The Time-Limited Leader Makes the Raid a Success - Chapter 60



Only Noblemtl

Episode 61

61. I guess I have to be careful what I say outside the house.

Detective Kim Bu-yong drove, holding his head that was shaking from a hangover.

My mind was clear, but I was feeling uneasy. I wanted to have a bowl of hangover soup and go to the sauna to sweat it out, but I had no choice but to go to the scene because of the sudden incident.

The wheels skidded several times on the muddy dirt caused by yesterday’s rain.

There were quite a few unpaved roads like this in Nampocheon. This was because of the chaos that occurred when Bukpocheon was turned into a special development zone.

As the population of Pocheon plummeted, the number of taxpayers decreased, and separate paved roads were not built in areas with few people. There were many places among the infrastructure destroyed in the chaos that had not been repaired until now.

The area was busy investing in projects to fill the gap in jobs with the national subsidies it received as a semi-disaster area.

Recently, with the Iron Will Guild making the special zone their home ground, expectations for economic revitalization have begun to rise.

In fact, Ironwill gave priority to Pocheon City companies in various fields, including headquarters construction and food material purchasing.

Thanks to this, the number of outsiders has increased, and so has the amount of police work.

That doesn’t mean I’m dissatisfied, though. The dying city is coming back to life.

“Thanks to that, the number of cases has increased. Ugh! Oh my, Duya. Huh? What is this? Why is the scene such a mess?”

The scene outside the car window was filled with townspeople. The police, who were relatively few in number, seemed to have a hard time maintaining the police line. Fortunately, people were keeping order and just watching from outside the line.

As Kim Bu-yong got out of the car, a junior detective who was controlling the onlookers noticed him and ran over to him.

“Detective Kim, why aren’t you answering my calls?”

“You passed out after drinking so much at the group dinner yesterday.”

“Okay, drink less. You always say you’re going to die, but you drink until you die. What’s wrong?”

“How can you not accept a glass of wine from the chief? When you grow up to be my age, you will be able to hold on to that kind of position until the end.”

“I guess you still want to get promoted?”

“I have three children. I need to become somewhat successful in order to make a living.”

The two detectives showed their identification cards to the police officers guarding the police line and went inside.

“I heard something about it. Murder?”

“It’s true that it’s murder, but that’s a bit… … .”

“Why are you being so quiet─”

Kim Bu-yong was unable to continue speaking.

A stench that stings the nose.

Even before I saw the scene, the smell of blood and rottenness filled my nostrils.

The scene that was revealed upon entering the barn was a horrific, if not bizarre, sight.

“What, what is this? Ugh─”

“What’s going on with someone who’s usually so squeamish?”

“It’s because of the alcohol. Waaagh!”

“I understand. The first police officers who saw the scene also vomited. I also vomited a little. I’ve seen murder scenes a few times before, but this is the first time I’ve seen something like this.”

It was also Kim Bu-yong’s first time.

A human head stuck in the center of a pillar.

The thing wrapped around the pillar seemed to be some kind of internal organ. It was difficult to even imagine what part it was.

There was blood all around, and flesh and entrails were strewn across the floor.

There was nowhere to set foot.

“Is this really something a human did?”

“Detective Kim, you look like that too. A person can’t do this. And look here.”

“Is this a cow head?”

“Yes. Judging from the rot, it looked like it had been a few days.”

“Your head is stuck on a stake?”

“I’ve seen something similar in books. Like a totem. At first glance, it looks like some kind of ritual performed by a shaman.”

“You think it’s a monster’s doing?”

“There are even traces of them being eaten raw. If this is the work of a monster, it’s not a single individual. It’s probably a group of them.”

Kim Bu-yong realized the seriousness of the situation.

More than one or two? How did they get through the electrified fence without being detected?

There had been a few breaches in the past, but the alarm sounded and we were able to respond right away. But this time, it was breached without anyone noticing.

