Chapter 63
Chapter 63
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 63
Chapter Title: Turning the Tables
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“What? You revealed that anonymously? Just for the sake of preventing a war?”
After hearing the full explanation, Lee Jun-cheol’s mind was utterly astonished.
“Yes. It was obvious that if a clear target emerged, Tyrant would come charging in with a do-or-die attitude.”
“Good grief.”
Lee Jun-cheol found himself seeing Seo Sang-ho in a new light.
Up until now, he had only considered him a bit more reasonable than the other major guild leaders.
But after hearing the details, his opinion changed.
“I never imagined Titan’s guild master could be such a fool.”
“...What did you say?”
Lee Hye-na bristled and glared at Lee Jun-cheol with venomous eyes.
But Lee Jun-cheol did not take back his words.
“It’s fine to chase ideals. But at least as a guild master, you shouldn’t do that.”
There was no issue with an individual acting that way.
In fact, he even felt like cheering them on personally.
However, as Lee Jun-cheol said, it was an attitude unbecoming of someone in a leadership position.
“Do you think the people under you joined the guild for some volunteer work? You know they banded together to make money more easily.”
Even non-hunters understood this fact, so there was no way the guild master and his secretary didn’t.
“This incident is essentially something you brought upon yourselves.”
Lee Jun-cheol stated firmly.
From an objective viewpoint free of personal bias, Han Young-seok’s coup was entirely justified.
It might be a humanitarian disaster, but the motivation alone was more than sufficient.
“If you’re forming a new guild, then Kang Jin-hyuk should take charge of the brains, not Seo Sang-ho.”
“I wouldn’t be any different.”
“No, just from how you treat Teacher Park, I can see that you have qualities Seo Sang-ho lacks.”
Lee Jun-cheol had become convinced while doing business with Kang Jin-hyuk.
Kang Jin-hyuk firmly drew the line when something was off.
Yet he didn’t push too hard, loosening up when appropriate.
Just from this, he seemed far more suited to being guild master than Seo Sang-ho.
Could a guild master who preached grand ideals while ignoring massive gains and the plight of his members show such an attitude?
‘Well... seeing how he’s running around chased out alongside Seo Sang-ho, they’re still on equal footing for now.’
Even so, Lee Jun-cheol saw greater potential in Kang Jin-hyuk.
At the very least, he didn’t volunteer to take losses in their deals.
‘We stuck around here just to snatch some falling crumbs. If a guy like Seo Sang-ho takes the helm, we’re in trouble.’
If Seo Sang-ho clung to the guild master position, things might end up in a everyone-happy compromise.
In the worst case, he might even forgive Titan’s rebels.
That must never happen.
Lee Jun-cheol wasn’t here as a philanthropist.
He had come prepared to suck them dry as much as possible, so setting the stage for that was only natural.
“Let me be clear.”
Lee Hye-na trembled as if struck in the solar plexus by his words, but Lee Jun-cheol said what he had to say.
“Kang Jin-hyuk will take the guild master position. That is the condition for our assistance.”
Kang Jin-hyuk didn’t answer right away and first checked Lee Hye-na’s reaction.
Truthfully, she had no room to object.
They had learned of Tyrant’s crimes thanks to Kang Jin-hyuk’s tip-off.
Seo Sang-ho had survived, and someone like Lee Jun-cheol had stepped in to help—all because of Kang Jin-hyuk.
She knew this in her head, but accepting it in her heart was another matter.
After a brief silence, Lee Hye-na nodded with difficulty.
“Understood. When Sang-ho wakes up, I’ll try to convince him.”
“Verbal promises are hard to trust, so may I ask for it in writing?”
As someone seasoned in the black market, Lee Jun-cheol showed no mercy.
He even pulled out a pre-prepared contract to drive the nail in while she was barely regaining her composure.
‘No need to consider personal circumstances in business.’
Jo Hyeong-il inwardly admired, thinking, ‘As expected of big bro.’
“Does my opinion not matter?”
As Lee Hye-na picked up the pen to sign, Kang Jin-hyuk began protesting.
“I never said I’d do it, and now suddenly I’m guild master? This is all too sudden.”
“So you’re saying you have no intention of doing it?”
