The Time-Limited Leader Makes the Raid a Success - Chapter 421



Only Noblemtl

Episode 421

#421. Are these fucking bastards back?

Kang Moo-hyuk handed over the Busan area to the Iron Will advance team including Lee Jin-joo and headed to Seoul.

Seo Dae-chi, who was in the area, joined the advance party, but brought Han Garam up to Seoul.

Han Garam got off at Seoul Station with Kang Mu-hyeok and Noh Song-rin in an awkward posture.

As soon as I stepped out of the room, Oh Jeong-yeon came out to greet me.

“Chief, are you here?”

Kang Mu-hyeok immediately handed Han Garam over after receiving her greeting.

“This is Hunter Han Garam. I’m a new recruit who just joined. Hunter Noh Song-rin told you, right?”

“Yes. Roll it.”

Kang Moo-hyeok glanced at Noh Song-rin. Noh Song-rin smiled awkwardly and said.

“Isn’t the point that you just have to convey the main points? Haha… … .”

“Certainly, that’s not wrong.”

As Kang Mu-hyeok nodded, Han Garam’s face turned pale. He had been scolded by Noh Song-rin and Seo Dae-chi during the Battle of Bexco.

‘Senior Seo Dae-chi said that there are demon instructors in Iron Will… . When you say Guli, doesn’t that mean you want to catch me? If that person is a demon, how scary is he?’

Of course, training in a guild with a proper instructor group accelerated the hunter’s growth rate.

But even so, there was no hunter who wanted to suffer. They say there is no fruit without pain, but it was probably every hunter’s wish to rank up a little more easily.

When Hangaram was very nervous, Kang Muhyuk spoke to him.

“Han Garam Hunter.”

“Yes, yes?!”

“It might be a bit early to sign the contract. Go to Bukpocheon with Manager Oh Jeong-yeon and proceed with the contract. Then, start training right away. If you want to survive in the future, you’ll have to train hard.”

“S, to survive… … ?”

“I canceled the last sentence. Just go to the car in front of me.”

“Does that mean you didn’t hear that it was canceled?”

Kang Mu-hyeok spoke to Oh Jeong-yeon, seemingly listening to Han Garam’s protest.

“Manager Oh Jeong-yeon. What about our car?”

“It’s behind me. The keys are here.”

When Oh Jeong-yeon handed over the car keys, Noh Song-rin took Kang Mu-hyeok’s luggage and loaded it into the back car.

Kang Mu-hyeok followed Noh Song-rin and whispered in Oh Jeong-yeon’s ear.

“I’m out of my mind right now, so stamp it as soon as you get there. Before you run away.”

“Yes. We will also record on the way so that you can hear everything without fail.”

* * *

The first place Kang Mu-hyeok headed to was the Hunter Association.

The government and the National Assembly have not yet set a date to meet due to the issue of coordinating the time.

It was an impatient situation for Kang Moo-hyuk, who desperately wanted to establish a defense posture against sea monsters as soon as possible, but for some reason, the political world seemed relaxed.

‘Northeast Asia is in an unprecedented crisis due to Naga’s large-scale attack. The next year or two will determine the direction of the Northeast Asian monster war.’

Kang Mu-hyeok was taking this Naga situation more seriously than anyone else.

Governments and hunters around the world were fiddling with the abacus, but it was predicted that even mental calculations such as ‘1+1’ would eventually become difficult.

‘Okinawa is like that, but Naga’s attack is extremely fatal to Japan. The wide coastline is a problem, but there is also the problem of Hokkaido, where monsters are taking over. The habitats of monsters that have been postponed until now will come to the surface in earnest.’

Japan had a large land area, but its population was shrinking. There was an absolute shortage of hunters.

Although they had been recruiting Southeast Asian hunters on good terms, they began to avoid them as they realized the circumstances of Japan, known as the land of monsters.

‘Still, we’ve been able to suppress it within a predictable range so far. Even in the Mt. Fuji area, the structure was such that an excessive amount of Hunter power had to be deployed, but we were able to respond because we were called a Hunter powerhouse.’

But with the advent of Nagaga, a situation arose where we had to worry about coastal defense as well.

Perhaps Japan has been able to survive until now because it has not been attacked by sea monsters.

‘The problem is that Korea is not a safe place.’

Korea was a peninsula country. To the north was the devil’s paradise, and on three sides was the sea. Now, it was surrounded by monsters on all sides.

If Naga had taken control of the sea and been invaded by the Demonic Realm like in the previous Northeast Defense War, he could have faced a terrible situation.

‘Plus Zmei Gorinich.’

When the three-headed evil dragon born in the midst of the Ma-gyeong incident descends south, the nation will inevitably stand at a crossroads of survival.

“China is the problem.”

“Huh? What did you say?”

Noh Song-rin looked back in the rearview mirror at Kang Mu-hyeok’s monologue.

“No. This time, I’m talking about the Naga attack. It depends on how China reacts.”

