Chapter 159
[You know, there’s an S-rank mage in Korea. And there’s a high chance one more will appear soon…. From what I hear, they seem to be deeply connected to your company as well.]
A confident tone.
I immediately clamped my mouth shut and pushed my caution to the limit.
Was he just probing me, had he already secured evidence, and if so, how much did he know?
Everything was unknown.
All sorts of assumptions flashed through my head.
No time to think. The fact that the silence was getting longer was proof enough.
I decided to keep talking for now.
“…I don’t know what you mean.”
[Chairman, aren’t you underestimating us a little too much? Everyone knows you’re closely connected to Hunter Kim Hanbyeol, whose identity was recently revealed.]
“...”
It felt like crossing a minefield.
I carefully took a step forward.
“A relationship?”
[There are very few people in the world who could supply materials like dragon bones behind our backs. They have to be S-rank, and there has to be a hunting ground nearby.]
“...”
[Wasn’t Hunter Kim Hanbyeol secretly smuggling materials in from North Korea?]
What was this? Something felt strangely off.
Did they not know I was the real chairman?
To be sure, I tried probing them a little more.
“That’s right. So you really are the CIA? You can’t fool me.”
[Haha, you may be proud of that. You’ve hidden it extremely well from us. In fact, at first we were suspecting Hunter Kim Suho.]
“I wish you’d kept making that mistake.”
I mean it. Please, keep making that mistake.
[We were almost there. We never imagined that a hunter at national-security level, while hiding her identity, would suddenly appear. At this point, I suppose it’s fair to say you also have a close relationship with the Korean government?]
“Honestly, I’m a little flustered. Just how much do you know?”
I said that with complete sincerity too.
I’m really flustered. Just how badly are you misunderstanding this?
[Of course there’s more. This isn’t the end. Maybe Aeternus itself was a shell company created from the very beginning at the Korean government’s direction…. How about it? Our deduction?]
“...”
For a moment, I was at a loss for words.
It was an impressive scenario. And a rather plausible one at that.
Come to think of it, it did seem like too enormous a project for an individual to pull off.
Even leaving the business itself aside, the quality of the materials and processing methods was simply too high.
If you thought about where it came from, you’d end up at only one answer: the government.
There wasn’t much reason to deny it, was there?
I answered in an even deeper, heavier voice.
“…So you’re laying all our cards on the table, which means you want something, right?”
[I knew you’d admit it.]
“What else could I do? The NIS got exposed because it couldn’t even do counterintelligence properly. It’s not my fault, either.”
[Haha, we understand.]
Before I knew it, I was completely in character.
It felt like I’d gone back to Hunter Gallery.
Memories of the days before I got my invincible troll account, when I used multi-clone tricks to play every role myself and stir up flame wars.
I never imagined that kind of experience would end up helping me.
So this is the kind of unexpected reward you get for living diligently?
“So the reason you contacted me this time is because you want something from the Korean government too?”
[You catch on quickly. Yes, we’d like to handle this through unofficial channels. Especially now, when all three East Asian countries are involved.]
“Go on. I’ll report it to the higher-ups.”
I barely held back my laughter as I chimed in.
[As for Japan’s mirror, it would be better off with the Korean government, where it can actually be used.]
I paused to think for a moment.
Japan’s single-use legendary item, the Mirror of Attack Reflection.
It was a ridiculously broken item, but using it required mana equal to the full power of an S-rank mage.
Japan doesn’t have a single mage like that, but Korea is going to have two.
But were they really the kind of people who’d care about that?
Did the U.S. suddenly discover the merits of need-based distribution?
[To be frank, Japan has stuffed that precious thing in a warehouse and hasn’t even made it public. But Korea is different. Just announcing that you have it is enough to put pressure on people.]
“Pressure? On whom?”
[Naturally, on China. And there wouldn’t just be one person who can activate it, but two. It’s incredibly troublesome.]
“You want us to keep China in check? Us?”
It was a request bewildering beyond words.
Whether he knew what was on my mind or not, the voice on the other end of the phone sank lower.
[Those guys have been acting strange lately.]
“...”
[They seem to have been spurred on by that cleanup of the Mexico Gate last time. Recently, they’ve been gathering hunters in large numbers and training them. Naturally, that wouldn’t be for conquering the Tower.]
“You’re saying they might launch a military operation?”
[Very likely. And while they’re at it, they might push all the way north through Manchuria and into North Korea.]
Just like you said earlier?
You guys were planning to push through Mexico and clean all the way to Panama too, weren’t you?
As expected of the U.S., they understood China’s mindset more accurately than anyone else.
“So you want us to hold this up and draw some attention?”
[It’s similar to a hedgehog raising its quills. China won’t want to get pricked either.]
