In front of the Korean Hunter Association HQ.
The reporters who wanted to cover Lee Minsung's Awakening results lined up like ants in front of the building. To think that Asia's Superstar Lee Minsung would become a Hunter! It was not an exaggeration to say that the entire continent's cameras were focused in this location. With so many of them there, the reporters began to fight each other for good spots.
"Excuse me! We were here first!"
"Go to hell! Do you see the number of people around you?! There's no picking spots! Where you stand is your spot!"
"Sigh…"
Inside of the building, Lee Minsung looked at the press with a satisfied expression,
"Yes, at least this many should've showed up for me."
Purposely dragging the time on to grab the world's attention worked. As the fruits of his "labor" (scheme), all eyes were going to be on him now.
"Excuse me, Minsung-ssi, this will be tomorrow's headline, what do you think?"
The reporter from one of Korea's top newspaper showed the actor what would be on the front page tomorrow.
"Isn't it a bit too simple?"
"You think so?"
"Hmm… How about this? 'The man who has it all, Lee Minsung, now obtains powers surpassing humanity', something like that?"
"Don't you think that it's a bit too much for the average reader?"
"Am I wrong? Besides, who in this country would dare contradict me? I have the complete attention of both the media and fans."
"Alright, I'll do that, then."
"I leave it in your care."
Lee Minsung stared condescendingly at the reporter's bowed head.
'Just do what you're told. Stop raising up a fuss.'
In that moment, two high-class cars arrived at the Association's parking lot.
Two people got off from their respective cars at the same time. It was Baekho's Baek Yoonho and Hunters Guild's Choi Jongin.
"What? Look over there!"
"It's Baek Yoonho!"
"And Choi Jongin!"
The reporters blocking the entrance swarmed up to the two men. Both of the S-rankers scrunched their face.
'The hell is with these reporters?'
'Why is it so packed here today?'
flash click flash flash click
The reporters' cameras took pictures nonstop. They surrounded the two men and yelled a bunch of questions,
"Are you two here to recruit Lee Minsung?!"
"As Hunters representing South Korea, what is your opinion on Lee Minsung retiring as a celebrity?!"
"What do you think Lee Minsung's rank will be?!"
"Please say something about Lee Minsung!"
The impatient Baek Yoonho waved a hand as if annoyed,
"I'm not here for that man. I have no comments."
The diplomatic Choi Jongin calmly spoke the truth without much emotion,
"I'm sure most of you are aware that Lee Minsung-ssi has already contracted with Grim Reapers. I'm here for another matter."
At the rather boring responses, the reporters turned around with disappointment,
'What the hell?'
'I thought I'd be able to grab a hot scoop.'
'Damn, it was nothing after all.'
Still, not one of them dared to visibly complain in front of the S-rankers. They just took up a spot again here and there to wait for Lee Minsung.
When the reporters left, Baek Yoonho met Choi Jongin's gaze. The Baekho's Guildmaster spoke first,
"I heard the news. Looks like Hunters Guild also almost had an incident yesterday."
Baek Yoonho purposely placed emphasis on the word "also".
"Well, we at least avoided in losing an rank new recruit like Baekho."
The two men's contest of spirit did not lose to the reporters'. However, Baek Yoonho calmed his anger and sighed lightly,
"Well, in the end, it looks like we both received that man's help."
"You're right. If it wasn't for him, we would've lost our entire secondary raiding party."
It was the height of the two men's pride that neither actually spoke the name of the helper. The name that both of them knew the other was aware of. Choi Jongin took a step toward Baek Yoonho,
"And because of our gratitude, we want to take care of that man in our Guild."
Baek Yoonho did not back off. He also took a step until his forehead was right next to Choi Jongin's,
"In our incident, we've actually lost people. In order to reinforce our numbers, don't you think you should yield that man to us?"
"Just what kind of a reinforcement do you need an S-ranker for? What, are you thinking of invading North Korea?"
"What about you? 'Take care of him'? Just when were you such a compassionate and kind man? 'Take care of him'…"
The two S-rank Hunters' eyes lit up with flames.
'Huh?'
Arriving in time for the press conference, Grim Reaper's Guildmaster Lim Taegyu looked at the arguing S-rankers and laughed. What was the expression? Counting your chickens before they hatched? Having always lost resources to the two Guilds, Lim Taegyu was elated at the idea of beating them for a change. He tried to hide his smile and walked up to the two Guildmasters.
"Oy, two Guildmasters. Are you fighting over our Minsung right now?"
Baek Yoonho and Choi Jongin turned sharply toward Lim Taegyu,
'The hell's with this retard?'
'I don't give a shit about this Lee Minsung or Lee Mintard or whatever his name is.'
Lim Taegyu flinched and took a step back when the two men glared at him.
'What's with these guys?'
"What? Choi Jongin AND Baek Yoonho?"
