Chapter 70
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 70
Chapter Title: Special Task Force 0 (5)
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When he had just joined the Mercenary Division.
Few people welcomed Ju Gonghyeok.
A parachute drop backed by the External Affairs Director.
A chick with good stats and an avatar, nothing more.
That was the impression of Ju Gonghyeok.
How arrogant would a guy like that be?
And with stats already on par, if he shot way ahead?
How shitty would that feel?
That was the guess from the Mercenary Division's rank-and-file.
The section chiefs tasked with leading him had wildly different takes.
‘If he’s useful right away, great. We’d welcome him on our team.’
‘Dunno if he’ll be that positive.’
‘Guys like that might not adapt to group life.’
‘We’ll see once he’s here.’
‘The top section chief here has the highest avatar at S-grade, but this guy’s got SS-grade plus the External Affairs Director backing him—how long before he stops listening?’
‘Better to play dumb if we don’t know.’
‘Our Section 4’s fine. Might as well cozy up to the future rep now.’
‘Vice chief’s gone, and the trash talk’s flying.’
The section chiefs chattered excitedly among themselves.
But in truth, all eyes were on one person.
Jeong Hyundo, section chief of Special Task Force 0.
The company’s top prospect had no place to go but the elite Special Task Force 0.
Jeong Hyundo, who knew this better than anyone, scowled like he’d bitten a bug.
‘Hey, Section 2 grunt.’
‘It’s cop, not grunt, you army dog.’
‘Heard you loaned out that puppet trick guy last time?’
‘Yeah, loaned him.’
‘And you bit hard on the bait that newbie tossed...’
Whispers here and there.
Jeong Hyundo kicked back his chair and stormed out.
‘Damn it. Word’s spread that I got duped by a clone.’
Rumors already swirled that Jeong Hyundo had gotten in through connections, not skill.
He’d been making up for it with recent results, but only six months in.
Not enough time to solidify his position.
And if a golden boy like Ju Gonghyeok joined, with his path paved...
The hottest seat would be his own, as direct superior.
‘Next up after me would be Martunis Vice Chief.’
Martunis was his biggest patron.
The line centered on Martunis was wobbling perilously.
Sure, going from section chief to deputy wouldn’t kill him right away, or cut his pay when a department head popped up over the vice chief.
But no one welcomes a rival shaking their spot.
‘Well, we’ll see if he even makes it in.’
The world didn’t run purely on avatar grades.
That Ray Shin guy with Jeocheon Daeseong (S++) hadn’t he slipped on a mission and died screaming?
Plenty others who trusted their skills and avatars got devoured by devil contractors.
‘You’re not the only hot prospect who came in as a special-grade.’
Every Great Summoning brought in prospects—even if not as good—with D-grade stats and S-grade avatars.
But those prospects didn’t all balloon into section chiefs.
More often, A- or B-graders who gritted through deathlines overtook them.
S-graders stagnated, barely hitting deputy, or retired from irrecoverable wounds.
Or failed to adapt to endless fights and got shuffled to non-combat desks.
‘Gotta check his training scores first.’
The process before joining the Mercenary Division.
They selected 2,000 combat-fit newbies from the intakes and trained them.
Training lasted until they flunked out.
Flunkers went to other divisions.
Or got dumped somewhere in the city if useless.
And Ju Gonghyeok...
‘Take this bastard away now.’
Came out in 48 hours.
‘He’s better than us—what’re we supposed to teach him? Too damn strong to even spar...’
If achievements were on the line, maybe Ju Gonghyeok would’ve smashed them in 48 seconds.
Jeong Hyundo’s face twisted at the score sheet plastered with top marks across the board.
Bastard... must’ve hacked life itself. Living the easy road.
Jeong Hyundo, who’d finished his own training in 48 days, grumbled.
Three days after flipping off all of Special Task Force 0.
The culprit, Ju Gonghyeok, transferred in as the squad’s youngest.
‘Hey, what should we do? Send him on coffee runs?’
‘You nuts? Got nothing for the future chief?’
‘Nah, he’s the maknae, right?’
‘Fine, you be the mean senior. I’ll be the nice one.’
Amid the murmurs.
Jeong Hyundo barely kept a smile.
‘Good to see you again.’
‘Yeah? First time I’m seeing you.’
‘Then, first time’s the charm. Thanks to the fuss you kicked up with my clone back then, I slipped out easy. Appreciate it.’
Gonghyeok bowed slightly in greeting.
‘Not a perfect reaction, but if he climbs from here, no problem.’
Jeong Hyundo nodded and asked.
‘Alright, maknae. Anything you wanna eat or do? First day in, fresh to the company—I’ll treat ya.’
‘Ooh! Booze-up after ages~’
The mood heated up.
Gonghyeok touched his lips, looking troubled.
‘Nothing to eat here I want, but something I do wanna do.’
A tone that came off cocky if you nitpicked.
Jeong Hyundo tabled it for later and asked.
‘What’s that?’
‘I want my own team.’
The room’s vibe turned baffled.
‘Team? Not bad.’
‘But no way...’
This bastard’s gonna stir shit, sure enough.
Jeong Hyundo thought, hardening his expression.
‘Maknae, this ain’t the place to spill life goals.’
‘A few days from now counts as future too, right?’
Gonghyeok laced his fingers, relaxed.
‘Missions in six months. Gotta have my team ready, yeah?’
Son of a—
Ink not even dry on his employee badge... hell, no badge yet. Who’s he bossing?
Jeong Hyundo swallowed a curse.
