263. The End of the Shin Family (5)
263. The End of the Shin Family (5)
"I—is this real? Am I really seeing this......?"
The public security hunter's eyes trembled uncontrollably as she held the documents.
It wasn't because the proposal was too unfavorable to the Chinese side.
On the contrary, the offer Shin Se-hee had presented was overwhelmingly beneficial to China.
The hunter swallowed hard and scrutinized the documents once more for any irregularities.
'Exclude the name Utopia from this incident and insert the China Public Security Hunter Association in its place. In exchange, appoint Yu-won as the new Landlord of Guangdong Province......'
Rereading it didn't change the fact that it was an offer with absolutely no reason to refuse.
No, the optics were actually excellent.
The story would be that the husband, unable to bear the tyranny of Ryu Jin—the former Landlord of Guangdong—any longer, had requested help from the public security hunters, and with their cooperation, the matter was resolved.
In other words, China could claim Utopia's achievements as their own.
'And Yu-won is...... even though he retired after getting married, he's still a hunter with a great public image.'
Former A-Rank Hunter Yu-won.
A veteran hunter who completed countless missions in spite of being a man.
If things worked out like this,
they could restore the public security hunter association's reputation, which had taken a hit from this incident, and finally have something to say about internal self-policing within China.
The hunter's hand stopped.
The hand of the public security hunter, about to immediately stamp the documents, paused.
The offer was so good that it had finally aroused suspicion.
She looked at Shin Se-hee and asked.
"I—that is, what's your reason for going this far......? Doesn't Utopia get nothing out of this?"
At her question, Shin Se-hee pointed to a corner of the document.
"Please look here."
The public security hunter narrowed her eyes and read the sentence written there.
It was a part she had read just moments ago.
"Hmm, appoint designated hunters as resident hunters within Guangdong Province...... and grant them priority selection rights for any requests from the China Public Security Hunter Association...... Hm, these hunters are......"
The Chinese public security hunter tilted her head as if she still didn't understand.
The 31 hunters that Shin Se-hee had listed were all fairly well-known, highly skilled hunters.
There was no issue with putting their names down here.
'Is there a reason she wrote their names here? Does Utopia have some sort of connection with them?'
While she was examining the list of hunters with a puzzled look,
Shin Se-hee lowered her voice and spoke.
"......We owe these individuals a debt. We received a substantial supply of Magic Stones from them. If you check the Magic Stone transaction records, you'll likely understand."
Ah.
'They were trading through their connections with these hunters. Their original goal was smuggling Magic Stones!'
With its vast territory, China produced a huge quantity of Magic Stones.
Magic Stone export was, after all, a major pillar of Chinese industry.
'So these Chinese hunters acted as distributors for Utopia's smuggling of Magic Stones out of China?'
The public security tracker's eyes widened.
Naturally, smuggling Magic Stones as a foreign hunter was illegal.
Since no tariffs were being paid on them.
'But that doesn't make it such a grave sin that we couldn't turn a blind eye.'
It was just a backroom deal: planting these people in Guangdong in exchange for waiving the tariffs on those Magic Stones.
It was nothing compared to the benefits China would gain.
In fact, seeing this only increased the public security hunter's trust.
'This is actually good.'
She flinched.
The Chinese public security hunter forcibly suppressed the laughter trying to bubble up and nodded gravely.
"Yes, well...... I believe that's acceptable. Hm. Utopia Party. Thank you for the deal."
"Yes, please take good care of it."
Thud.
And so the stamp was pressed onto the documents.
The meeting with the China Public Security Hunter Association was over.
*
After the Chinese public security hunter had left.
"Fufufu, Jin Yu-ha. I never even thought of doing it this way myself!"
Shin Se-hee looked at me, her face flushed with excitement.
"Fufufu. You expose the small flaw of Magic Stone smuggling to conceal the true objective."
Shin Se-hee's eyes sparkled as if stars were about to pour out.
"To get the Indian Rain Dance hunters appointed as resident hunters in Guangdong and secure mission priority! With this, we can gradually exert our influence in China!"
As she said that,
the other party members also looked at me with surprised eyes.
"As expected of Yellow Dog. So that was your intention......"
"Well, China doesn't exactly have the best relationship with us. But since the Indian Rain Dance members are people crazy about Jin Yu-ha......"
"Th—that's incredible...... I just got goosebumps...... Swordsmanship, looks, and now brains too......"
"Awesome."
At the party members' fussing, I could only look away with an awkward expression.
'Uh, um, that wasn't really my original intention......'
The reason I'd made concessions to China this time was nothing special.
We'd gained far too much from this expedition.
Taking anything more would just feel like I had no conscience.
First, that red belt now tied around Kang Do-hee's waist.
[ Belt of Fighting Spirit ]
A totally broken item that increases a striker-type awakener's training efficiency by 30%.
