Seoul Player Hunter Agency.
Jin Yunho, sitting in the break room, lifted his head.
"Hunter Cheon Seyeon."
"Yes?"
"Are you really not going to check the labyrinth site? It's incredibly entertaining. It's not just on fire—a missile has dropped."
"Oh, don't tempt me."
Seyeon waved her hand firmly.
She had planned to watch the labyrinth site reactions with Jinhyeok during a voice chat tonight.
If she looked ahead of time, the fun of that moment would be ruined.
"I'm jealous."
"Of what?"
"Watching the reactions while communicating with the person involved. Could I possibly join in?"
"Anyone listening would think I told you not to come. I said let's do it together, but you refused."
Jin Yunho chuckled and shrugged.
"As much as I want to, Jinhyeok might feel uncomfortable."
"I don't think he would."
"If there's even a 0.00000001 percent chance of that, I won't do it."
Cheon Seyeon stared at Jin Yunho.
He treated Yoo Jinhyeok like he was made of gold and jade, almost excessively so, as if he weren't some kind of sunfish.
Sometimes it was almost enough to make her jealous.
'This is why people say you have to be outstanding.'
Reaffirming the truth of the world, she leaned back into the sofa.
"By the way, Team Leader."
"Yes?"
"Why are you in the break room? It's chaos inside right now. Director Yoon was looking for you earlier."
"That's why."
Jin Yunho rested his chin on his hand with a serious expression.
"If they look for me too much, I feel like running away."
In other words, he had declared a sort of dereliction of duty and escaped.
Cheon Seyeon subtly sent a text message and opened Instagram.
# Opening a special reward box from the 81st floor section in one hour!
## Please, let me turn my life around!
## Oh, almost forgot! Everyone shout together! Ramen!!
# Confirmed full clear of the 81st floor section upon clearing the 80th floor.
## Is this real?
@ I just checked too. Crazy runner! Ramen!!
@ My friend dumped his entire fortune three weeks ago to clear the 81st floor section, and now he's dying from jealousy lol. I cleared it with zero won. Ramen!
ㄴ Who held a knife to his throat and made him go all in? lol. Ramen!
Runners here, runners there.
Even without the labyrinth site, the whole world is runners.
# Is there still no Malang Cow that hasn't naturalized to 'King' Korea?
## If there is, I hope you shout right now. 'I'm a black cow!'
@ I'm a black crane that naturalized to China four months ago. Looking for a way to go back.
ㄴ Yeah, we're not accepting that traitor.
ㄴㄴ He went to China, not Japan, so why is he a traitor?
ㄴㄴㄴ If you sold out your country, you're a traitor.
ㄴㄴㄴㄴ Don't joke about my situation. I'm serious. It feels like I went all in on life and got delisted.
ㄴㄴㄴㄴㄴ lol, you're joking, right? Otherwise, that's too sad.
ㄴㄴㄴㄴㄴㄴ Just got a reply from the Korean naturalization department, so I'm verifying it.
Seyeon burst out laughing at the posted picture.
It used gentle words and a soft tone, but the implied content was simple.
It basically said, "I'm busy, so stop snooping around and get lost."
The comment section was also filling up with mockery and ridicule in real time.
"Team Leader Jin Yunho. Are there really that many players trying to naturalize right now?"
"Yes. I heard that department has unplugged their phone lines. So many requests came in that work was paralyzed. Among those who applied, players right before the 81st floor section are being quietly met by the External Cooperation Department."
She nodded.
If someone had climbed to just before the 81st floor, they were talent that any country would drool over.
"Well, I've lived long enough to see this. We used to always be anxious about losing players to the US, Europe, China, or Japan. Now it's completely the opposite."
"I agree."
Jin Yunho smiled.
-"You're only offering that kind of support? Are you okay with me naturalizing to Japan or China? You'll get hammered by public opinion!"
Until just recently, there were plenty of players using naturalization as a bargaining chip.
The Hunter Agency was furious but had no choice but to accept it.
This shift in atmosphere began when Runner captured Mortarion and Azriel, bringing change to Korea's Tower.
From then on, players stopped mentioning the word naturalization.
Public opinion also turned to criticizing players who threatened the country with naturalization.
But some still voiced this opinion.
They said, how long could the influence of one individual last?
As the floors got higher, players would eventually seek support from powerful nations and consider naturalization again.
And then today's insane national advantage exploded.
'Naturalization can freeze to death.'
He could guarantee that no player would ever utter the word naturalization again.
No matter how much the country supported you, you ultimately had to climb the Tower alone.
But a permanent jump pass for the entire 81st floor section?
What player could possibly turn that down?
And Runner was still active.
There was no telling when or where another advantage like this would pop up.
If they had even a shred of rationality left, they could never choose to leave a country with such potential.
'The Blue House must be in an even bigger frenzy.'
They'd already been making a fuss about giving him a presidential citation.
Now he was curious what they would offer.
"Team Leader. So, can I go home now?"
Seyeon stretched and stood up.
She had planned to fly to Sokcho by helicopter.
But Jinhyeok had taken care of everything, so there was no need.
"Of course. I'll run away somewhere else..."
Bang!
The door burst open, and Jin Yunho broke out in a cold sweat.
