Chapter 607

The Pentagon.

The massive pentagon-shaped building was practically impregnable.

A security force of some thousand guards, every one of them a high-ranking Hunter. Immense flows of mana surrounded the building inside and out. That alone told you what kind of place the Pentagon was.

“Impressive, isn’t it?”

Magic Johnson had just finished the authentication process. Seeing Team Leader Choi and me looking around wide-eyed, he gave us a knowing grin.

“Since it was first built during World War II, the Pentagon has only been attacked twice. Once on 9/11, and once during the Great Cataclysm. You both know how those turned out.”

Team Leader Choi nodded.

“Even the Demon King Asmodeus and his monster army’s all-out assault couldn’t bring it down.”

“That’s right. It was the second fiercest battle of my life. The first was the Day of Victory, of course. Both times, one person helped me escape with my life.”

Any person on Earth, not just an American, knew that fact.

During the Great Cataclysm and afterward, only one person had been able to stop the demon who descended upon this world: the Demon King Asmodeus.

“Cheon Taemin. If your maternal grandfather—the man Americans call Sky—hadn’t been there, neither I nor this Pentagon would exist today.”

Magic Johnson was gazing at Team Leader Choi with distant eyes, as though remembering something, when a voice came out of nowhere.

“I was thinking the same thing, Johnson.”

It wasn’t Team Leader Choi or me. Naturally, it wasn’t the Skeleton King hiding in my Inventory, either.

Clomp. Clomp.

Heavy footsteps. Wrinkled jeans and a shirt. White hair tangled into a complete mess.

An elderly white man with one side of his face badly distorted strode up to us and thrust out both hands.

“I don’t know which of you two I should shake hands with first, so I’ll do both at once. I’m Chuck Hagel. You can just call me Chuck.”

He didn’t just give off the air of a tough Texan. It practically poured out of him.

His face looked familiar. I stared at it as I took his hand.

“I’m Jin Taekyung. But are you, by any chance…?”

“That Chuck Hagel? Yep. I’m not as famous as you, but I cut down my fair share of monsters back in the day.”

“Oh. Ooooh.”

I’d suspected it when I saw him, but the old man really was the previous generation’s S-rank Hunter known as Uncle Chuck.

I had never imagined I would meet one of the war heroes from the Great Cataclysm whom I had admired as a child. With a cry of delight, I vigorously shook his hand up and down.

“I’m a fan. A real fan. I even collected your Hunter cards in elementary school.”

“Hunter cards? They sold those in South Korea?”

“They probably sold them in North Korea, too. I bought them every time I got my allowance.”

“Huh. So here’s another dumb little kid who handed me a fortune in royalties. Of course, I spent the lot on alimony from five divorces.”

Chuck Hagel smiled contentedly, having demolished a childhood memory in a single sentence.

“If you still have any of my cards, bring them by sometime. I’ll sign them if you want.”

“Ah, I traded them all away.”

“What?”

“I collected ten and traded them for a Cheon Taemin card my friend had. Honestly, Uncle Chuck cards weren’t that rare.”

“…”

The smile vanished from Chuck Hagel’s face. He sighed.

“Damn it. And of all people, it had to be Mr. Sky. Can’t argue with that.”

“There’s no comparing their rarity or value. My friend wanted twenty cards at first, but I kept haggling until…”

“…I get it. I get it. You can stop now.”

Chuck Hagel shook his head repeatedly, then shook hands with Team Leader Choi.

“You’re the spitting image of your maternal grandfather. Good to meet you, Choi.”

“It’s a pleasure, Mr. Hagel.”

“I told you to call me Chuck. If you were one of those other idiots with nothing but shit in their heads, that would be different. But you and the traitor beside you have earned the right.”

Look at him calling me a traitor just because I traded some cards.

As I grumbled to myself, Team Leader Choi replied calmly.

“Please understand, Mr. Hagel. I wouldn’t feel comfortable calling the man in charge of the Pentagon—and the United States Secretary of Defense—by his first name.”

“Hm. Is that so? Come to think of it, I suppose you do have to worry about what people think. You’re in charge of two massive Guilds now, after all.”

I blinked.

“The man in charge of the Pentagon? The Secretary of Defense?”

“Hm? You didn’t know?”

“Obviously not.”

“Really? Everyone else seemed to know. I assumed Johnson had at least told you.”

Under the Secretary of Defense’s gaze, the Grand Mage—widely expected to become the next Secretary of Gukbap¹—scratched his chin.

“I figured you knew, too. Jin, you really didn’t?”

At this point, I felt like I had somehow become an idiot. I replied with some reluctance.

“I really didn’t. Were you appointed a few days ago? Ah, that must be why I hadn’t heard.”

Chuck Hagel’s answer was short and blunt.

“This is my eighth year.”

“…Oh.”

“Well, you had no particular reason to know. It’s hardly important compared to what we’re about to discuss. Come on, everyone. Follow me.”

Chuck Hagel pulled a cigar from the breast pocket of his dress uniform and put it in his mouth as naturally as could be. He led the way, and we followed.

Each time he puffed on the cigar, acrid smoke rose to the ceiling. An alarm sounded, and a red light began to flash.

