Chapter 16: House Guarding Dogs

“The President of the Republic of Korea wants to meet with you.”

Volkov, the association president, approached me with these words.

I shrugged in response.

“Sure, let’s meet. If he wants to meet, let’s do it.”

“He’s asking you to come to Korea to meet.”

I shook my head at this.

“Tell him to come here. Tell him to get in a car, cross the water, and climb the mountains to get here.”

Volkov looked flustered.

“Where do you want him to come? To the main gate base in Nevada?”

“I’m staying there, so it makes sense for him to come there, doesn’t it?”

“That’s a military facility. It takes time and money to urgently set up a ceremonial facility and personnel. It would be easier if you…”

“Why should I do him any favors? There’s no reason to accommodate someone who’s desperate enough to come running.”

“But he’s still a head of state…”

Volkov seemed uneasy, but I wasn’t the least bit unsettled.

“Tell him to come here. No ceremony, no welcoming party. If he wants to meet, tell him to crawl over here.”

With my firm stance, what could Volkov do?

In the end, he conveyed my opinion to the Korean side.

It didn’t take long for their response to come back.

“They’re asking you to come to Korea. There are security concerns and…”

“I don’t like repeating myself, Mr. President. I’m going into the gate for a hunt.”

Using hunting as an excuse, I entered the gate for a day.

The next morning, as I leisurely emerged from the gate, Volkov was waiting for me right in front of it.

“They said they’ll come. But not to Nevada, they want to meet in Washington DC at least…”

“Tell them to come here. I don’t want to move. I don’t want to travel far. The desperate one should dig the well. Why should I care about their situation? Tell them to come here.”

“Mr. Kim, you’re really insisting on them coming here?”

“No ceremony, no welcoming party, or I’ll get angry. Either come here or just stay put. Or I am going back into the gate?”

Volkov’s face showed signs of frustration.

“Alright.”

Volkov disappeared.

This time, he didn’t return for quite a long while.

When he finally appeared about two hours later, he looked worn out.

“They’re being ridiculously stubborn.”

“Did you come to a conclusion?”

“They’re coming here. As soon as possible. They said they’ll come tomorrow.”

“That’s good. Let me know when they arrive.”

“Understood.”

I went back to the house the US government had provided me and turned on the gaming console.

I caught up on the games I hadn’t been able to play, all night long.

The next day, I deliberately slept in.

When I woke up, Volkov was standing in front of me, looking anxious.

“The president is here!!!”

I stretched leisurely at his urgent voice.

“I’m tired from playing games all night. I’ll sleep for another hour. Can you tell them to wait?”

“The President of South Korea is in front of your house without any formalities!! This is a massive diplomatic discourtesy!!”

“I’m just a civilian, I don’t know about diplomacy. If there’s any backlash, it’ll be on me, not on the US, right? I’ll sleep for another hour. Tell them to wait in the living room. If they don’t want to, they can go back to Korea.”

Volkov looked like he was going crazy, but I ignored him and covered myself with the blanket.

I wasn’t really sleepy since I had slept well, but I killed time surfing the internet on my phone under the covers for about two hours.

The sounds of bustling and raised voices from the living room indicated that the atmosphere was sufficiently heated.

Only then did I leisurely descend the stairs in my pajamas.

“How long do you intend to keep sleeping!! The President has been waiting for over two hours!!!”

“What can I do? If I’m sleeping, I’m sleeping. I have nothing more to say.”

“When did the US start treating guests like this!!”

Amid the shouting in the living room, I walked casually toward the president.

When people noticed me, they fell silent immediately.

The men in black suits providing security cleared the way for me.

I yawned and scratched my belly as I sat on the sofa.

Across from me sat the expressionless President Yoo Myunghak.

His face was neutral, but anyone could see that he was extremely angry.

“Nice to meet you, Hunter Kim Sungho. I’m President Yoo Myunghak.”

Despite his anger, he greeted me formally.

Well, as a professional politician, he should at least do that much, right?

“Hey, Myunghak. Of course I know your name. Isn’t it strange not to?”

I responded to his greeting.

His face twitched.

“Hunter Kim Sungho. I understand you’re upset, but please observe basic manners.”

A man who seemed like an aide spoke up.

I asked him with an innocent expression.

“Why?”

“You really…!”

“Did I ask for this meeting? You’re the ones who hurriedly set up a meeting I didn’t want. Why should I be polite?”

“At least speak respectfully to an elder!! He’s the president of a country!!”

I picked my ear nonchalantly.

“What can I do? One of my life principles is not to speak respectfully to people who don’t act like adults.”

The aide seemed about to burst with anger, but the president stopped him.

“Chief Min, that’s enough. I’ll handle this.”

“…Understood.”

The man who looked like an aide stepped back.

The president met my gaze.

“Hunter Kim Sungho. I know you’re very angry with the country. Everyone has grievances.”

I listened silently to the president’s words.

Honestly, I was curious about what he’d say.

How would he handle this?

Would he get on his knees and beg?

Or would he unconditionally accept my terms?

In a situation where he was clearly at a disadvantage, how would he navigate it?

He was an old man with specks of white hair.

They say elders are wise, so what would he do?

I waited with anticipation.

Then, the president opened his mouth.

“But it’s still your homeland.”

