Special Recruitment
“Situation Room Head, are you serious? Something that absurd, really…….”
“Do I look like I'm joking? The Authority's been tearing its hair out over the immortal entities. And now an awakened who might actually solve that problem has appeared—refusing to use him over something this trivial would be nonsensical.”
“But sir…….”
“The number of gates increases every year. The immortal entities are multiplying right along with them. There's a limit to how many this facility can contain, you know. Sooner or later we'll hit saturation, and then the problem grows far worse.”
“I don't care. Do whatever you want, sir.”
In front of the firmly sealed containment cell, Situation Room Head Lee Han-seop and a female employee were engaged in a light quarrel.
With a long, put-upon sigh, the woman strode briskly down the corridor, practically radiating resentment.
Lee Han-seop watched her retreating back and shook his head.
“This is why the PR Department people…….”
The woman belonged to the Hunter Management Authority's Public Relations Department.
It was the division that managed the so-called Star Hunters—hunters whose popularity rivaled that of top celebrities and idols.
An organization much like an entertainment agency, dedicated to keeping hunters' public reputations spotless and actively supporting the media activities of its star roster.
Lee Han-seop had never cared much for the PR Department.
Hunters, at their core, existed to shield society from the threat of the gates.
But lately, when he looked at the hunters splashed across the internet and television, he couldn't shake the feeling that the tail had come to wag the dog.
A career soldier before joining the Authority, Lee Han-seop found the whole situation distasteful.
“Hmm. And he's late, besides.”
Lee Han-seop murmured the words while checking his wristwatch.
Nearly thirty minutes had passed since Nam Tae-geun entered the containment cell with the Harpy.
If he really could erase an immortal irregular through sexual intercourse, the Authority's entire policy might have to change.
Plenty of isolation space still remained in this underground facility, but given the recent trend of ever-increasing gates, the day would inevitably come when they hit capacity and had no choice but to release the irregulars back into the world.
A short while later—
With a hiss of hydraulics, the containment cell door slid open.
Nam Tae-geun had finally finished the job.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
My time with the Harpy had been rather pleasant, all things considered.
It was my first time penetrating a cloaca, but the Harpy was genuinely adorable to look at.
Most of all, the stimulation was overwhelming—bumpy ridges clamping down on my cock from every direction at once.
Once the deed was done, I destroyed the Harpy at Lee Han-seop's request, as he waited outside.
[Sexual intercourse with a living being completed.]
[Absorbing a portion of the target's traits.]
[An Absolute and Special Bond has formed with the target.]
[Target can now be eliminated.]
The messages that appeared after the act concluded.
I could make sense of most of them, but one thing nagged at me.
What on earth was an “Absolute and Special Bond” supposed to be?
Since I had no idea what kind of effect it carried, when the Authority had asked me to write up my awakened ability, I'd only put down: “Through sexual intercourse, I can absorb the target's traits and eliminate the target.”
An absolute and special bond, huh.
Part of me wanted to find out what it actually did, but the Harpy I'd just ravished wasn't exactly a conversationalist.
Besides, the whole point of the exercise was to test whether an immortal entity could truly be eliminated—leaving her alive was never an option.
So I'd had no choice but to vaporize the Harpy and step out.
“How did it go? Did you manage to complete the, ah, relations safely?”
“……Yes.”
Lee Han-seop, who had been waiting at the door, accosted me the moment I emerged.
“You could simply have looked inside yourself to confirm, sir.”
The instant I willed the Harpy's destruction, she vanished in the blink of an eye—just like the Slime Cube, that massive object monster, had.
Not a single feather remained in the containment cell. Everything was wiped clean, leaving nothing behind but the restraint harness that had bound the Harpy's wings.
“Then I'll go verify. Please wait here.”
Lee Han-seop stepped inside to confirm the Harpy's elimination with his own eyes.
While I waited for him, I thought about what came next.
What was going to happen to me now?
Now that the Hunter Management Authority knew I was awakened, my quiet, ordinary life was over.
Would I register as a licensed hunter and work out in the field like everyone else……?
With this sex ability……?
I was mulling over that pleasant thought when Lee Han-seop emerged from the cell again—mid-phone call.
“Right. You're telling me the Harpy hasn't been observed at any of the monitored gates? Mm. Mm, understood. Confirmed.”
Ending the call and lowering the phone from his ear, Lee Han-seop looked at me.
“It appears your ability is the real deal, Nam Tae-geun.”
“What exactly did you confirm, sir?”
“The Harpy's complete elimination. Immortal entities respawn instantly through a gate whenever they sustain irrecoverable damage. But the Harpy you eliminated has not reappeared at any gate. In other words—she is gone for good.”
“Which means…….”
“Excellent work. Truly.”
Wow. Praise. I was being praised.
All I did was have sex with a gate monster, and I was being praised.
But there wasn't a trace of a joke on Lee Han-seop's face.
“Follow me. Let's get you registered as a hunter.”
Lee Han-seop set off at a brisk pace.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
The place I arrived at, following Lee Han-seop, was a section of the Authority marked Rank Evaluation Department.