Wee-oo! Wee-oo!

Fire hazard! Fire hazard!

Bang!

Chuck Hagel smashed the warning light without a moment’s hesitation.

“Fucking siren.”

Forget tough guy. Forget petty bastard. This man was insane.

The Skeleton King, who had made it through the security checkpoint hidden in my Inventory, whispered,

“Is he human? Are you sure he isn’t a monster?”

I had my doubts, too. But he matched the description on the Hunter cards I’d collected as a kid.

Born in Texas. Dreamed of becoming a cowboy. Supposedly tamed a Minotaur with his fists and rode it around. And that was just the beginning.

Clomp. Clomp.

No one was brave enough to stand in Chuck Hagel’s way as he marched forward without hesitation.

Researchers, Hunters, and employees who appeared to belong to the Pentagon split to either side as if facing a disaster. Moses, who had a cigar in his mouth instead of a staff, crossed between them while spewing smoke like a chimney.

He didn’t forget to talk trash along the way.

“When the hell are they going to widen this damn hallway? Every time I see it, I want to smash it to pieces.”

“Hey, Smith. Put that electronic cigarette away while I’m asking nicely. If you waft that shitty strawberry scent in front of me one more time, I’ll put you on the list of people who died in the line of duty. Cigars are fine, though.”

“Gordon. There’s a smashed warning light in Section Three. Go fix it. Who broke it? Listen carefully: your fucking direct superior.”

No one could stop Chuck Hagel as he rampaged through the Pentagon like an enraged bull.

In the roughly five minutes it took us to reach our destination, poor Smith was forced to change his e-cigarette liquid, innocent Gordon ran off at full speed to repair the warning light, and seven more lights warning of a fire hazard met the same fate beneath the clouds of cigar smoke.

Gordon would probably have to fix those, too.

“…”

This guy really was out of his mind.

I was wondering who’d had the insane idea of making him Secretary of Defense when Magic Johnson leaned over and whispered,

“Hey, guys. Chuck’s been touchy lately because of the terrorist problem. He’s a good guy at heart. Cut him some slack.”

The moment he finished speaking, Chuck Hagel slammed his fist into the wall.

“This goddamn hallway! Hallway! Hallway! Didn’t I tell you to make the hallway wider?”

Bang! Bang! Kraaang!

Team Leader Choi watched the hallway widen, then asked with complete sincerity,

“Is he really a good person?”

“…Probably. Whatever he looks like right now, he’s outstanding as Secretary of Defense. Capable, and he gets things done.”

Of course he got things done. Get even slightly on Chuck Hagel’s nerves, and your life would be over.

As Magic Johnson’s answer trailed off with noticeably less confidence, Chuck Hagel passed through a mana-recognition device and pointed to a tightly shut door.

“We’re here already. Everyone, this is Building Five.”

“Building Five?”

“Also called the E-Ring. And for what it’s worth, as far as I know, no foreigner has set foot in here for twenty-five years.”

Chuck Hagel looked at Team Leader Choi and grinned.

“Only one outsider on Earth was ever free to come and go as he pleased. Mr. Sky. He was treated the same as the President of the United States.”

Even without the rest, the fact that Chuck Hagel unfailingly called him “Mr. Sky” said plenty about Cheon Taemin’s standing.

“And now his maternal grandson and a young hero have taken up the baton. Both of you… welcome to Building Five.”

The instant Chuck Hagel finished speaking, brilliant light poured from the entire door.

Whoosh!

No. It wasn’t light. It was magic.

I let the flow of mana sweep over my whole body without resisting it. Dazzling brightness filled my vision, and the space around us warped.

This is…

The moment I realized that this familiar sensation was Teleport, I blinked and found myself in a completely unfamiliar new space.

As my vision rapidly returned, I saw people seated around a pentagonal table.

“Then the forces being deployed to the Middle East front will be… Oh. It seems our guests have finally arrived.”

Beep.

With a mechanical chime, the hologram illuminating the dark conference room disappeared. A neat-looking middle-aged man at the head of the table stopped speaking and rose.

I knew his face at once.

He was a man whose position kept him constantly exposed in every form of media. He looked older than he had on television and radiated even more charisma than he had in the newspapers.

“You’re later than I expected, Secretary Hagel. I hope you haven’t smashed another innocent warning device.”

At the man’s amused remark, Chuck Hagel snapped the glowing tip off his cigar with his fingers.

“Take it out of my salary.”

“The Treasury Secretary asked me to pass on a message. Your entire salary for this month has already gone toward repairing the damage you’ve done to the Pentagon.”

“Damn it. Again? At this rate, I’ll be too afraid of alimony to get divorced.”

Chuck Hagel let out a sighing mutter, then turned toward us.

“No need for introductions, I assume?”

At least this time, there was no need.

Team Leader Choi knew who the man was. So did I. Even the Skeleton King knew.

“Wicked human. Is that old human perhaps…?”

That was right. I gave a small nod as the middle-aged man approached with measured steps, and murmured his name to myself.

Donald Doramp Jr.

His title was better known than his name: President of the United States.