From the morning, Association employees gathered in the conference room sat in stifling silence, swallowing dryly.

Only the sound of pages turning echoed through the heavy air in the room.

Flip, flip.

Vice President Choi Gyeonghui, who had been silently flipping through documents with an expressionless face, couldn’t hold back any longer and opened her mouth.

“We’ve been in this meeting for over fifteen minutes. Seriously...”

“......”

At her exasperated murmur, the shoulders of the blameless employees stiffened.

The Association President being late to meetings wasn’t anything new.

Over the past two years, he had barely arrived on time more than a handful of times. Whenever a meeting was scheduled, it was a given that he’d show up at least ten minutes late.

And even after arriving late, the Association President wouldn’t offer so much as an apology. Instead, he’d just clear his throat and tilt his chin up arrogantly. Even when Choi Gyeonghui voiced complaints, he never acted like he heard them—by now, everyone had just grown used to it.

“Haah...”

Thump—Choi Gyeonghui slammed the file shut with a rough motion and let out a sigh.

No matter how habitual it was, today of all days, being late was absolutely unacceptable.

The atmosphere inside and outside the Association was tense and worsening.

Even if they tried to keep it under wraps, it wasn’t like only one or two employees had witnessed the assault on the Association building. Some had even been personally attacked. There was no avoiding the spread of rumors.

Journalists had been hovering around the Association for several days now, and the news outlets were openly pressuring them to release an official statement.

Ignoring it wasn’t going to make it go away. On the contrary, as time passed, public opinion grew increasingly inflamed, and curiosity had morphed into suspicion.

They had to decide how to respond and make a public statement—today.

But with the most important decision-maker absent, Choi Gyeonghui could only feel frustrated.

And seated beside her—

Park Minhyuk, who had shown up on time and attended the meeting without issue, was feeling parched for a different reason.

‘This is really going to be okay... right?’

He’d heard the rough outline of Cha Seohu’s plan before leaving the district, but he couldn’t fully shake the anxiety.

To be fair, most of that anxiety was due to him...

‘It’s true the Association President is a problem, though.’

Park Minhyuk couldn’t deny that he’d been sorely disappointed in the Association President over this whole affair.

Which was why even the half-joking suggestion from Cha Seohu—that the Vice President should take the top seat—didn’t sound like a bad idea.

At the very least, the Vice President hadn’t turned a blind eye to the kidnapping of a Supporter.

If she had already been sitting in the President’s chair, wouldn’t this have been resolved far more quickly?

That thought alone made it impossible for him to dissuade Seohu’s plan to replace the Association President.

‘It’s not like I could stop him even if I tried.’

Either way, knowing in advance that Cha Seohu was about to drop a massive bomb, Park Minhyuk kept gulping down water while waiting for the President to arrive.

And then—

“Vice President, the President is on his way.”

The staff member who had been waiting outside at Choi Gyeonghui’s request burst into the room and announced his arrival.

Twenty-five minutes after the scheduled start of the meeting, the Association President finally entered.

“Ahem!”

He walked in, loudly clearing his throat as if nothing was wrong, and took his seat.

Choi Gyeonghui stared daggers at him, her expression frosty, and spoke the moment he sat down.

“...What exactly do you think you’re doing right now?”

“What do you mean by that?”

Did he get that position through sheer shamelessness?

Even the staff, who usually kept their expressions carefully composed, were failing to maintain neutral faces at his attitude.

Gritting her teeth, Choi Gyeonghui spoke firmly.

“This meeting was called because of a time-sensitive situation, and yet you’re twenty-five minutes late. Why not make it a nice round thirty while you’re at it?”

“A time-sensitive situation? Ha! Glad you brought that up.”

BANG!

The Association President suddenly slammed the meeting materials on the table with his large hand.

A power play aimed at Choi Gyeonghui—but she didn’t even flinch. Only the startled staff flinched at the loud sound.

“You want to send a cooperation request to the guilds—do you even hear yourself?”

“And why is that unreasonable? We don’t even know who kidnapped Hunter Cha Seohu, and even if we did, we don’t have the manpower to retrieve him!”

“Lack of manpower? We’re short-staffed, are we?! Team Leader Park Minhyuk, answer me! Are we short on personnel?”

As Minhyuk was about to answer affirmatively, the impatient President shouted again.

“Even so, asking guilds for help? Us, sending a request? Do you know how absurd that proposal looked when I read it in the meeting notes?!”

“Stop rejecting every suggestion and come up with a solution. Are you seriously ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) going to keep leaving Hunter Cha Seohu like this? Do you have any idea what those criminals might have done to that poor Supporter? And what about the press? The media’s already in a frenzy—at the very least, we should be sending a cooperation request and publicly committing to doing our best to find him!”