That steady sound of heels—it was Yoon Miri.
After assessing the situation, Jin Yunho looked at Cheon Seyeon.
"You betrayed me. After I took such good care of you since you were a snot-nosed kid."
"A frog doesn't remember being a tadpole."
Seyeon winked and slipped out of the break room.
Yoon Miri, who had come right up behind him, spoke.
"I'll deal with your escape later. Let's go quickly. We got a call from Sokcho."
Yoon Miri wore a strange smile.
"America really dropped the ball."
Frowning, Jin Yunho immediately walked to the situation room.
America dropped the ball?
What was this about?
* * *
The US high-speed boat anchored at the uninhabited island.
Karen, who had made coffee, sat down.
After taking a sip, Karen Whittaker bowed her head politely.
"I would like to once again apologize for acting on my own to gain an informational advantage behind the back of the Korean Hunter Agency."
Eun Gangseok whistled inwardly.
An apology from Karen Whittaker, someone even influential figures in US politics and finance had to defer to.
A rare sight.
"Regarding this matter, we plan to discuss compensation as soon as possible after returning to the US. However, I want to make it clear that our mistake is not related to Nekiel's descent or the resurrection of the undead army."
'As expected, this is how they're playing it.'
Jin Yunho and Yoon Sewon, who had contacted him a little while ago, had said this.
Karen would admit to unauthorized intelligence activities but would emphasize that there was absolutely no fault regarding Nekiel's descent.
In a way, it was obvious.
If she admitted to that, it would mean the US contributed to putting an ally on the brink of annihilation.
"I know the US had no such intention. I know that, but."
Eun Gangseok placed the pen he had been holding on the table.
From it came the voices of two people.
A conversation between Karen and Min Soyul before Nekiel descended.
"The fact that you condoned the ritual and descent doesn't change. I won't say you bear all the responsibility, but it's true that this condoning escalated the situation."
Karen let out a low breath.
Then she wore a strange smile.
"Hunter Eun Gangseok. Why are you doing this? You must have received it from the Player Hunter Agency. That recording—I've already finished discussing it with my superiors."
"But it was a discussion that contained no specific compensation details."
Shrugging, Eun Gangseok put the recorder away.
Their intentions and America's were obvious.
The US was a superpower incomparable to Korea.
The moment Karen Whittaker returned, they would coordinate their stories and employ various diplomatic strategies to settle things with minimal compensation.
Why not just release the recording file then?
That was impossible.
Korea depended too much on the US for various imports, exports, and resources.
When push came to shove, it was Korea that would suffer enormous losses.
'You've regained your composure.'
When Jinhyeok was beating Nekiel, her face had been deathly pale.
But now, after weighing the various pros and cons, she had regained her calm as if nothing had happened.
That was why she was a famous figure.
Karen, wearing a relaxed smile, opened her mouth.
"Then let's wrap up today's incident here and move to the mainland..."
She stopped speaking and turned her gaze.
For some reason, Runner Yoo Jinhyeok was raising his hand a little timidly.
Completely different from during the battle earlier, he exuded the youthful awkwardness of someone in his early twenties.
"If you have any opinion about our conversation just now, please feel free to speak."
Karen addressed him politely and respectfully.
Korea was Korea, and Runner was Runner.
She wanted to maintain the best possible relationship with that person.
You never knew how the future would unfold.
"It's not about the conversation you two just had. As you know, I'm not a member of the Player Hunter Agency. But I have a small question. Um... I'm thinking about how to ask this."
Karen smiled gently and spread her arms.
"Our strength is that we're always open. We're ready to accept various opinions. You don't have to be shy—just say whatever comes to mind."
"Oh, okay. Then I'll speak comfortably."
Jinhyeok smiled as if relieved and opened his mouth.
"Is there a reason I should let you all live?"
Karen, who had been leisurely lifting her teacup, stopped moving.
More precisely, everyone on the high-speed boat stopped moving, as if someone had pressed pause.
Ignoring the heavy silence that fell, Jinhyeok continued.
"The world doesn't know I'm Runner. Only a very few people in Korea know my identity. Why do you think that is?"
He didn't wait for an answer.
"Because I absolutely hate it when people find out I'm Runner. But you and your team members, Ms. Karen, have found out."
Actually, that was a lie.
In the past, he had been extremely careful because of the danger to his personal safety, but now he was ready to beat down anyone who came, so he didn't care whether they knew or not.
If it became too widely known, daily life would get a bit annoying, so he just didn't bother to reveal it.
But Karen had no way of knowing that, so he threw out a bluff.
"Haha..."
Karen laughed awkwardly and shook her head.
"You've seen our faces, but we know nothing about your personal information. We don't even know your name. Even if we return to the US, Runner's identity will never be revealed..."
"Age 24, name Yoo Jinhyeok, residence Seopangyo 743-3."
Jinhyeok quickly recited and curled the corners of his mouth.
"Now you know."
Cold sweat ran down the back of Karen Whittaker, former head of the US Player Hunter Agency's Special Investigation Division.
She immediately canceled her earlier thought that he was childish.
This guy was no ordinary person.
----------
T/N:
Just for being a free member, you'll get 5 advanced chapters every week!
Access 35 chapters in advance on my Patreon:[email protected]//towerup