“It’s where your family lives, and where people who speak your language live. No matter how angry and resentful you are, I believe deep in your heart there’s still patriotism.”

“Please come back. Korea is in danger. The country is at risk of collapsing, and countless innocent civilians may be injured and killed. These civilians aren’t strangers; they are the friends, family, lovers, and neighbors you’ve known for over 20 years, Hunter Kim Sungho.”

“Do you really want to see all these people die because of your selfishness and grievances? Let’s start again. If you’re unhappy with the treatment of hunters, speak up. Korea is ready to hold your hand. Let’s work together to rebuild our relationship, Hunter Kim Sungho.”

“You probably remember the soldier’s creed from your training. You are soldiers of the Republic of Korea, loyal to the nation and its people. Now, the people need you. Don’t let a moment’s anger put your family and friends in danger, Hunter Kim Sungho. Let’s return to Korea together…”

I couldn’t hold it in anymore and burst into laughter.

The president stopped speaking at my laughter.

I laughed for a long time, clutching my stomach.

Oh, my.

I didn’t know why it was funny, but it just was.

Maybe I laughed because it was so absurd.

After laughing for a while, I pulled out a cigarette from my pocket and lit it.

“Myunghak.”

I took a long drag from my cigarette and blew the smoke in the President’s face with a chuckle.

“Do you still think we’re idiots?”

“Hunter Kim Sungho! Watch your language!”

The man in a suit, who looked like a secretary and was called the Chief Presidential Secretary for Civil Affairs, shouted at me, and I turned my gaze towards him.

“Hey, you little shit.”

“What did you just say to me!…”

“Don’t you get the situation? Huh? Can you handle the rifts on your own without us? Time is running out, isn’t it? I heard a small rift opened in Apgujeong, and slimes have started pouring out? Lucky you. But where’s the next one? Huh?”

The Chief Presidential Secretary tried to say something with a furious expression but closed his mouth at my words.

I leisurely watched his face contort in real-time.

“Bundang? Pangyo? Gangnam? Oh, it would be interesting if a gate opened above the Blue House, don’t you think? How about one above the National Assembly? The monsters wouldn’t give a damn about immunity or anything; they’d just chow down.”

“And who’s to say the next rift will only have cute little slimes? Even if it’s just monsters at level 600, it’d be chaos, right? The mana contamination from the rift would be at least hundreds of meters in range, and everything within that range—gas stations, cars, explosives, gunpowder—would all blow up. All the electronics would go haywire, too. If that happens in the middle of Seoul, it’ll be quite a sight.”

The President raised his hand.

“Hunter Kim Sungho, calm down for now. You don’t want to see that kind of chaos either, right?”

“Why should I care if that happens? Myunghak, you’ve got the wrong guy. I’m an American. What does it matter to me if Korea goes to hell?”

“Hunter Kim Sungho. Your family is still in Korea. Do you think you can afford to talk so irresponsibly?”

“What?”

“I can just get my family out. I have the ability to do that. Everyone else? To be blunt, it’s not my problem.”

“We’re talking about your homeland. The place you’ve lived your whole life getting destroyed! Hunter Kim Sungho! I know you’re angry! But control your emotions and let’s talk logically!”

I laughed again at his words.

“Myunghak, I’ve never been more cool-headed and rational in my life.”

“Then think with that cool and rational mind. Are you really saying it’s okay for your family and neighbours to die?”

“Why don’t you think about it calmly? Will my family and neighbours die first, or will you be screwed first? If you go back without any results, the people won’t even consider you the President.”

I took a long drag from my finished cigarette, stubbing it out in the ashtray.

As the smoke disappeared, I saw President Yoo Myunghak’s face, flushed with anger, unable to bear the insult any longer.

I smiled at him.

“Each rift handled will cost 100 billion won. That’s the basic option, and there are many other conditions. Want to solve the rift problem? Make a contract with us and buy us with money. Myunghak, don’t babble about patriotism and such. That kind of stuff disappeared ages ago.”

President Yoo couldn’t contain himself any longer and stood up.

“Kim Sungho! Can you still call yourself a Korean? The country that has protected, fed, and raised you, and you act like this? How can you say you know any sense of duty?”

I lit a second cigarette and answered indifferently.

“I used to be someone who knew about duty. But South Korea says we’re not people, right? Myunghak, you know what South Korea calls us. They say we’re guard dogs. Everyone calls us dogs, so I got tired of explaining. So I decided to just be a dog.”

“You!…”

“Aren’t we not human? Right? We’re just beasts that wag our tails for whoever feeds us more. Right now, our American masters feed us better. So if you want to use us, prepare something to feed us. If there’s food, the dogs will guard the house.”

Even before I finished speaking, President Yoo stormed out of my house in a fury.

He said.

“We can handle the rifts without people like you!”

Before getting into his limousine and disappearing in a cloud of dust.

I watched their disappearing figures absentmindedly.

They can act all emotional now.

But by tomorrow, the story will change.

I heard from Younghak, who’s stuck collecting slimes in the gate within Korea’s territory.

He said level 700 golem-type monsters are trying to open a rift towards Suwon.

And by tomorrow, signs of the rift opening will be observed in Korea.

I felt sorry for the President, but I planned to make him pay dearly for his pride.

By tomorrow, the cost of handling the rift will double.