Chapter 7. Special Division Rookie (3)
The Yoo-seong Group.
There wasn't a single person in South Korea who didn't know the name.
Even before the Great Upheaval, it had ranked first among the country's conglomerates.
Now it also led the Hunter industry.
It was practically one of South Korea's pillars.
And Choi Tae-woo, chief secretary and second-in-command of Yoo-seong, had just encountered the greatest crisis of his life.
“Why...! Why would you do something like this?!”
The ones driving him insane were the twins of the Yoo-seong family.
The fearless siblings, protected by one of the most powerful families in the country, had finally caused a massive disaster.
“Chief! You're here!”
Choi Tae-woo had arrived at a Gate located deep in the mountains of Gangwon Province.
Normally, he would never have come here.
“You bastards!”
Choi Tae-woo usually refused to swear, claiming foul language destroyed one's dignity.
Today was different.
“What the hell were all of you doing?!”
“...We're sorry!”
Every member of Secretary Team Three, which managed affairs related to the Yoo-seong family, stood with their heads lowered and their hands behind their backs.
“Report the situation first!”
“...Less than an hour after the twins entered the Gate, the Gate underwent an abnormal change.”
It had originally been a D-Rank Gate in a remote mountain region of Gangwon Province.
Normally, there would have been no problem at all.
If the people who had entered without permission hadn't been the Yoo-seong twins.
No.
Apparently, the twins had hired mercenaries before entering.
Even without official permission, Yoo-seong could have buried the incident as long as they came back out safely.
The problem was that the Gate had transformed abnormally and trapped them inside.
“The Gate's current rank is A. The problem is...”
“The problem is that no one can enter an abnormal Gate.”
Choi Tae-woo grabbed his head.
He glared at Secretary Team Three, but couldn't truly blame them.
“These... insane brats finally did it...”
The real problem was the twins, who secretly hired mercenaries and entered the Gate.
Choi Tae-woo had always suspected something like this might happen eventually.
“Uncle, I'm going to become a Hunter.”
“Me too.”
Spoiled children born into the Yoo-seong bloodline, living in a castle built from money, yet still dreaming of becoming Hunters.
They had a future where ten percent of South Korea's wealth might eventually become theirs simply by breathing.
They could enjoy riches beyond most people's dreams.
And yet they still weren't satisfied.
I can't believe they actually entered a Gate.
They had clearly fallen for that ridiculous rumor.
The rumor that entering a Gate and experiencing the fear of death could turn someone into a Hunter.
“Haah...”
There was another problem.
South Korean corporations weren't allowed to own Guilds.
It was a national restriction meant to prevent financial power and military force from gathering under a single organization.
“Contact the Shinhwa Guild.”
“Shinhwa?”
Even Yoo-seong would need help from an outside Guild to resolve this situation.
And they would need to pay an astronomical amount.
Money itself wasn't the problem.
For his own blood relatives, the Chairman would probably give away his entire fortune without hesitation.
The problem was...
Every S-Rank Hunter in the country knows that too.
How much would they demand?
And even if Yoo-seong paid, would they actually be able to save the twins?
There was one more organization they needed to contact.
“What about the Association?”
“We already informed them.”
“...In a situation like this...”
Choi Tae-woo stared at the unstable Gate rippling in front of him.
“The Special Division will come.”
The Association's Special Division.
The grim reapers of the battlefield.
The Association's enforcers.
Even elite Hunters from top Guilds feared them.
They were people so intimidating that ordinary civilians might wet themselves simply from meeting them.
“I don't care whether it's the Special Division or Shinhwa. As long as someone saves the twins. No matter how much it costs.”
Choi Tae-woo stared at the Gate bitterly.
“Thanks to those two brats, those people are about to make a fortune.”
“I want to enter a Gate.”
I carefully expressed my request to the Special Division.
Since the Special Division handled everything related to supernatural phenomena such as Hunters and Gates, I didn't think it was a particularly unreasonable request.
But...
“A Gate, you say?”
Director Park Min-ho looked more shaken than ever.
“Well...”
He hesitated.
Is it difficult?
Had I asked for too much?
I stared at him with some concern.
“N-No! Of course not! We should go! Yes, we absolutely should enter a Gate!”
Thankfully, kind Park Min-ho readily agreed.
“...We're screwed. Should I submit my resignation?”
“What did you just say?”
“What?”
“You just said something about resigning.”
“Me? No! Of course not! I said I'm so excited that I want to enter Gates with Hunter Kim Si-hyeon for the rest of my life!”
I must have misheard him.
Such kind people.
We hadn't known each other for long, yet they already treated me so warmly and sincerely.
I didn't want to disappoint them.
I need to become a Hunter quickly.
If I entered a Gate and learned to use mana, everything would be fine.
Apparently, however, Gates weren't places one could just enter whenever they wanted.
For an entire week afterward, I received no news.
Then...
“Deployment order!”
I was sitting on the Special Division sofa during my shift when everything suddenly became noisy.
Park Min-ho rushed into the building and shouted urgently.
“The Yoo-seong twins entered a Gate without permission and got trapped. It's an abnormal Gate.”
That was the entire briefing.
“About three people should be enough.”
At those words, the Hunters who had been crouching in corners reading books suddenly sprang to their feet.
“I'll go.”
“No, I'm going.”
“What are you talking about? I'm going too.”
“What? Then I'll go too.”
“You disloyal bastards! Trying to save yourselves!”
“Why don't we all just go?”
“Yeah! It's an abnormal Gate! Dangerous, right?”
“Exactly, exactly.”
They prepared their gear as if something were chasing them.
It took less than a minute for everyone to become fully armed.
“And... huh.”
Only then did Park Min-ho notice me.
“Well...”
Of course.
