This was something I learned for the first time this time, but Canada had nationalist hype channels too.
<The Reason Jack Rich Chose Canada!>
<America? Canada Is More Important to Me.>
<Jack Rich’s Favorite Syrup Is Maple Syrup!>
“......”
Public opinion on Stargram and Tweety was moving in a similar direction.
The spirits also seemed fascinated and could not take their eyes off my phone.
Later, Chae Seon-hwa even asked this question.
[Homeowner, are you perhaps a descendant of Inuit Indigenous people?]
“...No.”
Our clan seat was the Gyeongju Lee clan, and our founder was Lee Al-pyeong, a founding meritorious subject of Silla....
Let it go.
That was not what mattered right now.
Eric, who had been busily exchanging messages with various places for quite some time, smiled and said,
“Public opinion in America is moving in a very interesting direction.”
Unlike Canadian SNS, where a festival had broken out, American SNS currently had the atmosphere of a funeral hall.
It was only natural.
Before the negotiations with Korea, the American government had loudly declared to the media that it would resolve the Washington Tower situation.
But on the day of the negotiations, the Korean negotiation delegation vanished like smoke.
And without any results, the remaining deadline for Washington Tower was still shrinking minute by minute.
At this point, even Americans were bound to sense that something was strange.
―Why is there no announcement?
―Are they telling us to evacuate or not?
―Did Jack Rich not come to negotiate with us? Then why is he in Canada?
―Can you not tell by looking? The White House caused trouble again.
―That fool again?!
―Ha... that bastard really will not do.
―I went out to protest today as soon as I heard the news. The atmosphere among the protesters is no joke.
―I went to the protest too. A huge number of people had gathered.
―Now their right to survival is on the line. Everyone from the Washington D.C. side must have come out.
With the situation reaching this point, an emergency also broke out at the White House.
However, the first thing America said as soon as the hotline with Korea was reconnected was this.
“Does Korea not need America as well?”
And the words that followed in a long string were like this.
It was merely a mistake.
Let us resume conversation based on common sense.
Were the negotiations not already concluded? Keep your promise.
Our subordinates did it out of competition for loyalty.
And so on.
They said many things, but far from apologizing, they were still spouting nonsense.
The Commissioner defined America’s current state in a single sentence.
“They are still too full of themselves.”
In the end, Korea blocked them again.
In truth, we also wanted to save Washington Tower.
In any case, America had to remain intact, and Washington D.C., its symbol, had to survive.
That was why, if their conditions had been even somewhat reasonable, we had planned to hear them out and accept.
But when the other side was struggling so desperately to die, there was nothing we could do either.
“It would be best to wait until the end.”
So the next day, everyone except the Awakened boarded flights from Canada and returned to Korea.
Strangely enough, there were exactly enough plane tickets left for the number of people, which made the schedule possible.
<Have a pleasant trip!>
Thus, with Ms. Su-a’s encouragement, we arrived in Korea.
Six days later.
With three hours left before the Tower deadline.
At last, America raised both hands.
Lee Yeong-su, President of the Republic of Korea.
These days, he felt as though he were riding a roller coaster.
When he first received the report that Cha Jun-hyeok had died.
That was the first time he had truly understood what it meant for the world before one’s eyes to go dark.
That was because Lee Yeong-su had never experienced despair even once in his life.
He had been born into a near-chaebol family and had grown up with every environment abundant.
Money, education, occupation, politics.
Everything had gone as he wished.
He was even the one who had earned the title of the Republic of Korea’s youngest president.
He had even awakened, something only three percent of humanity achieved.
He was, in every sense, the elite among elites.
However.
‘There are things in this world that cannot be done by human power.’
Absurdly enough, he had realized that only after sitting in the seat of the President of the Republic of Korea.
‘And...’
The benefactor who appeared every time he was in crisis.
‘When Cha Jun-hyeok died, and this time too.’
That person from the Hunter Management Agency.
Lee Ji-hu, who possessed a talent that would astonish everyone, yet called himself a servant of the people and merely carried out public duties silently behind the name Jack Rich.
‘Could I do that if it were me?’
A laugh escaped him.
He could never do such a thing.
Lee Yeong-su liked standing before others more than anyone else.
‘And yet he...’
Even while repeatedly saving the Republic of Korea from crisis, he never boasted.
He did not show off, nor did he covet wealth or honor.
Though he was closer to wealth and honor than anyone else...
So Lee Yeong-su made one decision.
‘If he needs a protective fence, I will become one.’
He did not know the reason, but Lee Ji-hu wished to remain in the shadows.
Therefore, Lee Yeong-su intended to willingly take his side.
After all, he had never made a wrong decision even once in his life.
