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CHAPTER 17: I Became the Successor of a Constellation.
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The Hunter Management Department headquarters was magnificent.
The 20-story building, located near the Gwanghwamun Tower, exuded an intimidating aura even from a distance.
Despite it being a Sunday, Hunters from various guilds were coming and going through the main entrance.
Their flashy equipment and confident postures spoke to the prestige of this place.
He had occasionally encountered staff from the Hunter Management Department while working as a Dungeon cleaner, but this was his first time setting foot in the main building.
No, he had never even imagined that an F-Rank Hunter like himself would have any reason to come to a place like this.
‘It’s as fancy as I expected.’
As he passed through the main entrance, the lobby came into full view. Marble floors, a high ceiling, and walls adorned with photos of famous Hunters and their achievements in conquering the Tower.
It was clearly not a place just anyone could enter.
But what bothered him more was the reaction of the people.
‘I expected this, but still…’
From the moment he had his identity verified, the receptionist at the information desk had stared at him with curiosity.
When he put on the visitor’s pass with the letter ‘F’ on it, the gazes of passing Hunters briefly fell on him.
But they quickly turned away and went on their way, as if they had seen something embarrassing.
“Kang Minho?”
He turned around at the sound of a familiar voice. Lee Junhyeok, whom he had met yesterday, was waving from the direction of the elevators.
“You’re right on time.”
Junhyeok was wearing a suit, a change from yesterday.
A crisp white shirt and a neatly tied necktie further accentuated his well-proportioned features.
“It’s much bigger than I thought.”
Junhyeok chuckled softly as Minho spoke, looking around.
“It can be surprising for first-timers. It’s not often that F-Rank Hunters come all the way to the main building.”
He seemed to realize his slip-up, a hint of apology in his expression. Minho didn’t mind.
It wasn’t meant as an insult, and it was the reality of the situation.
“It’s fine. It’s the truth.”
He really hadn’t had any reason to come to the main building until now.
Various applications and administrative tasks could be handled at the district-level branch offices. The headquarters primarily dealt with high-rank Hunters and guild-related matters.
As they boarded the elevator, Junhyeok pressed the button for the 12th floor.
“First, you’ll need to meet a few people in the conference room. It’s a procedure to get approval for entrusting you with ‘Project Zero’.”
“Does that mean… there might be people who oppose it?”
A troubled look crossed Junhyeok’s face at Minho’s question.
“To be honest, yes. Quite a few.”
As the elevator ascended, Junhyeok explained the situation.
“Opinions are divided within the Hunter Management Department. There’s the faction that supports the project, centered around Senior Dai and the Director, and the opposition, who want to maintain the existing guild system.”
“What’s their reason for opposing it?”
“Their position is that there’s no need to create conflict with the guilds by letting this leak out. They believe the current system is working well enough.”
Minho nodded. There were always people who wanted to maintain the status quo, no matter where you went.
People who feared further change. Their stance was, why make waves unnecessarily?
“But she says that’s the problem.”
Junhyeok continued, mimicking Dai’s way of speaking.
“‘The guilds’ influence is growing stronger and stronger. They now have a louder voice than the government. If this continues, the Hunter Management Department might be reduced to a subcontractor for the major guilds’…
Well, I don’t really know, but that’s what my senior is worried about.”
It meant that trying to avoid the waves could lead to being hit by a much larger tsunami.
In any case, the task of persuading them remained.
A chime announced the elevator’s arrival on the 12th floor. The doors opened along with a warning look from Junhyeok.
“Anyway, you should brace yourself. The looks you get probably won’t be very friendly.”
***
“Team Leader Kim Dai, are you really going to proceed this way?”
“Team Leader Oh. We haven’t even started the discussion yet.”
“There’s nothing to discuss! What do you expect to accomplish by bringing in a single F-Rank Hunter?”
As they approached the conference room, heated voices spilled out from within. It was Dai and someone else.
“That voice belongs to Team Leader Oh Jinhyuk. He’s a key figure in the opposition. I hear he has strong connections with the guilds.”
Hearing the voices from beyond the door made him a little nervous.
He’d felt a bit dazed when he’d accepted the offer after talking with Dai yesterday, but now he was truly stepping into this affair.
He lightly clenched and unclenched his fists. Junhyeok knocked on the conference room door.
The room fell silent. A moment later, a deep male voice was heard.
“Come in.”
When the door opened, several people were seated around a large conference table. The atmosphere… was definitely not good.
“Welcome, Hunter Kang Minho.”
Dai was the first to greet him.
She, too, looked professional in a neat black suit, her hair tied back tidily.
She must have paid attention to her makeup, as the dark circles from yesterday were much fainter.
The others also looked at Minho, but their expressions soured the moment they confirmed the F-Rank badge on his chest.
“Hah, seriously. He’s really an F-Rank.”
“How are they planning to clear the Zero Floor with him?”
The room began to murmur again. A man in his 50s sitting at the head of the table raised his hand to quiet the room.
He then gestured for Minho to take a seat.
As Minho sat down next to Dai, the atmosphere grew even heavier.
“Well then, shall we begin?”
