Chapter 194: Chief Song (4)
Outside the window, it had grown completely dark. The glittering night view was dazzling. The dessert, whose name I didn’t know but was beautifully presented, was quite delicious. It must be expensive. As I was earnestly eating, Seok Gimyeong’s advice about not focusing too much on food came to mind. But what’s done is done, so let’s just let it slide for today.
‘…But isn’t it a bit much to even meddle in how I eat?’
Besides, Seong Hyunjae never interfered with the finer details of one’s behavior. He’d even said that it’s fine to restrain yourself out of your own volition but not to do so out of concern for others’ opinions.
“Did you give similar advice to Yuhyun as well?”
Suddenly curious, I asked the man sitting across from me. While Seok Gimyeong was also present, the relationship between a subordinate and a guild leader was bound to be different. How much had Seong Hyunjae influenced Yuhyun? It bothered me for some reason. Even if there hadn’t been much to sway, they must have encountered each other frequently, making it difficult for there to be no impact at all.
“There was no need for that.”
Seong Hyunjae loosened his interlocked fingers as he spoke.
“It’s the same for other S-Class Hunters, except for a select few fools. They have a firm belief in themselves, to the point where they’re not easily shaken by most things.”
As he said this, he picked up an unopened wine bottle. To be precise, he grabbed it more than anything—a careless and rough movement.
“They’re solidly grounded.”
Clack!
The neck of the bottle struck the table and was cleanly severed. The cork, now freed, was lightly caught by Seong Hyunjae’s other hand and casually tossed behind him.
“And so, even if they act recklessly like this—”
Wine began to flow into the glass. He poured it haphazardly, letting it overflow and soak the table. With a thud, the wine bottle was harshly placed back on the table. It was a mess. Just based on his actions, he looked like a drunken troublemaker throwing a tantrum. If it had been a bottle of soju and a soju glass instead of wine, the image would have been perfect.
“It still looks impressive, wouldn’t you say?”
Seong Hyunjae’s fingers traced the rim of the overflowing wine glass before giving it a push, toppling it over. A golden ripple spread across the table as he softly lifted the corners of his lips.
“Moving without hesitation and doing whatever you please is surprisingly difficult. You inevitably end up harboring an unconscious fear of ‘what if something goes wrong?’ That fear makes you shrink back, and shrinking back makes you feel small and inadequate.”
I stared at Seong Hyunjae, who didn’t spare a glance at the mess he’d made. His demeanor exuded not just confidence but a natural conviction that whatever he did was inherently right.
Without a shred of doubt or hesitation. Perhaps he’d reflected on his actions before, but I doubted he’d ever truly regretted them.
“…Honestly, I think your appearance also plays a role in this.”
At my remark, Seong Hyunjae let out a brief laugh.
“That does help quite a bit. I do have a naturally captivating appearance, after all.”
‘Well, my Yuhyun is also really handsome. No matter what he does, he always looks cool.’
“Even the youngest, Park Yerim, doesn’t require any intervention when it comes to mindset or behavior. She only needs advice on social issues. The young lady is already confident and has a firm belief in herself. However, Han Yujin—”
“I’m fully aware of my own shortcomings.”
The only thing I truly believe in about myself is my skills. And even then, I couldn’t really call most of them entirely my own.
“It’ll probably take a long time for me to change. To be honest, I’m far more broken than you probably think, Seong Hyunjae. I can barely manage to function without leaning on others.”
Telling me to move forward on my own right now would be like taking away crutches from someone with a broken leg. I’d been propped up by others after hitting rock bottom and curling up in fear, but I still couldn’t walk on my own.
“So I’d appreciate it if you could give me plenty of time. I don’t want to fall out with you, Seong Hyunjae. I may not have full confidence, but I do like the title of ‘partner.’”
As Seong Hyunjae mentioned, S-Class Awakened individuals are naturally exceptional. There’s no way I could catch up to them with this body. To put it bluntly, it’s reckless. I’m like a cat among tigers. Shouldn’t it be commendable that I haven’t been eaten yet?
“You didn’t unilaterally demand this, and I accepted it. So you should at least account for that.”
“I’m not in such a rush, so don’t worry.”
