I’ll Retire After Saving the World - Chapter 9

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Chapter 9 – A Broken Nose (2)

There are a few things I’ve learned while working, especially during my time as a public servant in the Ability Management Office.

One of the most important lessons I’ve learned is this:

Don’t stand out. A person shouldn’t be noticeable.

People should recognize your title before your name.

It wasn’t hard for me. Fortunately, I had someone by my side who stood out more than anyone else.

That person was none other than the top hunter in South Korea, someone to whom every Korean owes their life.

If you introduce me as Woo Hwijae, the assistant manager of the Dungeon Strategy Comprehensive Situation Room in the Ability Management Office, it feels like I’d get called to hearings all the time.

But if you say I’m the assistant to Hong Seokyoung, the head of the Ability Management Office and the top hunter in South Korea, doesn’t that make a less distinct impression?

Most people focus on the head’s name, so they don’t pay any attention to a low-level civil servant like me.

“…Who are you?”

And this principle can be applied similarly during dungeon raids or dungeon breaks, though the context might be a bit different.

There’s no point in working hard to make a name for yourself; it only increases your responsibilities.

Just look at Yoo Jieun.

That tough woman ended up sitting at a desk writing reports just because she made a name for herself. It’s pathetic, really. It all happened because she stood out too much.

Of course, I’m not on the strategy team, so I won’t be drafted into dungeons. But sometimes, when I’m giving mandatory safety training to the awakened, there are always a few who act up.

Those who think they’re something special without the skills to back it up.

If they have the skills, it’s fine. It’s never bad to have one more capable person on the team. But usually, the loudest ones lack both skill and responsibility.

They make a big deal about handling things, but when the situation gets critical, they’re the first to run or the first to die.

If they die alone, that’s one thing. But such people never die alone. Usually, the victims are kind-hearted veteran hunters who couldn’t stand by and watch those reckless idiots die.

Kim Chaemin died that way too.

“Just a passerby.”

So, undeniably, this is my mistake. It’s practically like I asked to be noticed.

In a fight with a large monster like a Minotaur, a distance of less than 1 km is practically nothing.

I should have kept a greater distance earlier.

“A passerby?”

It’s a suspicious statement. I’m well aware of that.

If I had just gone to the city hall, I wouldn’t have run into this situation.

Especially not with the person I least wanted to see.

“Well, you see…”

“ROOOAAAR!!!”

Perfect timing. The fallen Minotaur swung its arm. With one leg missing, it couldn’t stand, but its size made its movements still quite threatening.

I quickly moved behind the hunter holding the spear.

Hmm.

This is pure survival instinct.

“…Wait here. Don’t go anywhere.”

“I was just passing by. Can’t I just keep going? I won’t be in the way.”

“Stop talking nonsense.”

The hunter lowered his spear at an angle and said,

“I’ll be back soon.”

The director, no, there’s no Ability Management Office now.

Twenty years ago, he was called the strongest hunter in Korea, my adoptive father, Hong Seokyoung, charged at the Minotaur.

Even though he is the top hunter in Korea, he has only one body. I could run away while he’s busy with the monster.

But other hunters began to gather around me one by one. They were all renowned, legendary hunters.

“…Hello.”

I smiled awkwardly.

Running away now would just make me a fugitive.

I had no choice but to surrender to fate and leave it to the heavens.

I’ve done a good deed recently, so heaven should be on my side.

…Maybe.

* * *

“So, what’s your name again?”

“…”

“Come on, let’s make this easy. There’s no point in resisting.”

The investigator twirled his pen with a disinterested look.

Gloomy lighting and gray walls.

A bored investigator with a sarcastic tone. A suspect… no, an awakened person, fidgeting uncomfortably. It’s unfair to call me a suspect. I haven’t done anything wrong.

Anyway, this is the usual scene at the Awakened Crime Investigation Office.

If you exclude the fact that the person being interrogated is me, it’s a scene I’m all too familiar with. It’s the same even after twenty years. I told them to increase the budget.

…Was it me who cut the budget?

Let’s think positively. At least it hasn’t gotten worse. Considering the crude laws regarding the awakened in this era, this isn’t so bad.

“What’s your social security number?”

“…”

“Awakened license number?”

“…”

I checked the handcuffs on my wrist. Made specifically for the awakened, these handcuffs are designed to block mana. Escaping from something this crude wouldn’t be hard…

But even if I escaped, there’s nothing I could do. I’d be lucky not to end up a wanted criminal. They’re very strict about this kind of thing.

If I was going to get caught, I should have been caught in front of other witnesses.

At least if it were in front of the students at the demonstration, those naive kids would have enthusiastically testified for me. It would have made finding a way out much easier.

“There’s no point in hiding. Awakened individuals face harsher penalties for that.”

Yoo Jieun’s sword had already been confiscated. The same went for my other belongings. The mana watch looked like an ugly watch as long as it wasn’t activated, so it didn’t arouse suspicion.

I barely managed to hide my wallet containing my ID. The director’s ID tag was hidden as well.

Being treated as an illegal awakened person was bad enough; I didn’t want to add the headache of being a time traveler to the mix.

“Your fingerprints aren’t registered either… Are you Chinese?”

“No.”

“Well, you’re quick to answer that.”

“……”

“So, where are you from?”

“……”

“Oh, you don’t want to answer that? Then just answer this. Why were you in Myeong-dong? Why were you watching the hunters?”

Well, I ended up in the past and was fascinated to see dead people running around alive and well.

“If you keep being uncooperative like this, I’ll have no choice but to…”

Bang.

At that moment, the interrogation room door opened. A familiar face walked in.

