The Time-Limited Leader Makes the Raid a Success - Chapter 120



Only Noblemtl

Episode 120

120. Are you really curious?

Kang Moo-hyuk, whose head was complicated by the name on the business card, decided to have Lee Sook-young stay within the guild for the time being.

Afterwards, I was planning to proceed with the testimony of Seo Su-ji and her group and the interrogation of the unidentified hunters, but after seeing the business card, I changed my mind.

‘If the current manager I know is true… . What did that ‘stimulator(?)’ who knows where he’ll go touch? I will never touch it.’

Stimulant.

Kang Moo-hyeok was the word that defined Hyun Jeong-geon. There was no other way to describe him. A person who finds motivation for work in interest and stimulation.

Hyun Jeong-geon enjoyed creating, intervening in, and manipulating provocative incidents.

‘The only good thing is that he has his own set of rules.’

His former colleagues from Titan only knew Hyun Jeong-geon as a sly, sly, but hard-working hunter.

Kang Moo-hyuk also had no doubts about his competence. However, from his experience working with him, Hyun Jeong-geon was a dangerous person. There was a time when he was convinced that if he made one misstep, he would become the worst villain.

‘Even Matthew Boo Gil-ma was reluctant to use it.’

Even Matthew Su, an efficiency enthusiast who would not hesitate to go to any place of origin if it was useful, was the one who avoided Hyun Jeong-geon.

That person was Kang Mu-hyeok’s confidant for two years. We accomplished many things together, but there were also countless times when we were extremely dangerous. Even now, when I think about it, there were more than a few things that were so frightening that I can’t believe how I handled them.

‘I need to look back at the situation. I need to organize the testimony and the information I’ve heard about the Demonic Realm so far to see what I can see.’

First, Kang Moo-hyuk simplified the situation.

He took a notebook and listed the connections between places and people in chronological order, in the order in which they occurred to him. This was his preferred method for drawing the overall picture of a complex event.

He wrote Russia first as a starting point, because it was the source of information about the magic and the first time he noticed suspicious movements.

『Russia → Tsar Guild → Ma-gyeong → Chinese Guild → Gate → Mysterious Device → Lee Sook-young (witness) → Korean Hunter (pursuer) → Shin Ui-ju → Hyun Jeong-geon → Bukpocheon → Baekho Guild → Kim Myeong-jun → Tae Soo-cheol』

“If we first erase the places where there is no connection at all… … .”

It started with Kim Myeong-jun. Although he was connected to the Baekho Guild, Tae Su-cheol, who followed, had no connection to Ma-gyeong at all.

Considering that Taesung Group was related to Joo Se-ah, it was not surprising that Kim Myung-jun, who was tasked with interfering with Joo Se-ah, was connected to Taesung’s eldest son. It was likely that he was simply acting as a broker.

‘Then, what about the Baekho Guild?’

The Baekho Guild was ambiguous. It was a tier guild with a bad reputation, but it was impossible to be certain that it was related to the Demon Realm.

The organization behind the Korean hunters chasing Lee Sook-young could have been a simple client, or, as Go Eul-ji testified, they could have been deeply involved, as they were trying to eliminate all of those hunters.

However, it was uncomfortable to entrust the mission to Park Beom-il, who could be considered a top player within the Baekho Guild.

‘The most difficult ones are Hyun Jeong-geon and Shin Ui-ju.’

It was not strange since it was a city along the route that Shinuiju and Lee Sook-young were fleeing. However, Hyun Jeong-geon was too unexpected.

Of course, the mere fact that one of the dangerous people Kang Mu-hyeok thought of suddenly appeared at this point was enough to cause alarm.

A coincidence too suspicious to be called a coincidence.

Judging from his business card, he seemed to be currently working as a broker in Sinuiju.

Perhaps being a broker was a good fit for Hyun Jeong-geon. He was always looking for thrills. There was no place in Korea as spectacular as Shinuiju, so being a Shinuiju broker was a job that suited him well.

Kang Moo-hyuk, who was looking at the memo, suddenly caught sight of the part that said ‘Korean Hunter (Chaser)’ and muttered.

“At the gate of the Chinese guild’s magic realm, a Korean hunter was the pursuer? This needs to be investigated.”

Kang Moo-hyuk picked up the phone and connected to the guild cooperation center.

The other party was Manager Park Chung-soo, who had first received a call from Kang Mu-hyeok at the Guild Cooperation Office and had ended up being the person in charge of contacting Iron Will up until now.

After exchanging brief greetings, Kang Mu-hyeok got straight to the point.

