The Bodyguard
I am sitting in the car, speeding down the road, reading over the documents the handler sent me for the second time.
'Well... I'm being hired as a bodyguard for an entire rented-out hotel.'
Among the twenty security personnel, there are names I recognize.
Lee Seungjun and Min Serin are both assigned to the security team, and Min Serin and I are even paired up in the same two-person unit.
It seems they put us in the same team because we have a history of completing missions together.
'I suppose when it comes to human-to-human combat, there’s no hunter quite like Lee Seungjun...'
At first, I thought this was a sweet, easy gig, but six of the security personnel are hunters from the Bureau of Investigation. If you include Lee Seungjun, who is a former investigator, that makes seven.
Seeing that seven A-rank human butchers—people who are terrifyingly good at killing—were included in the detail sent a chill down my spine.
'Did the handler play me...?'
There wasn't any detailed information about the South Chungnam Branch Manager in the files, and when I searched online, I didn't get much, likely due to the tight security.
The only place I could dig up any information was the Hunter Gallery.
I re-read the post I had captured from the gallery.
It was a post that had been deleted after receiving over 300 upvotes in just 20 minutes.
I’m a hunter who used to work at the South Chungnam Branch. I’ve transferred to the private sector now. I’m not going to verify my identity, so if you don’t believe me, just get lost.
I’ll give my opinion on this terror incident that you guys are curious about.
As most people who know, know, the relationship between Association executives who are former hunters and those who are non-hunters has been at rock bottom for a long time.
The South Chungnam Branch Manager is a high-ranking Association executive who is a classic non-hunter. He started as a clerk and rose to Branch Manager in five years, so his political maneuvering must be top-tier, right?
In fact, the South Chungnam Branch is where the most corruption cases were uncovered, and in that process, many Association executives who were former hunters were fired.
Naturally, rumors spread within the branch that the current Branch Manager, who was the Secretary-General at the time, had fabricated the corruption cases to oust the hunter-executives who ignored him and didn't get along with him.
And a year later, the former Branch Manager got caught up in corruption and resigned, and the Secretary-General became the Branch Manager.
Naturally, the first thing he did was replace the high-ranking hunter-executives. So, most of the positions above section chief in the South Chungnam Branch were filled with non-hunter Association members. He did try to "embrace" them by giving a few hunter-executives director titles, but they were mostly directors of departments handling useless administrative busywork with no real power.
Do you think they just accepted those positions? The private hunter company 'Nemesis' that’s trending right now was founded by the former Branch Manager and the high-ranking executives who were ousted or resigned. You know this, right?
Naturally, the South Chungnam Branch had problems with gate exploration due to the departure of A-B rank hunters, and the exploration rate went to shit. Even now, they are barely operating by receiving hunter reinforcements from other branches.
But how was that bullshit possible? There’s a rumor that the current Branch Manager is close with the central government.
Everyone knows the Korean government always looks at the Association like it’s a piece of shit, right? There’s a rumor that the government pushed the current Branch Manager to keep the Association in check, and I think it’s true lol.
Logically, how could a non-hunter civilian fabricate such a large-scale corruption case? It’s impossible without the help of the police and prosecution.
I’ve rambled on, but the conclusion is that the former South Chungnam Branch hunters have plenty of reasons to kill the current Branch Manager, and there are still a truckload of hunters inside who are in cahoots with them lol.
They’re reporting it like some third-party force committed the terror, but that’s obviously bullshit. If you read what I wrote, you can roughly understand who ordered it, right?
If you guys get assigned to the South Chungnam Branch, definitely reject it. I heard from a junior that the atmosphere is fucking terrible. They say when the non-hunter executives give orders, the hunters openly disobey them lololol.
Believe it if you want, don't if you don't, everyone get some rest.
'This is a total mess...'
There’s no evidence in this post, but at least it makes more sense and feels more realistic than the news or the articles put out by the Association.
"Hunter Yoon Suhyun, we have arrived. Your change of clothes is prepared inside."
"Yes, thank you."
I started to regret accepting the job for no reason.
'Yoon Suhyun, you crazy bastard, blinded by money...'
If you think about it deeply, it’s definitely strange.
The Association must have plenty of bunkers or safe houses they own, yet they went out of their way to rent an entire hotel.
In other words, it means they can't even trust the personnel who managed the bunkers or safe houses.
It felt like this incident was the fuse signaling the collapse of the Association system, which had been barely maintained by the charisma of one Association President ever since gates and awakened individuals appeared.
"Haa..."
Anger toward the handler began to well up.
Even if I was the one who accepted, I was curious about the intentions of the handler who gave me the request without any advice, as if it were nothing.
'Did I get stuck with the dirty work that nobody else wanted to do?'
Thinking about negative things only makes me annoyed, so I decided to focus on the task at hand.
"Yes, Hunter Yoon Suhyun, your identity has been confirmed. If you go straight down that hallway, there is a changing room."
I passed the inspection by the Association member at the front door on the first floor and walked down the hallway after entering the hotel.
There were over ten hunters just in the first-floor lobby.