“Hunter Hong!”

The investigator, who was starting to raise his voice, stood up abruptly. His casual attire didn’t match the rigid atmosphere of the interrogation room.

“Oh, you’ve been working hard. I’ll take over from here. I have some things to discuss with this person.”

“Will you?”

I squinted my eyes.

It wasn’t strange for the director to appear. He often helped with public duties, even as a high-ranked hunter. He was also interested in investigating awakened person crimes.

Burning down my lab was one of those tasks.

But it was odd for him to intervene like this. The investigator yielded the spot to the director with familiar ease and left the interrogation room.

“I turned off the camera when I came in.”

“……”

“So, you can speak comfortably.”

I wasn’t naive enough to take “comfortably” at face value.

The director laughed heartily at my skeptical look. He seemed like a good-natured person, but still…

“Shall we start with your name? I’m Hong Seokyoung.”

The director extended his hand to me. It was the rugged hand of a veteran hunter.

A year after my lab was destroyed, the director had come to the orphanage and greeted me in the same manner.

I looked at the hunter in front of me.

His hair was still jet-black. There wasn’t a trace of white. Even hunters who age slowly can’t avoid white hair.

Seeing his black hair and fewer wrinkles than I remembered, I felt anew that this really was twenty years in the past.

He withdrew his hand with an awkward smile, scratching the back of his neck, just like the director I knew. Would this director save young Woo Hwijae a year later?

And adopt young Woo Hwijae two years later?

“…I’m Woo Hwijae.”

I didn’t shake his hand, but I did give my name.

“Woo Hwijae? Is that your real name?”

“…Yes.”

“Hmm. Alright. Woo Hwijae.”

The director tapped the table with his fingers.

Even though he was younger, there was no one in this world who knew him as well as I did. He wouldn’t ignore someone who saved his disciple. If I could get through this situation safely…

“Do you know what this is?”

The director pulled out a card-sized piece of paper from his pocket. It had scorch marks at the edges.

But recognizing the drawing on the paper wasn’t a problem.

A ship turned upside down on a sea of black stars. There were no sails. In the place where the mast should be, a rusty sword stood instead.

I knew it.

Of course, I knew it.

That drawing had covered the walls of the lab.

“As expected.”

The director grinned.

I pressed my eyes with my fingers. Fatigue that I had forgotten surged back.

I shouldn’t reveal my hand like this. I don’t even know what the other person’s goal is, and yet I failed to hide my cards…

“I told you, the camera is off. No need to be so tense. There’s no one in South Korea skilled enough to secretly eavesdrop on us.”

Well, that’s true.

“Let’s talk comfortably. I’ve been worried about you.”

“…What?”

Why? Worried about me?

Do you know me?

We’re not supposed to meet until next year.

“If things had gone according to plan, we would have met in much better circumstances… But the Myeong-dong Dungeon caused a lot of trouble.”

I blinked. It was hard to keep up with the director’s strangely familiar manner.

“Anyway, I’m glad you made it out safely.”

“…I don’t understand what you’re saying.”

“Oh, it’s alright.”

No, I really don’t understand.

“I’m the person Kim talked about.”

Kim?

Kim Gun?

“After what happened to Kim Gun… we lost contact with you, and I was worried. Weren’t you supposed to help us escape?”

“……”

“Just as we heard: blue mana, fire, and a sword. I understand your caution, but you don’t need to worry.”

I looked again at the drawing on the paper.

I no longer harbored any resentment toward the lab. The experiments weren’t anything significant.

It was just about taking medicine at specific times. Although the researchers unnecessarily yelled a lot, there were some who treated us well if we behaved.

The kids who were kidnapped from outside cried loudly, wanting to see their mothers, but that wasn’t my case.

By the time I was old enough to hold a grudge, the organization, including the lab, had already been dismantled. The director had worked hard.

The director never told me how he took down the organization. After joining the agency, I could have looked into it myself, but I didn’t feel the need.

There was no fun in digging up past events that were already over.

But once, when the director was drunk, he mentioned Kim Gun along with the names of his deceased students from the Demonstration High School.

‘If only Kim Gun had survived, we could have saved you and the other kids much earlier.’

‘Kim Gun?’

‘He was an infiltrator. We were thrilled to have recruited someone from the inside. But after Kim Gun’s sudden death, we lost contact with the insider too, and we couldn’t figure out what was happening inside. So, it took longer.’

That explained everything I needed to know.

“You want to catch those guys, right? So do I.”

I looked up.

This was fortunate. The timing was perfect.

It explained why I had no identity, and from what the director was saying, it seemed he was willing to vouch for me.

I didn’t know what the real insider connected to Kim Gun was doing now, but given that I hadn’t heard anything since, it was likely they had died along with him.

After all, I was also from that place, so I was an insider. It wasn’t a lie. If they checked my mana watch, they would find related information, so there wouldn’t be any issues.

“Because of the Myeong-dong Dungeon incident, things will be chaotic for a while. It’s actually good timing. No one will pay attention even if a hunter suddenly appears.”

The director put the paper away.

“We’ve already prepared an identity for you. We only knew your surname was Woo, so we gave you a temporary name. Would Woo Hwijae work?”

“…Yes.”

“Alright. You’ll be under my supervision for now.”

“Is this surveillance?”

“You can think of it that way. I can’t just let you roam free, after all. You understand, right?”

The director scratched his head and extended his hand to me again.

“Anyway, I look forward to working with you.”

After a brief hesitation, I took his hand this time.

The director… No, he wasn’t the director or my adoptive father yet.

Hunter Hong Seokyoung gripped my hand firmly and shook it.

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