‘Can I trust that?’ I was still unsure if he was being serious or just playing around for entertainment. I wanted to know Seong Hyunjae’s true intentions. If the day ever came when I could not only stand beside him but trust him enough to entrust my back to him, there wouldn’t be anything more reassuring than that.
Though, that day felt far off.
“Shouldn’t we call someone to clean up this table?”
“Can’t we just move to another one?”
Seong Hyunjae said lightly as he stood up. Truly a solution that only someone with everything could come up with. Why not just move houses instead of cleaning? …Not that he couldn’t actually do that.
As wine dripped from the table onto the floor, I quickly stood up as well.
“Honestly, I wasn’t planning to concern myself with international matters.”
I spoke as I followed behind Seong Hyunjae. It was a topic that had come up earlier during dinner. He’d suggested that since domestic matters were settling down, I should start looking overseas.
Originally, I hadn’t intended to take on something so big, nor did I have the confidence for it. Things were already plenty overwhelming as they were.
“Just managing domestic dungeons won’t be enough to delay things.”
Seong Hyunjae stopped walking and turned to look at me. Don’t talk to me while standing so close—it hurts my neck.
As he said, to delay destruction and prevent being swallowed, dungeons overseas also needed to be properly cleared. If every dungeon in the world exploded and the planet became overrun with monsters, it would be difficult for Korea to hold out to the end.
“I figured distributing Monster Mounts would be enough, considering there’s no shortage of capable people abroad.”
Sure, it’s possible with just fifty people but… I wasn’t as confident about that anymore. At first, I believed it since they were system administrators claiming they would help stop the dungeons.
‘It’s better to be cautious until they explain their motives clearly.’
What are they planning to do with fifty people under the Nurturer keyword, exactly? And more importantly, those under my keywords are precious to me. With my growing doubts about the Filial Duty Addicts, I was hesitant to recklessly aim for fifty members. If I kept raising monsters and we reached over forty members while they continued to give vague answers, I might even consider removing the keyword altogether.
Though, given how effective the skills are right now, it’s a tough decision to make.
“You’re planning to head overseas, aren’t you? With Noah and Evelyn alone, you’ve already more than prepared the groundwork.”
“There’s no need to stay in a stabilized area, after all.”
He was essentially saying it had become boring here, so he was leaving. That made sense. Was it the same reason he left before my regression? Or was there something else back then?
As I walked past him and sat down, I spoke.
“Were you planning to leave Korea in Haeyeon’s hands when you left?”
“I was considering it. To be precise, I was weighing it between Moon Hyunah and Han Yuhyun. The Young Master had one significant issue, you see.”
An issue? With Yuhyun? What kind of problem could there possibly be with my Yuhyun?
“What kind of issue could my Yuhyun possibly have?”
I blurted out what was in my head in a moment of excitement. But seriously, what kind of problem? And calling it a significant issue on top of that.
“Your habit of getting all worked up whenever the Young Master is mentioned is something you should work on.”
“…That’s not going to be easy.”
“It certainly doesn’t look like it.”
Seong Hyunjae replied with a tone that suggested he’d already resigned himself to the idea. …Was I really that obvious? He accepted it so readily it almost felt insulting. As he sat down, he continued speaking.
“Of course, Haeyeon shows a lot of potential for growth in many ways. That’s why I leaned more toward the Young Master.”
Well, of course, Moon Hyunah is competent too, but my Yuhyun is undeniably exceptional. And he even managed to grow an independent guild to its current size.
“But I couldn’t ignore the reason Han Yuhyun created his guild in the first place. As I’ve mentioned before, it’s not in his nature. If the reason for maintaining the guild disappeared, he could abandon it at any time. That was the concern.”
True, it would be troublesome if I entrusted Korea to him and then Yuhyun decided to walk away, leaving everything behind.
“So, even though I was leaning toward Haeyeon, I was considering switching to Breaker if the reason wasn’t clear. Moon Hyunah has enough ability to lead her own guild. If given a bit of help to break away from her sponsors, she’d be more than capable of standing on her own.”
“…Were you not considering recruiting Hunter Moon Hyunah?”
I’d been thinking of bringing her to Haeyeon.
“If Moon Hyunah chose to become a free hunter of her own accord, perhaps. But taking on the role of guild leader suits her better and benefits her more.”
