Chapter 2. The Hunter Management Agency
Inside the screen, the reporters assigned to the Presidential Office became busy.
The sound of laptop keyboards filled the entire briefing room.
[South Korea is currently facing a national emergency due to the absence of top-tier Hunters.]
“An emergency…!”
“No way.”
But that “no way” turned out to be true.
The president’s calm but firm voice came through.
[Until the situation stabilizes, we will temporarily declare a state of emergency and establish an emergency organization in accordance with the Emergency Preparedness Resources Management Act.]
“Oh, right! We have that law!”
“It really is an emergency.”
Since everyone gathered in the auditorium was a government employee, most of them seemed to agree with the president’s statement.
[We will establish the Hunter Management Agency under the Ministry of National Defense. After a trial operation period, it will eventually be promoted to a formal government agency through the proper administrative procedures.
“We did need something like that.”
“Honestly, I’m surprised it took this long.”
The president changed the mood and continued in a somewhat brighter voice.
The Hunter Management Agency will grow into the organization representing the Republic of Korea in the management of hunters. Accordingly, the Hunter Management Agency will recruit talented individuals from various fields.]
“That’s about you, Officer Lee.”
The team leader beside me gave my arm a light pat with a pleased smile.
[Administration, taxation, science, research, engineering, combat… It doesn’t matter what field you specialize in. However, for the time being, we will only be accepting Awakened individuals, so we ask for your understanding.]
“What a shame!”
“I really want to do something too.”
“Officer Lee, you’re lucky.”
Without intending to, I became the object of everyone’s envy in the auditorium.
[The purpose of establishing the Hunter Management Agency is as follows.]
After pausing for a moment, the president spoke again in a serious voice.
[To strengthen Korea’s ability to stand on its own and become a nation that does not depend on foreign powers. To protect the lives and safety of our citizens and prevent the collapse of the towers.
People reacted when they heard the words tower collapse.
Everyone had their own trauma from it.
South Korea’s first tower.
It appeared on an uninhabited island near Baengnyeongdo.
Because the island was completely uninhabited, the tower was used as a nesting place by birds.
A year passed like that.
The one-story tower had already become a paradise for birds, and nobody paid much attention to it.
It wasn’t particularly noticeable, either.
That was because Towers did not increase their number of floors until someone began conquering them.
Then, at some point…
The Tower turned red.
The Tower swelled up as if it were about to explode, and then it collapsed.
At the same time, a gate erupted.
Distance meant nothing to the monsters that poured out of the gate.
They occupied Ganghwa Island in an instant.
Less than an hour later, every resident of Ganghwa Island had been massacred.
The monsters continued pushing toward the west coast, and the government barely managed to stop them by mobilizing all the Hunters across the country.
After that, Hunters began regularly conquering not only dungeons but also towers as well.
[As we approach the 15th anniversary of the Ganghwa Island disaster, which will take place two weeks from now, the government feels an even greater sense of responsibility than ever before. When a nation can no longer function as a nation, tragedies like this can happen again at any time.]
“Ah… Has it really been that long?”
“That’s depressing.”
“Ha… What are we going to do?”
“They’re creating a new hunter management agency, so I guess we’ll have to wait and see.”
“I hope it works out.”
[We fully understand the anxiety and confusion that our citizens may be experiencing now that we have lost our Hunters on the front line. But, my beloved citizens, the state still exists as your shield. We will never retreat, no matter what situation we face.
After a brief silence, the president continued.
[As part of this effort, the government promises that we will provide full support to the Hunter Management Agency, which will stand at the front line of our nation from now on.]
I could feel people looking at me from all around.
[Because to control great power, we need even greater power.]
Those were the president’s final words.
“Officer Lee, you’ve really hit the jackpot.”
“I’m jealous!”
“I want to awaken toooo!”
The team leader added his own comment.
“We probably won’t be seeing you around much anymore. They’ll probably transfer you tomorrow.”
“Would they really do it that quickly?”
But that “would they really?” actually happened.
It was an unprecedented speed for a personnel transfer within the civil service.
It meant that the president was pushing this matter forward with tremendous force.
***
“Hello. I’m Lee Jihoo.”
