The World Is Not Equal
The very next day after the mastermind behind the plot was revealed to be the International Reproductive Resource Management Agency—the same group that had tried to sow discord between the steadfast allies Baekho and Hyunmu and even push for a forced merger—every media outlet in the country began tearing into the name with gleeful savagery.
“Isn’t the Reproductive Resource Agency that international organization in charge of managing men?”
“Why the hell are they sticking their noses into hunter business?”
“...Fuck, they’ve crossed the line.”
Even in the brutal, survival-of-the-fittest hunter society, there were still unwritten rules. The most important one: hunter matters are to be handled only by hunters. Dungeon raid rights, territorial defense rights, or even power struggles between guilds like this one—all of it fell under that category. It was an internal domain that not even the state dared touch lightly. Much like how no other administrative agency could casually interfere with the military, the literal armed force of a nation.
And the Reproductive Resource Agency had always been the subject of endless urban legends and conspiracy theories. They claim to protect men, but really they control them. They secretly siphon off genetic information from registered males. They use male resources as bait in deals with the upper class. Stories that would normally be dismissed as sensational tabloid fodder all rose to the surface at once because of this incident.
Thanks to that, the scene in front of the Korean branch of the Reproductive Resource Agency was absolute chaos. Cameras, reporters, protesters, YouTubers, and even Hunter Association staff were all tangled together in what looked like half a riot.
On the other hand, the Baekho Guild’s hanok village, having safely overcome the crisis, presented a completely different picture.
“Now then, let us raise a glass to the eternal friendship of our four great guilds.”
Guild Leader Han Yura lifted her cup.
“Cheers.”
““““Cheers!””””
This place was nothing short of a festival ground. Beneath the night sky, between tiled roofs and glowing lanterns, hunters dressed in splendid silk garments moved about. The sound of drums echoed from somewhere, and on one side of the courtyard, dancers wearing lion masks swayed their bodies dramatically. If an Eastern ball existed, this would be what it looked like.
The headquarters of Baekho, where blades had clashed and blood had flown just the day before, had transformed as if by magic into a lavish banquet hall.
The only difference was that the people gathered here were not ordinary guests simply here to enjoy a festival. Only key figures from the four major guilds representing Korea—Hyunmu, Geumseong, Cheongryong, and Baekho—were present.
“The drink you’re holding right now… that’s not alcohol, is it?” I asked, eyeing the cup in Han Yura’s hand.
Han Sora, standing beside her, quickly smiled and answered.
“As Jihou said, alcohol is dangerous during recovery, so we’ve replaced everything with non-alcoholic beverages.”
“Still, even non-alcoholic drinks have sugar and additives. It would be best if she drank water instead…”
Let me say it again: this woman had only just finished a major surgery that had lasted nearly three days. On top of that, she had been bedridden for eight years. Even though she had rested for a full day after driving out Director Seomun Hui, she was still far from full recovery. Her stiffened muscles hadn’t loosened properly yet, and her sensitized nerves could flare up again with the slightest strain. The surgical site could develop complications at any moment.
Even for an S-class hunter’s body, simply standing here like this should have been too much. Yet Guild Leader Han Yura moved among the crowd with a perfectly composed expression, as if deliberately showing everyone that she was still in perfect health.
“We have to show them now,” Han Sora quietly explained as she clinked her cup against mine. “That Baekho is still standing strong in front of the other three guilds.”
“...So it’s not just a simple celebration after all.”
“That’s right. It’s both a social gathering and a warning.”
A social gathering and a warning. It was the perfect description. Gathering the core members of all four guilds like this was clearly a kind of psychological warfare.
I am fine. I am still active. Baekho has not fallen.
So don’t even think about being tempted by the Reproductive Resource Agency’s words and stabbing us in the back like you did with Hyunmu.
Everyone was smiling, but no one was smiling with their hearts. The cups clinked, but what they contained was a warning far thicker than any liquor.
“By the way, Sora, how’s your back?”
“Ah, yes. Thanks to Jihou stitching it up so well, the soreness is much better after a good night’s sleep. The stitches from yesterday evening have almost healed already.”
“Healed? You mean the scar is fading too?”
“Of course! I may not look it, but I’m a proper professional hunter. Wounds like that heal quickly with proper treatment.”
Even in the middle of all this, I had to admit that a hunter’s body was truly overpowered. No wonder hunter-specialized doctors always breathed a sigh of relief the moment the surgery itself succeeded. As long as the wound was properly closed, infection prevented, and the patient entered a stable phase, their insane natural healing ability—completely incomparable to that of ordinary humans—would take over and restore the body. Muscles reattached, flesh filled in, and even scars covered themselves.
‘As difficult as they are to treat, once you succeed, they recover in ways that defy common sense.’