I see. Honestly, I hadn’t looked too deeply into Breaker or Moon Hyunah as its guild leader. I’d just thought, ‘Well, it collapses in the future, so I should bring her over.’
From Yerim’s attitude, she seemed like a good person, and she was close with Kang Soyeong. She had a wide network of connections and was reportedly proactive in supporting female hunters. …It seemed she really was suited to being a guild leader, as Seong Hyunjae said.
“What about Hanshin’s Guild Leader Park Mingyu? What’s your opinion of him?”
“He’s someone you can trust when it comes to matters beyond the dungeons. I’d recommend visiting his home personally.”
So he wasn’t going to just hand over all the details, huh. It seemed I’d need to thoroughly investigate both Moon Hyunah and Park Mingyu… No, wait. I was just planning to focus on establishing an independent breeding facility. Why does the scope of my work keep expanding?
Setting those two aside for now, I returned to the original topic.
“If you hadn’t been able to find out why Yuhyun created his guild, what would you have done?”
“Regrettable as it may be, I wouldn’t be able to support a guild whose foundation might disappear at any moment. I would have shifted my support to Breaker.”
But before my regression, Breaker collapsed, and Korea ended up under Haeyeon’s control. In other words, Seong Hyunjae must have learned why Yuhyun had created his guild.
‘…Did he figure it out because of me?’
To confirm my suspicions, I asked again.
“What about now? I mean, if you’d learned that I was still unawakened and that Yuhyun had created the guild to protect me, what would you think?”
“That would be absolutely perfect.”
Seong Hyunjae’s lips curled into a satisfied smile.
“A fine guard dog devoted to its bloodline, maintaining the guild and protecting Korea in the process.”
“Stop spouting nonsense about my precious little brother being a guard dog.”
I frowned, but it confirmed my suspicion that Seong Hyunjae had figured something out about me before the regression. When exactly could it have been? Likely before Breaker collapsed. Not that it was particularly important.
…Surely, he wouldn’t have tried to blackmail Yuhyun using me, right? He didn’t seem like someone who’d stoop to such a base tactic. Besides, just my existence alone was probably enough for him to achieve whatever goal he wanted from Yuhyun.
“One more thing. Why did you decide to protect Korea? Is it because it’s your homeland? Actually, I’m curious if it even is your homeland.”
“Does there need to be a reason?”
Seong Hyunjae tilted his head slowly as he replied.
“If I had to come up with an excuse, it’s because Korea is the most stable. The government’s initial response was swift, and there’s also the unique factor of Song Taewon. In this world, Korea has the highest chance of holding out until the end, so I judged it best to maintain it.”
Of all the things he said, the mention of Song Taewon struck the deepest chord within me.
“Do you think it’s good that Chief Song is in Korea? Even with the Hunter Association’s current leadership unchanged?”
“You can always create a new Hunter Association. But there’s only one Song Taewon.”
The moment I heard those words, I was certain. Seong Hyunjae did not kill Song Taewon. Of course, it was possible that the Song Taewon from before the regression had changed for the worse. But if he had remained the same as he is now, there’s no way Seong Hyunjae would have taken his life, not when he would have regretted losing him.
What on earth had happened between them? Or perhaps, between them and the Crescent Moon?
‘It must not have been an ordinary incident. I’m getting the itch to rummage through that man’s head again.’
When will my pre-regression memories come back? Should I just hit him on the back of the head and see what happens? Grumbling internally, I finally returned to the original purpose of this conversation, which had been pushed far into the background.
“What’s the current status of Japan’s dungeons? If you’re going to lay claim to a share, you ought to share some progress updates. Of course, I’ll also provide details about the value on my end.”
“Oh, I completely forgot.”
Seong Hyunjae chuckled lightly as he glanced at his wristwatch. A watch…
“They’ve probably been waiting for about two hours now.”
“Waiting? Who are you talking about?”
“A representative from Japan.”
“Excuse me?!”
Wait, are you telling me he’s kept someone from overseas waiting for two whole hours? Acting as though it were nothing, Seong Hyunjae casually stood up.
Seok Gimyeong, please delete any information you have about this man being punctual. He’s completely self-indulgent!
–TL Notes–
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