Step Aside
Deep in the basement of the Hunter Association sat a detention cell sealed off from all outside contact. Cold air hung heavy in the room as I sat in a chair, one leg crossed over the other.
My gaze settled beyond the iron bars, where five members of the National Assembly sat locked away. Their suits were a wreck of dust and cold sweat, and the greasy faces that had once gleamed with self-satisfaction were twisted into ugly grimaces.
I had a pretty good idea of what was running through their heads.
How dare she. Us?
A bitch like you dares throw me in a hole like this?
Yeah. Something along those lines.
I took in the hostility pouring from their eyes and smiled faintly.
"Those are some scary faces you've got."
Even I had to admit my voice came out rather cold.
"If I had my way, I'd slit every one of your throats right now and hang you in the public square..."
The assemblymen's shoulders jerked.
"Unfortunately, I'm a guardian of the laws of the Republic of Korea. You'll receive a proper, legal trial."
"Y-you lunatic..."
"I've secured evidence of every crime you've committed and handed it over to the prosecution and the press."
I clapped my hands lightly.
"Congratulations. You won't be leaving that prison for the rest of your lives. If you're lucky, you might get a death sentence and rest a little sooner."
"You fucking..."
Even now, there was one among them who glared at me and spat out his rage.
He's got some guts, I'll give him that.
It was Assemblyman Kim Hak-su, his right hand wrapped in thick bandages. Veins bulged along his neck as he spoke.
"Do you — do you actually think you can handle the consequences of this?"
"Handle?"
"Don't tell me you can't imagine how this looks to the entire world! The Hunter Association President using force to detain members of the National Assembly on inauguration day? This is a coup d'état! An armed takeover by hunters!"
Kim Hak-su raged, foam gathering at the corners of his mouth.
"Can you even imagine how far the KOSPI and the exchange rate will crash when the stock market opens tomorrow morning?! Foreign investors will all pull out and the national economy will be gutted! Right now this might look like righteous judgment and the execution of justice in your eyes!"
He gasped for breath.
"In the end, the world will brand you a dictator and a villain who rules by force! Just like you wanted — you'll be punished just as miserably!"
I listened quietly until he finished his outburst. And when he finally stopped talking, I shrugged.
"The KOSPI swinging about ten percent in a day is pretty much average for the Korean market, isn't it?"
"What...?"
"It's unavoidable if we're going to operate on this country called Korea."
I stood up from my seat.
"And... if, even after I've spoon-fed them the evidence this openly, the judges still try to cover for you — well. After that, I can't even guarantee what I'll do."
His face went pale in an instant.
"I hope you enjoy a nice, long rest for the remainder of your lives in prison."
I turned around without a shred of hesitation. From beyond the iron bars, Kim Hak-su's trembling voice stabbed into my back.
"Was it all... an act this whole time?"
I stopped walking.
"Until you reached the Association President's seat... you deceived all of us. Just when — from where — did you start planning all of this...?"
A hoarse voice, hollowed out with disbelief. Without looking back, I answered quietly.
"Think whatever you like. That's all."
With those words, I left the detention cell without a backward glance.
Documents awaiting my signature were piled on the desk like a mountain. I turned them over absently in my hands, listening in silence as Han Yuri delivered her report.
"...This is Eunha Guild's current activity."
Han Yuri brought up a holographic display on her tablet and continued the briefing.
"Immediately after the national address, Eunha Guild began pulling personnel out of the dangerous operations sitting on the line between legal and illegal — unlicensed potion manufacturing plants, illegal magic stone smelters, and the like. However..."
"Meaning they've left all the legitimate cash cows sitting comfortably inside the legal framework."
Han Yuri flinched at my reply, then nodded.
"Y-yes, that's correct! They're holding on tight to Seoul's core real estate, the official gate mining rights, and their shares in the Hunter Academy — they haven't given up a single one."
Well. There was no way they were going to cough up that kind of money and influence just because I told them to. Their plan was obvious: stall for time, watch the Association's reaction, wait for public outrage to cool, and then raise their heads again.
Han Yuri opened her mouth carefully, as if testing the waters.
"Um... Association President. The guild masters have been requesting an emergency meeting this entire time. Are you... truly not going to see them at all?"
I nodded.
"That's right. I'm not meeting them."
"But if the guild masters all unite in opposition, the damage at the Association level would be..."
"The prime assets Eunha Guild coughs up will be absorbed by the Association, then redistributed to the other guilds under Association direction. For now, we need to take the hit on our side if it means expanding our influence."
Han Yuri's mouth fell open.
"When did you even think all of this through? Don't tell me — from the very first day you Awakened...?"
"Coincidence. Pure coincidence. Anyway, until Eunha Guild has been absorbed into the Association, I have no intention of meeting with any guild master. All they'd do is whine about wanting a bigger slice of Eunha Guild's pie."
I rubbed the back of my neck and let out a long sigh.
"To be honest, just dealing with Eunha Guild alone is giving me a massive headache."
"Ah..."
"Bring me a cup of coffee. My brain isn't working."
Han Yuri startled.
