Chapter 57
Chapter 57
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 57
Chapter Title: Blockade Zone
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“This crazy bitch?”
“Why? Guild Master.”
“Where is that bitch Min Ji-yeon right now?”
“She hasn’t come to the Cerberus Guild gate... probably at the orphanage?”
“Send the kids to the orphanage right now and bring that bitch Min Ji-yeon. She’s gone mad... No, I’ll go too. Prepare it.”
“Yes.”
Park Chung-gyo glared at the phone screen as if to bore a hole through it.
The Cerberus Guild was making excuses that the promised support hadn’t arrived.
Chae Myung-in would throw another fit if he found out about this.
‘Fuck! This mess happened because of his little sister, so why do I have to put up with this bullshit? They don’t even lift a finger!’
Ever since they banded together as the Federation to oppose the Association, nothing had gone right.
Me, having to apologize to some no-name mid-tier guild.
Just because I gave her a little work to do, and Min Ji-yeon has the gall to quit?
I’d been too nice to her all this time.
‘This is my chance to put her in her place.’
Park Chung-gyo stood from his seat, grinding his teeth.
After punching through blocked roads all day, Park Chung-gyo finally arrived at Angel Orphanage and glared at the man before him.
“Well, if it isn’t the Naraka Guild Master? Or should I call you Federation Vice Chairman?”
“...Lee Jae-hoon.”
Cheon I-ryeong’s dog was standing in front of the orphanage, barking orders at the moving company.
Why was this guy here...? And where the hell was the orphanage moving to?
Had that crazy bitch Min Ji-yeon defected to the Association?
After protecting her and feeding her all this time, she repays me like this?
“What’s the Association doing here?”
“Volunteering. Volunteering. The orphanage is moving, and they’re short-handed. So we’re lending a hand.”
“Moving?”
“Yeah, somewhere near Association HQ... Anyway, did the Federation folks hear the news and come to help too? You really care about the citizens. Ah, mind moving this for us?”
Lee Jae-hoon handed over a box stuffed with old clothes, flashing a grin.
His playful attitude—nothing like his usual image—made Park’s anger boil over.
“What kind of bullshit is this?”
“Hey, how can you toss precious clothes like that? You’ll have to pay for these, you know.”
“I asked what the hell you’re pulling here. This is Federation territory. And this orphanage is under our special protection.”
“Protection? What protection are you talking about?”
“...The Association needs to stay out of Federation business.”
Park Chung-gyo raised his green-tainted hand and growled.
But Lee Jae-hoon didn’t give a damn, calmly picking up the scattered clothes one by one.
“What, did you pay the rent or something? Declare independence?”
“What’d you say? Keep talking shit, you wanna throw down?”
“Do whatever you want. But you’re paying for these clothes, right? Or should I have to enforce it?”
Park Chung-gyo ground his teeth at Lee Jae-hoon, who refused to budge an inch.
Even back when Heavenly Flame Guild stood alone, they’d been a pain in the ass—but now that they’d fully joined the Association, he couldn’t touch them.
Until recently, sheer numbers had let him bulldoze through, but with so many hunters defecting lately, both sides were evenly matched.
His threats of a fight fell on deaf ears.
Damn Chae Jeong-ah. That woman’s mouth was the problem.
“...You’ll regret this stunt. Mark my words.”
“That’s not for you to worry about.”
“We’ll see how long you bastards stay so smug. I’m out!”
Park Chung-gyo tamped down his surging poison and spun on his heel.
Fighting Lee Jae-hoon would end in mutual destruction. Plus, they’d come prepared and outnumbered him.
In the car on the way back, grumbling under his breath.
“Argh! Those goddamn bastards dare! Back then, they couldn’t even stick their necks out!”
In hunter society custom, a guild’s assigned zone was considered its autonomous domain. Invading it was tantamount to declaring war.
But ever since the Association showed up, the meddling got worse—and now that they’d grown a big head, they waltzed in like it was their own living room.
Back in the day, every guild would’ve gone on strike or flexed with force, but now the Association was too massive.
If they struck, the Association would probably cheer and swoop in to claim the gates.
“Gotta hurry... If we wait too long, it’ll be unstoppable.”
Park Chung-gyo’s eyes tinted green.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
“Ugh, the meeting was so boring.”
“Yeah? But can you let me go now?”
“I need some healing.”
Cheon I-ryeong rushed straight from the meeting to the Foundation Center and hugged me from behind, rubbing her face against the back of my head.
What did a boring meeting have to do with healing anyway?
And why was it my head of all things?
“But the center turned out nice. The kids seem thrilled too. Seeing them get all excited over the playground equipment makes me happy.”