There, I was made to spend yet another eternity filling out paperwork, exactly as instructed.
Lee Han-seop stood beside me, watching over my progress.
It felt like signing up for a new bank product or an insurance policy.
Just as the official hunter registration was nearly wrapped up—
A sharp woman's voice rang out from somewhere across the room.
“Absolutely unacceptable!”
When I turned toward the voice, a young woman dressed head to toe like some kind of idol was bearing down on us at speed, her face twisted with fury.
Hot pants so short and tight that her thighs were nearly all on display, a shirt so small it defied belief that a human being could wear it—and between shirt and jacket, the swell of a voluptuous chest. Cotton-candy pink hair in a layered cut, and makeup done like a celebrity's.
A Star Hunter?
However I looked at her, she was the sort of woman whose vibe existed a hundred million light-years from this soulless administrative space.
She clacked across the floor on her heels, then rounded on Lee Han-seop as though demanding an explanation.
“Absolutely! Not! I already! Told you! Through! My staff!”
Somehow I'd found myself frozen mid-paperwork, reduced to a spectator at the world's most awkward shouting match.
“Nam Tae-geun is an awakened in his own right. Registering him as a hunter is only natural.”
“He's hardly an ordinary awakened, is he! Ha! So what's your plan, exactly? Register him officially and post him straight onto the new hunter list? Then what happens to the hunter image we've spent years building?”
“A hunter's role is to protect this society from the threat of the gates. Nam Tae-geun possesses an ability unique among every hunter we've ever discovered. Telling a man like that not to register because of his image—do you hear yourself?”
“Regardless! Absolutely not!”
……Apparently they were fighting over my official hunter registration.
This was awkward.
I had only done what I was told.
They told me to have sex with the Harpy, so I did. They told me to register, so here I was.
Why did I have to keep suffering through these excruciating situations?
To begin with, my plan after awakening had been to live quietly, jerking off in peace.
“Um…… who is this person?”
Sitting in silence through their argument, I finally couldn't stand the atmosphere anymore and asked Lee Han-seop.
“Ah, my apologies. This is Cha Ran-hee, Team Leader of the PR Department. Team Leader Cha, enough. You're putting Nam Tae-geun in an uncomfortable position.”
At Lee Han-seop's words, PR Team Leader Cha Ran-hee snapped back.
“Regardless, it's not happening! Never! This man's ability would completely annihilate the hunter image we've built!”
“Ahaha…… I-I'm sorry.”
Unable to meet Team Leader Cha Ran-hee's eyes, I bowed my head and apologized without even thinking about it.
Her thighs, threatening to burst free past the hem of those hot pants, regrettably caught my eye.
“Enough. Nam Tae-geun has done nothing wrong. No one chooses their awakened ability.”
“Regardless, we cannot list Nam Tae-geun on the new hunter roster like this. If he registers as-is, the Management Department's website will need an age-verification wall just for his entry!”
Listening quietly, I could more or less grasp what the problem was.
Periodically, newly awakened individuals came through the Hunter Management Authority, completed their official hunter registration, and the Authority then announced the new hunter roster on its website.
And that roster included a brief profile, a photograph, and the new hunter's ability.
I imagined how my entry on the new hunter list might read.
Name: Nam Tae-geun
Age: 24
Awakened Ability: Absorbs and eliminates the target's traits through sexual intercourse.
A Word of Resolve: “From objects to monsters, I'll ravish anything and everything!”
……
If I registered as an official hunter, the PR Department wouldn't be the only ones in trouble.
I'd be in trouble myself, right this second.
Not that Lee Han-seop seemed to care about any of that…….
Frankly, I thought the PR Department had a point.
Especially for the sake of my social standing.
“Um…… could I possibly say a word?”
I cautiously opened my mouth, looking at Lee Han-seop.
“Of course. Go ahead.”
“Honestly, being registered as a regular hunter would be a problem for me too. If everyone found out about this ability, they'd all treat me like a pervert. Becoming a hunter means my personal information gets published in full, doesn't it? I just want to live in peace.”
Cha Ran-hee pounced on my words immediately.
“See! Even the man himself agrees! Listing him as an official hunter is simply out of the question!”
“Hmm…….”
Lee Han-seop wore a thoughtful expression for a moment.
Then he spoke again.
“But the Authority needs Nam Tae-geun's ability, right now. So what about this? Not an official hunter, but hiring him as an Authority employee to start. At his current level, combat alongside other hunters is probably out of the question anyway—so we create a provisional department to manage the immortal entities and assign him there. That should work well enough.”
“Nam Tae-geun…… as an Authority employee?”
“A special recruitment, essentially. You yourself work as PR Team Leader while being an active Star Hunter, don't you? Even if he forgoes official hunter registration, hiring him as staff means we can still put his ability to use.”
“The paperwork will get rather complicated…… but honestly, that's preferable.”
A compromise had finally emerged—one that might actually bridge the gap between them.
Watching the two of them talk it over, I had only one thought on my mind.
I want to go home.