The moment the man at the head of the table, Han Sangjin, spoke, a voice erupted from the opposite side.
“Director Han, are you really going to proceed this way?”
It was a man who appeared to be around the same age as Director Han. He was lanky but tall, with an aquiline nose and sharp eyebrows that left a strong impression.
His brow was deeply furrowed, and the wrinkles etched into his forehead seemed to reveal his stubborn nature.
“Team Leader Oh, please calm down and let’s hear him out first.”
“I can’t let this go on, Director!”
Team Leader Oh slammed his hand on the table and stood up.
“I couldn’t understand the idea of breaking through the Zero Floor while betraying the trust of the guilds, but I let it slide.
I thought you and Team Leader Kim had a plan.”
His voice was filled with conviction, as if he were stating the most obvious common sense.
“Until now, the few high-ranking Hunters within our department have challenged the Zero Floor, and all of them have failed.
Among them were individuals on par with the Guild Masters of major guilds. But an F-Rank Zero Hunter! Does that make any sense?”
Even the attendees from the neutral faction began to nod. They seemed to think Team Leader Oh had a point.
“Team Leader Oh, no matter how much you oppose this, your words are too harsh with the person right in front of you! We haven’t even heard what Hunter Kang Minho has to say.”
When Dai tried to rebut, Team Leader Oh scoffed.
“Ah, was it Kang Minho? My apologies if you were offended. Still, an F-Rank is an F-Rank. To be honest, you can’t even call this rank a proper Hunter.”
“But…”
“Team Leader Kim Dai!”
Oh Jinhyuk’s voice grew even louder.
“Aren’t you doing this because of some personal grudge against the guilds?
Isn’t that why you’re pushing some unheard-of person into a pit of fire for this ridiculous project?”
In an instant, the atmosphere in the conference room froze. This was no longer a simple work debate; it was a personal attack.
Dai’s expression hardened visibly. Her voice dropped lower than usual.
“What are you implying?”
“I was just wondering if you were trying to blindly exclude the guilds because you dislike them. It’s not good to mix personal feelings with work.”
It was a comment that completely crossed the line. But there was no hint of apology on Team Leader Oh’s face.
“Team Leader Oh Jintaek, that’s enough.”
Han Sangjin tried to intervene, but Team Leader Oh didn’t stop.
“Director, you are being too lenient. Are you really going to gamble with a national project like this? This could needlessly worsen our relationship with the guilds.”
The other officials sitting next to him nodded in agreement.
“Team Leader Oh is right. Is there really a need to provoke the guilds?”
“The current system is working reasonably well…”
“This is not something an F-Rank Hunter can do in the first place!”
Voices filled with discontent began to erupt one by one, as if they had been waiting for this moment.
Watching the scene unfold, Minho felt a sense of déjà vu.
He had experienced something similar at the fire station. Situations where the opinions from the field were ignored, and only the prejudices and political logic decided by the higher-ups were pushed forward.
‘It’s the same everywhere.’
“Do you have an alternative, then?”
Dai’s voice cut through the noise, low and steady.
“What? What did you say?”
“Do you think the guild system is perfect? With the guilds monopolizing the Tower, what is the role of the Hunter Management Department?”
“We are here to ensure the guilds can systematically supply resources through the Tower…”
“So we should just do everything the guilds want? Then why do we even exist?”
Oh Jintaek’s face turned red at Dai’s rebuttal.
“That’s an extreme interpretation! We are cooperating with the guilds, not subordinate to them!”
“Cooperating?”
Dai let out a cynical laugh.
“Then what about last month, when the 「Iron-Blooded Legion」 said they wouldn’t share their Tower conquest information? What could we do?”
“That was…”
“In the end, we were too busy walking on eggshells around them to say anything. Is that what you call cooperation?”
The conference room grew noisy again. This time, both sides raised their voices, asserting their own arguments.
‘This will never end at this rate.’
It seemed pointless to argue with words.
When people’s prejudices were already set in stone, actions were sometimes more effective than words.
Just as Minho was about to stand up, Oh Jintaek uttered a decisive remark.
“Isn’t he just an unverified test subject in the first place? As a public official, I find this an unacceptable risk.”
Test subject.
At that word, Minho’s expression hardened. To call a person a test subject. Dai’s face also turned ice-cold.
“Team Leader Oh, what did you just say?”
“I’m just stating the cold, hard facts. It may be unpleasant, but for Kang Minho’s own sake, I cannot approve him as a Zero Hunter.”
His attitude suggested he was in no way at fault, a picture of conviction that only he was right.
“What do you expect to confirm by sending an F-Rank to the Zero Floor? I don't understand why you're trying to do something that's so clearly bound to fail.”
Just then, Minho spoke quietly.
“Then I'll just have to prove it.”
All eyes fell on the F-Rank Zero Hunter candidate, who had just spoken for the first time.
Minho's voice was calm, but it held a cold edge.
“Proof?”
Oh Jintaek wore a look of disbelief.
“What's that supposed to mean?”
“It's simple.”
Minho rose from his seat and slowly scanned the conference room. Then, breaking the silence, he said.
“If anyone here would like to verify my skills, I'd be more than willing to demonstrate.”
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