Thirty Million Dollars
GGG Guild.
Its official name was Great Gutsy Guard, one of the largest guilds in the United States. Translated into Korean, it meant something like "the great and courageous sentinels" — a name meant to convey the protection of people and assets. Most people, however, preferred the abbreviation GGG over the full name.
"Saying the whole thing out loud is kind of lame, you know?"
"And you're aware that you're an executive director of that 'lame' guild, right?"
"They pay me a lot, so I keep my mouth shut."
The Saint of Los Angeles. The Angel of GGG. A hunter who went by several other epithets besides. Sophia smiled sweetly.
"There's a hunter who's caught my interest lately."
Minho's photo glowed on the tablet screen.
"A Korean, huh."
"Wow. Looking down on him because he's Asian? Boooo, you racist garbage."
Yujeong Kim, Guild Master of GGG and a third-generation Korean American, let out a long-suffering sigh.
"Does looking at my skin and hair ring any bells for you?"
"Not a single gray hair. Great skin, too. You don't look fifty at all."
"Thanks— wait, that's not the point. I'm Asian too!"
"Why are you getting so worked up? You're not even a racist, so what's the problem?"
"I haven't said anything yet."
"Come on, just take a closer look."
Yujeong Kim slowly reviewed the materials Sophia handed over. A hunter presumed to have ascended to S-rank. One who had hunted a mutant boss monster and prevented break damage. After reading through the compiled record of Minho's activities, Yujeong Kim's eyes lit up.
"Let's bring him in."
"As you just said yourself, Master — he's Korean."
"What does nationality matter? Anyone with guts can join our guild."
"You do know Korea is upside down right now over that recent A-rank defection, right?"
Jeong Sinho's transfer to China. The upheaval it caused across the Korean government and the hunter industry had reached all the way across the ocean to America. An A-rank hunter leaking overseas — and not just any A-rank. The hunter considered most likely to rise to S-rank had been poached by the Chinese government.
"The Korean government is going to be absolutely venomous about this right now."
"Ahem! Lacking in grit, aren't we, Executive Director Sophia!"
Yujeong Kim thundered as if fire might shoot from her mouth, then shook her head from side to side.
"So long as you have the courage to press forward no matter the obstacle…!"
"Yes, yes. So just stamp this document for me, please."
"It's a company founded by Mr. Baek, former director of Korea's Chilseong Guild."
"Investments I can handle on my own. Why do you need my signature?"
"Thirty million dollars. Without the Master's authorization, the approval won't go through."
"What the… that kind of money into a brand-new agency?"
"Think about who's standing behind Mr. Baek."
Another file appeared on the tablet. Yujeong Kim grasped the implication a beat late — then burst into laughter.
"Greenlight it."
GGG's investment proposal. It was good news — so why did he look so troubled?
"They're not investing thirty million dollars because of my abilities."
"Then why?"
"It's a means of establishing a connection with Hunter Park."
"……"
Thirty million dollars. So, roughly four hundred billion won — just to grab a cup of coffee with me. Was that the idea?
"Yes."
The scale of these people.
You turned down twenty billion already. Why are you so shocked by this?
This and that are not the same thing. Setting aside that the amount was more than double — that money wasn't even for recruiting me. They wanted to invest it in President Baek's agency. Just to create an opportunity to talk to me.
"Torching over four hundred billion like that…"
"Is investing in me the same as burning cash?"
"Ah. I'm sorry."
"I'm joking. From a third party's perspective, it does look like setting money on fire."
President Baek self-deprecatingly admitted that his own track record wasn't enough to draw an investment of this size.
Thirty million dollars. Since I wasn't named anywhere in the contract terms, there was no actual obligation to meet with them. He said I should just take it as a signal that GGG had taken an interest in me.
"Congratulations, President Baek!"
Pleasure without responsibility. You'd be an idiot not to take it. He was more than capable of delivering results on an investment — just expand the agency business bigger!
"I think it would be better to decline the offer."
Ah. Right. He could feel that way, sure.
"You said yourself there's nothing to lose by taking it and running."
"This thirty million dollars was offered with Hunter Park in mind. Separately, accepting it would mean I'd have to expand the agency's operations."
President Baek's voice was firm.
"I told you I would devote myself entirely to supporting Hunter Park."
"Ah. Yes. You did say that."
Too much money to dedicate to a single person. Expanding the business would mean less time available to support me. Gratitude and regret crossed paths inside me.
"Turning it down for my sake… that feels kind of strange."
"Please don't feel burdened. Hunter Park's success is what will prove I was right all along."
Well, damn. All that talk about rejecting ten billion, twenty billion — that had been fake madness. The real thing was something else entirely.
Now there's a man with his head screwed on straight.
I like him. A steadfast heart devoted to serving his lord — that is the very model of chivalry.
What exactly did business have to do with chivalry?
"I'll convey our refusal for now."
"Yes, sir. Thank you for your hard work."