Lee Minsung grinned. The actor was already familiar with Lim Taegyu, having met him often during the contract process. Even contracting Grim Reapers, which had fallen quite a bit from its glory days, and leaving behind the nation's #1 and #2 Guilds were all part of Lee Minsung's scheme.
'My image will only shine when I'm next to weaklings.'
As a celebrity, selling his image was a big part of the job. And Lee Minsung had made sure to carefully maintain his image up until now.
'To think that the nation's top Guilds are fighting over me…'
He had no plans to work as a Hunter for a long time, but this still made his shoulders rise in arrogance. Soon, his manager opened the door and came inside,
"Minsung, they're all ready. Let's get started with the interviews."
"Alright."
The manager took the lead. When Lee Minsung stepped through the glass doors and showed his face, the flashes of the cameras roared,
flash flash flash click flash click flash flash-
Lee Minsung looked over the hundreds of eyes looking at him and put on a fake, affectionate smile.
In that moment,
Jinwoo arrived at the Association.
'…?'
As they instructed him three days ago, the E-rank Hunter had arrived for his remeasurement at the Association.
'Why is it so packed?'
It did not seem like he could plainly enter the building in this situation. Of course, he did have the option of using 'Stealth', jumping over the reporters or even using the back entrance. However, he did not like the idea of having to avoid the reporters like that, especially considering he had already made an appointment three days ago.
'It's not like I did anything wrong.'
There was no reason for him to avoid using the front door. Jinwoo forced his way through the crowd of reporters and forcibly made his path to the front of the building.
"Excuse me."
"Hey!"
"What the hell!"
"Who is that?!"
It was the strength of an S-ranker. The reporters had no choice but to be pushed aside and only could scrunch their faces. In an instant, Jinwoo arrived at the steps before the building's entrance. Before he could take a step, however, a muscular man blocked his path.
"Hey!"
It was Lee Minsung's manager. The manager flared his eyes and yelled at Jinwoo,
"Who are you? Are you with the Association?!"
Jinwoo looked straight into the man's face and shook his head.
'What the hell? Look at this shit.'
The manager's thick eyebrows twitched.
"Don't you see all the reporters here?!"
Jinwoo briefly turned around and looked at the crowd. Every one of them was staring at him with annoyance. He understood that they were here for some interview, but it's not like they owned the road. As he could not personally chase away the reporters, the reporters had no right to chase him away. Still, there were too many eyes watching, Jinwoo just wanted to quietly enter the building without grabbing too much attention.
"You can't go past. Get out of here, dumbass."
The manager blocked his path again and shoved Jinwoo's chest. At this provocation, the E-ranker's eyes changed.
'What?'
The manager was shocked. He planned to embarrass Jinwoo by pushing him. But even as a D-rank Fighter-class pushed him, Jinwoo did not budge in the slightest. The manager was pushing with a force enough to harm an ordinary man. Of course, Jinwoo knew this.
"…"
With an annoyance, he glared at the manager's face. And just with that, the manager paled.
"What's going on?"
"Are they going to fight?"
A commotion rose from the reporters watching the scene. The manager began to sweat. If there was no one watching, the manager was fully prepared to step aside. Unfortunately, the eyes of the reporters and his boss, Lee Minsung, were on him right now. Lee Minsung approached the manager and whispered,
"Dammit hyung, what's going on? Take care of him."
"Oh… yeah, got it."
If he couldn't do his job here, the manager could be fired. The man put on the best scary face he could and yelled,
"I told you, you can't go past here! So get out of here!"
"Just by whose authority are you blocking that man's path."
'Huh?'
The voice came from behind him. The manager turned around.
Korean Hunter Association's association president, Go Gunhee, stood in front of the glass doors.
The reporters' eyes widened. Their shock was so great that they couldn't even take any pictures.
"Go Gunhee?"
"Association President Go Gunhee?"
The rambunctious chaos moments ago was completely silenced by the unexpected appearance of a single man. Go Gunhee came all the way to the stairs and spoke,
"That man is our guest."
Go Gunhee turned to Lee Minsung,
"Lee Minsung-ssi, you remember who allowed you to have all these reporters here, right?"
Lee Minsung snapped into attention,
"O-of course, sir."
If he made a mistake here, he would lose the valuable press conference time allotted by the Association. He could not be made a fool in front of this many eyes. Lee Minsung furrowed his brows and signaled his manager, and the manager bowed his head before Go Gunhee and Jinwoo then stepped aside.
"Please, let us go in, Hunter Sung Jinwoo-nim."
As Jinwoo received Go Gunhee's escort into the building, the reporters could not hide their shock.
chatter chatter
"What just happened?"
"Who was that man, that the association president himself would come to get him?"
"Does anyone know who that man was?!"
The reporters cried out in frustration, but no one answered.