‘No, that’s not the point. The whole of Pocheon could collapse.’

It was a problem when monsters swarmed around, but it was even more difficult when they scattered in all directions.

Aside from the growing damage, the biggest concern was that it would instill fear in the citizens of Nampocheon.

The community that was just beginning to stabilize could have collapsed completely.

“Report to the higher-ups. It seems like we can’t do it with our own strength.”

* * *

Kang Moo-hyuk was having a hectic day trying to figure out the capabilities of the new recruits.

The gap in skills that could be determined only through documents and reputation was filled by the evaluation report that Lee Jin-joo personally wrote.

Lee Jin-joo added to her assessment while sinking deep into the conference room sofa.

“Baek Seong-bin Hunter is definitely good. He’s tough and durable. But he’s not really a main tank. Maybe if he were a sub-tanks. He just doesn’t have enough patience.”

“It’s okay. I’m not going to raise him as a tank.”

“Huh? If you don’t raise a Hunter with a strong healing factor as a tank, what would you use him for?”

“Tank or dealer. What would it be?”

“How out of the blue? I’m not that fast.”

“Not all dealers are fast. Their speed isn’t as bad as you might think. Since they’re hunters who like to jump out, you have to let them jump out as much as they want.”

“Well, the captain was the one who suddenly started using the swordsman style on me. At first, I thought he was just banging on a spear. At that time, Gilma also tried to stop me. But in the end, it was a great success. Since there is a precedent, I have nothing to say.”

“Captain Lee Jin-ju was a successful case. It’s not like I was successful either.”

“A .300 batting average is considered good, but the manager was way above that. It was a rare success rate even in the industry.”

“Hunting coordination is not baseball. It determines the future of a hunter, so you should focus on failure rather than success. The key is to accurately understand the limit of what you can recover from failure.”

Lee Jin-joo shrugged her shoulders. How dare she act so stiffly on a topic that was supposed to be a light chat. If only she had fixed that old-fashioned part, she wouldn’t have been fighting with Titan Bugilma.

‘Well, I have nothing to say about Bugilma.’

Then it was time to evaluate the next hunter.

Joo Se Ah entered the conference room with a knock. Jin Joo Lee straightened her posture.

“Okay. Make yourself at home. This isn’t a guild that cares about things like that.”

“No. If I become comfortable with you, it would be embarrassing for others. As a former Slayer, you know this well, but each and every action of the members is directly reflected in your reputation. It’s necessary to have a minimum level of courtesy.”

Although Kang Mu-hyeok didn’t specifically warn her, Lee Jin-joo was behaving well on her own.

The experience of being active as a main force in a large guild’s expedition could be obtained simply by being good at hunting, but a hunter aiming for the position of expedition leader had to know how to take care of the unseen aspects as well.

It was a remark that felt a bit distant, but Joo Se Ah soon understood what she meant and nodded her head in agreement.

“You left your seat. Where have you been?”

“Patrol the perimeter.”

“Patrol?”

“We are seriously short-handed. Even though we have new members, I have no choice but to fill in for the time being.”

Kang Mu-hyeok scratched his head. It was a pity. In other guilds, Gilma wouldn’t be doing small tasks.

Besides, Joo Se Ah was a top-class hunter. She wasn’t someone who would go on a simple patrol mission.

This time, even Kang Moo-hyuk couldn’t bring himself to advise her to protect Gilma’s reputation. If Joo Se-ah didn’t step forward, the other hunters’ fatigue would increase.

“The level has improved significantly compared to the previous unit, but the number of people is still not negligible. If we cannot meet the shortage of manpower, it will hold us back for a long time.”

“I plan to resolve that part soon.”

“How?”

“There is a fallback plan in case we can’t fill the desired number of people through transfer. I mentioned this to the guild leader before.”

“Before? Was it a draft? It’s almost winter season.”

“The draft is a game of Go-Stop that is planned in advance anyway.”

