Chapter 32

Chapter 32

The director of the External Cooperation Headquarters wasn't the only one who returned to the conference room.

He came back looking visibly flustered, accompanied by another man.

From the way the director opened the door for him and followed behind, it was obvious the newcomer outranked him.

"Good afternoon, Hunters who protect our country. Some of you may already know me, but since there are people here I'm meeting for the first time, allow me to introduce myself."

The newcomer bowed slightly.

"My name is Woo Shin-hyeok, and I serve as Vice President of the Hunter Association. It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm especially honored to meet you in person, Crafter Do Hwa-in. It would've been better under less hostile circumstances, of course."

A real heavyweight had appeared.

And from the very beginning, he talked a lot, clearly trying to seize control of the atmosphere.

The sly smile he sent my way even made it seem like he thought he was the one holding the upper hand.

Well, considering what I'd heard, the Association had spent years pushing around everyone from rookie Hunters to small and medium guilds.

There was no reason he'd suddenly become timid just because major-guild executives were sitting in front of him.

The Association had been fighting the major guilds for years and had managed to maintain a balance of power.

And with the government generally siding with the Association, the guilds probably hadn't found it easy to gain the upper hand.

At best, the two sides had been evenly matched.

If anything, the Association may have held a slight advantage.

"I heard from the director here that you intend to create another Gate Emergence Forecasting Device and keep it under private ownership, separate from the one currently managed by the Association."

"Yes. That's correct."

"I'm sure you're aware that the Gate Emergence Forecasting Device is designated as a national strategic asset."

"And I'm sure you're aware that the circumstances now are very different from when it was first given that designation."

"Haha. As expected, I can't beat you in an argument, Vice Guild Master Kim Sang-hyeon."

"You're too kind."

"But you see...."

The Vice President leaned his upper body forward slightly, creating the atmosphere of someone about to say something important.

"When judges rule on cases, don't they look at precedent? This situation gets a fine, this one gets life imprisonment, another gets the death penalty. Something like that. Even if the ruling came from a long time ago under completely different circumstances, they still refer to it. It's not very common for the result to be overturned entirely either."

"There are cases where old rulings are overturned. Courts reverse judgments from ten years ago, and sometimes explicitly state that the circumstances surrounding the previous ruling no longer apply."

Even with the Vice President present, the argument dragged on for quite a while.

By the time everyone was beginning to look tired, the Vice President suddenly turned toward me.

"Do you feel the same way, Crafter Do Hwa-in? Strictly speaking, you're not even affiliated with a guild. And from what the Association has separately investigated, that sculpture was only made because you accepted a commission. Using Yeonwoo Guild's three annual commission rights, wasn't it?"

He made a point of showing that he knew the details of my contract with Yeonwoo Guild.

Almost as though he wanted me to think someone inside the guild had leaked information.

But I already knew an assistant manager from the External Cooperation Headquarters had been wandering around Yeonwoo Guild collecting information.

So it wasn't a very effective attempt to sow suspicion.

Is it finally time?

More importantly, I briefly clenched and opened my fist.

The reason I'd come here in the first place had finally arrived.

"Of course I'm not affiliated with a guild... and yes, this sculpture was made as a Yeonwoo Guild commission."

"Then...."

"But I'm willing to make two or three more Gate Emergence Forecasting Devices and hand them over to guilds."

"..."

"Even without a commission."

"Why? I have to wonder why you're being so hostile toward the Association...."

The Vice President exaggeratedly drooped his expression, acting deeply hurt and confused.

It was ridiculous.

Who in this room was supposed to be moved by that performance?

"You already know, don't you? The Association deliberately created negative public opinion about me... and interfered with my artistic work however it pleased."

"You're siding with the guilds over something so trivial?"

"Trivial? I'm an artist. I'm the kind of person who's satisfied as long as I can freely make whatever art I want. Pretty modest, don't you think?"

"..."

"But the Association didn't seem willing to leave me alone. What choice do I have? I'll have to work hard to protect my modest little freedom."

"That's...."

"And you just admitted it, didn't you? Creating negative public opinion about me. Interfering with my artistic work. Both of those things."

The Vice President, who'd been about to argue, shut his mouth.

He seemed to replay the conversation in his head.

I immediately continued before he could recover.

"I apologize to the guild executives here, but I didn't come today for some grand cause. I came for personal revenge. To tell the Association to stop bothering me. Do you really think the only thing I can make is a Gate Emergence Forecasting Device?"

I heard Shin Ha-gyeon laugh quietly beside me.

I'd openly said I was motivated by petty revenge rather than some noble cause, yet he seemed to be enjoying the conversation more than ever.

That made it even easier to ignore everyone else and say exactly what I wanted.

"From what I've seen, the Association desperately wants an S-Class production skill while somehow underestimating that same S-Class production skill. Ah. Is it because you have nothing else to compare it to?"

