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Chapter 118




SMH 118
Chapter 39 – The Person who Comes to Mind (1)
TL: Boko
Editor: Frost
Seol Ah nervously walked out of her mansion and got in her car. Today, her expression wasn’t good. That’s because her grandfather, Yoon Tae Seok, had nagged at her in the mansion.
Tae Seok wanted Seol Ah to make Sung Joon a part of the Blue Dragon Group as quickly as possible. Seol Ah was starting to like Sung Joon, but whenever Tae Seok spoke to her about such matters, she felt a mysterious rejection towards Sung Joon due to her rebellious spirit.
‘I want to see him…’
Despite her repulsion, she wanted to see Sung Joon from deep within her heart. She raised her phone in order to call him, but she soon realized…
“He’s not in South Korea right now…”
Sorrowful emotions leaked from Seol Ah’s eyes.
‘I should go and have a drink alone.’
The only thing that could soothe her loneliness right now was alcohol. At least, that’s what Seol Ah thought. Seol Ah drove her car to her usual drinking spot.
* * *
Contrary to when he had first come to North Korea, he wasn’t busy before his return trip to South Korea, but because he had so many magic stones to transport, the South Korean government sent him a few military planes.
“It was an honor to serve you, Hunter Kang Sung Joon.”
The Ministry of the People’s Armed Forces’ Colonel, Lee Jung Soo looked at Sung Joon and said his farewells. Though there was a change in the regime, when he considered the relationship between North and South Korea, they most likely wouldn’t meet again in the future.
“If I have the chance, I hope we can meet again.”
“I won’t forget you.”
It wasn’t easy, but Jung Soo spoke genuinely. Sung Joon smiled and replied as he boarded the plane. As soon as he embarked onto the military plane, the Korean soldiers brought out their equipment to collect the magic stones and stored them on board the plane.
“There are more magic stones than I expected. It seems like it will take about an hour,” the first class sergeant said. Sung Joon nodded his head, then sat in his seat, and turned his head towards the window while they were in the middle of transporting the magic stones.
The South Korean Air Force had sent three planes, which showed how many magic stones were dropped by the Winter Sovereign and its minions.
‘They said it would take about one hour, so should I rest…’
Because he didn’t know what could happen in North Korea, he always maintained a slight vigilance. He was still in North Korean territory, but perhaps because he was inside of a South Korean Air Force plane, he felt mentally relaxed.
“We’ll depart now.”
As soon as he heard the pilot talk through the speakers, the plane Sung Joon was on accelerated on the runway. Eventually, the three planes took off from the airport and flew towards the south.
It didn’t take very long before they touched down at an airport in the metropolitan area. The door opened and Sung Joon was the first to disembark from the plane. Then, a first class sergeant approached him.
“There’s a car waiting for you. I’ll take you to the Hunter Bureau.”
When he looked to the side, there was a regular car waiting for him, not a military one. If he had one question, it was the fact that they were taking him to the Hunter Bureau, not his studio apartment.
“Is there a reason that I must go to the Hunter Bureau?”
“It seems like the Hunter Bureau has business with you, Hunter. We haven’t gotten any information aside from that,” the sergeant answered. He strode over to the car and opened the door. Sung Joon had a good relationship with the Hunter Bureau, and they accommodated him in several ways, so he decided to visit them, even though he was tired.
“Please get in,” the sergeant said. As soon as Sung Joon got into the back seat, the sergeant carefully closed the rear door and got into the passenger seat. The chauffeur confirmed that everyone was on board and drove off.
Because the Hunter Bureau wasn’t very far, they were able to arrive quickly. As soon as he disembarked from the car, Hyun Sung, who had been waiting in the parking lot, dashed over to him.
“Mr. Kang Sung Joon!”
“It’s been a long time.”
Sung Joon smiled, and greeted him.
“How could you say it’s been a long time, even though it hasn’t even been two weeks since we’ve last met.”
“It just feels that way.”
Sung Joon and Hyun Sung walked towards the main buildings urgently. Even when their conversation was briefly cut off, they silently walked towards the building.
Then, when he entered the first floor of the main building… Sung Joon paused, and he looked at Hyun Sung and opened his mouth.
“Why did you call me here?”
“It’s because of work. Since it’s something that I couldn’t tell you at the cafe nearby your studio apartment,” Hyun Sung explained, and Sung Joon nodded his head. The two went up to the roof. Since they were busiest at around this time, there pretty much wasn’t anyone at the rooftop.
“Please come over here.”
Hyun Sung led Sung Joon to a corner. This corner was a particularly secluded place, even for this quiet rooftop.
“I heard that you went through a lot in North Korea.”
“It’s fine. Since I gained quite a lot there as well.”
He had acquired all of the magic stones that the Winter Sovereign had dropped. If he sold them all, he thought he’d at least gain $800 million.
With just this, it was a huge harvest, but above all, he had participated in the Winter Sovereign Raid, and killed North Korean Hunters, so his synchronization rate had increased to 47% which was huge.
“The people at the top are really happy. You will even get an invitation from the Blue House soon.”
“An invitation from the Blue House?” Sung Joon asked. He wondered whether they had a reason for inviting him to the Blue House.
“It’s because you crumpled Kim Jong Woon’s authority. The previous head of the Ministry of the People’s Armed Forces, Lee Hae Sung has become the new Leader of North Korea. We’re not absolutely sure, but we predict that his regime will be much safer and friendlier to us than Kim Jang Woon’s regime.”