In a way, it could be considered an advantage. At least for me.
“Um, Jihou,” Han Sora suddenly bowed deeply in front of me again.
“Thank you once more. Truly.”
“It’s nothing. I simply did what any doctor should do.”
“No. Not every doctor is willing to treat a patient.”
Her voice was slightly lower than usual. I closed my mouth for a moment.
“When Mom was first discovered in that state, we searched for famous hunter-specialized doctors from all over the world. We even tried to recruit them. But most of them refused treatment.”
“There was something like that?”
“Yes. They generally fell into two categories.”
The first were doctors who took one look at the patient’s condition and got scared. The kind who lacked the confidence to bear the responsibility of failure and stepped back on their own. Han Sora said she could understand that much. At least those people knew their limits and withdrew politely.
The problem started with the second group.
Doctors who would abandon a patient to die if they didn’t receive the price they demanded.
“The truly famous hunter-specialized doctors aren’t usually in huge organizations like university hospitals. They often run private clinics and selectively take patients.”
“Not patients… but ‘guests,’ huh.”
“Exactly. And they always try to make contracts with lives as collateral.”
Medical laws, ethics, illegal contracts—none of those words held any power in front of them. A doctor capable of saving a dying person appears. And that doctor says: I’ll save you. In return, give me what you have. Money. A guild. Rights. Family. For a patient desperate enough to grasp even a demon’s hand, there was no room to debate whether the contract was illegal or not.
Among the hunters who signed such contracts, some only lost their entire fortunes. Others ended up bound by slave contracts that wouldn’t be lifted even in death, forced to work for the rest of their lives.
“Just so you know, the three hunter-specialized doctors who offered to treat Mom were all famous physicians with their own private clinics.”
“And something happened with them, I take it.”
“Yes. Each of them demanded insane prices as if it were the most natural thing in the world.”
Han Sora smiled bitterly.
“One demanded the entire Baekho Guild, along with the human rights of every guild member.”
“...!”
“Another demanded a hundred living Korean men.”
“......”
“The last one said that in exchange for saving Mom, he would take a portion of an S-class hunter’s body tissue. About five kilograms, including organs like a lung or an eye that wouldn’t cause immediate death.”
“Those crazy bastards… no, those crazy bitches.”
“Right. And even then, they couldn’t guarantee a successful treatment.”
From my perspective, that wasn’t even a contract. It was nothing more than an auction for a patient’s life. It was an act that dragged the very honor of the medical profession through the mud.
Hearing all that, I finally understood why Han Sora had clung to me so desperately. She truly had no other choice.
“So thank you again, Jihou.”
“It’s fine.”
I awkwardly turned my gaze away, feeling embarrassed.
“I didn’t do it for free either. I intend to receive at least the minimum compensation.”
Those conscienceless doctor bastards who toyed with patients’ lives were the type I hated most. So I had planned to take only what was fair.
But then—
“Ah!” Han Sora’s eyes sparkled.
“You mean that thing you mentioned before? The ‘anything you want’ promise? We’ve already prepared it!”
“Huh?”
The person who had been so serious a moment ago suddenly smiled brightly as if she had been waiting for this.
“You said you wanted to build a private clinic in a quiet rural area, right?”
“I did say that.”
“It’s no coincidence that our Baekho Guild chose a hanok village as our headquarters! Within Seoul we’re only in the middle among the four guilds, but on a national scale the story changes completely.”
“National scale?”
“Yes. Baekho always shows up for local events, regional promotions, traditional culture projects, and so on. To wage information and public opinion wars, you have to travel around the country first.”
“...You even calculate things like that?”
“Oh ho ho ho. We are an information guild, after all.”
It was wicked. The mindset that treated even regional promotion as part of an information war was seriously twisted. But the conclusion that came from that wicked calculation was simple.
“So here’s the thing. We can build you a hospital anywhere in the country you want, right away.”
“I see.”
“And that’s only the beginning. If there’s anything else you want to ask of us, both Mom and I will help you with everything we can. If you want, we can even get you a university diploma right now!”
My original dream. Opening a private clinic in a quiet countryside, treating the occasional elderly patients who dropped by, and living comfortably. Not a life where I worked myself to death saving others like in my previous existence, but a quiet, safe life where I earned a decent amount of money, avoided dangerous patients, and lived peacefully.
Baekho offering to build me a hospital essentially meant they would turn that entire dream into reality.
But.
“Sora.”
“Yes, Jihou!”
“I don’t need that anymore.”
“...Eh?”
I shook my head.
Because—
“About that private clinic exclusively for hunter-specialized doctors I mentioned earlier. I’ve decided to open one. Right in the middle of Seoul.”
“Y-Yes?! Whaaaaaat?!”
My goal had already changed.