I added the last part like I was talking to myself.

Naturally, I didn't lower my voice.

Honestly, the guild executives here were tied to the Association in too many ways.

That meant negotiations would inevitably drag on.

They'd spent years pulling against one another over power.

Even if the Association internally knew it had lost, it would resist as long as possible in front of the guilds.

And because the guilds knew that, they'd keep arguing until the Association finally gave up.

But I was different.

Just as the Vice President had said, I wasn't part of a guild.

And I was a production-type Hunter with no reason to enter Gates.

They couldn't completely block my artistic work either.

Doing that would go against the national interest.

And in this era, all I'd need to do was gather reporters and say the Association was preventing me from using my skill.

As long as I remained an unaffiliated individual, the Association's best method of retaliating against me was through public opinion.

But interfering with my art would only give me justification in that very same public-opinion battle.

"..."

Until now, the Association had constantly used my contract with Yeonwoo Guild to pressure me as though I were basically one of their members.

But now that I openly declared this was my own personal retaliation, independent of any guild, the Vice President seemed to finally remember what position I actually occupied.

Unlike when dealing with the guild executives, he looked flustered and couldn't easily find words.

I used the opening to say something that would also help the guild side.

"Honestly, until now, I never really thought about the power relationship or balance between guilds and the Association.... But starting with the memorial sculpture commission, I decided to think about it. That's why I'm willing to help the guilds gain access to Gate-forecasting technology."

"...Artist Do. The Gate Emergence Forecasting Device is a strategic asset."

Look at that.

Even the way he addressed me had completely changed.

"Then what if it has a different appearance and a different name?"

"Excuse me?"

"Let's say, for example, I make something like a Crystal of Danger Warning. Or I sculpt a prophet statue that tells you the location of Gates before they appear. If the result is the same, but the shape, name, and method are all different from the existing Gate Emergence Forecasting Device, then what?"

"That's nothing but sophistry!"

"Maybe you see it that way. But items have names written directly in their status windows, don't they? If the name changes, the matter would have to be discussed again. And with public opinion currently leaning toward the guilds... once the issue is reopened, don't you think the outcome might be different from last time?"

"..."

I quietly watched the Association representatives' faces darken or flush red.

Then Yoon Jamok, who had been listening silently, clapped her hands and gathered everyone's attention.

"You all heard Artist Do Hwa-in's opinion clearly, right? Then shall we return to negotiations?"

Apparently, they were going to start another round where the guilds pressured the Association with the possibility of new forecasting devices while the Association tried to coax them into giving up on ownership.

My words had given the guild side more weight.

At that moment, Shin Ha-gyeon leaned over and quietly spoke to me.

"Thanks to you, Artist Do, I think this boring tug-of-war will end at least a month earlier."

You were expecting this to take another month?

I'd heard the guilds' actual demand was to separate the department handling the Gate Emergence Forecasting Device from the Association and turn it into an independent institution.

If a new institution were created, there would be room to place guild-affiliated people inside.

And it could also be moved away from the current Association President's direct influence.

I'd also heard that their threats about privately owning new devices were meant to make the guilds appear to be giving something up once the real proposal was presented.

But they'd expected that process alone to take more than a month?

I felt slightly exhausted just hearing about it.

"Are you going to keep watching? I'm heading back to the guild to deal with the work that's piled up."

Shin Ha-gyeon looked as though his own role was already finished.

Seeing that made my exhaustion hit me all at once too.

I sent Kim Sang-hyeon a message telling him to call me if my name came up again, then left with Shin Ha-gyeon.

My steps felt light as I walked out of the Association.

Partly because I expected they wouldn't dare bother me so easily anymore.

But also because I was now certain I held a real card capable of pressuring the Association myself.

If I oppose them too aggressively, they might eventually go insane and try to crush me outright.

I'll have to use this carefully.

"All right. Time to finally open this."

With an unusually solemn expression, I picked up the document envelope I'd left in one corner of the workshop.

It was the envelope my family had sent through Yeonwoo Guild some time ago.

"Peep?"

Chaeri, who had flown over at some point, tilted her head from side to side curiously.

I took a small breath and opened the envelope.

Inside was something I hadn't expected at all.

Tap.

A pure-white wedding invitation fell onto the workshop desk.

[Groom: Do Yeong-in / Bride: Kim A-rang]

It was an invitation to my older brother's wedding.

Family had always been difficult for me.

What made them especially difficult was the fact that they weren't bad people.

They stood in the way of my dream.

They claimed they'd burned Grandfather's paintings.

They often looked at me with disappointment and criticized me.

And yet, absurdly, they still weren't bad people.

I hate that I know they're not bad people.

I still believed my parents had loved me.

But sometimes, love itself could become the reason something hurt.

For me, it was them preventing me from sculpting.

