A Cheap Offer
Snore.
Whew.
Snore.
Whew.
It was late morning, and I was dead to the world, enjoying a glorious, uninterrupted sleep.
Bzzzzzt!
My phone vibrated.
“…….”
I ignored it.
Bzzzzzt!
It kept ringing. I ignored it once, twice, three times...
BZZZZZZT!!!
“Ah, seriously?!”
I bolted upright, glaring at the phone vibrating violently on the nightstand.
“Who the hell is it at this hour...?”
Why was Go Juhee calling all of a sudden? I thought the Typhoon Guild was running perfectly fine on its own.
I rubbed my eyes sleepily and swiped to answer.
“Hello?”
—Hunter Lee!
Her voice sounded different than usual.
“What's going on?”
—You need to come to the guild office right away.
“Why so suddenly?”
—Right now, officials from the French Embassy are here...
Huh? What was she talking about? The French Embassy?
“France?”
—Yes. And people from the Hunter Bureau are here too...
Why was the Hunter Bureau involved? I got out of bed and started throwing on some clothes.
“By the Bureau, do you mean Kang...”
—Yes. Agent Kang Mina and the rest of the Talent Management Team.
Not just Kang Mina, but the entire Talent Management Team? I didn't know the details, but it seemed something major had gone down while I was fast asleep.
“Alright. I'll head over right now.”
—Thank you.
The line went dead.
As soon as I stepped out of the bedroom, Do Sangjin, wearing an apron, looked up in surprise.
“Oh, I was going to wake you once breakfast was ready...”
I usually slept in, so he seemed taken aback to see me up so early.
“I don't think I'll be able to eat breakfast today.”
“Did something happen?” Do Sangjin asked, setting down his ladle.
“Yes. I need to head to the guild office.”
“Ah, then I will get ready immediately.”
Do Sangjin untied his apron and grabbed the car keys.
“Thanks, Sangjin. But...”
“Yes?”
“You should turn off the stove first.”
“...Ah!”
With an embarrassed look, Do Sangjin quickly turned off the burner. Safety first, always!
“Whew...”
Going to work without even getting breakfast.
Is this what it feels like to be a salaryman?
I sighed and grabbed my jacket.
Inside the Typhoon Guild's conference room.
In the freezing atmosphere, two middle-aged men who appeared to be French Embassy officials and the Hunter Bureau agents, including Kang Mina, were glaring at each other.
“What on earth were you thinking...”
Kang Mina ground her teeth, clearly furious.
“We merely came to request a meeting with Hunter Lee Taepyeong.”
“A meeting? You call bypassing the Hunter Bureau and barging straight into his guild a 'meeting'?”
“Hunter Lee Taepyeong is not subordinate to any specific government agency, is he? Just like Hunter Choi Muryeong.”
“If he were, you wouldn't have dared to try and snatch him away in the first place, would you?”
Kang Mina's sharp glare pierced the two Frenchmen.
This didn't feel diplomatic at all... It felt downright combative.
“In the first place, why is the Talent Management Team...”
“Hunter Lee Taepyeong is classified as a core national asset. It is only natural for the Bureau to provide special protection.”
“Ha. As far as we know, Hunter Lee Taepyeong is already running his own Typhoon Guild. Isn't this level of protection a bit excessive?”
“I am the one who decides whether it is excessive or not.”
At Kang Mina's ice-cold tone, the French Embassy officials exchanged glances and backed down slightly.
One of them forced a smile.
“...It seems there has been a misunderstanding.”
“A misunderstanding?”
“We are simply here to propose a partnership. France is currently facing a severe crisis...”
“Haha. Is there any country that isn't in crisis right now?”
“…….”
“Belgium, Greece, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary...”
“…….”
“There are plenty of European nations on the brink of a Demonic Outbreak. They are all desperate, yet none of them have approached a Korean Hunter in this manner.”
Kang Mina replied with a chilling smile.
I could immediately see why Go Juhee, who rarely lost her composure, had called me in such a hurry.
“If it were truly that urgent, you should have requested a meeting through the Bureau instead of coming here like this and putting Hunter Lee Taepyeong in a difficult position.”
“…….”
“The French government has a history of naturalizing a Japanese Hunter using these exact methods...”
“That is a completely different matter!”
“And what happened to that Japanese Hunter again? Ah, right. They went missing in the tower, didn't they?”
“Agent Kang Mina!”
“Why are you getting so worked up? If you have no such intentions, there's no reason to be angry.”
“……!!!”
If I watched any longer, Kang Mina looked ready to tear the French officials to shreds.
Knock, knock.
I knocked on the door at the right moment and stepped into the conference room.
“Am I a bit late?”
“P-Pleased to me—!”
Before the two Frenchmen could even stand up, Kang Mina brushed past them and grabbed my hand.
The rabid chihuahua had vanished, replaced by a beaming Kang Mina.
“Hunter Lee! Late? Not at all. It's not like you had an appointment with them anyway.”
