IDSTD 07

 

Chapter 7

A Choice for the Future (1)

Baek Geun-ho, the master of Marang, the guild in charge of Nowon-gu, was a man who had been directly affected by the Gate incident in which Jungwoo awakened. He was also the owner of one of the four places Jungwoo had chosen as candidates for where he would stay.

He asked Yeonhwa, his most trusted aide.

“Are you sure about the information? Even though the masters of Cheonhwa and Heukwol went there personally, they came back looking disappointed?”

“Yes. I don’t know about the old man from Cheonhwa because his expression always looks mean, but Heukwol definitely seems to have failed.”

“Yeah, so that’s how it is…!”

Geun-ho smiled broadly and rubbed his hands together.

There had really been a time when he thought the guild might completely collapse, but things were going so smoothly now.

The responsibility for failing to track the Gate had not become an issue.

The news about Jungwoo being a naturally awakened S-rank Hunter was so powerful, and since there were no casualties, public interest had moved away from the Gate incident.

The evaluation agencies were also focused on Jungwoo, so they hurriedly approved the related reports.

It could be said that the cleanup had ended very neatly.

How could Jungwoo not look good to them?

And that was not the end of it.

Marang had suddenly passed what was basically a “document screening” process, something that even one of the three major guilds, Athena, had failed.

Was it because they were the guild responsible for defending the area where he lived?

Or perhaps they had already thought highly of Marang.

Whatever the reason, there was no changing the fact that this was an incredible opportunity.

“The old men have already gone, and I don’t know where the last one is, but at least it’s definitely not one of the three major guilds.”

Then what?

It was an easy victory, wasn’t it?

The world’s spotlight was being focused on Jungwoo’s nest.

Marang, a guild possessing an S-rank Hunter.

This was a chance to expand the guild’s recognition to a worldwide level.

Geun-ho said with a broad smile,

“I need to make a dermatologist appointment. I can’t have any skin problems during the interview.”

“You’re counting your chickens again. Anyway, take this first.”

“What is it?”

“A present for Hunter Seo Jungwoo’s daughter.”

It was a shark plushie about the size of an adult’s upper body.

Yeonhwa adjusted her rimless glasses and added,

“I heard it’s popular among children these days.”

“Ohhh, right! Hahaha! As expected, nothing melts a father’s heart like a present for his daughter!”

Geun-ho quickly took the plushie and looked in the mirror, fixing his expression.

His face naturally looked so rough that even if he slicked his hair back and wore a suit, he only looked like someone involved in some kind of illegal business.

But at least Geun-ho himself thought he looked “intellectual.”

“Then I’m off! Miss Baek! Leave a director position open for me!”

“I’m sure you will. But as I told you, considering our size, the purpose isn’t to recruit him. It’s to build a personal relationship with him—”

“I’m going!”

“…Sigh.”

Men did not listen to more than three words of nagging.

Following his motto, Geun-ho headed toward the battlefield without looking back.

He was prepared to accept any condition and somehow bring Jungwoo in.

If Jungwoo asked for the position of representative, he was even prepared to consider making him a co-master.

That was how determined he was.

To give the conclusion first, unfortunately…

“…Did I hear that right?”

“It is a rather surprising question, isn’t it? I’ll say it again.”

Was this man perhaps crazy?

“If I said I wanted to enter a Zero Gate overseas, would you be able to support me?”

Geun-ho did not know the details, but even so, there was one thing he could say with certainty.

“Are you telling us to pick a fight with the country?”

“Ah, I see.”

Jungwoo answered with an awkward but friendly smile.

“Then I’m sorry. I don’t think I can work with Marang. Still, I hope the Master and I can continue to have a mutually beneficial relationship in the future. Ah! I’ll definitely give the shark plushie to Segi. I think she’ll like it.”

“Uh…”

The young Hunter businessman Baek Geun-ho, who had been filled with dreams and expectations.

He was blown away without even a moment to reconsider.

His ending was as refreshing as the dream he had built up.

---

Segi hugged the shark plushie and squealed with excitement as she chattered away.

“This is a baby shark~ If you gather the daddy shark and mommy shark together, you know~”

Segi liked explaining things she knew.

Jungwoo happily played along with her and smiled proudly before giving the kind of answer that only a silly father would give.

“Segi could become a teacher when you grow up.”

“A teachew?”

“Yes, a teacher.”

“But teachers have to wear glasses, right? Segi has good eyes, so she doesn’t need glasses.”

“You can become a teacher without wearing glasses.”

“Really!?”

“Really, really.”

A parent’s heart was such that even if their child was simply good at addition, they could see them as a once-in-a-generation genius.

Since Segi liked explaining things so much and even spoke so logically(?), Jungwoo thought she might suit standing at a podium someday.

Anyway, he would have to thank Baek Geun-ho separately someday for the shark plushie.

Jungwoo chuckled.

‘He was more interesting than I expected.’

In a way, it was enjoyable because he was exactly the kind of person Jungwoo remembered.

While considering where to stay, Jungwoo had chosen four candidates. Two were the three major guilds, and the other was Marang.

