< The Association Head Is (3) >
Thank you.
The crowd buzzed as if nobody had expected that one sentence to come up. Since, officially, I had been kidnapped through Song Taewon’s blunder.
The picture that the people gathered here wanted was probably me getting mad and Song Taewon bowing his head.
An S-Rank Hunter yielding to a victim’s reproach would be a good spectacle, and with that, the citizen’s rage toward the Association would settle a tiny bit. If I grabbed his collar or something, wouldn’t the flashes go off excitedly?
“Really, what should I say……”
But that kind of obvious story – though I wasn’t Sung Hyunjae – really wasn’t any fun.
Song Taewon seemed like he hadn’t guessed my aim yet. But maybe he had noticed that there were the hidden intentions that would be harmful to him, or specifically to the Association, because the temperature of the gaze toward me gradually grew lower.
I guess I shouldn’t drag it out long.
“To think you even endured being disgraced in order to save me!”
“…Excuse me?”
“On the pretext of being the whistle blower, toward Chief Song, all of the blame-”
“Hyung, you can’t say that kind of thing here.”
Yoohyun grabbed me from behind as if to protect me. My words were cut off in the middle, but it wouldn’t be hard to understand. Whistle blower, disgrace, blame. And he saved me.
The fact that there were people within the Hunter Association who had collaborated with the kidnappers, was already known. People were pushing for a systematic investigation, but the people who needed to know all knew.
In that kind of situation, the kidnapping victim called Song Taewon a whistle blower who had been disgraced. And currently, the one shouldering the biggest responsibility was none other than Song Taewon.
The person who was pushed forward as a scapegoat and was being attacked from all sides, was actually on the side of righteousness. Ta da.
“Han Yoojin-ssi, exactly what are you speaking of?”
Both Song Taewon and the Association people had shocked expressions. My body shook automatically at Song Taewon taking a large step toward me. Thanks to that, it incredibly easy to make a frightened and surprised face.
“I-I apologize. But, it is unfair……”
“Stop, hyung. It isn’t something we can get involved in.”
Yoohyun soothed me. Then, the Association’s people quickly gave out excuses.
“It is a misunderstanding on Hunter Han Yoojin’s part.”
“It seems he was not able to shake off the shock of the kidnapping yet, and there was a slight confusion.”
I purposely didn’t block or refute their words. I just stared with a wronged glint in my eyes. Since people would lean toward my story more anyways.
An organization’s official announcement and a dark secret that came up together with ‘can’t speak about it’. It was clear as day to which side the general public’s interest and weight would tilt toward. Ears would prick up if a label of ‘can’t be talked about’ was added to even something that wasn’t anything big, but to think that it was about the Hunter Association’s corruption. Unless they were a withered block of wood, would there be anybody who wouldn’t be hooked?
“Let’s just go now, hyung.”
“But… Chief Song Taewon……”
“It’ll be okay. I’ll try to do something somehow, too.”
I stared at Song Taewon in the midst of my brother’s gentle voice. The gaze silently meeting mine was cold to the point of making you shiver. What would he be thinking behind those eyes? Would he be wanting to choke my neck like the day we first met?
Just then, the shape of the man’s closed mouth changed. Very faintly, the tips of his mouth went up. It was a smile. Similar to sharp canines.
‘I’d thought that he’d come wearing a muzzle.’
He was baring his teeth, huh. Then again, if he obediently lowered his tail, I would rather be disappointed. If he had forgotten how to bite and growl while he had been staying hunched over, pretending to be meek, would there be a reason to eye[1] him?
In the first place, if he could easily pluck out and throw away his teeth and claws, there wouldn’t have been cause for him to become twisted in the first place.
We left the airport and got into a waiting car. I received my cell phone and contacted Suk Simyeong.
“Please let out articles that are as stimulating as possible. Modern day slave trade, auction starting price of 1 billion dollars, people in powerful positions who collect Awakened People, etc. Please mix in adequate exaggeration, and send them out. So that my story would be everywhere, wherever you go for about at week, at the least.”
[It is not something that is hard to do, but is it okay? Didn’t you say that you are not happy with being talked about?]
Why was he pretending to be worried now after setting up all the groundwork? Was he like that because he knew that Yoohyun was next to me? He was a sly ahjussi.
“Isn’t it that you also have to do things you hate occasionally in life? Please take care of it. Right, please do not forget to raise Haeyeon’s image in addition.”
[Of course I cannot lose this opportunity. Please leave it to me.]
“And there are a few things to look into… but I will speak to you about them when I see you directly face to face.”
The call ended. Yoohyun, who was watching over me from the seat next to me, said worriedly.
“Will it be ok? Once talk starts going around once, it’ll be close to impossible to completely erase it.”
“Did the punk who knew that go around purposely lowering his reputation?”
“I don’t pay attention to something like that.”
“I’m the same.”
It was just that, if I didn’t search it up. Of course, I had to search for now.
And, in order to grab somebody’s collar and drag them over, I should also resolve to get my wrists grabbed and broken.