From their perspective, it had probably been me stubbornly insisting on becoming a sculptor.

A relationship where both sides only hurt each other wasn't healthy.

No matter how much love existed at the foundation, if everything piled on top of it was insults, criticism, and resentment....

By the time I finally stormed out of the house, it felt as though even the emotions underneath were beginning to rot.

That day had also been one of the rare times my brother visited our parents' home.

And the day my parents shouted that they'd burned every one of Grandfather's works.

It had been winter then too.

"Where's the painting that was in my room?"

I ran into the living room with a face gone completely white.

My parents and brother had been sitting together, eating sliced pears.

Their smiling faces turned cold the moment they looked at me.

"What painting?"

"You know which one!"

"I burned it this morning."

"!"

Father's casual answer lit the fuse.

"...Even though it was a painting of your own father and your son, you wanted to burn it that badly just because it was art?"

That painting had been the only one of Grandfather's works I possessed.

I'd sat beside him while he painted it and watched the entire process from sketch to color.

It held the memory of sitting with Grandfather in front of a mirror and canvas while he taught me about self-portraits.

I'd even endured it when my parents secretly tried to cancel my acceptance to art school.

But this time, the anger finally exploded.

Maybe every emotion I'd convinced myself I'd endured had never disappeared at all.

Maybe they'd simply filled me little by little until one or two final drops were enough to make everything overflow.

"I know Father resents Grandfather. But then you should've understood that I might end up resenting you too."

At the time, my brother had helped pay my university entrance fee.

After that, I supported myself through part-time jobs and student loans.

Other than that....

I quickly calculated every bit of support I was still receiving from my parents.

Then I even worked out how I would repay the entrance money my brother had given me.

I moved fast.

Planning to stay at a friend's house if necessary, I threw whatever I could into a bag and rushed out of my room.

"Is that any way to talk to your parents?! You ungrateful bastard!"

I ignored the shouting behind me.

I also slapped away the hand that tried to grab me without even checking who it belonged to.

The moment I stepped outside, it was freezing.

The sharp winter wind cut into my lungs.

It felt as though it froze my heart along with them.

Clunk.

The front door closed.

The shouting became muffled and distant.

It felt as though an impenetrable wall had suddenly appeared between my family and me.

I'd personally opened that same door barely an hour earlier.

But now it no longer felt like a door.

I heard someone coming toward the entrance and hurried away.

Even so, my brother caught me in front of the elevator.

He stared at my openly wary expression before suddenly speaking.

"I don't understand why you're so attached to Grandfather."

"Hah! If you're going to say crap like that, go back inside. Go sit next to Father and badmouth me together."

"This sounds harsh, but are first-degree relatives and second-degree relatives really the same?"

"You do know you and I are second-degree relatives too, right?"

"Ah. Right."

Still gripping me firmly, my brother stopped and thought for a moment.

"Then let me say it differently."

"..."

"The living have to keep living. How long are you going to keep ruining the family atmosphere because of someone who's dead?"

"...Do you seriously think I'm the one ruining this family because of Grandfather?"

"Then who is?"

"Father would destroy my sculptures too. That's why things can never work. If you're an artist, you have to protect your own work, don't you?"

I tried to leave after telling him I'd return the university entrance money to his bank account.

But my brother told me not to bother.

Instead, he shoved cash into my coat pocket.

He must have grabbed it before following me.

Clearly, he'd come out planning to give it to me from the start.

"You don't have friends. Don't sleep on the street. At least go get a motel room."

"...!"

"I still don't completely understand you. But I also think Mom and Dad went too far. Just like I think you're disrespectful toward them."

"..."

"And I want my family to be happy. Like you said, if this continues, everyone is only going to become miserable. So if you're really leaving home, cut contact too. As long as Father can still reach you, he won't give up."

"..."

"Don't contact me either just because you want to repay money or something. At least until you achieve your dream, harden your heart and live properly."

"..."

"Ah. Still, once things settle down.... Yeah. Maybe around the time either you or I get married, we can contact each other again."

My brother said everything he wanted, then turned away.

I stood there blankly for a moment before trying to stop him.

But he threatened that if I returned the money, he'd drag me back into the house somehow.

Then he left first.

Only after I was alone in the empty apartment hallway did I finally get angry.

"Damn it. Pick one side...."

It would've been less confusing if my family had simply made it possible for me to hate them completely.

I probably would've left home sooner too.

I wouldn't have endured everything and stayed until that day.

"..."

Cold wind slipped through the coat I'd thrown on carelessly.

There was also a business card inside the envelope.

[Network Engineer Do Yeong-in]

I flipped it over.

A short sentence had been written on the back.

-Let's meet sometime. It's been a while.

"He was awkward back then, and he's still awkward now. Would it kill him to say something a little nicer?"

Even as I complained aloud, my hand was already searching for my phone.

It would be the first family number I saved since changing phones.