppi, Choco, and Ddubu were just beginning to shuffle their little bodies after him when—

"Could that be... the F-rank hunter from the incident?"

"..."

Let's pretend we didn't hear that.

Sneak. Sneak.

"It is, isn't it? F-rank hunter Lee Ji-hoon."

Ah, please, just leave me alone.

"It's definitely him. The beast handler with the little birdie, the teddy bear, and the snake. The ill-fated hunter exploited by S-rank Baek Kang-hyun."

"...When exactly did 'ill-fated' get attached to my name?"

Ji-hoon let out a small sigh.

"Rest assured. Unlike the unreasonable Baek Kang-hyun, I will evaluate you fairly. And those animals—you needn't take care of them yourself, either."

What do you mean, I don't need to take care of them?

Ji-hoon shot him a questioning look.

"I mean you should hand them over to our Bureau. You have a rather important opportunity ahead of you with this camp, after all, hunter."

Then, turning toward Jin Seo-yoon, he added, "You were with her because you want to join Orpheus, no?"

"This guy? In Orpheus?"

Ridiculous.

At Jin Seo-yoon's words, the man smiled broadly.

"Ah, forgive the late introduction. I'll do a proper one for everyone shortly, but my name is Oh Jin-woo. I'm the director stepping in for Baek Kang-hyun."

"Yes, the ill-fated hunter here."

Ji-hoon pushed out his lips in an exaggerated pout.

"My apologies. There simply wasn't another way to describe it."

"No help for it. You are F-rank, after all. F-ranks might as well be the village drum—everyone gets a free smack."

Ji-hoon bowed his head deep and low. Perhaps the sight tugged at something, because Oh Jin-woo patted him on the shoulder.

"You've been through a lot. But now the Bureau will take responsibility! We'll protect you, Hunter Lee Ji-hoon, and help arrange meetings with good guilds."

"...Really?"

"Of course! Orpheus included—I'll set up talks with every major and mid-tier guild in the country."

Click— click—

The camera flashes went off in unison. A smile spread across Oh Jin-woo's lips as he held Ji-hoon's hand and shoulder.

"Just trust in me, Oh Jin-woo!"

Shortly afterward, Oh Jin-woo took the parade-ground stage and introduced himself, then ordered everyone to stand by until lunch, as the official camp would begin soon enough.

"Ugh, exhausting."

Back in Team C's quarters, Ji-hoon slumped into a chair and stretched.

"Seriously, what is going on? What did the Branch Chief even do wrong?"

"That's politics for you—turn nothing into something. This would be tough even for an S-rank, no, an SS-rank."

Kim Ji-eun, fuming, gulped down her spirit water while Kim Jin-woo sat beside her scrolling through the news on his phone.

"By ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the way, Jin-woo, that Oh Jin-woo who just introduced himself—is he a decent sort?"

At Lee Min-jae's question, Kim Jin-woo tilted his head.

"Opinions seem split within the Bureau itself. I don't know the details, but..."

He held up his phone to show them the screen: the workplace community app Shadow.

"Whatever happens, we just go boom! and sort it right out, don't we? Team C is the strongest there is!"

All the missions so far had filled Kang Ki-tae to the brim with confidence—especially the recent incident where they'd captured Bae Yu-na. Thanks to that, nicknames like "Strongest C-Rank Ki-tae" were apparently flying around the internet with abandon.

"Still... there are more and more people who seem to find us uncomfortable."

Kim Ji-eun's gaze drifted toward Ji-hoon.

"They're saying ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠we only ranked first thanks to Baek Kang-hyun, and that we should just wait and see..."

"Can't blame them."

He'd expected that reaction. He'd heard the same grumbling from the hunters doing their interviews, too.

"So, everyone, listen up. I have a proposal to make..."

Ji-hoon lowered his voice, uncharacteristically grave. The whole of Team C—team leader Kim Jin-woo included—leaned in.