My first day at the Hunter Management Agency.
There were only two people in the ten-story building, which didn’t even have a sign yet.
A man who looked to be in his early forties asked me a question.
“What grade?”
“Grade 7.”
“Oh. Starting today, you’re Grade 5.”
It was a shocking promotion.
But I couldn’t help feeling a little dazed.
Is this more dangerous than I thought?
Things were already looking unusual from the very beginning.
I had vaguely assumed that my main job here would involve handling administrative paperwork related to Hunters.
“Well, that’s what we’ll be doing eventually. But first, let’s see what you’re capable of.”
“What I’m capable of…?”
“Tomorrow, report to the Tower.”
With that, the man handed me a watch.
It was a black smartwatch with the President’s signature engraved on the part that touched the wrist.
“The floor you’re on will be checked automatically, so wear this.”
“…”
“And this.”
“This is…?”
What he handed me was a black stone engraved with an unfamiliar symbol.
“It’s a Tower escape ticket. It costs about 200 million won… Anyway, if things look like they’re getting too dangerous, get out immediately. You can use it anywhere in the tower except the top floor.”
It seemed like they had at least taken my safety into consideration.
But in the end, I still had to conquer a tower.
At this rate, there wasn’t much difference between this job and being an ordinary Hunter.
“But what is your class?”
“…A Necromancer.”
That’s right.
I had awakened as a necromancer.
That was why I had started seeing ghosts again.
Just like when I was young.
When I was a child, I saw more ghosts than living people.
When I started confusing the living with the dead, my mother moved out of my maternal grandmother’s house with me.
Looking back, it might have been inevitable.
The blood of a shaman flowed through my veins.
And not just any shaman.
I carried the blood of Kim Hee-kyung, who was considered one of the greatest shamans in Korean history.
She was my maternal grandmother.
My mother was her only daughter.
My mother had refused to receive the shamanic calling and had lived her entire life as an ordinary person.
Because of that, her life had never been easy.
The gods constantly tormented her, making it impossible for her to hold down a normal job. She spent her entire life moving from one uncertain day-labor job to another.
That was why, from the time I entered high school, I always worked part-time jobs.
The money wasn’t much, but I did it to help pay for our living expenses.
My mother had spent her entire life suffering like that before eventually passing away.
And the day of her memorial service was the same day my civil service exam results were announced.
“Jihoo, you’ve worked so hard!”
On our way home after eating out, my mother held my hand and happily celebrated my success.
Behind her back, I saw red flames.
Then came the sound of sirens and an air raid warning.
<This is a real emergency! This is a real emergency! >
<A new Gate has appeared near Nakseongdae Station!>
<Access to Nakseongdae Station and the surrounding areas is being restricted! >
<All citizens are requested to evacuate immediately! >
It happened in an instant.
A monster appeared right beside us.
My mother pushed my body away with superhuman strength.
And then…
Crack!
My mother’s arm was torn off like a sheet of paper and sent flying through the air.
Bang! Bang!
At that moment, a bullet came flying from somewhere and made the monster stagger for a moment.
I couldn’t let that opportunity pass.
I picked up my mother and began running like crazy.
I don’t know how long I ran like that.
Then I heard the rescue team’s voices from inside Nakseongdae Station.
“This way!”
That was when I finally thought we were safe.
“You need to prepare yourself.”
A doctor at the evacuation shelter looked at my mother and spoke.
“She has lost too much blood.”
That was the first time in my life I learned that a person’s face could become that pale.
“I… protected you.”
“Mom…”
The smile on her face during the final moments of her difficult life held many meanings.
She really had saved my life.
But my mother’s final words weren’t only about physically protecting me.
The reason she had refused to receive the shamanic calling until the very end…
It was because she desperately wanted to prevent me from inheriting the life she had lived.
…And yet, I thought that meant the blood had become diluted.
“A Necromancer. Anyway, Officer Lee.”
In just one day, I had gone from being called an officer to being called a higher-ranking official.
“From now on, I suppose you should call me Director.”
“…”
A cold breeze swept through the empty ten-story building.
The Hunter Management Agency had only two people, yet it already had both a director and an administrative officer.