“Chief Park, could you please give me a list of hunters who have naturalized as Chinese? It’s nothing special. I just want to see if there are any good people. If I persuade them well, I might be able to bring them back by restoring their citizenship.”

Kang Mu-hyeok made up a plausible excuse so that the guild cooperation office would not have to worry unnecessarily.

“Yes, as long as there are people who have gone through the official process, not illegal residence, that’s fine. Also, please give me a list of the Chinese guilds that those hunters joined. We might need it for negotiations. No, I don’t need to know everything, but just the ones with the most hunters who joined. Also, please list the guild size. Based on the Chinese ranking. Oh? Could you also tell me if there was any record of hunting or doing business with domestic guilds? After all, China is ‘Quanxi’. If you worked with a domestic guild, it would be easier to convey the message through that guild.”

Kang Moo-hyuk couldn’t bring himself to ask if there was a Chinese guild that worked with the Baekho Guild.

The moment he mentioned the Tier Guild he worked with in China, the Guild Cooperation Center could have gone into a state of tension.

Just mentioning Russia and the Demonic Land was enough to make the Buddha’s head’s butt twitch, and there was no way to drag China in here. This was also a burden to the Guild Cooperation Office, which lacked international capabilities.

However, if it was Director Cha Gil-ju who was as bold and quick-witted as he was, he would have dug into the Baekho Guild without considering any vested interests.

The Baekho Guild was a large guild that even the Slayer Guild had difficulty seeing. Rather than creating trouble by scraping for no reason, Kang Mu-hyeok decided that it would be better to go through the trouble of searching for information himself.

– As the captain said, Chinese kids tend to be big-hearted and loyal when they get involved with a Kuanshi. The hunter industry is no different. Okay. I’ll check and get back to you.

Fortunately, when Kwansi was mentioned, Park Chung-soo seemed to accept Kang Mu-hyeok’s request without any suspicion.

Although he was still lacking some of the materials needed to make a judgment, Kang Moo-hyuk thought that he could no longer just sit at his desk.

This incident, which was a combination of coincidence and inevitability and whose true nature is still unknown, somehow did not seem like it would end as a small spark.

He kept fiddling with his business cards. He even tapped them on the desk, thinking about it.

“It would be awkward to just let it go without talking about it.”

I picked up the phone and dialed the number written on the business card.

There were a few beeps, and then a click and a familiar voice.

-Yes, ‘Please order anything.’ This is the current president.

A voice that brought back old memories. Kang Moo-hyuk was certain of the playful voice.

“You’re being too obvious about planning this on purpose, Manager Hyun.”

-Oh my, who is this? Team Leader Kang Moo-hyuk, no, now you’re the captain? I almost made a big mistake. To your superior. How have you been? I was worried when I heard you came out of Titan. But now you’re the captain of the most promising guild in South Korea. Haha. No. Did you create the most promising guild?

“Don’t say things you don’t mean. The Lee Sook-young Hunter case. What is this? Why did you take matters so dangerously?”

Hyun Jeong-geon slapped his knee in agreement to Kang Mu-hyeok’s straightforward question.

– As expected, you noticed. I wasn’t sure if my business card would reach the manager. To be honest, it was half and half.

“Bukpocheon is a dead end. Those who mobilized Korean hunters to pursue us from Ma-gyeong all the way across the border would not chase us because it was Bukpocheon. We have to assume that there was some intention behind sending Lee Sook-young Hunter there, deceiving her into thinking it was a safe place to retreat to.”

There was even a hint of anger in Kang Moo-hyuk’s voice. It was a strange sight considering that he usually had almost no emotional ups and downs. In other words, it meant that no one was as uncomfortable with Kang Moo-hyuk as Hyun Jeong-geon. In a sense, it could be seen as great.

-Hahaha. Of course, it’s not that I didn’t have any intentions… … .

“The intention was quite malicious to Hunter Lee Sook-young.”

-I don’t have any bad feelings toward Ms. Lee Sook-young.

“Wasn’t the recommendation to go to Bukpocheon based on the premise of Hunter Lee Sook-young’s sacrifice?”

-Well, I thought I might die if I was unlucky. I think you knew that there was no other alternative.

Kang Mu-hyeok said as if he was dumbfounded.

“If Hunter Lee Sook-young had died in Bukpocheon, her remains would have been reported to me in some way. I would have calculated that the business card could be found. If that wasn’t malicious, then what is malicious?”

-Oh, that’s a bit too much of a leap. You know how hunters deal with corpses. If you throw them to the monsters as food, there’s no corpse left behind. Do you think I would have chosen such a low-probability contact?

