Chapter 10
"The reason we came here today is to help you complete your Hunter Registration."
The Department Head of the Hunter General Administration Headquarters had personally come for a Hunter Registration.
It was an unprecedented situation.
There was absolutely nothing normal about it.
"However, while preparing your registration, we discovered that we couldn't clearly confirm your identity, Hunter Baek Cheon-myeong."
Kang Ha-min flinched.
That was one of the things he had been worried about as well.
Normally, they didn't go out of their way to verify someone's identity during Hunter Registration.
Proving that someone had Awakened was usually enough to register them as a Hunter.
But this time, the Department Head of the Hunter General Administration Headquarters had personally appeared.
There was no way they hadn't investigated him.
W, what do we do?
While Kang Ha-min froze in panic,
"So we created your entire identity on our side."
A government official casually said something that sounded completely illegal.
"You've saved me some trouble."
And Baek Cheon-myeong accepted it just as casually.
What kind of insane conversation was this?
"Yes. Here is your identification card, a Hunter-exclusive bank account with tax benefits, and a mobile phone that we activated just in case."
"You may use them if you need them. If not, feel free to dispose of them."
"I'll use it."
Baek Cheon-myeong immediately snatched up the phone.
He had the most satisfied expression Ha-min had seen all day.
He was surprisingly interested in modern technology.
What is even happening right now?
Kang Ha-min was still completely dumbfounded.
The government itself had created an identity and bank account for him.
He could strongly feel that something was going very wrong.
[Master, isn't it fine as long as the result is good?]
N, no, well, that's...
[If the government created the identity for me, then it shouldn't count as this "illegal" thing you keep mentioning.]
Well, that was technically true.
Kang Ha-min made a complicated expression.
There was only one reason Shin No-seop was going this far.
Baek Cheon-myeong was an extremely valuable talent who could save South Korea.
Recently, South Korea's Hunter market had been weakening.
A series of incidents involving the Hunter industry had pushed the country into decline.
And now, a talent like this had suddenly appeared.
They absolutely couldn't afford to lose him.
Any potential trouble had to be prevented before it even began.
It didn't matter if Baek Cheon-myeong himself was suspicious.
He was an incredibly valuable S Rank Hunter who had broken a Tower clear achievement!
South Korea had to keep him in the country by any means necessary.
Besides, the Tower's recent clearing speed has been worrying.
Many Hunters who had achieved Tower Ascension were probably doing everything they could to push the Tower forward.
Yet progress remained painfully slow.
Once an entire year passes without the Tower being updated, a Trial begins.
When the Tower first appeared and Hunters began Awakening,
governments around the world had no idea what the Tower was, so they prohibited anyone from entering.
They had even gathered soldiers who claimed to have Awakened and sent them inside, only for many of them to die.
Because of that tragedy, the governments spent nearly a year conducting investigations instead.
Then the First Trial began.
The Dimensional Break.
When the first Dimensional Break occurred, countless people died.
The world entered an unprecedented depression, and the global economy was devastated.
South Korea was naturally no exception.
The situation became so severe that the country nearly faced another IMF crisis.
In fact, the only reason another IMF bailout didn't happen wasn't because South Korea was in a better position than it had been in 1997.
It was because even the IMF had almost no money left to lend.
And all of that happened alongside a worldwide economic depression.
Of course South Korea's economy was crushed.
The past few years had been more horrible than anyone wanted to remember.
And now,
it had already been six months since the Tower's highest floor had last been updated.
If no new floor was cleared within the next six months, the Second Trial would begin.
It would be an unprecedented disaster.
The entire world was desperately trying to push the Tower forward.
If one country managed to advance the Tower now, stock markets across the entire world would shake.
And at a time like this,
someone who had achieved a new First Floor record had appeared.
This man is South Korea's chance to enter a second golden age!
Shin No-seop came from a family of independence activists, and patriotism seemed to run in his blood.
He was the kind of man who would make a deal with the devil itself if it helped South Korea grow stronger.
So what if Baek Cheon-myeong was suspicious?
So what if he had no official identity?
All he had to do was climb the Tower.
The Tower.
That was all that mattered!
"Min-ji, help him with everything so he isn't inconvenienced. I'll step outside for a cigarette."
"Yes, sir!"
Shin No-seop quickly left the room so he wouldn't put unnecessary pressure on Baek Cheon-myeong.
Of course, he had no intention of actually smoking.
He didn't want Baek Cheon-myeong frowning because of the smell of cigarettes.
Instead, he even used mouthwash before returning, doing his best to get rid of any unpleasant middle-aged-man smell.
Other people might have asked why he was going this far.
But for Shin No-seop,
this was his job.
This was his life.
After some time passed,
"Um, Department Head."
Kim Min-ji peeked outside after apparently finishing the paperwork.
"Oh, you're done?"
"Yes, but there's something..."
