Most Solutions Come Down to Money
In the end, Jeong-Hoon surrendered to the combined persuasion of Butler Ju and Woo Do-Il. Even as he headed for the hospital room, he made no effort to hide his reluctance.
"Using a terminally ill patient just for a task... this feels wrong somehow. It's weighing on my conscience."
"Think of it positively, sir. The patient we are going to meet has no family and no guild to look after her—she is completely alone. Consoling someone like that is a good deed, no matter the motive."
It was a task that would pass as long as he completed it without failing. But because it was a task that played with a person's life, the impure motive left a heavy weight on his heart.
"To be completely honest, this is hypocrisy."
"Hypocrisy is still a form of goodness."
Butler Ju's clean, decisive answer drew a sigh from Jeong-Hoon as he looked at the hospital room they had just reached.
A private room. Far too luxurious for an ordinary patient to afford, yet Myeongil Hospital sometimes provided them to hunters who had worked hard for the world.
The patient who had become the target of Jeong-Hoon's task was one of those people.
Lee So-Hyeon.
Currently twenty-five years old. Still young, with her whole life ahead of her—yet she was waiting only for death after contracting the incurable illness that only hunters could get.
Jeong-Hoon knocked and entered the room of that woman, finding Lee So-Hyeon sitting on the hospital bed and gazing out the window.
Her expression was vacant, but the air around her made it clear she was a veteran who had clawed her way through more than her share of hell. She wore her hair in a short cut that reached her shoulders, and her eyes were sharp.
On top of that, her face looked far too healthy for someone with only a week left to live.
It was hard to believe she was that close to the end, yet the fact remained: one week was all she had.
That was the nature of the so-called Hunter's Disease that only Awakened could contract.
Cause unknown. Cure unknown. An incurable illness that occasionally struck those who overused their supernatural abilities as Awakened. The fact that a D-class hunter like her had fallen to it was proof of just how hard she had pushed herself.
"Who are you?"
"I am Joo Yeong-Cheol, a director of Lumen. And this is the person I serve—"
"...Hello. I'm Lee Jeong-Hoon, chairman of Lumen."
"Ah! That young businessman? What business do you have with me?"
When she asked what he wanted, Jeong-Hoon found himself suddenly at a loss for words.
If he had been an ordinary person it might have been different, but the head of a major corporation like Lumen showing up in person felt like it was giving her false hope that a treatment might exist.
And indeed her expression had brightened with exactly that expectation.
"I came to volunteer for a hunter who worked for the good of the world."
"Hmm. For a young businessman who runs a conglomerate, you seem to have a lot of free time."
The brief flicker of hope went out, but she smiled instead.
"It's not free time. It's literally volunteering."
"For something like that, there's no camera. Famous people usually do their volunteering in front of one."
"It's not that kind of volunteering."
Trailing off, Jeong-Hoon steadied himself so he wouldn't get swept up in her bright, smiling attitude.
If he let himself get carried away, he would end up saying something like "Take care of yourself and beat this disease!" and leave. And that would be the same as failing the task.
"I'll be direct. Is there anything you've wanted to do? If it's possible, I'll make it happen."
Having steeled his resolve to do his absolute best, Jeong-Hoon's words came out simple and plain.
Just as money could make even a ghost dance, he had decided to pour an enormous amount of his fortune into caring for So-Hyeon until the very end.
"Something I've wanted to do... I'd like to grab the useless Hunter Association president by the collar once. Can you make that happen?"
"I can. Shall we do it?"
He had expected a simple luxury request, yet the very first one was hard-hitting.
And by the family's standards, that hard-hitting request was nothing special at all.
The Hunter Association. From the word "association" one would expect a group that represented hunters' interests, but in reality it was a government subsidiary.
Originally the family had founded it when they created Lumen—an organization that supported hunters in every material and moral way under the name of an association.
But the fact that Lumen—more precisely the Hunter Association—had been the only body that properly responded to the appearance of Awakened became a chain around its neck.
The government did not welcome a Hunter Association it could not control.
Yet managing hunters with no know-how and no system was impossible.
So the government negotiated with Lumen and folded the Hunter Association under its own authority.
It was a one-sided government power play, but the family could not afford open confrontation. Every vassal registered as an Awakened and even made cooperative gestures.
On the surface it looked as if the family had been checked by the government, lost the Association, and suffered a unilateral defeat. Yet the influence that came from having founded Lumen had never fully disappeared.
And that influence was what made it possible for a D-class hunter to grab the Association president by the collar—something Jeong-Hoon had privately wondered if it was even doable.
"You Association bastards can't even protect individual hunters' rights and just take the guilds' side! Does that make any sense!?"
"W-well, that is, the law is like that, so there's nothing we can—"
"That damn law! Do monsters follow the law when they come charging in!? This is exactly why we shouldn't have some civilian who's not even a hunter sitting as Association president, going on about civilian control and all that crap!"
