Chapter 257
Chapter 257
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 257
Chapter Title: Overdoing It
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“I’m Raising a Skeleton 257
Overdoing It
“Hmm.”
Kim Jin-ah, who had been listening quietly, was dumbfounded.
At first, he had sweetly coaxed her, saying he could help with acquiring the national land...
Now he was crossing his legs and telling her to look elsewhere?
‘Back in the day, I might’ve played along.’
Kim Jin-ah was clever.
Even at her first meeting with Joo Dong-hoon.
She had instantly intuited that he wasn’t just some low-rank hunter.
For someone like her, how could she not know what Mayor Shin Joo-hyuk wanted?
“As you know, there’s a lake on that national land you requested. It’s a lake with a killer view, so tons of investors are already eyeing it. Haha.”
It was a demand for cooperation.
To get the land Byulcheonji wanted, she needed to fall in line with his wishes.
‘But.’
Was it necessary?
A cold smile crept across Kim Jin-ah’s lips.
Not a soft smile, but an icy one.
She was the vice master of the Byulcheonji organization.
Even heads of state treated her like VIP royalty and groveled when she visited.
She was in a position that warranted it.
She had ‘power.’
This old politician apparently hadn’t caught on to the changes in this rapidly shifting era.
“Hey, Mayor?”
“Haha, yes. Go ahead.”
“Do I look like a joke to you, Mayor?”
“......Pardon?”
Shin Joo-hyuk visibly flinched at Kim Jin-ah’s blunt tone.
“What do you mean...? How could I dare look down on the one practically leading Byulcheonji? Haha.”
“And yet.”
Kim Jin-ah rubbed her palms together, then blew on them with a whoosh.
As if the millstone handle called ‘absurdity’ had gone missing.
“Why are you trying to use me to satisfy your filthy desires?”
“......”
Shin Joo-hyuk’s eyes wavered.
“Well, fine. You could help, and I could pay the price for that help. Corruption or favors? Honestly, I don’t love it, but I don’t hate it either.”
She was a businesswoman.
One running a guild and a corporation.
In her mind, she’d do anything if it profited her.
“It’s not that hard.”
But.
What she was pointing out was his attitude.
“Did you really think I came here to get your permission, Mayor?”
Byulcheonji’s wealth was already on a national scale.
She had enough money to buy not just the Uiwang site, but the entire city of Uiwang at ten times the market price.
And he was trying to pull this half-assed power trip on her?
Trying to assert his pride?
How lightly did he have to view Byulcheonji to even think that?
‘This isn’t disrespecting me—it’s disrespecting our guild master.’
The hero of the world.
The pride of Korea.
Kim Jin-ah couldn’t tolerate that.
She had no reason to.
Scraaaape!
She shoved her empty coffee cup toward Shin Joo-hyuk.
“Get me another cup, Mayor.”
A ferocious aura surged from her entire body.
Even though she wasn’t a ranker, her presence carried the charisma of one far beyond.
“......”
Shin Joo-hyuk quietly uncrossed his legs.
‘Crazy.’
It wasn’t visible, but cold sweat beaded on the nape of his neck.
His thighs tingled, and his back was soaked with sweat.
He was tense.
At this girl he’d thought was just a newbie.
Shin Joo-hyuk glanced at the empty coffee cup.
The true meaning of her order to brew it.
She was asking again.
Having the mayor do menial chores in city hall.
Was he going to stand on pride or not?
Bend now, and she’d let it slide.
“Right now...”
Shin Joo-hyuk’s hands trembled.
Reason told him.
There was no gain in lunging at Kim Jin-ah.
But.
Years as a power-tripping politician screamed not to hold back.
Not to bend his pride.
“Are you threatening me?”
Shin Joo-hyuk had forgotten how to brew coffee.
“Confidence and arrogance are a hair’s breadth apart, young vice master.”
He shot to his feet and glared at Kim Jin-ah.
It wasn’t widely known, but he was a C-rank hunter.
He had ten years of scraping by on dungeon scraps.
He wasn’t some flower grown flat in a greenhouse!
“You might be too young to know, but no matter how big your group is, threats like this can bring disaster.”
“Who knows.”
Kim Jin-ah smiled faintly, rummaged in her pocket, and pulled out her phone.
“Aren’t you the one underestimating me way too much, Mayor?”
And with a swipe.
She placed it on the desk, file app open.
“Did you think the head of a top group wouldn’t come prepared?”
“Th-that’s?”
Shin Joo-hyuk’s pupils dilated.
Files densely packed with text.
- Summary of Foil-dong Development Corruption Suspicions.
- Summary of Bribery in Private Contractor Selection.
- Summary of Personnel Favoritism and Hiring Corruption.
- Summary of Electioneering and Public Official Election Act Violations.
......
‘How did she get that......?!’
Shin Joo-hyuk was aghast.
Secrets he’d buried deep, ones the world must never know—why were they there?
‘That means.’
Grit!
Shin Joo-hyuk ground his teeth.
‘She already knew everything?’
Somehow.
Even though he’d spoken circuitously in case she was recording, her attitude had been off.
‘That damn bitch...’
His insides boiled.
He had to hold it in, hold it in.
Even chanting it dozens of times in his head, the rage surged up his throat and out his mouth.
“You fucking bitch...”
Byulcheonji vice master, Kim Jin-ah?
She might be talented, but he’d heard her hunter rank wasn’t even E-grade.
If something like that wandered alone without fear?
“You green little shit who doesn’t know the ways of the world!”
Shin Joo-hyuk roared and lunged.
Even if they were just suspicions.
If someone with Kim Jin-ah’s influence reported them, prosecutors would swarm in seconds.
Even an innocent man could be framed by a prosecutorial raid.
