Chapter 29
As Deputy Chairman Go Tae-hyeon entered his office with Lee Seong-jun, he gestured towards a nearby sofa with a bright smile.
"Please, have a seat."
Lee Seong-jun nodded silently and sat down on the sofa.
As Go Tae-hyeon naturally took a seat opposite him, Lee Seong-jun carefully glanced at him.
'He's certainly different.'
A week ago, when they met in front of the Frenzy Gate, he hadn't been able to properly perceive him due to his poor physical condition.
However, now that he was facing him in peak condition, he could tell.
'In terms of martial artists, he'd be considered a supreme master.'
Even just looking at the aura emanating from his body, it was sharply honed.
In the past, there were times when he had dismissed rumors and stories about hunters as mere exaggeration or boasting among themselves.
But now, facing him directly with a wealth of experience and knowledge, he thought that the level of Earth's hunters might be higher than he had imagined.
'...And what's visible now probably isn't even everything.'
He likely had hidden strengths and trump cards as well.
Once again, a sense of caution arose.
'I should definitely be fully prepared even when fighting lower-ranked monsters or hunters.'
As Lee Seong-jun was organizing his thoughts, Go Tae-hyeon, sitting across from him, posed a question.
"Do you have any particular tea preference?"
"Anything is fine."
"How about green tea then?"
"Yes, that's good."
As Go Tae-hyeon turned his gaze and nodded lightly, Secretary Kim Min-hyuk, who had been standing by, began preparing green tea with practiced movements.
In no time, Kim Min-hyuk carefully placed two cups of green tea in front of Lee Seong-jun and Go Tae-hyeon.
After taking a sip of the green tea placed before him, Go Tae-hyeon spoke again.
"First, let me formally congratulate you once more on reaching B-rank."
"..."
Lee Seong-jun responded with a silent smile.
It was such an obvious outcome that he didn't feel any particular joy.
Seeing Lee Seong-jun's somewhat dry response, Go Tae-hyeon slowly nodded.
"It seems you prefer to get straight to the point, as Team Leader Jo Gang-hyeon mentioned."
"To be precise, I just dislike beating around the bush unnecessarily."
At Lee Seong-jun's sincere smile, Go Tae-hyeon's expression hardened as he immediately spoke.
"As you have officially reached B-rank through re-evaluation, we will increase your contract terms to the highest B-rank treatment, with a signing bonus of 20 billion won and an annual salary of 2 billion won, effective immediately."
As he finished speaking, Jo Gang-hyeon placed a contract in front of Lee Seong-jun as if he had been waiting for this moment.
"Here's the contract. Please read it over, and if there are any conditions you'd like to change or add, feel free to let us know."
"Yes, I'll take a look."
In fact, there was no need to read it, as nothing had changed except for the signing bonus and annual salary.
Or rather, since the contract could be renewed at any time, there was no need to pay too much attention to it right now.
After briefly skimming over the contract, Lee Seong-jun nodded.
"There's nothing in particular."
"Then we'll proceed with the contract as is. Regarding the additional signing bonus of 15 billion won, I've specifically instructed the accounting team to pay special attention, so it should be deposited into your account today."
"Thank you for always being so considerate."
"Please don't say that. I'm just sorry we can't compensate you enough for your outstanding abilities."
Go Tae-hyeon waved his hand dismissively and continued with a somewhat bashful tone.
"It may not be much of a substitute, but... to convey our sincere apologies for the shortcomings of our association, we've put quite a bit of thought into preparing this gift."
At Go Tae-hyeon's look, Jo Gang-hyeon immediately took out a ring from his pocket and placed it down.
"This is a ring with spatial storage capabilities. It's an artifact created by the dwarven master craftsman Childra, with a storage space of about 33 square meters by Korean standards, which is quite spacious."
Immediately after, Go Tae-hyeon continued.
"Actually... I wanted to just give it to you outright, but due to the association's nature as a government agency, that wasn't possible."
It was understandable.
