Chapter 62
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 62
Chapter Title: Camouflage Buttons
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"It's been a while since I flexed a bit of power."
Right behind Park Joo-hyung came the core members of the Lights, Kim Heung-min and Jang Ji-an.
As they exchanged greetings, Han Seung-woo, his brother, and Choi Si-jin also stepped into the small conference room one after another.
Yang Jeong-hyun asked Han Seung-woo,
"How'd the meeting go?"
"It switched to video conference. Chairman Han had to head to New York urgently."
"What's in New York?"
"Guess the U.S. Vice President called him in a hurry. But why'd you gather everyone like this?"
"Truth be told, I just rounded y'all up quick to show off an S-rank, ya know."
"S-rank means the Conqueror, right?"
"Heh, gotta have eyes that sharp to make vice chairman someday."
"I'll take that as a compliment."
Park Joo-hyung, who'd been listening to Kim Tae-woong and Han Seung-woo's exchange, pulled small buttons from his shopping bag and passed them around.
Han Seung-woo examined his button from every angle before asking Park Joo-hyung,
"What are these?"
"Everyone knows a Hider's specialty is camouflage, right? And that camouflage isn't just about hiding."
Park Joo-hyung grinned, pinned a button to his own shirt, and infused it with mana in an instant.
Suddenly, everyone felt Park Joo-hyung's mana emanating from the buttons in their hands.
"Like this... it can overclock your abilities to make you look ridiculously strong."
Everyone hurriedly opened their status windows to check their personal stats.
Sure enough, their numbers had jumped by a full rank or so.
"Now, even if you run into a higher-grade monster in an advanced gate, you can shrug off that stat gap intimidation easy."
"Hiders are just... way too cool..."
"Your real stats haven't gone up, so the rank gap'll still feel real in actual combat. But you won't lose the initiative—think of it that way."
"This'll be incredibly useful. Thank you so much."
Han Seung-woo thanked Park Joo-hyung and offered a handshake.
Lee Ru-ri watched the two shake hands, then a sudden curiosity struck her, and she asked Park Joo-hyung,
"Um, what about duration or anything...? And if it only works with your mana, does that mean you'd have to join the raid yourself?"
"Oh, no, it's all set. I've already enchanted them for one-time use—just touch it to activate."
"Wow, that's amazing..."
"No big deal. I'll go hand these out to the other guild members now."
"I'll come with you, Mr. Park. Heung-min, Ji-an, mind helping out?"
"Sure thing."
Choi Si-jin, Park Joo-hyung, Kim Heung-min, and Jang Ji-an hurried back to the office.
As the others discussed the buttons' uses, Jin Mi-seon pondered where to attach hers.
Baek Eun-an noticed her dilemma, chuckled, and pinned it on a suitable spot for her.
The two shared a silent smile.
Kim Tae-woong suddenly butted in and called out to Jin Mi-seon.
"Hey, Jin."
"Yeah?"
"Heh, still got that prickly side. Anyway, where'd ya drop the kids off? Runnin' around solo like this?"
"Sent a few to help at the office—they wanted to. The A-ranks are probably clearing gates."
"Already?"
Kim Tae-woong widened his eyes as he asked, and Han Seung-woo answered instead.
"I asked them to. Our core members and association hunters are tied up with other duties, so pushing gate clears is tough right now."
"Fair enough. Me and Dae-hee are swamped too."
"It'll wrap up soon. Please hang in there just a bit longer, everyone."
Han Eun-woo, who'd been chatting with Lee Ru-ri and the others, tapped his brother's shoulder.
"Hyung, since we're all here, why not do the video meeting from right here? Keep it out of sight from the others."
Lee Sang-chun, who'd been listening eagerly, chimed in with anticipation.
"Oh, that sounds fun."
"Shall we?"
Han Seung-woo checked the time, then took a seat in one corner of the conference room and joined the video call.
Soon enough, people began trickling into the video conference one by one.
Lee Ru-ri's group shifted to a spot out of Han Seung-woo's camera view and watched the arrivals on the large connected monitor.
Once all thirty participants had joined, Han Ho spoke first.
"Sorry for the sudden switch to video—had to rush to New York HQ. Might as well invite the reps from each country while we're at it. Long time no see, everyone."
Replies poured in after Han Ho's greeting.
"Your countries' rep hunters are all in Korea right now, I'm sure. Top of mind is the Inex Gate raid. Seung-woo, give the briefing. Oh, you all heard—Seung-woo's our new vice chairman at Yongsan HQ."
"Han Seung-woo here. Looking forward to working with you."
Han Seung-woo greeted them, then shared his screen with the Inex Gate schedule.
