Chapter 49
Chapter 49
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 49
Chapter Title: Two Conditions
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"Shall we make a deal?"
Park Jong-pal looked at Hae-jin with a surprised expression.
Hae-jin nodded at his question.
"Yes. Isn't that why you came here, to propose a deal to me?"
"Well, that's true. But after hearing from these folks, it seems recruiting you won't be so straightforward."
"You know it well. I was wondering if you'd brought these two reliable employees to try and take me down by force."
The three from the National Intelligence Agency flinched, ever so slightly.
Seeing their pupils shake just a bit, Hae-jin smirked.
*They already know everything, but they're pretending otherwise.*
The reason he'd brought Song Seung-hun and Jung Soo-jung was simple.
They'd fallen into the delusion that two players from the National Intelligence Agency might be able to handle Hae-jin.
After all, they were special agents trained to deal with people in the real world.
But that was a massive mistake.
Park Jong-pal realized it the moment he faced Hae-jin.
There was no way they could touch him.
He even wondered if he'd need to bring in Black Agents.
*No, even they probably couldn't do it.*
Park Jong-pal was a veteran of this game.
He had a solid sense for gauging an opponent's strength.
So when he saw Hae-jin, he knew instantly.
Subduing him wouldn't be something three people like them could pull off—even if they brought the entire National Intelligence Agency, it would be hard to guarantee success.
*It's like facing Manager Kim all over again.*
Manager Kim.
He used to be Park Jong-pal's boss, a former Black Agent.
His real name was Kim Seok-gi, and though retired now, he was much younger than Park Jong-pal.
Despite entering the agency a full ten years after him, he'd risen to director level in record time through his exploits as one of the top Black Agents.
But despite his youth, Kim Seok-gi had insisted there was no need for formal speech and asked to be called "Manager Kim."
At first, everyone refused.
Rank mattered; casual terms could undermine the hierarchy.
But one day, when Manager Kim announced his retirement and was no longer their superior, everyone started calling him that casually.
"Manager Kim."
In any case.
That Manager Kim had been the man who made Agent Park Jong-pal the most tense in his life.
Now, the rankings had changed.
The man before him, "Park Hae-jin," was the most dangerous human his instincts had ever warned him about—bar none.
Anyway, to Hae-jin, who had just accused him of bringing Song Seung-hun and Jung Soo-jung to subdue him, Park Jong-pal waved his hands.
"Ah... no, no. Even if we tried, we wouldn't stand a chance anyway."
"That's true enough. So, if we're not here to throw down, shall we get to the point?"
"Sounds good. What do you want?"
At Hae-jin's suggestion to cut to the chase, Park Jong-pal asked about his conditions.
Hae-jin responded.
"Two things."
"Two things?"
"Yes."
"What are they?"
Park Jong-pal had come to enlist the government's help anyway.
There was no reason not to listen if Hae-jin volunteered his terms first.
So Hae-jin laid out the two conditions.
He raised his index finger first.
"First, tax exemptions."
"Tax exemptions?"
"Yes."
"What kind...?"
Park Jong-pal was baffled when Hae-jin brought up "tax exemptions" as one of his conditions for supporting the nation.
Hae-jin explained the scope of this tax exemption demand.
"Not just for me, but for everyone who works with me in the future—make us all tax-exempt at the national level."
"Hmm, not just you, but everyone associated with you?"
"Yes."
"That's not something I can decide on the spot alone. Can I note it down, report back to HQ, and get back to you?"
"Sure."
The tax exemption couldn't be settled by Park Jong-pal alone, so he'd check later and follow up.
Hae-jin knew that.
Park Jong-pal wasn't even a director—he was vice director.
Tax exemptions were for presidents or ministers to grant; a mere intelligence vice director couldn't call those shots.
Anyway, having heard the first condition from Hae-jin, Park Jong-pal asked about the second.
"And the second?"
"You're trying to recruit me to deal with player criminals, right? For that, you need to give me full freedom of action."
He hadn't used the term "villain" yet, so Hae-jin vaguely referred to them as player criminals.
But since Park Jong-pal had come to him precisely as a countermeasure against them, he had to mention it.
And for recruitment, these two conditions had to be met—the second being full investigative and execution authority over villain crimes.
