Chapter 126 (2/2)

Yoo-seong was no longer just a ‘hunter.’

“When the cracks open and the monsters pour out, a hunter’s job is to save people from them. This is a hunter’s purpose in society,” Sung-wook began to explain.

Some hunters were popular enough to appear on shows or shoot commercials, and some hunters accumulated enormous wealth and power over time.

However, Yoo-seong was different. He was doing things no other hunter could have ever done.

“Ordinary people don’t recognize it yet, but eventually, everyone will. You are different from all the other hunters that have ever been. And then, they will decide.”

‘They will decide how to deal with your existence.’

Being treated as a hero must have been something that Yoo-seong was used to and even enjoyed. However, at some point…

“There will be people who look at it negatively.”

‘No, there will be many. I have seen hunters who had fought for the people, only to turn against the people themselves.’

“So I think you should have an alternative for your future course of action…”

Sung-wook was about to finish his speech when…

Shh-!

Yoo-seong lifted his index finger. Then he pointed it forward.

“What?”

Sung-wook thought for a moment about what it meant.

Beep-!

Loud honks were coming from behind their car. The traffic light had turned green.

Sung-wook hurriedly stepped on the accelerator.

“I’m a god,” Yoo-seong declared jokingly.

“You’re right,” Sung-wook agreed as he rolled his eyes at him. He then took a deep breath.

“You must think I’m a fool,” Yoo-seong replied as he scratched his head.

“No. Well, it’s not that you’ve done anything wrong,” Sung-wook assured him.

“I have been thinking about it. As you said, it is only natural that there will be people who think about it negatively. So I thought, is there any way to reduce it somehow? And…”

“And?”

“I have come to a conclusion.”

Sung-wook stayed quiet as he waited for Yoo-seong’s next words.

“I decided not to care.”

“Huh?”

For a moment, he completely forgot that he was driving.

He paused to stare at Yoo-seong as if checking he really was the Yoo-seong he knew.

Sung-wook could not believe he’d heard those words from the man who was always preparing himself for the future and all the kinds of issues that might arise.

“Hey, you…”

“Don’t worry. I haven’t lost my motivation. But I realized something a few days ago…”

“Yes?”

“I was facing the Japanese Prime Minister at the scene of the accident, right?”

“Um, I also watched that live stream.”

In fact, everyone who had a phone or a computer had been watching it.

“I don’t know if it was obvious, but I was trembling like crazy. I was confronting the prime minister of a country, with hundreds of thousands of people watching it live.”

Of course. No one, including the Prime Minister, had even had the slightest idea that Yoo-seong felt so worried.

That was how thoroughly Yoo-seong hid his inner self.

‘What if I make a slip of the tongue?’

‘What if I say the wrong word?’

‘What if there are variables that I did not think of?’

‘Will the people who are watching think of me as a jerk?’

‘Will they take my side and not the Prime Minister’s?’

“I was thinking about all those things, and eventually, I ended up thinking like this.”

“Like what?” Sung-wook asked.

“It’s useless.” Yoo-seong stared ahead.

He had always adjusted his character depending on the reactions of the people in front of him. However, the people he could not see, it wouldn’t make any difference to worry about their opinions and feelings, even if they were tens of millions more than those he could see.

So Yoo-seong decided to focus on himself instead of the reactions of people he barely knew.

“I have a purpose. If I move steadily according to that purpose, whatever the outcome, I will get a decent evaluation.”

‘You reap what you sow.’

It had been Yoo-seong’s unchanging philosophy. He glanced back at Sung-wook, who had been quiet, and decided to change the subject.

“I have an appointment with Director Yang Chang-guk later.”

“Appointment?”

“The Tech from Leto, we have to hand it over to their original owners. However, there are a lot of Tech that have lost their successors over the course of twenty years.”

In fact, most of the Tech he had brought back had no rightful owners left anymore.

“In China and the majority of other countries, the ownership of such Tech usually goes to the discoverer. In some countries, they appoint a person in charge to whom they can entrust the cultivation of the Tech.”

At this, goosebumps sprang all over Sung-wook’s spine. “No way…”

Koreans had believed for decades that they didn’t have their own Tech. And now, they’d found that they actually had quite a number, but these Tech seemed to have no owner.

“Regardless of which standard you apply, I would be the one to manage these unowned Tech.”

“My God… it’s… wait a second. Is there something more?”

Yoo-seong nodded as if he had something more significant to say. “I am going to create an organization, a facility to sort out the handling of these secrets.”

“You mean, like the Chinese organizations?”

“Yes. In that way, we will recruit members whom we could pass the Tech onto.”

‘This is too…’

Sung-wook felt speechless.

What Yoo-seong was talking about was amazing. It was much bigger than what he’d had in mind.

If it were implemented, a new organization similar to Chinese groups would soon be formed. This was a type of organization that had not existed in their country before.

To think that Tech could take root and grow in Korea, which had always been ignored in the past…

“Well, there is still time to make more specific plans,” Yoo-seong shrugged.

The car was now entering the underground parking lot of the Sung-wook Building.

“Although Director Yang has promised to support us in many ways, there are still a lot of things that we need to learn and prepare for. There will be a lot of problems. The biggest among those is money.”

“Well…” while closing the car door, Sung-wook muttered, “money? Maybe it’s not that big of a deal.”

“No, you do not have to invest. I may be able to…”

“Certainly. You can definitely take care of it yourself.”

Yoo-seong paused. Sung-wook was acting strange. It was as if he was holding back his laughter.

Ding-!

The elevator arrived at Sung-wook’s floor. “Welcome back!”

Yoo-seong immediately recognized Seoyu’s voice, and for the first time in several days, Yoo-seong finally saw himself in front of a mirror.

It was just as Sung-wook had said.

He had lost a few kilos. Dark circles had formed under his eyes.

“That’s enough. Just look at this instead!” Seoyu handed him a bunch of documents.

“What’s this?”

“It’s all organized.” There was a hint of exhaustion mixed with clear pride in Seoyu’s voice.

“There were a lot of operations that you had been involved in which included a lot of complications, right? There were also many overseas operations where it was difficult to determine the hunting ownership, like with the previous Shanghai Shock, right?”

“Right.” Yoo-seong nodded.

“For a while, your compensations were not properly accounted for. So I took this opportunity to sort them out.”

‘Come to think of it, I had forgotten about those,’ Yoo-seong thought. After briefly thanking Seoyu for her hard work, Yoo-seong began scanning the documents.

As soon as he saw the first page, which showed the summary of the settlements…

“Oh my God!”