TL: Boko

Editor: Frost

“I didn’t think America would move this quickly!”

After his conversation with Sung Joon ended, Hyun Sung quickly put on a coat and left the Hunter Bureau building; he got in his car and drove to Sung Joon’s studio apartment.

There were a lot of cars on the road and Hyun Sung felt impatient. Since he was stopped due to the traffic jam, he took the time to call Byung Seo, the Investigation Chief.

Because he had left so suddenly, he hadn’t even had time to report.

“Team Leader Kim! There’s plenty of work to do, so why did you leave?”

Sure enough, because he had left unannounced, Byung Seo scolded him. However, because he had a good reason for leaving, Hyun Sung didn’t panic and decided to explain the situation to Byung Seo.

“I was contacted by Mr. Kang Sung Joon and I’m driving over to meet him right now!”

“To Kang Sung Joon? What the hell is going on? At least try to explain!”

“I don’t have time to explain in detail. But what I am sure about is that America’s moved faster than expected.”

“What?”

From beyond the phone, Byung Seo’s voice stiffened. It was a short explanation, but Byung Seo had understood the severity of the situation.

“It’s a state of emergency. I need full authority over this situation to keep Mr. Kang Sung Joon from leaving. Please ask the related organizations for me.”

He had been delegated full authority over all matters regarding Sung Joon, but that only meant the Hunter Bureau’s full authority. He didn’t have authority over tax-exemption or any such government related benefits.

“But you don’t even know what America’s offer is yet. Shouldn’t we tread with caution?”

“America should’ve already figured out how much Mr. Kang Sung Joon is worth. They must’ve already proposed a considerable offer to him. We’ll lose him if we tread with caution. We need to move boldly,” Hyun Sung said firmly and heard Byung Seo groan agonizingly over the phone.

“I’ll try to convince the top brass, so buy some time for now.”

It was the same with Park Kyung Seok; headquarters didn’t have the flexibility then, and now, so even if Byung Seo did his very best, they probably wouldn’t have the authority to propose special government related benefits, but all they could do now was hope.

“I’ll do my very best.”

“Remember. You cannot lose Kang Sung Joon no matter what!”

As soon as their conversation was over, the traffic cleared up, and Hyun Sung drove his car towards Sung Joon’s studio apartment. Eventually, he arrived at the apartment building and called Sung Joon.

“Please come up.” Hyun Sung heard over the phone, and took the elevator up to his home. Sung Joon already had the door open for him.

“Excuse me,” Hyun Sung said, and carefully went inside Sung Joon’s home.

“You came quickly.”

Sung Joon was sitting on a chair, drinking coffee.

“Please sit down,” Sung Joon said, and Hyun Sung silently sat in front of him. Sung Joon took out a document from his chest and passed it to Hyun Sung.

It was the document with Jennifer’s offer to defect to America and its related benefits.

“These are the conditions of America’s offer.”

Hyun Sung felt intensely anxious and read through the document.

‘I didn’t think they’d offer this much..’

The terms of America’s offer were shocking and there were a few things there that Hyun Sung hadn’t expected.

‘Did America think of Mr. Kang Sung Joon this highly..?’

The terms were much too shocking to simply call it beneficial treatment. Just looking at the benefits listed on the document told him how much America valued Sung Joon.

“What can Korea do for me?” Sung Joon said straightforwardly, and Hyun Sung’s eyes trembled. As of now, he hadn’t been given full authority over the situation, so he couldn’t say anything.

His mouth was frozen shut upon his melancholic expression, but then.. He heard an alarm alerting him that he’d received a message.

“Excuse me for a moment.”

Sung Joon nodded his head and Hyun Sung checked his phone’s screen. It was a message from Byung Seo.

[Approved!]

It was a short, but meaningful message. Hyun Sung’s expression brightened after checking Byung Seo’s message. He quickly put away his phone, looked at Sung Joon, and opened his mouth.

“Could you please tell me what your terms are?” Hyun Sung began. Sung Joon seemed optimistic, but if there was something regrettable about Korea, it was that Hyun Sung was an investigator, rather than a negotiator.

They went through a fierce back and forth but Sung Joon, who had a lot of life experience, came out as the winner.

“You’re sure that it’s a 30% permanent increase in compensation, right?”

“Of course. You’re a lot better at negotiating than I expected.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment.”

Sung Joon smiled. Not only had he secured most of the benefits that America had offered him, but also acquired a permanent 30% increase in compensation.

Due to America getting involved, the Korean government had hastily given Hyun Sung the authority to negotiate with Sung Joon, who was still in his twenties and expected to be lacking in negotiation skills. However, that was a mistake.

“Then shall we draw up a temporary contract?”

Something he had painfully learned from his past and current life was that people’s words couldn’t be trusted.

When handling an important issue, a contract was necessary.

Hyun Sung extracted the envelope containing the temporary contract from his briefcase, and said, “I brought a contract with me. All the necessary procedures are over with, and I just need to fill in the percentages and numbers.”

If Sung Joon didn’t look through the contract thoroughly, he might get scammed, or so he heard several times on Hunter.com, so he couldn’t help but be cautious.

