Chapter 7
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 7
Chapter Title: Clash with the Second Team Leader
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“...With Kang Hyuk-ssi?”
“Yes. I need to head out on a business trip soon anyway, and isn't it about time I started gaining some real field experience?”
Lee Yeon-hee's eyes widened.
“Th-that's true, but... even so, wouldn't it be better for your first field experience to be somewhere like Gangnam or nearby...?”
“I agree, but more than the physical strain, I figured it's better to build that kind of crucial experience alongside someone you're on good terms with. Gotta avoid any slip-ups, right?”
“...”
“In that sense, with Senior Officer Lee Yeon-hee... I don't think I'd make any mistakes.”
Lee Yeon-hee chewed her lower lip at Kang Hyuk's explanation.
She fell silent, lost in thought.
Watching her expression head-on, it looked like she didn't mind the idea of teaming up with him either.
'Must be the aftereffect of me finding that USB for her back then.'
Kang Hyuk muttered to himself and let out a soft chuckle as he waited for her response.
“Hey! You expect me to drink this cheap-ass coffee?”
A familiar yet oddly distant voice rang out from afar.
Kang Hyuk's gaze instinctively turned that way.
The familiar back of the head and tone entered his view.
“Go buy me a Starbucks, goddamn Starbucks! Even if the government's stingy with peanuts, we've gotta have enough for that much!”
That signature bravado-packed voice and posture.
“Even with our peanuts salary, we've gotta have enough for Starbucks!”
Slyly twisting those words to chew out his own team members—that was the Second Team Leader.
Lee Yong's figure came into view.
At this fateful coincidence—or whatever it was—Kang Hyuk's lips curled upward.
“Hmm... I've given it some thought, Kang Hyuk-ssi.”
Having finished deliberating, Lee Yeon-hee raised her head.
“If you're so insistent, heading to Busan together doesn't sound... too bad.”
“Excellent decision, Senior Officer.”
“But are you really okay with it? The team we're linking up with this time... happens to include that hot-tempered Second Team Leader.”
Kang Hyuk withdrew his gaze from Lee Yong and replied to her cautious question.
“Yes. No issue at all.”
His eyes gleamed sharply.
“If anything, I'm glad my first dispatch partner is someone like that.”
Everything proceeded without a hitch.
Even getting approval from Section Chief Kim Shin-nam—the biggest potential obstacle—went surprisingly smoothly.
“I was just thinking it was about time you got some field experience. If you're volunteering, how could I say no?”
With approval secured for the Busan trip, departure day arrived.
Kang Hyuk and Lee Yeon-hee reached Incheon Airport right on schedule at 10 a.m., waiting for Second Team Leader Lee Yong and his team members.
But even well past the appointed time, there was no sign or word from Lee Yong or the Second Team.
“Haa... This is driving me nuts. The plane's about to take off—why aren't they here?”
Lee Yeon-hee paced anxiously, stomping her feet.
Kang Hyuk, meanwhile, stood relaxed with arms crossed, eyes fixed on the airport toll gate.
He hadn't expected Lee Yong to show up on time in the first place.
Based on his lifestyle patterns from the past life, when Kang Hyuk had been under him, the guy was probably just now dragging himself to the airport after a night of heavy boozing somewhere.
And sure enough, Kang Hyuk's hunch hit the mark.
“Yoo... Lee Yeon-hee-ssi.”
10:30 a.m.
Exactly fifteen minutes before boarding cutoff.
Lee Yong stumbled in, reeking of booze with his hair a total mess.
“Sorry 'bout that, kid... Met some big shot last night—been drinking straight through till now.”
Lee Yeon-hee's jaw dropped slightly, but she swallowed whatever she wanted to say.
“We should hurry, Team Leader Lee Yong. We've got fifteen minutes till the next flight boards.”
It was all because of Second Team Leader Lee Yong's infamous reputation.
Rumors swirled around him—true or not—including one about him assaulting a duty officer.
“Pfft... Worst case, we hop the next flight.”
“No, we can't. We've got a strategy briefing with the Busan hunters at Gwangalli District Office Station at 11 a.m.”
“Briefing? Fuckin' hell... Briefing my ass—we're just moppin' up the scraps that fall outta the gate!”
His sudden outburst made Lee Yeon-hee flinch and step back.
Kang Hyuk's attention sharpened.
'Trash bastard.'
The aura Lee Yong had just unleashed.
It was the unique energy that awakened hunters possessed.
And he'd subtly directed it at Lee Yeon-hee to intimidate her.
“So let's grab the next one? Huh? Head to that coffee shop over there, knock back a cup while we chat.”
In the meantime, Lee Yong grabbed her forearm and started dragging her along.
The Second Team members trailing behind gawked in shock but didn't intervene.
Anyone could see it was rude as hell, but no one dared call him out—his rabid-dog temper was just too much to handle.
