Chapter 48
Chapter 48
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 48
Chapter Title: The National Intelligence Agency's Visit
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“Ugh, really? But isn’t this a forge?”
It was Raffaello’s comment upon seeing the anvil and furnace Hae-jin had set up.
Hae-jin nodded at the question.
“Yeah.”
“How does this thing work? There’s nothing to keep the furnace going, right?”
There was nothing to maintain the furnace.
What he meant was that, to Raffaello’s eyes, the portable furnace Hae-jin had just installed wasn’t the kind you lit with fire—it seemed to utilize flowing lava...
Yet here, with no lava in sight, flames were roaring steadily inside. That’s what he found intriguing.
Hearing this, Hae-jin replied.
“I don’t know either. But seeing how it keeps spinning inside like that, doesn’t it seem like we can use it infinitely?”
Hae-jin himself had never expected to end up with a furnace like this.
Why?
Because it wasn’t in any of the info Nam Joo-hyuk had given him.
The information he’d originally known only went as far as acquiring a basic blacksmith setup.
As a result, Hae-jin had zero intel on this “Elder Dwarf Portable Furnace.”
Still, judging by the naked eye, it seemed to handle its own flames perfectly, so he figured it probably ran indefinitely on its own.
Raffaello stared at him in disbelief at his words.
“Infinitely enjoy it? What is this, ribs...?”
“You get it.”
A bit of light banter from Hae-jin.
Truth be told, this wasn’t even his line.
It was one of the jokes Raffaello had picked up and used often while staying in Korea right after joining up there.
Hae-jin had thrown Raffaello’s own joke back at him, and he’d caught it perfectly.
Hae-jin commented on how Raffaello already got it, and the guy flashed a grin.
“Of course. You know how much TV I watch?”
“Anyway, use it well.”
“Yes, sir!”
And with that, Hae-jin handed over the elder dwarf anvil and furnace to Raffaello.
Afterward, Hae-jin spent some peaceful days.
He had to.
There was a place that would come looking for him before heading into the fifth Trials’ Arena.
Sure enough.
About ten days later.
[A call has come from the common entrance.]
“Huh? Who is it?”
Raffaello headed over when the intercom buzzed.
He picked up the call.
“Who is it?”
Hae-jin already knew the answer to Raffaello’s question.
‘They’ll say they’re from the National Intelligence Agency.’
Sure enough.
Just as Hae-jin predicted, the response came through the intercom.
[We’re from the National Intelligence Agency. Is Park Hae-jin in?]
“Yes?”
Raffaello turned his head when they said they were from the National Intelligence Agency looking for Hae-jin.
It was a gesture asking if he should let them in.
Hae-jin nodded.
Seeing that, Raffaello opened the common entrance for them.
Soon after, the intercom rang again.
[From the unit entrance...]
But this intercom call didn’t finish its message.
Because Raffaello was on standby.
The moment he heard the elevator arrive, he went to the door and flung it open as soon as the call came.
Before long, Raffaello brought the National Intelligence Agency folks into the living room.
There were two men and one woman, all in suits.
The man in the middle approached Hae-jin.
“Nice to meet you. I’m Park Jong-pal from the National Intelligence Agency.”
Park Jong-pal.
A man in his late forties, serving as vice director at the agency.
As he lowered his hand after the greeting, Hae-jin recalled something Park Jong-pal had once told him.
‘Didn’t he say vice directors don’t usually come out to the field?’
It was from before the regression, back when Park Jong-pal had gotten close to Hae-jin.
But given the gravity of the situation then, as the leader of the regressors, Nam Joo-hyuk needed to be met, so the vice director himself had to step up as the point man.
Of course, back then, Park Jong-pal’s purpose had been to meet the former leader, Nam Joo-hyuk.
This time, with no Joo-hyuk, he’d come as the handler to meet Hae-jin.
Thus, Hae-jin knew exactly who the two people with him were too.
‘Song Seung-hun and Jung Soo-jung.’
Song Seung-hun and Jung Soo-jung.
Agency agents in their twenties, both currently Players running the Trials’ Arena.
Hae-jin knew about these three thanks to the “Villain Crime Task Force.”
Of course, they weren’t here now to request the Villain Crime Task Force from him.
That would come after the fifth Trials’ Arena, when villain crimes started rampant.
When those who awakened as Players in the fifth Trials’ Arena fully leveraged their powers to survive.
So why were they here now?
‘Since the top Player is a citizen, they’re here to win me over.’
For now, Hae-jin returned Park Jong-pal’s greeting.
He shook the offered hand and said.
“Nice to meet you. I’m Park Hae-jin.”
“Thank you for having us.”
“Well, I wouldn’t say I’m welcoming you...”
“Ahem.”
Park Jong-pal cleared his throat awkwardly after saying thanks for the welcome, only for Hae-jin to deny it.
He introduced his companions too.
