The Boss's Niche Market Pitch
The boss’s sales pitch that carved deep into a niche market.
“I’ll discuss it with my husband.”
“Mom. What about my opinion?”
“Of course my daughter’s opinion comes first.”
“Then I……”
“You should think it over, shouldn’t you?”
Faced with the formidable madam’s attitude, Yeondo went “eup” and clamped a hand over her mouth.
But here’s the thing.
“You said you’d focus entirely on taking care of me?”
When I applied a light bit of pressure, President Baek immediately dodged.
“It was a proposal made because Hunter-nim cherishes Miss Yeondo.”
“Me? This kid?”
“What’s wrong with me, mister?”
Whatever the case.
“The word ‘cherishes’ feels a little off, doesn’t it?”
“Your words are way too harsh. I’m the number-one member and president of the fan club that carefully made that banner!”
I never asked anyone to make a fan club for me.
Really.
Just remembering how flustered I’d been seeing that banner at the promotion exam still sent goosebumps cascading down my skin.
“Come to think of it, you weren’t there for the exam.”
“I was at school.”
Ah.
Right. This kid was still a high schooler.
“By the way, President. When do you think the data analysis will be finished?”
“It should be organized into a first draft by tomorrow.”
“The Rift Bureau seems eager for us to hand it over quickly.”
“Then I’ll deliver the confirmed portions first, along with the Mir Guild–related information.”
“Yep. Thank you.”
Thanks to the Chinese intelligence agency’s materials, we had quickly identified the mastermind behind the attack.
“Hahahahat. We found the culprit thanks to my decisive action.”
“This humble one also played a major role.”
“Sir.”
“From next time onward, I shall report without fail.”
“Really? On your knightly honor? How about just not doing it at all?”
“Protecting one’s lord is the foremost virtue of chivalry.”
He absolutely refused to say he wouldn’t do it again.
“I know nothing about it, Master. The iron-headed one said he’d take full responsibility.”
“Scram!”
“Did I say something untrue?”
“Krrr.”
Ugh.
“I’ll say it one more time: give me a heads-up before you cause trouble.”
“I shall keep it firmly in mind!”
Anyway, he was excellent at answering.
Back in the vehicle, Baek Seonghyeon closed the door.
It was a good meeting.
He hadn’t expected an immediate confirmation from Yeondo.
Simply planting a favorable impression before the rookie who possessed the Swift ability hit the free-agent market was more than enough.
Setting navigation.
Destination – Rift Management Bureau Headquarters
His hands tightened around the steering wheel.
There was far too much to do today.
If only I had two bodies.
Even Baek Seonghyeon, a severe workaholic, found himself tongue-tied at the sheer volume of work.
Still, a smile rose unbidden to his lips.
After roughly an hour he arrived at the Rift Bureau headquarters and immediately secured a private audience with Commissioner Choi Jiung.
“You could have simply sent it by email. Making a busy man come and go like this.”
Despite the polite phrasing, Choi Jiung made no effort to hide his wary expression.
Who was the man sitting across from him—Baek Seonghyeon?
These days he ran a small agency, but only a year ago he had held an iron grip on the personnel side of the Chilseong Guild.
When he was still in the field he poached a mountain of our talent.
A non-awakened who had risen all the way to a key post in a hunter guild.
That outstanding talent was now exclusively marking and supporting Minho.
Coming all the way to Gwacheon and requesting a meeting just to deliver data?
There was definitely another aim.
“If you guard against me so openly, I’ll get hurt too.”
“Representative Baek getting hurt? That’s the most delightful joke I’ve heard this year.”
Choi Jiung joked while carefully reading Baek Seonghyeon’s presence.
It had been a long time since he last held a weapon, but he too was an S-class hunter who had been active during the Great Cataclysm.
Breathing.
The tremor of the heart.
And the many other signals the body sent—he could read them well enough to gauge emotion to a degree.
Not easy to read.
Calmness itself.
A poker face so complete that even an S-class hunter’s senses found no anomaly.
“I cannot take up too much of the Commissioner’s precious time, so let us get to the point.”
Baek Seonghyeon took a sip of tea before continuing.
“This attack was a joint operation between the Superhuman Bureau and the Mir Guild.”
“Can you handle that statement?”
“All the evidence is contained in the materials I will hand over today.”
Choi Jiung swallowed a low groan.
The careful probing of presence moments earlier had suddenly become meaningless.
To drop by without warning and casually detonate a bomb like that.
Separate from the sheer absurdity, Choi Jiung’s mind raced to calculate just how reliable the information Baek Seonghyeon had thrown was.
I knew there would be domestic collaborators or organizations.
Deploying Turang at company scale while slipping past the Coast Guard and the Rift Bureau’s eyes?
This was not some other country—it was the Republic of Korea.
The border security level of the only divided nation in the twenty-first century was extremely high.
Even a world-class Chinese intelligence organization would have found it difficult to conceal infiltrators of company size.
It required the assistance of a group with significant local standing.
“Mir Guild, is it.”
Choi Jiung muttered the name over and over as if chewing on it.
It had been within the expected range, yet that only made the shock greater.
“So there was a reason you insisted on delivering the data in person.”
“What will you do, Commissioner?”
“Isn’t there still a possibility it isn’t the Mir Guild?”
Choi Jiung spoke words he did not mean.
“If you truly believe that, then let us end the conversation here.”
“Let’s hear why you suddenly came to test our reaction.”
“Wouldn’t it be worthwhile to shake the board a little with this opportunity?”
“Representative Baek should know perfectly well how much potential the domestic top five possess.”
A man who had climbed all the way into the executive ranks of the Chilseong Guild.
That was also a rebuke: didn’t he understand the power and influence of the large guilds?
