Chapter 7

The two-day break that was as sweet as honey was over. Seora went to work at the association with a sad heart.

As soon as she entered the office, everyone ran to her in tears.

“Seora-ssi! You’re alive! Are your limbs intact?!”

“Oh my gosh, in three days half of her face is gone! I thought it was a dead body that came in!”

[T/N: Basically saying she has gotten thinner…]

“The positions of the eyes, nose, and mouth remain the same! I’m glad, I’m so glad!”

“…”

I’m sure you’re worried, but why does it sound strange.

It’s only natural that my limbs are still perfectly intact. Do you want me to be a corpse? Why are you concerned about the location of my eyes, nose, and mouth?

[Administrator: ∠( ᐛ ”∠)_ ]

Even her contractee was lying down watching this skit. Seora looked into the air with dull eyes for a moment.

“Don’t worry, my limbs are fine, I haven’t lost weight, and my facial features are well placed.”

“In any case, that damn bastard of Clear Blue Guild! We’ll stare at any member of Clear Blue now!”

If others heard it, they would be dumbfounded, but this was not the case for Seora.

All civil servant Hunters belonging to the association must put the safety of the people first. It was absurd to lose a connection with a large guild just because of personal feelings.

She knew they meant that they would do what they could. Seora was honestly grateful that they cared about her that much.

“Oh, where is the director? I have to thank him.”

Those who had been exclaiming with excitement suddenly faltered at those words.

“Uh, the director isn’t here now.”

“He’s out of the office.”

“But it wasn’t for work.”

“Then?”

There was something strange about the way they only rolled their eyes around as if they were flustered.

“What happened to the director?”

“The director is currently on probation.”

A surprising answer came back. Seora opened her eyes wide and glanced behind her. Jung Taesuk had a bitter expression on his face.

“On probation? Director Do?”

“Someone else will explain that. The president of the association is looking for you, so head upstairs.”

“Yes? The president of the association…?”

Seora blinked. Uh, I’m not particularly looking forward to this.

“You must have a few questions about what happened at the park.”

Seora nodded at Taesuk’s addition.

“Then I’ll be back soon, I suppose.”

“That’s right, that’s right. Let’s go eat something delicious for lunch. It’s on me!”

“Hey, Section Chief! Take me along too!”

“Me too, me too! Take us somewhere expensive, alright!?”

“You’re so noisy!”

At Jung Taesuk’s words, the surroundings quickly became noisy.

Seora shook her head and left the office, thinking that people were all the same.

The president’s office was on the top floor of the headquarters.

***

The Korea Awakened Management Association was an organization that managed not only all Awakened people in Korea, but also dungeons and gates.

Except in emergency situations such as Dungeon Break where monsters jump out, all guilds must obtain permission to attack through the association.

The Awakened must be registered with the association when they are newly awakened, and in case of crimes done by Awakened, the association directly supervises the punishment.

In other words, it was the law that all Awakened in Korea must obey the rules of the association.

In some ways, it looks like a dictatorship, but thanks to the existence of the association, the damage of non-Awakened people in Korea was reduced, and dungeon raids was done efficiently.

All of them were the power of the president of the association, who directly sat in the highest position after establishing the association.

Song Hanna.

Considered one of the strongest in the rankings among the eleven—twelve now including Seora—S-classes Awakened in Korea.

This person in front of Yoon Seora now was the one who made all of this out of nothing.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

“Your face has shrunk in half during the time we didn’t see each other, Hunter Yoon Seora. Tsk, tsk. Still, I have to say that you are fortunate enough that your eyes, nose, and mouth are still well attached. Are your limbs okay?”

“…”

I think my co-workers just said the exact same thing earlier, or is it just me?

“You know everything, don’t you?”

“Mm? About what?”

She smiled attractively as if she didn’t know anything. The mole on the corner of the mouth that was revealed through the black short hair stood out particularly.

Song Hanna was one of the first-generation Awakeneds, and although she was close to fifty years old, she still maintained her early thirties look thanks to her outstanding abilities.

In addition, it was really difficult to guess her age, as the unique and unapproachable atmosphere of the person called the strongest in Korea was added.

She was still a fascinating person, and her unchanging nature was very frightening.

“Were you not the one who contacted my brother?”

However, Seora did not hesitate in the slightest when she was alone with Song Hanna.

“Of course. Who else but me can tell Jaehun about you in the association?”

Because the two actually had a long-time relationship.

Song Hanna was a close friend of Seora’s mother, who had passed away when Seora was still young 12 years ago.

It was she who helped Seora become a civil servant when she awakened to an F-class.

Of course, there was nothing particularly good about this fact being known, so only few people within the association knew about their friendship.

“Is Jaehun coming back to Korea?”

“I told him not to come. I’m not seriously hurt anywhere, so what’s he coming for?”

“Really? Jaehun seems very angry. If Director Do had not beaten him until he bled, Jaehun would have come no matter what you say.”

“That’s a relief. I don’t want to get attention because of my brother’s appearance. Anyway, why was Director Do sentenced to probation?”

What did that hardworking and conscientious person do wrong? When Seora asked, Hanna burst out laughing as if she had heard something very funny.