'So twenty were drafted from the Central Headquarters, and they must have sent some from other branches too... The handler didn't tell me that...'
When I arrived at the changing room, there was a suit with my name on it.
I changed into the suit, listened to the Association member explain how to use the radio, and since they told me to go to the 14th floor, I headed up.
*Ding-*
When I stepped out of the elevator, two familiar faces were in front of me.
"It's been a while, Suhyun."
Lee Seungjun greeted me with a smile.
"Yes, it's been a while, Seungjun."
And next to him was Min Serin.
"Suhyun... hello..."
"Yes, it's been a while, Serin."
Min Serin’s face was very dark.
Beyond just being dark, she looked haggard, with dark circles under her eyes, as if she hadn't been eating well or had been sick recently.
'What is it... Did something happen?'
Lee Seungjun explained the work.
The South Chungnam Branch Manager and his family are on the 16th floor, and two bodyguards are stationed on each floor, so Min Serin and I just need to monitor the 14th floor for any suspicious movements.
All the hotel room doors on the 14th floor are wide open.
After finishing the explanation, Lee Seungjun went up to the 16th floor.
For Min Serin and me, the entirety of the job is to check all the rooms and the hallway every 30 minutes and report that there is nothing unusual.
'If nothing happens for a week, it’s a sweet mission, but the handler’s explanation was way too lacking...'
I thought he should have at least explained the situation at the current South Chungnam Branch to me.
***
The first three days ended with surprising quiet.
However, I heard some truly fucked-up things from Lee Seungjun.
I learned that most of the hunters dispatched from the Central Headquarters, including Lee Seungjun, came under the Association President's orders, and that there were only four hunters, including me, who came after being offered and accepting the job from the handler.
I also heard that it was a dangerous mission compared to the pay because there could be follow-up terror attacks.
He added that he was surprised when he heard I had accepted.
He didn't say much else, but in reality, Lee Seungjun had indirectly told me, 'You were worked over just to fill the handler's performance quota, you idiot lol.'
'Ha... Suhyun, you idiot... Do you always get played even after reaching A-rank?'
Self-loathing and rage toward the handler welled up.
Fortunately, the first three days passed without any problems, and Lee Seungjun told me that there was a high chance the remaining four days would pass without issues, but I couldn't help the boiling in my stomach.
'Fuck... As soon as this is over, I’m going to find that handler.'
"Haa..."
During the two days of rest, I have to stay cooped up in the hotel room assigned to me.
They bring up meals and bring me a new suit every day.
Calling outside is, of course, impossible.
'Come to think of it...'
I was concerned about Min Serin's dark expression, but in the end, I couldn't ask her during those three days.
We had done a few missions together, but I felt it wasn't quite right to ask what happened personally, so I kept my mouth shut.
'Is she sick somewhere?'
"Worry about yourself instead of others, you idiot..."
Wearing a bathrobe, I sat in the massage chair provided in the room.
*Whirrr-*
It was depressing to think that all I could do for the next two days was sit in this chair, get a massage, and eat the food they brought me.
'I'd rather be working.'
*Ring-a-ling-*
Just then, the hotel room doorbell rang.
'Who is it? At this hour?'
I walked to the door and asked who it was.
"Who is it...?"
"Um... it's Min Serin..."
"Yes? Serin, what’s the matter... Please wait a moment."
I hurriedly put on shorts and a t-shirt and opened the door.
"..."
Min Serin, looking even more haggard than the first day, is standing there like someone who has something to say.
She is holding a plastic bag full of something in her hand.
"Um... Serin?"
Min Serin looked down at the floor and then abruptly lifted the plastic bag and said:
"Do you... want to drink?"
"Yes?"
***
'What is going on...'
I couldn't bring myself to refuse, so we ended up drinking together in my room.
The bag Min Serin brought contained alcohol and a can of nuts.
The problem was... the alcohol was 'Drops.'
Hunters have high resistance, so drinking the alcohol civilians drink only makes them slightly tipsy and doesn't really get them drunk. If they want to get drunk, they find and drink moonshine called Drops, made from materials that come out of gates.
Naturally, brewing and drinking Drops is illegal, but if you don't cause any trouble, they don't crack down on it, and the Association knows all about it and turns a blind eye.
'Well... how can you stop people from drinking? But how did she get this here?'
This is only the second time I've seen it, besides the one I drank when I graduated from training camp.
"Um... but how did you get the Drops?"
"Seungjun-sunbae gave them to me..."
"..."
I stared at Min Serin with a look that said I didn't understand at all.
"Ah... I haven't been able to sleep lately, so Seungjun-sunbae gave them to me, saying I should drink this and get some sleep when I'm resting..."
"I see..."
'So why can't you sleep...'
I brought two glass cups, poured the alcohol, and we started drinking in silence.
"Kuh..."
It’s definitely different from soju or beer in terms of the kick.
After emptying her glass, Min Serin filled it again by herself and drank it again by herself.
I felt like I had to ask now.
"Um... Serin, is something wrong?"
Min Serin answered my question in a different way.
"Hic..."
"...?"
"Huuu...!"
Min Serin suddenly started crying in front of me.
'What the hell, seriously.'