GM Ch100

After that, questions continued. The National Security Agency spokesperson announced that they would take one last question, pointing to a reporter.

“I’m Jo Youngbaek from Daily Asia Star. I have a question for Kim Minjun. Currently, there are seven S-class hunters in South Korea. Experts agree that this is a strangely high number compared to South Korea’s population. And Kim Minjun has no past memories and no known history. Have you ever considered that Kim Minjun’s nationality might not be Korean?”

Surprisingly, the gazes of the reporters and officials gathered in the conference hall turned not to Minjun, but to the reporter who had asked the question. The reporter with the piercing eyes shrugged as if it were nothing.

Minjun was not flustered. The issue of nationality was also among the expected questions that the public relations team had prepared.

Losing his memory and having no past history were conditions that made it easy to find fault in many ways. And intertwined with that were issues of plastic surgery, family, and nationality.

The nationality of an S-class hunter was a highly controversial topic in many ways.

Although the exact reason had not yet been revealed, it was almost universally accepted that the number of hunters was proportional to the population of the city where dungeons occurred. In that sense, it was true that South Korea had a relatively large number of S-class hunters.

If one were to consider the population of Seoul and Gyeonggi Province, where dungeons occurred in South Korea, the average number of S-class hunters should have been three to a maximum of four. However, South Korea had a total of seven S-class hunters, including Kim Minjun, who was holding the press conference today.

The unusually large number of S-class hunters was one of the things that South Koreans were proud of. Along with the fact that it was almost the only country to eliminate Hydra without major damage in the second Great Cataclysm, it was the envy of other countries.

People cheered at the fact that an eighth S-class hunter, and one who had re-awakened, had appeared. But suddenly questioning the nationality of a new S-class hunter because of memory loss was bound to cause a backlash. As expected, the reporters started saying things like, “What is this?”, “Are you crazy?”, and “Who are you?”

Thanks to the public relations team’s foresight, Minjun was able to open his mouth calmly.

“I am Korean. First of all, the status window I see displays Korean in Hangeul.”

The majority of the people gathered in the conference hall nodded. It was a well-known fact that the language of the status window appeared in the hunter’s primary language.

“And I can’t speak any foreign languages. Unfortunately. I can only speak, listen to, and write in Korean. Finally, my name is Kim Minjun. It’s a Korean name. Reporter Jo Youngbaek, I hope that clears up your doubts.”

After giving the prepared answer, Minjun resisted the urge to smile like Soohyuk. Expression management was essential in the solitary mysterious concept. That was why he had even put on makeup today.

He was definitely Korean, with garlic and chili powder flowing through his veins. He knew almost nothing about his father. He hadn’t heard anything from his mother, who had passed away early. His grandmother had told him his father’s name, calling him a bad man, but now he only remembered the surname. Of course, he couldn’t reveal that here. Still, the answers prepared by the PR team were enough.

The tense atmosphere eased when he confessed he couldn’t speak foreign languages, and Minjun’s sympathetic words drew laughter. When it was mentioned that Kim Minjun was a Korean name, someone shouted in agreement. Voices of support sprang up from all around.

The press conference concluded with a small episode that instilled a great sense of pride as a Korean.

After the press conference, Minjun headed straight to the A-class dungeon managed by Lucky Guild. Reporters followed him there, but they couldn’t enter the standard defense facilities surrounding the dungeon gate.

Lee Hana, who had already arrived and was waiting, greeted Minjun and Soohyuk with a smile.

“Welcome. I watched the press conference. You looked great on screen!”

“Thank you.”

Minjun bowed politely.

“It was good that you said you were Korean. You have to stomp on those kinds of guys from the start. Otherwise, they’ll keep crawling up.”

As the only woman among the first generation of S-class hunters, Lee Hana received attention in many ways. Knowing that Lee Hana disliked the media because of her struggles with paparazzi, Minjun nodded. Soohyuk was the one who responded to Lee Hana’s words.

“They’ll come to their senses if their heads are cracked open.”

“The June Guild leader is so cool. Did you dress warmly? It’s a bit early, but shall we go in right away? I want to taste the true value of the skill June Guild leader boasted about.”

“Everything is ready.”

“Hunter Kim Minjun, are you okay too?”

This time, Lee Hana turned to Minjun and asked. Minjun calmly replied that he was fine.