“This is employee Song Seung-hun, and over there is employee Jung Soo-jung.”
Park Jong-pal introducing Song Seung-hun and Jung Soo-jung to Hae-jin.
At his introduction, the two gave light nods in greeting.
Hae-jin returned them with a nod of his own.
Once introductions were done, Hae-jin asked Park Jong-pal.
“So, what brings you here?”
“Ah, we heard the Player with the best record is Korean, so we stopped by to say hello. You don’t seem like the type to hide your identity anyway.”
Hae-jin didn’t seem interested in hiding who he was.
And rightly so.
Aside from his meeting with CEO Kim Min-su, Hae-jin hadn’t hidden his identity in any public activities.
He hadn’t when exchanging the lottery winnings, nor in the Trials’ Arena each time.
The reason was simple.
‘After hiding it several times already, I learned it’s more convenient to operate openly once you’re strong.’
It was advice from Nam Joo-hyuk to Hae-jin.
Thus, in the original plan, Hae-jin had intended to go public around the end of the sixth Trials’ Arena.
By then, no other Player would be able to touch him.
But plans changed.
For both Hae-jin and Nam Joo-hyuk, due to an unexpected system.
‘The Inheritance System.’
Thanks to inheritance, Hae-jin started with overwhelming power.
Which allowed him to reveal himself from the get-go without hiding.
Actually, there were a few reasons the former leader, Nam Joo-hyuk, had insisted on revealing his identity and operating openly.
First, to keep other Players from focusing on his weaker party members.
By putting himself out there, he drew all eyes to him alone.
‘Especially in my current position, that’s even more crucial.’
That’s why Hae-jin had revealed himself from the first Trials’ Arena onward.
Having grown strong from the start via the Inheritance System.
His other party members still needed time to power up, so Hae-jin figured it was right for him to draw all the attention.
Second, to make it easier for the nation to approach him, like now.
As Lee Sang had said, Players who survived the Trials’ Arena had to live in the real world too.
And for Players, the best position was allying with a nation for support.
Sure, purely for money, private groups or villain organizations might pay more.
But Nam Joo-hyuk had said not to go crazy for cash.
Even if not, grabbing the nation’s hand early could net tax exemptions and a solid position helping the country and its people.
In that vein—and for the second reason especially—Nam Joo-hyuk had urged that if he took the Rune of Regression and Hae-jin became the new leader, to never hide his identity and spread it far and wide.
That’s why he’d publicized it, leading to Park Jong-pal’s visit to Hae-jin.
Though Park Jong-pal just claimed he came because Hae-jin was famous.
‘He came hoping I’d work for the nation.’
Hae-jin wasn’t against working for the nation and its people.
In fact, he’d handled national requests alongside Nam Joo-hyuk.
But one position needed to be crystal clear.
‘We’re trading with the nation for support—not letting them think we’re under their thumb.’
Exactly.
They aimed for equal footing through deals, but some mistook compliance with requests as subordination rather than aid.
Of course, neither the then-leader Nam Joo-hyuk nor Hae-jin were the type to be pushed around by such people.
Still, those entitled mindsets had caused friction a few times.
Nam Joo-hyuk had drilled it into him.
『Never give the government an inch. And squeeze every concession you can. We’re not volunteers, right?』
Hae-jin agreed with Nam Joo-hyuk.
Wasn’t there a saying that continued favors get mistaken for rights?
Nam Joo-hyuk had warned that constant goodwill toward the nation would make them think it was their due.
So he’d urged.
『Always demand full compensation. Otherwise, they’ll think they can order you around as a given.』
In that spirit, Hae-jin struck first with Park Jong-pal.
“Well, you’re not just here to sightsee. You need help with Player-related matters for the nation, so you’ve come to request it, right?”
“Uh, well... yes.”
Park Jong-pal tried to play it coy at first but could tell from Hae-jin’s expression.
‘He already knows everything.’
Honestly, Park Jong-pal was quite surprised seeing Hae-jin.
And he had reason to be.
He looked to be in his early twenties.
Yet his expression was like staring down seasoned national agents?
It felt like looking at faces weathered by every trial under the sun, mismatched with his age.
If he had to pin it...
‘If we’d met normally, I’d think he was some black ops trainee. No, not trainee—more like he’s already got field experience.’
In truth, even counting his regressed life, Hae-jin’s memories with Nam Joo-hyuk barely added up to under thirty years of living.
But that short Player stint was denser and deeper than a normal lifetime of a century.
Player life meant constant slaughter and tangled relations with others.
Living with death always at your doorstep piled on more experience than your average national black ops agent.
Anyway, upon hearing from Park Jong-pal that the visit was on a national level, Hae-jin told him.
“Fine.”
“Yes?”
Park Jong-pal looked puzzled at Hae-jin’s sudden agreement.
Without dragging it out, Hae-jin cut straight to it.
“I said fine. I’ll make a deal with the nation.”