"What is it? Did something happen? Did he demand a huge signing bonus? How much? I'll grab the Director General by the collar myself if that's what it takes to get the money."
"Uh, no. It's not that. You'll understand when you see this."
Kim Min-ji handed him the document with a slightly blank expression.
Shin No-seop accepted it.
A moment later,
his own expression went blank.
[Rank: Mythic (神話)]
Mythic.
It was a Rank he had never seen in his life.
"Do you think he wrote something false?"
Shin No-seop had already seen Baek Cheon-myeong's personality for himself.
Someone with that natural arrogance wasn't the type to lie about something like this.
If anything, he seemed like the kind of man who would write the truth even more bluntly.
"Huh. Haha. Hahahaha."
Shin No-seop simply laughed.
He couldn't stop the laughter from coming out.
Seeing Shin No-seop laughing like a madman, Kim Min-ji quietly backed away.
"I'll go get some snacks for Hunter Baek Cheon-myeong."
She had decided there was nothing good about staying here.
Shin No-seop didn't even notice.
He simply looked up at the sky with a bright smile.
Great-grandfather, who fought to reclaim this country, please watch over us.
It seems South Korea is about to experience a second miracle after the Miracle on the Han River.
A Mythic Rank Hunter.
A Hunter who might change the very rules of the world had appeared.
After Baek Cheon-myeong refused Shin No-seop's offer to personally drive him home,
they safely returned to the house.
Only then did Kang Ha-min finally breathe a sigh of relief.
All that chaos just for one Hunter Registration.
"Maybe we shouldn't have written Mythic Rank."
"No. It was probably better that we did. If anything, it will make them less suspicious."
Baek Cheon-myeong sat down and began playing with his new phone.
The corners of his mouth were raised.
He was clearly enjoying himself.
He would've taken that phone even if I told him not to.
Still, Ha-min had used Baek Cheon-myeong to request strict secrecy regarding everything.
"Yes, we will absolutely keep it secret! In fact, I believe that is the correct decision.
For us to properly support Hunter Baek Cheon-myeong's smooth Tower challenges, it would be better if your existence remains unknown for now!"
Support from the Hunter General Administration Headquarters.
Just hearing that felt incredibly burdensome.
"Support is unnecessary. I only want things to go smoothly whenever this body needs to sell something."
"Yes, of course. Ms. Yoo Ah-rin will personally handle all of that. And naturally, you don't need to worry about taxes either! I'll report everything to the higher-ups! We'll provide the best possible benefits, and naturally, a signing bonus as well."
"That is also unnecessary. Stop there. I don't want my name reaching the higher-ups because I accepted a signing bonus."
"I understand. But please contact us anytime if you run into trouble. Hunter Baek Cheon-myeong, you are a treasure of South Korea and the world's greatest S Rank Hunter!"
Ugh.
So much pressure.
Ha-min had answered through Baek Cheon-myeong, but every single part of that conversation had been unbearably heavy.
Still, Shin No-seop had spoken so earnestly that Ha-min trusted him.
He seemed like the kind of man who would strictly follow the secrecy agreement no matter what happened.
More importantly, S Rank, huh.
Ha-min had expected it.
After all, Mythic Rank didn't officially exist anywhere.
Still, it'll be troublesome if Mr. Baek Cheon-myeong starts attracting attention like other S Rank Hunters.
S Rank Hunters became instant celebrities.
Individuals capable of overthrowing an entire nation on their own.
The power carried by their names was beyond imagination.
Because of that, S Rank Hunters drew attention wherever they went, and the world cheered for them passionately.
Naturally, each S Rank Hunter had their own fandom.
Their star power was far greater than that of ordinary celebrities.
If Ha-min got dragged into that, all kinds of troublesome things would happen.
For Kang Ha-min, who simply wanted a peaceful and safe life, that was unacceptable.
Besides, there was always the chance that his identity as Baek Cheon-myeong's master could be revealed.
If possible, I want to hide my existence for the rest of my life.
Once the truth came out, there would be no stopping it.
Kang Ha-min decided to become even more careful from now on.
Shortly after Baek Cheon-myeong left,
Kim Min-ji pulled out a tablet beside Shin No-seop.
"Department Head Shin, the only information about Hunter Baek Cheon-myeong online is the first eyewitness report."
The first sighting of Baek Cheon-myeong.
It was the recent bus accident.
A bus had slipped on an icy road and charged directly toward a bus stop.
There was one report claiming Baek Cheon-myeong had appeared and stopped it.
Even that was basically speculation.
There was no other information about Baek Cheon-myeong anywhere.
It was almost as though he had suddenly fallen from the sky.
A Hunter's personal circumstances.
People could complain about privacy violations all they wanted, but Baek Cheon-myeong was different.
He was far more important than he seemed to realize.
And naturally,
that importance wasn't limited to South Korea.
"What about China and the United States?"
"It looks like they've already started moving."
