The Commissioner's Desperate Plea
Jeon Jaewoo ushered Commissioner Yoo Jeongtae and his entourage into his modest studio apartment.
Since he had guests under his roof, propriety dictated that he offer them something to drink.
Should I just whip up some instant mix coffee? A guy this high up the ladder probably has refined tastes. What if he can't stomach it?
It wasn't as if Jaewoo had ever entertained someone of such towering status before.
"I'm sorry," Jaewoo said, offering an awkward, sheepish smile. "I really don't have anything proper to serve you."
"Nonsense, please! I would be grateful for anything you have to offer. Truly, I must apologize for barging in on you without warning."
Yoo Jeongtae was bending over backward to project as much goodwill and humility as humanly possible. Meanwhile, hovering quietly in the corner under complete stealth, Myeolgeop watched the mortals with unblinking, mechanical vigilance.
"So," Jaewoo ventured, setting down the drinks, "what brings you all the way out to my place so suddenly?"
"Well… to be frank, there is something I urgently need to ask."
Yoo Jeongtae had come seeking answers to two specific questions.
First, he needed to confirm whether Jaewoo had indeed conquered the Legendary-grade ruin, the Grave of Swords, and if so, petition him to sell whatever strategic resources he had brought back to the Hunter Administration.
Second, he intended to persuade the young hunter of something of vital national importance.
"Hunter Jeon, is it true that you successfully cleared another Legendary-grade ruin—the Grave of Swords?"
"Yes, that's right."
There was little point in playing coy when the Ruin System had already broadcast his name across the network for everyone to see.
"If you don't mind my asking… what kind of clear rewards did you receive?"
"Nothing in the way of raw resources this time either. Just an enormous collection of blades. More than a hundred of them, I'd say."
The commissioner's eyes ignited with fervor.
Whatever their specific attributes might be, armaments salvaged from a Legendary-grade ruin were guaranteed to be of extraordinary quality.
"Hunter Jeon! Please, you must sell those armaments to the Hunter Administration! I swear to you, we will pay the absolute highest price on the market."
Jaewoo had no complaints about dealing with the government. As long as he got a fair price, the buyer's identity mattered little to him. There was just one small snag.
"Ah, about that… that might be a bit tricky. I already used them all."
"...Excuse me?"
Yoo Jeongtae stared blankly, his eyes widening in total disbelief as Jaewoo scratched the back of his head.
What… what on earth did he just say?
Used them? Over a hundred swords, used up in an instant?
By all appearances, Jeon Jaewoo was a frontline combat hunter. Even if his primary weapon was a sword, it had only been a few days since the ruin was conquered. How in the world could anyone burn through more than a hundred blades in that span of time?
Yoo Jeongtae's pupils quivered violently as terrible possibilities raced through his mind.
"B-By any chance… do you mean you sold them to someone else?"
If he had struck a deal with a domestic corporation, that was at least manageable. But if a foreign intelligence outfit or multinational conglomerate had uncovered Jaewoo's identity, made contact behind closed doors, and smuggled those strategic treasures out of the country—
A wave of sheer dizziness washed over the commissioner, so severe he nearly lost his footing.
Fortunately, Jaewoo quickly set the record straight.
"No, nothing like that. It's just that when items like that drop, my trait allows me to utilize them for my own growth. In short, I consumed them myself."
"Ah… Ah! I-I see! Haha! Well done, then! That's wonderful!"
"...Right." Jaewoo gave him a quizzical look.
Yoo Jeongtae let out a silent breath of profound relief. At least the goods hadn't ended up in foreign hands. Still, a chilling curiosity gripped him. Just what kind of monstrous trait could possibly devour over a hundred legendary swords whole?
"Well, the swords themselves are still intact," Jaewoo added casually.
"What? What do you mean…?"
"I only absorbed the unique mana lingering inside the blades. The physical weapons are completely fine."
Hope flared once more in Yoo Jeongtae's chest.
A moment later, Jaewoo retrieved one of the hundred-odd swords and laid it gently on the low table.
"Incredible…"
A breath of pure admiration slipped from the commissioner's lips. Even without an appraisal trait, anyone could tell at a glance that this was an exceptional, mastercrafted blade. It was a pity that whatever mystical mana had once inhabited the metal had been stripped away, but even as bare masterworks, these weapons represented an immense strategic haul. Distributed among the nation's elite vanguard, they would drastically elevate their overall combat potential.
