Chapter 6
Chapter 6
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 6
Chapter Title: Press Conference
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After the Gwanghwamun Gate press conference, Hyun-woo met with Director Seong-uk of the Management Bureau and was hiding out from the reporters for a bit.
"I'm not sure if this is really okay..."
"It was the best we could do. Better than trying to hide it and getting caught."
"I agree... but your guild members are keeping quiet, right?"
"Yes. It was an elite raid team to begin with, and they got some promises in return, so they won't talk."
He had expected some fallout, but the media reaction exceeded all imagination.
Even as they sat in the director's office sipping coffee together, both their phones kept ringing nonstop.
Arshirientra—now Seo Ar.
He had considered fully Koreanizing her name, but her fierce opposition left it as a unique blend, barely preserving the original.
Figuring it must hold some special meaning, Hyun-woo lifted his cup and took a sip of coffee.
"I won't be able to go home for about a week now... You?"
"Same as always for me."
Hyun-woo leaned back in his chair and watched Seong-uk tear at his hair, reminiscing about their first meeting.
Come to think of it, the situation back then had been somewhat similar.
Seong Hyun-woo: the Awakener ranked third worldwide in mana capacity, Korea's first and strongest Hunter.
Back when the Hunter profession didn't even exist, he was the blood-soaked nine-year-old boy who walked out alone from Korea's first gate, surrounded by the military.
Seong-uk, an army officer at the time, had shielded the young Hyun-woo from the press, advocated to the government for the need for Awakeners, and ultimately helped establish the Hunter Management Bureau.
"That's why I'm telling you to hire more people. No guild on your level has such a small roster anywhere in the world."
"That's why we just hired one more this time."
"She's the exception. What I'm saying is—"
More nagging.
Hyun-woo half-tuned out Seong-uk's words as he mentally sorted through the stack of piled-up documents on the office desk.
Half were general guild business, and the other half were all related to Ar.
"By the way, where's that gate boss now? Reporters must be swarming White Wolf too."
"Ar. She's with Jeong-woo right now."
"Ah, Jeong-woo? Then... should be fine."
Quasi S-Rank Tanker Kang Jeong-woo.
He specialized in blocking mana beasts inside gates, but he was even better at holding back crowds of people.
"Did you have to announce her as S-Rank? If we'd just said B-Rank or something, it would've been easier for both of us."
"You haven't seen her, Director. That kind of thing doesn't stay hidden."
Hyun-woo thought back to a few days ago, when he first met Ar inside the gate.
He pictured her tapping her chest with her small fist, telling him to give her his best shot.
A full-power strike, gathering every ounce of mana.
With backup from an A-Rank magic Hunter, how many could block that attack?
She took it straight on, without so much as a scratch—just a sneeze like it tickled.
Clear pink eyes visible once the dust settled.
That gaze would stick in his memory for a long time.
Recalling it made the hairs on his body stand on end, and Hyun-woo's frame shuddered involuntarily.
"No way... that much...?"
Hyun-woo had never been childish, even from their first meeting.
Living alongside the homeless Hyun-woo, Seong-uk had seen him as nothing short of superhuman.
Seeing this rare vulnerable side for the first time, Seong-uk clicked his tongue in amazement.
"If even you say so..."
"I should get going. The reporters must have given up by now."
With that, Hyun-woo stepped out the door—and still spent quite a while longer dealing with reporters before finally returning to the guild.
"No way...! How did these people get in again?! Everyone out!"
How long had it been since the photos were taken?
No sooner had Seo-young finished saying she'd uploaded my profile than reporters with cameras came flooding into the White Wolf Guild.
Thank goodness Jeong-woo was brilliantly using his body to block them from reaching me.
"Please, just one interview with Miss Ar...!"
"I said no! Don't you know she's still a kid? Get lost, please!"
The tug-of-war between the reporters and Jeong-woo dragged on for a while but ended in Jeong-woo's victory.
I watched the reporters being dragged out by the arriving security and guild Hunters, then gave a small clap.
"Oh... impressive. Good work."
"I know, right? Man, they came at us like crazy..."
I borrowed a handkerchief from nearby and wiped the sweat dripping from Jeong-woo's forehead.
"But is S-Rank such a big deal? I don't really get it..."
At my words, Jeong-woo frantically scanned the surroundings in case anyone overheard, his face a picture of disbelief.
"Hey... don't say stuff like that anywhere else. You'll get flamed."
"Is that so? Got it, I'll be careful..."
Jeong-woo spent a good while explaining the Awakener ranking system.
According to him, Hunter ranks were measured by the International Gate Federation's gate rating scale.
If you could clear a B-Rank gate solo, you were A-Rank; clear an A-Rank solo, you were S-Rank, and so on.
"But I've never cleared a gate solo—why am I S-Rank?"
"It's your mana capacity. And that's even after downplaying it..."
Mana capacity, huh. Not the most important measure of strength...
"Hmm... So what's your rank, Jeong-woo?"
"Officially A-Rank, but I can solo A-Ranks with support, so quasi S-Rank."
"If you're A-Rank, you're A-Rank—such a weird classification."
Jeong-woo's mana felt like upper Expert level in Elantara terms.
That meant two of them could hold off a Demon King's apostle—probably A-Rank equivalent.
Lost in thought mapping it to my own system, I glanced at Jeong-woo to see him muttering to himself with a soul-left-his-body expression.
"Quasi S-Rank, confirmed..."
Looks like I'd poked a sore spot.
As I pondered whether to comfort him, a commotion erupted from outside.
Focusing for a moment, it sounded like Hyun-woo wrestling with reporters.
"Hyun-woo's arrived. It's chaos out there."
"Huh? You can hear that? We're on the 16th floor."
A bit later, Hyun-woo stepped out of the elevator, holding a bag in one hand.
The bag read 'Love Bakery'.
"He really came... How'd the press conference go? Been too busy with reporters to check."
"It was fine. Seo-yoon left straight for Busan on schedule. She asked me to pass this to you."
Hyun-woo pulled a prettily decorated heart-shaped cupcake from the bag and handed it to me.
"Mm, thanks. Tell Seo-yoon thanks too."
The moment I took a bite of the cupcake, a click sounded from the building across the way.
"Hm. Someone's in the opposite building."
"I heard it too. One little rat."
Hyun-woo said that, walked to the window, and roughly drew the curtains shut.
"No way... what did you hear this time...?"
The one A-Rank caught between two S-Ranks muttered with a sense of exclusion.
"Camera shutter. From the next building over."
"You can hear the next building? These people are insane..."
"No problematic behavior, so it shouldn't matter."
I sat quietly eating the rest of my cupcake, listening to their conversation.
Even Jeong-woo couldn't pick up an obvious sound if he just focused a little.
I'd have to give him some training later.
The cupcake wasn't anything special.
Bread like this was common in Elantara—no real nostalgia there.
"Yeah... what could they nitpick about eating cake?"