“You truly think he didn’t do anything wrong? He destroyed a park. A public place. And who are we? We are public officials who get paid with the tax of the state.”

“… Mm.”

I didn’t even think about it because I was concentrating on destroying Park Jinyong.

“So it’s because of me. I’m so sorry…”

“It’s okay, it’s okay. Well, he was also given a two-month salary cut because of the cost of restoration of the park, but Director Do wouldn’t mind that.”

“Uwaaaah.”

More and more ashamed, Seora pulled her hair.

In any case, the director must have suffered a lot because of that guy Park Jinyong! They said he’s still in the hospital. Once he left the hospital, I’ll let him know that dark alleys are scary.

“Seoraseora, what are you sorry about?”

As Seora clenched her fist, burning with revenge, Song Hanna smiled like she was looking at something cute.

“Yes?”

“You must have seen it. The fact that Director Do is not really an A-class. It is impossible for someone as quick-witted as you to not notice that the gap between the same A-classes shouldn’t be that big.”

As the lips drew a seductive smile, Seora smiled bitterly at her.

“… So Director Do is really an S-class.”

She had already seen Do Junyoung’s information, but she still said it deliberately in a way that showed that “her guess was correct.”

Although Song Hanna was the most reliable ally for Seora in the association, she had decided that it would be better to keep her contract with the administrator a secret.

[Administrator: (´•▽•`)b]

The administrator also agreed with the idea.

“Currently, there are a total of eleven S-class members in Korea. The only person whose name is not known to the public among them is Director Do.”

‘So she hasn’t known yet that it has become twelve.’

When was she going to find out? Seora wondered about it, but asked something else.

“Why were you guys hiding it? Was it really necessary?”

“He wanted it. He’s worried that if he belongs to a guild, he won’t see what he has to see as an S-class civil servant.”

Mm, that’s quite plausible.

The gap between S-class and A-class was as wide as the difference between heaven and earth, and that’s how much everyone looked at them.

Citizens had high expectations for them.

One couldn’t say the same about Song Hanna, who was the president of the association. But for the director, who had to work hard in the field as the head of the management office, such attention would have been somewhat inconvenient.

“So, you don’t have to worry about Director Do. He’s getting paid a lot more for his precious body than what is known by everyone. Pay cut and disciplinary action are just an eye trick to cover the S-class benefits of the state.”

“Still, I can’t help but feel sorry that he has to go through something that he shouldn’t have had to go through because of me.”

“You see, my sweet nephew. You are mistaken about one thing.”

Song Hanna swung her black polished fingers. The moment when her long fingers glistened with gold, Seora’s upper body was pulled forward.

“Ah!”

As the distance between the two of them narrowed, Song Hanna gently stroked Seora’s cheek.

“You are the victim who almost died because of that bastard. And you are mine and Do’s subordinate. It is only natural for us to take revenge instead of you, who is vulnerable.”

“…”

They were both the same S-class, but Seora felt overwhelmed by Song Hanna’s seductive smile in front of her.

Do Junyoung wasn’t like this either. As expected, the person who had maintained the number one spot in Korea for decades is different.

Seora gulped.

“… Does Auntie want to hit Park Jinyong too?”

It was the first time she called Song Hanna Auntie after becoming a civil servant. Hanna must have been aware of it as well, and she smiled more happily.

“He dared to touch you. How could I be satisfied with just hitting him? Since he made my niece bleed, shouldn’t I at least call Han Suwon over and hit his head as well to make things even?”

Hitting Clear Blue Guild’s leader Han Suwon’s head. That being said, I think I’ve seen something similar in the S-class social room, I mean, community.

‘Does Auntie see that community often…?’

Seora lamented as she found out that S-class was filled with crazy people.

“Anyway, when Do’s probation is over, Han Suwon and Park Jinyong will visit the association. Han Suwon would officially apologize to you. What are you going to do?”

“I’m going to get an apology?”

“Well, everything’s up to you. You can decide not to answer it. I’m just asking if you want to meet them or not. For your information, I recommend meeting them, and Director Do is against it. He was worried that you might remember what happened when you faced Park Jinyong.”

Oh, for sure. If it wasn’t for the system administrator, I would have just died, far from being able to remember what happened that day.

It’s true that it was a very good situation to leave as a trauma.

‘Thanks to my contract with the administrator, I became an S-class, so all my trauma was offset…’

Wouldn’t it be more traumatic to witness the administrator’s emoticons?

“But why does the president of the association want me to meet them?”

Before making a choice, Seora asked Hanna.

When it came to overprotection, Song Hanna was worse than Do Junyoung, so why did she want her to meet them? The answer was simple.

“You should see that guy and Han Suwon kneel in front of you and bang their heads on the floor. You want to see it, right? I know my niece would certainly want that.”

As Song Hanna’s finger tickled her chin, Seora coughed for no reason. You know me so well.

‘Of course. I have no intention of being satisfied with that alone. Park Jinyong, you bastard, I will definitely visit you later and smash you in the back of the head.’

Seora smiled at Song Hanna and vowed so.

“And the reason I called you is that I have something to say.”

Seora tilted her head. Was there anything else to talk about?

“Let’s get you… an S-class weapon.”

So there was. And it was something very scary.