Chapter 8
It was a relief to be released just as things seemed about to get ugly.
I never imagined the Association chairman, who was always absent even in the story, would show up.
“Chief Kang, once you’ve taken care of this matter, let’s have a private talk. Understood?”
The chairman smiled warmly at Chief Kang Hyeon-seok of the Hunter Management Division and laid a hand on his shoulder.
“Ah, yes, understood. Hahaha….”
Perhaps feeling the immense pressure, Chief Kang Hyeon-seok replied with cold sweat running down his face.
He might lose his position as chief of the Hunter Management Division over this, so he’d better be careful not to offend the chairman.
—Honestly, I wouldn’t mind if he lost his position and got kicked out of the Association.
“Yura, you were worried, weren’t you?”
“I’m just glad you’re safe, miss. Look how haggard you’ve become while I wasn’t looking. What am I going to do with you….”
Yura came over to me after I was released and gently touched my face.
I could tell from her worried touch just how much she’d been fretting over me.
“What do you mean, haggard? It’s only been a few days.”
“It wasn’t only a few days! It was several whole days!”
Glare.
She shot a fierce look at Chief Kang and the other Hunter Management officials who’d blocked our way.
“I’d like nothing more than to burn every one of them to ash.”
Then she spat that chilling remark right in their faces.
“How could you forcibly interrogate an innocent young lady? If an unusual case like temporary awakening occurs, you should investigate it. Honestly!”
Apparently tired of saying any more, Yura finished with a sigh.
“Well, this is embarrassing.”
The chairman approached us sheepishly.
“For something like this to happen while I was away… On behalf of the Association, I apologize to you, Miss Seol-a.”
“It’s all right, Chairman. Thanks to you, I’ve been released.”
“That’s not enough. I’ll make sure to send you an apology gift, so please accept it.”
I didn’t know what kind of apology gift he had in mind, but surely he’d send something nice.
It would be rude to refuse, so I should accept it.
“I won’t refuse.”
“Hoho. Thank you for accepting it. I’ll send you something nice, so please do accept it. Hohoho.”
Honestly, the story hadn’t revealed much information about the chairman.
All that had been revealed was his name, Hunter rank, and the fact that he was always absent.
The chairman’s name was Park Jong-cheol.
His Hunter rank was S-rank.
His ability was a secret.
What he did while he was away was a secret, too.
Since everything about him was shrouded in mystery, it was hard to tell whether he was an ally or an enemy.
Judging by what had happened today, I might be able to consider him an ally for now.
Of course, he might be using this incident to get closer to me, so I absolutely couldn’t let my guard down.
—After all, the Korean Hunter Association was ultimately a shadowy force that would drive me, Yoo Seol-a, to my death.
“Then take care on your way home, Miss Seol-a. And you too, Miss Yura. I’ll be off to speak with Chief Kang now.”
“Thank you for helping me today, Chairman.”
With that, Yura and I started making our way out of the Association.
We were just about to reach the entrance when—
“Miss Seol-a, are you all right!?”
“Oh. Mr. Hye-seong.”
Kim Hye-seong, who must have been waiting for me the whole time, greeted me in the very same clothes he’d worn during the Gate incident.
“You look a lot more haggard than before. Were you unable to sleep?”
“Uh…. Well….”
I hesitated a little at Kim Hye-seong’s words.
If Yura heard, she’d run straight back to Chief Kang in a heartbeat.
—But there’s no point hiding it. She probably already knows….
“I couldn’t sleep because they kept interrogating me.”
“What?! But you were brought here two days ago, Miss Seol-a!”
For three days and nights, I hadn’t slept, showered, or eaten.
Honestly, all I wanted most right now was to wash up and sleep.
I could eat after I woke up; that could wait.
“Miss, could I go back in there for a moment? I really ought to put a knife in that bastard’s face.”
“Hold back. The chairman took care of it, so at least do it for his sake.”
“Sigh…. The problem is that you’re far too kind, miss.”
I wholeheartedly agreed with that.
Yoo Seol-a had died because she was kind.
Of course, that was also why I liked her.
—She may seem cold on the outside, but she’s warm at heart.
That’s the kind of person Yoo Seol-a is.
“More importantly, let’s hurry home, Yura. I want to wash up and sleep.”
“Understood. I’ll bring the car around to the main entrance, so please wait here.”
“Okay. I’ll stay with Mr. Hye-seong, so go ahead.”
“Yes. Please look after Miss Seol-a, Young Master Hye-seong.”
“I’ll take care of Miss Seol-a. Go ahead.”
Yura left us for a moment to get the car.
