As soon as he returned to his seat, the head of the integrated news division called him into the press director’s office.
When he entered the press director’s office, the cultural department’s director, variety department’s director, and a stranger were present. From the employee ID card hanging around his neck, it seems like he’s a producer from the cultural department.
“Oh, Anchor Yoon. How are you?”
“I’m fine. Is something going on……”
“Hey, Anchor Yoon. Give us a hand here.”
From the way the press director was looking at the cultural director with a rather disapproving gaze, it seems like something troublesome has occurred. The cultural department’s PD got up first and greeted Seheon.
“Hello, I’m Park Minsoo.”
“Yes. Hello, PD-nim. I’m Yoon Seheon. What brings you here…”
“About that…”
The producer checked the surrounding mood before finally opening his mouth.
“There’s a documentary that we’re going to film this time, and we’re here to ask for Anchor Yoon’s help with reporting.”
“Oh, is that so? That isn’t hard…”
“Hey, Anchor Yoon. Listen properly. It isn’t narration, but reporting.”
The head of the integrated news division, who was seated at a side with folded arms, cut in all of a sudden.
Seheon blinked. He had that thought because it was common for the documentaries produced by the cultural department to be narrated.
But that wasn’t the case?
The division head continued.
“They’re filming a Team K documentary, and said they need to take you for that.”
The variety director remarked slyly, afraid of missing this opportunity.
“We’re the ones that did all the work, but the cultural department is seizing all the credit for themselves.”
“Oh-ho, what do you mean, seize?” said the cultural director while clearing his throat, but the head of the integrated news division came first.
“Oh, aren’t you going red with shame when you tell Anchor Yoon about this? Hey, cultural department. What are you going to do about this? It’s not like he’s just some contract reporter.”
“Ah, division head. I’m really very sorry. But what else can I do? I’d also found it rather ridiculous. I’d entered the cultural department to film penguins.”
“Then go and film penguins!”
“Team K refused the variety department!”
“Hey, PD Park. Just be honest with me. You’re being manipulated by the Minister of Education. Right?”
Yoon Seheon managed to grasp the situation while the men pointed fingers at each other.
So, Team K led by S-class hunter Kwon Wook was involved. The variety department had worked very long and hard to invite this Team K. This was a matter of course. Among the nation’s S-class raiding teams, Team K has the highest exposure to the public, and enjoys a high popularity amongst the public.
However, as they were directly connected to a government institution, they have never appeared on a variety programme before. In the first place, if anything happens when broadcasting station personnel, who are ordinary people, entered a dungeon, it would be the government’s responsibility.
But this time, Team K, who’d always refused, accepted the offer.
However, there were conditions. It will be filmed by the cultural department. And it will be a documentary without any amusement.
And lastly.
Yoon Seheon, the public broadcasting company’s signature anchor, will play the role of the reporter.
Seheon rubbed a finger between his wrinkled brows. He can’t believe that Bang Gyunjong was so happy about this. The reason he came to pick a fight early in the morning was because he knew about this incident.
It was Team K, which the variety department had made such a fuss to recruit. This wasn’t asking Seheon for permission but more like giving him a notice.
The problem was that dungeons weren’t that easy to deal with. As far as Seheon knows, Team K was currently raiding the Sangam dungeon, which was an S-class dungeon. An S-class dungeon, of all things. Putting aside the general public, it was a place where A-class hunters would die one after another if they were the slightest bit careless.
“Oh, I heard that we wouldn’t be going into the Sangam Dungeon. There’s a small D-class dungeon that’s remaining in Eonyang, and that’s the one we’ll film in apparently.”
PD Park answered, like he’d read Seheon’s thoughts.
Eonyang was near Ulsan. It would be natural to leave for a few days, and it was clear that the schedule would be extremely exhausting. Even if it’s D-grade…
Seheon thought of the B-class dungeon that he’d recently visited. It was a forest-type dungeon, but the air was heavy and the only living creatures in there were monsters.
In the meantime, the division head lost his temper.
“You d*mned punks, do you think the press department is so easy?”
“Hey, we aren’t putting you in this position because we want to.”
The variety director vented in a loud voice.
“It’s easier to pick a scenario because they’re a team led by someone with idol-roots. But he said he won’t do it with us. Because dungeons aren’t for entertainment.”
“Oh, and……”
PD Park observed Seheon’s mood furtively.
“I heard that Kang Hara-ssi, who was drawn into a dungeon with Yoon Seheon-ssi, has joined Team K.”
“That person did?”
Seheon’s expression became strangely distorted.
“M, maybe you can go out with me……”
It’s because he remembered a woman saying that while dressed in a patient’s uniform and in a cold sweat.
When he heard that, there was no describing how flustered he was. He left that place after pretending he had a girlfriend.
Although she was his lifesaver, he’d never thought that she would approach him in that manner. He didn’t think that she would have an ulterior motive towards him.
Perhaps she’d designated him on purpose with something in mind. Such thoughts occurred to him momentarily, but Seheon soon erased that kind of idea.
Speaking of Team K, it was a team led by Kwon Wook, an S-class hunter.
Each member of the team possessed strong individuality and everyone was young, so they were easy on the eyes of the public, but they were actually the best of the best.
There’s no way that such a team would extend such an invitation with selfish motives for the sake of a single E-class hunter.
