Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Gate Rampage (1)

Seoul, Republic of Korea. Hunter Association. The top floor.

"You call that an explanation?!"

A closely cropped head. Sharp eyes, and a face full of scars. A muscular body. A man of a fierce look that would cow anyone was shouting.

"...I'm sorry!"

The young man standing opposite kept bowing, cold sweat running, but.

"If you're going to handle work like that, there's no reason for you to be in that seat. Isn't that right?"

S-rank Hunter. One of the war heroes who had lived through the age of the end. Fist King Kang Tae-jun. Under his fierce pressure, the man who looked to be a secretary kept ducking his waist, cold sweat running.

"I didn't know it would turn out like this all of a sudden!"

"All of a sudden? How is this sudden!"

-Thud!

At Kang Tae-jun's shout, the whole building shook. Just as the face of the man who looked to be a secretary was twisting toward tears in that fierce air.

A man opened the door and came in.

"President. What's got you this angry? You've only just come back, so rest a little? Hm?"

"Vice President. I clearly said reports on Lee Si-u were to come straight to me. Is my word a joke?"

"Ah. That?"

A man in his forties, like Kang Tae-jun. But the opposite of him: a belly sticking out, weasel eyes as if slit, a bare crown.

Han Do-yun, with the typical look of a bureaucrat, answered in a slick tone.

"Do you really need to report a breakup with a girlfriend to the President? I told them not to bother a busy man with something like that."

"Something like that?"

A fierce light began to pour from Kang Tae-jun's eyes, as if a laser might come out.

What happens if an S-rank hunter fails to control his emotions. The end of a subject endlessly debated on the internet was about to unfold now.

"W-why are you like this?"

"Vice President. I acknowledge your administrative ability. You're doing very well."

"Thank you...?"

As Han Do-yun, who was not a hunter, he could only be afraid of Kang Tae-jun's pressure. He had certainly never seen Kang Tae-jun like this since taking the post.

"This scar by my right eye. Who do you think made it?"

Kang Tae-jun furrowed his brow hard, recalling that time. A kid of barely ten, found in a region isolated by a gate rampage.

For an instant, Kang Tae-jun had mistaken the boy for a monster. A killing look, and savage movement. A pressure that could not possibly belong to a human child, and he had swung his weapon on reflex.

"Fifteen years ago. Made by Lee Si-u, who was ten at the time."

"What do you..."

Han Do-yun could not properly understand Kang Tae-jun's words. Born S-rank. Even among the five top rankers in the country, Kang Tae-jun was special.

From the moment he first awakened a skill until now, he had been the strongest hunter in Korea. He had never once yielded that place.

A ten-year-old boy had carved a wound into that Kang Tae-jun? Who among those in the hunter industry would believe it.

"A monster like that dropped into administrative work to look after some woman hunter. How big a loss is that for this country. Hm?"

"That's..."

Han Do-yun, who had originally worked at the Blue House, had been at the Hunter Association for less than three years. Even so, he had thought he knew a great deal thanks to his position.

"Then we should win him over quickly. What are we supposed to do?!"

Han Do-yun opened his eyes wide and grabbed Kang Tae-jun's hand. The reason was obvious.

"Gates are already opening more than we can handle these days!"

There are fewer hunters than there is work. And because of a cartel built over a long time, the large guilds will not give up their interests.

The holes that leaves are filled by the Hunter Association, but hands are short. If it was a talent Kang Tae-jun would speak of to this extent, they had to win him over as soon as possible.

"He went somewhere troublesome. That's why I'm angry. Hm? Why did you handle it on your own, Vice President...!"

"Yes?"

Kang Tae-jun covered his face and muttered. Of all places, he had gone to the most awkward one to pull him out of with his authority.

"That damned old man got there first."

**

"What kind of work would it be?"

At my question, Lee Mi-seon, who had been sitting neatly, brightened and spread the documents on the table.

"Basic administrative work, and managing the hunters. It's a field you're very good at, isn't it? We only have three affiliated hunters, so the workload won't be that heavy!"

With only three, most of the work ends with a morning shift. Of course it depends on which gate zone you're assigned.

"Where's the assigned zone?"

"Uh..."

Lee Mi-seon turned her eyes as if flustered for a moment. Of course I waited patiently. The assigned zone is the most important thing. All the more for a new company.

"Gyeyang-gu, B Team standby..."

"What?"

Gyeyang-gu is a zone where gates do open, but mostly low-rank, with little to gain. And B Team standby, at that?

"Not even A Team standby — there's a B Team standby?"

I had done administrative work for seven years, and this was the first I had heard of a B Team standby. Usually A Team clears the gate, and there is a B Team, or an A Team dedicated standby, for if something happens.

So what does a B Team standby do?

"Things were so tight that we received it somehow, in name? But I really didn't expect this. When I was at the Association, hunters were short and we worked overtime every day!"

