Anyway, such a hotheaded man.With everyone off work for the evening, the lights were still on at the Central Hunter Bureau’s 40th floor. Sawon walked the corridor at an unhurried pace. By the time he reached the director’s office, the sun had already set.The Central Hunter Management Bureau—called Jungheon-guk—was a government organization under the National Defense Authority. In practice, however, it held a power independent enough to transcend the separation of powers. There was only one reason: cracks that appeared at all hours, and their evolved form, the black spheres—only hunters could stand against them.“Hunter Gu Sawon.”The desk secretary greeted him. Thanks to Sawon’s dawdling, she was suddenly pulling a pointless late night. He jerked his chin toward the door.“Is the Director in?”“Come in!”Before the secretary could even pick up the intercom, a bellow came from inside. Sawon shrugged and went in.A middle-aged man sat in an office chair with his back turned.〈Director Kwon Myeong〉The metal nameplate flashed under the lights.Click.The secretary carefully closed the door. Ignoring the director’s mood, Sawon headed for the sofa. Just as he was about to sit—“Who told you to sit.”“Then should I stand?”He straightened the back he’d been bending. Only then did the chair turn around.“What time do you call this?”“Mm... eight... and about three minutes past.”“I told you to come—why are you showing up now!”“I can’t teleport, and you call me that suddenly—how am I supposed to get here?”“Suddenly? You show up five hours late and call that sudden? Were you coming from Busan? From Gangwon? It takes five hours to go from Seoul to Seoul?”“Right? Turned out it took about that long on the way. So next time, please schedule ahead.”“You—!”Director Kwon clutched the back of his neck and rolled his eyes. When Sawon plopped onto the sofa with brazen ease, the leather creaked. He crossed his legs and sank deep.“Comfy. As expected, the director’s sofa has the best cushion.”At his mutter, Director Kwon let out a long sigh. Acting as if the director were invisible, Sawon glanced idly around the room. Holding his temper down, the director spoke.“You. You know why I called you.”“Why did you call me?”At last, Director Kwon sprang to his feet.“Last month’s Class-2, this week’s Class-3 black-spherization—today again. What’s with the attitude? Are deployment orders a joke to you?”“A joke? Why would you say that.”“When an order drops, you move immediately!”“Well. On that point, there’s something I should say.”He lifted a hand and waved it lazily.“Both Nine and I—we need to get our heads in the right place before we deploy. If you suddenly say go, don’t go like that, it throws us off.”The guard he wore shivered as if in agreement. He patted his wrist.“As I said before, I’ll make the calls in the field from now on. So before you issue an operation order, tell me first, and...”The director shouted:“If that’s how it’s going to be, you be the director, punk!”“Would you really be all right with that?”“What?”“If I wear the director’s badge, Hunter Kwon Myeong will be the one I work the hardest. Can you get back out on the line?”“What, punk?”With half-lidded eyes, Sawon swept him up and down. Then he drew in a breath through his teeth and shook his head.“Doesn’t look like you could...”“You little—!”Director Kwon clenched his fist tight.“Code 16. A hunter’s first duty is obedience to orders!”“Mmh...”Listening, Sawon hummed and got to his feet. He picked up the remote on the sofa table and walked to the TV opposite. He hit the power; the news came right on.[At around 2 p.m. today, a black sphere occurred in the S5 district. Sealing was completed within an hour, but the damage is severe. Hunter casualties currently tallied at 20, and civilian casualties have surpassed 245. Fire authorities are citing the Scrapper’s deployment as the reason civilian casualties are so high.]Interviews followed.[We were running. As soon as the siren went off we headed down the emergency stairs... almost everyone from the office escaped. We were all fleeing together, and then a streetlight—hck— the streetlight... We lost three people just from our team...]On screen, Sawon’s back flashed by as he flew toward a black sphere.