The White Light Construction
After arriving at the headquarters early in the morning and completing the identity verification process with the Association staff, I was told to wait for a while. After sitting for a bit, another staff member came to guide me deep into the seventh basement level.
'I didn't even know there was a seventh basement level.'
From shower rooms to training grounds and even a cafeteria—it had everything. It felt less like a facility built for work and more like an underground bunker.
It was the perfect place to plan and prepare for a secret operation like this.
Passing through a door in the corner of the Association, I went through three more doors equipped with various security devices before reaching an elevator. They said this was the only way to get down here.
There was a running joke on the Hunter forums that there was a torture chamber deep beneath the Association building. After seeing this place, I was half-convinced that even if there wasn't a torture chamber, there was definitely a floor dedicated to secretly abducting, imprisoning, and interrogating criminals without the government's knowledge.
The conference room was noisy. Over thirty hunters affiliated with the Association had gathered.
Among them were about seven "named" hunters whose names anyone in the industry would recognize.
'Where is Hyena?'
"Oh?"
I saw someone with a familiar-looking back of the head and realized it was Min Serin. We made eye contact, but she gave a slight nod of greeting and immediately looked away.
Everyone except me seemed to be close, laughing and chatting with each other.
'I'm the only outcast...'
It reminded me of my trainee days, when everyone but me would laugh, chat, and eat together, looking so happy.
'Damn it...'
Just then, the door behind the podium opened, and Hyena walked out, dressed in a sharp suit.
The noisy atmosphere died down instantly, and all eyes turned to her.
Hyena scanned the room, and when she caught my eye, she smiled faintly before standing in front of the microphone.
"Ah, ah... can you hear me? I am Director Kang Hyena, the general commander for this operation."
Most people seemed to be listening, but a few were openly sleeping or doing other things.
"Now then."
At Hyena's signal, the lights in the conference room went out, the screen lowered, and the beam projector turned on.
"T-then, I will begin the briefing."
Just then, a hunter raised his hand high, as if he had a question.
"Yes? Hunter Lee Seung-jun, do you have a question?"
"Yes, are you the one giving the operation explanation, Director Kang?"
As Lee Seung-jun asked, small giggles could be heard from around the room.
"Yes, is there a problem?"
Hyena answered with a bright smile, but her lips were trembling slightly.
That meant she was genuinely pissed off.
"It's not so much a problem... but you're not very good at explaining these things, Director... There's an Association staff member right next to you who specializes in briefings, so why do it yourself?"
"What?!"
As Hyena bristled, the hunters in the room began to murmur.
"She's clumsy with paperwork and such, so the Association President even assigned her an assistant to handle that stuff, yet she always tries to do it herself."
"But she's trying her best~."
Hyena crumpled the paper she was holding, her hands shaking as she glared at Lee Seung-jun.
"Lee Seung-jun... you!"
Lee Seung-jun quickly lowered his hand, crossed his arms, and closed his eyes.
Just then, a woman who looked like a secretary approached Hyena.
'Ah, that's the person who was with Hyena the day I moved Nahyun's luggage to the official residence.'
The secretary whispered something in Hyena's ear, and Hyena glared at Lee Seung-jun one last time before stepping down from the podium.
"I will begin the operation explanation. Hunter Lee Seung-jun, you will have a separate meeting with the Director after the briefing."
The surrounding hunters snickered, and Lee Seung-jun let out a sigh.
After that, the secretary took over and began the operation briefing.
'Is this a sitcom?'
The explanation of the operation was shocking.
It wasn't just a simple criminal organization. On the surface, it started as an ordinary social club for retired hunters. While it appeared to be a wholesome group that mostly engaged in volunteer work, in reality, it was composed of hunters who had been fired after receiving heavy disciplinary action from the Association, or those who had resigned and left the Association just as internal investigations into their shady pasts were about to begin.
The Association had been suspicious of this club for a long time, and through an informant, they were able to obtain detailed information.
The reality was that it was a criminal organization involved in all sorts of crimes, including human trafficking, organ trafficking, and drug manufacturing and distribution.
According to the informant's revelation, the social club was just a smokescreen; the real entity was an illegal business led by a construction company called White Light Construction.
'White Light Construction...'
It was a company founded by Baek Gwang-hyun, an A-rank hunter who had made a name for himself exploring countless Gates when they first began to appear worldwide, after he left the Association.
Even during my trainee days, I had heard the name Baek Gwang-hyun often; he was a top-tier hunter.
After friction with high-ranking officials within the Association, Baek Gwang-hyun eventually retired and founded this construction company, but in reality, it was a criminal organization trafficking organs and drugs to China and Southeast Asia.