I checked the airport video that had been uploaded in the meantime. Wow, I came out looking really pitiful. On top of that, guys who were tall with good builds were standing in front of and behind me, so I looked even smaller and thinner. It was enough to get embarrassed.
‘The effect should be good.’
To the general public, and Song Taewon-ssi. Isn’t it the appearance of an ideal ordinary person you should protect? A powerless victim who wanted to live quietly, but was swept away by Awakened People and even kidnapped. Please ignore the inside story and just look at the outward appearance.
***
That evening, the Hunter Association announced an explanation about the suspicion that burgeoned during the day.
That the whistle blowing was partly truth, that specifically, the Association Head and a few distinguished Association people became key members and helped with Han Yoojin’s kidnapping case through Song Taewon. They justified that Song Taewon stepping up to take responsibility was a blindfold in order for a smooth investigation.
Song Taewon also came out and calmly expressed affirmation. That it was reasonable that Hunter Han Yoojin misunderstood.
‘He’s really like a dog.’
It wasn’t a swear[2]. I even passed the ball to him, but he was giving it to his owner. He probably wasn’t wagging his tail again while doing that. It was simply an obligation, and he wouldn’t be doing it because he liked it.
Still, the blades turned toward Song Taeon were cleared away, first of all.
“Let’s quickly clean it up before the bubbles[3] pop.”
“I had thought that you would adequately cut out only the severely rotten parts.”
Suk Simyeong, who was watching the same screen as me, said.
“Who was it who set up the situation, that you would say something weak now? We should quickly clean it up with this opportunity – I cannot do this kind of thing twice.”
I also didn’t have the ability to.
***
Starting from the next day, my story came pouring out of all sorts of media.
As if to just shed light on my entire life, they dragged out, not only the time before I Awakened, but even when I was young. Really, there was no comparison to this embarrassment.
[He took care of him well, to the point of making you wonder how a child could raise a child like that, and wonder if it was innate.]
On the TV screen, someone who said they knew me was giving an interview. They weren’t in my memories, so who was it? When the story of losing my parents early and raising my younger brother, who would grow into an S-Rank Hunter one day, was beautifully arranged and added, my level of recognition really shot through the roof. They also slipped in Yoohyun’s story of suffering here.
He had Awakened as an S-Rank, but people aimed for him from many places because he was young, so he had no choice but to separate from his hyung. The very young Hunter who raised his guild while forcing himself to pretend not to know his one and only family, who was no different from a parent who raised him. At the end of 3 years worth of backbreaking effort, he was able to grow into one of the giant guilds……
Shit, didn’t my brother suffer too much? Source or whatever it was, what was it so busy with that it made a kid Awaken before he grew up fully? He was a minor, you bastard. It was right to kill all of the bastards who bothered a young kid.
And between that.
[Smuggling out dungeon items! Including S-Rank equipment.]
Breaking news came up. It was discovered that one of the Hunter Association executives had sneaked dungeon items out overseas.
Dungeon items, especially high rank equipment, were obstructed by the law so that they could not be leaked out of the country for personal reasons. It was because it was strictly necessary to possess enough equipment for dungeon management, in other words, the country’s security.
Foreigners could also purchase high rank items through formal auctions, but unlike with the country’s Hunters, there were heavy commission fees and taxes set. Not only that, in the case of S-Rank equipment, priority was given to the country’s Hunters no matter what. Because of that, in actuality, it was as if there was no leakage of S-Rank equipment overseas.
But an executive of the Association had sneaked away those precious S-Rank equipment, and sold it off overseas. At this time, when it was at the height of a pandemonium due to the Association’s corruption anyways. With the Awakened Person kidnapping and the following item leakage case, things started to blaze up like oil was poured on fire, whether if was offline or online.
‘Originally, it was something that came to light after two years.’
Informant Han Yoojin, the collaborative search by Haeyeon and Seseong. It wasn’t hard to go back and check things that had already been all exposed. Though I struggled a bit remembering the names and appearances.
The people involved in the item leakage incident two years later wasn’t just that one baldy ahjussi appearing on broadcast. Many people were connected and I remembered the incident contents detailedly because of the huge commotion it caused.
‘It wasn’t just that.’
Would they have embezzled just items? Corruption related to dungeon dealings, exploitation of low rank Hunters, illegal production of dungeon byproducts, etc. The system wasn’t more organized yet, and there were a lot of blind spots, and it made a ton of money. Thanks to that, a lot of shady things burst out in a short amount of time.
At the current point in time, the things to catch them for didn’t even get to half of those, but even that much was enough.
“Please get ready to step down. Don’t the excuses happen to be not good either?”
The Association executive who had received contact and personally came to find me, glared at me with a stiff face. That level of a gaze didn’t even tickle even if I turned off the fear resistance.
“If it were up to me, I would like to just expose it all, but for a smooth transfer of duties, it is favorable in various ways for you, Director, to directly put forth a successor.”
“At most, it’s something that’ll end with a fine.”
“Ordinarily it would be so. However right now, if something is said to be related to the Hunter Association, wouldn’t it become a wave that would swell several times as big no matter how small of a matter it is?”