It was difficult to figure out what Kim Jang Woon’s administration would do, and he wasn’t amicable to the South Korea government. Therefore, the Blue House were always on guard. However, since the problem was solved so refreshingly, they were thankful to Sung Joon.
“It’s a relief that you’re saying it turned out well,” Sung Joon said. In any case, he had done something helpful for South Korea, so it was a relief.
“Anyway, will the 30% increase in compensation be applied to the magic stones I acquired in North Korea?” Sung Joon asked. It was the thing he was most curious about.
“It’s not possible by the books. Since it’s not under South Korea’s Hunter or Dungeon Bureaus’ jurisdiction,” Hyun Sung said. He somewhat expected that response, but he couldn’t help but feel disappointed. Hyun Sung grinned when he saw Sung Joon slightly sigh, and opened his mouth.
“However, headquarters is making an exception this time. You can receive the 30% increase in compensation.”
“Really? That’s the best thing I’ve heard today.”
Sung Joon smiled. If he added in the 30% increase in compensation when he sold the magic stones, he might be paid close to $1 billion.
When it became the era of Hunters, S-rank Hunters’ assets surpassed $1 billion. Sung Joon thought it would be impossible for him to catch up with them, but he might obtain a sum of more than $1 billion, so he felt deeply moved.
‘Dad should be really excited when he hears the news…’
When he thought about how happy his dad would be, Sung Joon was also happy.
‘Wait a sec. If I get $1 billion, I could fund a research facility to develop a cure for my dad, or I could even buy one.’
Sung Joon was formulating a huge plan for his father’s treatment.
“Mr. Kang Sung Joon?”
It was only after Hyun Sung looked at him did Sung Joon stop organizing the plan in his head and focused on the present.
“Yes. I’m listening. Please, go ahead.”
“We’ll try as fast as we can, but the selling of the magic stones would take about an hour to process.”
“It’ll take longer than I expected,” Sung Joon said. Even when considering the large quantity of magic stones, it took way too long to take care of it. Then, Hyun Sung laughed awkwardly.
“I’m sorry. This week, the department that oversees the magic stones is focused on their work. Still, I’ll tell them to take care of it as soon as possible.”
Hyun Sung always did his best to accommodate Sung Joon. Because Sung Joon knew that, he just nodded his head without saying anything.
“And tomorrow, you’ll be sent an invitation from the Blue House.”
“When’s the party?”
“That apparently hasn’t been decided yet. They should give you some time, but it could even be tomorrow at earliest.”
“That quickly?” Sung Joon couldn’t help but be surprised. Tomorrow was too early.
“There’s always a need for a hero. I believe you’ve satisfied those conditions.”
“I just performed ‘self-defense’.”
“No one is interested in the process. The only thing that’s important is the result.”
Sung Joon couldn’t help but agree with Hyun Sung. That’s how life was.
“And finally, I have one more thing to tell you.”
Sung Joon, who thought Hyun Sung was finished relaying information to him, was going to start to walk down from the rooftop, but paused when he heard Hyun Sung.
“They’ve come to a final decision that your performance in the Raid in North Korea should be included. Mr. Kang Sung Joon, you are now the seventh ranked S-rank Hunter.”
“I rose by that much?”
“It’s because contrary to North Korea, there were very few South Korean Hunters that participated in the Winter Sovereign Raid. It seems you gained a lot of extra points from that.”
Hyun Sung didn’t explain, but S-rank Hunters often assaulted dungeons only when equally ranked dungeons appeared, and usually only played around, so that must’ve played part in that as well.
“Thank you for thinking of me. You don’t have anything to tell me, right? I want to go home and rest.”
“Oh my! I took way too much of your time. I’m sorry. You can go now.”
“Work hard.”
Sung Joon got on a car that the Hunter Bureau provided and returned to his studio apartment. As soon as he entered his apartment, he immediately went to his bed.
He threw his body atop the soft bed.
“Wake me up early in the morning.”
“I understand. My lord, please rest well.”
His loyal spirit aide, Rishubalt, nodded at Sung Joon’s request. Sung Joon heard his reply and closed his eyes.
Because he was always vigilant while he was in North Korea, he wasn’t able to sleep properly. As soon as he closed his eyes, he fell deeply asleep; the next day, when Rishubalt woke him up, he was barely able to get up.
Sung Joon, who had finished eating breakfast and talking to his father, Soo Hyuk, browsed Hunter.com to pass time.
[South Korea’s proud Hunter, Kang Sung Joon has returned!]
[It seems like we don’t have to worry about missiles anymore.]
Everyone on Hunter.com was either referencing Sung Joon, or writing corresponding bulletin board messages that wrote amicably about him. Sung Joon read each bulletin board message one by one and smiled.
He closed Hunter.com and then went down to the first floor to get some lunch. Then, he got a call from Hyun Sung.
“Hello?”
“This is Team Leader Kim Hyun Sung. Mr. Kang Sung Joon, your invitation to the Blue House has arrived. We don’t know why, but it was sent to us instead of you.”
The fact that the invitation was sent to the Hunter Bureau instead of him meant that there must’ve been some sort of mistake in the process.
“I’ll deliver it right now.”
It didn’t take long after the conversation was finished for Hyun Sung to send a message that he’d arrived at the first floor. Sung Joon went down to the first floor and met with Hyun Sung.
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“You didn’t eat, did you? If it’s alright with you, let’s talk while eating together.”
“I’m touched that you thought of me.”
They ate at a place nearby. As they finished eating, Hyun Sung took out a envelope, decorated in a luxurious gold, and  opened his mouth.
“This is your invitation to the Blue House.”