Lee Jin-joo tilted her head and chimed in. Kang Mu-hyeok said.

“School graduates with excellent grades are often recruited by large guilds. However, freelancers, except for a few famous hunters, are mostly outside the scope of the hiring managers.”

“On the other hand, freelancers don’t have objective data. That’s why they come out as draftees, not scouts. The only thing we hear is rumors. Sometimes, if a hunting scene is revealed and recognized, scouts from all over the country rush to them. How can a small guild like ours compete? This transfer was somehow made possible by exploiting personal circumstances.”

As Joo Seah pointed out, skilled freelancers preferred large guilds. At least they had to be mid-sized guilds to be interested.

Freelancers who are just filling in the numbers aren’t treated well even in small and medium-sized guilds. They get better support than hunting outside the guild, but it’s not enough to make them abandon their free hunting lifestyle.

As the freelance period gets longer, it becomes more difficult to maintain the guild’s rules. It has to be a mid-sized guild that can provide more merits than that to be worth joining.

“You can teach new employees from the beginning, but it’s hard for freelancers because they develop strange habits. It’s also difficult to check before hiring.”

“So, we need to find the raw diamonds who haven’t been freelancers for a long time. The one-year regular course at school can’t pick out all the raw diamonds. There are countless hunters who, even among the top performers, stagnate and fall behind. On the other hand, there are hunters who grow significantly among those who failed to join small and medium-sized guilds and were pushed out as freelancers.”

“Those hunters receive investment and form their own raiding parties, and even go so far as to establish guilds.”

“If it weren’t for the Taesung Guild, wouldn’t the guild leader have chosen that route?”

“I have a reputation. I’m confident in my skills. If Captain Lee Jin-ju leaves the guild right now and sets up a raid party, investors will line up.”

“Even if all the investors stick together, I’m not a good candidate. There was a case where one of my seniors failed. It’s cold and hungry outside the guild.”

Lee Jin-ju waved her hand with a shudder as if she had experienced life in the wild firsthand.

“Anyway, there is a way to supplement the personnel? Then, I will trust you and plan the training curriculum.”

“Take it easy. Don’t hurt the members like last time and don’t do it according to the Slayer standards.”

“T, back then… . I got it. Tch! Did you really think I couldn’t endure that? After all, it was a lower-rank training course. When will you get stronger if you keep pushing yourself like that?”

While Joo Se-ah was muttering, the conference room door opened slightly.

“Are you busy?”

“Team Leader Pyo. What’s going on?”

“I got a call on the hotline. Looks like there are a few monsters in Nampocheon.”

* * *

“Does this make sense? Didn’t Iron Will use the special zone as his base while protecting Nampocheon? And yet a monster is climbing over the barbed wire fence? What were you doing that led to this situation?”

“Congressman Kim, please calm down first… … .”

“It looks really real. Where is the mayor? In this day and age, right now. Tsk! Anyway, regardless of the ruling or opposition party, our city council members should step forward and condemn this issue first.”

The Nampocheon City manager in charge of communication with Iron Will was sweating profusely trying to appease the unruly city council members.

The city councilors thought they were in charge.

As the side benefits of using the special zone as a base were revealed in detail through Iron Will, they wanted to intervene in various vested interests.

On the other hand, the staff realized that Iron Will was the boss. The manager felt the need to defuse the heated atmosphere before the council members did anything.

“It’s a bit of a stretch to say that it’s Iron Will’s fault. They haven’t taken over the management of the fence yet. They’ve just started to settle in, so we’re in charge of it until we can get the system in place.”

“Do you think we’re doing this because we don’t know? The problem is that we’ve been using it as a base for a long time, and we haven’t handed over management until now.”

“It’s been a while since the declaration of the territory, but it hasn’t been that long since it was actually recaptured… … .”

“Oh! The manager doesn’t seem to understand what I’m saying. This will be on the news tonight. It’ll be a national scandal. We’ll be called incompetent. How are you going to appease the anger and anxiety of the citizens of Pocheon?”

