Chapter 51
Association President.
The scouts withdrew silently without a word.
Only the two of them remained in the high, spacious corridor.
The Association President furrowed his brow but calmly placed a cigarette between his lips.
"Association President."
Shadows fell over Ethan's eyes as he spoke again.
"Are you just going to stand by and watch Korean guilds try to take down Jewelry Seo?"
"……?!"
Cough, cough!
The Association President pounded his chest twice before suddenly looking up at Ethan.
A smile played on Ethan's lips.
The Association President had a gut feeling.
Ethan continued in his mild, chiding tone, as if scolding an old friend.
"Even as a foreigner in Korea, I can roughly guess your worries, Association President. The Korean Association has lost control over the guilds, hasn't it?"
"The Association never controlled the guilds in the first place."
"But the Korean Association can't even issue a single restraining statement against their recklessness. Am I wrong?"
It was spot on.
These days, the Association had devolved into an organization that just cleaned up the guilds' messes.
This is bad.
If the taboos of the major guilds were exposed to the world, the Association wouldn't escape the blame either.
No, without power, we'll take the hardest hits.
The major guilds would cleverly shift the responsibility onto them.
Imagining that grim future made his stomach burn, even without lighting the cigarette.
Those damn bastards.
The Association President had been a hunter once.
One of the top first-generation Korean hunters.
Now treated like an old man in the back room, but still.
Even he found dealing with guilds on a organizational level burdensome.
Ethan saw right through the heart of the conservative old man the President had become.
"It's not your fault they're going off the rails, Association President. Even the White House in America is tearing its hair out over similar issues."
"……Gosling, aren't you supposed to represent the guilds, not the government?"
"Haha, that was true a few years ago, but now? Who knows."
Ethan crossed his legs, wrapping his interlocked hands around his knee as he continued.
"After making enough money, I started to understand the Jewelry Seo hunters' mindset."
"What, are you planning to infiltrate the White House or something?"
Ethan just smiled faintly.
"That's not the point, Association President. I trust organizations that serve the nation more than those wretched guilds."
The Association President unconsciously licked the chapped skin on his lips with the tip of his tongue.
"You'd want to work with Jewelry Seo over the guilds too, right, Association President?"
Of course.
Who else was a talent like Seo Boseok when it came to partnerships?
"I'll be a great help to you and Jewelry Seo. In return, tell me who this Seo Hunter is."
"One question. Why are you so obsessed with this Seo Hunter guy?"
A sinister grin crept across Ethan's face.
"He might just be the hunter I've been searching for all this time."
The Association President, who had been silent, gripped the armrest of his chair.
"Sorry, but I can't tell you anything about Seo Hunter."
"That's a shame. I thought we could have a constructive relationship with the Korean Association President."
"Heh, you're in a hurry too, huh? At least hear me out to the end in Korean."
The Association President lit his cigarette.
"Seo Hunter's details are all unknown except for the surname. He doesn't want to reveal them. But the informant who gave me this info? I know his face."
Ethan nodded deeply.
"I'll assign him as your escort all the way to the airport. That's all I can do."
"Understood."
Ethan stood and offered a handshake.
The Association President stubbed out his cigarette and shook it.
This Geomdan Gate was a low-profile incident.
From the guilds' perspective, it wasn't appealing at all.
Even in his previous life, it had turned into a Gate Break and only gotten attention from the media before they reluctantly stepped in.
Uncle probably knows the guilds will react the same way.
It had been about a month since he'd switched to being a porter.
More than enough time to face the ugly underbelly of hunters and guilds and have any illusions shattered.
……I want to contact hyung, but……
With Ethan Gosling in the country right now, he hoped his brother wouldn't make a move.
There was nothing good about him running into the guy who'd publicly declared he wanted to meet Seo Hunter.
Whether that Seo Hunter is me or hyung, I don't know.
His brother could end up in the spotlight anytime.
The guilds wouldn't guarantee they wouldn't try again just because they'd failed once.
You never know.
They might even team up with Ethan Gosling to target his brother.
Hunters' hunting grounds were always the Abyss.
If someone died in the city, society would demand an investigation.
But a closed Abyss left no room for that.
Hyung needs to stay home.
He had no intention of abandoning Uncle Choi.
If it weren't for him at Hangju Bridge……
His second life would've ended in two hours.
Seo Wonseok sped along the freeway for an hour and arrived at the apartment complex, the scheduled gate site.
Prospective residents were arguing heatedly with Association staff.
"Get out of the way! Move!"
"What are you going to do if you go in there?!"
Some soon lay down on the ground.
"If they clear it, it won't collapse!"
"We need hunters to clear it or not! But there's not even a single Awakener in sight!!"
The crowd's anger was heating up.