Episode 96
Bae Soo-hyun was sitting alone in the minister’s office.
The owner of the room she had come to see was currently off meeting the president.
He had gone to deliver a briefing because an S-class hunter was arriving from the United States.
Under normal circumstances, she would have gone along with him, but today she had gone all the way to Gangwon Province to meet Han Jin-hwan, the A+ class hunter.
“You want me to handle security?”
That brought back what had happened earlier that afternoon.
It had been when they were asking for security for the government officials going out to welcome Alading Miller.
“Yes. Right now, you’re the only one I can ask for something like this, Jin-hwan.”
“Hey, saying it like that makes me feel left out, brother.”
“Huh? Ah, no! That’s not what I meant at all!”
“Haha. Don’t worry, I’m not taking it the wrong way.”
“……”
“So what about the quest? We’re still in the middle of it.”
Bae Soo-hyun was still flustered.
It had been a relief when Choi Hee-seok laughed it off so lightly.
Whether she was relieved or not, Han Jin-hwan had asked what he wanted to know, and Choi Hee-seok answered at once.
“We’ll put together a new team with suitable hunters.”
“And the reward?”
“As stated in the contract, the assets of the guild that the two of them wiped out will be paid out. According to the report, each of them should get a few billion won.”
“Then give what I’m supposed to get to Baek Do-woon instead.”
“Hmm. To Do-woon?”
“Yeah. And then.”
Han Jin-hwan turned his head and looked at Bae Soo-hyun.
“I’ll take the security job.”
The words of acceptance came out of his mouth without hesitation.
Bae Soo-hyun’s face brightened.
“However, I do have one condition.”
He was asking for a condition.
From the start, she had been prepared to agree to anything.
She nodded.
“Ask for whatever you like. If it’s something the government can handle, I’ll make it happen.”
“I’m in the middle of an Association quest with some guy right now.”
“I was briefed on that beforehand. You mean Hunter Baek Do-woon, right?”
“That’s right. I want to go out with that guy.”
“Pardon? What do you mean by-”
“Baek Do-woon! Over here, over here!”
Han Jin-hwan smiled at something in the distance.
He even waved as he called the name.
Bae Soo-hyun looked over there.
An idiotically blank face.
A ponytail tied together like someone had done it in a hurry.
His right hand was playing a smartphone game.
And then there was the smell of meat wafting off him....
It was the kind of sight that made your eyes wrinkle on their own.
Who was this idle layabout?
“Sigh….”
Su-hyun wiped Do-woon’s face from her mind.
That vacant-looking expression was the sort that made people irritated just from seeing it, unpleasant in a way that got under the skin.
Back in the present, she took a sip of the warm coffee on the table to steady herself.
Slurp.
The heat spread from her mouth through her whole body.
“Right, this time it’s been decided that I’m the one going out, not the president.”
A middle-aged man’s voice came from outside the minister’s office.
Su-hyun knew who it belonged to.
It was Minister Hwang Jeong-hee, the owner of this office.
Soon the door opened and he came in.
A male secretary was with him.
She immediately got to her feet and bowed from the waist in greeting.
Since Minister Hwang was on the phone, he did not open his mouth.
He simply waved a hand as if to tell her to stay seated.
Then he cupped his hand in front of his mouth and made a motion to the secretary, as if holding a cup there.
Understanding what the gesture meant, the secretary answered only with the shape of his lips, “I’ll prepare it right away,” then left.
Bae Soo-hyun sat back down on the sofa as he had wanted.
“...Since we agreed to keep this quiet, don’t tell the reporters. Right. Yeah. Okay.”
After finishing the call, Minister Hwang collapsed onto the sofa as if he were flinging himself into it.
Thud.
He dropped his smartphone onto the table like he was throwing it away.
On the still-unfaded screen, the words [Call Time: 18 minutes] remained visible.
As the display gradually darkened, Minister Hwang closed his eyes.
A deep sigh leaked from his mouth.
“Haaah….”
“Are you all right?”
“No. Not even a little.”
“……”
“Those damn bastards….”
A curse slipped out of Minister Hwang’s mouth.
Bae Soo-hyun stayed silent rather than echoing it.
There was no way to know exactly who he was cursing after making that long sigh.
Was it the person he had just been speaking to on the phone?
Was it the people he had met today?
Or was it the people who had directly caused this whole mess?
She did not agree with him carelessly, just in case.
Instead, she put on a concerned expression.
“You look very tired.”
“Of course I’m tired. How did things end up like this, anyway? Damn American bastards….”
