Chapter 95
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Translator: True Detective
Chapter: 95
Chapter Title: 93. Heungbu and Nolbu
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While Yoo Eun-ha was gearing up to be thoroughly shaken down by Rachel, the brothers Nolbu and Heungbu stood side by side before President Ha Jeong-seok at the Blue House.
Ha Jeong-seok and Nolbu both shot Heungbu particularly dirty looks.
It was because he'd botched the mission they'd assigned him.
"So, you couldn't find out a damn thing?"
Ha Jeong-seok stared at Heungbu in utter disbelief. Heungbu—one of the strongest hunters under the Blue House, no less—and this was the mess he'd made.
"He was a real pro. I wanted to pin him down and beat some answers out of him, but his hit-and-run skills were top-notch."
"To the point where you couldn't even chase him?"
This was even worse than never crossing paths with Seo Ji-yeon in the first place. At least failing to locate the guy would have given him some excuse. But he'd actually met one of Baekhwa's comrades and still couldn't snag him for questioning. Talk about losing face.
"Looks like Baekhwa really does have some heavy-hitting allies, just like the rumors said."
"Damn it, we have to catch Baekhwa."
Their forces were way stronger than expected. If Baekhwa managed to rally all the villains and survivors in the quarantine zones, things could get ugly fast.
"Is there really any need to go that far?"
"Just poke around the internet a little, and you'll see way too many idiots singing that villain bitch's praises. Even flooding the comments with our plants is starting to look suspicious."
Ha Jeong-seok slid some dossiers across the table— intel gathered by hunters from the Hunter Intelligence Bureau under his command—for the brothers to peruse.
The gist? The Korean public supported Baekhwa more than their own president. Some of the more extreme comments even floated the idea of putting Baekhwa in the president's chair instead.
"Sigh. Haven't I told you over and over not to write off Incheon? Songdo's primed to be our frontline outpost for crushing monsters in this chaotic age."
Nolbu shook his head.
Ever since the Great Cataclysm, Korea had taken hit after hit from monster waves, steadily eroding its national strength. It was only thanks to Yoo Jin-seok's generation that they'd scraped together enough defenses to build those barriers.
Back then, Nolbu had pushed to hold the line at least as far as Songdo.
That was before the hunter system had fully taken shape—Songdo had been crawling with awakeners at the time.
But Ha Jeong-seok, paranoid about ceding power to the Hunter Association, had let it slip away.
"So, Nolbu, got any bright ideas?"
"Sorry to say it about Baekhwa, but she's a villain. Gotta take her down, right?"
Nolbu scratched the back of his head as he spoke.
"Exactly."
"From what I've seen, Songdo's worth the investment."
There he went with that line again. Ever since word got out that Baekhwa had set up shop in Songdo, Nolbu had been harping on it.
Reclaim it now, he said. Prime real estate.
"So you want to nab Baekhwa and claim Songdo for ourselves?"
"How about slapping a 5-billion-won bounty on her head? Ever since Yoo Jin-seok sorted out the Pyongyang mess, our hunters have been tied up with overseas monster hunts. Dangle 5 billion for Baekhwa, and they'll swarm across the barriers like flies. We reclaim territory in the process—no downside."
They were already at the point where pushing a "cross the barriers and retake the homeland" policy was the only play.
"Huh, 5 billion? You serious?"
5 billion wasn't pocket change.
No matter how big a threat this villain was, dropping that much cash just to bag one girl felt off.
"Foreign hunters will pile on too. She's a villain at the end of the day. That place has to fall eventually."
"Hmmm. Might as well give it a shot. Guess we need to lean on the Association right away."
Nolbu had a point.
Might as well chew them out for incompetence while things were quiet on their end.
Seo Ji-yeon—Korea’s number-two hunter—was still drawing a blank on Baekhwa intel. Perfect excuse to turn up the heat.
"Do we really need to go that hard?"
"Heungbu, you're still too damn soft. That's why you're scraping by, starving your wife and kid."
"What the hell, bro?"
Heungbu balled his fists like he was about to swing, but he hung his head at Nolbu's next words.
"No matter the reason, if that Baekhwa bitch stirring things up in Songdo keeps winning public support, what do you think happens to the Blue House? The Association's playing nice right now—last thing we need is nationwide chaos."
Heungbu bristled, but Nolbu's pitying tone hit home.
There was truth in it.
The public and even the Association might resent the government's dirtier tactics, but at the end of the day, it was still the Ha Jeong-seok administration calling the shots. A villain—no, a straight-up monster—rallying people in Songdo and turning it into her own independent city? That was trouble.
Cut off from the outside world, she'd have plenty of monsters unbound by food or shelter shortages. A villain crew riding a wave of public backing? Serious red flags.
Who knew—maybe Baekhwa would bulk up her forces and set her sights on Seoul next.
'Can't let some two-bit villain bitch topple us. Time to put Shinohara to work.'
Ha Jeong-seok's grip on power was ironclad. He'd do whatever it took to hold onto the presidency.
Seo Ji-yeon's empty-handed return had Association President Choi Cheol-sik's forehead creased deeper than ever.
She winced inwardly at the sight but what could she do?
The girl had come out swinging—openly admitting she was a villain and a monster. And she'd been wooing Seo Ji-yeon hard. How do you stab a kid like that?
