Chapter 963: The Zenith

Gyu Pol.

He was an exceptional Hunter with so much skill and talent that everyone in South Korea knew him to be one of the strongest S Class Hunters.

After the death of Sung Han Soo's father, the strongest Hunter in Korea, the rise of Gyu Pol brought hope to the people.

He was strong, but also incredibly kind to the people.

Chairman Sung noticed all of these and even thought Gyu Pol would one day succeed him and become the next Chairman of the Hunter Association.

However... the facade was soon dropped when the Zenith offered Gyu Pol an offer he couldn't resist.

Chairman Sung had thought he would reject it, considering all the actions he had depicted as a Hunter of virtue.

His teammates and colleagues all thought he would choose South Korea and fight for their country.

"This was all to climb the ladder. Do you think I'll remain stuck here when a bigger opportunity awaits? What am I, an idiot?"

In the end, Gyu Pol had only been putting up an act to rise to the very top. Once a different, more prospective, path opened up, he chose it without hesitation.

It was all for the power; nothing more, nothing less.

********

"W-what are you doing here?" Chairman Sung was soon able to move his body, and while he would have glared at his interlocutor for treating him in such a way, the dared not.

"What? I can't visit you anymore, old man?"

Gyo Pol sat on the chair opposite Chairman Sung, an air of disrespect and conceit flowing around him.

"Y-you..."

"Aren't you forgetting something? I'm a member of Zenith's Seven Pillars. As a representative of the world order, am I not allowed to visit your office?"

The Chairman realized there was no way he could wiggle out of the trap he had put himself in.

"I-I apologize. You are right." In the end, he could only bow his head and beg for forgiveness.

"That's much better." The satisfied grin Gyo Pol made brought him so much internal agony, but he endured it

Even this humiliation was for the sake of his country.

"The Grand Symposium is in a few weeks' time. I came to remind you of that."

"Y-yes, we are preparing our best to atte—"

"We hope your Hunter Association would have found our item before then. Inability to do so will lead to some... undesirable consequences."

Once more, Chairman Sung gulped despite gritting his teeth.

'They're already calling it their item. We were only supposed to lend it to them, and yet...'

The investigation concerning the stolen SS Class Core had gotten nowhere.

They had reached a dead end, and while Chairman Sung would have thought of it as officially the ruin of their Hunter Association, Jared told him to have trust in the plan.

That was the only reason he hadn't despaired yet. However, with the situation already reaching this point, the only other alternative presented itself to the Chairman.

"We will return the payment Zenith made for the item." Those were heavy words he uttered, but this was the only compromise he could make at this point.

'Raising the funds won't be easy. No, it will be downright difficult, but it's not impossible.'

"Oh? You do realize that the loss of the item incurs further damages for breaching our contract."

"I understand that." Chairman Sung said, his eyes glowing with resolve. "We will refund the money to y—"

>VWUUUUUUUUUMMMMMM!!!<

Suddenly, a warbling sound echoed across the hall, and an insurmountable pressure causes the Chairman's body to freeze.

It felt like he was being torn apart, yet his body was stationary.

'K-keuk!'

"Look here, old man." Gyu Pol smiled, his eyes glowing bright purple. "We want the Core, as stipulated in the contract."

Chairman Sung's heart trembled, as the young man's voice sounded like grating metal in his ears.

"If you fail to deliver it, there will be consequences."

After a moment of silence, the pressure slowly dissipated.

"Do we have an accord?" With Gyu Pol's voice echoing in the office, Chairman Sung could do nothing but hang his head in powerlessness.

"Y-yes. I understand..."

"Good. Now, then... to our next area of business."

'There's more?!'

"The Busan incident yesterday. Why is the Hunter Association being silent about the two men who appeared there to save the day during the Dungeon Break?"

'Ah... that.' Chairman Sung already knew what the Zenith was really after.

Just like they poached Gyu Pol from South Korea, they wanted to do the same to South Korea's new heroes.

Unfortunately for them, things weren't going to go as they planned this time.

"The Hunter Association has no affiliations with them."

"Hmm. Are you being serious right now?"

"I am. We have no connection to those two men."

"Do you really take our information network for granted? We know the SSSS arrested them, and the Hunter Association took them away from custody."

'So they already went that far in such a short amount of time, huh?' Chairman Sung could feel a bead of sweat fall from his face.

Still, he expected something like this would po up eventually.

"Yes. We wanted to interrogate them about the Dimensional Spike that occured which overlapped with their time of arrest. After interrogating them and seeing they were innocent, we let them go."

Chairman Sung could feel the heavy aura increase in his office, but he stuck to his guns.

"We currently have no affiliations with them, and we aren't responsible for their actions."

"Oh? So they just helped out in an S Class Dungeon Break for nothing?"

Chairman Sung gave a wry smile as he heard Gyu Pol's question. It was regrettable that things turned out this way.

"Can we... not have good people who do the right thing just for the sake of justice?"

He knew he was being impudent, but... Chairman Sung stared at Gyu Pol in the eyes while speaking.

"The Hunter Association has no need to hide anything from The Zenith. If we had such capable Hunters, why would we keep them from you?"

"Hmmm..."

"We're all on the same side, aren't we?" Straining the best smile he could as the pressure intensified, Chairman Sung concluded all he had to say on the matter.

"Oh? Is that so? It seems you've gotten better at sophistry since we last spoke, old man."

"Thank you for the compliment, Fourth Pillar."

For yet another moment, an air of tension permeated the office, and the Chairman felt his body ache in apprehension.

What would Gyu Pol's next move be? Was this enough to satisfy him? Or would he keep pressing on the issue?

Chairman Sung knew he wouldn't give up the information no matter what, but he feared the extreme to which his former protege would go to achieve his goals.

"Hmph. Very well, then. If that's what you say, then I'll believe you."

Fortunately, Gyu Pol rose to his feet, refusing to press the issue any further.

'Haa... haaa...'

"I suppose we'll see each other in the Grand Symposium. It should be entertaining..."

And so, like mist that faded in the presence of the wind, Gyu Pol vanished into thin air, leaving the trembling Chairman alone in his office once more.

"Damnit!" Chairman Sung's croaking voice echoed as he fought back the tears of frustration that welled up in his eyes.

Even now, South Korea was being threatened by The Zenith, a body meant to protect them.

The future appeared bleak, and it was inevitable that worry would pervade his heart.

However, amid all of these, Chairman Sung had one thought.

'Jared Leonard... I'm counting on you.'