Chapter Title: The Velvet Room Invitation
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Grandma, you can't act like this here...
But isn't the head of the medical division at a national Hunter Association branch an incredibly high-ranking position?
Why would someone of that stature suddenly come looking for me?
Kim Deokja, the director whose true age had just been exposed, was now slumped on the floor, sobbing her heart out.
Anyone who saw her might mistake her for a tragic heroine, heartbroken after being dumped by her lover.
In reality, she was just a grandma who'd been shot down after trying to flirt with a guy over a hundred years her junior.
"Uh... Director Kim Deokja?"
"Sob sob... Call me noona..."
"...Alright, Deokja noona? So, why'd you suddenly come find me?"
I decided to play along for now.
She must have been dying to fit in with the young crowd, showing up at her age in an outfit that boldly exposed her chest like that.
With that thought in mind, I asked, and sure enough, the "noona" seemed to perk her up. Deokja... noona sprang to her feet.
"Well, how could I not come when I heard a precious male Hunter had been injured? As the representative of Korea's medical institutions, there's no reason not to."
She looked up at me with sparkling pink eyes, her cheeks flushing cutely.
...Hard to believe this was really someone over a hundred years old.
It was a worldview setting I didn't want to comprehend any more than our orphanage director's.
"And also... the branch chief said she wanted to see our Hyunjun."
"The branch chief... You mean the top brass of this Hunter Association branch where we are now?"
"Yep. Just so you know, this is a VIP room reserved for the Hunter Association's key figures only. To meet her, just take the elevator up about ten more floors."
"Oh... really?"
Come to think of it, this wasn't a regular hospital.
At first, I'd assumed I'd woken up in a hospital room.
But upon closer inspection, this was the VIP ward at the Hunter Association, known to be available only to B-rank Hunters and above.
'No wonder it felt unnecessarily spacious. Now it makes sense.'
Well, male Hunters were that rare. This kind of treatment wasn't entirely out of place.
It was just a bit overwhelming for the recipient.
"S-So, I just take the elevator straight to the top floor?"
"Yes! Exactly."
"Alright, I'll be back."
"Okay... Huh? Wha—?!"
"Wait! Hyunjun! Hold on a sec!"
My boss from work had personally summoned me.
I figured I'd just pop in, give a quick greeting without awkwardness, and get out fast.
Just as I turned to go...
"Y-Your top! You have to wear clothes!"
"Clothes? Oh..."
She'd clung to me with her bandage-wrapped breasts earlier without issue.
Instructor Kwon Sora, red as a ripe tomato, stared at my bare upper body, wondering what to do.
Then...
Slowly...
'Damn it.'
She was untying the very chest bandage she'd been wearing and trying to hand it to me.
"If you don't have clothes, at least take this!"
"Wha—?!"
"It might be a bit revealing for a guy, but it's way better than nothing right now!"
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Apparently, the reason I'd had to go shirtless in the room was that they didn't have any patient gowns that fit my body.
"See, the average height for men is around 160 cm, right? Women are under 170? But Hyunjun, you're way over 180, so nothing fit..."
"Oh, I see."
"Yeah. The clothes you were wearing when they found you had all melted away, and they managed to stretch something for your bottoms, but tops were impossible."
Deokja noona bowed repeatedly in apology.
But unlike her words, a strange smile tugged at her lips.
From that, I could roughly guess who'd dressed my pants while I was out cold.
'She's a doctor, so she wouldn't do anything weird, right?'
Yeah, probably not.
Besides, she was at least a hundred years older than me.
No way she'd take advantage of a guy young enough to be her great-grandkid while he slept.
Nah, no chance. I'd just have to believe that. It was all I could do.
Ding. Top floor.
Back to the present, I'd activated my Armament skill to suit up my whole body and stepped onto the top floor where the branch chief was waiting.
The compression bandage Instructor Kwon Sora had offered...
It had a faint milky scent that might've been useful in other ways, but it felt too risqué, so I couldn't take it.
Especially since Deokja noona, who'd lent me the top-floor access card, had looked absolutely disgusted by it.
"You! Trying to give a man a filthy bandage stained with your breast milk residue? Have you no manners!? Kwon Sora."
"Gasp! Y-You're right! I'm sorry, Hyunjun!"
"And you, Hyunjun! Didn't they teach you in elementary school to say 'No! Stop! Don't do it!' when a woman acts like that?"
"Uh... Yeah, I learned that."
Deokja... Grandma reverted to her old-timey speech in a near frenzy.
Then she got embarrassed on her own and crouched down, fuming... It was kinda cute.
Clap clap!
'Snap out of it, idiot! She's from the 1900s!'
Anyway, the Hunter Association's top floor had only one door.
I approached what looked like the branch chief's office and knocked lightly.
Knock knock.