Well, she wasn't wrong. They were the ones who had barged in unannounced.
I let out a long yawn and glanced back and forth between the French officials and the Bureau agents.
“...Well, I think I get the gist of what's going on.”
France had tried to contact me on the sly, and the Bureau had caught wind of it and was barking like mad.
Thud.
Man, I was tired. I slumped into a chair.
“Hunter-nim.”
Do Sangjin handed me a carton of banana milk, complete with a straw already poked in.
“Oh!”
“Since you haven't had breakfast yet.”
“Thanks.”
Slurp.
It was cold, sweet, and perfect. Just what I needed since my blood sugar was crashing.
While I sipped my banana milk, the Frenchmen watched me with tense expressions.
“Hmm...”
“...So, you want to take me to France?” I finally spoke.
“T-That is correct!” the younger of the two quickly nodded. “To be precise, we are requesting your assistance in clearing our tower floors.”
Currently, France had only cleared up to the 50th floor.
Clearing floors above the 50th floor increased the base percentage of Contribution Points a nation received per clear.
It would jump from 5 percent to 10 percent—a whopping twofold increase.
Since Contribution Points were required to maintain barriers against Demonic Outbreaks, the 50th floor was literally a dream milestone for every nation.
However, there was a strict condition.
They had to clear floors above the 50th floor at least ten times a year. In other words, roughly once a month.
If they failed to clear within the time limit, a penalty would be imposed, which actually increased the risk of a Demonic Outbreak.
Of course, once a nation successfully cleared the 50th floor, they could just repeatedly clear it over and over. Most countries that reached the 50th floor defended against Demonic Outbreaks this way.
South Korea had also relied on this method for a while when they first reached the 50th floor.
The United Kingdom, Germany, Spain, Italy, and France. These five nations had successfully cleared the 50th floor. Since then, they had been using the standard method of repeatedly clearing it...
But France was a different story.
Although they had cleared the 50th floor, the core member of the raid party and France's No. 1 Hunter, Pierre, had died during the raid.
It was no exaggeration to say that their success on the 50th floor was built entirely on Pierre's sacrifice. Thanks to the Contribution Points they gained and the subsequent percentage increase, France had managed to hold out for a while.
However, after Pierre's death, they had no Hunters left who could clear the 50th floor. While they claimed to be searching for candidates capable of doing so... it was far from easy.
They had managed to scrape by by requesting Hunter deployments from other European nations, but they could no longer afford the astronomical costs. That was why they had come all the way here.
“…….”
I stared at the French Embassy officials in silence.
Gulp.
The two men swallowed hard, their faces tight with tension.
“So, to get straight to the point.”
“…….”
“You came to me because you figured you could hire me on the cheap, right?”
I smiled, locking eyes with them.
“I'm not on the world rankings yet, and I don't have the kind of track record European Hunters do.”
“N-No, that's not what we meant...”
“Because that's exactly what it sounds like to me.”
The Frenchmen's faces turned pale.
“No, Hunter Lee Taepyeong. We...”
“How much were you planning to offer?”
The two men exchanged glances. The younger one scribbled something on a piece of paper and slid it over, showing it only to me.
“Representative Go.”
I whispered the amount to Go Juhee.
“They're insulting me, right?”
Go Juhee smiled and nodded.
“Yes, Guild Leader. They are looking down on you quite heavily.”
“I'm allowed to be offended, right?”
“Of course. Shall I show them out?”
“Let's do th—”
Before I could finish, the older man hurriedly cut in.
“P-Payment! We will match whatever compensation you desire! Please, tell us what you want!”
At that, I glanced at Kang Mina.
“Mina.”
“Yes, Hunter Lee?”
“What kind of national treasure-grade items does France have?”
“The most notable ones are La Marseillaise, an item that boosts party combat power, and the Chalice of the Champs-Élysées, Éclat, which maximizes the recovery effects of all potions.”
“Hmm...”
“And one that might interest you, Hunter Lee, is La Conclusion, a guillotine sword whose power increases under certain conditions...”
“T-That is our national treasure!”
The younger Frenchman bolted upright. The older man quickly grabbed him and pulled him back down.
Then, he spoke.
“Very well. If you desire it, we will provide it as compensation. However, we hope for a continuous partnership in the future.”
Hmm. I scratched the back of my head.
Because...
“I never said I wanted it.”
“...What?”
“I mean, none of those really appeal to me.”
“W-What? What Agent Kang just mentioned are France's national treasures—”
National treasure or not, what was I supposed to do with something I didn't need?
My weapons were already sufficient with Jeoldanchamgeuk and the Sword of Calamity.
La-whatever... A guillotine sword? Why would I need that? It was probably just an inferior version of Jeoldanchamgeuk anyway.
Just then, Go Juhee leaned in and whispered in my ear.
“France has...”
“...Ah. Now that sounds pretty good.”
Go Juhee's suggestion was quite appealing.
I grinned and looked at the two Frenchmen.
“Your potion recipes.”
“……!!!!”
“Hand those over.”