The Time-Limited Leader Makes the Raid a Success - Chapter 119



Only Noblemtl

Episode 119

119. This is okay.

Kang Mu-hyeok let out a heavy sigh as he looked at Goeulji.

“I’ll send a legal team to you. First, turn yourself in. Um… Even though you’re a minor, if Hunter harms someone, you’ll be subject to harsher punishment. Be prepared.”

“What are you talking about? Are you saying I’m the culprit now?”

“… … … … Oh? No.”

“What is that? What’s that long space in front of it?”

Kang Moo-hyuk asked, changing the mood with a cough.

“But who are those tied up in the back?”

Nine hunters floating in the air, their limbs wrapped in monster subduing ropes.

Goeulji scratched his head and replied.

“I don’t know exactly, but there were probably four like this and five like that. Those five were originally six, but one died. These four killed them.”

A party of four objected to Goeulji’s explanation.

“Eww, wow, wow. Eww, wow, wow.”

“Euuuup, eub eub eub eub eub.”

“You even have your mouth covered.”

“It’s so noisy.”

“Let’s leave them alone for now. Let’s hear the whole story. Don’t cut corners and tell the whole story in detail.”

Goeulji explained as much as he knew.

The story of Baekho Guild member Park Beom-il’s misdeeds at the community center, Pyo Beom-hee’s order to watch over him, the fight between two parties encountered while tailing Park Beom-il, Park Beom-il’s actions in trying to eliminate them all, and the story of stopping him and escaping.

“I stopped following them secretly and got involved. I thought they’d kill all of them if I just left them alone. The funny thing is, I tried to take those five guys with me. I was like openly advertising that I was their target. Not knowing that I would run away with them all. Hehe, you should have seen the panicked look on your face. Oh my~ They’re cute.”

Goeulji shrugged his shoulders and wiped his nose.

‘Ahem. This is all I can do. Go ahead and praise me.’

Kang Moo-hyuk opened his mouth to face the governor who was bragging about how he had made a very good decision.

“But Hunter Goeulji, this is a mission given to you by Team Leader Pyo. Why did you come here?”

“No, you’re not praising me, but why are you suddenly saying that…?”

“What did you say? I didn’t hear you correctly. Please speak up.”

“No. Well… Team Leader Pyo was busy. He wasn’t at his desk. The phone here isn’t working, so I can’t contact him. I couldn’t keep waiting, so I brought him here.”

“Yes. I can see roughly how things went.”

Kang Moo-hyeok guessed that the reason Pyo Beom-hee had given Go Eul-ji the mission was related to the list she had brought. Even if he had released Jang Deuk-gu as a watchdog, it would have been difficult to individually punish hunters who had the potential to cause trouble. If a bomb like Park Beom-il had been rolling around, he would not have been able to just sit by and watch.

Especially, as Pyobeomhee was in charge of caring for the hunters and dealing with incidents and accidents at the Titan Guild, he must have been even more concerned.

In that sense, Go Eul-ji is the best choice. He doesn’t have any separate duties, and he must have judged that the mobility and restraint unique to telekinesis would be helpful in keeping the hunters in check.

‘This time, the Goulji Hunters handled it well, but… Even if it was short, the fact that a battle broke out was a dangerous outcome. To pick a fight with someone who was two ranks higher than yours. If you had gotten hurt or even died, it would have been a conflict that couldn’t be ignored.’

If that happened, Joo Se Ah would move, and a war might break out. Kang Moo Hyuk wasn’t sure if he could stop her.

Kang Moo-hyuk, who had grasped the situation, moved on to the next problem. He pointed to each hunter and spoke.

“Perhaps the Baekho Guild’s target is not the other five, but this one.”

“Huh? Four of you? I was just going to leave them alone?”

“Because Hunter Go Eul-ji got involved in the middle of it. You said there was another person next to Hunter Park Beom-il, right? That person is probably Hunter Ko Tae-seop.”

“Are you the same surname as me?”

“He takes on the party’s orders in place of Park Beom-il, who has strong fighting power but lacks leadership skills. He is cautious and careful, so he never overdoes anything. That’s why the Baekho Guild pairs the two of them up for any mission. It’s a means of controlling Park Beom-il appropriately.”