“Yes, understood, Director.”
He seemed pleased with the title and folded his arms with a satisfied expression.
“Oh, and there’s a 200% performance bonus for climbing the Tower.”
“What does that mean?”
“From the 1st to the 5th floor, you get 200% for each floor. From the 5th to the 10th floor, 400%. From the 10th to the 15th floor, 600%… You get the idea, right?”
“…!”
My choice had been the right one.
As expected, the early days of anything were always the best time to take advantage of the opportunities. Who knew what would happen once more people joined later?
After all, civil servant salaries had always been the kind of thing that could easily stir up public opinion.
The perfect time to hand out performance bonuses without immediately causing people to complain about wasting taxpayers’ money was right now.
“Climb the Tower, Officer Lee.”
The director’s expression was quite serious.
And I felt the same way.
“Yes, sir. I’ll prove myself through my results.”
I put on the smartwatch engraved with the President’s signature and reminded myself once again of my duty as a civil servant.
I will protect the lives and safety of the people.
That was why I would climb the tower.
The person who was happiest to hear this news was the ghost in my house.
[Let’s go right now!]
“Tomorrow.”
[Why? Why!!!]
Why?
Because I had already finished work for today.
I would enter the Tower tomorrow, right at my regular work time.
[Still, I’m glad you made the right decision!]
The ghost looked several times happier than I was now that he no longer had to worry about being kicked out of my house.
[Let’s do our best from now on!]
“Yeah.”
Since I had decided to climb the Tower anyway, I had no intention of refusing help from a ghost who had once been Korea’s No. 1 Hunter.
More importantly, I was a necromancer.
But before that…
“Are you a bound spirit?”
[What’s that?]
“I mean, are you stuck here in this room because you can’t go anywhere else?”
[…??]
His face was completely innocent.
He genuinely seemed not to know.
“We’ll find out tomorrow. If you really are a bound spirit…”
[Then what happens?]
“I’ll send you somewhere better. With Exorcism.”
The ghost in the corner of my room had seemed somehow different after I watched the video in the auditorium.
But if he couldn’t even enter the Tower, things would be very different.
His very reason for existing would disappear.
And naturally, for a ghost, going to the afterlife to prepare for his next life would be a better choice than wandering around the mortal world.
That would be the small repayment I could give Cha Junhyuk, who had protected us all this time.
It was only right that I repay the favor.
If a soul wandered around the mortal world without a proper reason, it could even end up being grabbed by the collar and dragged away by a Grim Reaper.
[What?!]
The ghost looked genuinely shocked.
Perhaps he was frightened, because he stuck himself firmly to the ceiling and had no intention of coming down.
[Bound spirit? Exorcism? What’s that? Are you going to perform a memorial ceremony for me? I’m actually not very good with occult stuff or Chinese characters. Haha!]
“…”
Ignorance is a sin.
The innocent and painfully clueless ghost in the corner of my room had no idea that tomorrow, he would be crossing the boundary between life and death.
***
There were currently three towers in Korea.
One in Gangwon Province, one on Jeju Island, and one in Gwanak-gu, Seoul.
Nobody knew when or where a tower would appear.
Because of that, the first person to discover one was given various benefits.
First of all, anyone who discovered a tower would automatically awaken.
There were no exceptions to this anywhere in the world.
The next benefit was a buff that activated when the discoverer entered the Tower they had found.
It was a buff exclusive to the first discoverer, and it lasted for one week.
Those were the benefits provided by the system.
Each country also provided rewards or pensions worth practically winning the lottery.
After all, if a tower collapsed, a national disaster would follow.
That was why an entire profession had even emerged that involved checking the whole world through satellite maps every day.
Once a tower was discovered, it was registered in the system.
From then on, Hunters could freely enter the Tower from anywhere in the country through their Status Window.
As long as they belonged to that country, of course.
The same applied even when they were overseas.
Dungeons, however, were different from towers. You had to physically travel to the location of a dungeon.
Anyway, since I had awakened, I could use this system too.
- Hwanseongul Tower (40 Floors, 91d 05:31:05)
- Gwanaksan Tower (36 Floors, 101d 20:54:17)
- Seopjikoji Tower (26 Floors, 153d 07:22:34)
“Hwanseongul, Gwanaksan, Seopjikoji.”