Forced out of active duty by the incurable disease and kicked from her guild, Lee So-Hyeon poured all her rage onto the Association president while shaking him by the collar.
Even as a patient she was still a D-class hunter. Her physical abilities far surpassed those of an ordinary person, so one might worry about the civilian president's safety—but she seemed to be holding back her strength, so no one intervened.
Butler Ju, watching from behind, simply observed as well.
"By the way, if we introduce ourselves under our names while doing something like this, won't we end up with a target painted on our backs?"
"It does not matter if we do. Without our know-how, the Hunter Association cannot function. In fact the government still watches Lumen carefully for that very reason."
To someone who only half-understood the situation it looked like a one-sided family defeat, but the family had never simply handed the Association over.
They had prepared means to exercise influence over it whenever they wished.
One of those was the magic and martial arts they transmitted to hunters of suitable talent.
That was why, even while being grabbed by the collar, the president could not raise his voice and could only cast pleading glances at Jeong-Hoon and Butler Ju, begging them with his eyes to make her let go.
"Um, Hunter Lee So-Hyeon? I think that might be enough."
"No, it's not enough at all."
"I understand how you feel, but Myeongil doesn't have a hospital room for someone like him."
When he phrased the warning that any more and the man would end up hospitalized, she frowned and finally released her grip.
"Do better from now on! I'll be watching from the afterlife!"
She shouted with such power that it was hard to believe she was a terminally ill patient, then dusted off her hands. Yet she was still a patient through and through.
She could move so freely only because she was Awakened, her body transcending ordinary human limits—even though the disease would have left a normal person bedridden.
"How about we let go of the anger now? It would be a waste to spend the time you have left just on someone like him, wouldn't it?"
Jeong-Hoon spoke without the slightest hesitation, openly dismissing the Association president.
He had always been something of a hunter otaku, and his own parents had been F-class hunters.
So he knew all too well just how rotten the current Hunter Association was, and just how incompetent the president truly was.
A pure parachute appointee who had landed in the seat only because of connections to the current administration.
"Haa... You're right, Chairman, but it still pisses me off."
"Then is there something else you'd like to do now?"
Having finally managed to soothe So-Hyeon, Jeong-Hoon clicked his tongue at the thoroughly battered Association president.
He had had a few things of his own to say, but after watching So-Hyeon reduce the man to that state, all desire to speak had completely evaporated.
"They say Lumen's cuisine is so good it deserves more than three stars. I'd like to try it."
After her first request had been so intense, the second one was surprisingly simple. Jeong-Hoon nodded.
That much he could arrange without any trouble at all.
They did not stop at simply eating at Lumen. After letting Lee So-Hyeon enjoy every facility the place had to offer, Jeong-Hoon provided her with Lumen's finest guest suite.
And on the second day, her next request made Jeong-Hoon himself so nervous that he swallowed hard.
"Chairman, would you like a calming pill?"
"...Do I look that tense?"
"Extremely so, sir."
"Hmm. For a twenty-year-old young businessman, your nerves seem smaller than I expected."
"Haha, I'm still human, so it can't be helped. Why else do you think I put Director Ju forward as my proxy at official events?"
So-Hyeon, who had already switched to casual speech with him over the course of a single day, burst out laughing at the sight of him.
To her eyes he no longer looked like the ambitious young man who had declared on television that he would make the world remember his name.
He simply looked like an ordinary young man you could find anywhere.
On top of that, after spending the previous day with her, he had told her that since she was older she should speak comfortably, treating her like an older sister with a casual ease.
She had not known him long, yet he possessed so many different faces and such a strange charm that she could easily believe he had built a giant enterprise like Lumen.
And right now he was nothing more than an ordinary young man—one who was wound tight with anticipation at the thought of meeting his favorite idol.
"This is my wish, so why does it feel like it's the Chairman's wish instead?"
"Haha, if everyone's happy, that's good enough."
In truth it was his wish as well. The one sitting at the very top of his own bucket list.
That was why Jeong-Hoon took the calming pill Butler Ju offered, gave a weak smile, and opened the door to the sitting room where their invited guest waited.
The highest-grade suite So-Hyeon currently occupied was large enough to include its own sitting room.
These rooms were normally reserved for conglomerate chairmen or the most renowned hunters, yet Jeong-Hoon had granted her wish to stay at Lumen with extravagant generosity.
Considering that Jeong-Hoon himself, as Lumen's chairman, stayed in a royal suite rather than the absolute top-tier rooms, one could grasp just how lavish the treatment was.
"Forgive us for keeping you waiting. I am Joo Yeong-Cheol, a director of Lumen, and this is—"
"Lee Jeong-Hoon, chairman of Lumen. And..."