I swallowed a dry laugh.
In the end, America wanted to use us as a shield to keep China in check without lifting a finger.
Because of the misunderstanding that we were a Korean government front company, I ended up hearing about these complicated political circumstances as well.
It was too complicated a problem for me to think about.
“But if we try to keep China in check, won’t they just get angry?”
Even my limited brain could infer that much right away.
[If China crosses the line, then we won’t just sit still either. We will absolutely protect our allies.]
“Hmm…. All right. I understand. I’ll pass it on.”
[Yes, please make a wise choice.]
Click. The call ended.
Another call connected, this time to the broker.
The old man looked flustered now that the scale of things had suddenly gotten much bigger.
[Japan’s government alone, and now China and America too…. This is not something we can handle.]
“Still, I want the item.”
A single-use legendary item, huh.
It was obviously going to be a huge help someday.
“Let’s at least tell the government too, then. Yeah, clearly this isn’t something the two of us can handle.”
I immediately contacted Chairman Park Jeongwon.
***
[What? Ms. Kim Hanbyeol was the chairman of Aeternus?]
“Ah, was that the problem from the start?”
[And Japan’s government made such a request…. And America got involved too….]
“You really didn’t know anything about this?”
[I’m ashamed to say, no. Hoo…..]
Chairman Park’s sigh went on for a long time.
After staying silent for quite a while, Chairman Park answered with difficulty.
[Fine. Let’s proceed.]
“Really?”
[We were already keeping an eye on China’s movements. It’s something that has to be done anyway. We have no choice.]
It seemed he had finally made up his mind.
[We’ll support the negotiation team as well. I’ll assign some Foreign Ministry aces. Of course, outwardly they’ll all be part of Aeternus’s legal team.]
“Nice, experts.”
I nodded in satisfaction, then suddenly mentioned something that came to mind.
“Ah, I should make this clear before we go on, but the item is definitely supposed to be in my possession, right?”
[Yes, it would actually be safer if you kept it yourself. But when we spread the rumor, we’ll say it’s owned by the Korean government, and that you, Mr. Kim Suho, use it on rotation…. Something like that.]
“And if I actually end up using it?”
[I don’t think that would happen, but if it does, we’ll be the ones asking you for help.]
“All right. Please take care of it.”
The deal was somehow hammered out.
A few days later, a negotiation team was assembled under the government’s covert support.
***
Tokyo, Japan. Cabinet Office.
Heavy air pressed down on the conference room.
The Japanese negotiating team couldn’t hide its bewilderment.
Their counterpart was clearly a company.
Of course, it wasn’t something you could dismiss as just some ordinary company, but still, it was a company.
But the documents they laid out were absolutely not at that level.
Director Yamada’s eyes widened when he saw the conditions the other side was demanding.
“H-how….”
A single-use legendary item, the Mirror of Attack Reflection.
Also known as the Yata no Kagami.
That item’s existence was supposed to be top secret, wasn’t it?
At most, I thought they’d ask for money. Or maybe toss them a few concessions.
But to suddenly drop a nuclear bomb like this.
It felt like getting punched in your sleep.
‘There’s definitely Korea behind them! Those damn bastards….’
But right now, how they found out isn’t the important thing.
Director Yamada clenched his teeth and said,
“We can’t give up this item. How about another condition instead?”
“Hmm, what kind of condition?”
Director Yamada took out the options he had prepared.
More money, convenience for their activities in Japan….
But Aeternus’s negotiating team didn’t even blink.
“You know, don’t you? That this can’t simply be reduced to money.”
“Th-then how about this?”
Yamada put on a solemn expression.
There was no doubt the Korean government was behind these people.
And if you were a Japanese politician, there was no way you wouldn’t know what topic they liked.
Of course, he might have to stake his political career on it.
“The Dokdo issue and the agreement on historical issues….”
“No, wait a moment, Director.”
The Aeternus representative cut him off.
For some reason, his expression seemed to have a mocking edge to it.
“Aren’t you barking up the wrong tree?”
“What did you say?”
“We’re a company. Why are you bringing up political matters like territorial issues and history when we’re here to buy and sell goods?”
“B-but!”
“Go negotiate that with the Korean government. We’re just here to sell the goods at a good price.”
You have the Korean government behind you! Since when are you a company that came here to make money? You’re the ones demanding a legendary item, for crying out loud!
Yamada swallowed the words that were about to burst out.
The negotiating team leader wasn’t finished speaking.
“And this is just my personal opinion, but…. Isn’t that something you should be doing in the first place? I don’t think it should be used as negotiation material.”
Shameless beyond belief.
Director Yamada had to swallow down his rising anger.