“Isn’t that already a thing? That, the head of the cooperation department said that. They’re all fighting and arguing there, too.”

“That’s true, but… the local government is still stable.”

“Local government?”

Since the Gate era, China has been one of the countries with considerably strong local military power.

In other countries, they could have achieved independence through a military coup or warlordism, but fortunately, China was able to stay united thanks to its political ideology called the Communist Party.

This was not because of loyalty to the communist regime. Rather, it was because the benefits that could be gained under the communist system were so great that the country was able to be maintained.

This was because unification was a more effective means of governance than independence in controlling the people who had come to believe in the superiority of the communist ideology through the propaganda of the state-run media for many years.

However, the local militarized forces did not blindly follow the central government’s words.

The warlords outwardly claimed to be loyal supporters of the Beijing government, but inwardly they joined hands with local hunter forces to establish their own independent ruling system.

The current Beijing government was the most powerful force, exerting influence over the capital city of Beijing and the surrounding Hebei Province to the northeastern region from Shandong, but it could not ignore the power of the local warlords.

“The problem here is that the conflict between the Beijing-based Huanglong Guild and the Shandong Guild has intensified due to the recent Mirage incident.”

After hearing the explanation, Noh Song-rin was able to quickly understand the situation because she had followed Kang Mu-hyeok around and picked up a lot of things.

‘But is this something a single guild should be concerned about?’

Such a question crossed Noh Song-rin’s mind, but he soon realized that Iron Will was involved in all of these incidents and nodded.

Kang Mu-hyeok continued his explanation as if talking to himself.

“According to what I have learned from Director Guan Hong, the warlords along the southern coast, despite suffering the most damage from the Naga incident compared to the divided northeast, are more united than ever. That is why Beijing is taking drastic measures to resolve the situation in order to maintain its influence over the already tenuous region.”

Sometimes, excessive ambition can be toxic. When the body does not follow, but the mind is ahead, discord is heard here and there between the Chinese government and the local guilds.

“Seeing how things are going so wrong, it’s brave that the world hasn’t fallen apart yet. We need to hear the monsters’ perspective here too. They probably think humans are just like cockroaches. They might be fed up with attacking us and still being alive.”

“A cockroach… I guess you could really think that.”

Noh Song-rin tried to comfort Kang Mu-hyeok in her own way, as if speaking for him, but the person in question took it seriously.

‘That’s exactly what Miraju says. Humans are pests that ruin the Earth. Gate and monsters are God’s cleaners that purify the Earth. Even Illusion was persistent, as if he considered it his life’s mission.’

The plan of the illusion to destroy the national system by allowing Mirage to take root in Korea failed, but as a result, Northeast Asia was shaken by the threat of new monsters due to his tyranny.

At this point, Kang Mu-hyeok had no choice but to change his mind about the path he had been on so far.

‘We need something bigger. Even if we can catch monsters well in Korea, if other places falter, we will be affected here too. We need something that can fundamentally control the global hunter system.’

As his thoughts deepened, the vehicle arrived at the Hunters Association.

* * *

“The lord of Gildanryeon is talking? Who is the lord?”

Kang Mu-hyeok tilted his head and asked in confusion at the words of Association Chairman Han Byeong-gu.

“Yoshimura Gen. You’ve probably heard the name. If you’ve studied Hunter’s history.”

Gen Yoshimura.

He was a representative hunter of Japan during the Great War.

Although the most famous Japanese hunter was Takeru Kishin, who was called a ghost by Korean hunters, it was actually Yoshimura who led the Japanese hunters and commanded them on the battlefields around the world.

He was once a hero in Japan and a role model for hunters around the world. That was until that incident.

“I know, but… The translator doesn’t have a good image here. There was also the Guryongneung incident.”

“Since Yoshimura took over, people have changed a bit. In the past, he used to catch monsters without calculating… Now, he’s overly political.”

Han Byeong-gu thought of his old friend who had shed blood together in the same battlefield. Now, his appearance has disappeared without a trace, but he was once a Japanese hunter whom he also admired.

Of course, Yoshimura could be considered an accomplice because he stood back and did not get involved in the Guryongneung incident that led to the downfall of the Korean hunter community, but he also turned a blind eye to it.

“At that time, regrets are regrets. Just because you feel bad, you can’t pretend not to know what’s happening right now.”

“I agree with that. So what’s the content?”

“What do you mean? You’re saying we should respond together? Didn’t Director Kang already talk about it?”

“I was really criticized. I wonder why I brought up such a criticized proposal again now.”

“They got screwed too. In Okinawa. They got impatient.”

“How could an experienced hunter like Lord Yoshimura not have known that? Isn’t it too shameless of an action towards the dead hunters and the people to give in after your foolish strategy has been exposed?”

“I told you. Humans have really become politically sophisticated. The situation there is quite complicated. As Yoshimura said, we need to be prepared to talk.”

