Gerald Young?
Although he hadn't been able to meet him in any of his previous lives, Ray did hear the name of Gerald Young, the Head of the Hunter Defence Department many times. Mr. Young and his team became very famous in the future for creating the Dungeon Accurate Program, which revolutionised the way of clearing dungeons in a quick and concise manner.
But why on earth was he calling him?
Ray thought for a few more seconds. 'Did it have something to do with the discovery of the large sinkhole?' That was the most likely reason he could come up with for the Head of the Hunter Defence Department to call him.
"May I ask why you're calling me, sir?" Ray decided to ask the question straight to Mr. Young. "I would like to have a talk with you, Mr. Park, if you could spare some time for a meeting." Although Mr. Young spoke politely, Ray could feel the sense of authority that was oozing from his voice.
"Very well." Ray replied after thinking about it for a few seconds.
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The next morning.
Brownlee Street, Horicon City.
"I guess this is the place," Ray mumbled under his breath as he stood outside the Koolin Cafe, after which he walked towards the entrance and opened the front door.
"Mr. Park! Over here!" Ray heard a voice calling his name and he immediately turned his attention in their direction. He found a man who seemed to be a bit older than 50, with gray hair, long beard and a hilariously large moustache, sitting alone in the corner of the cafe.
'He's definitely the real Gerald Young…' Before entering the cafe, Ray did have a suspicion about the call being a prank or a scam. But after seeing that it was indeed Gerald Young himself, the suspicions he had were now cleared.
"Good to meet you, sir." Ray spoke with respect in his words as he walked up to where Mr. Young was sitting, did a small bow, and sat down opposite to his seat.
"Likewise, Mr. Park." Mr. Young replied as he took a sip from the coffee cup that was placed on top of the table, right in front of him. Although his words were polite, his sharp and cold delivery of those words were making it difficult for Ray to believe that he was being genuine.
"So, what is the reason for wanting to meet me, sir?" Ray decided to get straight to the issue, and Mr. Young took another sip from the coffee cup before placing it back on the table. He replied, "You see, Mr. Park… what my team and I do for the government - officially - is to map out various dungeons and collect information about everything; from the irregularity of a dungeon floor to the prime weakness of a dungeon boss." Mr. Young leaned forward, grabbed the spoon in his hand and swirled it around in the coffee as he continued, "We try to collect information about literally everything related to a dungeon, in order to make sure that we provide a safe and secure journey for our nation's hunters."
Ray nodded his head and listened to Mr. Young's words, who continued to speak his usual cold expression on his face. "But no matter how much information we collect, and no matter how much simulations we create of a specific dungeon exploration scenario, there's always a case of uncertainty."
"Of course. Real life has an infinite number of irregularities and unforeseen obstacles that cannot be simulated. It's impossible to be a hundred percent certain." Ray shrugged his shoulders as he responded to Mr. Young's words.
Snap!
Mr. Young snapped his fingers and pointed at Ray as he spoke with enthusiasm. "But what if we could be a hundred percent certain?"
Ray raised his eyebrows in reaction to his words, and Mr. Young grabbed his coffee cup and gulped it down instantly. "Well, I believe that I can find an answer to the problem of uncertainty within the Horicon dungeon, Mr. Park." Mr. Young shifted his attention towards Ray as he placed the empty cup back on the table. "The same dungeon that you entered yesterday."
"What are you asking me, sir?" Ray furrowed his eyebrows and asked as he returned the stare. Mr. Young leaned back on his chair and replied. "My team examined your location details during your last expedition, Mr. Park. You went off course a bit, didn't you?"
"….I did, yes." Ray nodded his head after thinking about it for a few seconds. He let out a sigh before continuing, "I guess you called me here to ask me about the sinkhole, correct?"
"So you did know about its existence beforehand." Mr. Young squinted his eyes as he asked, "You waited a long time before telling me about the sinkhole. I'm sure that you're not an idiot . You probably must've already figured out early on that the existence of the sinkhole was the reason I wanted to meet you. So why didn't you tell me sooner?"
"… Why? Of course, it's because I'm a hunter." Ray responded to his question with a smirk on his face. "I thought I'd be able to find some new treasures inside of it, so I was planning on keeping its existence under wraps until I could find something valuable."
Of course, he was lying. The real reason Ray felt the need to keep the information about the sinkhole to himself was because he didn't trust anyone else to handle dangerous situations other than himself. He also didn't want to exchange information unless it was absolutely necessary. But now that the information was forced out of him, Ray wanted Mr. Young to not be too suspicious of him, which is why he made up a cheap excuse which was also believable.
"So your reason for not telling me about the existence of the sinkhole sooner was because you were greedy?" Mr. Young asked with a cautious expression, and Ray shrugged his shoulders in response. "You know what it's like to be a hunter these days, right? Hierarchies are everywhere, sir. And the entire structure of the hunter occupation forces newbies like us to push past the ranks in an extremely short period of time. It's a necessity to be greedy."
"….. I understand, Mr. Park." Mr. Young nodded his head after listening to Ray's explanation, and he decided to move on to his next question. "Did you enter the sinkhole?"
"I did not, no." Ray shook his head and told the truth. Mr. Gerald Young scratched his beard and stared at Ray with a curious expression for some time, and afterwards, he said, "Have you told anyone else about this sinkhole?"
"No, I have not." Ray shook his head, and Mr. Young leaned forward once again. He grabbed his briefcase and placed it on the table before slowly opening it. "Alright then, Mr. Park. Would you be so kind as to sign this NDA agreeing to not reveal any information about the sinkhole?" Mr. Young asked Ray as he handed him a piece of paper.
"Oh, sure.." Ray said and he leaned forward and received the paper from Mr. Young, but just then, he suddenly stopped what he was doing and squinted his eyebrows as he stared at the NDA.
"Is there something wrong?" Mr. Young asked Ray with a curious look on his face, and a faint smile appeared on Ray's face as he replied, "Actually, would you mind adding a condition onto this NDA?"
"I cannot guarantee the addition of any absurd conditions." Mr. Young explained, and Ray waved his hands in response. "Oh, no, no, no.. It's nothing absurd. I just want to take part in your expedition into the sinkhole. That's all."
"You are aware of your rank, aren't you, Mr. park?" Mr. Young looked annoyed as he spoke, and Ray waved his hands once again. "Oh, I am very well aware that I'm only a measly D-rank. But I'm merely proposing to join the expedition for a single day. That's all. And don't worry, I'm not incompetent. I promise that I won't interfere with any of your work."
Mr. Young thought about it for a few seconds. "Alright, fine." He replied in a serious voice. "I was once your age, full of energy and vigor, so I can see why you must be so excited about this sinkhole. But you only get to join us for a single day. And you're sent back to the entrance the moment I feel like it might get too dangerous. Got it?"
"Yes, sir!" Ray nodded his head, and Mr. Young retrieved the NDA from Ray without getting his signature. "I'll send you the edited NDA after adding your conditions into it." He explained.
Ray nodded his head again in response to his words. "Thank you, sir."
Ray exited the cafe after exchanging a few more words with Gerald Young. Mr. Young watched the young man exit the cafe with squinted eyes before murmuring under his breath, "Interesting.. very interesting."