73

The president of the Hunter Authority, Bartolomeu Diaz, was a Spanish man. He was known as one of the most influential people in the world, but recent events had changed that.

The Hunter Authority was about to be dissolved. They were caught with evidence of developing poison specialized to kill Hunters.

He regretted accepting that trade with the Godfather, but his regret was too late. Bartolomeu sighed.

If the Authority became dissolved, then its members would lose their jobs. Some talented Hunters can certainly find other jobs, but he wouldn’t be able to.

He had, after all, embezzled the budget of the Hunter Authority.

He managed to hide it for now, but it will all be discovered soon. The CIA and MI5 are already investigating him.

As soon as he lost his job, a lot of people would attack him, so he needed to do something to prevent that.

Meanwhile, Lee Hwan had appeared.

At first, he wasn’t sure who the man was. But to maintain a good relationship with Lee Ho, he agreed to give him the job as supervisor of ROKHA.

However, what the man had done since then was impressive. He cleared the SS-rated gate in London.

‘I’ll use this as a chance to keep the Authority intact.’

Bartolomeu was satisfied with his plan. He smiled as he took a puff of his cigarette.

He had a great plan, of course. Lee Hwan had received three billion dollars as a reward for clearing the gate in London, but as long as the Authority still existed, he must pay a certain amount of tax on it.

So Bartolomeu decided to allow him not to pay the tax. That was special; the Authority would never have allowed that. He thought that this proposal was something that Lee Hwan wouldn’t be able to refuse, so he asked for Hwan’s phone number and tried to call him.

‘What should I say first? Nice to meet you? That’s too formal.’

He thought about how to start the conversation. Then, with a smile, he pressed the call button.

Strangely, he heard the call ringing right back at him.

‘Why is it ringing near me?’

He turned his head to the side and gasped in surprise.

Lee Hwan and Yoo-Jeong Kim were right next to him.

***

The man in front of me blinked, his eyes filled with surprise. After a moment of stunned silence, he stood up.

He must have been astonished. To be honest, so was I. But not because of him, because of Yoo-Jeong’s teleportation skill. I didn’t expect her to be able to teleport to such a long distance from the UK to the US.

What a surprise. Despite help from the system, it was remarkable. She was more talented than I thought.

“Um… Welcome, Hwan. I’m Bartolomeu, the president of the Hunter Authority.”

He was now ready to talk. Unlike a few seconds ago, he had now regained his composure and was calm. I could see the reason why he was considered a perfect politician.

He stretched out his hand to ask for a handshake, but I ignored it. He smiled awkwardly and turned to Yoo-Jeong.

“I don’t know who you are, but we are about to have an important talk. Can you step outside?”

“…….”

“I just want a private talk with him.”

It was his way of telling Yoo-Jeong to get out. He thought she did not have the right to hear our conversation.

I laughed.

“I trust her more than you.”

He was still smiling, but I can see that he was upset about it. Other people would probably believe that smile, but not me.

“I see. That’s my bad. So, shall we talk?”

“About what?”

“About what I said in the news. I know there’s some misunderstanding, but that’s how politics work. Allow me to explain.”

I laughed, and he took that as a yes.

Kim Yoo-Jeong was nervous, so I patted her shoulder to reassure her. Bartolomeu continued speaking.

“You only have to pay ten percent of the tax.”

I blinked.

“That’s only for the reward you received for London’s gate. After that, you don’t have to pay any more taxes to the Authority. We will form a special bond.”

“Me? With you?”

“Yes. Isn’t this special to you? Your brother would be surprised. In fact, the Hunter next to you is surprised.”

I turned to see that she really was.

“What’s wrong?”

“The Authority has never offered something like that, not even to SS-rated Hunters. You are the only one.”

After her explanation, Bartolomeu exclaimed.

“See? What I offered you is exclusive. So, can you do what I said in the news?”

“What you said in the news?”

He smiled, and I can sense the disgusting greed inside him.

“Be loyal to me.”

That put a smile on my face.

“Loyal?”

“Yes. Shake my hand, and I’ll make you a hero.”