Cheonhwa and Heukwol had been chosen because Jungwoo expected to benefit from the social infrastructure and authority they already possessed. In Marang’s case, he had contacted them because he saw their potential in the future.

‘When was it that Baek Geun-ho became an S-rank?’

Three years? Four years?

He awakened while holding out alone against the monsters pouring in during the Gate shock that occurred on the outskirts of Seoul.

He would become Korea’s sixth S-rank Awakened and immediately raise Marang into a top-level guild.

His power had certainly been an important reason why Jungwoo had considered him.

But there was another reason he had kept Marang in mind.

Baek Geun-ho was one of the most righteous people among the Hunters Jungwoo knew.

He always called himself a man who lived and died for style, and he truly lived up to those words.

He had the courage to give up several profitable guild businesses for the safety and convenience of citizens, saying,

‘Using power correctly is what makes you cool.’

The irony was that because of this, he could not rise to the top until he became an S-rank.

In any case, Marang was a guild and Geun-ho was someone Jungwoo felt quite familiar with internally.

But unfortunately, it was also a place that could not ultimately be selected.

‘A guild is difficult. Well, in the end, it’s a company. There are bound to be various institutional restrictions.’

What Jungwoo needed right now was the right to explore and the right to exterminate monsters inside Zero Gates.

But that was something with overwhelmingly greater risk than profit for a country or a company.

Considering his external position, it would not be easy.

A means to overcome that.

A group that could be free from such restrictions.

He thought and thought.

And the answer eventually came down to one.

Jungwoo stared at the business card for quite a while.

[Abnormal Disaster Countermeasures Bureau]

The last one he had not met yet.

It was a method he had saved until the very end because he would have to choose a rather radical path.

That place was waiting for him.

---

The immediate problems were freedom of movement and removing various external obstacles.

In fact, there was a very simple way to accomplish that.

‘Just change the government’s policy.’

If the obstacle was the country’s position, then he only needed to change that position.

If various interests were preventing it, then all he had to do was make those interests meaningless.

There was one group in South Korea that could do such a thing.

[Abnormal Disaster Countermeasures Bureau]

It was an institution that prepared for Gate Shock incidents and observed and managed the overall flow of Gate occurrences.

At present, it was merely a subordinate department of the Hunter Management Bureau, whose functions were focused on responding to special situations involving Gates.

But the future was different.

‘It will become the successor to the Management Bureau after it is dismantled.’

The Countermeasures Bureau would become the new Management Bureau.

It would be promoted into an organization that directly established and reviewed laws related to Hunters.

So Jungwoo thought about it.

‘What if I bring forward the launch of that organization compared to my previous life?’

If he personally made it happen and placed himself at the center of the national Hunter system…

Wouldn’t he be able to manipulate institutional restrictions as much as he wanted?

The meeting he had arranged after thinking all of this through was today.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Jin Ho-jong, director of the Abnormal Disaster Countermeasures Bureau.”

They were sitting in a corner of a large café near Jungwoo’s studio apartment.

It was a weekday afternoon, so there were not many customers. Jungwoo was also wearing a hat, so there were no eyes watching them.

Across from Jungwoo sat a middle-aged man wearing a wrinkled suit with a tired and listless appearance.

His short sports haircut was covered with gray hair in almost half of his head.

His small frame and sleepy-looking eyes, which were half closed, made him look like a civil servant worn down by work.

But Jungwoo could not let his guard down.

After all,

‘He’s the man who dismantled the Management Bureau.’

This man was the one responsible for bringing down all the former Hunter politicians who had once been said to stand at the very top of the world.

There was one thing Jungwoo still remembered clearly.

‘He suddenly went to a congressman who was in the middle of a press conference and beat him up.’

The politician who was beaten nearly died.

Then, in front of dozens of cameras, he confessed while crying that the evidence of corruption Jin Ho-jong had presented was true.

He exposed their wrongdoing to the entire world.

Then he reorganized the national Hunter system as the successor to the Management Bureau.

He also introduced the slogan,

‘Hunters exist solely for the purpose of protecting society from the threat of Gates.’

Within half a year, he had turned public-service Hunters into an isolated island within the national government system.

That was how bold and remarkable Director Jin Ho-jong was.

Jungwoo needed to stay alert.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Shin Jungwoo.”

“My, what a fine young man. And you’re polite, too.”

“It’s an honor to meet a first-generation Hunter. I’ve seen you on the news many times since I was young.”

“Why bring up things from so long ago? What you’re going to do in the future will probably be much more impressive than that.”

“The present exists because of that past.”

“You can polish me up as much as you want, but I don’t have anything to offer in return…”

The middle-aged man scratched his cheek awkwardly.

Then he added,

“But you’re surprising. I wondered why such a young and promising fellow would be interested in such a humble department.”

“Is that so?”

“Of course. If I were Shin Jungwoo, I wouldn’t come here either. Wouldn’t it be better to go to the successful ones like Heukwol, Cheonhwa, or Athena? Live a luxurious life there? Live in a penthouse where you can see the entire Han River…”

He suddenly continued his probing.

