Chapter 96
Chapter 96: So What Can You Do?
‘He clearly considers this modest offer far beneath his worth.’
Jeong Yeon-ho had spent five years handling Hunter affairs exclusively ever since he joined the NIS.
The intuition he had honed through interactions with an endless parade of Hunters whispered the harsh reality to him.
This package would never be enough.
He had no way of knowing precisely what perks foreign powers had put on the table to persuade Min-jun to change nationalities, but he understood all too well what packages were customarily handed to awakeners possessing Min-jun’s rare potential.
To be fair, the terms they had prepared could not be considered entirely miserable on paper.
Yet under Yeon-ho’s realistic appraisal, such conditions lacked the weight needed to sway Min-jun’s final choice.
To state the blunt truth, their offer lagged far behind what rival nations were readily tossing around.
Even so, the higher-ups had ordered him to test the waters and win Min-jun over with these parameters first, leaving him zero room to argue.
‘I warned them that approaching him with an offer this skimpy would only blow up in our faces.’
Judging from Min-jun’s current demeanor, the negotiations already appeared completely ruined.
‘He doesn’t seem pleased in the slightest.’
His countenance remained entirely flat, devoid of the slightest hint of sentiment.
In truth, Min-jun was merely wiped out from the lingering fatigue of his intensive physical conditioning, leaving him to gaze blankly at the screen of the tablet.
However, Yeon-ho—who had no possible way of knowing that—maintained an outward mask of professional composure while his mind spun into overdrive.
Beside him, Lee Ye-won, his partner on this assignment, was wrestling with the exact same panic.
‘With a disparity of this magnitude, I’d probably switch my citizenship too out of pure resentment.’
She had likewise caught the foreboding vibe emanating from Min-jun’s stillness.
Nobody could blame Min-jun if he decided to stand up and walk right out the door at that very second.
While Hunters frequently regarded agents of the NIS as intimidating to deal with, the reverse held equally true.
Sitting across from someone like him—an awakener ranked at A-tier or beyond who possessed a progression speed unmatched anywhere on the planet—made it utterly impossible to sit at ease.
In any case.
Assuming Min-jun was thoroughly offended, the pair frantically racked their wits to salvage the meeting.
Right at that second.
“Excuse me,” Min-jun spoke up.
“Is this really the entirety of it, by any chance?”
The instant those words left his lips, the agents’ expressions tightened imperceptibly.
‘……Just as I feared.’
Given how the interaction had flowed up to this point, the implication seemed unmistakable.
From their viewpoint, Min-jun was openly displaying his dissatisfaction at receiving such meager treatment.
A wave of nauseating discomfort washed over them, feeling as though the lavish tuna sashimi they had just enjoyed was threatening to force its way back up their throats.
Yet contrary to their frantic assumptions, Min-jun was not expressing frustration; he was just asking out of sheer, unadulterated curiosity.
“Far from it. What you see is merely our introductory framework.”
Striving to maintain her poise without letting any panic show, Ye-won smoothly took the floor.
“Since drafting an exhaustive support package internally has its natural blind spots, our plan was to present a fundamental structure first, intending to actively fold in your personal preferences along the way, Hunter. Is there any particular domain where you feel you require stronger backing?”
Offering additional concessions had never been cleared with their leadership, yet Ye-won deduced they would stand zero chance of securing Min-jun’s loyalty without providing at least that much leeway.
Yeon-ho stiffened for a second upon hearing Ye-won venture beyond their authorized boundaries, but he masked it instantly, turning his attention to Min-jun to await his reaction as if it had been prearranged all along.
Yet.
Min-jun possessed nothing of the sort to demand.
Even if they gave him free rein to ask for whatever he wished, he could hardly tell them, ‘My objective is to assimilate the full might of a dragon; will you supply whatever resources are required for that undertaking?’
Setting that secret ambition aside, no pressing desire crossed his mind.
Following a brief silence, Min-jun turned the question back onto them.
“In that case, from your perspective, what do you think I am in greatest need of?”
On Min-jun’s end, he posed the inquiry simply because he had no clue himself.
Seeing that these agents had dealt with scores of Hunters, he thought they might notice blind spots in his daily necessities that he had overlooked.
Once again, however, both agents completely misread the nature of his prompt.
