novelburst
Chapter 125
Chapter 125
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.
Jeong knew.
Despite being well aware of the circumstances surrounding Su-ho’s reassignment, Ma chose to speak without any consideration.
Su-ho, however, maintained his composure and replied with a smile.
“Indeed. I look forward to working with you.”
“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?”
Probationary rice cakes referred to the traditional practice of probationary employees distributing rice cakes to their colleagues upon becoming full-time employees. It was meant as a gesture of gratitude, though it had long since become a meaningless formality.
Hearing this, Su-ho smirked inwardly.
“Right, the GKA is technically a government institution, so they’d have this silly tradition too.”
Modern probationary rice cakes were an outdated practice.
Or rather, they had always been outdated.
It wasn’t about genuine gratitude but an empty ritual that had persisted over the years.
The thought made Su-ho recall an incident from his past.
“I got scolded over rice cakes once.”
The reason Su-ho had been scolded wasn’t because he had failed to distribute rice cakes.
No, the issue was that he had distributed them—and still received complaints.
Why?
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.
What followed was a barrage of complaints.
“Who hands out rice cakes these days? Cookies or fruit cups would’ve been better!”
That day, most of the rice cakes he had bought went uneaten. In the end, Su-ho had to purchase cookies from a trendy café and distribute those instead.
Back then, he had felt like he had no choice.
As Ma asked the question, Jeong was about to respond on Su-ho’s behalf, but Su-ho spoke first.
“I haven’t handed any out yet. Do I have to?”
“Huh? What do you mean by that?”
“I was just curious. I heard that in some places, they don’t bother with the tradition anymore. But if it’s necessary, I’ll do it. Should I bring actual rice cakes?”
“What are you doing?” Jeong whispered sharply, jabbing Su-ho in the ribs. His eyes widened in alarm.
Even Ma looked taken aback, letting out an awkward laugh.
“Haha… Deputy Team Leader Jeong, you’ve got your work cut out for you.”
“Apologies, Deputy Team Leader An is still young and new to all this. I’ll make sure to guide him properly.”
“Alright… Take care of him. Deputy Team Leader An, I’ll see you around. Congratulations on your appointment.”
“Thank you, Department Head.”
After exchanging farewells, Su-ho left the office, practically being dragged out by Jeong.
The moment they stepped outside, Jeong lowered his voice.
“Seriously, Su-ho… Why did you say that?”
“I did it on purpose.”
“What?”
"If I hadn’t asked first, you would’ve had to explain it to me, and I didn’t want to burden you, so I figured I’d ask someone higher up directly to clarify.”
“...Huh?”
Jeong Cheol-min let out a hollow laugh at Su-ho’s response. Then, smirking, he said, “Su-ho, you’re a real piece of work, aren’t you? But you know, I might not have found it burdensome at all.”
“Oh, I know you’re a good person, Team Leader, which is exactly why I figured you’d find it uncomfortable. And… I was also thinking of using this opportunity to get rid of the probationary rice cake tradition altogether.”
“What do you mean by that? Getting rid of the rice cake tradition?”
“It’s something I’m good at.”
“Su-ho, don’t tell me…”
“Haha.”
Su-ho merely laughed, offering no detailed explanation.
Jeong, quick on the uptake, clicked his tongue in disbelief.
“Man, the more I see, the more I think you really live life… not just comfortably, but easily.”
“Isn’t it better to make things easier when you can? But you’re not against it, are you?”
“Nope, not at all. Honestly, I’ve never been a fan of the rice cake tradition either. Who even benefits from it?”
As expected.
Su-ho had a feeling Jeong would say that, and he couldn’t help but feel pleased.
Compared to his previous life, their current relationship was still shallow, but Jeong Cheol-min remained the same person at his core.
Jeong laughed and said, “Alright then, let’s head to our office.”
“Got it.”
Jeong led Su-ho to a corner of the Gate Management Department where his team was stationed.
Special Management Team 2.
That was the official name of the team Jeong Cheol-min headed.
Starting with the Special Management Team, huh.
The Gate Management Department was divided into three teams:
- Transaction Team: Handled the trading of gates with private entities.
- General Management Team: Oversaw public gates and those classified as safe.
- Special Management Team: Dealt exclusively with gates deemed potentially dangerous.
Jeong was the leader of the second unit within the Special Management Team.
As Jeong glanced around the empty office, he remarked, “Oh, right. Everyone’s out on assignments today.”
This was common.
With only two units in the Special Management Team, the team members were rarely around.
At that moment, a new voice called out.
“Hey, Team Leader Jeong. Is that the new guy?”
Turning toward the voice, Su-ho saw a man addressing Jeong as if they were old acquaintances.
It was Oh Bong-ju, the team leader of Special Management Team 1.
Jeong greeted him. “Ah, yes. This is An Su-ho, who’s just been assigned as the deputy team leader for our team. Su-ho, this is Team Leader Oh Bong-ju of Special Management Team 1.”
“I’m An Su-ho. Pleased to meet you.”
“Haha, nice to meet you. Ho-rook.”
Oh Bong-ju chuckled as he sipped his coffee.
Su-ho knew exactly who he was.
“So it’s Oh Bong-ju, huh. At this point in time, he’s still the leader of Team 1.”
Oh Bong-ju was not only Jeong’s colleague but also his senior from high school, which explained his casual tone.
And he was far from a good senior.
Favoring strict hierarchies, Oh Bong-ju placed significant emphasis on seniority. Since he was not only Jeong’s high school senior but also from an earlier recruitment batch, he often dumped the tasks he didn’t want to handle onto Jeong.
“Jeong went through a lot because of him.”
While Su-ho had heard about this from Jeong in his past life, he hadn’t experienced it firsthand. By the time Su-ho joined the Gate Division, Oh Bong-ju had already been promoted to department head, so their interactions had been minimal.
For that reason, Su-ho had no personal grudge against him.
Then, Oh Bong-ju sipped his coffee and asked, “By the way, Su-ho.”
“Yes?”
“This is your first department, so you haven’t handed out your probationary rice cakes yet, have you?”
Ah.
The infamous probationary rice cakes.
Su-ho answered, “No, not yet.”
“You know you have to distribute them to the entire department, right? Ideally, cookies. We’re not really into rice cakes. Oh, and the cookies from Queen’s Bakery nearby are pretty good. Just a tip, you know. Other departments wouldn’t even bother telling you this. Consider it a little favor from us.”
He even added a playful wink.
Ha.
Sure, better this than them silently judging me for not knowing. But as someone in their second round of civil service, this isn’t exactly helpful advice.
Sensing the awkwardness, Jeong quickly stepped in.
“Haha, I already mentioned that to him. Anyway, we should get started on work, so we’ll excuse ourselves now.”
“Alright, go ahead. Oh, by the way, Team Leader Jeong, don’t forget what I mentioned before. The deadline’s coming up.”
“Ah, yes. I’ll take care of that soon and let you know. Su-ho, let’s head to the meeting room. I’ll walk you through everything.”
“...Understood.”
Su-ho sighed inwardly and followed Jeong out of the room.