“…But you’re coming here. What could you possibly see in a place like this? That’s what I’m curious about.”

The chill Jungwoo felt was not his imagination.

He saw a sharp edge hidden within Ho-jong’s lazy eyes.

Jungwoo smiled bitterly.

He knew very well that he was doing something that could not easily be understood.

For the sake of the public good?

Then it would make more sense to simply get a job at the Management Bureau.

If it were for personal gain, the Countermeasures Bureau was even less suitable.

So there was not much he could say.

“Wasn’t it the Countermeasures Bureau that offered me a scouting proposal?”

“That was just me testing the waters. I live off tax money anyway, so I have to at least pretend I’m doing some work.”

“Still, now that I’ve actually come, you need a reason.”

“It feels suspicious otherwise.”

Ho-jong took a sip of his coffee and added,

“So, young friend, what do you want to do after coming here?”

Various convincing interview answers flashed through Jungwoo’s mind.

But there was not a single one that felt right.

‘Not really.’

He had seen many kinds of people.

He had formed many social relationships.

Because of that, he knew that there were people in this world who would not respond to polite or proper words.

In Jungwoo’s eyes, Ho-jong was very close to that type of person.

So Jungwoo gave up on pretending.

He needed to be a little more honest.

Thus, he mentioned something that might sound like an afterthought, but had actually held considerable importance when choosing his workplace.

“On-time arrival, on-time departure. Guaranteed annual leave. Travel incentives.”

It was a little embarrassing to say.

“I heard the workload is quite light.”

This was also necessary for Jungwoo’s purpose.

“I raise my daughter alone, so I need to spend evenings with her. I want to take her to daycare on my way to work and make sure I pick her up again after work. And I want to go out and have fun with her on weekends.”

Jungwoo’s smile became awkward.

He knew that saying something like this directly in front of someone could be considered rude.

But wasn’t this the truth?

He wanted to make the most of this regression.

So, just as much as he wanted to prepare for the disaster ten years in the future, he also wanted to give Segi many happy days today.

The Countermeasures Bureau could provide that kind of work-life balance, so he had honestly told him that.

His throat felt a little dry.

He drank some coffee.

Silence.

It was one of those moments when only their eyes moved between them.

“Accepted.”

“What?”

“That passes.”

Ho-jong nodded.

His expression was still difficult to read, but at least the sharp edge that had been hidden in his eyes had disappeared completely.

He held out his hand.

“That’s the right answer. Shin Jungwoo, we’re the biggest tax thieves in this country. I look forward to working with you. Let’s steal plenty of government money together.”

Could it really be that simple?

The sudden change in his attitude left Jungwoo so bewildered that he could not immediately take his hand.

Only afterward did he slowly reach out, and Ho-jong firmly grasped it.

At that moment,

“I like people who understand attachment, like Shin Jungwoo. People who can sacrifice themselves as much as necessary for the things they care about. Those kinds of people are good at their jobs.”

His words seemed to carry a double meaning.

His eyes were almost dark enough to feel sinister, as though he were looking straight into Jungwoo’s mind.

Jungwoo realized it.

This man…

“I like people with dark thoughts even more. They’re clever.”

He really was not someone to take lightly.

---

There had been a time when news about Jungwoo filled the entire world.

But, as someone once said, an issue eventually gets buried beneath another issue.

The news about Jungwoo was also gradually fading as other interesting stories appeared.

But that was only true for the public.

Not for the reporters.

Whatever happened, it was certain that Jungwoo would make his next move.

And if they caught that move before everyone else and reported it, it would be a first-class scoop.

That was the current situation with Jungwoo.

So how could they stop paying attention?

Some reporters continued collecting information about him quietly and persistently, patrolling his neighborhood so silently that even the summoned creatures did not react.

Others continued their investigations using the information networks and databases they had built up.

But Jungwoo lived such a quiet life that they gained nothing for several days.

Then, one day—

“Senior! I heard Shin Jungwoo is going to the Abnormal Disaster Countermeasures Bureau!?”

“What kind of ridiculous rumor is that? Instead of wasting time digging into that, go look through the company announcements—”

“No, it’s official!”

“What!?!”

An unprecedented and shocking move was about to shake the world.

The world was about to start buzzing.

Meanwhile, what was Jungwoo, the man at the center of the topic, actually doing?

The answer was simple.

He was preparing to move.

“Segi. Those clothes go in here.”

“Are you not taking this one?”

“No. We’ll buy new clothes and put them in the new closet.”

“New clothes!”

“Yeah, clothes. Let’s buy new shoes, too.”

“Segi wants Bini-ping shoes!”

“Bini-ping? What’s that? Should we go look after we’re done moving?”

“Yeah! Segi likes Bini-ping! All my friends have Bini-ping!”

Now that his employment contract had been completed, Jungwoo had tens of billions of won in contract money in his pocket, which the Countermeasures Bureau had requested from the government and received.

It was time to leave this shabby studio apartment.