Yeah, no normal path for this one.
‘Fine, maknae. I’ll make you a team or whatever.’
Special Task Force 0 had six teams, 71 total.
But...
‘You’re now team leader of Special Task Force 0’s Team 7.’
A seventh team appeared on the org chart.
The new team leader and his zero subordinates gawked.
‘No, Chief—that’s too fast...’
‘One catch: headcount’s one. Just you.’
Jeong Hyundo wagged a finger playfully.
‘Rack up results, I’ll recognize it as a team. Good performance, I’ll bump the headcount.’
‘Ugh, Chief, that’s dirty.’
‘Chief, play fair. Don’t let the kids rile you...’
‘Shut it, you punks!’
Gonghyeok asked calmly.
‘How much?’
‘Huh?’
‘How much performance?’
‘Hmm...’
The oddly polite tone made Jeong Hyundo’s vein throb.
‘Solo! Crimes, devil contractors, dungeon scouts—100 cases. One head per 100. Deal? Solo! Got it? Solo!’
Jeong Hyundo stressed ‘solo,’ bulging a vein.
Gonghyeok nodded blankly at him.
‘I’ll tell the External Affairs Director.’
‘What?’
Jeong Hyundo jumped.
If it hit the Director’s ears, he’d blow a gasket.
His prized recruit rotting from some idiot superior’s dumb prank.
‘No, wait, maknae. Joke. Total joke.’
He waved it off with a forced grin, soothing the kid.
‘Team leader? Piece of cake for you. What’re you missing? Avatar? Gear? Stats? I know best. So...’
He held up one finger.
‘Just grind one year. I’ll hook you up with team leader plus deputy, boom...’
*That buys me three years before I bounce.*
Jeong Hyundo ranted inwardly.
But Gonghyeok shook his head.
‘Not that.’
‘Then what?’
‘I meant I’ll ask the External Affairs Director to bump Task Force 0’s headcount by ten.’
‘...’
‘Won’t sound like you’re using me as an excuse if he says it, right?’
*Same if you say it, punk.*
Thinking that, he reached for the maknae’s shoulder.
But the kid stood briskly.
‘It’s for the best, yeah? Gotta hustle as Team 7 leader starting today. I’ll head out.’
In just ten minutes, from maknae to team leader—Gonghyeok slammed the door on his way out.
‘...’
Brief silence.
Then Sally from Team 4 covered her mouth.
‘Whoa~ Maknae’s cool. Hey~’
‘Hey, you slut! Cool my ass!’
‘Jeez, Chief. ‘Slut’? Use Babel standard lingo.’
Unable to smack a woman in front of the team, Jeong Hyundo swallowed his rage, lit a smoke, and headed out.
The team buzzed briefly before scattering to work.
Thirty minutes later.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
‘Open up!’
‘Special Task Force 0, right?’
Guys pounded like they’d break the door.
No heads-up they were coming?
The sub-maknae opened it, question marks floating...
A wave of rough faces poured in.
‘Turning myself in!’
‘What?’
Pushing front guy aside, a bald dude stepped up.
‘I’m the underboss of the Potato Gang in Building 7, Bal Dam-yong...’
‘Outta the way! Even cold water’s got hierarchy. Me first! I’m the boss of the Sweet Potato Gang next to Potato...’
Jeong Hyundo stared, sweating cold.
‘What the hell?’
One month later.
Team 7’s headcount hit ten.
Special Task Force 0 racked up over 1,000 cases in 30 days.
Ten times their usual.
This became the unbreakable ‘June Miracle’ record until Task Force 0 disbanded.
And this...
Was the start of a goddamn tangled bond.
＊＊＊
The fifth floor’s sun sets eastward.
If you knew, you’d be shocked—but over half the people didn’t know the fifth floor sun rose west and set east.
No need for sun-based survival tricks like on Earth.
They had scout hunters or map items.
But like on Earth.
Sun rising south or north? Didn’t matter. Focus on tomorrow’s grind.
Power plant district: 80 purple coins.
Metalworking: 110 purple.
When the city stopped moving, field-level hourly from 180 purple...
Twilight like Earth’s settled over the working-class streets.
Special Task Force 0’s office window was no exception.
“Whyyyyy—!”
Same yell as yesterday echoed today.
“That Ju Gonghyeok bastard didn’t show yesterday, nor today!”
“He cleared a dungeon scout normally today...”
Jeong Hyundo shook Shimada’s collar, roaring.
“So why ain’t he in the office? Huh?”
“F-fuck! Hands off the collar!”
“What?”
“...Ain’t that Ha girl there? Sally and the Team 7 kids.”
Shimada pointed to a corner.
Teams gathered at tables with that day’s results.
Team 7 was there too.
They’d turned in double other teams’ tribute—lines slashed across their performance sheet.
“Sallyyyy!”
Jeong Hyundo charged, snorting.
“M-Mommy! Chief, what?”
Sally flinched.
Her upward-stroked performance sheet skewed sideways.
“Where’s that Ju Gonghyeok bastard today?”
Jeong Hyundo looked pissed as hell.
Sally scratched her head, unable to meet his eyes.
“Uh... Yeonsi, can I say?”
“No order not to.”
With Yeonsi’s nod, Sally cleared her throat.
“So, Gonghyeok went to see the vice chief?”
“Martunis Vice Chief?”
Sally nodded.
*We’re screwed.*
Lately, more and more he’d hidden from Martunis.
Most tied to Ju Gonghyeok.
Jeong Hyundo’s cheeks paled.