“If it is Hunter Park, it is possible.”
“Are you saying one hunter can fill the vacancy left by one of the domestic top five?”
“There is no need to fill the entire vacancy.”
The enormous interests Mir Guild held.
It would be strange if no one coveted them.
Not only the other domestic top five standing on the same line, but also the large guilds aiming for the summit would rush in for a single slice of meat.
“It will have a negative effect on the domestic situation.”
“Let us be honest with each other, Commissioner.”
Baek Seonghyeon leaned his upper body forward.
The shadow cast by turning his back to the ceiling lights fell thickly across his face.
“Is it not you, Commissioner, who abhors the rigid hunter society?”
“Have you been peeking into my heart?”
“It is a story known to anyone who has eaten even a little rice among the domestic top five.”
Baek Seonghyeon replied as if it were nothing.
An awkward silence settled between them.
He understood.
Even Baek Seonghyeon, who had put forward the radical proposal, had not originally intended to play such a bold card.
But
The situation has changed.
The three subordinates had brought information from the Chinese intelligence agency.
With a powerful weapon capable of overturning the board now in hand, it was only human nature to swing it.
Moreover, the two real powers of the Rift Bureau were extreme principle-ists.
The conviction that hunters must do their utmost for the survival of humanity.
That belief did not sit well with large guilds that held numerous vested interests.
Given even a single trigger, they would want to sound a warning bell throughout the hunter industry.
“In Representative Baek’s estimation, what is the probability?”
“If the Rift Bureau lends its strength, ninety-nine percent.”
“You speak lightly of burying one of the domestic top five.”
“It means it is worth attempting if we play every card we hold.”
Phoenix and Chilseong.
Two of the top five could be brought firmly into the allied camp.
He was confident he could persuade the remaining two guilds as well.
If he offered to share even a portion of the interests Mir Guild currently occupied, they would gladly join the offensive.
With the Rift Bureau added to the mix, they could drastically shrink or even paralyze Mir Guild’s influence.
“Very well. I will cooperate with Representative Baek.”
“An excellent choice.”
“Then tell me what you want from me.”
“Please give a light stroke to the politicians who maintain cooperative relations with Mir.”
“You speak as casually as if deciding the dinner menu.”
“The sauce is right here.”
Baek Seonghyeon handed over the USB containing the data.
The following morning.
The atmosphere at Mir Guild headquarters resembled a battlefield.
Ring ring!
“Ah. Yes. Our guild has absolutely no connection to this attack.”
“Contact the Hankook Ilbo. Tell them to take the article down!”
“The scale of the damage is still being assessed. The cause investigation isn’t even finished yet.”
“So……”
……
Articles poured out the moment day broke.
Mir Guild’s public relations department responded with everything they had, yet it was useless.
“Where the hell did this explode from?”
“These bastards did this without even a warning!”
Bang!
The PR director slammed his fist onto the desk.
The center of the steel desk caved in with a dull crunch.
It was the superhuman strength of a former hunter—an A-class at that.
“Director. Goryeo Ilbo has also published an article.”
“Goryeo Ilbo is Chilseong’s, isn’t it?”
“Daehyeok Ilbo has come out as well.”
“Isn’t that paper connected to Phoenix?”
“That’s correct.”
“These damn bastards. What the hell are they thinking, pulling a stunt like this?”
The PR director growled.
Mir Guild’s influence was woven densely throughout every corner of South Korean society.
A negative issue arises?
They consult with Mir Guild first, then turn the incident into an article.
The tragedy on the uninhabited island.
The guild support team being wiped out and the assault squad being ambushed had of course been placed under embargo.
This was an industry where a kind of WWE was the default.
Especially this attack case—one for which they had not even properly handed over materials to the outside.
They had detonated such a matter without any warning.
Multiple media outlets, without so much as a single word of notice.
“What does the Rift Bureau say?”
“We can’t get through to them.”
“The floor leader of the Minjeong Party?”
“They’re screening our calls.”
This was absurd.
The current ruling party had maintained a friendly stance toward Mir Guild.
They had greased the wheels for a long time.
And beneath the surface they had not hesitated to carry out various schemes to guarantee each other’s interests.
Yet now
they were stabbing them in the back like this.
Creak—the door was flung open roughly and Yong Cheonwoo strode in with fierce momentum.
“G-Guildmaster!”
“Report the situation.”
“I-I’m sorry!”
“Do not make me say it twice.”
“Currently every major media outlet has opened fire.”
“The Rift Bureau has moved.”
Yong Cheonwoo muttered with an expressionless face.
At the calm that had replaced his usual rage, a chill ran down the PR director’s spine.
This is the situation that requires the greatest caution.
When someone becomes too angry, they grow calm.
The present Yong Cheonwoo was exactly that.
“I will go to the Blue House myself.”
“Y-Yes, sir.”
“You people pressure them to take down every single article that has gone up.”
“Yes.”
After issuing orders to the PR department, Yong Cheonwoo headed straight for the Blue House.
The guild masters of the domestic top five possessed the right to a private audience with the president without prior appointment.
There was a limit of once per year, but
in a situation like this there was no reason to conserve it.
These articles. The government has condoned them.
A signal that it was now acceptable to stick a fork into the fresh prey that was Mir Guild.
The fastest solution was to persuade the president.
If I find out who orchestrated this, I will not leave them alone.
Murderous intent glinted above Yong Cheonwoo’s eyes.
He had overcome even greater crises any number of times.
As long as the cooperation with the Superhuman Bureau remained unexposed,
he was confident he could settle the matter with a modest “concession” to the current government.
That was also why they had turned a blind eye to the Rift Bureau’s movement.
What should I hand over?
In Yong Cheonwoo’s mind, the uninhabited island incident was already no longer present.