So now.
At the negotiation table with America, Lee Yeong-su decided to say what he had to say.
With that thought, the president slowly opened the door to the conference room in the Presidential Office.
In the room equipped with video conference equipment, the Commissioner of the Hunter Management Agency was already waiting.
“You have arrived. Section Officer Lee is currently waiting at the Hunter Management Agency. We have taken measures so he can participate in the negotiations behind the scenes at any time.”
Lee Yeong-su nodded to him.
Tick, tick.
The time moved toward the appointed hour.
When the negotiation channel with America opened again, Lee Yeong-su quietly opened his mouth.
“We will begin the second Korea-U.S. tariff negotiations.”
Then an urgent voice came from the other side.
[Just say anything!]
The American president’s words poured out again like rapid fire.
[What do you need? Tariff elimination? Visas? A currency swap? Did I not say all of it was possible?! Do you need anything more? Just say anything!]
His anxiety could be felt all the way across the sea.
[Money? Do you perhaps need money? We will pay five million dollars for every day of extension, three hundred million dollars in total!]
At those words, silence settled for a moment.
Three hundred million dollars was roughly more than four hundred billion won in Korean currency.
For the price of dragging this out for several days, it was a decent deal.
However, Lee Yeong-su opened his mouth with an upright gaze.
“Dollars will not do.”
At the Korean president’s firm answer, the other side fell silent for a moment.
And then.
[You do not need dollars?! No, why?]
Lee Yeong-su trusted his instincts.
The dollar was no longer a safe-haven asset.
The current boiling public opinion in America was the proof.
So the president presented a different alternative.
“Pay in gold. And...”
But had the American side thought there was no hope when Korea rejected dollars?
The moment they heard what followed, they immediately brightened and responded like this.
[Gold? You want it in gold?! That does not matter! We will give you anything... anything at all! If gold can save Washington D.C., we will do anything! And what else? What else do you want?]
“Wartime operational control.”
At those words, the American side went quiet.
However, there was a reason Korea had to regain wartime OPCON.
Lee Yeong-su had demanded wartime OPCON based on his judgment after seeing the reason the first round of negotiations had failed and how the situation in America was unfolding.
When Ganghwa-do Tower collapsed, America had considered the Korean Peninsula to be in a wartime situation and tried to control the Korean military.
At the same time, they had contacted the Hunter Association and tried to take even integrated command authority over the Hunters.
What if the Gate that appeared after the Tower collapsed had taken even one more week to stop?
At that time, command authority over the top rankers would have all passed into America’s hands.
Korea currently faced security threats, but so did America.
If anything at all happened at such a time, America would sweep up every Korean Hunter for its own interests, regardless of Korea’s situation.
Just as they had recently tried to secure Jack Rich.
Because the Hunter Management Agency was currently under the Ministry of National Defense, this scenario was even more readily possible at any time.
As long as wartime OPCON remained in America’s hands, it was a possibility that could never be avoided.
Lee Yeong-su wanted to reduce that possibility to zero.
Because that was the role he ought to play as a protective fence.
As both the Korean and American sides maintained silence, the American president opened his mouth.
[...Was that not something we agreed to transfer gradually?]
“Our demand is for it to happen immediately.”
[May we have a moment?]
“Very well.”
After that, America left the table for about fifteen minutes.
And the first words the American president said when he returned were these.
[We will do that.]
“Good. Then I will consider the negotiations concluded with this clause included. Please sign the Mana Document sent by our embassy.”
Scribble, scribble.
The sound of both sides signing at the same time was heard.
<The negotiations between Korea and America have been concluded.>
At the same time, a Status Window appeared.
Every Awakened person affiliated with Korea and America heard this alert.
The Mana Signature used during national events used the life force of each head of state as its medium.
If the agreement were broken, it would not immediately take the life of the other party, but it would shorten the life of the side that provided grounds for breach by at least ten years.
Therefore, negotiations concluded through a Mana Document were rarely ever broken.
[We will remember this moment forever. So please hurry...!]
The American president’s voice beyond the receiver was desperate.
Now it was time to grant their wish.
“Use Time Delay Ticket.”
<Please select the Tower you wish to use.>
1. Hwanseon Cave Tower (40th Floor, 84 days 19:43:14)
2. Seopjikoji Tower (26th Floor, 136 days 06:11:31)
3. Gwanaksan Tower (39th Floor, 74 days 04:20:02)
4. Washington Monument Tower (50th Floor, 00:17:59)>
“Washington Monument Tower.”
<Using Time Delay Tickets on Washington Monument Tower. Up to 113 tickets can be used.>
“Use 60 tickets.”
<The Tower’s time will be extended by 60 days.>
As before, the numbers began changing rapidly.