“Wow~ Even though the Baekho Guild is a tier-level guild, how can you not know all that without even looking at it, Captain Kang?”

“This is the minimum qualification that a strategy team leader should have. I mark not only the key figures of the Tier Guilds, but also of the A-rank and mid-level guilds. I also tend to remember the good hunters from the small and medium-sized guilds.”

“If you have the captain’s hair, I don’t have to worry about memorizing subjects. I just want to borrow it for the real test.”

Kang Mu-hyeok continued speaking, leaving Go Eul-ji’s eyes sparkling as if he was coveting her.

“Given Go Tae-seop’s nature, if he had known that the Goeulji Hunters were from the Iron Will Guild, he would have tried to avoid conflict. Most hunters have an ‘all or nothing’ nature, but experienced hunters tend to be clear about what they eat and what they spit out.”

“So you’re saying you spat out something you couldn’t eat?”

“It may have been a reasonable decision, but in a way, the thief was just being thieves. When caught stealing, they usually just take their belongings with them. They have to destroy the evidence.”

“Ah, so that’s why you wanted to take me with you? To keep me quiet so that no one would know.”

As Goeulji pretended to slit his throat, the five hunters tied together flinched.

Kang Moo-hyuk looked around at the nine people, each with a different expression.

Excluding the five who had serious, rotten faces as if they were in trouble, the four who had committed murder looked more at ease. However, one of the four still had a bad expression on his face as if he was anxious.

“Those three people. Seo Su-ji Hunter, Lee Cheol-jin Hunter, and Yoo Tae-jin Hunter are familiar with each other from the Gangbyeonbuk-ro incident, and I know their identities. Then, it must be you. The one they were after. Go Eul-ji Hunter, please let him alone speak.”

Soon, only the hunter that Kang Mu-hyeok pointed to had the pressure covering his mouth released. However, his body was still bound.

Kang Mu-hyeok spoke.

“My name is Kang Mu-hyeok, the leader of the Iron Will Guild.”

“Hey, this is Lee Sook-young.”

When Kang Mu-hyeok introduced himself, Lee Sook-young also greeted him by blinking her eyes instead of moving her head.

‘From the North?’

Kang Moo-hyuk’s eyes lit up. He asked, pretending to be calm.

“Hunter Lee Sook-young. Let me ask you one thing. Why did those people target you?”

* * *

Tae-soo-man, who was in the VIP room of the high-class salon where he first met Kang Moo-hyuk, frowned the moment he saw Joo-se-ah opening the door and coming in.

“I didn’t know you would come out?”

“Chief Kang is busy. I’m busy too. I’m just seeing you while I’m out in Seoul. I have to go in quickly.”

“A picnic? You didn’t meet the chairman?”

“That too, humbly.”

Joo Se Ah walked to the sofa opposite Tae Soo Man and threw herself down. Her attitude was bad, but the moment she placed both arms on the back of the sofa, Tae Soo Man felt a strange sense of pressure.

It wasn’t because of his arrogant attitude. It wasn’t because of the halo of being the best hunter in Korea. He didn’t seem to be intimidating, nor did he have the aura of a hunter. He just felt a sense of awkwardness in the way Joo Se Ah looked at him.

It’s like seeing my father.

“Did I get screwed by Captain Kang? This is embarrassing. This wasn’t the place to meet our youngest sister. I didn’t think she was my person, but I thought she would be a business partner at least. People really are unpredictable.”

“This isn’t something a proper person would do. Let’s stop small talk and focus on business. Oppa.”

“You’ve become a real snake. You keep calling me oppa.”

“If you can just call me oppa while eating up a guild, isn’t that a good deal? You can even act cute. ‘Oppa’.”

“Just keep doing what you’re doing. It doesn’t suit you.”

“It doesn’t work? Well, being cute isn’t my specialty.”

Taesuman continued the conversation, feeling excited from the start.

“By the way. You’re going to eat the guild? You? Who would just give it to you?”

“I’ll eat the guild. You eat the group. Isn’t that a good deal? I feel like I’m at a slight disadvantage.”