For a sinner like him, there’d be no escape.
“Let’s just die together!”
Shin Joo-hyuk meant to teach her one thing now.
That a person with nothing to lose was the scariest.
Even if the vice master went missing.
Just destroy the evidence properly, right?
Living long had taught him money could solve anything.
Whoosh!
As the C-rank hunter’s iron grip reached for Kim Jin-ah’s throat.
Sshhh!
With a faint breeze.
Someone appeared then.
The moment they did, an intangible force bound Shin Joo-hyuk tight.
And a cold blade touched his throat.
‘Gasp.’
Shin Joo-hyuk gasped inwardly.
The newcomer’s appearance.
Leather outfit and dagger.
Neatly tied-up black hair and striking features.
Plus the golden nameplate at her waist.
‘Damn it.’
Who in Korea didn’t know her?
Dark Emperor Gi So-yul.
World ranking 95th, a high ranker monster.
With her here, it was over.
No scheme of his could escape now.
Thud!
As his legs gave out and Shin Joo-hyuk collapsed to the floor!
“Mayor Shin Joo-hyuk! Mayor Shin! You there?! We heard Byulcheonji was coming!”
A voice called from outside.
Bang!
The door flew open.
“Ah, what... what is this...?”
“G-Governor?”
The arrival was none other than the Gyeonggi Governor.
* * *
Silence filled the mayor’s office.
And the visitors weren’t just the governor.
“It’s an honor to meet Korea’s pride, Byulcheonji’s vice master.”
Bow.
The elegant woman bowing in greeting was Land Minister Kwak Yeon-jeong.
“Hello, I’m Finance Minister Seong Deok-cheol. I cleared my schedule and rushed here after hearing from the governor.”
The power center third only to the president and prime minister: the Planning and Finance Minister.
‘Ugh.’
Shin Joo-hyuk was dazed.
These three big shots suddenly showing up and bowing to Kim Jin-ah?
What the hell was going on?
“You! If there was something this important, you should’ve reported it immediately!”
The governor barking at him looked double.
His head spun.
“Phew, now we can finally talk sense. You have no idea how frustrating it was starting from the site survey here.”
Sshhh!
Gi So-yul quietly vanished.
Kim Jin-ah rose from her seat, let out a soft breath, and smiled.
Then she bowed politely.
“It’s an honor to meet you three as well.”
She only showed respect to those who showed it first.
That was Kim Jin-ah’s iron rule, set after founding Byulcheonji.
And so the meeting resumed.
Kim Jin-ah in the center of the sofa.
The other three seated, hashing out details.
Only then did Shin Joo-hyuk, slumped in the corner, realize.
- Did you really think I came here to get your permission, Mayor?
The meaning of those words.
It was already decided beforehand.
Her call had reached them before the info even got to him.
“Our Land Ministry can essentially hand over any land Byulcheonji wants. As the successor to the Heavenly Demon Cult, you could become Korea’s symbol in the future.”
“Finance agrees. We even have the president’s firm approval for free national land support.”
Kwak Yeon-jeong and Seong Deok-cheol had already settled it on the way.
Byulcheonji was a group Korea absolutely couldn’t let slip away.
‘Do you know how much it costs to naturalize one ranker?’
‘Plus, with Joo Dong-hoon hitting hyper ranker, their brand value skyrocketed. Countless rankers might naturalize just for Byulcheonji.’
In fact.
Strong organizations attract foreign rankers.
Not just British wizards in the Magic Tower.
Byulcheonji already had three foreign rankers.
1. Thunderclap Floa.
2. Absolute Unrivaled Maximilian.
3. Guide Kapu.
And Thunderclap had just hit world ranking 74th, a high ranker.
National-level talent.
Korea had to tie them down even at a premium.
“Haha, free? How straightforward.”
Kim Jin-ah smiled faintly.
“But how could I, as a citizen of this country, take land for free? We already get tons of tax breaks and perks. I’ll gratefully accept the sentiment.”
“In that case?”
As Land Minister Kwak Yeon-jeong tilted her head slightly.
“3,000 billion.”
Kim Jin-ah replied.
“I’ll donate it cleanly to the country. Think of it as a light gift for your smooth cooperation.”
“Th-three, 3,000 billion?”
Seong Deok-cheol’s eyes widened.
The Uiwang 500,000 pyeong site would run about 300,000 per pyeong.
No, it was forestland, not fields, so 150,000 per pyeong.
That made it around 750 billion total.
And 3,000 billion?
Exactly four times over!
A glimpse of Byulcheonji’s class.
“If you do that, we’d be grateful, but...”
“Instead.”
Kim Jin-ah glanced sideways.
Toward the stunned Shin Joo-hyuk.
“I like clean politicians. We’ll be settling here and needing lots of cooperation going forward... Hmm, I assume you get the point?”
“Of course.”
Seong Deok-cheol nodded firmly.
“I’ve learned my lesson too. ‘Overcome faults without reform’—a politician’s bare minimum conscience is to correct mistakes. We’ll thoroughly investigate and punish severely soon.”
Thud!
Shin Joo-hyuk’s limp arm dropped.
Overdoing it.
The disaster brought by excessive greed.
* * *
“Yawn.”
Having accepted the berserker into Byulcheonji, I moved to the corner of the clearing.
After returning.
Most things were sorted.
Now I needed to contact the Magic Tower master, get the archive books, and translate them.
But before that.
There was something more important.
“Whew.”
I rubbed my palms and let out a soft breath.
A glowing box before my eyes.
[Item: SSS-Grade Random Box]
[Grade: SSS]
[Type: Box]
[Description: A box that randomly yields an SSS-grade item.]
[Effect 1: Yields an SSS-grade item regardless of type.]
It was time to open this.