"I'm Lee So-Hyeon, a former D-class hunter who's currently under the Chairman's care. Nice to meet you."
As the three of them entered the sitting room, introduced themselves, and offered small smiles, the woman who looked like a girl and had been sitting and drinking tea sprang to her feet.
She was an adult, yet her youthful face still looked high-school age. Her hair was neatly tied back in a ponytail. Despite her pure appearance, she was so tense that she bowed nearly ninety degrees at the waist.
"Ah, hello! I'm Han Si-Eun of FC Guild! It's a pleasure to meet you!"
"There's no need to be so nervous. We invited you at our request."
FC—Friendship Castle—was a small, elite guild of limited membership.
Han Si-Eun was its public face and the youngest S-class hunter.
She was the female hunter Jeong-Hoon had once casually said he wanted to meet while watching television, only to nearly get her summoned through Butler Ju.
"I-it's an honor to be called!"
Si-Eun glanced at Chairman Jeong-Hoon while looking back and forth between Butler Ju and So-Hyeon.
It was obvious she had no idea why she had been summoned and had simply been unable to refuse a call from Lumen's chairman.
"It's nothing else. Hunter Lee So-Hyeon here is currently fighting Hunter's Disease, and she said she wanted to meet Hunter Han Si-Eun, so I used my authority to invite you rather forcefully. Thank you for making time despite your busy schedule."
Expressing gratitude rather than apology, Jeong-Hoon gently ushered So-Hyeon forward.
"Ah... Hunter's Disease..."
Knowing exactly what that illness meant, Han Si-Eun could not finish her sentence.
Tears simply welled thickly in the eyes that looked at So-Hyeon.
"I didn't ask to meet you because I wanted comfort, so you don't have to feel sad. I just said I wanted to meet you because I'm a fan of the youngest S-class, Han Si-Eun."
"...Thank you. I only did what I could, yet you're calling yourself my fan."
"It's because you do what you can properly that people become fans."
Regardless of age, So-Hyeon's face had become that of a pure fan meeting the person she truly admired. As she shook hands with all her strength, Jeong-Hoon quietly took a step back.
"I'd like an autograph and a photo if that's okay."
"Of course!"
When Si-Eun nodded at So-Hyeon's request, Butler Ju produced paper and a pen and handed them over.
Watching her pass over the signed paper and then naturally take a photo together, Jeong-Hoon felt a spark of envy.
It was a private fan meeting for just one person, yet a small desire rose up—Would it be okay if I asked for one in this gap too?
"Wow! It came out great. Director Ju, you take good pictures."
"When serving the Chairman, photography is an essential skill."
"Chairman Lee! Use this as my funeral portrait! It came out so well I could go right now with no regrets!"
Looking at the two-shot she had taken with Si-Eun, So-Hyeon spoke with shameless cheer. Jeong-Hoon shook his head from side to side.
"Who in the world uses a two-shot as their funeral portrait?"
"That's a dumb question with a smart answer!"
"Then let's do this."
Jeong-Hoon casually snatched the camera So-Hyeon was holding and held it out to Si-Eun.
"Hunter Han Si-Eun, would you take a photo of Noona So-Hyeon so she can use it as her funeral portrait?"
"Ohhh! That's awesome! Okay! I love it!"
So thoroughly pleased that she even gave a thumbs-up, So-Hyeon beamed, while Si-Eun, still a little dazed, took her picture.
"Um, Hunter Lee So-Hyeon... are you very critically ill?"
"Yeah, so about a week—no, six days left now."
When she stated her remaining lifespan so calmly, tears suddenly poured from Han Si-Eun's eyes.
Someone who would not even live another full week had said she wanted to meet her.
"Then what about Chairman Lee Jeong-Hoon?"
"Just the volunteer work of a nouveau riche who has nothing but money and power. I'm trying, in my small way, to grant the things she has always wanted to do."
Leaving out the part about the task, Jeong-Hoon spoke only the truth.
Granting So-Hyeon's wishes right now was not even part of the task. It was simply something he himself wanted to do.
If he only wanted to complete the task, simply keeping her company in the hospital for a week would have been more than enough.
Instead he was simply letting someone with less than a week left live as freely as she wished.
"You're doing something truly good. You said six days left, right? I'm not busy with anything, so if it's all right... could I keep being her conversation partner and hang out with you all?"
Han Si-Eun's declaration that she would stay with them for the remaining six days—not because of Lumen's summons but of her own will—made Jeong-Hoon look at So-Hyeon.
Honestly, it was something he had wanted to ask for himself, yet Si-Eun had offered first, so So-Hyeon nodded without the slightest hesitation.
And at that, Jeong-Hoon smiled in quiet satisfaction. As expected of Han Si-Eun, famous for being kind. I'm glad she's a fan.