Private Audience
Im Seong-woo's expression had gone rigid, but the others had no room to notice. The announcement had been far too shocking. Handing half the stake in the Monster Holes over to Cheonseong Guild was already a monumental result. But Kang Jung-gil's announcement did not end there. Looking out over the stunned reporters, he opened his mouth once more.
"As for that half stake, Cheonseong Guild will also hold exclusive rights for three years. I hereby declare that no private guild whatsoever will be permitted to interfere with those rights."
With that, the announcement concluded. In full view of the reporters, without any further press conference, he sealed the results with a handshake with Executive Director Im Seong-woo.
"Director! This is an incredible achievement!"
"They're giving our Cheonseong Guild exclusive rights to half of all Monster Holes...! I never imagined results this extraordinary...!"
"Kang Jung-gil must finally have seen the Director's true worth. Without that, we never would have gotten a result like this...!"
Seo Gang-jae and Lee Seok-pil were thoroughly delighted.
Simply transferring half the Monster Holes would have been huge enough, but the official announcement that Cheonseong Guild alone would monopolize the rights to that half—that was something else entirely.
With this, Cheonseong Guild would clearly be able to leap forward even faster than before.
"What are you two so happy about?"
Park Chang-jun frowned at the sight of them.
"Vice Guildmaster, we just secured exclusive rights to the Monster Holes!"
"Isn't that an enormous deal?!"
"Tsk, tsk, tsk..."
Park Chang-jun clicked his tongue.
The two of them stared at him in bewilderment.
Paying them no mind, Park Chang-jun turned to Im Seong-woo.
"My apologies. I naively took that man's words at face value."
"It isn't your fault, Vice Guildmaster. I felt uneasy about it myself, but on the other hand I thought that, at this level, it wasn't a bad deal."
The tone and expressions of the two men were anything but ordinary, and only then did Seo Gang-jae and Lee Seok-pil begin to catch on.
"Is something wrong?"
Seo Gang-jae asked carefully.
"We've been thoroughly played."
"What?"
"He called it three years of exclusive rights, but there's no way we can simply take that announcement as good news."
"Why not?"
"Have you forgotten why we came here in the first place?"
"To transfer the rights to the Monster Holes that the National Safety Group—a government agency—has been monopolizing over to the private sector, isn't that it?"
"And you think that 'private sector' means only our Cheonseong Guild?"
"Ah."
Only then did Seo Gang-jae and Lee Seok-pil let out soft sounds of realization, as if something had finally clicked.
That was right.
The reason the reporters had swarmed in like that, the reason so many people had thrown their support behind them—
It was expectation.
The hope that once the rights to the Monster Holes were transferred from the National Safety Group to the private sector, they would be free to hunt the Monster Holes far more autonomously.
But this announcement had, quite literally, dumped a bucket of ink over that hope.
"What a dirty trick...!"
"Isn't this just plain underhanded?!"
With this announcement, Cheonseong Guild's image had been thoroughly soiled. The very phrase "exclusive rights" made them look like nothing more than a pack of greedy men filling their own pockets.
It looked like they were simply splitting the profits with the National Safety Group.
So the Awakeners who had passionately supported them and held such high expectations would be instantly disappointed and turn against them. Of course, the thirty Line Guilds under Cheonseong Guild might be pleased—but even then, that was only ten percent of all Awakener guilds.
In terms of raw power it was a considerable force.
But the problem was that while ten percent overall might be happy, the remaining ninety percent would not.
Just then, Park Chang-jun's phone rang.
After asking Im Seong-woo's leave, he turned away and took the call.
"...What do you mean? They're announcing the Liberty Project...? Understood."
Ending the call, Park Chang-jun approached Im Seong-woo with a hardened face.
"Director, something rather serious seems to be unfolding."
"What is it?"
"I just received word that Administrative Director Jeong In-soo is about to hold a press conference."
"A press conference?"
"Vice Guildmaster, they already made an announcement earlier. What else could they possibly be announcing?"