After hanging up, I stared blankly up at the sky. The bright moonlight was dazzling tonight.
"Is this for real."
Fifteen billion. Twenty billion — I'd kicked those offers to the curb. And now I was somehow involved in whether or not to accept an investment of thirty million dollars, over four hundred billion won.
The more renown my lord garners, the more the world around him shall change.
Everyone will end up kneeling before you, Master.
Maybe it was because each of them had reached the pinnacle of their respective fields. Their conviction carried not a single shred of doubt.
"Yeah. Looking forward to working with you both."
Leave it to me!
I'll repay your trust, Master.
Both thralls answered with vigor.
That night.
The moment I finished washing up and changing clothes, I went straight to bed. I didn't even have the strength to lift a finger, so I simply closed my eyes — but maybe I was too exhausted. A floating sensation washed over me, and a vision flickered before my eyes.
The phantom of a knight holding a longsword.
"I haven't even watched a movie lately."
What a strange dream. If I tried to open my eyes, I could probably wake up right away. And yet, without much thought, I followed the path the vision laid out — the knight's journey, from beginning to end.
From the first moment a sword was placed in those hands. Protecting people from monsters. Kneeling in a grand audience hall to swear loyalty to someone.
"From this day forth, you are my sword."
A deep, resonant voice that shook the great hall. The kneeling knight's body trembled finely.
"Fell the Lich King who has plunged the world into chaos."
There was a scene of charging alone into enemy lines, slaughtering undead by the score. Maybe it was because this was a dream-vision, but—
"……That's insanely strong."
It felt more powerful than any of the Twelve Heroes' exploits I'd seen in archival footage. The knight brought every enemy to their knees and dedicated the glory to the one who held their loyalty. But what destroyed the knight was not an enemy from without.
Internal strife.
To rule a rapidly expanding nation without discord, the leader had entered into political marriages during the process of annexation. The First Empress and the Second Empress. Naturally, the two did not get along — and in their bid to place their own bloodline on the throne, they poisoned the one to whom the knight had sworn loyalty.
It happened while the loyal knight was away.
A civil war erupted as each side sought to install their own heir. The existence of a knight so fiercely loyal became a thorn in both factions' sides. And so, at last, the moment arrived when that blade grew dull, when the gleam of armor was swallowed by dark crimson stains.
Even so, until the very end — stubbornly, steadfastly — the knight pressed forward, swinging the sword, until finally collapsing.
In that instant, a white light slammed into my retinas.
Fwaaaash!
"Nngh."
The world that had been unfolding before my eyes sank into darkness.
AM 00:47
Just past midnight. Without thinking, I stared at the knight standing stock-still nearby.
"Sir Isra."
You called?
"Why aren't you sleeping?"
It is less sleep and more the act of submerging one's consciousness.
"Same difference."
I was not doing anything in particular. I was simply watching over my lord.
Okay, that was a little creepy. Ingrid wasn't responding, so she was probably asleep — or rather, had submerged her consciousness.
The figure I'd just seen in the dream… that had to be Sir Isra's past life.
"Sir."
What is it?
I started to ask about the previous life, but the moment I recalled the vision from the dream, the words wouldn't come easily.
"Never mind."
The training must have been quite grueling.
Sir Isra gave a short laugh — hah.
What are you talking about.
Even if you cast aside your pride and begged me to lower the intensity, it would avail you nothing.
"What."
In my day, you see, we swung our swords from the moment our eyes opened until the moment they closed.
"No. That's not what I—"
My lord has inherited my talent. Endure a little hardship and you shall grow strong in no time.
This guy. Here I was carefully, emotionally deliberating how to broach a sensitive subject, and he was going on about training!
What really annoyed me was that I couldn't even argue — because in that vision of the knight I assumed was Sir Isra, I had also seen the endless swinging of a sword from sunrise to sunset.
"Fine. Whatever."
Sigh. Better not say anything. Someday — when it wasn't just a vision, when Sir Isra spoke of the past in their own words — I'd bring it up then.
There was one gain, at least. By understanding a little more of Sir Isra's "life," I could organize the direction of the next modification in my head.
The only regret was that every scene in the dream had the knight wearing a helmet, so I never got a proper look at the face. If it turned out to be ugly, all that understanding would go out the window and I'd start teasing immediately.
"Tch."
I smacked my lips in mild disappointment and closed my eyes again.
Someday, maybe I'd also learn what kind of life Ingrid had lived before dying. Well — hearing it directly would be far better than seeing it through some dream. But I had no intention of asking first.
Just as Sir Isra's final years had not been peaceful, perhaps Ingrid, too, carried some kind of unresolved grudge — and that was why they couldn't leave this world, bound instead to that staff. That was the thought that crossed my mind.
Well. I'd find out eventually.
As I turned that over, a fog seemed to settle over my mind, everything growing hazy. After one long yawn, my consciousness drifted away, and I sank swiftly into a deep sleep.