The Negotiation

The chime that announced our arrival came laced with static, and I found myself faintly impressed.

Not bad. Quality hardware.

I'd have to ride this elevator more often.

With that thought, I stepped out — and the smell hit me first. The sweetness of champagne. The burn of hard whiskey. And laid over all of it, a tar-thick haze of cigarette smoke and something sour, something rancid: the stink of sweat running in sheets. The whole cocktail punched straight up my nose. I glanced around. Everyone in the room wore the same expression.

If I had to put a name to it, it would be terror.

Click. Click. Click.

The only thing moving in that room was the sound of my own shoes.

So this is the conference room.

I dragged out a chair at random, sat down, and crossed my legs. Honestly, I wanted to plant my heels on the table. That'd look pretty cool. And considering I'd fought my way up here from the lower floors...

A flicker. The moment I creased my brow, a ripple of flinches ran through the room.

"Ugh... the cigarette smoke."

I couldn't help complaining. I meant it.

"How about living with a window open."

Nobody in the conference room managed an answer. They just sat there, lips trembling, sneaking glances at one another.

I turned my head slowly. My gaze settled on the woman frozen near the window — brilliant silver hair, sharp blue eyes. The Guild Master of Eunha Guild. An S-rank Awakened. Yoo Eunha. I tipped my chin at her.

"Would you open a window for me, Miss Eunha."

Her lips began to tremble.

"I under...stand."

Yoo Eunha stammered it out, barely managing the words. She staggered to the window and, with shaking hands, undid the latch.

A scrape of metal. Open air poured into the room.

Better.

And in the eyes of the executives, watching her do it, a naked misery settled in. They were feeling the gap in power all over again.

"Good."

I uncrossed my legs and leaned forward slightly, folding my hands on the table.

Yoo Eunha came back from the window, drew a long breath, and forced her twisted expression back into something resembling composure. She was trying, however she could, to hold onto a Guild Master's dignity — the calm, the poise, the face of someone still in charge.

"Very well. Let's begin. Negotiations. I'm fond of those myself."

A nice word, that. Negotiation.

I started counting on my fingers, tallying as I went.

"First. You wasted this busy Hunter Association President's precious time. One trillion won."

"...Excuse me?"

Yoo Eunha's brow knotted in bewilderment. I ignored it and lifted a second finger.

"Second. I'm actually a shut-in, you see? Going outside wears me out. And you people went and made me come all this way in person. Two trillion."

"Association President. Are you joking right n—"

"Third."

"..."

"You dug a trap to take me on. I'm not even complaining about that. But all you prepared was that pile of junk, and it felt like you were looking down on me. Hurt my feelings. Five trillion."

The air in the room froze solid. Yoo Eunha's lips started trembling again. I kept going, unbothered.

"Fourth. You watched me climb the whole way up on the security cameras, start to finish, didn't you? Felt like being sexually harassed. I was ashamed. Three trillion."

Faces around the table began to crumple.

"And last... I have a fear of heights. Coming up somewhere this high is frightening, you know. Call it two trillion for the trouble."

Five fingers. Damages running into the tens of trillions.

"Thirteen trillion won, all in. Let's keep this clean."

Yoo Eunha's mouth fell open. Then a hollow little laugh slipped out of her.

"Ha. Haha... thirteen trillion. That's rather blatant. Standing there so proudly while you tell us you're going to put a collar on us and take the leash besides... If that's how it's going to be—"

Her head dropped. And through the long fall of her bangs, I did not miss the flash in her pupils.

A glance, secret, gone in a heartbeat. An unmistakable signal to strike. Did they think they still had a chance in close quarters?

I watched thigh muscles coil and detonate.

A low hiss unfurled through the air.

The two men on my left and right kicked back their chairs and launched — and in that exact sliver of a second, mist crawled out from under my feet and split the air like a living snake.

"Ghk—!"

"Kh—!"

The mist was already around their throats. It hauled them straight up, still wrapped around their necks, and drove them into the ceiling.

A wet crunch of concrete.

The two men thrashed in midair, legs kicking at nothing as their airways closed. White foam spilled from their mouths. Their eyes rolled back, capillaries bursting, limbs shuddering — and then they went slack.

Thud. Thud.

Both of them hit the floor in a heap.

"These two were the worst of the lot, weren't they? Seemed like they'd done the filthiest work..."

"..."

"Don't make the mistake of thinking I won't kill you. The 'Hunters' I ran into on the lower floors were hired help, so I let them live. I'm only keeping the rest of you alive because it's more convenient that way. If you weren't here, things would just take a little longer to sort out."

I said it looking Yoo Eunha in the eye. Her whole body was trembling.

