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On the day after the ranking match, in my meeting with the President, he asked for one more other thing besides participating in the friendly matches between Korea, China, and Japan.

Before his request, Director Koh Tae-wook gave a similar briefing, and the contents were as follows:

According to him, dark forces were trying to destroy the political foundation set by the current President and appoint a new leader.

Among those forces, the only one who had been revealed was Oh Young-seok. That's why the Hunter Management Bureau had secretly investigated the Phoenix Guild.

In the process, the Guild Association, headed by Oh Young-seok, and figures in the political and business circles, went dark.

Moreover, it was said that their forces had a history of targeting Yoo So-eun, the President’s daughter, to pressure them to step back.

For that reason, when Yoo So-eun was summoned to the Tutorial Dungeon, the President thought she had been kidnapped and panicked for a while.

There were only firm beliefs and no physical evidence in all these situations.

From the Hunter Management Bureau's point of view, Oh Young-seok's existence was the key to opening the door to those dark forces.

However, Oh Young-seok became wary when he got wind of their plans, and they encountered obstacles in their investigation.

At the same time, when the BnS Guild began selling vitality potions, Oh Young-seok started to take action again, attempting to intimidate our guild.

His first target was me since I had defeated Kim Gangsuk, the hunter he had raised. Lee Seo-yoon would have influenced him a little on this. Oh Young-seok, thinking of me as an ordinary C-Rank Proby, followed through without hesitation, which became the start of their bad luck.

The President requested the BnS Guild to cooperate in catching Oh Young-seok.

In other words, our guild was to become bait.

If Oh Young-seok's irregularities were revealed, they thought they could catch the tail of the dark forces in the political and business worlds supporting him.

Of course, I declined that request.

Interfering in a complex political arena would only give me a headache.

In fact, even at the time Oh Young-seok had sent assassins for me on Daeseong Mountain, I had only been thinking of taking down the Phoenix Guild.

However, I changed my mind when I encountered an unexpected fact, and I got rid of him when he wanted to target my parents and the people around me.

“It doesn’t make sense. How did you do it?”

As expected, he didn't believe me.

To catch Oh Young-seok, at least 2 S-Rank and 3 A-Rank hunters must work together.

This was the manpower mobilized when his crimes were discovered, and he was arrested before my regression.

As an aside, the Phoenix Guild went down the road after he was arrested.

The guild was maintained, but my life, which was already in a precarious position, became more difficult. Fortunately, I wasn't fired.

Ultimately, I started preparing for the police officer exam and quit when I thought it had gone far enough.

[The future has changed again by you killing Oh Young-seok. Was one of the S-Ranks at that time Seol-ah?]

‘Yes, she did an excellent job. When Oh Young-seok was arrested, and the first place became vacant, it caused a stir. Seol-ah managed to sort that out and became the top-ranked hunter.’

[I was curious about how Seol-ah beat Oh Young-seok to reach the top.]

'Wouldn't Seol-ah's stage at that time be the same as mine now?'

[Well, since he was at the stage of a Transcendent... By the way, were those dark forces wiped out then?]

‘It was a pretty loud issue, but I don’t think so since I don’t have any memory of it.’

[I see.]

As I conversed with the Heavenly Demon, Koh Tae-wook gave me a suspicious look.

“You didn’t let Oh Young-seok go, did you?”

His suspicious eyes widened.

I was officially in C-Rank, so that made sense.

From his point of view, I couldn't defeat Oh Young-seok, an S-Rank and the top hunter in Korea.

“It wasn't difficult.”

"Ha! Do you really expect me to believe that?”

“A thousand words can't compare to seeing it for yourself.”

It was better to demonstrate it than to explain it in detail. As soon as I finished speaking, I unleashed energy using the Heavenly Demon Royal Stride.

“Gasp!”

Director Koh Tae-wook's face paled as tremendous energy oppressed him.

He knelt on the floor and let out a heavy breath.

“S-Stop!”

Even after retracting my energy, he had to sit and breathe for a while, trying to keep his mind together.

“What is this terrifying energy? Were you hiding your power?”

His status screen filled with amazement and disbelief. It was hard to believe, even after experiencing it himself.

Surprisingly, an unwillingness to acknowledge defeat was also displayed in his status, and it seemed that he wanted to fight, even though he knew he would lose.

"If it's hard to believe, would you like to try sparring with me yourself?"

He thought for a moment, then shook his head.

“No. Judging from this energy, I don't think I can win.”

Despite saying that, his status window didn’t change.

He took another deep breath and said.

“It is an incredible energy. It's to the point that I, an S-Rank, can't move. There must be a reason you’re hiding your power, right?”

“I don’t feel the need to explain.”

"I'm glad you're not my enemy."

“We never know what might happen in the future.”

His eyes sank at my reply. I briefly wondered what complex thoughts were swirling around in his head.

No matter what he thought, if he didn't want to make me an enemy, he would have no choice but to be nice to me from now on.

As long as they didn't exploit my power for political gain, I also had no intention of being hostile to the President or the Hunter Bureau.

“Let me ask only one thing: was it part of your strategy to dispatch So-eun to our guild?”

“It was Lieutenant Yoo’s own fault. Even if you refused, the operation had to go ahead.”

Yoo So-eun's dispatch mission, at least on the surface, was a business consultation related to the development of the Gate Detector.

However, her mission was to monitor and report about the Phoenix Guild's informants circling our guild.

“The President is also a scary person. He sends his daughter where it might be dangerous.”