And so I was left alone with Kim Hye-seong.
“Miss Seol-a, are you hungry? Just in case, I bought some bread and milk.”
“Oh, thank you. I was getting a little hungry.”
“Here, take these.”
Thankfully, he’d bought me something to eat.
Thanks to him, the bread and milk filled my empty stomach somewhat.
“Um, Miss Seol-a.”
“Yes?”
“The way you awakened was really amazing.”
“Ah…. Thank you.”
“It felt like you’d already gone so far ahead of me, Miss Seol-a, but it made me want to become a Hunter just like you.”
“You’ll become a good Hunter, Mr. Hye-seong. Let’s both do our best.”
“Yes!”
I hoped this would have a positive effect and make him a dependable ally.
Though I felt sorry for the female protagonist of the story.
“Miss! Come over here! Young Master Hye-seong, you too!”
A little while later, Yura came back and called to us.
And so we made it home safe and sound (?).
◈ ◈ ◈
“Your Excellency, a petition asking that firearms be made available to civilians has been posted.”
“That’s right, Your Excellency. Every broadcasting network is also giving it extensive coverage.”
A meeting was in full swing at the Blue House, where the South Korean president’s office was located.
The reason was a petition asking that firearms be made available to civilians.
“I’ve heard that people had been holding back because Gates had never appeared in an urban area until now. But after this incident, they’re clamoring for firearms as a means of protection, like in other countries.”
“However, we’ve also seen the many problems caused by allowing firearms in other countries. To be honest, I’m against allowing civilians to own guns.”
“In the first place, didn’t we spend trillions of won building top-quality shelters throughout the Seoul metropolitan area and the rest of the country so we wouldn’t have to allow civilians to own guns?”
“Allowing guns just because a single Gate appeared could be the worst possible decision, one that costs us everything. Don’t you agree?”
In response to the lawmakers’ comments, South Korean President Kim Seong-hyeon shook his head, showing his opposition to the petition.
That was only natural.
He’d watched as various terrorist attacks unrelated to Gates continued to occur in countries that allowed firearms as a means of protection, leaving many civilians injured or dead.
That was why, unlike other countries, South Korea had shifted toward building top-quality shelters not only in the Seoul metropolitan area but throughout the country as well.
The use of shelters had clearly reduced civilian casualties caused by Gates, and calls to allow firearms had all but disappeared in South Korea.
—But this incident had brought the issue back to the surface.
“But Your Excellency, it’s true that this incident caused many civilian casualties. More importantly, one of those supposedly reliable shelters was breached, and the police and civilians inside were massacred.”
“That’s right. The victims’ families are even planning to hold a candlelight vigil over this. They intend to protest against the incompetent president and lawmakers, so both the ruling party and the opposition are in a panic.”
“If we don’t allow firearms, none of us will be able to avoid taking a major hit.”
The president furrowed his brow at the lawmakers’ remarks.
‘Isn’t there a better solution? Something other than allowing firearms, which could cause problems beyond the Gates….’
He was trying to think of a better solution.
He opposed allowing firearms because he genuinely cared about the safety of the people, so he racked his brain again and again.
Then an idea suddenly came to him.
“Everyone, I’ve thought of a good solution.”
“What is it, Your Excellency?”
“Please, tell us.”
“The police have suffered casualties as well. Now that I think about it, the guns they currently use are revolvers that hold only six rounds. What if we upgraded their firearms?”
The solution President Kim Seong-hyeon had thought of was to improve the police’s weapons.
In other words, he was proposing that their firearms be upgraded.
“Certainly, if the police switched from revolvers to high-performance firearms, they could resist monsters that appeared without warning.”
“That sounds like a good plan, Your Excellency.”
“And there’s one more measure we could pursue alongside this.”
The president proposed another solution as well.
“We can work with the Association and private guilds to implement a Hunter Rotation System.”
“A Hunter Rotation System?”
“What is that, Your Excellency?”
“To put it simply, the Hunter Rotation System is—”
It was a proposal called the Hunter Rotation System.
Curious about what it was, the lawmakers began asking the president questions one after another.
The president began answering smoothly, as though he’d been considering the idea for some time.
“—A system in which Hunters are stationed in each region so they can respond quickly when something like this happens.”
“The reason it’s called a rotation is that Hunters do this for money, after all, and they need to defeat stronger monsters to become stronger, don’t they?”
“We call it a rotation system because Hunters take turns being stationed in each area for a day at a time. The idea is to help one another.”
Clap.
The president clapped his hands.
“Well, what do you think? Both seem like decent plans, don’t they?”