“And who’s going to deal with the blowback, huh?! What are you implying, that we served up a Supporter to a crime syndicate on a silver platter?!”

“Excuse me? Was that seriously what you meant just now?”

“Anyway, absolutely no cooperation with the guilds! Why should we bow our heads to those bastards?! They take every chance to mock us, and if we’re the ones to request help, they’ll get all high and mighty and try to put the Association under their feet. And you want me to sit back and watch that happen? Never gonna happen!”

“Then what’s your plan? You’re seriously going to leave a precious SS-rank Supporter to rot just to protect the Association’s pride? Does that even make any—!”

“Um, President!”

In the middle of Choi Gyeonghui’s escalating voice, another staff member’s voice cut in.

The employee burst into the room mid-meeting, looking deeply apologetic yet clearly flustered.

“I apologize for interrupting the meeting, but the news—y-you really need to see this for yourself.”

“The news?”

The staff member, sweating nervously, handed the Association President a tablet PC. The screen was large enough that Choi Gyeonghui, seated beside him, could also view the live news broadcast.

As the volume was turned up, the sound of footsteps and cameras snapping echoed in the room.

Soon, the screen showed a familiar place. Security personnel lined up in front—none other than the Yesung Guild building.

『He’s coming out!』

『Over here!』

『Please don’t get too close.』

At someone’s shout, reporters surged forward. Security blocked the way swiftly, and behind them, a sleek black sedan glided to a stop.

The chauffeur stepped out from the driver’s seat and opened the rear door. A pair of long legs stepped out—Yesung Guildmaster Kwon Taehyuk emerged from the car.

The moment the Association President saw Kwon Taehyuk’s charismatic face appear on the screen, his expression soured.

“Why are you showing me this nonsense—”

He turned to scold the staff member for the commotion—when suddenly, a very familiar man stepped out of the car.

“...!”

『Hunter Cha Seohu!』

『It’s Cha Seohu!』

Click click click!

Shutter sounds erupted from all directions as reporters pushed in closer.

The Association President couldn’t speak—his jaw dropped. Even Choi Gyeonghui beside him was visibly shocked.

Even the employees who couldn’t see the footage could clearly hear the audio and struggled to hide their own bewilderment.

『Is that really Hunter Cha Seohu?!』

『Guildmaster Kwon!』

Cha Seohu’s face filled the screen.

Dressed in thin clothes with a thick blanket draped over his shoulders, his complexion was deathly pale.

Clearly unwell, he furrowed his brow slightly as he leaned on Kwon Taehyuk for support, stepping out of the car with a stagger.

『Hunter Cha Seohu!』

Kwon Taehyuk called out gently and supported him. A bandage was visible around Seohu’s wrist.

Journalists gasped all around at the sight.

The world’s first discovered SS-rank Supporter, in such a frail condition!

It was a massive exclusive scoop—but one that was clearly not going to be easy to sweep under the rug.

『Are you okay?』

『Ah... I’m a little dizzy. Thank you for holding me.』

Cha Seohu smiled faintly at Kwon Taehyuk with a sickly expression.

That fragile, vulnerable image caused reporters to let out unconscious sighs of pity.

Seeing Seohu relying on him for support, Kwon Taehyuk bit his lip in distress.

Then, he turned toward the reporters and spoke.

『I apologize for gathering you all without prior notice. But I ask for your understanding—this is an urgent matter.』

Taking a breath, he continued resolutely.

『Until just a few hours ago, Hunter Cha Seohu had been kidnapped by unidentified, violent Hunters and was being transported to a foreign country. The Association was aware of this and chose to do nothing.』

At the word “Association,” Seohu closed his eyes tightly and covered his mouth with a trembling hand.

His pale hand shook violently, as if to express the heartbreak of being abandoned.

『In the end, it was not the Association but myself—and the Hunters from my guild concerned about Seohu—who carried out the rescue. The Association remained silent and passive throughout, and in that time, Hunter Cha Seohu was pushed to the brink of death.』

“W-What... what the hell...!”

BANG!

The Association President, face flushed crimson, shouted and slammed the table with a violent thud.

This was the end. Choi Gyeonghui leaned back in her chair with a weary sigh.

Park Minhyuk, sitting close enough to the President to catch every word of the footage, let out a different kind of sigh.

‘He’s really insane.’

He’d been told Seohu was going to fake being sick—but he hadn’t imagined it would be this intense.

At this point, Park Minhyuk was genuinely afraid of Cha Seohu.