Chapter 16
South Korea's Awakened Management Bureau.
The Director's office, 11th floor.
Bang-!
The door flew open violently.
The man who came in, yanking his tie loose, was Im Wan-seop.
The man in charge of all the Awakened in Korea.
The Director of the Awakened Management Bureau.
“Hoooo….”
Director Im drew a deep breath, trying to cool his temper.
His face was already bright red.
And so was the shin he'd been kicked in.
He'd just been summoned by lawmakers and thoroughly humiliated.
On top of that, the president had given him a good kicking, too.
‘If he weren't a fellow Awakened….’
He would've charged right at him.
“But I can't.”
Im Wan-seop put his hands to his forehead and steadied his breathing.
How had things come to this?
The people above him were on his case every day.
Telling him to find Hikki.
The public was in an uproar, too.
Because he still hadn't brought Hikki in.
Even his family at home was giving him pointed looks.
His approval rating had hit rock bottom, and talk of impeachment was no longer uncommon.
The internet was full of people cursing him out.
How was he supposed to find someone who never showed up, no matter where he looked?
He'd almost rather track down a criminal, find a lost wedding ring, or figure out how to revive the economy.
At least those things came with clues.
Hikki hadn't given him a single hint.
“This is exhausting….”
He'd taken command of the Hikki recruitment campaign with such confidence.
But he was getting more and more worn out.
He almost wished he could just announce that another country had taken Hikki.
He'd have to step down, of course.
But at least he wouldn't have to suffer anymore.
That was when—
Tat-tat-tat-
He heard hurried footsteps in the hallway.
Had one of the employees come with some news?
But the faces that appeared before him were unfamiliar.
Two young women.
They rushed into the room and shut the door behind them.
“Huff… We made it…!”
“We did it!”
They panted and congratulated each other.
They looked like deer that had just escaped a hunter.
Im Wan-seop asked, sounding dumbfounded,
“Who are you?”
Only then did the women notice Im Wan-seop.
Under the Director's steady gaze, they immediately shrank back.
“Ah! W-we're not here for anything else!”
“We're the Capybara Guild…”
“The Capybara Guild?”
He didn't recall ever hearing of them.
Some tiny guild, perhaps.
“I don't remember scheduling a meeting with the Capybara Guild.”
“Y-yes, that's right! We couldn't get one scheduled! They wouldn't schedule us. They said you were busy.”
“We have something to tell you…!”
What was this now?
He couldn't help sighing.
“How did you get in here? You couldn't have just wandered in.”
“We, um, hid really well? Hehe.”
“She's a mana-detection Awakened. She sensed the security guards' mana, then we hid here and there—”
“Be quiet….”
What a headache.
However they'd gotten in, mana detection sounded familiar.
He'd seen both of them at the new Awakened training camp.
‘They weren't especially talented Hunters.’
They'd been near the bottom of their class.
And they still were.
Judging by their faint auras and mana, they hadn't grown much.
They couldn't have come to hurt him with such feeble power.
So what did they want?
Were they here to file some sort of complaint?
It was hardly new for small guilds to get pushed around by the big ones.
“So what is it?”
His voice came out hoarse.
From exhaustion and stress.
Sss-
Mana leaked out of him without his realizing it.
At the sight, Jin Su-jin's face turned ashen.
She barely managed to calm her trembling heart before speaking.
“Director, what I'm about to tell you must never get out.”
“…?”
“Can you keep a secret?”
“You have to be the only one who knows!”
Didn't that make it sound like he was the one desperate to hear her secret?
“I'm a busy man. If you're here to play games, go home.”
“We can't.”
“You have to hear us out.”
“Then hurry up and tell me.”
“You have to promise you'll keep it a secret…!”
His irritation mounted.
He wanted to throw them out right then and there.
He could knock those rookies unconscious with a flick of his finger.
‘But that would cause another shitshow.’
Things were already hard enough.
He didn't want to create any more work for himself.
“Fine. I'll keep it a secret. Now tell me.”
“You have to promise?!”
“Please say you promise.”
“All right. I promise to keep it secret, so hurry up and tell me, then go.”
Only then did Jin Su-jin get ready to speak.
She swallowed hard.
She took a couple of deep breaths.
She put on a determined expression.
She even straightened her clothes.
Only when Im Wan-seop was on the verge of exploding did she finally say,
“We found Hikki.”
“They want to register as an Awakened.”
Crash-!
The Director shot to his feet.
The fountain pen and other things on his desk tumbled to the floor.
“……”
“……”
His tiger-like eyes moved between the members of the Capybara Guild.
