093. Hunter Management Bureau (2)
093. Hunter Management Bureau (2)
"How much do you know about the Hunter Management Bureau?"
Baek Seol-hee took the lead, striding ahead as she asked me.
"As much as anyone else knows."
Well, I actually knew far more about it than that, but this was the answer to go with for now.
"Is that so. Then this discussion will go quickly."
The 《Velvet Hunter Academy》 and the 《Hunter Management Bureau》
It wouldn't be an exaggeration to call these two institutions the twin pillars supporting South Korea in the Gate Era.
The organizations that grabbed a collapsing Korea by the scruff of the neck as it teetered on the brink of destruction from monster invasions, dragged it forward, and won back everyday life.
If Velvet Hunter Academy is the institution singularly focused on cultivating the martial strength of awakened individuals,
the Hunter Management Bureau was the institution in charge of the overall regulatory framework for awakened individuals—Demonized Humans, guilds, laws, public opinion, and all the rest.
'But even that's ancient history now...'
Given enough time, anything stagnant is bound to rot, and the Academy and the Hunter Management Bureau were no exception.
Of course, in the Academy's case, Chairwoman Rina's authority was so overwhelming that the level of corruption wasn't too severe,
but the Hunter Management Bureau's web of tangled interests had greatly reduced its former stature.
It was a place where, on one hand, you had jackal-like bastards—washed-up old-timers with no real work who still had influence and were constantly eyeing Velvet Academy for an opening—and on the other, some not-so-bad folks mixed in as well.
'And there are even a few Demonized Humans mixed in among the Hunter Management Bureau's executives.'
It was truly ironic to have Demonized Humans embedded in the very institution meant to root them out, but well...
'They'll stay quiet for a while yet.'
Baek Seol-hee had kindly explained all of this, stuff I already knew.
"But that's no reason to be tense. The Director we're going to meet and a former classmate of mine there are both reasonable enough to talk to."
The Hunter Management Bureau stood on the spot where Seoul City Hall had been located in the original world.
It was in Jung-gu, Seoul.
"We'll cover the rest of the details once we're inside."
Baek Seol-hee stopped in front of a building that looked like a rippling work of art and spoke to me.
*
"Baek Seol-hee, Cadet Jin Yu-ha—identities confirmed. Here are your visitor passes."
The man handling security at the front handed us lanyard-type passes meant to be worn around the neck.
We hung the passes around our necks and headed straight for the Director's office.
Knock, knock, knock─
"Come in."
Creeeak─
When we opened the door, a blue-haired woman sat behind a desk piled high with documents, her hands clasped on the desktop.
'So this is the current Director of the Management Bureau.'
A woman with long, straight blue hair who radiated the vibe of a cold beauty.
This was the first time I'd ever seen her face.
Former Management Bureau Director Kim Ji-won.
As you could tell from the "former" label, she was a character whose name only ever appeared in the game without her face ever being shown. A person who got demoted not long after the tutorial ended.
Must be about that time soon.
'Hm, but in the game she was described as incompetent and trash... I didn't have any particular expectations, but the Instructor did definitely say she was someone she could talk to, right...?'
"Baek Seol-hee."
"Yeah."
Kim Ji-won called out to the Instructor in a stiff voice. Baek Seol-hee answered her with a short nod.
"Thank you for coming in person. Make yourself comfortable, then head out when you're done."
"Understood."
Then her gaze turned toward me.
"And you, you are that Jin Yu-ha...?"
"Ah, yes. It's an honor to meet you."
I'd been staring blankly at her and hurriedly offered a greeting.
"......Cadet Jin Yu-ha, I'm sorry about what happened last time."
"Pardon?"
Kim Ji-won suddenly bowed her head deeply and offered me an apology.
"I committed the outrageous act of mistaking an ordinary cadet for a Demonized Human. And thank you for taking the lead in subjugating the Demonized Human. What you did was no small feat. You kept Velvet Academy from being thrown into turmoil. Take pride in that."
Her expression was cold, but a faint glimmer of apology and gratitude flickered in her eyes.
"However, since the compensation for that matter has been delivered to the Magic Emperor, I won't be providing any separately."
She expressed regret and thanks honestly, but at the same time, she drew a clear line by tallying up the balance.
"Sigh... This place is full of nothing but headstrong types. There's no one here who'll listen properly."
She leaned back in her chair and let out a lament.
'This person is that trash figure they talked about...? She seems like quite the upright person?'
I was a bit taken aback at the sight of her, which didn't match my knowledge from the game.
That was when it happened.
"Whoa! You really came! Seol-hee! You actually listened to my request!?"
A bubbly voice cut in from behind us.
"......Yeah. Guys like her."
Kim Ji-won looked toward the door with visibly irritated eyes.