"...Go ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠ahead."

"If I start acting weird, just leave me alone."

"Huh?"

"Weird how?"

Every head tilted in confusion.

"You'll see soon enough."

After lunch, the returnee hunters gathered once more at the academy's parade ground.

"This mission is Artifact Stealing."

Artifact Stealing. According to the Bureau's official line, it was a contest of possession designed to reveal how each hunter deployed their skills and to assess their capabilities in combat against other people.

"Now we'll assign starting zones by team—"

And so each team settled on where in the Simulation Gate they would begin, when to make their entry, and so on.

"That concludes the deployment assignments. Any questions?"

Oh Jin-woo closed his tablet cover.

Flash—

"Yes, the strapping young man right there."

"Kang Ki-tae of Team C! Team C was never called up—what's the meaning of this?"

"Ah, Team C will not be participating in this mission."

"...Come again?"

Kang Ki-tae's brow furrowed tight.

"Team C may rest for this mission."

"Rest... us?"

"Yes. You may rest. You mustn't overexert yourselves. The hospital told you not to be discharged, didn't they? Yet you checked yourselves out pre-cisely because of a mission?"

It was true—every member of Team C except Ji-hoon was wrapped in bandages.

Except Ji-hoon, that is.

"I'm perfectly fine. Do I get to rest too?"

"Yes. Especially you, Hunter Lee Ji-hoon. You absolutely must rest."

Oh Jin-woo spread his arms wide, as if this were a special consideration made just for him.

"Brave Team C! And you, the ill-fated hunter, exploited and abused! We'll count this mission as a pass, so rest up to your heart's content."

"..."

Every member of Team C fell silent. Then the reaction erupted from somewhere behind them.

"That's our Director Oh Jin-woo! He really knows how to look after his hunters!"

"Nothing like Baek Kang-hyun! How would an S-rank ever understand the hearts of lower-ranked hunters?"

They were reporters—

and Bureau staff, wearing their official access badges around their necks.

"...So we're just supposed to twiddle our thumbs?"

"It's not that. We simply mean for you to take a rest."

"But we want to participate. No guild has even approached us yet."

"Don't worry. Your exploits are already plastered all over the internet."

"S-still, we—!"

That was when Ji-hoon stepped out in front of his teammates.

"Is that truly what you're saying? That we should rest?"

"But of course! Especially you, Hunter Lee Ji-hoon! You've suffered so terribly—you should recuperate in the infirmary and—"

"Is this how you want it to play out, then?"

You think we'll just sit back while you people do who-knows-what?

Ji-hoon curled one corner of his mouth upward and spoke to Oh Jin-woo.

Quiet as a whisper.

But impossible to ignore.

"Then I have my own thoughts on the matter."

"Hahaha, please, rest easy. With no other thoughts in your head at all. Now then, shall everyone head to the mission? Someone guide these people, please."

And so Team C was scattered to the four winds, and a little while later—

"...What do we do?"

"...Not sure."

"Should we at least get some footage...?"

"Of that? Are you sure?"

"Hmm..."

Reporters holding cameras, utterly at a loss. Bystanders blinking at a sign in disbelief.

"What the— what's going on here?"

"Whoa... holy crap... seriously...?"

"This is too much..."

And then—

"Oh Jin-woo of the Management Bureau, who slights F-ranks! Apologize! Apologize!"

"Director Oh Jin-woo, who stole our chance to appeal to guilds! Resign! Resign!"

"Being snubbed once was unfair enough—and now we're outcasts twice over? Outrageous! Outrageous!"

Weeee—ooh!

KABOOM!

Shhh-shhh-sseuseo!

At the entrance of the Bureau, wrapped head to toe in bandages and flanked by the little bird, the teddy bear, and the snake—

the cameras of reporters and citizens alike were capturing every moment of Ji-hoon, protesting at the top of his lungs, brimming with righteous indignation.