Which was why she had quit and set up a management company. Thinking there would be plenty of work. Reality was different.

"If they were saints enough to let go of their interests with their own hands, they would have joined the Hunter Association."

It's awkward to say with my own mouth, but that's the reality. In the end a guild moves for its interests. If it were for the greater cause, they would have joined the Association.

"...I didn't know that."

"Even so, gate rampages and how often they occur have jumped lately, so there should be plenty of work?"

"That's what I'm saying! Everyone's working except us? I don't know why they won't give work only to us!"

Watching Lee Mi-seon suddenly flare up, my brow drew in. I had quit yesterday, but I had been in this industry for ten years, and her situation felt off.

If you fail to handle the gates in your assigned zone, the guild takes a loss, of course. The Association will drop the guild's gate-handling rank by a step. The loss from that runs to billions.

Which is why they even outsource to lower guilds. Civilians have it hard these days, but the hunter industry is in a boom — that's where that saying comes from.

"Was there someone you fell out of favor with when you left the Association?"

"...No? Everyone smiled and said goodbye."

Watching Lee Mi-seon answer on the verge of tears, I was falling deeper into the maze, when.

"Um. I'm sorry."

The girl from a moment ago offered an apology. She hadn't particularly done anything wrong. It was a question anyone in the hunter industry would naturally ask.

My fault was greater, for failing to settle a momentary feeling in a way unbefitting an adult.

"It's fine. I'm the one who should apologize, for spoiling the mood all of a sudden."

"...There's nothing you need to apologize to me for."

I looked closely at the girl's face. Mm. Sure enough. With ten years of experience, I could bet everything I own.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

"You're the hunter I'll be in charge of, right?"

"...Yes?"

At the girl furrowing her face as if it were strange, I could only smile. Talent as a hunter, fitting the times.

Looks matter in any job, but for a hunter these days they were one of the greatest talents.

Skills I can cover with my Polarity. No problem.

Having sorted my thoughts, I looked at Lee Mi-seon. On Kim Eun-ji's existence alone, Saebit Guild had plenty of potential.

"Let's solve the work little by little. And the pay?"

"How about five million to start? Performance bonus separate after that."

"Good."

Having closed the contract as fast as roasting beans on lightning, I rose and looked at the bob-haired girl.

"Lee Si-u, twenty-five. I've worked in this industry a little over ten years. My skill is supporter-type. Anyone who would know, knows."

"Kim Eun-ji, twenty. And we'll be working together from here. Tell me. Why you came here alone."

Lee Mi-seon opened axe-eyes and seemed about to say something to Kim Eun-ji, but I raised a hand and stopped her. It was a fact she would learn in the end.

"It's something I learned yesterday..."

*

*

*

"...What a bitch."

A shocking word came from Kim Eun-ji's mouth after she heard my explanation. Rough speech, unlike her looks, and my eyes went round.

"Oh."

"What? You don't like a woman swearing?"

"No. You're more charming than I thought."

Marketability alone, top grade. These days the hunter industry isn't enough with strength alone. A beautiful face that catches you at a glance, and a blunt mouth that runs counter to it.

Kim Eun-ji had the talent to become a superstar.

"...What."

At Kim Eun-ji grumbling and turning her head, my certainty only grew stronger.

Then a pure red began to spread at her ear, as if red paint had been brushed there.

That sight, too, was beautiful, like looking at a picture.

"This'll be work worth doing."

As much as I support her, her place will rise as the days go.

Ten years in the hunter industry says so. Then Kim Eun-ji's head snapped around and she shot me a look.

"...You shouldn't say things like that carelessly?"

"Of course I don't. You're the first I've been this sure about, Eun-ji."

Truly. Aside from supporting Kim Seol-yeon, I hadn't turned my eyes to anyone else in ten years. And even setting that aside, timber like Kim Eun-ji was hard to find.

"...All right. Then."

A moment ago she had opened axe-eyes and raised her voice, and now she answers neatly again.

I don't know what she's thinking, but at times like this you keep your mouth shut. Usually you can pass the moment that way.

Even looking like this, I have over ten years of dating behind me.

-Ding!

Then an alarm sounded from the pocket of President Lee Mi-seon, who had been watching us with a pleased smile.

"Oh?"

Lee Mi-seon took her smartphone from her pocket, checked the alarm, then suddenly raised her voice.

"Right now! Gyeyang-gu B Team standby, move out! Eun-ji! Where are the kids?"

"Uh... Seo-a went to the training center, and that Seo Yu-jin, I don't know."

"Then go with Si-u, just the two of you! We have to make our mark for sure with this!"

I rose at once and looked at Kim Eun-ji.

"Let's go."

A chance to confirm why Saebit Guild had no work. And just right for checking Kim Eun-ji's ability too.

"Have a good trip!"

Hearing Lee Mi-seon's send-off, I headed out with Kim Eun-ji to the site of the gate rampage.