Though Min-jun harbored no hidden motives, the duo interpreted his simple question through a thoroughly cynical lens.
To them, it sounded like: ‘Do you really have to ask me to state the obvious?’.
‘Is he…… testing our awareness?’
Yeon-ho and Ye-won traded swift, anxious glances.
Thrown off by this unexpected pivot, their thoughts began racing at full speed once more.
And.
They needed to formulate an impeccable response drawing from every scrap of past data on the awakeners they had met over the years.
“Hmmmm….”
Think rapidly, but speak with utmost caution.
Following a quick calculation, Ye-won went with the safest possible answer.
“From my perspective, Hunter, what would benefit you most right now is substantial financial backing.”
To an outsider unaware that Rokan and Sia were privately funding him, that answer made the most practical sense.
He had lingered as an obscure D-rank awakener until very recently, meaning his personal savings were likely minimal, and his affiliation with a tiny, newly minted guild meant he probably wasn’t drawing much revenue yet.
Furthermore, his current address was a modest, ordinary two-room apartment in Seoul, an abode far too humble to match the stature of an A-rank awakener.
“I suppose one could look at it from that angle.”
Offering that vague response, Min-jun picked up a fresh slice of tuna with his chopsticks.
‘How on earth should I read such an indifferent response?’
Was the suggestion unacceptable?
Or having brought up money, was he expecting her to pitch an actual figure?
“Then, around how much capital could be provided to me?”
It was happening once more.
Even without anyone stating it directly, everyone in the room held a rough estimate of the sums floated by foreign governments during their naturalization pitches.
The NIS would have to match or exceed that bracket to wipe the prospect of leaving Korea out of Min-jun’s head for good.
The dilemma was that neither agent held the authority to disburse a budget reaching billions of won at their own whim.
“We cannot quote an exact number at this precise moment, yet… we can guarantee sufficient backing so that you will never experience financial strain again.”
“That sounds reasonable. When might I learn the finalized figure?”
“While we cannot commit to an exact date, we will make every effort to bring you that answer as swiftly as possible.”
A mere handful of sentences had been traded, but Yeon-ho and Ye-won could not shake off the unnerving sensation that they had been thoroughly maneuvered into a corner.
No matter how hard they attempted to read his internal calculations, his face gave away neither approval nor irritation, which was driving them completely crazy.
Even so, following the rhythm of their dialogue, it seemed that so long as he was granted vast financial benefits, he showed no immediate inclination to desert South Korea.
At least, that was the conclusion they drew from his words.
And thus, within that awkward, heavy atmosphere, empty pleasantries drifted back and forth.
By the time the food on the platters had been reduced by half.
“Hunter. Do you happen to smoke, by any chance?”
Yeon-ho inquired.
“I don’t.”
“Our apologies, but we are going to step outside for a brief smoke break and return right away.”
Signaling Ye-won with a nod, the two excused themselves and headed toward the smoking area.
The moment they cleared the dining chamber, the professional smiles they had maintained collapsed into pure exhaustion.
“Ugh, I seriously need to kick this smoking habit this year.”
“Same here. But somehow, our job constantly creates situations where you can’t help but light one up.”
The instant they stepped inside the smoking room, both slipped cigarettes between their lips in near unison.
“Sunbae, what should our move be?”
Releasing a heavy sigh, Ye-won let out a trail of pale gray smoke.
“If the guy were an undercover agent or a criminal, we could at least drag him into an interrogation room without reservations, but he’s neither.”
Under the current circumstances, Min-jun possessed all the leverage, severely restricting what actions they could take.
At this rate, the trajectory of this negotiation was entirely predictable.
They had extracted virtually zero meaningful progress, and discerning Min-jun’s true intentions before the dinner ended seemed like an impossible dream.
As both agents continued exhaling plumes of smoke in silent distress, Ye-won crushed out her finished butt into the tray and offered in a tone edged with bitter resignation:
“…Maybe we should try using a honey trap on him.”
“Hey, don’t even joke about that. If he came across as a guy lacking romantic history, I might consider the angle, but that’s clearly not him.”
Confronted with Yeon-ho’s sharp observation, Ye-won let out a dry chuckle and conceded.
“Fair point. An A-rank Hunter blessed with looks like his probably has a girlfriend gorgeous enough to rival a celebrity. Even if he’s single right now, he won’t stay that way for long.”