In the original game, it was an item you could only get with a low drop chance after defeating Ryu Jin.
But since this was reality, not a game, we could obtain it as a guaranteed drop.
For Kang Do-hee, who uses no equipment other than her own fists, it was more valuable than any artifact.
And second.
Shin Se-hee's Hidden Piece.
[ Shin Family Guard ]
Originally, you had to gather them one by one, running around different gates and sites as if you were looking for scattered Dragon Balls, and then force each of them into submission. But we'd cleaned them up all at once before they could scatter and obtained them in a lump sum.
And the Shin family itself was a bonus.
All their data and assets had been transferred to Shin Se-hee.
It was now basically the same as having no reason to worry about money ever again.
Even up to this point, the reward was already overwhelming, but.
I stared blankly at the pure white Magic Stone in my hand.
[ White Magic Stone ]
Shasha Pong, whose face had been deeply shadowed ever since we first met, had gradually regained a demeanor more befitting her age after being reunited with her father.
-Thank you, Jin Yu-ha!! Ah, from now on! I'll devote my life to the Indian Rain Dance!!! I'll never let anyone get away with insulting Jin Yu-ha!!!!
Shasha Pong clenched both fists tightly, her eyes shining as she spoke.
-A—and, u—um, if you ever...... c—come to China later on, p—please be sure to contact me! H—here's my number!!!
Shasha Pong pressed a crumpled, folded piece of paper into my hand and then dashed away.
I smiled lightly as I watched Shasha Pong's retreating figure.
-.......
And then Shasha Pong's father, Yu-won.
He stared at me with a solemn expression for a moment.
Thud!
Suddenly, he dropped to his knees and bowed.
-Great hero, I have received a debt of kindness that I can never repay!
-Ah, uh, p—please don't do that!
Flustered, I tried to help him up.
But he was stubborn.
-No. If not for you, great hero, Shasha and I would already be dead. How could I possibly lift my head before the benefactor who rescued us father and daughter and even laid the foundation for us to start anew!
As he said this, he placed a White Magic Stone onto his palm.
-I will live the rest of my life in gratitude, but I know this is woefully inadequate. However, I lack the means today to repay the value of the rescue I received from you, great hero, so I will give you this......! It is a family heirloom!
And so Yu-won held out the White Magic Stone to me.
He had even severed his own Mana connection to it.
-I—I'll take it! So p—please, raise your head!!
And with that, I was able to obtain the White Magic Stone.
'Hm, it's true that I'd half been aiming for this ever since I first decided to help Shasha Pong......'
Now that I actually had it in my hands, it felt extraordinary.
This was because it was an item you could genuinely only get through the gacha.
At an extremely rare 0.01% rate, no less!
'Anyway, I only intended to do China a good turn because asking for more felt like I'd have no conscience......'
I clicked my tongue softly.
Guangdong Province was currently in a state of chaos.
The insects gathered to deal with Shin Do-hwa were running rampant, and the Landlord had been overthrown in an instant.
The surrounding regions, which had already been suffering under Ryu Jin's tyranny and eyeing Guangdong for a chance, were in a perfect position.
It was an ideal time to swallow Guangdong whole.
But keeping the hunters who had worked under Ryu Jin and Shin Do-hwa employed was out of the question—those bastards were just a little too worthless.
That was when my fan club hunters, who had been waiting nearby, suddenly came to mind.
And the reason I brought up the Magic Stone smuggling story:
it was simply to suggest we pay the taxes and take them openly.
But the moment Shin Se-hee heard that, she went ahead and wrote a whole scenario on her own.
'......Hm, I don't really know. Good is good, I guess.'
Well, if it turned out to be beneficial, wasn't that actually better?
I was turning the White Magic Stone over in my hand and sorting out my thoughts when
I heard a voice from beside me.
"H—hoobae......"
It was Ga-eul sunbae.
"Yes?"
"Th—that...... are you going to give it to me?"
She spoke without taking her eyes off the White Magic Stone.
Ga-eul sunbae was fidgeting restlessly, like a puppy that needed to pee.
I chuckled softly and nodded.
Of course I'd give it to her.
Unlike other Magic Stones, this White Magic Stone could be freely recharged and had exceptional efficiency.
Of course, the things you could do with this White Magic Stone were endless.
But it was also true that there was no one more suited for it than Im Ga-eul.
"Yes, I'll give it to you."
At my answer, Im Ga-eul's expression brightened instantly.
But.
"Not right now, though. Later."
"......Wha—what!?"
"I have something I need to test first."
"L—later when!? When is that?"
Ga-eul sunbae lunged at me and grabbed my arm.
"H—hoobae?"
Pretending not to hear, I turned my head toward the other party members.
"Alright, let's wrap things up here and quietly head back the way we came."
"When are you giving it to me?"
And so, having successfully concluded the Shin family episode, we were able to return to the academy.
"Come onnn, I said whennn—!!"