<Washington Monument Tower’s date has been extended by 60 days. Remaining time is 60 days 00:17:57.>
Cheers erupted from the American side.
Some laughed loudly, and others thanked God.
At that moment, however, the American Secretary of Defense, who had remained silent until now, opened his mouth.
[Secretary of Defense: Now we can breathe a sigh of relief. We thank Korea. However...]
[Secretary of State: Why? What are you trying to say?]
[Secretary of Defense: ...What do we do after that?]
In a way, it was a natural question.
Time had merely been delayed. The situation had not been completely resolved.
But soon, an angry voice was heard.
[American President: That is the answer you should find.]
The warm atmosphere sank in an instant.
No one dared speak.
As far as I knew, America’s Hunters were currently managed by the Department of Defense.
Therefore, if one were to examine the cause, one could say that the situation had reached this point, and that John Howard had died on the Tower’s 50th floor, because of negligence by the U.S. Department of Defense.
[American President: If they have bought us this much time, should you not be able to do something on your own? If you dislike that too, step down from your position as Secretary! What exactly do you do while sitting in that seat?!]
[Secretary of Defense: Y-Your Excellency!]
At the hair-trigger moment when the Secretary of Defense seemed about to lose his position.
I had no intention of helping him at all, but it was the perfect timing to present our other condition.
“Commissioner.”
Click.
Click.
The Commissioner pressed the volume switch twice.
“Please first tell them that, if they wish, we can also add a buff to Washington Monument Tower. If they accept our additional demand.”
Soon after, the negotiation room grew noisy again.
[Secretary of Defense: A buff? A buff, you say...?]
[CIA Director: See! Jack Rich is definitely connected to Korea’s Hunter Management Agency...!]
As expected, America had guessed my affiliation.
Even if they did not know precisely that I was a civil servant affiliated with the Hunter Management Agency, they had tracked enough to know that there was some connection.
Well, yes.
After the negotiation delegation disappeared this time, a buff appeared immediately on a Canadian Tower. Even if they had not known before, they would have realized it then.
In that case, rather than continuing to hide and giving them a pretext, it was better to get into the same boat like this.
Even if a threat came from another country, if America was already enjoying sufficient benefits, they would try to protect that benefit somehow.
[Secretary of Defense: Your Excellency! If there is a buff on Washington Monument Tower...! If that happens, we can also...!]
[American President: Is it possible?]
[Secretary of Defense: Yes! At the very least, after several practice runs, we can attempt a breakthrough. If it creates synergy with our side’s Buffer, it could reach 20%! No, we could produce a synergy effect of up to 50%!!!]
Tower buffs were buffs added at the very end.
They were calculated as percentages after all increases from party-internal buffs and items had been applied.
There was a reason both our country and America were so desperate for Tower buffs.
Even so, this was unexpected information.
It meant America had a Buffer powerful enough to that degree.
I had heard very useful information.
As it happened, it matched perfectly with our demand.
[American President: Thank you. You truly have been a great help! America will never forget this!]
The American president raised his voice as though making a major decision.
However, his next words were cautious.
[American President: ...So what is your demand?]
Now that he seemed to have found a way to live, perhaps he was gradually regaining his senses.
But if that was the case, now was the time to repay the benefactor who had truly helped him regain his senses.
“A one-for-one exchange.”
The Commissioner relayed my words exactly.
[American President: One-for-one?]
[Secretary of State: What do you mean by that, Commissioner?]
“One buff for one American Hunter draft.”
[Secretary of Defense: H-Hunter draft???]
[Secretary of State: What on earth is this...?]
Why was everyone surprised?
This was the method we had learned from America.
The purpose of the training we had gone on this time: benchmarking America’s Washington Monument Tower clear.
To learn America’s advanced Tower clear methods and apply them to our country’s Tower clears.
This was a case that applied perfectly to that purpose.
The atmosphere was changing thanks to the Tower buff, but if one thought about it coldly, Korea’s current situation was not all that good either.
Our country’s Tower clears could be blocked at any time in the future as well.
This was a move prepared for when that happened.
And the first principle of negotiation was to present the other party with conditions they could never refuse.
From America’s current position, this carrot was an opportunity they absolutely could not let go.
[American President: ...Understood.]
“As a complimentary service, we will apply a buff to Washington Monument Tower for one week starting the day after tomorrow.”
For expensive products, one tried the sample first before buying.
And once one had a taste, it became all the harder to escape from its usefulness.
[CIA Director: A buff!]
[Secretary of Defense: Then we can train too...!]
Fortunately, this carrot produced a result of great customer satisfaction.
[American President: Thank you! Korea is America’s eternal ally!]