“The President strongly opposed it, but Lieutenant Yoo’s stubbornness was unusual. She said you would protect her if something happened. Now I see why.”

Koh Tae-wook seemed to think Yoo So-eun knew about my hidden strength. I didn't care much.

Anyway, I understood why the President had asked me to take care of Yoo So-eun. He must have been unable to break his daughter's stubbornness.

Come to think of it, even Yoo So-eun was hopeless. How could I protect her if I was out like this?

“Tell me your request.”

“First, please erase the BnS Guild from this case.”

“Okay. But you’ll need to adjust your Rank a bit.”

He was functionally saying I should officially reveal the power I kept hidden.

“Everyone will know soon, so please keep it a secret for the time being.”

“Soon. As Lieutenant Yoo said, you seem to have something planned.”

“…”

When I kept my mouth shut, he released a deep sigh and went on.

“Should I keep it a secret even from the President?”

Even if I told him to keep it a secret, he would definitely report it to him. I decided to allow only that much.

“Only the President, no one else. And don't try to use me politically.”

“If we turn you into an enemy, I don’t think we could handle it either. Don't worry. Is that all you're asking for?"

“It’s still not worth the amount I’ve brought to the Bureau.”

Koh Tae-wook smiled awkwardly.

“You’re very calculating. Say it. If it's not illegal, we’ll try our best. No, we will definitely listen.”

“Calculating? Will you still say that after looking at the evidence I brought?”

I didn't know the details, but I had a hunch that essential bits of information were hidden in the various documents I'd collected.

There was even a transcript of Oh Young-seok's recorded confession.

“Hmm, strictly speaking, evidence collected this way is not admissible in court. And Oh Young-seok’s death will also be a problem.”

“You take care of that.”

In the fight between hunters, the public power didn’t exert much influence when it came to crime.

Later, as the power of the hunters became stronger, this issue became more severe. The organization that maintained equilibrium was the Hunter Management Bureau.

I made two additional requests to Director Koh Tae-wook. The first was to safeguard the privacy of the individuals associated with our guild, including our families. Although there was a reluctance to utilize the Bureau for personal matters, the agency's security was superior to what a private security firm could offer.

Moreover, I could also save money.

Nothing had occurred this time, but I didn't know what might happen in the future. It would be difficult for me to protect them all by myself.

And since I showed my strength, Koh Tae-wook would deploy high-level agents for the job. It wasn’t entirely reassuring, but it was better than nothing.

The second was to share information about registered rankers, newly Awakened Probies, and Gates that had already been created or to be created in the future.

I had memories of the significant incidents before returning but no certainty about the information of hunters, who valued secrecy.

To prepare for the future cataclysm and destruction, I needed to find and strengthen the hidden talents in addition to the ones I knew.

Even if I became uniquely potent, I couldn't protect everyone, so I needed other people to help.

In the case of Gates, if I got information about ones I didn't remember, I might learn about new titles or items.

Director Koh Tae-wook's expression darkened upon hearing my request.

“It is illegal to share information….”

“I don’t think it’s something you should say, as you can’t track down the brokers at the Awakened Registration Center either.”

“Hmm, okay. I’ll see what I can do.”

***

The media was in a frenzy due to Oh Young-seok’s disappearance and the evidence that criminally implicated the Phoenix Guild.

The names of several famous people in the political and business worlds were mentioned in the Oh Young-seok List, so public opinion was boiling.

Even though martial law hadn’t yet been lifted, conservative groups were protesting with the national flag, claiming that the arrest of the top ranker was a political conspiracy.

Progressive groups and the media were re-examining numerous allegations about collusion between the Phoenix Guild, politicians, and businessmen.

Members of the National Assembly from the ruling and opposition parties launched a political offensive against each other, talking about special prosecutors and political conspiracies.

I felt like I'd seen this scene before.

The Hunter Management Bureau declared, through a press conference, that they would conduct a fair investigation in cooperation with government investigative agencies.

Accordingly, a search and seizure warrant was issued for the Guild Association’s office.

As the Hunter Management Bureau had been waiting for this chance, they quickly formed a team with the investigative agency.

This happened less than a day after Director Koh Tae-wook and I met.

Shortly after, Lee Seo-yoon of the Phoenix Guild also held a press conference as their guild’s spokesperson. Her haggard face was black in a few places, so it seemed she couldn't erase all my drawings.

Seeing that was kind of satisfying.

[It was so fast!]

'What?'

[The work was done too quickly. It took two and a half days after you decided to erase the Phoenix Guild for this chaos to erupt.]

'I thought it had been quite some time.'

[There have been so many things going on, so it's reasonable to think so. But it's a mess.]

'Right? I think there will be a big celebrity scandal sooner or later.'

[What does that mean?]

‘It’s official that celebrity scandals happen whenever a major national incident breaks out.’

[Ha! It's a political game. I’m not interested in that. But why are you not going home and hiding here instead?]

'Because I still don't trust the Management Bureau.'

[Are you afraid that something will happen to that one?]

‘It definitely will happen. Oh, there she is.'

The place where I was now was the Korea University Hospital in Hyehwa-dong.

This was where the secretary of the Phoenix Guild, who would be our main witness in this case, was hospitalized.

Just as she had finished her treatment, she entered the hospital room under a guard of female hunters sent from the Management Bureau.

'Kim Sujin?'

That was the name written beside the door of the single-person hospital room.

[I wonder if they will come as you expect?]

'We'll have to wait.'

The wait didn't take long.

I started to feel a weak murderous aura.