Legal Counterstrike
The conference room was inside the gate battlefield, but only two people sat at the table.
One was obviously an office type at first glance. He was impeccably dressed in a top-tier custom suit, but there were no mana fluctuations.
Taesan Law Firm — Attorney Im Jae-hoon
Myth Guild's affiliate law firm.
I glanced to the side next.
Black coat, black gloves, even a black scabbard. He was screaming, 'I'm an awakener.'
"Ryu Jin-hyuk. Myth Guild inspection team leader."
This guy was using casual speech right off the bat with a stranger?
It was less a greeting and more a declaration.
I didn't twitch an eyebrow as I leaned back into the prime seat on the opposite sofa.
I grabbed the wrist of Choi Hayan, who was trembling behind me, and pulled her to sit beside me.
Ryu Jin-hyuk's gaze locked onto Choi Hayan.
"And who's this?"
"My technical advisor."
"No outsiders at a meeting like this, right?"
"Chief researcher at the Association Central Lab. Hardly an outsider."
He checked the Chief name tag on her lab coat, then turned away.
"...Fine. Let's get started."
Ryu Jin-hyuk nodded, and Attorney Im Jae-hoon spoke up.
"Mr. Baek Sa-eon. Given your background, this kind of setting must feel unfamiliar, so I'll skip the legal jargon and get straight to the point."
Thud.
A thick stack of documents hit the table.
Polite on the surface, but his attitude clearly looked down on me as a lowly cleaner.
"We've determined you exploited a loophole in the system to 'steal' Hunter Cha Do-yeon's assets. We've filed a lawsuit for special robbery and fraud."
Exploiting a system flaw, huh.
He straightened his tie and continued.
"Return all assets and sign the subordination agreement. Refuse, and you'll owe penalties that'll take a lifetime to pay."
The core message was simple.
Dedicate your entire remaining life to them.
But the legal procedure didn't scare me.
Finally, time to put that studying to use.
After getting scammed by an illegal mining contract, I'd been so furious I nearly died, so I'd self-taught law.
All those simulations I'd practiced at home over and over—maybe they were for today.
Time to clap back with the mouth of the cleaner you're sneering at.
"I heard you loud and clear."
I pushed the documents away with a finger.
"But for logic cooked up after days of deliberation at a law firm, it's pretty cheap."
The lawyer's eyebrow twitched.
"Theft. You meticulously planned to rip out a hunter's core before even entering the gate. That's your premise, right? But attorney."
I leaned forward from the backrest, laying out my argument.
"A non-awakener forcibly extracting and absorbing the massive energy of a mana core? Common sense says the cells collapse and you explode. A cleaner like me pre-planning something physically impossible, basically suicide? Yeah, the judge'll eat that right up."
As my words ended, he paused, deep in thought.
He must've thought I was an ignorant cleaner, but my piercing logic caught him off guard.
But true to his profession, the lawyer quickly pulled his next card.
"Even without premeditation, the fact remains that someone else's property transferred to you. Legally, you're obligated to return the benefit, intent or not."
Before I could respond, Ryu Jin-hyuk leaned in.
"Leave the word games to the lawyer. One thing."
He glared.
"In hunter society, stealing someone's core is attempted murder. Want the Association disciplinary committee to move before trial? I can permanently revoke your hunter license for moral turpitude with my authority."
Abuse of power by the inspection team leader?
"Ha."
His obvious goal was almost yawn-worthy.
"Intriguing. Guess I'll play a card too."
I placed a small, charred chip on the table.
Their eyes followed it.
"Cha Do-yeon's field record chip. Her threats against me, right up to the moment she tried to amputate my leg—all recorded."
"...Threatening us with a busted chip?"
"This is an empty copy. The original's already with a broker—restored and backed up."
Before coming to the Association, the message I'd sent the broker.
'Got a favor to ask right away. Can you analyze and back up a field record chip?'
The reply came just before entering the lab.
'Package was damaged, but internals intact. Restored and cloud-backed. Additional fee, please.'
Even cloud backup. Worth the connection.
"Even if the recording exists."
The lawyer latched on again.
"Hunter Cha Do-yeon's judgment was a legitimate order based on contract. In a dungeon emergency, the raid leader's command authority is—"
"Legitimate?"
I cut him off cold.
"Throwing a cleaner to the boss to die—that legitimate command authority? That's not a contract; it's incitement to murder."
"Mr. Baek. That's for the court to decide."
Im Jae-hoon pointed to a document stamped with National Forensic Service and Myth Guild lab marks.
"The essence doesn't change. With our guild lab's official opinion, the return lawsuit proceeds as procedure."
"Um, excuse me."