Truth be told, it was the most passionate pursuit Seo Ji-yeon had ever experienced. Her heart had fluttered a little. No way she could bring herself to do it.
As Seo Ji-yeon gauged the room, Choi Cheol-sik's gleaming bald pate caught the light and he spoke up.
"Ha Jeong-seok's putting pressure on the Association."
"What? Pressure how?"
What right did the president have to pull that?
Did Heungbu run his mouth or something? Nah, that guy wasn't the type. He'd follow presidential orders to the letter but never trash-talk the Association.
So this was Ha Jeong-seok acting on his own.
What a hopeless piece of work.
"Wants a wanted poster on Baekhwa."
"No way—how much bounty?"
Government openly marking Baekhwa as public enemy number one.
Seo Ji-yeon had heard about Baekhwa recently—fresh off wiping out a monster horde and showing up at the Association on Choi Cheol-sik's summons, right alongside Baek Cheong-gang.
But finger her as a villain this quick?
"Says she tangled with Yoo Jin-seok, dragged survivors together, built her own damn city on Korean soil. Unforgivable."
Made sense for Ha Jeong-seok. Baek Cheong-gang, standing nearby, nodded along.
"So, bounty amount?"
"5 billion."
5 billion. Even S-rank hunters couldn't rake that in overnight.
Clear sign Ha Jeong-seok was dead serious about Baekhwa.
'5 billion? Barrier restrictions'll loosen quick under some pretext.'
Low-tier hunters would line up for a shot. Ha was hell-bent on taking her down.
Korea was his turf. Baekhwa squatting in Songdo with all that public adoration? Salt in the wound.
"Isn't this jumping the gun? 5 billion? Ha Jeong-seok lost it?"
Ten-figure bounties on villains were rare as hell.
Especially right after their first clash.
"Bigger issue's this: Baekhwa support's spiking—not just in Songdo, but Seoul, Busan, Jeolla too."
"Huh. Her doing what the Association and government couldn't."
Baekhwa was winning hearts.
A villain pulling public support—in a country with a sitting president, no less. Word had probably spread overseas by now.
"Exactly. Ha Jeong-seok's sweating his approval ratings."
"We gotta do what he says?"
Ha Jeong-seok was hands-down the worst president they'd ever had.
Could've secured way more territory if he'd stepped up—instead, squat.
"No choice. We're short-staffed after the Kim Jae-su mess."
That was ages ago. Why was the Association so useless?
"Can't we just pull from somewhere?"
"Looking into guilds and academies."
"Hurry it up, then."
Seo Ji-yeon snapped irritably.
Why so damn incompetent? Come to think of it, Choi Cheol-sik always leaned on Yoo Jin-seok for the heavy lifting.
Staring at it now, the government and Association were both basket cases.
Maybe Yoo Eun-ha's crew was the lesser evil. Neither side was worth a damn anyway.
'Why am I even thinking this.'
No. Yoo Eun-ha's moves were never good for the country. Pure division tactics.
'Don't overthink it.'
She'd give that girl a good spanking later. Guaranteed.
In Yongyong-i's room at the penthouse, there I was on my knees, Little Yongyong soaring overhead, and Rachel glaring daggers with her arms crossed.
The atmosphere was thin ice at best, and the only one daring to speak up was Little Yongyong Ray.
"Kyuit! Kyu-kyu! Kyurrr!"
Yongyong wasn't chowing down on snake soup—he was one wrong move from becoming it.
That pint-sized traitor with zero loyalty was ratting me out to Rachel wholesale.
Look at him up there, flapping away and jabbing a paw at me. Couldn't talk yet, but the little punk had the smarts to sell out his own mom.
He'd even caught me and Siwoo getting cozy.
"Human. I can't even. How do you even think of pulling that with the kid watching?"
Rachel laid into my back with gusto.
Just like a wife walloping her cheating husband's backside—Reina's slaps packed real heat. No wonder; snakes in her snake soup must taste spicy as hell.
"But I'm a dragon."
"You in any position to mouth off?"
This was all Ray's fault.
Damn little Yongyong knockoff. Since I couldn't parse dragon-speak, I'd have to teach him Hangul on the sly later. Least then I'd know if he was cursing me out.
"Hang on—why raise him so hands-off? You were spying?"
"He ran off 'cause he loves his daddy so much. You call that spying? Jeez."
Dad vibes or not, this was overkill.
Clear-cut privacy violation.
"Forgive me just once? Come on. Okay, fine—1000 times from now on. That's still less than your beauty sleep. Pleeease?"
Baby Yongyong unleashed the waterworks.
"Tears aren't gonna save you!"
Tough luck. Failed.
"Weird. Judge said a woman's tears are her ultimate weapon."
"Like that'd work on another woman!"
Fair point? But she liked me now—shouldn't she cave to the crocodile tears?
"C'mon, don't be like that? I'll make it scorching hot tonight. Snake soup's off the menu, I swear. No mother-daughter donburi chatter for a whole month. Deal?"
Mother-daughter donburi had Elise and Yinshuma for that. No need to drag Reina and Rachel into it right now anyway.
Still, she kept up the death glare like something was eating at her.
Ah! Guess she needed some comforting after all?