TNHAS 01

Chapter: 01

 A (Hunter) Ghost Lives in My House

I awakened.

But….

[Huh? You can see me? Nice to meet you, homeowner!]

From that day onward, I began to see ghosts.

[I was getting bored, so this is great! Let’s live well together from now on!]

There was only one thing I had to say to an uninvited guest.

“Get out.”

The most important consideration when choosing a job is always job security.

There are three things that matter most.

Does the salary arrive regularly without being delayed?

Is there any risk of the company going bankrupt?

Are the rights of workers guaranteed properly under the law?

I wanted a job that satisfied all of these considerations, and eventually, I got one.

That was becoming a civil servant.

The perfect and secure job, guaranteed until the country itself went bankrupt.

I had finally achieved the dream I had held since childhood.

There was nothing more I could ask for from my life.

Civil servants were famous for their low salaries, but that was also an investment in the future.

Because civil servants had pensions.

I would diligently save even small amounts of money, then in my later years, I would buy a small house somewhere outside the city and enjoy a leisurely life after retirement while receiving my pension.

Civil servants also had guaranteed employment, so if I took out a loan at the right time, perhaps I could buy my own home much sooner.

It was my perfect life plan.

Until the ghost from the corner of my room appeared before my eyes.

[You’re a hunter, right? I was a hunter too! So when are you going to climb the Tower?]

“Be quiet.”

I never imagined that someone other than me—or rather, a ghost—would be living in the three-room rental apartment I had gotten with a loan.

This was definitely a newly built apartment.

[If you’re a hunter, you have to climb the Tower!]

I had absolutely no intention of doing that.

Being a hunter inherently meant living an irregular lifestyle as a freelancer.

There was a guild to serve as a sort of fence around them, and the occupation was officially classified as a profession, but that did not change the fact that it was fundamentally an unstable way of life.

But I was a civil servant of the Republic of Korea with a stable occupation guaranteed by the government.

And civil servants were prohibited from having secondary jobs.

“Get out of my house before I come back from work.”

[Geez! You’re so uptight! Are you a T?]

“…….”

After all this time, I never thought I’d hear something like that from a ghost.

“Don’t let me see you again.”

Bang─!

I usually closed the front door carefully, but today I slammed it a little harder.

It was a forceful declaration of my intentions.

“Officer Lee, you’re here? You’re early again today.”

“Yes, but where did everyone go?”

The people who were usually around at this hour were nowhere to be seen.

“Ah, well, apparently the president is going to give a national address today. It’s an emergency announcement.”

“An address?”

Even if it was an emergency, in circumstances like this, news would normally somehow reach us beforehand.

If there was no official document, at least rumors would circulate internally.

But this time, there had been neither warning nor official notice.

“Yes. So the district chief told everyone to gather in the auditorium. I stayed behind to guide the others.”

Come to think of it, Officer Kim was holding Scotch tape and some printed sheets of paper.

[When you arrive at work, please come to the auditorium!]

“You can go ahead first.”

“Understood.”

When I went to the auditorium, I saw familiar faces.

“Hey, Officer Lee, you made it?”

“Yes, Team Leader. But what’s going on?”

“ This is a secret, but….”

The team leader looked around before lowering his voice.

“You know about the hunters, right?”

“…Hunters?”

“Yeah. Until now, we’ve left them to operate freely, right? We left it entirely to the Hunter Association.”

“That’s right.”

“I think they’re planning to overhaul that system.”

“What do you mean by that…?”

An announcement concerning hunters on the day after I suddenly awakened.

I couldn’t help feeling uneasy.

The team leader began whispering in an even more secretive voice.

“I think they’re going to establish a new agency.”

“Establish one?”

“Yeah. The Hunter Management Agency.”

“Then….”

The team leader suddenly put on a solemn expression.

“Officer Lee, have you awakened?”

“……!”

The sudden question caught me completely off guard.

But judging from the atmosphere, it seemed the team leader hadn’t meant anything by it.

“I heard they’re going to select only awakened people and create the Hunter Management Agency. Until now, whenever civil servants awakened, they’d just quit their jobs, you know?”

That was true.

Because of the prohibition against civil servants having secondary jobs.

That was why I hadn’t said a word about it yet either.

The team leader smacked his lips and continued.

“If only I’d awakened, I would’ve applied immediately. What a shame. Apparently, they’re really going all out this time. The annual salary….”

“If they’re really going all out, does that mean the pay-grade system is completely different?”

“Yeah, don’t even get me started. Our 20th pay step is equivalent to their first pay step. And on top of that….”

20th pay step?

Then did that mean the salary started at thirty to forty million won?

