I'll Retire After Saving the World-Chapter 108: Observer of Youth (3)

TL: SHW

[Han Tae-kyung's Statement▼]

[Year 2035▼]

[1128_Regarding the unfortunate accident that occurred in the Hunter Academy Chairman's Office…]

[…The fact that the Hunter Academy Chairman's Office was in that direction was purely an unfortunate coincidence. Therefore, the claim by Hunter Lee Mi-seon that I deliberately caused it is baseless conjecture. And isn’t it common sense that the Chairman’s Office should be built sturdier? If the construction was rushed, of course, it would collapse after being kicked a few times. Honestly, I think Hunter Lee should be suing the construction company instead of blaming me. If the Chairman's Office is this shoddy, what kind of state are the other school buildings in? That’s why, as the principal of Hunter Academy, I suggest we show some gratitude and conduct a thorough safety inspection of the Academy buildings... By the way, who’s going to read this? Sunbae-nim, are you reading this? Listen carefully, or rather, read carefully, Sunbae-nim. I have bad news. Apparently, our Hunter Academy buildings were constructed poorly! Who was in charge of the construction? Wasn’t it Daeseon? There’s no way Daeseon pocketed the construction funds, so Hunter Lee must have been deceived as well. Even if Hunter Lee seems thorough, there’s no way she could handle con artists who were determined to cheat her. So instead of blaming Hunter Lee, let’s quietly conduct a stability inspection or something. We have to think about the students’ safety. How can kids eat, sleep, and study in buildings that collapse after being kicked a few times? Isn’t that right...]

[Han Tae-kyung's Statement▼]

[Year 2039▼]

[0219_A series of incidents that occurred prior to entering Goyang Dungeon…]

[…In accordance with Dungeon Emergency Command Authority, the movement of civilians was restricted, and those who resisted were subdued using force. If my actions were a bit rough during the process, I don’t have much to say, but Hwijae, listen. They started the bullshit first, okay? Do you think your uncle would do that for no reason? With how much experience I have, huh? Your uncle tried to resolve it nicely at first. That’s what command authority is for, right? I initially tried to handle it with kind words, but that guy hit me first! If someone hits a Hunter, don’t you think they’re prepared for the consequences? Hwijae, think about it. The dungeon was about to break, so we had to get in quickly, but they were dawdling, saying they wanted to take pictures. I gave them a few harsh words, and they punched a Hunter in return. I didn’t like the look of them from the start. The area around the dungeon gate is restricted, isn’t it? Especially since it was about to break, right? And is a Hunter insignificant? Of course not! Hunters risk their lives to raid dungeons, and these people block the way just to take a picture? And now they’re suing me? Well, I’ve got something to say about that too. I’ll file a counter-suit soon, but Hwijae, keep that to yourself. If they think they can sue, they should be ready to be sued too. Don’t you agree, Hwijae? And don’t you dare tell your dad about this, okay? Promise you won’t. If I win the settlement, I’ll buy you something delicious.]

*

Han Tae-kyung is going to live a long life.

Anyone living in South Korea would agree with that statement.

If someone mentions the strongest Hunter in South Korea, ten out of ten people would name Hong Seok-young.

On the other hand, if you ask who seems like they’ll live the longest, eight out of ten people would point to Han Tae-kyung.

There’s no special reason for this.

They say it would be a waste of their effort cursing Han Tae-kyung if he didn't live long.

I’ve even heard people say this directly, so it’s no lie.

Han Tae-kyung. Eight out of ten insults hurled at the Ability Management Agency were aimed at this man.

He’s essentially a walking human disaster. He’d find that description incredibly unfair, of course.

And while I do admit there’s some unfairness in that statement, it’s not entirely untrue. Wherever this man passed, nothing was left standing, whether it was a dungeon, a monster, or someone’s patience.

Han Tae-kyung wasn’t the kind of person who went around recklessly hitting people. Even if he had a quick temper. He had a short fuse, couldn’t stop himself once he got going, and was a man who only knew how to charge forward.

The biggest problem with that man was that he didn’t know how to hold back. If you don’t know how to hold back, at least your personality should be good to balance things out. Or, conversely, your skills should be as lacking as your personality is awful.

Unfortunately, Han Tae-kyung never knew how to tolerate anything that got in his way.

The number of times he got into arguments with onlookers before entering a gate was too many to count, and the times he fought with guild members during a raid, turning everything into chaos, were even more frequent. Whenever he got sued, he’d always file a countersuit, so it was no surprise he often made the news. My old man was frequently summoned because of him, and press conferences were held quite often, too.

…But it didn’t last long. After getting into an argument with a Hunter Academy student and blowing up the Chairman’s Office, Lee Mi-seon kicked him back to the Ability Management Agency.

A lengthy list of disciplinary actions and court records only left behind controversy, which led people to criticize the agency, calling it Hong Seok-young’s personal guild run with government money.

The old man, at his wit’s end, eventually sent Han Tae-kyung off to cool his head, effectively banishing him to the position of principal at the Hunter Academy.

And yet, Han Tae-kyung still remained in the Ability Management Agency.

If I were in the old man’s position, I would’ve fired him regardless of any past loyalty. It’s not like the old man didn’t try. He sent Han Tae-kyung on foreign assignments under the guise of reflection periods and even gave him sabbaticals, along with threats that if he caused trouble again, he’d kill him.

But in the end, the old man never truly got rid of Han Tae-kyung and always brought him back to the agency. With pitiful excuses like, “Even if his actions are excessive, he’s not the type to hit people first,” he justified his decision.

I nagged about how long we’d have to keep putting up with that, but to be honest, I couldn’t get rid of Han Tae-kyung either.