“Hero?”

“Yes. In fact, you can earn a lot of money as well. That’s a great deal.”

That made me laugh again. Why was he so confident?

“Also, I am capable. I can support you well from the back.”

“Support?”

“I heard that you are planning to create your own PMC. The Hunter Authority will be your support. I’ll be your database.”

He asked for a handshake again.

“Take a look at your brother. He is successful, but with me, you can be more than that.”

He was proud and certain. “I’ll make you the strongest person in the world. I led the Authority for eight years. With my knowledge, you can become what you want. How does that sound?”

I was about to clap my hands.

If that were a public speech, it would have moved a lot of people’s hearts. However, I was not a fool who would fall for that.

“Also, your brother is not as great as everyone thinks he is. Teach him some lessons.”

I smiled and grabbed his arm. He smiled as well. He thought that I would be accepting his offer.

“So now we are… Wait! Wha…!”

I shoved him to the floor. He tried to resist, but it didn’t work.

“Wha—what are you doing!”

His words were meaningless. I had heard enough.

“Considering that those are your last words, it was nice.”

“What?”

“What’s with that face? Wasn’t that your last words?”

“Wha—what are you saying! What are you about to do…”

There was no need to listen to anything else he had to say. I kicked him hard.

He was groaning. I shot a wave of aura towards him, ripping off his organs. He couldn’t even scream due to extreme pain. I stepped aside.

He was bleeding, and his body was shaking violently.

The man was outraged, but that did not matter.

“You got me wrong.”

He couldn’t answer. He still had approximately twenty seconds left before he was to die.

“No one can order me around.”

Only I can say that.

“I never was and never will be loyal to someone. But to you? Are you out of your mind?”

His body was shaking. He must be in so much pain right now.

“Are you hurt?”

“…Uh…”

“I suppose you are.”

I laughed.

“What you are feeling now is death.”

“…….”

“How does it feel? I’ve never felt it before.”

He slowly opened his eyes.

“You… son of a…”

He couldn’t finish his sentence, but I know what he was trying to say. I had heard that a lot.

That was the end of Bartolomeu Diaz. But to be sure, I stepped on him, breaking all of his bones.

That was enough.

Kim Yoo-Jeong seemed to be worried.

“Are you worried?”

“…Yes. I don’t want you to have many enemies.”

She was telling the truth. I smiled and stroked her hair.

“Don’t do that.”

“Why?”

“It’s hard to control my…”

I smiled.

“Your what?”

“…You know.”

“It’s just hair.”

Yoo-Jeong reached over and grabbed my arm, quietly asking.

“…Shall we run?”

I knew that there was a lot of meaning in those words.

“This room doesn’t have any cameras. If we teleport away now, then we can evade the situation…”

I stopped her by touching her forehead.

“You must be worried.”

“Why wouldn’t I be? You just killed the president of the Hunter Authority.”

I laughed.

“You are quite a pure person.”

“…Is that wrong?”

I shook my head.

“No, it’s a good thing. Continue being pure, and I’ll be here for you. When I didn’t have enough power, I lost a lot of people. I won’t let that happen again.”

Yoo-Jeong put her hand down, and so did I.

“Since I have power now, I won’t let that happen. I will make sure that my people are safe and able to achieve their dreams.”

“…….”

“So you don’t have to worry. Even if I have to face the whole world as my enemy, I’ll keep you safe. I’ll take care of everything.”

That made her smile. I then asked, “Why don’t we walk out?”

“…What?”

“You are surprised again. What is it this time?”

“I mean, if you do that, everyone will know that you killed him. Why don’t we just use teleport to get away…”

Kim Yoo-Jeong stopped. She knew what my smile meant.

“I’m always confident. I won’t run away.”

“…….”

“Also, this will serve as an example. If someone tries to use me, they’ll know that this is their end.”

She sighed and clenched her fists.

“Let’s go, then.”

“I can see that you are scared and worried.”

“This just doesn’t happen, even in novels.”

“Well, that just means I’m the original. That’s good to hear.”

With this, I walked out of the room, with Yoo-Jeong following close behind.