“Right? The playground stuff is fun.”
“Pardon?”
“...It looked fun. There’s so much novel stuff too. But will the Federation just sit still?”
I’d trusted the Association and gone all-in, but I couldn’t shake my worry about potential Federation retaliation.
Pre-Association Korea was like the Warring States period.
Guilds proliferated, each carving out territory and ruling like kings—they could dictate everything in their domain.
Once the Association formed, the guilds allied into the Federation to push back, and their power remained evenly matched.
If the Federation decided to come at us for real, the damage would be unimaginable.
“Don’t worry. It’s just a haphazard stone tower they stacked up. Hastily built—could crumble any second.”
“Still, if they all step up and refuse to cooperate as a bloc, won’t that be trouble? The Association’s swamped with work already.”
“Maybe for a bit, but once we start clearing gates ourselves, the Federation guilds will be the ones sweating. Unless you’re massive-scale, every single gate is precious.”
Cheon I-ryeong’s confident words put me at ease.
Gazing at Min Ji-yeon laughing as she ran around outside with the kids, Cheon I-ryeong’s clinging warmth felt especially cozy.
I never imagined things would go this smoothly back when Jin Tae-san first brought up the Association.
“Oh right, Iroha doesn’t know much about the Tower, huh?”
“Ah, yeah. Don’t... don’t know much. Yep.”
Her sudden mention of the Tower caught me off guard.
I’d cleared the 20th floor—an A-rank hunter milestone—but no one else knew I was climbing the Tower.
“There’s this amazing hunter in the Tower who hasn’t joined a guild yet or shown their face properly.”
“An amazing hunter?”
“Yeah, one of my guild members said they awakened recently but already hit the 20th floor...”
That’s me.
If word of the 20th floor had spread... one of those Tower Gallery bros must be in Heavenly Flame.
Not Snowman, obviously, and probably not Mint Choco Kimchi either?
“Only flaw is they’re a bit arrogant, but... eh, every fresh awakener goes through that phase. Thunderbolt kid stage. Thinks the whole world’s theirs.”
“Ah...”
“Why the long face, Iroha?”
That out-of-nowhere gut punch hurt.
She couldn’t know, right? She was just worried about my vague expression...
The sudden fact-bomb had me reeling.
“N-No, it’s nothing. So, what about this hunter?”
“Nothing big—just, they mentioned you, so I was thinking of using that to lure them to the Association. If they’re still on the fence between us and the Federation, showing interest might reel them in.”
“Me?”
Using me to lure... myself? That’s a new one.
Way too late to reveal it’s me now.
“It’s not weird or anything! I just wanna make proper contact and talk, but right now they’re so full of themselves—say their piece and bail every time.”
Sorry for being arrogant and narcissistic. Hmph.
“Huh? Iroha, sorry! It’s not like I’m trying to use you or anything. If you’re upset, I’m sorry. I absolutely won’t, so cheer up.”
“No, do whatever you want.”
“Ahh, Iroh-aaang—”
“I said I’m fine?”
Though I wonder if that Tower guy would even be okay with it.
Too arrogant and narcissistic, after all.
“Waaah, my bad!”
I was shoving at the clinging Cheon I-ryeong and tussling when Jin Tae-san burst in with a grave expression.
I’d reported recruiting Min Ji-yeon, but damn, he got here fast.
Was he worried about clashing with the Federation too?
“President Cheon. Postpone the Foundation Center welcome event—we need to head to the Guryong Mountain blockade zone. Gather as many available hunters as possible.”
“...Guryong Mountain? What’s going on?”
“The barricade collapsed. Contact lost with the east and north sectors; military’s rushing in reinforcements, but we need Association help too. We have to stop the monsters before they reach the city.”
Blockade zone.
When a gate breaks, the land itself erodes from magi contamination, turning into barren wasteland.
At the death zone’s heart, the gate endlessly spews monsters, while humans desperately hold the perimeter in a futile war of attrition.
The prime example was Dangjin in South Chungcheong Province.
An S-rank gate break had wiped an entire city district off the map.
And there were smaller blockade zones too.
Most from D- or F-rank micro-gates that spawned in remote mountains or outskirts, went undetected, and broke.
Fortunately low-rank, so confined to small areas, but their very existence was a persistent headache.
“Let’s move out. Iroha, you stay here.”
“I’ll go too. There’ll be lots of wounded—I wanna help.”
“I’ll come help too!”
Min Ji-yeon, who’d slipped in at some point, stepped up alongside me.
Cheon I-ryeong hesitated briefly before nodding, and we hurriedly headed to Guryong Mountain at Seoul’s southern edge.
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