As they averted their eyes and followed him toward the airport coffee shop—
“That's far enough.”
Kang Hyuk stepped forward, blocking Lee Yong's path.
“...And who the hell are you?”
At the unexpected intrusion, Lee Yeon-hee snapped out of it and went wide-eyed.
The Second Team members behind her were no different.
“Where'd this punk crawl out from?”
Amid the murmurs, a half-lidded, booze-soaked Lee Yong muttered in disbelief.
And, as always, he mustered his aura.
“...”
Kang Hyuk's lips curled into a grin, as if he'd been waiting for this.
Power of the Last Giant Clan activates.
You obtain Giant's Finger.
Power of the Last Giant Clan: 0.1%
Slyly prying Lee Yong's hand from her wrist, Kang Hyuk pulled her behind him.
“...!”
The motion happened in a blink—no one nearby could react.
At the same time, Lee Yong's drooping eyelids snapped wide open.
“Belated introduction.”
Kang Hyuk looked down at him and spoke.
“Kang Hyuk from Gangnam District Office, assigned to this dispatch. And...”
Lee Yong let out a hollow laugh.
“...I'm also your supervisor, here to keep you all in line.”
Lee Yong thought to himself.
Was the booze from last night still messing with his head, making him hear nonsense?
Or was he still stuck in dreamland?
'What the hell is this guy?'
Otherwise, how could some lowly pencil-pusher dare block his actions and mouth off like that?
He felt rattled, but reality soon sank in.
And the embarrassment twisted into rage.
Lee Yong didn't fight the fury.
His brows furrowed as he glared daggers, issuing a warning.
“What the fuck are you? What gives you the balls to act up like this?”
Kang Hyuk replied with an utterly nonchalant expression.
“It's not about balls—I'm just following protocol, Second Team Leader.”
“...Protocol? Protocol? You're pulling this insane stunt because of protocol?”
“Yes. Is it weird for a civil servant to stick to the manual?”
His calm comeback left Lee Yong speechless.
The lingering booze haze cleared from his system.
Sober now, Lee Yong advanced on Kang Hyuk.
“T-Team Leader!”
The Gangnam Second Team members behind him cried out in horror, trying to hold him back.
Given his usual temper, whatever came next wouldn't end well.
But it was already too late.
“Say that shit again. That this bullshit is all because of some manual.”
Flames engulfed his hand.
'Ignition'—one of the most common abilities, and Lee Yong's own awakening power—had activated.
Lee Yeon-hee and the team members gasped at the sight of genuine fire, not some cheap trick.
As they moved to intervene before disaster struck—
“Everything you just said to me? It's all on record.”
Kang Hyuk beat them to it, speaking up first.
He pulled out his smartphone from his pocket.
“And those words and actions? Straight-up illegal. You know that as a team leader, right?”
He waved the phone right in Lee Yong's face for emphasis.
“All hunters under national service must obey the escort officer's instructions and guidance until reaching the site. Harm the escort, and depending on severity, you risk deregistration as a national hunter—or even arrest.”
The blatant mockery flipped Lee Yong's eyes in rage.
“So, with that in mind: deactivate your ability right now, or I report it up the chain. Though before that...”
As he finally lost it and took a step forward—
“...you'll probably get restrained by the other hunters first.”
A colossal pressure locked around his ankles.
Startled, Lee Yong whipped his head around to see the airport's on-standby hunters closing in.
Reason began yielding to primal instinct.
'...Goddamn it!'
The guild tasked with Incheon Airport security was one of Korea's top-five heavyweights.
Start shit here, and it wouldn't end pretty, no matter what.
He reined in his ability and ground his teeth.
But he couldn't just slink away, so he shot Kang Hyuk a venomous glare and snarled a warning.
“...Kang Hyuk, huh?”
“Yes.”
“I'll remember that name. This Busan gig's a long haul—plenty of time.”
Kang Hyuk let out a scoffing chuckle.
The sneer furrowed Lee Yong's brows anew, but he held his tongue.
“...”
The other hunters were still watching intently.
Finally grasping how screwed he was, he bit his lip and stormed off.
“T-Team Leader!”
Lee Yeon-hee, who'd been holding her breath through the whole ordeal, snapped back to reality and blurted out.
“K-Kang Hyuk-ssi, why'd you do that?!”
“Was there a problem?”
“Problems? Tons! Why'd you go poking the Second Team Leader...”
Kang Hyuk cut her off midway.
“And why exactly is that a problem?”
Her eyes went wide.
“I mean, even if he was in the wrong, there's such a thing as...”
She forced the words out, only to trail off again.
“Doesn't that cross the line for 'propriety'? Senior Officer. And...”
Kang Hyuk's tone turned resolute.
“You can't rein in trash like that without handling it that way.”