Unluckily, or perhaps fortunately, there was no other worker as reliable as Han Tae-kyung.

‘A dungeon raid failed? Leave it to me. There isn’t a dungeon this uncle can’t conquer!’

He was the Hunter evaluated as the second strongest in South Korea, right after Hong Seok-young. His personality might have been what it was, but his skills were undeniable.

Hunters at the Ability Management Agency often rotated out. Many of those who graduated from the Academy only stayed long enough to build their résumés before leaving. In an environment where there were countless Hunters who hadn’t even properly raided a single dungeon, the presence of a veteran like Han Tae-kyung was invaluable and irreplaceable. freewebnoveℓ.com

Han Tae-kyung and Yoo Ji-eun. Those two.

…There were a few others, but they were also people my old man had brought in. Since the agency’s key personnel were all part of his network, it wasn’t surprising that people called it a personal guild. That’s also why Yoo Ji-eun called me Nepo-baby.

But I took the proper exam to get in. I’m not like those who slipped in haphazardly when the agency was first established.

Ding. Ding.

The phone notification sounded.

Casually, I unlocked my phone and checked the message. At this hour, it was usually Lee Seung-yeon sending pictures. Photos accompanied by that annoying hamster emoji.

“……”

For once, it wasn’t a picture of food. In the dim blue lighting, I saw Lee Seung-yeon and Kang Tae-woo standing in front of a massive aquarium, with vibrant-colored fish swimming behind them. It looked like they were at an aquarium.

Lee Seung-yeon must have been excited about the aquarium trip, as he sent a few more pictures of it, shots of sharks and other sea creatures.

I squinted my eyes and zoomed in on one of the photos.

Despite the dim lighting, there was a man confidently walking around wearing sunglasses.

Of course, it was Han Tae-kyung.

This is the kind of guy who could easily avoid getting caught in a photo if he wanted to. So this was one hundred percent intentional.

Have Lee Seung-yeon and Kang Tae-woo still not noticed? How could they not realize that for the past few days, a man in sunglasses kept showing up in the corner of their photos?

I let out a sigh.

The last time I saw Han Tae-kyung was… about a year and a half ago, just before the old man sent him overseas under the pretext of a business trip. I remember it was supposedly to let him calm his mind and body in the vast, serene nature of the American desert and to keep him from causing any more incidents by clashing with civilians.

What was it again…? Something about wanting to reference the Hunter Academy's education system in the United States? Already dealing with the headache caused by Han Tae-kyung’s latest incident, the old man didn’t think twice and sent him off immediately. After all, Han Tae-kyung was the Academy’s principal.

Without Han Tae-kyung, the burden inevitably fell on Yoo Ji-eun. Even so, we tried to let her rest as much as possible by calling in external guilds to handle the raids. In the end, though, it turned out to be a futile effort. If Han Tae-kyung had been in Seoul, my old man would have….

Lee Seung-yeon sent me about ten more photos of the aquarium. There were pictures of Kang Tae-woo, pictures of just fish, and even pictures of other people. Even in those photos, I quickly recognized Han Tae-kyung.

…Lee Seung-yeon might not notice, but I don’t think Kang Tae-woo has such bad observational skills.

Are they still unable to recognize Han Tae-kyung? Once they’re back, it’s special training time. No exceptions.

But that thought became meaningless when, that evening, Lee Seung-yeon stopped sending photos.

“……”

Morning, lunch, dinner. And whenever he ate something unusual, he would add to that.

Lee Seung-yeon consistently kept in contact.

After a brief hesitation, I decided to call him.

The dial tone barely rang before the call was abruptly disconnected.

“……”

What is this?

Frowning, I went off to find Hong Seok-young.

*

“I heard they bought a bunch of snacks at a convenience store and went back to their lodging?”

“…Really?”

Hong Seok-young was relaying what Han Tae-kyung said over the phone.

“Still no contact with the two of them?”

“No.”

Whenever I called, the line would cut off. Messages were marked as read, but no replies came back.

There were still two days left in the week I had promised them. And now, the kid who had been so diligent in staying in touch suddenly stopped? Were all those photos they sent before just a smokescreen? To cover up their escape?

Even if they were kids, I don’t think they’re so thoughtless as to plan something like that. During our last call, didn’t they even mention Alex Hope?

Hong Seok-young’s expression darkened. I could hear him asking Han Tae-kyung something.

“They haven’t come out since then? No, I’m asking because we’ve lost contact with them.”

At the same time, I sent another message.

[What’s going on?]

“Can you check on the kids?”

[Call me immediately.]

“…It’s fine. Just say I sent you. There’s no time to sneak around in a situation like this.”

[If you don’t reply, I’ll report it as a problem.]

“I’d prefer to avoid other people’s eyes if possible, but… if it’s difficult, then there’s no helping it.”

Ding.

Finally.

A reply came.

[Teacher, just a moment, please.]

“Teacher Hong, I got a reply.”

“You did?”

Hong Seok-young immediately perked up and looked at me. From his phone, I could hear the sounds of something clattering in the background. He glanced at me, furrowed his brows, and listened closely to the voice coming from his receiver.

“What… what do you mean they’re gone? The kids are missing?”

Before I could react to his words, my phone started vibrating in my hand. The name Sun Sun-jin appeared on the screen. I answered the call without a second thought.

“What’s going on?!”

-Te-Teacher…

Lee Seung-yeon’s trembling voice came through the line.

“Lee Seung-yeon?”

-Teacher!!

Lee Seung-yeon cried out, his voice filled with panic.

-Someone’s watching us!