Both Jin Su-jin, who could sense mana, and Lee So-yeon, who couldn't,
froze in place under the pressure.
“Where is Hikki right now?”
“Probably at home.”
“And you didn't bring them with you?”
Good grief.
His hopes deflated.
He quickly came to his senses and realized it could be a false report.
Though they didn't seem capable of that.
There were always people who committed clumsy crimes.
“Then how am I supposed to believe that the person you met was Hikki?”
“If you meet them in person, you'll know right away…”
“Haaah.”
If Hikki wanted to register, they could come in person.
There was no reason to send someone on their behalf.
“The thing is, Hikki-nim… isn't in a condition to go out right now.”
“They can tear through the Tower but can't go outside?”
The guild members fumbled through an explanation of what had happened.
It wasn't an entirely far-fetched story.
“Hikki-nim is a real mage! They're on a whole other level from Hunters like me who just press a button to use a skill.”
If anything, it was incredibly appealing.
They hadn't even climbed to Floor 10 yet, but Hikki could use at least three kinds of magic.
The arrival of a true mage, stirring up everyone's imagination and romantic dreams.
If he could make this public, it would make up for all his mistakes so far.
‘But I have no proof.’
He had nothing but circumstantial evidence.
It was a situation where he desperately wanted to believe them, but couldn't simply take their word for it.
“If what we're saying is a lie, we'll give up everything we have. Even our status and benefits as Hunters.”
“We'll hand over all the guild's assets to the Bureau, too.”
“I don't need any of that.”
“Ugh.”
Im Wan-seop weighed the situation for a moment.
The possibility that this was all a scheme to bring him down.
The possibility that Capybara had fabricated the whole thing.
And even the possibility that Hikki was real.
‘Hmm.’
Verification wasn't all that difficult.
They just had to show a performance worthy of the world's No. 1 Hunter.
Just as Capybara had claimed:
high-purity mana, a variety of magic skills, and overwhelming Tower-climbing ability.
Prove those three things, and that would be enough.
He could take care of the registration paperwork himself with a simplified process, using his authority as Director.
‘There's also the symbolic value of me personally registering Hikki.’
That would be a huge political advantage.
It might even be a title that protected him for the rest of his life.
“I'll visit tomorrow. Contact Hikki and arrange a time.”
“Yes! Oh, but…”
“I think you'll need to put on a disguise, Director.”
“A disguise?”
“You look a little… no, a lot scary. We'll prepare the disguise.”
“……”
“……”
Hikki was a little kid, and they said they had anthropophobia, too.
He was a little afraid of what kind of disguise they'd bring.
“All right. Let's do that.”
It was a deal he could live with.
“W-well, we'll be going, then!”
He sent the Capybara Guild members on their way.
As soon as they left, a commotion erupted outside.
“Let them go! If you were going to grab them, you should've done it from the start.”
“Ah! Understood!”
In any case, security had failed.
Zing-
An employee responded, cowering at the reprimanding order.
Right after the employee left,
his secretary followed him into the office.
“Let's go. You have the regular briefing scheduled.”
“All right.”
As he got into the car, he wondered:
If Hikki really was the one, when should he make the announcement?
And how should he introduce them?
“Today's briefing will be presented in person by Im Wan-seop, Director of the Awakened Management Bureau.”
By the time he'd finished thinking, he was already standing at the podium.
He slowly began the remarks he'd prepared.
“I would like to express my deepest gratitude and respect to all the Awakened who continue to devote themselves to our country and its citizens.”
Click, click-
“Over the past week, five Awakened have died while conquering the Tower. May they rest in peace.”
“And two more died during the subjugation of the A-rank Gate in Haeundae, Busan. We also extend our condolences to the fallen Awakened and civilian victims—”
“Ten people have recently awakened and are receiving training at the Awakened Management Bureau Training Center—”
Click, click-
After the perfunctory statistics were finished,
he recited various new policies and domestic and international developments.
His voice was cool, yet powerful.
Nothing but camera shutters and keyboards dared interrupt him.
Then—
“We'll now begin the question-and-answer session.”
Hands shot up.
As soon as the microphones were passed around, questions came pouring in.
They had nothing to do with what he'd just presented.
Hikki.
Hikki.
Hikki.
Were the rumors about emigrating true?
Shouldn't they change their recruitment strategy?
The Bureau was facing criticism for failing to recruit Hikki—
The stock market had fallen because they couldn't find Hikki.
Someone had gotten depressed because they couldn't find Hikki.
All sorts of nonsense and bullshit.
The Director stuck to general, noncommittal answers.
Then, just as the Q&A was about to end, came one last question.