Yoo Jeongtae reached across the table and took both of Jaewoo's hands into a firm, desperate clasp.
"Please, sell these blades to the Hunter Administration! I promise, we will pay you top dollar once again!"
"Sure, I can do that."
From Jaewoo's perspective, transacting with the state's official hunter agency was the safest and least troublesome option anyway.
"Thank you! Truly, thank you so much!"
Yoo Jeongtae bowed his head repeatedly, showering him with effusive gratitude. To see the head of the national Hunter Administration groveling like this in a cramped studio apartment was surreal, but from Yoo Jeongtae's perspective, such humility was well warranted.
South Korea was by no means a weak hunter nation, but neither did it command the hegemonic might of global superpowers; it hovered somewhere in the upper-middle tier. Until now, securing even a single Legendary-grade ruin in a given month was considered a massive stroke of good fortune. Yet this previously unknown young man had soloed two Legendary ruins back-to-back, handing over the spoils of both to the administration on a silver platter. He had single-handedly generated an unprecedented strategic windfall for the Republic of Korea.
Of course, none of that held any real weight for Jaewoo.
Is he finally done? Can he leave now?
He just wanted the man to wrap up his business so he could collapse into bed. He was so exhausted his eyelids felt like lead weights.
However, Yoo Jeongtae wasn't quite finished.
"Hunter Jeon… if you would indulge me, there is one more thing I wish to ask. Though I hesitate to overstep."
"Go ahead."
"Do you intend to continue targeting only Legendary-grade ruins in the future?"
Jaewoo tilted his head, pondering the question. It wasn't something he had spent much time deliberating.
"Well, I'm not really sure. Maybe, maybe not…"
Right now, he only had Myeolgeop—a single golem endowed with Transcendent-grade traits. But once his summon count expanded, he felt confident that Ancient or even Mythic ruins wouldn't be out of reach. Given that Myeolgeop had swept through a Legendary ruin in an hour flat, the golem could probably handle an Ancient ruin right now if pushed to it. Still, when it came to his own skin, absolute caution was paramount.
Yoo Jeongtae clasped his hands tightly, his expression turning grave and reverent.
"As the Commissioner of the Hunter Administration, there is an earnest request I must make of you."
"Pardon?"
"Moving forward… would you consider abstaining entirely from ruins of Rare grade or below, and focusing your efforts exclusively on Legendary-grade and higher?"
"Excuse me?"
"As you know, every awakened hunter is bound by a strict limit on their lifetime ruin entries. For an individual of your transcendent caliber to squander those finite chances on low-tier ruins represents an irreplaceable loss to our entire nation."
Jaewoo couldn't help but concede the logic in that.
Yeah. He's not wrong.
Under the cosmic rules imposed by the Ruin System, a hunter's raid quota was strictly finite. Burning through the precious entry limits of someone capable of clearing a Legendary ruin in an hour just to sweep low-level dungeons was undeniably an astronomical waste of national resources.
"Isn't how a hunter uses their allotment guaranteed as a matter of personal freedom under domestic law, though?" Jaewoo asked mildly.
"I would never presume to force your hand!" Yoo Jeongtae replied frantically. "I am pleading with you purely in my capacity as head of the agency. If there is anything you desire, name it! I will guarantee you the highest compensation imaginable. If you find the administration untrustworthy, you could even partner with one of our domestic Hunter Companies instead. We will gladly support you with every resource at our disposal."
"......"
Jaewoo understood where the man was coming from. But the truth was far simpler.
"I don't really want anything, though."
At Jaewoo's lukewarm, detached reply, Yoo Jeongtae's mouth fell half open.
"...What?"
"Conquering just one Normal-grade ruin pays more than enough money to live comfortably. I don't really need any more than that. With what I've made, I can already buy a nice, reasonably big house. Personally, I think that's plenty."
"......"
At his core, Jeon Jaewoo was an ordinary person who believed that having enough money to live a quiet, comfortable life was the ultimate goal. The only difference was that Jaewoo had the sheer power to achieve that dream entirely on his own, without bowing to anyone.
Standing beside Myeolgeop, the ultimate combat golem, was the safest place in the world. Having already conquered three ruins, his bank account was bursting at the seams. Chasing after grander ambitions felt like an unnecessary headache.
Is this what people call the emptiness of having it all?