A spatial storage ring, while varying by size, one of about 33 square meters would typically cost around 20 billion won. Given that it was made by a craftsman known as a master, it would likely have an additional premium of several billion won.
In contrast, the Hunter Association was a public institution run on taxpayers' money.
Even Go Tae-hyeon, known as a power player in the Hunter Association, couldn't simply give away such an expensive item at will.
"So... I intend to lend this spatial storage ring to you, Returnee Lee Seong-jun."
"Lend it?"
Actually, the concept of lending items or artifacts wasn't that surprising.
He knew that guilds or alliances playing support roles often lent high-grade artifacts to capable hunters.
However, what followed from Go Tae-hyeon's mouth was somewhat surprising.
"The lending period is up to one year, and I've arranged for you to be able to use it not only during gate hunts but also in everyday life. Lastly, if you wish, the period can be extended further in the future."
Typically, the maximum lending period for artifacts like spatial storage rings was one week at most.
Even then, they were only available for borrowing when going on gate hunts.
However, Go Tae-hyeon's proposed conditions had none of these restrictions.
'I see...'
Now he understood Go Tae-hyeon's intentions.
'He wasn't exaggerating when he said he put thought into it.'
It was essentially unlimited lending, no different from giving the spatial storage ring outright.
But if it were truly given for free, it could become a point of contention for others.
In the worst case, it could lead to a parliamentary hearing, and the resulting damage would affect not only Go Tae-hyeon but also himself, Lee Seong-jun.
However, simply lending it wouldn't cause much of an issue.
'He's saying he'll give it to me in a way that avoids any backlash.'
The corners of Lee Seong-jun's mouth curved into a smile.
'Excellent.'
Spatial storage rings were high-value items costing hundreds of billions of won, yet due to limited supply, some hunters were even drawing numbers and waiting in line to purchase them.
Of course, there was a good reason why hunters were so desperate to buy them.
'It changes the income dramatically.'
Depending on the monster, some of the larger byproducts could significantly hinder movement.
For hunters, who could lose their lives due to a moment's mistake, it was impossible to carry items that restricted movement.
In fact, Lee Seong-jun himself had sometimes been unable to collect all the byproducts after hunting monsters for this very reason.
However, with a spatial storage ring, such restrictions would completely disappear. As a result, it was no exaggeration to say that even among hunters of the same rank, their income could differ dramatically based on whether they had a spatial storage ring or not.
This alone would provide tremendous benefits, but the advantages of a spatial storage ring weren't limited to just increased income.
The inside of a spatial storage ring maintains a constant temperature and is kept in a perfect vacuum state.
This meant that meals and water for emergencies could be stored.
Therefore, even in emergency situations like the Frenzy Gate incident, one could supply nutrients and manage their condition.
The only drawback, if any, was that it didn't directly enhance or assist combat abilities, but if he continued to regain his strength steadily as he was now, that wouldn't be an issue.
Rather, items that enhanced or assisted combat abilities could become useless baggage later on.
'Considering my rate of growth, I probably won't be able to use it properly for even a month.'
However, the spatial storage ring would be useful not only now but also in the future.
"This is a perfect gift for me. I'll use it gratefully."
Seeing Lee Seong-jun's expression of joy, a broad smile spread across Go Tae-hyeon's face.
"I'm really glad you like it."
For the association, which was always short on funds, lending out a high-value item worth over 20 billion won indefinitely was a considerable expense.
But it didn't feel wasteful at all.
No, it could even be considered an enormous gain.
'I've earned Returnee Lee Seong-jun's favor.'
Considering the value of Returnee Lee Seong-jun in the near future, it was an incredibly cheap price.
However, he couldn't be satisfied yet.
The higher the favorability, the better.
"Secretary Kim, please bring out the B-rank promotion gift as well."
"You're giving me a promotion gift for reaching B-rank too? The treatment is quite good."
"Of course, we don't typically give these out just for reaching B-rank. But as you know, the hunter society is strictly meritocratic, isn't it?"