Taesu was breathless for a moment. He said it indirectly, but in the end, he meant to hold hands.

“Does that mean I can assume that the group has no attachment to itself?”

“I’m not really interested in anything other than hunting monsters. But if you still want to interfere? What can I do? It’s annoying, but I’ll just eat up the whole group. On the other hand, if you let me be independent without touching the guild, I might be able to support you.”

Tae-soo-man looked at Joo-se-ah without saying a word. His barbed tone was still the same, but unlike before when he was inexperienced in dealing with people, his speaking skills were more skillful. His negotiating skills were still lacking, but they had been refined to some extent, and he knew how to use them to his advantage.

‘I was wondering what kind of face Malbonsae would have. It seems like he learned something from Kang Mu-hyuk.’

Taesuman opened his mouth after gathering his thoughts.

“How can I trust you not to go to your brother and say the same thing?”

“My eldest son is greedy. Would he want to lose what was originally his? I don’t want to get stabbed in the back of the head after joining hands with my eldest son.”

“I’m not easy when it comes to greed either.”

“Whether it’s a puppy or a woof, they’re all the same. But I prefer the one that sounds a little more pleasant and looks cuter.”

“Just talk.”

“You’re not at the age where you want to have a younger sibling who speaks nicely. You should go and ask the chairman about that. I think he’s still in good health, so even a late bloomer would be able to do it.”

The more I talked to Joo Se Ah, the more annoyed I became. She wasn’t a cute little sister before, but now she seemed to be closer to a terrible little sister.

Taesu felt the need to slightly adjust the negotiations to avoid getting involved any further.

“Yes. You take charge of the guild. But you can’t be independent. Do whatever you want within the group. I won’t care.”

“Hey, Taesuman.”

“… … .”

“If you try to have everything, you’ll lose everything. Whether you’re the chairman or the vice chairman, they’re not the kind of people who can win by being greedy. Just give up what you have to give up.”

Joo Se-ah, who had been expressionlessly grumbling, added as if she had forgotten.

“Oh? By the way, if you don’t fulfill the contract after the group eats, you’ll be in trouble.”

“A verbal contract is also a contract, right? If you’re really worried, I can write you a memorandum of understanding. Write it for you.”

“Okay. I know what kind of dirty tricks you’re going to do with that memorandum. You’re not going to use a piece of paper as an excuse to put me on a leash, are you? And I don’t need a contract or anything.”

Joo Seah lightly placed her hand on the table. Ugh, the marble top shattered and the table split into pieces.

“There’s a famous saying in our hunter industry. Why use your fists when you can’t? A hunter like me can handle it without anyone noticing. I’ll leave it to your imagination to figure out what to do.”

“Huh? You even know how to threaten. Our youngest is all grown up, huh?”

“Someone told me a while ago that if you become the best hunter in Korea, you can do this. I hope that the first person to do this is not Tae Soo Man.”

Taesu swallowed dry saliva without realizing it.

* * *

Kang Moo-hyuk first confined the hunters who had tried to kill Lee Sook-young in a special facility. He also isolated Seo Soo-ji and her group. This was to hear their testimony later.

Although he had fought alongside Seo Su-ji and her group during the Gangbyeonbuk-ro incident, he couldn’t completely trust them because a hunter is someone who can turn their backs on others depending on the situation or their own interests.

Kang Moo-hyuk offered a seat to Lee Sook-young, who was now free.

“Is the coffee okay?”

“Do you have any fresh water?”

“honeydew?”

“That yellow, sweet fruit juice. I’ve been to the afterlife a few times and come back, so I crave something sweet.”

“Oh, orange juice? I don’t really like sweets, so I don’t have any.”

“Then, I’ll just drink it as coffee bean tea. With sugar.”

Kang Moo-hyuk served hot coffee to Lee Sook-young with his own hands and asked her another question in a much more relaxed atmosphere.

“Okay, Hunter Lee Sook-young has sent everyone else out so that it’s easy for her to talk. I think I need to know about the situation to help resolve it. Why was a hunter from the North chased here?”

“Honestly, I don’t know either. I think it’s because of what I saw in ‘Monster Zone’… but I have no idea what that is.”