Having fulfilled all his life goals overnight, he felt a peculiar lack of drive.
Across from him, Yoo Jeongtae bit his lower lip until it nearly bled.
Men like Jeon Jaewoo were the absolute hardest to recruit. The fundamental rule of talent acquisition was simple: figure out what the other party desires, grant it, and secure their loyalty to the state in return. But when the target wanted for nothing, the negotiating table vanished beneath their feet.
This can't happen. We cannot lose him.
To the Hunter Administration, Jeon Jaewoo was an asset they could not afford to let slip through their fingers under any circumstances. Whatever it took, by any means necessary, he had to be reeled in. With this singular powerhouse on their side, South Korea might achieve the historic, unprecedented feat of clearing an Ancient ruin—or even a Mythic ruin.
If Jaewoo burned through his lifetime clear quota on trivial dungeons by himself, that magnificent dream would turn to ash. Yet strong-arming him was out of the question; coercion would never work on an anomaly of this magnitude, nor did the agency possess the leverage to enforce it.
"Would you… ever consider challenging ruins above the Legendary tier in the future?" Yoo Jeongtae asked carefully.
"Sure. If the opportunity presents itself."
Hearing that affirmative answer, Yoo Jeongtae let out a quiet breath of relief. At least the man didn't intend to recklessly burn his entries on trash.
Regardless of his lack of material greed, Jaewoo was genuinely curious about what lay inside Ancient and Mythic ruins. He couldn't help but wonder what kind of mind-boggling rewards might await in vaults of that scale.
Gathering his resolve, Yoo Jeongtae leaned forward and pressed on.
"Then… would you grant us just one favor?"
"What favor?"
"When the time comes that you decide to challenge an Ancient or Mythic ruin, please inform us beforehand. We will provide you with every ounce of logistical, tactical, and strategic assistance the state can muster."
"I was planning on running those solo as well, to be honest."
"I harbor no doubts about your personal prowess, Hunter Jeon! But ruins are far more treacherous and unpredictable than standard dungeons. You never know what anomalous threats might occur."
"I suppose that's true, but…"
"Please, put your mind at ease. Our only desire is to support you with everything we have. We will not demand a single shred of the clear rewards or loot derived from the ruin."
"...What?"
Jaewoo blinked in surprise, and even the staff members flanking Yoo Jeongtae gasped, their eyes darting to their commissioner in shock. Provide full state-level backing while renouncing all claims to the spoils?
"All we ask in return," Yoo Jeongtae continued, his voice heavy with solemn desperation, "is that you grant the Hunter Administration the right of first refusal to purchase any items or resources you wish to sell. And naturally, we will always pay you the absolute maximum valuation."
"......"
Yoo Jeongtae was laying his cards bare, desperately demonstrating just how far he was willing to go to secure the goodwill of this Transcendent-grade titan.
He's basically offering to give me his liver and kidneys if I ask for them.
Jaewoo turned the proposition over in his mind for a moment before giving a slow nod.
"Alright. I don't mind that at all."
A radiant, unburdened smile finally spread across Yoo Jeongtae's face.
"Thank you! Thank you so very much, Hunter Jeon!"
"Come on, there's no need to go that far…"
Yet to Yoo Jeongtae, going this far was the bare minimum. Falling out of favor with a transcendent sovereign would be the ultimate geopolitical catastrophe. History had shown time and again what happened when the Korean government attempted to impose unconditional compliance upon its top-tier hunters; bitter regrets and mass exoduses to the United States or Switzerland were all too common. To avoid repeating those disastrous blunders, slowly bridging the gap through total concession and goodwill was the only viable path.
"No matter what you need, please contact me immediately," the commissioner insisted fervently.
"Anything at all?"
"Yes! Even if it has nothing to do with hunter affairs! If you require legal representation, if you need funds, or if you ever desire a prestigious official title, come to me. Whatever it is, I will personally see that it is done."
"...Thank you."
Hearing the sheer intensity in the commissioner's voice, Jaewoo could tell this man intended to ask for quite a lot once the time came.
Shortly thereafter, Yoo Jeongtae and his retinue finally took their leave. Having gone days without proper rest, Jaewoo collapsed onto his bed and surrendered to sweet, uninterrupted sleep.
He slept through the entire day and night, only waking when a crisp chime echoed in his mind, signaling that Heaven's Box had completed its latest synthesis.