“Have there been any new leads on Hikki?”
A troubled look briefly crossed Director Im Wan-seop's face.
A new lead.
There was one.
Did he have any reason to trust Capybara's story?
No.
He just wanted to believe it himself.
Yes, he wanted to believe it that badly.
His mouth opened before he knew it.
Because people weren't always rational.
“It's difficult to share the specifics of our progress. However—”
That word, however.
The reporters, who'd been staring at their laptops, all looked up at once.
“We've recently confirmed some positive signs and made contact. I'll just say that Korea is currently ahead of the competition to recruit Hikki.”
Flash-flash-flash-flash-
Cameras flashed.
“Director!”
“Just one more question!”
Im Wan-seop left without answering any more questions.
**
‘So that's what happened….’
I turned off the messenger.
I let out the breath I'd been holding.
“Phewwww-”
Even texting back and forth is exhausting.
‘I feel sick.’
I buried my face in my pillow and rested for a moment.
I tried to sort things out in my head.
Tomorrow, the Director of the Awakened Management Bureau is coming to my house.
I have to show and prove myself to him.
Hmm.
Is this really the best option?
Is this the best you could do, Capybara Guild?
Couldn't you have arranged a better remote, contactless, nonstop, direct registration service?
‘I guess they did this because it was impossible.’
Even I couldn't think of any other answer.
If I just went, ‘I'm Hikki, please register me!’
Would they go, ‘Oh, so you're Hikki. Sure, we'll register you. Here's 500 billion won.’?
Definitely not.
In the end, I'd have to go through a little trouble at some point.
And the Capybara Guild had helped minimize that trouble as much as possible.
‘Haaah, I'm nervous.’
Maybe it was because I remembered the aftermath of meeting the two Capybara Guild members last time.
My stomach already felt like it was churning.
It was like Mom had warned me, ‘Just wait until we get home.’
I might not have a mom, but I could more or less imagine what that felt like.
Phew.
Director, if you're coming tomorrow, I'm going to be depressed starting today.
“Waaaaah-”
Why did I keep making weird noises?
Just how nervous was I, anyway?
Should I ask the gallery?
It was a little embarrassing, but…
‘Better than passing out in front of someone.’
Clack-clack-clack-
I wrote a post, imagining the sound of the keyboard.
[How to take the initiative]
[Hikki]
You just need to give them a proper scolding.
└Illegal: Aren't you actually asking how not to wet yourself?
└Hikki: Why would you think that?
└Illegal: Because you…
Why were they so perceptive?!
└NoWorldTreeNoParty: Make a blade of mana and hold it to his neck.
└TitanWithTeeth: Knees. Make him. Kneel. With gravity.
└AngryArtist: They listen pretty well if you roast them a little.
└Ice Bat: Kiss them.
What was a kiss attack supposed to mean?
How were you supposed to take the initiative by kissing someone?
Only after wrestling with the gallery members for a while did some decent answers start appearing.
└QueenNeverCry: Presence matters. And confidence.
└QueenNeverCry: Just deciding to act bold and be confident isn't enough, you know? Absolutely not.
└QueenNeverCry: Dress and appearance suited to the occasion, a straight posture, and an attitude that says you have nothing to fear.
└QueenNeverCry: All of that together is what makes a queen.
A queen?
└Hikki: I don't need to become a queen.
└QueenNeverCry: Not at all.
└QueenNeverCry: You can be a queen.
└QueenNeverCry: Go get the nicest clothes in your closet right now.
I had no desire to become a queen, but…
Still, it sounded like there was some truth to it.
I dashed straight to the closet.
I put aside all my old clothes,
and looked mostly at the clothes the Capybara Guild had given me.
‘Should I choose a dress? Something like that?’
There were a few different kinds.
Like princess dresses.
“Ugh….”
This might be a little embarrassing.
Forget it. Never mind.
I looked through the other clothes instead.
“Oh?”
I found something that looked pretty convincing.
A suit.
A suit is the right choice for a business meeting like this, right?
I changed right then and there.
It fit me perfectly, as if it had been tailored just for me.
‘It actually looks pretty good on me.’
I tried out a few poses in front of the mirror.
“I look cool, don't I? What do you think, Moo-sang?”
Wuuung-
I feel more confident just from changing clothes.
Should I add a pair of sunglasses, too?
While I was at it, I tried out a few accessories.
It wasn't just about looking cool.
‘This way, I can naturally avoid making eye contact.’
After trying a few combinations, I settled on the best one.
I struck a haughty pose in front of the mirror.
“Perfect.”
All right, bring it on, Director…!