“In the Demon Realm. What did you see?”

Kang Moo-hyuk became nervous when he heard about the gate he saw in the devil’s court.

It was already the time when the conflict between China and Russia in the Demon Realm was in full swing. Was it a coincidence that Lee Sook-young had run away here at this point? Could what she saw have nothing to do with the events she knew?

Kang Moo-hyeok’s intuition sharply turned upside down. Lee Sook-young continued speaking.

“It’s a monster gate. In American terms, it’s called a gate. I’ve seen it, but… it was a bit strange.”

“What part was strange?”

“Usually, if it’s a monster gate, there should be a ‘guardian’ guarding it. If there’s no one, doesn’t that mean that it’s been subdued?”

“Yes.”

“But if you’ve done the subjugation, you should have opened the door with a key and gone in, which is only natural, but why isn’t anyone going in? Why is there a device that emits a strange force field near the monster door?”

“Device?”

“A red force field covered the monster door. It looked like something was blocking it. It was to prevent the monster from coming out from inside.”

“Were you blocking the gate?”

Kang Moo-hyuk couldn’t think of anything right away. As far as he knew, there was no way to seal or block the gate.

If there is, is it something like ‘closing bomb’?

‘That’s hard to use except in places like the Demon Realm because of the side effects.’

Closing night.

This was a last resort to attack the gate, or rather to force it closed.

The method is simple. If you absolutely cannot clear the gate before the outbreaking date, just blow up the outer gate.

The problem was that this method could not be used carelessly in the city.

The aftermath of the gate explosion was like showering the entire city with an EMP bomb. All electronic devices were destroyed as if they had been hit by a wide-ranging electromagnetic pulse.

Not only that, but electricity will also be unavailable. This is not a temporary disruption, but depending on the size of the gate, entire areas will be without access to electricity, fuel, and other necessities of civilization for at least several years, or even decades.

In short, it meant that the area was returning to the primitive era.

Even if it isn’t destroyed by monsters, a city will die.

‘It’s probably not just a device to block the gate. It’s probably used for something else. Or it’s used in a way that’s different from its original purpose. Then, the question is what the device is for… Is it really something that warrants killing a person to silence them?’

Kang Moo-hyuk had already thought that the gate that Lee Sook-young had seen was one of the five gates that the Tsar Guild had spoken of, and was thinking about a response.

“Still, listening to the Shinuiju broker and coming to the Bukpocheon ‘Hunter Activity Group’ wasn’t a bad choice. I also met a group leader who I could communicate with. I’m so glad I was able to save my life.”

At the words that Lee Sook-young blurted out in passing while sipping her coffee, Kang Moo-hyuk felt a chill run down his spine as if cold water had been poured over him.

“Wait a minute. Are you saying that someone recommended that you come to Bukpocheon just now?”

“Rather than offering, I did mention the hunter village here. I made the decision. He is a loyal comrade who even saved me from my pursuer.”

Hunters from the North rarely came down to the South. This was because there were many rumors circulating in the North that made people reluctant to go down to the South, even if it was a matter of life and death.

Kang Moo-hyuk was also well aware of the rumors going around about Joo Se-ah, especially in the North. They were almost treating her like a monster, the last of the humans?

Nevertheless, Kang Mu-hyeok was feeling suspicious about the fact that Lee Sook-young had come down to Bukpocheon.

‘If you’re talking about a goner, you’re talking about a broker. The Shinuiju broker took the risk and helped him escape? That’s a bit strange.’

Of course, the Shinuiju brokers were famous for being sincere to their customers. However, this also depended on how much they paid. The rule of their brokers was to give the cheapest price, and the expensive price.

It was clear that Lee Sook-young, a hunter from the North, could not afford expensive services.

“Do you happen to know who the broker is that recommended the trip to Bukpocheon? His name, age, hometown, etc.”

“So, your name is… . Oh? I just happened to give you a ‘self-introduction sheet.’”

Lee Sook-young searched through her pockets, found a worn-out wallet, took out a business card, and handed it over.

Kang Moo-hyuk received the business card and confirmed the name.

“Huh? Why is this guy coming out here?”