When I turned my head to follow her gaze,
there was a girl with light brown hair and one red eye and one blue eye, an odd-eye, shyly poking her head out.
'Wait, the person who said she'd come meet us today—was it her...?'
* * *
"Wow! The real thing! You actually brought him!"
Ji So-yeon, the head of the Talent Management Team, practically pounced on the boy Baek Seol-hee had brought with her.
Truthfully, Ji So-yeon had asked Baek Seol-hee, but she hadn't held out much hope.
'I was already surprised she didn't ignore my request at all, but she brought him right that very day? The same day?'
Her odd-colored eyes sparkling, Ji So-yeon openly studied the boy's face.
"Whoa... You're actually a looker, huh? It wasn't just the photos!"
Glossy black hair, a tall frame, and broad, solid shoulders.
His pitch-black eyes were like deep ink.
His appearance was on an entirely different level from what she'd seen in pictures.
Honestly, he could make a living on his face alone.
And that thought soon slipped right out of her mouth.
"With a face like this, you could probably get by without being a hunter at all..."
"He's my disciple."
Right then, Baek Seol-hee's voice came from beside her.
Unable to process the words, Ji So-yeon's body froze for a moment.
She quickly thought, "Eh, I must've misheard," and cleaned out her ear.
Then, putting a gentle smile back on her face, she said,
"Yeah, what did you just say? I didn't catch it properly!"
"I said he's my disciple."
"......D-Disciple?"
She hadn't misheard it!
She couldn't help the aghast expression that spread across her face.
Kim Ji-won, who had been seated in her chair as Director of the Hunter Management Bureau, also went rigid.
"......You?"
She'd called him over purely to satisfy her curiosity about his looks, and suddenly she was hearing something absolutely crazy.
"Mm, my direct disciple."
"And a direct disciple at that...!?"
Usually a picture of impassivity, Baek Seol-hee now wore an expression that was somehow smug, looking downright proud.
Like a foolish master bragging about her student to a friend.
'Wait, is she seriously... showing off to me right now?'
Seeing this side of her old classmate for the very first time, Ji So-yeon's jaw dropped in disbelief.
The Slaughter-Crazed Woman, who knew nothing outside her own sword and exterminated Demonized Humans like a machine.
She had been so certain that even as a member of Velvet Academy, Baek Seol-hee would never take on a disciple.
Her colleague Baek Seol-hee, when you got down to it, was a good person, but to be honest she was a little...
No, a lot... on the socially inept side.
"......Then, you Slaughter Mad Dog...?"
The moment those words slipped out unintentionally, the air in the room flash-froze.
She clapped a hand over her mouth too late. It was already too late.
Baek Seol-hee glared at her as if she wanted her dead.
'I-I'm dead...'
In a desperate bid to survive, she hurriedly changed the subject.
"S-Slip of the tongue! Y-Yeah! R-Right! Seol-hee! The fact that you brought him to me means you're asking for that, right?"
"Y-Yeah! Instructor Baek Seol-hee. If you've brought a disciple, then isn't measuring the scale of his potential the important thing!?"
At that, Kim Ji-won hurriedly jumped in from the side to help smooth things over.
Then Baek Seol-hee, who just a moment ago had looked ready to lunge, shut her mouth.
"......Do it quickly."
'She's holding back...?'
Even going so far as to gesture that she'd go along with the suggestion and let it pass.
This was beyond disbelief now, settling into sheer, stunned emptiness!
At this point, a maddening curiosity about the boy Baek Seol-hee had brought surged within her.
Just what kind of person was he to have turned Baek Seol-hee into this?
'It seems like she was serious about him being stronger than Shin Se-hee or Kang Do-hee after all, huh? His potential might even surpass the two of them....'
Ji So-yeon swallowed hard.
She possessed eyes capable of seeing the innate limits of an awakened being.
What she called a "Star."
The ability to get a rough read on a person's potential.
Based on that, she could give advice about their future direction for growth.
She'd earned the title of Talent Management Team Head on the strength of that single ability, so her credibility was considerably high.
The very reason Baek Seol-hee had brought Jin Yu-ha was to confirm that potential.
'I distinctly remember that when I looked before, Kang Do-hee was 5-Star and Shin Se-hee was 4-Star... Big numbers, those two. I wonder what this kid will be.'
Ji So-yeon closed her eyes quietly and gathered her Mana.
When she opened them again, the boy's image was reflected in her one blue and one red odd-eye.
"Uh, uh...?"
Ji So-yeon couldn't stop the flustered sound that escaped her.
"......This is impossible."
She'd been trying to see his final limits—how far he could grow....
"N-No, this can't be right...?"
"Excuse me?"
"......W-Who the hell are you!?"
What she had come face to face with was.
Terror.