Minister Hwang spread both palms and set them over his eyes.
He spoke with a light press against them.
The target of his anger was America.
“Alading Miller departed on the 9th.”
“The 9th? That was two days ago.”
“Exactly. According to them, they had to leave all of a sudden and couldn’t notify us in advance, but that’s the most ridiculous load of crap I’ve heard in a while.”
“Yes, it is. They could have told us even on the day they left.”
“That’s what I’m saying! Not a shred of consideration in sight, those bastards. Hmph. They think they’re a superpower, that’s what this is.”
“Please don’t take it too hard.”
“Haaah, right. I should….”
Minister Hwang let out another long sigh.
As if to cover the sound, there came a knock at the office door.
“Come in.”
At his permission, the door opened at once.
The one who opened it was the same male secretary from before.
He had brought the drink Minister Hwang had asked for.
The secretary promptly handed over an iced Americano sitting on a square tray.
“Thanks.”
Minister Hwang took the coffee and gulped it down.
The contents vanished in an instant, and the now-empty cup went back onto the tray the secretary was holding.
He waved the hand that had been chilled by the cup’s cold, a gesture to leave.
Once his task was done, the secretary bowed and quickly left the minister’s office.
“Phew. Shall we get to the point?”
“Yes. When I went to ask him, Hunter Han Jin-hwan was in the middle of an Association quest.”
“I heard. It was the Two Fingers Project, wasn’t it? Then there must have been an issue with the reward.”
“Exactly as you guessed. The plan was to have him give up the Association quest and take on the security request instead. But Hunter Choi Hee-seok was considerate.”
“Hmm?”
“He said the Association would yield because of the nature of the job.”
“Oh. Well, that’s good.”
“Still, it would probably be best to express our thanks separately after the matter is over.”
“Right. Let’s handle that later.”
“Yes.”
“Then Han Jin-hwan definitely accepted?”
“He did.”
“Fine, never mind Han Jin-hwan. What about the other one?”
The other one.
He was asking whether there was another security hunter who would be going with Jin-hwan.
Bae Soo-hyun answered at once.
“First, we contacted the Mine Guild, but they said they’d confirm their schedule and get back to us.”
“Hmm….”
“Next, we contacted the Aegaeon Guild, but—”
“But?”
“Choi Dong-hoon was away, so we couldn’t reach them.”
“You couldn’t reach them?”
“...I’m sorry.”
There were only twenty-four hours left until the time they were supposed to go out and receive her.
There was no way the words we’re still looking could sound pleasant.
Even so, Minister Hwang shook his head.
“It’s fine. The Americans are the ones at fault for giving us such short notice.”
“...I, uh, do have one person Hunter Han Jin-hwan recommended.”
“Recommended? Han Jin-hwan did?”
“Yes.”
A hunter recommended by the number one hunter in the rankings.
Minister Hwang looked interested.
“Who did he recommend?”
“Baek Do-woon.”
“Baek Do-woon? You mean Baek Do-hee’s—”
“Yes. The very same person you’re thinking of.”
“How does Han Jin-hwan know that guy enough to recommend him?”
“He was currently on an Association quest with him.”
“What? Baek Do-woon with Han Jin-hwan?”
“Yes.”
Minister Hwang closed his eyes again.
He was organizing his image of Baek Do-woon.
To him, Do-woon was nothing more than Baek Do-hee’s one and only older brother, and Lee Tae-cheon’s close friend.
But if he was carrying out an Association quest with Han Jin-hwan....
Then he could not simply think of him as just someone’s brother or friend.
He had to be the sort of hunter skilled enough to work alongside Han Jin-hwan.
At the very least, that image was necessary.
After quickly finishing that reorganization, he opened his eyes again and asked, “...Were they already acquainted?”
“I don’t think so. Though....”
“Though?”
“There was a report that Han Jin-hwan and Choi Hee-seok both went directly to the Baekwooncheon Guild.”
“Han Jin-hwan went along too? Not only did Choi Hee-seok go himself, but Han Jin-hwan went with him?”
“Yes.”
At Bae Soo-hyun’s immediate answer, Minister Hwang scratched his forehead.
Then he leaned back against the sofa.
He seemed to be lost in thought, letting out a soft hum.
“Why would a guy who only had eyes for Choi Hee-seok go out of his way….”
“I’m sorry, but I don’t know that much.”
“Hmm? No. I wasn’t asking you, so don’t mind it.”
Minister Hwang waved it off.
But Bae Soo-hyun lowered her head, looking apologetic.