At Seo Gang-jae's question, Park Chang-jun spoke with a grave expression.
"They're announcing the Liberty Project today."
"The Liberty Project?"
"You mean that project the National Safety Group said they were preparing at the end of last year?"
"That's the one."
The Liberty Project.
Last winter, the National Safety Group had announced that they were planning a project in preparation for the future. Its name was the Liberty Project, and they were about to reveal its contents now.
"Why suddenly today?"
"That's what bothers me."
"......"
Im Seong-woo said nothing.
"Shall we turn on the television?"
At Lee Seok-pil's suggestion, Park Chang-jun nodded.
"Do it."
Lee Seok-pil pressed the power button on the remote and flipped through the channels until he landed on one broadcasting a familiar press conference hall live.
A moment later.
Administrative Director Jeong In-soo, wearing thick-rimmed glasses, appeared and offered a greeting to the reporters and the public watching.
And so began Administrative Director Jeong In-soo's announcement. Its contents were as follows.
"...The Liberty Project is a progressive initiative for the free purpose, challenge, and unity of Awakeners. As the National Safety Group has always been an institution centered on Awakeners beyond mere order and stability, we could not neglect this aspect either. Having gathered, coordinated, and synthesized the opinions and insights of experts, we now announce the details here today."
The announcement that followed was thoroughly shocking.
The Liberty Project was, quite literally, a transfer of freedom and rights to the Awakeners—and the rights to Monster Holes would be handed over to the guilds of the respective regions.
For example, if a Monster Hole appeared in Busan, it would go to guilds belonging to the Gyeongsang region; if one appeared in Gwangju, to guilds based in the Jeolla region; if one appeared in Daejeon, to Chungcheong; if one appeared in Sokcho, to guilds rooted in Gangwon. Of course, handing everything over entirely to the local guilds would create issues of fairness, so two slots would be filled by guilds within the region, while the remaining two would be selected from guilds that applied nationwide.
Would the National Safety Group still handle this selection the way it did now?
No.
Applications would be received by the Awakener Personnel Management Agency, which was set to launch at the beginning of next month. That agency would also serve as the official Awakener administrative body handling civilian complaints and administrative affairs for Awakeners.
They already knew about the Awakener Personnel Management Agency.
Legislation for the agency had passed the National Assembly last winter, and next month it would finally open its doors.
Most administrative work concerning Awakeners would be transferred there, and the selection of two regional guilds and two nationwide guilds would also take place through that office.
Would the National Safety Group then wash its hands of the matter completely?
Not quite. Fifty personnel would still be dispatched for the safety of the area surrounding each Monster Hole—but they would hold no rights whatsoever to the Crystal Ore obtained from clearing the monsters within. That was the announcement.
In the end, this was the crucial point.
Until now, of the one hundred percent rights to Crystal Ore from Monster Holes, the National Safety Group had owned forty percent.
But in today's announcement, the National Safety Group was completely renouncing that forty percent stake in Crystal Ore obtained from Monster Holes and transferring it entirely to the guilds that entered. It was an extraordinary concession.
That meant each guild would receive a twenty-five percent share.
In other words, the National Safety Group would be reduced to nothing more than a support unit that entered alongside them as a precaution—that was the core of the announcement.
"Until now the National Safety Group has taken the lead. Going forward, with the establishment of the Awakener Personnel Management Agency, major duties will be transferred. And as the rights to Monster Holes are fully transferred to the private sector, the National Safety Group will develop into an institution dedicated to social order and public stability."
With that, Administrative Director Jeong In-soo's announcement ended, and he took questions from the reporters.
The questions asked whether the National Safety Group would truly be dispatched only as support for Monster Holes, and whether they were genuinely renouncing all interest in Crystal Ore.
To this, Administrative Director Jeong In-soo's answer was yes.
A few more questions followed, but the essential points had all been covered.
And so the announcement came to an end.
Watching it all, Executive Director Im Seong-woo's expression had gone thoroughly rigid.
Those people—
No. Kang Jung-gil had clearly foreseen this entire situation from the very beginning.