“How did the media report that… … .”

Only then was the manager able to grasp the context of how the situation was unfolding.

You smelled it in the media before a day had passed?

I had doubts.

Information about gates and monsters was treated as top secret by the government and local governments. This meant that it was possible to legally control the press.

The police officers who saw the scene had their mouths locked, and no one from the residents other than the first person to report the incident directly saw the scene.

That is, unless someone deliberately leaked it, the media would not have known.

‘You’re trying to use public opinion to pressure Iron Will and then boil him? Damn, you’re even doing this to the guild that’s helping save Pocheon?’

It was a frustrating situation.

Just as I was at a loss as to how to persuade the city council members, the conference room door opened.

“Oh? You… … ?”

The person who appeared in the conference room was Kang Mu-hyuk.

He pretended to know the manager several times.

“Manager, have we met before?”

“Oh, yes. But why?”

“I received a call from the hotline. A monster has crossed over to Nampocheon. Thank you for your hard work. I will take charge from now on.”

The city council members who belatedly recognized Kang Mu-hyeok came rushing out.

“Are you Captain Kang Mu-hyeok?”

“Let’s take care of this first.”

Kang Mu-hyeok whispered to the manager and looked around at the city council members.

“From this moment on, the city council building will be used as a command and control center to eradicate the monsters that have infiltrated Nampocheon. Anyone who is not part of the control center will be asked to leave.”

“What, what? What are you… … .”

Before the council members could say anything, a large man entered the conference room. He had a well-trained body that you could tell at a glance that he was a hunter.

They pushed the council members’ backs with their forearms flailing. The council members fought bravely, but were no match for Hunter’s strength.

In the end, all I could do was protest.

“You are making a mistake now!”

“What kind of outrage is this?! Do they know who we are to do this… …!”

“Do you think we’ll just sit still?!”

Kang Moo-hyuk gave instructions to the guild situation room members who followed him, not caring about the city council members who were being pushed out while shouting loudly.

“Team Leader Gongduri, how long does it take to set up the system?”

“As long as you have internet access, it’ll be done in no time. The only problem is setting up the device. As for the rest, if you use a line connected to the guild headquarters, information sharing will be done right away. I’ll finish it within three hours.”

“The members have already been deployed to the scene. Sharing information is important for a smooth operation. Don’t overdo it, cut it in half. Set it up in an hour and a half.”

“Ugh, you’re like a ghost. Yes. I’ll finish it right away.”

Gongduri and his team members took their places and moved busily.

The manager, who had been dumbfounded by the sudden situation, spoke cautiously.

“Hey, Chief Kang Mu-hyeok.”

“Yes. Do you have any questions?”

“How is this going right now… . The city council members were like that too. If you kick them out like that, there’s a chance that it’ll cause problems later.”

Kang Mu-hyeok silently took out a piece of paper from his bosom.

The manager, who at first did not know what the paper was about, soon recognized the familiar writing.

“This is a copy of the contract between our city and Ironwill.”

“Here is a copy of the relevant clause. Please check the part specified in paragraph 3.”

“This… . It says that the city council building can be forcibly seized as a headquarters for countermeasures.”

“That was added on purpose.”

“Huh? On purpose… huh?”

“I experienced some local life at my previous job. There were many problems, but the most annoying one was the local politicians.”

The manager nodded naturally.

Although he couldn’t say anything because he was a civil servant, he was also displeased with the politicians’ habit of meddling in every little thing if it meant getting their hands on something.

Kang Moo-hyuk spoke as if he knew the other person’s hardships.

“Work is urgent, but politicians’ mouths always get in the way. Persuasion is difficult and takes a long time in an emergency. That’s why this provision was included. It’s easier to keep someone quiet by kicking them out of the house than by keeping them far away. After all, people tend to be careful with their words outside the house.”