“If there is a reason why it had to be that way. Manager Hyun, no, President Hyun Jeong-geon. Because he is the kind of person who would do that.”

-What if I just forwarded the business card like this because I didn’t know the direct number to connect to Ironwill? I couldn’t get the number from anywhere through my connections.

“That’s not the answer I wanted. You keep hiding something.”

-But we’ve worked together for a long time. Oh my, you don’t believe me. It’s you, Chief, who feels ill will toward me.

The conversation stopped and there was silence for a long time. Finally, it was Hyun Jeong-geon who could no longer bear it and opened his mouth.

– Let’s assume what the manager said is true. Then why did I try to contact you in such a complicated way? The business card might not be delivered.

“Well. Because Hunter Lee Sook-young shouldn’t know? If she gets caught, she won’t know that the current president tried to contact me. A broker’s business card would be thrown away without a care, but if she asked to contact me directly and got caught, it could have been a burden. She might have thought it was better not to be contacted than to take that risk. This is just a guess.”

-I knew you could be an alternative.

A deep sigh followed, along with an unknown word. It seemed as if hot steam was coming out of Hyun Jeong-geon’s mouth.

-Sir, would you like to come to Shinuiju?

“I’m sorry, but the schedule here is tight. I don’t have time to just go up to Shinuiju. If you have any business, please come down to President Hyun or give me a call.”

-I’d like to come down, but unfortunately I’m not in a position to leave. It’s difficult to even talk on the phone.

“There is no reason for me to look after your situation either.”

-No, you have to come. There’s something very serious going on here.

Seriously?

Words I had never heard before came out of Hyun Jeong-geon’s mouth.

‘I’m not the type of person to say something is serious.’

Even during the Titan Guild’s gate raid, half of the raiders were killed, but he never used this expression.

Somehow I had a feeling that if I didn’t accept Hyun Jeong-geon’s request, I would regret it greatly.

‘That’s why I didn’t want to get involved. I shouldn’t have called you in the first place. Because once you start talking, you can’t ignore it.’

Kang Moo-hyuk glanced at the goosebumps growing on his forearm with an ominous feeling and said.

“I’ll contact you as soon as I take care of the urgent matter. Let’s make an appointment then.”

-I hope to see you again soon. Okay.

As soon as the call ended, Kang Mu-hyeok called Noh Song-rin.

“Why did you call me?”

“I think you should go to Shinuiju. Please find out what’s going on there.”

* * *

Shinuiju.

A city that is on Korean soil but abandoned by Korea.

As a border area with China, it was convenient for land and water transportation, so it was a center for border trade and distribution of timber from the Yalu River. It once had a population of over 300,000, but it became a city that completely fell into ruin after the Great War.

After the Great War, when North Korean hunters rose up in resistance against being absorbed into South Korea and unified, it was a stronghold for rebel hunters.

After that, during the period of the ‘Little War’ when large-scale breaking occurred, the Demon Realm expanded, and it became the only city bordering China that was not blocked by the Demon Realm, and a population of close to 400,000 people came to live there.

The population was larger than at any time in the city’s history, but half of them were ethnic Chinese or ethnic Koreans, half were descendants of North Korean hunters who had been subjugated, and the rest were either secret criminals or brokers and dealers who made a living by assisting them.

Shinuiju, a dark city that was called Gotham City in the Hunter era, was a modern slum where you could not find any hope no matter how hard you looked.

“CEO Hyun. If you want to live off of my food, you can’t do this here, right?”

“No, those guys who came to talk, what kind of knives are they carrying?”

“If you were a man who could communicate, I would have done so long ago. If you’re a Braca, live quietly while licking your guests’ assholes like a Braca should. Don’t gather people around and stir things up for no reason.”

“We won’t be able to meet up anyway. We’re all busy trying to make a living.”

“This is your last warning. If you get caught helping the North Koreans one more time like last time, you won’t be able to eat or drink. Do you understand?”

“Ha, you punk. You’ve become a lackey of the Chinese kids. If you’re one of our compatriots, have some conscience. Don’t take advantage of your fellow compatriots.”

“Hey~ It’s funny when you look for your compatriot, you little lynx.”

“I didn’t say that to make you laugh. But now that I say it, it feels awkward. Anyway, we’re not in a good relationship even if we see each other’s faces. Let’s just move on, okay?”

“Huh! Do your business well. Don’t get caught.”

“Take care. I won’t go far.”

After the intruder left, Hyun Jeong-geon checked the text message he received last night.

“You’re faster than I thought. Kang Mu-hyuk.”

He muttered as he took a picture of the place and sent it to me.

“I really wonder how you would handle this place?”