Her right hand. It had drifted toward her hip, where her sword hung.

She couldn't draw it.

She swallowed once, hard, and forced the shaking hand back. Then she set both palms neatly on the table again.

I nodded, satisfied.

"Good. Then let's start the second round of negotiations."

"...What?"

I began unfolding my fingers again, one by one.

"You just had to mouth off and waste more of my precious time. Two trillion."

Her breathing turned ragged.

"You made this tired body move one more time after I'd already come outside. Four trillion. And putting together an ambush that sloppy against me felt like contempt, so that's ten."

Her lips had gone bloodless. They shook without stopping.

"Plus the attempted sexual assault of trying to pin me down with brute force — six trillion. A service fee for climbing all the way up here — four. And you made me spend my valuable power just now, so... add another four."

I folded the fingers down as I added it up.

"Thirty trillion won, all in. That should about do it."

She crushed her own lip between her teeth and wrung the words out.

"Th-that amount of liquid capital... even for Eunha Guild, producing it immediately would be impossible."

"No. There's a way."

"..."

"Listen carefully. This is good for Eunha Guild too."

"Hah... I'm listening."

"Your stock has been in free fall for days. Sixty percent off its peak in a single week."

"That's because the Association Presi—! No. It's nothing."

"That's a good attitude. Anyway, the important part ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠is that trading could get suspended any day now, isn't it? I'll give you a solution before that happens. The Association will acquire a fifty-one percent stake. That should generate about thirty trillion won. No suspension. Then you simply transfer those proceeds right back to the Association."

"B-but—!"

"You don't want a third round of negotiations, do you?"

Yoo Eunha's mouth snapped shut. She squeezed her eyes closed, made a small wounded sound, and said nothing more.

"Looks like we've settled this cleanly. A fine negotiation."

I stood without a shred of lingering attachment.

"I'll be going, then."

I started for the conference room door, then glanced back.

"Ah. Once the Association is formally the majority shareholder, commissions will come through from time to time. As for the rest, well. You can go on as you have been."

"What? What is that supposed to—"

"You've already stepped back from the illegal businesses, and you've absorbed a fair ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠number of other operations... The 'guild members' you still have left seem to be the real cream, more or less."

Despair settled into her eyes. Her voice shook when she asked.

"What... what kind of commissions are we even supposed to take on?"

What kind of missions?

I sifted back through my memory. The catastrophes as the novel had described them. Variant Gates. Strange spaces that almost no one came back from. Battlefields like hell itself...

No need to tell her now.

I'd mention it when the time came. Wouldn't I?

"Don't worry. The Association will support you so that you can survive. As much as possible, anyway."

I turned my back without another glance.

"And lastly — if you're thinking of just running, go ahead and try. Something interesting will happen. It's a little hard to tell cigarette smoke from mist, isn't it? Not secondhand smoke... secondhand mist? That sounds weird. You should have lived with cleaner air. Then you wouldn't have breathed any of it in."

I saw Yoo Eunha's body lock up.

I left them with that, and I walked.

Outside the building, ranks of police, a line ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠of ambulances, and the flashing lights of a press corps already dug in like a siege. I must have made too much noise.

Before I stepped outside, I took out my phone. I was curious what the public was saying. Naturally, the first ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠place I went was Hunter Gallery.

Server's dead.

I'd wanted to see the reactions, too. I'd been looking forward to sitting there in real time, basking in people praising my face and my power. A little disappointment welled up. I clicked my tongue, put the phone away, and thought it over.

Did this go well?

The retail investors who'd been left holding the bag would probably take it reasonably well, and I'd gotten the shares transferred over in a (technically) legal fashion.

Yeah. It probably went well.

If I'd just smashed everything with raw force? I wouldn't have gotten much sympathy from anyone else. They say the difference between one word and another can change everything. I showed them a transaction instead of a seizure.

To the Hunters, I'd look like a man with some mercy in him. To the civilians who'd been watching me like I might be a murderer, I'd shown I wasn't one.

Ah, whatever.

I dropped the thought and started walking.

Anyway. What am I supposed to do with the shares I just ripped out of them?

One idea slid into place on its own. In the original novel, the only hope of saving the world — a kid whose talent hadn't even begun to bloom yet.

Raid Eunha Guild's warehouses, and...

I'd have to support the novel's "protagonist," among other things. The lead, of course — but also the supporting characters who were supposed to die. I'd have to keep them alive. And pass something along to the families who never even got a death benefit... There was a lot to do. A whole lot.

Just thinking about it made me tired.

I should raise some successors and retire already. Someone as talentless as me ought to step aside sooner rather than later.