Chapter 126: Being a Celebrity Is Tiring (3)
Han-Yeol’s relaxed expression suddenly changed into a scary one.
He was someone who sincerely wanted to become the strongest Hunter. Of course, he also wanted to become rich, but his main goal was to become the strongest Hunter on Earth.
Yet, the Hunters’ Association was asking him, who now took great pride in his abilities, to join the emergency response team that was formed with a bunch of non-combatants? That was no different from cursing him directly to his face.
Han-Yeol would have cussed Lee Chung-Hee and Kim Hee-Ae to their faces if he hadn’t become mature after having worked as a Porter.
“T-That is not it... Y-You can get t-tax benefits if you join this team, and you will have the freedom to do other things as well. May you kindly think about it one more time?” Lee Chung-Hee said, trying his best to appease and convince Han-Yeol.
Ironically, Lee Chung-Hee did not really want to try and convince Han-Yeol. A person could try and convince someone if the offer somewhat made sense to a certain level, but his current proposal was no different from asking a lion to put on sheep’s clothing. He could not help but feel frustrated from having to force himself to convince Han-Yeol to consider the offer.
Bam!
Han-Yeol slammed the table one more time and said, “I will repeat myself. I have no intention of joining whatever that emergency team is. I will help whoever is around me whenever something happens based on my own judgment, so don’t ever try to bring such insulting offers to me ever again. Also, you mentioned tax, right? I will be a good taxpayer and diligently pay my taxes, so go and mind your own business.”
“O... Okay...” Lee Chung-Hee did not have a choice but to back off after Han-Yeol showed his absolute resolve to not even consider the offer.
As for Kim Hee-Ae, she glared at Han-Yeol and thought, ‘He looked down on non-combatants just now.’
She was angry at Han-Yeol’s remarks since she was a non-combatant Hunter herself. However, she could not express her anger or retort against those remarks. She might be infamous for her temper at the Hunters’ Association, but she was not a match for Han-Yeol, who was already quite famous and strong. After all, even her superior was currently staying mute with his tail tucked between his legs.
“Hmm... I suppose that’s the end of the discussion for the emergency response team. What about the A Rank item? Will I still get it?” Han-Yeol asked.
In truth, he had already given up on receiving the item after his earlier outburst. After all, the Hunters’ Association had probably offered the A Rank item as bait to reel him in and make him join the emergency response team.
‘Well, it’s better for me to give up on the item than to join that emergency response team,’?he thought.
Ranked items were only found on hunting grounds or from monsters, so they were relatively rare and difficult to find. Still, Han-Yeol found it quite easy to give up the item. An A Rank item might be expensive, but he had the possibility of buying one for himself as long as he had the money for it.
Besides, he was never going to give up his freedom and honor in exchange for something that money could buy.
However, Lee Chung-Hee’s response was quite the opposite of what Han-Yeol had expected. The man explained, “N-No, the A Rank item and the issue with the emergency response team are different matters. We are going to host an awarding ceremony in a week’s time, and we are giving you the item in exchange for your attendance. As you might be aware...a lot of people died in the recent incident, so...”
Han-Yeol grimaced at the mention of the dimensional rift incident, being reminded of the horrible sights he had witnessed. That incident was truly something that he did not wish to experience ever again.
“It is an event that we have organized to uplift the gloomy atmosphere after the incident, and you are the best Hunter for the event. You have quite the following thanks to your personal broadcast, and various news outlets have aired images of you helping out the firefighters,” Lee Chung-Hee added.
Most ordinary people loathed the Hunters, but the public sentiment toward Han-Yeol was quite favorable. In fact, it could be said that the general populace actually respected him for his actions.
There were a lot of articles and news stories about Han-Yeol helping the firefighters out. The news outlets published romanticized and even exaggerated reports of Han-Yeol as there were no Hunters in sight in any of the images and videos they had taken.
Thanks to this, the debate over the perception of Hunters in today’s society flared up once again.
Some of the Hunters took the opportunity to ride on Han-Yeol’s coattails. They demanded the general populace to stop bad-mouthing Hunters since they were risking their lives to protect them. However, most of the Hunters kept their mouths shut and simply observed the situation as they knew very well why they were hated by the public.
‘Most Hunters are known to be quite selfish and arrogant, and a lot of them consider the ordinary people to be beneath them,’?Han-Yeol thought.
Han-Yeol was also a Hunter, but he hated the mentality that most Hunters had. He loathed how the Hunters acted as if they were nobles and demanded the public’s respect while doing the exact opposite of what could be considered respectable.
After taking a moment, Han-Yeol asked, “Oh, so I can get two A Rank items for free if I attend the event?”
“That is correct,” Lee Chung-Hee replied.
“Hmm... Is it possible for me to know what the items are?” Han-Yeol asked while seemingly having his interest piqued.
“I apologize, but I honestly have no idea. Actually, I requested for that information prior to coming here as I wanted to inform you as well, but my superiors told me to just focus on inviting you. They said that you will get to know about it once you attend the event. I truly apologize for this...” Lee Chung-Hee said while bowing his head. n0vElusb.C0m
He had nothing to apologize for, but he had decided to bow his head nevertheless as Han-Yeol had felt quite offended by today’s unexpected revelations.
He had always felt proud to be a part of the Hunters’ Association, but he felt incredibly ashamed to be a part of them today. In fact, he felt that he was going to die from shame if he did not at least bow his head to Han-Yeol.
“You shouldn’t be the one apologizing, Manager Lee. Hmm... It does sound intriguing not knowing what they’re going to give. I guess I should attend the event if I want to know what they’ve prepared for me. Haha!” Han-Yeol said with a laugh.
“Oh! Thank you very much! I will not be getting an earful from above thanks to you, Hunter-nim!” Lee Chung-Hee exclaimed in response.
He bowed his head once more, but out of gratitude this time.
“Is that so?”
When both men laughed heartily, Kim Hee-Ae could not understand what was going on. The tense and uncomfortable atmosphere from just a minute ago had disappeared, changing into quite a cozy one. With a subtle grimace, she grumbled inwardly, ‘What is manager-nim laughing about?’
She did not have a good opinion of Han-Yeol. She could not understand how someone would not even consider an offer made by the Hunters’ Association and flat-out reject it on the spot. She continued grumbling inwardly, ‘We’re not asking you to do this for our own personal benefit, right? This is all for the good of our country and for us Hunters.’
“Then, I suppose you will be sending me by SMS the date and location of the event?” Han-Yeol asked.
“Yes, of course!” Lee Chung-Hee enthusiastically replied.
“Then, I will excuse myself now as I have another appointment,” Han-Yeol lied.
He did not have any other appointments after this, but he had nothing else to discuss with the people from the association. Finding it boring and a complete waste of time just sitting around to chat with them, he had told a lie to escape from the situation.
“Aigoo...! I apologize for taking up so much of your time!” Lee Chung-Hee exclaimed.
Han-Yeol got up from his seat, and Lee Chung-Hee and Kim Hee-Ae followed suit.
“It was a pleasure to meet you,” Han-Yeol said as he extended his hand first this time.
Lee Chung-Hee grabbed Han-Yeol’s hand with both hands and replied, “Aigoo... The pleasure was mine. I hope that I can treat you to a meal next time.”
“I will not say no to that,” Han-Yeol replied with a smile.
Asking or offering to treat someone to a meal was a common greeting in Korean culture, and it was general knowledge that such offers were made only out of courtesy. Both parties did not really intend to follow up on the offer.
The same could be said in this case. Han-Yeol had no intention of ever accepting such an offer from anyone from the association.
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