Choi Hayan's voice cut in from the side. She set down her stack of papers and pushed up her glasses. Her trembling hands had stopped.
"This report."
Choi Hayan snatched one from Im Jae-hoon's pile.
"It's my draft, re-edited to your taste, right? It's the official submission, but the conclusion's altered."
No more fluster in her voice. Scholar mode activated.
"My original report concluded it wasn't abnormal transplantation. The meter errored not from mana volume, but because the mana waveform itself was unidentified data not in the database."
Ryu Jin-hyuk scowled.
"What's the difference? Still not normal."
"Abnormal and unidentified are academically distinct concepts."
Choi Hayan stared straight at Ryu Jin-hyuk. Not a blink.
"And most crucially, this core is spontaneously evolving inside its host. Perfect assimilation without rejection. The core reshaped itself to fit the host—we can assert that."
Her words sped up like a machine gun.
Yeah. This was it.
The reason I'd brought this woman here.
"In summary! By current data, reversion risks extreme mortality for host Hunter Cha Do-yeon!"
The room went dead silent, like ice water poured over it.
Ryu Jin-hyuk shoved back his chair and stood roughly.
"Scientist. That's your brain fart. Only the official submission holds legal weight."
Im Jae-hoon nodded. Legally correct.
Of course it was. A punchable truth.
"Official submission, huh."
I shifted in my seat.
"Chief researcher's original and the official differ in conclusion. Meaning Myth Guild interfered with Association intranet and forged official documents."
Argument complete. They fell into their own trap.
Ryu Jin-hyuk and Im Jae-hoon went mute as dumbfounded bees.
"Let's wrap it up."
Feeling like the victor, I leisurely stated the conclusion.
"Special robbery? Physically absurd. Unjust enrichment? Core evolution makes reversion impossible. Moral turpitude? Black box recording exists of the raid leader using a cleaner as fodder. And on top..."
I leaned forward, warning viciously.
"Myth Guild's Association document forgery charge."
Click, click.
Im Jae-hoon pressed and released the pen tip he'd been holding.
"Wonder how much Myth Guild's stock plummets if this hits the media. You two okay with that?"
I added one last line.
"National Assembly audit witness seat, confirmed."
I shoved the document pile back at Im Jae-hoon and stood.
"Lawsuit filing welcome anytime."
I lightly grabbed Choi Hayan's arm and pulled her up. Gripping the doorknob, I glanced back at Ryu Jin-hyuk over my shoulder.
"Oh, Team Leader Ryu."
"..."
"Promotion's down the drain. Just hold onto that inspection team seat."
Bang—
The steel door shut.
Finally, the air felt clean.
"D-did I do good?"
Choi Hayan, who'd been laying into them moments ago, now clutched her papers and chattered nervously.
"You did great."
"R-really?"
"If not, I wouldn't have dragged you here."
At my words, Choi Hayan's ears turned tomato red.
Then, the steel door creaked open behind us.
"Baek Sa-eon."
Ryu Jin-hyuk glared, his gloved hand shoved in his coat pocket.
His mask fully off—shameless mug.
"You got me good today. I'll admit it."
"Oh my. Honored."
"But remember one thing."
Ryu Jin-hyuk growled low.
"Winning at the legal team's table ain't surviving this world. Your battlefield isn't on paper."
The hallway fluorescents flickered with a buzz.
"Eek...!"
Choi Hayan plastered herself to my back.
Ryu Jin-hyuk's invisible pressure clashed head-on with Crimson Flame's heat in the narrow corridor.
Pop—!
A ceiling light shattered under the strain.
"Cha Do-yeon's core is vibrating toward you."
His face emerged under the strobing light.
Cha Do-yeon's name brought blind resolve to kill me.
I'd half-wanted a round here, but the inspection title wasn't for show.
Ryu Jin-hyuk withdrew his mana first.
"Fun. Next time, outside."
The black coat vanished down the hall.
I watched his back until the mana afterimage faded.
I definitely sensed killing intent. Why didn't the system trigger?
Does this guy grasp context too?
Still tons of unknowns.
Anyway, his eyes held something beyond guild loyalty.
Promotion lust. Greed blinds judgment.
He'd cross lines for results. That's when the gap opens.
When he ignores superiors and legal and comes for me—that's my chance to claim justification.
I'll wait. Until you shove your own neck on the guillotine.
"W-what was that?!"
Choi Hayan shivered like a rain-soaked Pomeranian.
"Just a greeting."
"A greeting that bursts lights?!"
I just smirked without answering.
Ryu Jin-hyuk. You walked right into it.
I'll scrape your pride raw till your eyes roll back, then confiscate your power.