“You know about dungeon byproducts, right? Apparently, they’re going to calculate those separately too. There are even tax reduction benefits.”

“…….”

“They seem to be planning to specially recruit some existing hunters this year. Apparently, the reason they’re circulating the official notice now is to prevent future defections.”

I had often heard about dungeon byproducts on the news.

They were called the Bitcoin that came out of dungeons.

Guaranteed civil servant status, officially permitted secondary employment, and even tax benefits for dungeon byproduct coins?

If that were the case, then owning a stable home wouldn’t be just a dream.

Maybe I could even make it happen next year.

And in my old age, I could keep collecting my pension.

“That’s me.”

“…Huh?”

“The awakened civil servant you’ve been desperately looking for is right here.”

“Uh…? Officer Lee, you mean… seriously?”

“Yes. I awakened yesterday.”

“You awakened?!”

“For real!!!”

“What? Officer Lee did?”

In an instant, the auditorium became noisy.

So much for it being a secret. Everyone had been listening after all.

There were still about ten minutes until the scheduled time for the national address at nine.

Then, first of all, there was something every awakened person did.

“Status window.”

Like proof of being an awakened person, a transparent blue window appeared before my eyes.

<Name: Lee Jihoo Lv. 1

Class: Necromancer

Rank: Not Yet Measured

Country: Korea

Title: Sealed

Stats: Health [20] Mana [10] Spirit Power [300] Mental Power [10] Attack [810] Defense [10] Strength [10] Intelligence [200]

Skills: Summon Spirits 1 (S), Exorcism 1 (A), Materialization 1 (A), Eye of Truth 1 (A)>

<Rank Information:

Measurement Location: Tower, 10th Floor.

Evaluation based on a comprehensive assessment of tutorial floor (1st–10th floor) clear results, title, potential, etc.>

S-rank Seal.

Collect information after defeating the boss on the 40th floor of the Tower.

Benefits after unsealing:

Priority in all judgments related to spirits.>

Sealed?

And what did “priority in judgments” mean?

“Everyone, please take your seats!”

Someone shouted from the stage.

It was Officer Kim, who had sent us to the auditorium earlier.

A few minutes before the president’s address began, a video started playing on the large multi-vision screens in the auditorium.

“It’s coming from the Presidential Office.”

The team leader said this as he sat down beside me.

Against a completely black screen, white letters appeared one by one.

[We will remember them.]

The screen brightened, revealing someone.

A single ray of light descended from a sky filled with clouds.

A woman stood within that brilliant light.

[Regeneration]

She said only one word.

But then—

Fwoooosh─!

The light spread outward, causing everyone around her to rise.

Those who had collapsed with severe injuries to their arms and legs, those whose stomachs had been pierced and who were bleeding profusely, and those lying on the ground, unable even to move their bodies—all of them were suddenly enveloped in that light.

And then an astonishing transformation began.

Their wounds disappeared as if they had been erased with an eraser.

Their severed arms and legs began growing back.

One person who had been lying there waiting for the end shed tears and reached a hand forward.

As though thanking God for His grace.

“Isn’t that Lee Sea?”

“You know her?”

“Don’t you know Officer Lee? That’s Lee Sea, who used to be ranked second among hunters in Korea.”

“Used to be?”

Did that mean the rankings had changed?

But an unexpected statement came from the team leader.

“Such a shame. She died. Was it about six months ago?”

“She died?”

“Yeah. Where did she die again? Was it the Gwanak Mountain Tower?”

“…….”

Come to think of it, I vaguely remembered hearing about it.

The district office had been in an uproar over the incident for quite some time.

Being a hunter really was a dangerous profession.

It was truly fortunate that the Hunter Management Agency was being established.

Otherwise, I would have had no choice but to keep the fact that I had awakened a secret until the very end.

This time, another person appeared on the screen.

On a vast stretch of land.

A man was surrounded by monsters.

Judging by appearances alone, there seemed to be hundreds of enemies surrounding him in several layers.

But he remained calm.

The man raised his gaze and swept his surroundings with cold eyes.

[Is this your answer?]

And then….

A magnificent sword narrowly swept past a monster’s neck.

But that alone was enough.

Slash─!

In an instant, the heads of more than a dozen monsters fell to the ground, severed by the sword energy.

That was only the beginning.

A feast of blood.

The battle was overwhelming.

It was nothing short of a one-sided slaughter.

The district office employees watching the screen even cheered as they rooted for the man.

“As expected! Korea’s No. 1 hunter!”

“No wonder he’s ranked fifth in the world!”

“I feel reassured!”

