The next day.
As promised, Su-ho arrived at the main gate of the Great Korea Hunter Association (GKA) right on time.
“There’s An Su-ho!”
“It’s the Sword Saint!”
“Get the cameras! Cameras!”
Cameras were everywhere.
Of course, it made sense.
Everyone knew this was Su-ho’s first day reporting to work as a full-fledged civil servant, no longer a probationary employee.
“An Su-ho! Over here, please!”
“Sword Saint! Look this way for the camera!”
“Hunter An!”
“An Su-ho!”
Reporters, YouTubers, and fans all called out to him in their own ways.
Su-ho walked toward the gate, neither too fast nor too slow. At one point, he glanced toward a particular direction and made a V-sign with his fingers.
That direction was where Jo Jin-hwi’s camera was positioned.
“A good service gesture.”
The previous night, Jo Jin-hwi had shared drinks with Su-ho and his housemates at Su-ho’s safe house. By the end of the night, Jo had successfully secured a promise for this very moment—a photo-worthy gesture.
“Better upload this to the Sword Saint Shrine quickly.”
Snapping away with his camera, Jo Jin-hwi captured more than enough shots to satisfy himself and quietly left.
There was no need for an interview. They had already agreed that once Su-ho received his official employee ID, he would send Jo a photo for use.
Su-ho, true to his word, continued walking past the reporters and entered the main gate.
As soon as he stepped inside—
“Ah, so busy, even early in the morning.”
The person welcoming him at the entrance was none other than Jeong Cheol-min.
As always, Jeong had arrived early, and upon seeing the crowd of reporters, he had decided to wait inside for Su-ho.
Seeing Jeong, Su-ho smiled and said, “Hello, you’re early today.”
“I’m always early. But what’s this? You’re on time today? You’re usually early.”
“I drank a bit too much last night, so I took it easy this morning.”
“Drank too much? Forget the drinking—do you even get hangovers?”
“Of course, I do. I’m human too.”
“Hmm...?”
As if.
Jeong Cheol-min knew better. Su-ho wasn’t your average Awakened; he had already reached a level far beyond normal humanity. Moreover, with Recovery, Su-ho could easily rid himself of any hangover symptoms.
For Su-ho, hangovers didn’t exist, and they never would.
Even so, Jeong tilted his head in mild disbelief and said, “Anyway, congratulations on your first official day. Here’s a little something for you.”
“What’s this...?”
Jeong handed him an official employee ID, complete with the GKA’s insignia.
Su-ho took the ID and smiled.
“Finally got it.”
“Happy about it?”
“Of course. Let’s get going.”
“Alright, let’s go. There are a lot of people I need to introduce you to.”
“Before that...”
Click!
Su-ho took a picture of his new ID, making sure the text “Gate Division” was clearly visible.
Seeing this, Jeong asked, “Who are you going to show that to?”
“Just a keepsake photo.”
“Boring.”
The two of them headed toward the Gate Division.
Their first stop was the office of the Gate Division Chief.
Sitting inside was Chief Go Seong-rok, who greeted Su-ho with his signature bright smile.
“Welcome, Hunter An—no, I should say Deputy Team Leader An now, right?”
Go Seong-rok, as usual, exuded an irritatingly immaculate appearance.
After all, he no longer had to go out into dangerous field operations, spending his days approving paperwork from the safety of his office.
Su-ho returned the smile, offering a polite and practiced response.
“Yes, that’s right. I look forward to working with you, Chief.”
“Same here. Let’s work well together while you’re in the Gate Division. Now, go ahead and get to work.”
After that, they moved on to meet Department Head Ma Do-won, who oversaw the Gate Management Department.
Like Go Seong-rok, Ma also looked far too relaxed and polished.
“Haha! So the star of the hour has joined our department. Life sure is full of surprises, isn’t it?”
Ma chuckled as he spoke, his tone dripping with insincerity.
Hearing this, Jeong’s brows furrowed slightly, though he kept a smile on his face.
“Haha, same here. Deputy Team Leader Jeong will take good care of you. By the way, has Deputy Team Leader An handed out his probationary rice cakes yet?”
“Right, the GKA is technically a government institution, so they’d have this silly tradition too.”
“I got scolded over rice cakes once.”
Because when he handed out rice cakes, he had given actual rice cakes.
“It was ridiculous.”
Hearing the term probationary rice cakes, Su-ho had naturally assumed they referred to literal rice cakes. So, he bought baekseolgi (steamed rice cakes) from a local shop and handed them out.
“Who hands out rice cakes these days? Cookies or fruit cups would’ve been better!”
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