Kang Moo-hyuk immediately understood what Yoshimura meant.

‘Ready? Are you trying to pressure the government with a miserable failure?’

It was a battle to recapture Okinawa that mobilized Japan’s most powerful fleet. There is nothing to say about the operation that the government had ambitiously prepared, which was aborted at the cost of considerable sacrifice.

Yoshimura seemed intent on using such failures to shake up the government.

“You knew about it but didn’t stop it and just left it alone? When it was time for the war, you should have stopped it even if it meant throwing a tantrum. Don’t you have the power to do that?”

“There must have been different opinions within Gildanryun as well. Kishin has always hated the government interfering with Hunters’ business. Even Yoshimura would have a hard time opposing Kishin. He may be a bit temperamental, but his skills are also S-rank. If Yoshimura is good at coordinating between groups, he would have chosen to appease Kishin with a moderate failure and break the government’s pride before making a move.”

As Han Byeong-gu explained the internal situation in Japan, Kang Mu-hyeok looked at him with a puzzled look.

“You said something about Lord Yoshimura being political, but now I see that the president of the association is also making political calculations just like him. I guess Korea is just as much of a dirty jungle as Japan.”

“Do you know that the jungle is you? I can’t just throw this guy into the jungle.”

Han Byeong-gu got angry and a vein appeared on his forehead.

Kang Moo-hyuk clapped his hands and said, “That’s good.”

“I heard that Lord Yoshimura wants to meet with Guild Master Ju Se-ah? If you kick me out, the Guild Master will have to negotiate with the Lord. It’ll be a headache. That’s good. While you’re at it, you can see your friends, have a drink of soju, and reminisce about the Great War.”

“Me? That guy? I’ll drink.”

“For your information, I can’t drink alcohol. The president of the association should personally handle the entertaining of guests.”

“Who wants to drink?”

“That’s why.”

Before he knew it, Han Byung-goo had become the one who suggested drinking. He noticed that Kang Mu-hyeok was trying to cleverly change the subject and pass the work on to him, and he snickered and said.

“Do you think I’ll get screwed this time? I won’t fall for it, you punk. I’ll just connect you with Yoshimura. You decide whether or not to meet. You negotiate too.”

“Are you saying you’re handing me all the power? Cowardly?”

“Whether you involve the government or not. Whether you persuade other guilds. I will only coordinate.”

“What about the Association? Will the Association ignore me? Fatally?”

“I said I would help you.”

“How far?”

“How can you ask me that? A working person should think about it and ask.”

“If I gather all the guilds that don’t listen… I’ll try to talk them out of it somehow… No, no. I can’t do this because it’s too much trouble. I’ll pretend it never happened.”

When Kang Mu-hyeok showed signs of leaving, Han Byung-goo, who brought up the subject, was embarrassed instead.

“You punk, you said something was urgent?! Why are you taking a step back?”

“I thought that if I got involved in the wrong way, I would just get scolded and not get anything out of it.”

“Why don’t you just take care of your own business? Your specialty is taking advantage of others.”

“Isn’t the president of the association trying to back down? No matter how much the association pushes, the president is passive, so what can I do with my trust?”

“Can you give me full authority?”

“You’re going to say something different later, you cowardly and fatally.”

“I told you not to do it.”

“Really? On the honor of being the president of the association?”

“Yes. I’m Han Byeong-gu! I’m not a hunter who talks twice!”

“Are you betting on the county seat?”

“Yeah, I’m betting my granddaughter… Huh?”

“Including a 30-year contract period and salary freeze?”

When Kang Mu-hyeok took out all the documents including the contract and the proxy oath and held them out in front of him, Han Byeong-gu suddenly came to his senses and snatched the documents away and read them.

“You… make something like this and carry it around?”

“Because you never know when or what kind of situation will arise. It’s unpredictable.”

“What? Ubiquitous? Isn’t this a lifelong slave contract?! Who would sign a contract like this?!”

When Han Byung-goo tore the contract to shreds in a fit of rage, Kang Moo-hyuk licked his lips.

“What a waste.”

“What’s so precious?!”

Just as Han Byeong-gu was about to grab Kang Mu-hyeok by the collar, Noh Song-rin burst open the door to the association president’s office and barged in.

“Captain!”

“Oh my! This guy’s a bodyguard, huh? Are you going to attack me?”

“What did you say, old man?”

“What? Sir?!”

Kang Mu-hyeok sensed something unusual in Noh Song-rin’s expression and asked.

“What’s going on?”

“The government just announced… I think you should take a look at this news.”

The smartphone that Noh Song-rin held out had a single line with the title of the breaking news.

[Charisma Guild. Naga subjugation war declaration. In line with the government’s active defensive offensive policy. Ultra-fast operation briefing using wigs.]

Before Kang Mu-hyeok could react, a curse came out of Han Byung-goo’s mouth.

“What the hell are these bastards doing? Why are they bringing up this failed operation again?”