“Cha Junhyuk! Cha Junhyuk!”

“This is so satisfying!”

But I….

‘No way?’

No matter how much I looked at him, there was something strangely familiar about him.

The exact same facial features as the ghost I had encountered at home.

There was no doubt.

The ghost hiding in the corner of my room was that very man, Cha Junhyuk, Korea’s No. 1-ranked hunter.

But the Cha Junhyuk on the screen and the ghost hiding in the corner of my room were so completely different in atmosphere that it was hard to believe they were the same person.

I hadn’t known what Cha Junhyuk looked like very well to begin with, but this was actually why I hadn’t recognized him right away.

Then the screen changed.

The Presidential Office briefing room, with blue curtains drawn behind it.

The president standing before them had a serious and solemn expression.

The president closed his eyes and spoke.

[We will now observe a moment of silence.]

Everyone looked puzzled at the words.

“What?”

“Why a moment of silence all of a sudden?”

“Ah, is it for Ms. Sea?”

[Hunter Cha Junhyuk’s vital signs ceased three days ago at 17:00.]

Everyone stopped moving.

Not even a sound of breathing could be heard.

It was as if time had stopped in the briefing room. The president calmly looked around the room once before continuing.

[Based on our investigation, he is presumed to have died inside the Tower.]

“…No way.”

“Is that true?”

“The news hasn’t said anything yet…!”

Confused voices filled the auditorium.

The reporters sitting inside the briefing room also began murmuring among themselves.

[For the sake of accurate verification, this matter was kept strictly confidential, but yesterday, his death was confirmed as a fact.]

“How…?”

Something impossible had happened.

Even though I normally lived without watching TV, I had heard his name countless times.

South Korea could remain peaceful because Cha Junhyuk was there.

Because he cleared the uppermost floors of the Tower, we were able to enjoy ordinary daily lives like before.

The fact that I could live without even knowing what Cha Junhyuk looked like was, in a way, thanks entirely to him.

After all, they say that when a country is enjoying an era of peace and prosperity, its people don’t even know the ruler’s name.

[Two months ago, we had to send off an S-rank healer named Lee Sea. And yesterday, once again, we lost an S-rank hunter named Cha Junhyuk.]

Amid the gloomy atmosphere, someone’s voice could be heard quietly.

“…What are we going to do now?”

Everyone was probably feeling the same way.

If our country could no longer clear the Tower with its own strength, then hell would begin.

It was even mentioned in the civil service exam textbook on Introduction to Public Administration.

The small country of San Marino in Europe had ordered the evacuation of its entire population after a Tower collapse.

And the Congo had repeatedly rented top-ranked hunters from other countries until its foreign exchange reserves ran dry. In the end, it had no choice but to apply to the IMF for bailout financing.

The situation inside the briefing room was still like a typhoon had just passed through.

After all, becoming a reporter assigned to the Presidential Office was not something just anyone could do.

The Presidential Office press corps consisted of only the most carefully selected veterans from each media organization.

But even this group of reporters, made up entirely of the best of the best, could not hide their confusion.

[Mr. President!]

[Do you have evidence?]

[Are you certain he is dead rather than simply missing?!]

At that moment, the Blue House spokesperson stepped in to calm things down.

[After the address is finished, we will have a separate question-and-answer session. So please remain quiet for now.]

The reporters seemed to have plenty to say, but they stopped asking questions for the moment.

The president’s speech resumed.

[My beloved citizens.]

The president looked directly into the camera with an expression filled with an emotion I had never seen from him before.

[We are now facing the greatest crisis since the founding of the Republic of Korea.]

Sighs could be heard here and there.

Someone even began quietly sobbing.

[Therefore, I stand here today to make one promise to all of you.]

“A promise?”

“Ah, could it be…?”

[We will no longer simply stand by and watch. We will prevent any more innocent sacrifices.]

The president once again wore a resolute expression.

That gaze seemed to reveal his unwavering determination.

[From this moment on, the government will also shoulder their heavy burden.]

Once again, murmurs spread through the auditorium.

Whose burden exactly was the government going to share?

But if you thought about it carefully, there was only one possible answer.

There was only one organization related to hunters at the moment.

[Until now, we have entrusted hunter management to the Hunter Association. However, that burden was too great for a single association to bear.]

The president took direct aim at the Hunter Association.

[Accordingly, the government acknowledges its responsibility and intends to devise measures to improve the current situation. As the first such measure….]

The president phrased it as carefully as possible, but this was practically a declaration that the government intended to take the association’s authority away.

And the means to accomplish that was probably this.

[Effective immediately, the Republic of Korea will establish the Hunter Management Agency.]