It had been three days since he attended the briefing for the A-class dungeon raid, known as the Blizzard Dungeon. The dungeon’s interior was a challenging environment with constant snowfall. However, it was a recurring dungeon that Lucky Guild had managed for over six years, so they knew where the dangers were and what monsters appeared. Lee Hana had confidently said that all they needed to do was dress warmly, and Lucky Guild would take care of everything else.

Minjun had prepared as he usually did for dungeon raids. He wore a black bear leather jacket with high defense.

“Then that’s settled.”

Lee Hana took the lead. This raid consisted of Lucky Guild’s elite team, plus Minjun and Soohyuk, making a total of eight people.

They had already introduced themselves to the Lucky Guild hunters during the dungeon briefing. So, they exchanged light nods and passed through the gate after completing the recording and registration in turn.

Fortunately, there were no monsters near the dungeon entrance.

“Wow…”

Stepping onto the crunching snowfield, Minjun was impressed by the pure white snowfield. He had already heard about it in the dungeon briefing, but seeing it in person was a different feeling.

Dungeons with only snow piled up without any terrain features, like a prairie or desert, were rare. On top of that, snow was falling from the clear blue sky.

“We’re lucky. The snow is light. Shall we start now?”

Lee Hana turned to Minjun and smiled brightly. Her eyes were telling him to use his buff skill quickly.

“To give a buff, my lips need to touch the other person’s bare skin. The back of the hand is the most common, so please give me your hand.”

“The back of the hand touching the lips, how romantic. June Guild leader. Don’t be jealous. It’s just a skill.”

Lee Hana joked, took off her left glove, and held out her hand to Minjun. Minjun took her hand and used his skill, pressing his lips to the back of her hand.

Lee Hana, who had been silent for a while, burst into loud laughter.

“Hahaha! What is this?! Is this real?”

“Yes. It’s real.”

“Wow. How can this be? No wonder your leader is being so secretive. We should get close, shouldn’t we? How long is your contract for? Huh?”

“I can’t disclose the contract period.”

Minjun didn’t reveal the information all at once, as he had learned from Soohyuk. Since he wasn’t good with words, this was a good way to deflect.

“Well, there might be a chance. Right? Yoon Soohyuk? You never know what might happen?”

“Lee Hana is right. Opportunity is available to everyone.”

Yoon Soohyuk, who was standing next to Minjun, and Lee Hana, who was facing them, looked at each other and smiled brightly. Minjun remained silent at the subtle tension between the two. It was wise to stay still in situations like this.

Even though they were at odds, the two were actually on good terms. As expected, the next conversation was more serious.

“Are you going to reveal the exact numbers? You’re going to get a lot of attention, you know?”

“It can’t be helped.”

“What about the numbers game?”

“I can cover it.”

“That’s good. Hmph.”

Minjun knew exactly what the heavily abbreviated conversation meant. The more they collaborated, the harder it was to keep hiding the exact figures.

After several discussions, they decided to disclose the details of the buff skill in the near future. Soohyuk had told him that the 77% stat increase was unprecedented, and foreign guilds would try to push him with money. He added, threateningly, that he had plenty of money himself, so Minjun could ask him for as much as he needed, and he wouldn’t let him get away with going to another country.

Minjun wasn’t particularly attached to wealth. With the S-class magic stone Soohyuk had given him, he wouldn’t regret retiring right away. If he diligently saved the money he earned from his hunter activities, he could live comfortably later in life. Above all, he had no desire to live in a place where he couldn’t communicate.

Although Minjun had diligently attended school during his student days, he wasn’t particularly fond of studying, and his academic achievements weren’t very good. The worst of all was foreign languages. Being able to communicate with a few words and gestures was different from being able to have a proper conversation, which was difficult.

When he honestly revealed that he couldn’t speak foreign languages, Soohyuk burst out laughing. And that evening, they ate budae jjigae, which could only be eaten in Korea.

Once the conversation between the guild leaders was over, Minjun pressed his lips to the backs of the hands of Soohyuk and the five hunters belonging to Lucky Guild. The Lucky Guild’s hunters who received the 77% stat increase buff showed a similar reaction to Lee Hana. They didn’t say it out loud, but they had eyes that coveted a very rare item.

“Don’t say anything until the official announcement. If any of our guild members leak it, I won’t be able to face the June Guild leader. Okay? Got it?”

“Yes, we understand.”

The guild members answered with a smile as Lee Hana gave them a firm warning.