Park Jong-pal was puzzled when Hae-jin said that if he was to handle investigations and executions from that position, he needed complete freedom.
"Full freedom... how far does that go?"
"Overlook anything that might be illegal."
"Illegal how...?"
Just how illegal were they supposed to ignore?
Hae-jin shrugged.
"Well, the biggest might be murder."
"Murder?"
"Yeah. If players commit crimes, there could be moments where they grab hostages or kill if we're not careful. So we have to account for instant kills too."
"Hmm, that's... tricky."
Permitting murder.
It was absurd on its face.
Granting someone official murder rights would invite a storm of criticism.
To the troubled Park Jong-pal, Hae-jin said.
"You guys commit murders all the time on unofficial ops, don't you?"
"What? Haha... you've watched too many movies."
Park Jong-pal denied it outright.
But Hae-jin remembered what he'd once heard from him.
*We do have killings in intel ops here and there, but compared to what players do, it's child's play.*
Which meant they did commit murders too.
He couldn't exactly say he'd heard it from Park Jong-pal himself, though.
Hae-jin shrugged again and glossed over it.
"Fine, deny it if you want. But if you want me on board, you need to agree to both conditions. That's all."
"Heh, neither is easy."
"Not easy?"
"Nope. Tax exemptions and legalized murder? Unthinkable in this country called South Korea."
"Go report it. If those two aren't met, I'll sit out whatever player crimes pop up from now on."
"Haha..."
Hae-jin warned that without those conditions, he'd ignore any player crimes.
Of course, it was just talk.
Even if the government refused, he'd still move against egregious villain crimes on his own.
Why?
Because Joo-hyuk had.
But Hae-jin knew.
*They'll agree anyway.*
In the end, fed up with villain crimes, the government had accepted Joo-hyuk—the strongest player—and his exact conditions to recruit him.
So he figured they'd have no choice but to accept Hae-jin's too.
A few infamous villains were making South Korea a mess.
*Right after the Fifth Trials' Arena, players who'd truly powered up started committing crimes in earnest.*
By then, they'd beg to meet those "absurd" conditions for national security.
*Of course, if they wait till then to ask, I'll add more terms.*
Truth be told, Hae-jin was curious how this would play out.
Joo-hyuk had said.
*This one rode on some luck too. I've regressed tons, right? Sometimes it'd get signed the week I met Vice Director Park Jong-pal. Other times, only after the Fifth Trials' Arena when villain crimes exploded.*
Even with countless regressions, Joo-hyuk said tiny differences in the same approach could shift timelines—same actions, different outcomes.
So whether the government accepted Hae-jin's terms to Park Jong-pal right away or not, they'd have to wait and see.
But the endgame wouldn't change.
Just a matter of recruiting Hae-jin a bit sooner or later.
After the Fifth Trials' Arena, rampant villain crimes would force the government to come crawling anyway.
Having heard the two conditions from Hae-jin, Park Jong-pal said.
"The second one needs reporting too, I think."
"Then report everything and let me know the results next time."
"Got it. We'll take our leave for today."
"Sure."
With that, Park Jong-pal left Hae-jin's house with Song Seung-hun and Jung Soo-jung.
Once outside, he asked his two companions.
"So, as awakened players, what did you think? How'd it feel facing the 'Massacre'?"
Massacre.
He'd used Hae-jin's real name in person, but the National Intelligence Agency already codenamed him "Massacre."
Drawing from his long years as a special agent, Park Jong-pal thought.
*Someone we absolutely cannot touch.*
His experience screamed that about Hae-jin.
If even a normal human like him felt it, he was curious how his newly awakened, super-sensory juniors had perceived him.
But surprisingly, they hadn't sensed much at all.
"He seemed pretty gentlemanly? Doesn't fit the 'Massacre' name at all."
"And handsome too. A 'Massacre' like that might not be so bad."
"..."
Park Jong-pal was dumbfounded.
They hadn't picked up on the danger he'd felt as a normal human.
Experience and age gap, maybe.
That's when one fact hit him.
*We have to recruit him no matter what. Relying on kids like these for player crimes? Already feels hopeless.*
He kept it to himself, not wanting to crush his juniors' spirits.