"...Who is it?"
"I-I'm the one you wanted to see, ma'am. Branch Chief."
"What? ...Oh?"
From inside came a voice that sent chills through all my senses—the mark of a true powerhouse.
So this was the top of Korea's Hunter world.
If anything, the sense of incongruity was even stronger than with Deokja noona.
I stood there quietly, waiting for a response.
"W-Wait a sec! Let me change first!"
"...?"
...What?
I swear I'd been in this exact situation just ten minutes ago.
Definitely not matching her intimidating first impression, a vision flashed of a grandma acting all cutesy with "Yah-ho☆ Watapi★" vibes that didn't suit her age.
So I waited silently as instructed.
Creeeak.
The door to the branch chief's office swung open on its own without me pushing or pulling.
Seemed like an invitation to enter.
I stepped into the room, which was shrouded in unnatural darkness—not a single glimpse ahead.
'What the hell is this place?'
It was like the lights were off.
...But even that wouldn't explain the pitch blackness.
No cave could be this dark.
The room rejected light itself; with the door closed behind me, total darkness enveloped everything. I had no choice but to walk forward blindly.
About five minutes passed like that.
I was starting to doubt if I was even moving forward when...
"...Light?"
A faint but definite glow appeared in the endless dark.
I ran toward it.
Soon, I entered a vast chamber bathed in ethereal blue light.
"Where is this?"
"My branch chief's office, decorated by yours truly."
"...!"
A velvety room exuding a dreamlike aura.
Under a blue chandelier stood rows of ancient bookshelves—a stately library.
In the center, a figure rose slowly upon spotting me...
Sway sway.
"...A tail?"
A woman with a pointed tail?
"Welcome to my Velvet Room."
She wore ultra-short hot pants with the strap of her underwear peeking boldly above, and a shirt that looked normal at first glance but was daringly cropped just below her areolas.
Most striking was the demonic tail wriggling behind her.
And what seemed like a hat had animal ears—accessories, I thought—that perked up and twitched.
"Uh... so, you're..."
"Exactly as Hyunjun thinks. I'm Im Eonnyeon, head of the Hunter Association's Korean branch."
Branch Chief Im Eonnyeon.
Her name alone put her on the same ancient level as Deokja noona.
She might look young, but she was probably my great-great-grandma's generation.
Still, greetings first.
"You wanted to see me."
"Yes."
At least she wasn't playing cutesy like some.
Relieved by that, I cut to the chase to wrap this up quick.
"May I ask why?"
"Nothing major. Care for some tea first?"
"Tea... you say?"
I'd love to, but my helmet covers my face—can't drink with you.
"Oh, no need to drink with me. Just sit across from me."
"Pardon? Uh... sure, okay."
What was she getting at, insisting I sit in front of her like this?
Branch Chief Im Eonnyeon settled back at her desk, sipping her tea daintily in age-appropriate fashion, then pointed to the chair opposite with her tail instead of her hand.
I sat as directed.
Then...
"A male Hunter appearing in Korea—this is the first since the nation's founding."
"Oh, really?"
"Yes. Congratulations from the bottom of my heart, Hyunjun."
Our company president smiled brightly, congratulating me.
'Just called me for congrats?'
Her formerly stoic face blooming into a smile was so cute my cheeks heated up for a moment.
But snap out of it.
She was at least my great-great-grandma's age.
No matter her looks, as a man of the East with decorum, I wouldn't yield to the beast living below my belt.
As I reined myself in...
"Which is why, Hyunjun—as Korea's sole male Hunter, I have an 'urgent quest' of utmost importance for you. That's why I arranged this meeting."
"An u-urgent quest?!"
The urgent quests—ones only high-ranking Hunter Association execs could issue.
With rewards to match, usually taken only by A-rankers and up.
Shocked, I straightened up and listened intently.
"Hyunjun."
"Yes!"
"Would you have 'sex' with me?"
"...Pardon?"
Did I hear that wrong?
Befuddled, I doubted my own ears.
And then...
"Ah! Sorry, that was too blunt for a man."
"Ha, haha... No worries. It happens."
It was a slip-up.
Makes sense—even in this man-obsessed world, no respectable national leader would abuse her position for something so vulgar...
"Won't you impregnate me?"
...Right?
"...Pardon?"
"While you were unconscious, I examined your body closely. And I realized..."
"U-Um, Branch Chief Grandma?"
"That leaving such potent genes out of my womb would be an unforgivable shame as a woman!"
"What the hell kind of nonsense is—"
"By the way, every Hunter in Korea's dungeon access rights are under my control."
"You crazy old hag."
Branch Chief Im Eonnyeon adjusted her glasses sharply, her tone piercing.
I was debating whether to just blast a Fire Shot straight into that yowling gut of hers right then and there.