"As you see, a week from now, Korea's tackling the third Inex Gate raid. Monster grades are inconsistent, so we're maxing out personnel. We'll include all visiting reps too—this'll be the first international united raid."
The New York HQ director followed Han Seung-woo's explanation with a grave look.
"Causes of the two prior failures identified?"
"Known top-grade monsters were S-rank. But the ones in Korea's two raids were beyond that—SS-rank, warranting a new grade. That's why we're maxing personnel."
"SS-rank... Other countries have far fewer S-rankers than Korea. Tough for anyone else to tackle Inex Gates."
Han Ho smiled kindly and replied for Han Seung-woo.
"No need to worry too much. We'll pool our strength and sort it out step by step. Oh, Seung-woo—how's the position name reorg going?"
Han Seung-woo switched screens at his father's cue.
It was the position name metrics proposed by Kim Tae-woong and Ham Dae-hee.
"Yongsan HQ gathered Korea's top ten guild masters and key members to compile this."
Everyone stared at the metrics, lost in thought for quite a while.
Han Ho finally broke the long silence.
"H-rank seems like a special position. Feels simpler than before, but won't oversimplifying risk dropping suitability rates?"
"Classified by mana operation method, so it fits your initial weapon-type breakdown best, in our view."
"Hmm."
With Han Eun-woo's return to Korea, the new Tokyo HQ director followed in halting Korean.
"Looks good to me. Old classifications felt outdated anyway."
Other directors echoed Tokyo's support, tilting the mood toward approval.
"Directors approve, then. We'll confirm with the rep hunters here in Korea. Seung-woo, wrap it up. I'll relay post-VP meeting notes via minutes. That's it for today."
Han Ho left first, followed by the reps one by one.
Han Seung-woo was the very last to exit.
Lee Ru-ri's group, who'd been holding their breath beside him, finally let out deep sighs.
"Thought I'd suffocate. You do this heart-pounding stuff every day, Seung-woo?"
"You get used to it."
Han Seung-woo smiled at Lee Ru-ri.
He then turned to the core members in the room.
"Position names are gaining traction—they'll pass. Atmosphere was good. No more worries for you two. As you heard, Inex Gate raid's in a week. Extra focus, everyone. Reps from every country, world's watching us."
"Yes, sir!"
They discussed detailed schedules for a short while longer, then headed to their rooms.
"Where's your room, Seung-woo?"
"Next to yours, Ru-ri."
"Next door?"
"Yeah, 2201."
"Oh..."
"Not getting excited about sneaking off for gates, are you?"
"Of course not."
"You could go wild, actually."
"Really?"
"Just report exactly when, where, and how long."
"Ha, haha..."
"Week till Inex Gate—you can't slack on training either, Ru-ri."
As he spoke to Lee Ru-ri, Han Seung-woo sent her a file via message.
She opened it and checked the contents.
"Gate coordinates from other guilds requesting backup."
"Tough clears?"
"Yeah. Our scan of entry patterns showed no issues, but raids keep failing."
"And you're telling me because...?"
"Assigning you as reporter. Handle B-rank and below."
"Whoa, really?"
"Baek Eun-an, you too. Solo entry, but team up for moving to next gates—promise that, and it's yours."
"Got it, I'll do it."
"I'll assign a team and prep for tomorrow morning departure."
Han Seung-woo escorted Lee Ru-ri to her room, then headed straight to the third-floor office.
Lee Ru-ri watched him board the elevator for a moment, then returned to her room to pack gate raid essentials.
Hmm, low-grades are fine, but if mid-grades keep failing, I should prep too, right?
She started stuffing her merchant bag with this and that after ages.
Knock knock.
"Come in, it's open."
"Ru-ri."
"Auntie? Oh, Boss Lady too? Come on in."
"Ran into Boss Jin outside your door. She said you're raiding a gate tomorrow, so I figured I'd see if you need packing help."
"Was just sorting stuff. Sit down first."
Jin Mi-seon walked over to Lee Ru-ri's bag and asked,
"Should I have Young-man grab something?"
"Oh, what's Young-man up to these days?"
"Mindin' the store. Doubled his pay, handed him the keys. Oh, right—tell him to sweep up all the regen potions in stock."
"No need! Teaming up, so won't need that much. Thanks, though."
Baek Eun-an tidied the room while they talked, then glanced at the bag in front of Jin Mi-seon and Lee Ru-ri—and jumped in surprise.
"You carry something this huge?"
"Looks big, but weighs nothing."
Lee Ru-ri hoisted the bag effortlessly to reassure Baek Eun-an.
Concerned, Baek Eun-an reached to take it—and it slipped right through her hands.
"Whoa, it's super heavy! How do you lift it like that? You've outdone your old man here."
"Did Dad use a big bag like this too?"