"Y-yes...! I'll bring it at once!"
She hurried off and returned moments later, setting a steaming cup of black coffee on my desk. The deep aroma of high-grade beans tickled my nose. I rolled my stiff neck, picked up the cup, and — maintaining every ounce of presidential dignity — took an elegant sip.
The moment I swallowed, my brow furrowed.
Right. I like sweet things.
I got too deep into the Association President persona...
"This is too bitter."
"I-I'm so sorry! I extracted the finest Kenyan beans extra strong — does it not suit your taste?"
"No, it's not the beans' fault. Ahem. Do you happen to have any sugar cubes?"
"Pardon? Oh — yes! I'll bring them right away!"
Han Yuri shot off like a bullet and returned with a glass jar of sugar cubes. Plop. Plop. And one more plop. I sank a total of three cubes into the black coffee, stirred, and took another sip.
A small, contented sound slipped from my throat. The sweetness spreading through my mouth made the tightness in my face melt away.
When you're exhausted, nothing beats a hit of sugar.
I looked up, sipping my sweetened coffee with genuine satisfaction — and found Han Yuri wearing a very strange expression. Startled, almost. As if she'd just seen something she wasn't supposed to.
"What is it? Is there something on my face?"
"It's nothing...! Just now."
"Just now?"
"No! I — ahem."
She cleared her throat a few times and snapped back into secretary mode, though tension still clung to her voice.
"Association President."
"If the one-week grace period you granted them expires and Eunha Guild is still holding out... what do you plan to do?"
I set the coffee cup down.
"Well. I'll go there myself, just like I said."
One week passed.
For those seven days, the Republic of Korea sat in the eye of a storm. The stock market rode a roller coaster. The political world tore itself apart in a daily war of exposés — the ruling party and the opposition alike had their hands in the corruption, after all. The press spent every hour of every day sensationalizing my every move and Eunha Guild's every response. There had even been a moment when the president nearly declared martial law.
But right now, only one thing mattered to me.
Eunha Guild had not withdrawn.
On the surface, they had put on a show of change. Unable to withstand the carpet bombing of public opinion, they had shed their lower-tier organizations, the ordinary civilian employees who amounted to little more than a tail, and the informants who valued their own hides — all of them had fled the guild in droves.
But it was a deception. The core executives who moved the enormous capital, and the criminal hunters who embodied Eunha Guild's military power, were all still there. They were a crime syndicate that had committed illegal acts in broad daylight, arrogant enough to believe that law and public authority were nothing but scraps of paper in the face of their own force.
Which was why I was now walking toward the skyscraper that Eunha Guild called its own.
The roads had been sealed off. The streets were dead silent.
I wonder how many people are watching.
Quiet as it was, I could feel the atmosphere wrapping around me. For all I knew, the concurrent viewership had already broken ten million. The networks broadcasting this must have been making a killing.
Step. Step. Step.
I came to a halt before the front gates of Eunha Guild headquarters. Two enormous men stood planted there like sentinels.
Hunters of B-class or higher, at minimum.
So they aren't sending A-class? Trying to test me?
I didn't know and I didn't care. I would break them from the front.
The man whose face was covered in a spiderweb tattoo took one step forward. He looked me up and down, then opened his mouth. His voice was rough and coarse.
"Association President. Do you understand what happens if you walk through this door?"
"No matter how much they call you the strongest... this is Eunha Guild headquarters. And 'strongest' is just an empty title, isn't it? You've barely even seen real combat."
"Just step aside. While I'm still willing to let you walk away in one piece."
His face turned ugly at my warning. He cracked his neck with a wet pop and let a savage aura roll off him.
"Ha. This bitch really doesn't get it. I'll say it one last time."
I clicked my tongue.
"This is my last time too. That's the third. I'm done being patient."
The man spat a curse and started to reach for me — and in that instant, I let out a short sigh and murmured under my breath.
"You should've moved when I told you to."
In that moment, a fog began to seep up from beneath my feet. This was no ordinary vapor. It was pressure itself, densely condensed — a domain that carried weight, that moved according to my will.
"...Huh?"
The tattooed man's movement stopped dead. Not stopped — stopped. His shoulders began to tremble. The pupils in those fiercely glittering eyes contracted to pinpricks, and his jaw started rattling of its own accord, teeth clacking together.
Crack.
The concrete floor where he stood began to split.
"Ghk — ghhhk...!"
An invisible palm stamped down on his shoulders. His knees bent at grotesque angles as they were forced to the ground.
Crunch. Crunch. Grrrnnnkkk...
Then came the terrible sounds that followed. The tattooed man was driven straight into the floor.
KRAAAAAANG!
A violent plume of dust exploded upward. When the thick cloud settled, the concrete had been punched into a crater in the exact shape of his body.
A wet, gurgling growl leaked from the crater. The man lay buried in it, bones shattered throughout his body, coughing up bloody foam.
"I didn't kill him. He'll live if he gets treatment."
I said it, then glanced to the side. The other one was still standing there. I flicked my chin at him.
"What are you waiting for. Aren't you going to move?"