It wasn't just simple organ trafficking; there was intelligence that they were kidnapping young Awakeners to traffic their organs.
In places like China, there is an open rumor that there is a surgery where one can become an Awakener if they receive an Awakener's organ transplant, and such acts are being performed in the shadows.
Even if you receive an Awakener's organ transplant, you don't become an Awakener. No, it's common sense for a normal person to receive a transplant from another normal person.
If a normal person receives an Awakener's organ, they suffer from all sorts of side effects that modern medicine cannot predict.
Even when it comes to blood transfusions, the blood of normal people and Awakeners is strictly separated and used accordingly.
However, rumors have recently been circulating within China that if you undergo a special transplant surgery using drugs made from materials found in Gates, a normal person can become an Awakener.
The Association cannot verify the truth of these rumors, but for criminals, the truth doesn't matter.
What matters to them is that wealthy Chinese individuals are trading Awakener organs at astronomical prices.
Surprisingly, because the control over Awakeners in China is incomparably stricter than in South Korea, they couldn't do it within China and turned their eyes to Southeast Asia, Korea, and Japan.
The place we are raiding in this operation is a building in the mountains, and according to the informant, young Awakened children are being held there. They are either dismantled there or sold off to China while still alive.
Our mission is to arrest the key executives and collect evidence.
Once the evidence is collected, the Information Investigation Bureau will step in to announce these facts to the nation and arrest Baek Gwang-hyun.
Since there is a major transaction next week, most of the executives and children will be gathered at that building, and we will strike at that moment.
The second problem is drugs.
There is intelligence that a red powder-type drug called "Red Dust," made by synthesizing various materials from Gates, is being manufactured through White Light Construction and distributed overseas.
Red Dust is known as the king of drugs, often called the "drug of dreams," and it is said that once you inhale it, you can feel your senses heightened and taste what heaven is really like.
Naturally, because of its severe addictiveness, it is illegal in every country in the world.
The intelligence is that such a drug is being manufactured in Korea.
It is said that through these crimes, the assets Baek Gwang-hyun acquired last year alone exceed trillions of won.
'Damn... is this really South Korea?'
After the explanation, we were each assigned a room to stay in.
Starting tomorrow, I will stay here for four days, repeating operation training before being deployed.
Late at night, I sat alone in the cafeteria, thinking about the operation.
Naturally, all communication with the outside world was completely cut off. There might be an insider here.
No, if I think about it a little deeper, there has to be an insider somewhere in the Association.
Without the cooperation of high-ranking Association officials, it would be impossible to run such a vicious criminal enterprise for over a year while avoiding the Association's eyes.
Before hearing the explanation, I was skeptical about the operation itself, which could lead to killings, but after hearing it, I felt like it would be fine to just kill them all.
Rather than wasting taxpayer money to lock them up in an Awakener prison and feed them, it would be more beneficial to society to capture a few key figures to extract confessions and summarily execute the rest on the spot.
'Extract confessions from the key figures, and once the trial is over, execute them immediately...'
My heavy heart felt a little lighter.
'I won't go out of my way to kill them, but I won't feel guilty if I kill them by mistake.'
I let out a deep sigh and stood up from the chair to head back to my room when the cafeteria door opened.
"Oh?"
"Ah."
Min Serin was standing in front of the door. She still had that sharp impression.
"Ah, hello."
"Yes, hello."
We exchanged awkward greetings, and just as I was about to leave the cafeteria, Min Serin called me back.
"Excuse me..."
"Yes?"
"What were you doing in the cafeteria?"
"Pardon? I was just... sitting here."
What was the meaning of that question? Did she think I was trying to contact someone outside?
Min Serin was looking at me with very suspicious eyes.
"You were just sitting here...?"
"Yes... I had some things to think about... No, why are you asking that?"
Min Serin looked at me, then quickly avoided my gaze and said, looking slightly embarrassed.
"Ah... that... I... I came to the cafeteria because I was hungry, and if you happened to be eating something... maybe... No, if it's uncomfortable, I'm not saying we should eat together..."
"Ah..."
Contrary to her sharp impression, Min Serin's face turned red as she scrambled for words, seemingly unaware of what she was even saying.
Her appearance was like a fifty-fifty mix of Chae Yu-ra and Yoon Jihyun.
'Preconceptions are a scary thing.'
Unlike her sharp impression, the way she was fumbling in front of me now was a little... stupid.
'When I saw her last time, her tone and everything seemed cold... That aside, I am feeling a bit peckish.'
"Then..."
"Ah, yes. I guess I'll have to wait until tomorrow morning too."
"No, then shall we look for some ramen together? The cafeteria is so big, I'm sure there's something..."
Min Serin's expression brightened immediately.
"Yes! Then I'll look from the left side!"