“The terms are better than America’s and there doesn’t seem be anything that’ll be an issue.”

Sung Joon read through the entire contract, signed first, and pushed it over to Hyun Sung. Hyun Sung took out a pen and also signed.

The chance that America would give him a better offer was 0%. Sung Joon was sure of that.

“It was a satisfying contract.”

Sung Joon smiled faintly. He had acquired favorable terms from South Korea due to America’s involvement, so he felt great.

After he had sent Hyun Sung away, he called Jennifer’s number.

“Yes, this is Jennifer.”

He heard her beautiful voice from across the phone. She did have an accent, but spoke Korean fluently.

“It seems like I’ll have to reject America’s offer.”

“May I ask why?”

“You see, the Korean government provided me with a much better offer.”

“If I may, may I know what the terms were? We may suggest an even better offer,” Jennifer asked, her voice relaying her restlessness.

“There are several of them, but they offered me a 30% permanent increase in compensation.”

“30%? Are you sure?”

Sung Joon smiled because he could imagine her shocked face from beyond the phone.

“I’ve already told you the terms; do you think I’m lying?”

“No. I believe you’re telling the truth,” Jennifer said. When she thought about it, Sung Joon wasn’t someone so foolish.

“I proceeded with the contract because I thought America wouldn’t raise their offer.”

“You’re well aware of how our country operates.”

Jennifer didn’t deny it. It was an order of top priority, but contrary to Hyun Sung, she wasn’t entrusted with full authority over this situation.

“But if you want to give me a better offer, give me a call. I left a clause in the contract stating that I could overturn it, since you never know.”

“You’re quite cautious,” Jennifer said honestly.

“I’ll take that as a compliment.”

“I’ll contact you again later.”

“Please do.”

The conversation was over. She was probably contacting headquarters right now.

* * *

Just as he expected, Jennifer was on her way back to her temporary lodgings, which she was using as her base in South Korea.

Eventually, she returned to her base, and entered a secret room, contacting the Delta Chief via a video call.

“Agent Jennifer. Is this your mission report?”

The man that appeared on the screen was Delta’s Chief, Louis. He looked tired, as if he were troubled with demanding work.

“Yes, Chief.”

“Alright, what’s the situation?”

“Kang Sung Joon has rejected our offer to defect to America.”

“He rejected it? But the terms were so good that it shouldn’t have even crossed his mind,” Louis said with a disbelieving expression. In order to explain his reasoning, Jennifer opened her mouth with a calm expression.

“The Korean government provided several beneficial terms, but most importantly, they offered a 30% increase,” Jennifer reported, and Louis looked even more surprised.

“30%? I don’t think the Korean government has ever given a 30% increase to any Hunter before..”

“This is how unprecedented the situation is. It seems like the Korean government has also appraised Kang Sung Joon highly.”

“That’s troubling.”

Louis’s expression darkened. Jennifer opened her mouth, looking as if she didn’t know why.

“Chief?”

“We’re not up against a competing nation but an allied one. Them giving him a 30% increase is like they’re protesting against us. If that’s the case, then we can’t move easily,” Louis said. As an allied nation, Korea was protesting against America. It was possible that their relations could worsen if they intervened any more.

Contrary to Director of the Central Hunter Bureau, Felix, Delta’s Chief, Louis, was looking at the bigger picture, rather than just trying to desperately procure an SSS-rank Hunter.

“Then when you say we can’t move easily, then..?”

“It’s difficult to proceed with the mission.”

“Are you saying that you’ll give up on the mission?” Jennifer asked, and Louis smiled cynically.

“It’s an order of top priority, but there’s no rule saying we have to succeed.”

“I see.”

Jennifer nodded her head. Seeing that from his screen, Louis opened his mouth.

“SSS-rank Hunters are rare. I think it’s highly possible that Kang Sung Joon won’t reach that stage. If that’s the case, then I think it’s not worth recruiting him, at the cost of sacrificing our relations with an allied nation.”

One could interpret Louis’s statement as cool-headed, but it was a sound argument.

Although Sung Joon’s chances of becoming an SSS-rank Hunter were much higher than most, the chance of one becoming an SSS-rank Hunter itself was slim. Therefore, Louis, contrary to Felix, didn’t have high expectations for him.

“But I do believe that Kang Sung Joon has a chance of becoming an SSS-rank Hunter,” Jennifer said. Though this was the first time she’d met Sung Joon, she had been looking over his data. When she looked at the data in its entirety, Sung Joon had a chance of becoming an SSS-rank Hunter.

“Then we just need to move then. I’m just saying that we don’t need to risk it now.”

“His price will have gotten much higher by then.”

“Don’t forget who we are. If our country gets serious, we can steal at least one SSS-rank Hunter. Unwillingly, if we must.”

“Even if they’re a Hunter from an allied nation?” Jennifer asked, and Louis smirked.

“There’s uncertainty in it right now, so there’s an element of danger there, but if Kang Sung Joon becomes an SSS-rank Hunter, it’ll be worth the risk. Even if we lose an allied nation, acquiring another SSS-rank Hunter is much more valuable. But since there’s the possibility that he doesn’t become an SSS-rank Hunter, we need to tread with caution.”