I thought about the choices for a moment.
[Go to Gwanaksan!]
“Why?”
[It’s close.]
“…”
It didn’t matter where the tower was located anyway.
I could enter it simply by selecting it from the status window.
So did distance really matter?
“But why?”
[There’s a back route when you come out.]
“A back route?”
That was the first time I’d heard of such a thing.
But when I thought about it, it made sense.
If you could only enter and exit through the system window, there was no reason for the Tower to physically exist in the first place.
“What about when entering? Is there some kind of special buff when you go in?”
[Nothing like that. But when you come out…]
“When do you come out?”
[The reward is different!]
Then that changed things.
[If you go through the back route, you come directly outside the Gwanaksan Tower.]
So I could move directly outside in my current condition?
Preparing for my eventual exit, I took my wallet and even put on my shoes at the front door before speaking.
“Select Gwanaksan Tower.”
<Affiliated Country: Korea.
**You are the first registered player.
Please enter your nickname.>
A keyboard-like panel appeared on the system window.
This was something I had discussed with the director in advance.
“You need a nickname to climb the Tower. It’s basically like a code name.”
“Is that so?”
“Is there anything you’d like to use?”
If that was the case, I had a name that seemed pretty fitting.
“How about Jack Reacher?”
It was the code name of the protagonist from a spy movie I had watched as a child.
“Perfect!”
And so my nickname was decided on as Jack Reacher.
But the nickname “Jack Reacher” was already taken, so I added an underscore and “07.”
<Player Jack Reacher_07 is entering Floor 1 of Gwanaksan Tower.>
Then another notification appeared.
<Would you like to bind Cha Junhyuk as your affiliated spirit? >
“Bind him.”
Flash!
My vision changed in an instant.
The place that appeared before me was a forest.
But as soon as I entered, I heard someone shouting in joy.
“This air! This sunlight! This feeling!”
A man was happily running around while touching different parts of his body.
He looked like a tall man in his early thirties.
But there was something strangely familiar about his face.
When he saw me, he smiled brightly and opened his arms wide.
“Thank you!”
But I wasn’t happy at all.
I took several steps back from the man approaching me.
“Who are you?”
“Huh? You don’t recognize me? It’s me!”
…No way.
“The ghost from the corner of my room?”
“What?? The corner? Anyway, I’m the ghost who lives with you! It’s me!”
Looking closely, I could see traces of the blurry image I’d seen at home.
And when I looked at his face, I was certain.
“Don’t tell me… Cha Junhyuk?”
“That’s right!!!”
Cha Junhyuk, the ghost, began jumping around happily again.
But I couldn’t understand what was happening at all.
Something physically impossible had just happened.
“Why did you become human?”
The system had clearly called him an affiliated spirit just a moment ago.
“Hmm… I don’t know either?”
What a completely irresponsible and careless answer.
The ghost scratched his head vigorously before speaking.
“If I had to guess why… right after I died, I heard a voice.”
“A voice?”
“Yeah. It told me to go to the Tower. That it wasn’t my time yet.”
He nodded repeatedly.
“Oh! And it said this too!”
“What?”
“It said, ‘I’ll send you somewhere safe!’”
Somewhere safe?
“Something about a place where the hands of death can’t reach me? Something like that.”
Death?
Did he mean the Grim Reaper?
Cha Junhyuk then fell deep into thought.
“And my soul…”
“What happened to it?”
“Whoosh!”
Whoosh?
The ghost from the corner of my room imitated a pitcher throwing a ball with all his strength.
“Someone grabbed me like this and threw me!”
“Your soul?”
“Yeah! My soul! And when I came to my senses…”
I could guess what happened after that.
“It was my house.”
“That’s right! Exactly!”
The ghost clapped his hands together as if he’d gotten the answer right.
“The Tower. It’s been so long~!”
He rolled his shoulders and stretched his arms, warming up his body.
“Wait a moment.”
Five goblins had appeared in front of him.
Cha Junhyuk grinned.
“I’ll finish this in three seconds.”