[Public opinion about the Scrapper is divided. Should he be seen as a rescuer, or as a disaster in his own right that makes accidents worse? Society remains split. This has been Yoon Aram, TMD News.][And next—restrictions said to be lifted on the Hunter Augmentation Decree...]Beep.“Kyuruk.”In the form of a guard, Nine kept shivering. Twirling the chicken-shaped key holder at his belt, Sawon chanted in a flat sing-song:“If I could be on TV, that’d be really great, really great.”“...”He looked at the director.“I’m on the news, Director.”“...”“No liability for property damage—okay. No liability for civilian casualties—are we actually doing that? I’m curious about progress. No face exposure—so far so good, though that one’s fuzzy. Take every article down. Ah, that one is definitely not being done properly.”These were the conditions he’d recited right before jumping at the scene—terms set between him and the director prior to the Jungheon-guk contract. With his face screwed down on his anger, Director Kwon said:“The articles will all come down. The news will quiet down.”Sawon shrugged.“Sure it will. It’s when you’re doing well and then pull something like this that I remind you of the contract. About when you’re getting complacent.”“...Hunter Gu Sawon.”“Yes, go ahead.”“Ha... Do I look that ridiculous to you? Is Jungheon-guk a children’s playground?”“It’s not that you look ridiculous. It’s that there’s a lot I have to carry under my own name.”At his answer, the director shut his mouth.Before he moved, Sawon always had to weigh hunters’ lives against civilians’. If he didn’t deploy, the hunter death toll rose. If he did, civilian casualties surged. To many, he was an object of hatred and resentment; to hunters, he was little different from a guardian.Reaching for the water bottle on his desk to wet his burning throat, Director Kwon’s hand closed on nothing. Startled, he glanced around the desk, and there—out in front—a water bottle was cutting through the air. More precisely, Nine, in the form of a baby gibbon, was hugging the bottle to his chest as he returned to his owner.“Kii.”Back in his arms, Nine handed the bottle to Sawon.“Thanks, Nine. How’d you know I was thirsty?”Without hesitation, he unscrewed the cap and drank in gulps.“Ah. My head.”Grabbing the back of his neck, the director leaned his head back. Unhooking the chicken key holder from his belt, Sawon put it in Nine’s hand like a reward. Between the two of them, the rubber key holder—known to them as the squeaker—was Nine’s personal toy that squeaked when pressed.“Director. If you’re that angry all the time, you won’t live long.”Taking the squeaker, Nine happily squeezed.Squeak, squeeeak.The rubber-toy noise rang obnoxiously through the office. At last, the director thundered:“Throw that damn toy out!”“That’s Nine’s favorite toy. How could you say that. Right, Nine?”“Kii.”Even as he said it, Sawon took the squeaker back from Nine’s hand. With a look of total resignation, the director let out a long sigh.“Code Number 16. For the time being, no going out. Stand by inside.”“Yes.”Setting the bottle on the sofa table, he answered. No hint of complaint colored his voice. As he headed for the door, the director added one more line.“And starting ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ tomorrow, you’re on research institute duty for a while.”“You just told me to stand by inside.”“It means stop roaming around and quietly do what you’re assigned.”As if he hadn’t the energy left for bickering, the director rubbed his face with a dry hand. Then, forcing his tone calm, he said:“Even the institute’s security staff are out handling the scene. We’re short on people.”With a perfunctory nod, Sawon turned.“How is that stand-by.”He tagged the gripe on as he went; the director’s face flushed red. Holding his breath, he reached by habit toward where the water had been. But the bottle stolen by the monkey was far away on the sofa table. Director Kwon glared savagely at Sawon’s retreating back as he headed for the exit. In response, the baby gibbon clinging to Sawon’s leg gave the director a half-lidded glare.“Bweeeeee.”Nine stuck out his tongue and mocked him.“Those damned brats, both of them...”The director collapsed into his chair. Wearing a mischievous smile, Sawon left the office without looking back. Through the closing door, the monkey lifted a middle finger.“Kyukkyu.”“Ah. Ah... my blood pressure.”

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