Chapter 145: Removing Hives (2)

“Like…a very rare item, like an SSS class weapon.”

I added an explanation while facing stinging gazes. The looting skill would be that valuable if itemized. It would be an S class skill now, and there was a possibility that it would be an SS class around the time Taewon Song died.

Also, I estimated that being able to give away the ability was the effect of an SS class looting skill. While the skill only decreased the opponent’s skill level now, it could steal other people’s skills if leveled up. Taewon Song could have handed the skill over to someone if he used it on himself.

‘Then, Hyunjae Sung was telling the truth when he said he received it as a present.’

However, it was only an assumption I had made.

“I have nothing that the Sesung Guild leader would want to have.”

“You might get one someday.”

“The possibility is very low. A hunter who belongs to the government cannot claim ownership over items he or she had gained in dungeons. While he or she would be able to flag priority, I cannot buy an item such as the one you have mentioned.”

“You don’t own the items? Why? Don’t hunters have the right to own items that come straight to their inventories?”

While teams in the private sector add up the group rewards, magic stones, and other items and divide them into a ratio agreed beforehand, individual rewards were a different matter. What one gets, one keeps. It wasn’t easy to know who got what for items that went straight to personal inventories.

If one was in an ill-natured guild or team, others might threaten the hunter to cough up their inventories, but it was a crime. How can a hunter not be able to own items because they belonged to the government?

“I heard that the dungeon profit rate you can receive was low. Isn’t this too much?”

“That’s why there are only a few hunters who belong to the Awakened Office, and it’s also one of the main reasons why the Hunter Association is in charge of managing the awakened.”

Taewon Song’s tone was indifferent. While the Association had stricter rules compared to guilds, the basic conditions were met, and they were dialed down for high-class hunters.

“And they say it’s a governmental institution. Or is that the reason? You should at least receive individual rewards since the equipment is the most expensive.”

I remembered that Taewon Song had not taken out a weapon fit for his class. He had fought well using low to mid-grade weapons, but did he really do so because he did not have any? I hoped it was because he found the low-grade weapons sufficient.

“You do have an S class weapon, right?”

“I have an A class.”

I felt like I could cry. At least he had an A class, as there were only a few S class weapons in Korea. However, there were also only eight S class hunters, and the government should appropriate a suitable budget to get him an S class weapon if they were using an S class awakened at a low price.

“I feel my patriotism going sour.”

“It’s because I did not act the way I was expected to.”

Taewon Song continued on as if he was talking about someone else. There had been another person for the head of the hastily made Awakened Office, but things had gone unexpectedly when an S class awakened did not resign from his public post.

An S class awakened could not be mistreated, as he was of national value, and there were eyes from other countries and hunters. Moreover, Taewon Song was an S class hunter who belonged to the government in a chaotic era. It would be stupid not to use him as an advertisement that screamed that Korea was reliable.

So, Taewon Song became the Head of the Awakened Office, but there had been many people who were bothered that a young man without any strings became a high-class public official. Someone in Taewon Song’s position would be over fifty and have an illustrative career for better or for worse. Furthermore, for them, the reason Taewon Song became the head was mere luck.

A young man now sits above adults who had built their foundation because he was an S class. It’s actually no surprise that Taewon Song would become a common enemy for them.

‘I thought he was bearing inhospitable treatment because he was not ambitious.’

Of course, if Taewon Song showed his ambitions, no one would be able to stop him. People would only talk behind his back, and he would not be in the field.

“While the current government wanted to reinforce the Awakened Office, the Association had more strings to pull.”

So, the Association now manages the awakened, and Taewon Song was being used as a pawn who cleaned after high-class hunters. I did not know politics, but there seemed to have been several power plays.

‘Is the fact the high-ranking officials in the Association had been changed relevant?’

The current government worked well, since being this stable in three years meant that the initial response had been efficient. Other countries had not fared so well, and after things calmed down a little people who wanted to profit appeared, and the rest would have been a repeat of past history.

“You’re working hard.”

I had to relate since I had a brother who would have heard people say he was an obnoxious young man. I glanced at Yoohyun, and he was touching the straw he had not taken the wrapping off like he had no interest in what we were saying. He had not even touched the coffee.

“Do you need anything else?”

“No, thank you.”

Taewon Song shook his head despite the fact that I knew he liked coffee. Should I have bought something else since caffeine would have little effect on these two? I had automatically assumed that coffee was the appropriate drink during office hours.

“Anyway, it’s only a supposition. If you were to give the Sesung Guild leader a present,”

“His birthday is not far away.”

Taewon Song’s face looked like he did not want to admit it. I had not expected this kind of response since I had assumed that he would not care when Hyunjae Sung’s birthday was.

“It’s not that. You wouldn’t give him a birthday present.”

“I do because he would bother me if I did not.”

What did Hyunjae Sung do if someone did not celebrate his birthday?

“It’s better to celebrate it just to not give him a pretext.”

Yoohyun also spoke in a sour voice next to me. What did he do?

“You, I mean the Haeyeon Guild-“

“Just act comfortably. I will pretend not to notice.”

Taewon Song spoke like he knew that Minyui Kim was Yoohyun. He would have to know the trivial habits of S class hunters as a manager of them.

“Is he childish enough to hold a grudge if his birthday is not celebrated?”

“No, but he does use it as an excuse.”

“It’s to prevent him from making you sorry that you had not given him a gift on his last birthday on an unrelated affair.”

Yoohyun and Taewon Song both had similar tired faces as if they had already experienced it. I was exasperated, but maybe I also needed to give him a gift. That looting skill had better not have been a birthday present.