“Well, what matters isn’t that right now. We can think about it later. Does Baek Do-woon meet the requirements?”
“There’s no problem.”
“No problem?”
“Yes. He’s an A-class hunter, he was recommended by Han Jin-hwan, and the Association has also approved—”
Bae Soo-hyun’s calm explanation trailed off.
Minister Hwang, listening to her, had shaken his head.
He looked straight at her and said, “You know that’s not what I’m asking.”
“Pardon?”
“You know this as well as I do. Among hunters, there are those weak enough that they don’t even live up to their rank, and there are those far stronger than it.”
“Ah….”
“Strong or weak. That’s all that matters to a hunter.”
“……”
“So I’ll ask again. That guy. Is he strong?”
The smile she had erased from her mind surfaced again.
The blank face, the hair tied up in a careless ponytail, the smell of meat that seemed to vibrate off him.
Even the right hand that had kept tapping the smartphone screen.
When all of that came back together, Baek Do-woon took shape in her head once more.
“He...”
Then she remembered what had happened that afternoon.
More precisely, the spar she had had with him in a three-on-one match.
“...I lost.”
When she admitted defeat, Do-woon had still looked relaxed.
He was the first person she had ever seen in Schtiern Stark who never seemed worn down at all.
Even while perfectly evading the two hunters’ furious assaults, he hadn’t broken a sweat.
That wasn’t all.
Arca.
He had not drawn it, even though it was the very blade Kim Mu-yeon had not been able to lift despite claiming the sword loved him unconditionally.
Throughout the entire spar, the weapon in his right hand had been a smartphone, not a sword.
What would have happened if that hadn’t been the case?
If it had been his free hand, the one not holding the phone?
If, instead, he had picked up a huge wooden sword and attacked with that?
“……”
Bae Soo-hyun had no choice but to admit it.
If Han Jin-hwan and Choi Hee-seok were excluded, Do-woon was the strongest hunter in that place.
What Han Jin-hwan had said half in jest was simply the truth.
He had become that strong in less than half a month.
“……”
When she realized that fact, Su-hyun was speechless.
Baek Do-woon.
The thought struck her that he might have the potential to become an A+ class hunter like Han Jin-hwan.
“Then you’ve confirmed his skill?”
“Yes….”
When she answered weakly, Do-woon turned his head.
Toward the smartphone screen held in his right hand.
What was on the screen was clearly a smartphone game.
Su-hyun remembered reading that he was addicted to smartphone games.
She wasn’t sure, but she thought the note had said it was a game about growing a tree.
Do-woon, staring at the screen, tilted his head.
Once to the left, once to the right.
“Huh? Has the leaf... grown or not?”
After saying that, he smiled.
It was a bright, easy smile that made him seem like a likable guy.
Seeing that smile, Bae Soo-hyun thought:
I want to hit that grinning mouth.
Potential or no potential, that did not matter.
She wanted to hit that mouth that kept spitting out irritating remarks.
“The devil….”
“What?”
“He has the mouth of the devil...”
“What did you say?”
What mouth?
Minister Hwang frowned.
He even dug at his ear with his pinky, wondering if he had misheard.
He had asked whether the man was strong, so why had the words the mouth of the devil come up?
He couldn’t make sense of it.
“Ah!”
Bae Soo-hyun quickly realized she had said what she had been thinking out loud.
She hurriedly raised her right hand to cover her mouth.
“S-sorry. It’s nothing.”
“Nothing?”
“Yes, yes!”
“That’s a poor excuse. It doesn’t look like nothing at all.”
Having said that, Minister Hwang stared at Bae Soo-hyun.
She could not meet that staring gaze.
Her eyes dropped slightly as she looked away.
Seeing that, Minister Hwang let out a snort of laughter.
“This is the first time I’ve seen you flustered since you first met Han Jin-hwan.”
“……”
“Well, right. He’s Lee Tae-cheon’s friend... and the guy Han Jin-hwan took a liking to.”
“...Minister?”
“He can’t be normal. He must be, right?”
He muttered that while slowly nodding his head back and forth.
It looked like he had reached his own private conclusion.
What exactly was he approving and understanding?
Minister Hwang raised his right index finger and declared in a hearty voice, “This’ll be fun. Go ahead and move it forward!”
“Pardon?”
“Didn’t you hear me? Move it for—”
“Ah, no. I heard you. I’ll proceed at once.”
Minister Hwang grinned.
It was a satisfied, unwrinkled smile.
Seeing that smile, Bae Soo-hyun thought:
The minister doesn’t seem entirely normal either...