"Damn it. Those bastards stomp through other countries whenever they feel like it."
"Japan is showing some movement too."
"Of course those Japanese bastards would stick their noses in. Keep the information locked down. If anything leaks outside, that means we have an enemy inside our own organization. Every last one of them is getting fired."
"Eek. But Ms. Yoo Ah-rin knows too."
"That woman would never sell information if keeping it benefits her more."
There was strangely little information on Baek Cheon-myeong.
But that wasn't entirely bad.
At the very least, it meant other countries would have just as much difficulty gathering information as they did.
"His residence?"
The Hunter Registration form also had a section for a home address.
Naturally, Baek Cheon-myeong had filled it out.
Because a terrified Kang Ha-min had made sure he answered everything honestly.
"There's one man named Kang Ha-min living there. One unusual detail is that he was recently dismissed from a civil servant position in a Hunter-related department."
"He worked for us?"
"Yes. It was a lower department, but he was still a civil servant."
"And he was dismissed?"
"You know that incident from a while ago. The Dimensional Break that was assigned the wrong Rank and caused a huge number of casualties."
The incident had caused enough chaos among the higher-ups to make national news.
Shin No-seop knew what had really happened.
He was a patriot too, but he had long known that the way this country operated could be a complete mess.
The National Assembly had long since become a place where old snakes twisted around each other.
Most politicians cared only about protecting themselves, while very few genuinely cared about the country.
"That was National Assembly member Ahn Cheol-woo's doing."
Four-term National Assembly member Ahn Cheol-woo.
His family had been involved in politics for generations, giving him deep roots within the National Assembly.
On top of that, he had been one of the first politicians to react after the Hunter crisis began.
While other National Assembly members hesitated and struggled to understand the new situation,
Ahn Cheol-woo introduced Hunter-related laws and naturally gathered a great deal of power connected to Hunters.
Needless to say, several corporations under his influence had also been created during that process.
He was a far more powerful figure than most people realized.
And Kang Ha-min had been dismissed from the civil service because of something that man had done.
"Hmm. What about family relations?"
"Family relations for someone with absolutely no information? Come on. It would be more believable if Hunter Baek Cheon-myeong were this Kang Ha-min guy's summon."
"If someone existed who could use an S Rank Hunter as a summon, that would cause an even bigger disaster."
Shin No-seop clicked his tongue and tapped the tablet.
Information they had already gathered on Kang Ha-min appeared.
"But what if they really are family? From Hunter Baek Cheon-myeong's perspective, if his family was treated like that, wouldn't he hate civil servants?"
As someone who worked in the same field, she understood.
There were few things worse for a civil servant than losing their secure government position.
Then Shin No-seop saw the name of Kang Ha-min's direct senior.
Ahn Min-woo.
Ahn Cheol-woo's son, and someone expected to become a National Assembly member in the future.
Everyone knew that his personality was rotten as well.
"His hatred would probably be considerable."
Shin No-seop felt heat rising around his eyes.
That damn National Assembly.
Instead of helping, they always seemed to create the worst possible problems.
Even the S Rank Hunter who had defected to China had done so because of a mess created by the National Assembly.
Just thinking about it made Shin No-seop furious.
If they wanted to keep Baek Cheon-myeong in South Korea,
they had to cut away every possible seed of distrust.
"I need to meet the Director General."
"Whoa, you're seriously going to fight a four-term National Assembly member? Ahn Cheol-woo's entire family is connected to the National Assembly."
"I know. But there's no place where people turn against their own side faster than this country's political world."
The political world was a place where people could point knives at each other at any moment.
Even against their own blood relatives.
Ahn Cheol-woo might be a fortress made of steel.
But even a steel fortress couldn't defend itself from a blade stabbed from within.
"There is no information on Hunter Baek Cheon-myeong. In that case, we need to protect the side we do have information on."
"Block access to Kang Ha-min's information as well. From now on, we'll handle everything involving him personally."
Every Hunter in the world could see the achievement record.
At this point, hiding Baek Cheon-myeong's existence forever was impossible.
"Eventually, the higher-ups will understand instinctively who is more useful and who is more harmful."
Shin No-seop handed the tablet back to her.
"So before that happens, our job is to prepare everything so we can move immediately whenever necessary."
"This feels kind of like we're spies!"
"...Sometimes, Min-ji, I really worry about you."
Looking at the cheerful Kim Min-ji, Shin No-seop rubbed his forehead.
Well.
Maybe this kind of personality was exactly why she had survived in this field for so long.
"More importantly, Kang Ha-min's father, who we assume may be connected to Hunter Baek Cheon-myeong, appears to be hospitalized. Arrange full top-class support for him first. Make sure you handle it naturally."
"Yes, sir!"
It didn't matter even if they ended up helping an unrelated person.
Shin No-seop had only one goal.
Do whatever it took
to keep Baek Cheon-myeong in South Korea.