With a relaxed smile, Go Tae-hyeon nodded, and Kim Min-hyuk immediately handed over a document.
"I hope you'll like this as well."
Lee Seong-jun's eyebrows raised as he checked the document Kim Min-hyuk had handed him.
"This is...?"
The document now in his hands was a real estate contract. And it was for a fairly well-known brand of apartment.
It was something that could solve the housing issue his parents had been worrying about recently in one fell swoop.
"It seems quite expensive."
"Don't feel burdened. This is a benefit available to any B-rank or higher hunter affiliated with the association."
It wasn't untrue.
As housing supplied under the Basic Hunter Welfare Act, any B-rank or higher hunter affiliated with the association could apply for residency.
Of course, normally one would have to wait for years, sometimes even decades, to move into such an apartment.
But Go Tae-hyeon had used his authority as Deputy Chairman to drastically shorten that waiting period.
"I really like it. I'll accept it gratefully."
Seeing Lee Seong-jun's smiling expression, Go Tae-hyeon struggled to suppress the laughter bubbling up inside him.
"I'm glad to hear that."
"I hope we can maintain this good relationship going forward."
"If you're willing to do so, we would be more than grateful."
Lee Seong-jun and Go Tae-hyeon, facing each other, exchanged intense gazes.
"I'd like to go see it with my own eyes right away. Would it be alright if I left first?"
"By all means."
"Then, excuse me."
Lee Seong-jun immediately stood up.
"Thank you for taking the time to meet with me."
Responding with a smile, Lee Seong-jun promptly opened the door of the Deputy Chairman's office and left.
The moment Lee Seong-jun's back disappeared from view, a chuckle escaped Go Tae-hyeon's lips.
"Hehe... Team Leader Jo, you were right. Returnee Lee Seong-jun really liked it tremendously."
Jo Gang-hyeon scratched the back of his head.
"...I was lucky. I couldn't find the answer just from the report, so I went directly to the Gimpo Returnee Management Team that first transported Lee Seong-jun, and I got some unexpected information from the people there."
The period when returnees express their most instinctive and desperate desires is right when they first return to Earth.
It couldn't be helped, as after spending a considerable amount of time in another world, longing for life on Earth, they couldn't hide the emotions that suddenly surged at that moment.
That's why he had gone to find out more about Returnee Lee Seong-jun's desires.
'Actually... I went thinking I wouldn't get much out of it.'
But fortunately, he was able to hear information that wasn't included in the brief report.
'Returnee Lee Seong-jun immediately asked about his family's well-being and worried about them.'
The moment he heard this, the environment of the villa where he first met Returnee Lee Seong-jun, the poor living conditions, naturally flashed through his mind.
He realized that from Lee Seong-jun's perspective, who valued his family, living in an area with poor security would be quite uncomfortable and worrying. After much consideration, he finally chose a house as a gift.
"But even I didn't expect him to like it this much."
"Luck is also a skill, Team Leader Jo. You did excellently."
At Go Tae-hyeon's praise and encouragement, Jo Gang-hyeon cautiously spoke up.
"Then... will you approve the special management team?"
"Of course. I'll have it established right away."
Now, at last, he had definitely been assigned to handle Returnee Lee Seong-jun.
This meant he had been given an opportunity to achieve a definite result, one of the conditions for promotion to headquarters chief.
Seeing Jo Gang-hyeon's eyes glowing with enthusiasm, Go Tae-hyeon smiled brightly.
"I hope you'll continue to do well like this in the future."
Even without being asked, it was something he would naturally do.
Although an opportunity had been given, his promotion wasn't confirmed yet.
To definitively seize this opportunity, he needed to support Returnee Lee Seong-jun even more perfectly than now and continue to build rapport.
"Yes! I'll make sure not to disappoint Returnee Lee Seong-jun in any way!"
Jo Gang-hyeon's loud voice, full of enthusiasm, echoed throughout the room.