Especially if it was the corruption of someone related to the Association. Normally, it would end with a few trivial articles appearing, but now it was an atmosphere where people were pummeled and needed to hang up their hats[4]. The torches held in all the hands would probably excitedly burn an effigy as soon as the kindling was tossed forward.
The sacrifices that were tossed out as examples had also gone beyond enthusiastically burning, to the point of just being ashes.
“…Do you plan on putting your people into the Association and wielding them?”
“Not at all. I do not have my own people.”
Suk Simyeong, who had changed his face with the Myeongwoo trademark glasses, showed a few preliminary lists and opened his mouth.
“This is a portion of the initial executives of the Hunter Association. They are people whose abilities in handling the work are smoother compared to the current executives. Even if you retire, you do not need to worry even a little bit about the future.”
At the openly comparing words, maybe his self-pride had been hurt, because the director was frowning hard. Besides that, there was a list of people who had distinguished themselves.
Even if it was impossible to replace all of them, if the number of competent people increased, wouldn’t there be a positive change? At the least, it would be better than now.
“If it is revealed that you replaced people by threatening them like this-”
“I would have a~bsolutely no problem. What would they do? I am not a public official, and I run a completely monopolized private business. Maybe I would pay a fine at the most.”
The country and the people were on my side. I wouldn’t be not criticized at all, but it would probably only be some people. And if you thought of my worth, it would end with ‘please diligently raise monsters under house arrest’ even if I had committed murder.
It was unfair, but I was an irreplaceable existence, so what could they do? How could they throw me away after Yoohyun had already done the shortest S-Rank dungeon attack thanks to Peace?
“So I hope you kindly make a wise decision quickly. You have to leave cleanly with a clean image, to try challenging something else.”
Like, being a National Assembly member, which was commonly done. So accept it when I say I would look away from your misdeeds for you.
After receiving the deadline notification, the director spit out that he would contact us soon, and left. There, now how many people were left?
-Kkyang!
Peace jumped up and caught the ball that was thrown into the air. Chirpie also quickly chased after it, but it only flapped on the floor, and couldn’t get even close to the ball.
-Bbiik, shwik!
Comet, who was hanging onto a rope that was hanging down from the ceiling like a vine, flapped its wings as if asking me to throw to it too. I tossed the ball upwards but,
Tup!
Peace quickly snatched it.
-Siiit!
“Peace, you should concede to your younger sibling.”
-Gyareureung.
Peace rubbed his body to my leg, pretending not to know. Maybe it was because we were apart for quite a while, it seemed like he became more childish. While petting Peace, I secretly tossed a small ball toward Comet again. The baby dragon quickly grabbed the ball with a golden pearl in it that Kang Soyoung had given as a present, and circled in the air dizzily while holding it. Chirpie saw that and flapped its wings.
-Chirp chirp!
“Should I put the flight anklet on you?”
-Chirp!
I took out Chirpie’s flight item that I had requested of Myeongwoo before. It did let it fly when it was placed on its leg, but.
-Cheep cheep! Chirp!
Chirpie floated up like a round and white balloon. A slow speed and an option for soft flight was put in for safety, so it just floated instead of flying awesomely like a bird. Bobbing around.
-Chirp!
It seemed like Chirpie was satisfied. It wandered around in the air, and then landed lightly on my head.
‘Riette will also come out soon, so it looks like another one will join.’
Riette was in the middle of helping a dungeon attack for the Association to pay for her illegal activities. If she hadn’t gone into an S-Rank dungeon instead, Song Taewon probably couldn’t have intervened in the kidnapping incident. I wondered if would that have been easier for me.
Click.
Just then, I heard a door open. It wouldn’t be Myeongwoo.
“What’s the matter at this time? Did you eat dinner?”
I went toward the entrance, thinking that it was Yoohyun, but Peace blocked my path. And then he changed to his adolescent size.
-Geureureu.
So it wasn’t Yoohyun, huh. I quickly turned on the fear resistance and took out my cell phone. The person who appeared soon was none other than Song Taewon. Where did he get the key? Was it Hanshin?
“To think that you came to find me without any contact – I am a little surprised.”
“It is thanks to Han Yoojin-ssi rooting around.”
The voice mixed with fatigue was heavily weighted. It looked like the higher ups of the Association had whined to him or something. Laughter spilled out a little.
“I apologize, but unlike the Seseong Guild Leader, I do not have any intention of overlooking things with just you kneeling on your knees.”
[1] to ‘eye sth’ or ‘have one’s/an eye on sth’ in eng can either be because you want it or because you’re suspicious, but the phrase used in krn (also uses ‘eye’ which is why I’m using the eng phrase) only means to want sth/bc of greed
[2] usually if you say sb is like a dog, it’s being rude/cursing them out
[3] bubbles are also metaphorically use to refer to momentary phenomena that have no substantial content
[4] lit. ‘have to take of their clothes’ which is a slang way of saying ‘removed from office/their position’ or ‘step down’, like the eng idiom I used as the tl, because ppl in official positions have uniforms or official clothes (ex: judge with their robe).