‘Wait a minute, she isn’t an E-class.’
Seheon was also aware that Hara met a constellation at the dungeon and received an S-class awakening quest.
However, Chief Jung had firmly requested of Seheon. To keep the fact that Hara met a constellation a secret.
Seheon also knew that Hara had some restrictions when using her S-class skills, so he kept his mouth shut.
But Kang Hara’s status was probably internal knowledge. Then, was she currently an S-class? Seheon also became a little curious.
That timid miss was an S-class? Most of the well-known S-classes were bold and brimming with confidence.
On the other hand…
At that thought, Seheon shook his head.
‘No, she was still very courageous.’
She was the only one that reached out to save him, whom everyone had tried to ignore. Moreover, considering the fact that she was worried about the isolated girl and went to look for her at night despite the risks, her temperament was evident enough.
If it weren’t for that sudden confession, Seheon might have had a pretty huge favourable impression on Kang Hara.
Regardless of that, the division head and directors were talking amongst themselves.
“You’re talking about that E-class hunter. How can she join Team K?”
“I don’t know about that. I don’t think she’s fully joining Team K.”
“It makes sense. Team K taking an E-class with them and entering a D-class dungeon. It’s like getting a bus ride.”
[T/N: ‘bus ride’ is a online/gaming slang means that a low levelled user is being led to victory/higher levels by a high levelled user in games]
At the young PD Park’s explanation, the directors asked what a ‘bus ride’ was, and PD Park spent a long time explaining it.
“Aren’t we just being used to make new promotional material for the government?”
“They have their own X-tube, right? If they’re doing that, they don’t need to work with us.”
Then, the variety director asked Seheon.
“Yoon Seheon-ssi, do you know anything?”
“I’m not too sure, but…… I can’t say, because it’s off the record.”
Off the record. Those words made the variety director’s eyes gleam.
“Hey, there seems to be something deeper that’s going on.”
“An ‘off the record’ incident? Who?”
Seheon did everything he could to push away the middle-aged people that suddenly leaned closer with shining eyes. Meanwhile, the cultural director even clung to Seheon saying, “Hey, let’s have some fun, regardless of the hard work. We have already realised the value of the licensing fee, and the blame of not earning money. Hmm?”
In any case, it wasn’t an atmosphere where his refusal could mean the end of things. Eventually, the variety and cultural department directors retreated after he agreed.
The news division head sighed.
“It would be difficult to let you anchor the news everyday anyways, since you were injured. Who do you want to put forward?”
“I heard that Gyunjong would take over while I was away.”
“You’re putting forward Bang Gyunjong?”
The words, ‘But you don’t get along with him?’ were unspoken. Seheon shook his head.
“Let Minyoung do it. Or Kyungjin, from the afternoon news.”
“Yeah. Bang Gyunjong, that one. I’d rather not see him filled with arrogance after anchoring for one week exactly. Ah, is your father doing well?”
“Yes.”
The division head patted Seheon on the shoulder.
“No matter how it turns out, do your job well. Who knows. I wonder if it’ll turn out to be a good program. It’ll be good if it’s a hot topic.”
“A hot topic…”
Afterwards, the division head cleared his throat like he was ashamed.
“Well, it isn’t all that good when it’s a hot topic that arises with Anchor Yoon’s life on the line…”
It’s obvious. Now was an era whereby the drama ratings of wireless broadcasters would exceed the single digits. It’s a waste of licensing fees, and advertisement rates are dropping. Therefore, it was natural that each of these programs were considered important.
It was also the era of watching the news on the Internet. It would easily put him in the bad books if he, the main anchor of the 9pm news, was absent to make a guest appearance on another show.
If he was doing the news normally, he could have refused with that excuse, but he was already away for a week and had injuries on top of that, so it would be difficult for him to proceed with anchoring the entire week’s news.
When Seheon first became the main anchor of the 9pm news, the effect of increasing ratings was most welcomed by his superiors. When a young and handsome anchor became the main anchor, the ratings of the news, which had always remained in the early 10%, rose to the late 10%, and those numbers continued.
Recently, Seheon checked the news ratings when he was not confident. Normally, it might have dropped. However, because Seheon, the mastermind behind the increased ratings, was drawn into the gate, along with the fact that the gate surfaced at the broadcasting station, the news ratings rose instead.
Of course, it wasn’t a positive rise.
The drama department pulled out a mana stone in order to build a set. A gate opened in the broadcasting station that’s located in the middle of Yeouido. Public opinion was at its worst.
If they chose to film a cultural documentary with Team K at a time like this? The upper brass had already punched the numbers into their calculators. Not only can it improve their image, they can also increase their ratings.
“Just do it for a year, tidy up, and come back.”
Suddenly, a person’s voice echoed beside his ear. Seheon’s forehead furrowed and he grabbed the phone in his pocket. But he didn’t take it out.
“Just be the spokesperson for a while, and I’ll support you when you participate in the Assembly elections. I’ll hand you the district, and you’ll become a second generation lawmaker…”
“The director of the cultural department told us to eat something delicious for lunch later. He said he’ll cover our tab. Let’s go together? Hm?”
The division head’s meaningless words entered his ear and flowed out of the other side. Seheon bowed his head in a practised manner and went back to his seat. By that time, he wasn’t even thinking of the woman in glasses that stuttered in front of him.
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