Though both had brought it up in jest, an actual attempt at such a stunt would have culminated in pure disaster.
After all, the black dragon Yuria had already deployed the pinnacle of feminine temptation combined with potent enchantment magic in an effort to seduce Min-jun, and that had led nowhere.
Not only would they have failed to dissuade Min-jun from looking abroad, but Ye-won likely would have put her personal safety in grave jeopardy.
Oblivious to the truth, the two had unknowingly sidestepped the worst possible pitfall.
“Once we wrap up, we’ll need to negotiate directly with leadership regarding how massive of an allocation we can secure. I’ll shoot a message over to Team Leader Park right now.”
“Right. Ah, under normal circumstances I’d be feeling the alcohol by now after this much to drink, but my mind is so overloaded that I’m completely sober.”
Inhaling one final deep puff before blowing it away, Yeon-ho pushed open the smoking room exit.
“There’s really nothing further we can do under these conditions anyway.”
The following morning.
I greeted the day feeling remarkably refreshed for the first time in quite a while.
To be honest, it felt like the cleanest, most invigorating start I had experienced over the past few days.
Even by my own evaluation, I had lived no better than a total sloth yesterday.
The day had been an endless loop of eating, sleeping, eating, and sleeping again.
‘Now that I think about it.’
My thoughts drifted back to yesterday’s dinner.
While I hadn’t dwelled on it much during the meal, reflecting on it now made me realize how strange the atmosphere had truly been.
How should I describe it?
It was tricky to nail down, but both agents had acted extraordinarily tense and unsettled.
Perhaps they assumed I was dropping unsubtle hints about wanting to defect abroad.
Though I really didn’t think I had given off that kind of impression.
I had merely attended the meeting out of curiosity to hear what terms they were bringing.
All the same, before parting ways, both agents treated me with the utmost courtesy to the very end, assuring me they would go to great lengths to ensure I received full financial backing without any shortcomings.
‘There seems to have been some sort of miscommunication, whatever it was.’
I couldn’t fathom how the interaction had reached that conclusion, but if they were handing out perks, I had no reason to turn them down.
Moving on.
After having a significantly more substantial breakfast than usual, I dropped by a nearby plant boutique to pick up a few succulents.
Rokan seemed to have developed an interest in gardening lately, so since it crossed my mind, I figured I would pick up some gifts on my way over.
Today was the long-anticipated day when Rokan and I would venture out to conquer a Gate together, just the two of us.
Hardly anyone in this world would ever get the chance to conquer a Gate alongside an actual dragon.
I found myself looking forward to the venture from multiple angles.
On top of that, the prospect of witnessing Rokan unleash his true strength made my excitement surge even further.
While he had already unveiled a fraction of his might during our training sessions, I understood full well that those displays were merely the tip of the iceberg.
Since this was an S-rank Gate with only the two of us entering, Rokan would inevitably reveal far more power than what he normally chose to show.
Naturally, the feeling wasn’t pure excitement alone.
Given that an S-rank Gate was territory I had never stepped into before, a trace of anxiety lingered over whether I could genuinely pull my own weight.
Yet.
Whether stirred by anticipation or nervous tension, my pulse raced with the exact same intensity.
With a pounding chest, I made my way toward Rokan’s dwelling.
True to form, Rokan was sitting beside his greenery, absorbed in a book once again.
Noticing the watering can resting by his feet, it appeared he had finished tending to the foliage before turning his attention to the pages.
“Welcome. What is that you are carrying?”
The moment his gaze found me, Rokan offered a warm greeting.
“These are succulents. It seemed like you’ve been enjoying tending to plants recently.”
“You have my thanks. I will receive them gladly.”
With that, Rokan set the succulents down alongside a nearby plant vessel.
It was a container I hadn’t spotted when I visited yesterday.
As my attention lingered on the vessel, Rokan smiled gently and offered an explanation.
“Sasha brought this to me as a present yesterday. Did she happen to mention it to you?”
“No, she didn’t.”
“Then it seems the saying about lovers sharing the same wavelength holds true.”
Wearing a contented smile as he cast another glance at the newly acquired succulents, Rokan rose to his feet.
“Now then, let us make our way toward the Gate.”
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