Lee Jun-cheol thought Kang Jin-hyuk wouldn’t answer this lightly.
If things went well, they could absorb Titan’s territory intact, creating a major guild.
They might even swallow up what remained of Tyrant’s domain.
No one in their right mind would refuse to lead such a guild.
“Yes, I don’t.”
But Kang Jin-hyuk was beyond common sense.
“...You’re serious?”
“Why are you so surprised? It’s obvious.”
Lee Jun-cheol felt like clutching his neck upon hearing Kang Jin-hyuk’s words.
“What’s so obvious about this?! Refusing this is idiotic!”
“Yeah, right.”
Sneering, Kang Jin-hyuk snatched the pen from Lee Hye-na’s hand.
He then pointed it at Lee Jun-cheol like a spear.
“That new guild you want to make. You and your men are joining as members, right?”
“Of course. We need that level of compensation for it to make financial sense, don’t we?”
“Yeah, that money-grubbing mindset.”
The reason Kang Jin-hyuk didn’t want the guild master position was simple.
“You want me to manage that vast territory with a bunch of back-alley thugs who only care about money?”
Were they planning to create a cartel in Korea?
The contract Lee Jun-cheol offered even included a clause promising never to fire or abandon him and his men.
It seemed like insurance against being discarded after use, but the reality was different.
Kang Jin-hyuk held up the contract and tapped that clause with the pen.
“No matter what chaos they cause in that area, according to this contract, they won’t get kicked out.”
Others might not notice, but Lee Jun-cheol and his men were a criminal organization that routinely broke the law.
They were far from good people.
Just reporting them to the police right now would land more than half in prison for over ten years.
Creating a guild with such people was absurd enough, but adding a clause to never expel them?
“You want me to be a figurehead guild master covering for your screw-ups. That’s what this is.”
“...So you don’t need our help?”
“I’m not even sure it’s necessary. As long as we properly reel in Tyrant.”
Hearing this, Jo Hyeong-il shot to his feet in outrage.
“Hey! Fine, then we’ll expose everything! Let’s see how you do without us!”
“Expose everything?”
“What, scared now?”
Jo Hyeong-il, grinning smugly thinking he had the upper hand, froze the moment he met Kang Jin-hyuk’s eyes.
A sharp killing intent he had never encountered before swept over his entire body like a blade.
Jo Hyeong-il, who had thought such things only appeared in wuxia novels, collapsed to the floor on the spot.
“You’re mistaken. When did I say I’d let you go?”
Lee Jun-cheol pressed his hand to his forehead and let out a deep sigh.
He had known it would come to this.
They had heard too much information to simply cut ties and leave.
If they couldn’t be allies, it was obvious he’d silence them for safety.
At minimum, confinement; at worst, death.
“You can’t confuse who’s the top dog and who’s the underdog.”
Kang Jin-hyuk flipped the contract so the blank side faced up.
Then he slid it toward Lee Jun-cheol.
“The ones who need to sign aren’t us—it’s you.”
Lee Jun-cheol obediently took the pen Kang Jin-hyuk offered.
He had steeled himself from the start to step into the tiger’s den.
He had anticipated a situation like this.
Even bearing that risk, if the plan succeeded, the profits would be several times greater than anything he’d done before.
‘Still, I had hoped he might fall for it somewhat...’
Believing the momentum would make him accept it outright was a vain hope.
Kang Jin-hyuk was far more cold-blooded than Lee Jun-cheol had imagined.
‘Fine. He has to be that level to entrust him with the head.’
Lee Jun-cheol briefly recalled his first meeting with Kang Jin-hyuk.
Who could have predicted that the novice hunter he took for a greenhorn would turn out to be such a heavyweight?
* * *
After receiving Lee Jun-cheol’s signature on the newly revised contract, Kang Jin-hyuk headed home.
Titan hunters were still posted there, two at a time, keeping watch.
But Kang Jin-hyuk ignored them and casually walked right up to his front door.
Even as he passed them openly, the Titan hunters didn’t so much as turn their heads.
In their place, ‘Jeong Dae-yoon,’ hiding behind the stairs, greeted Kang Jin-hyuk.
Wearing a gas mask, he waved cheerfully and approached.
“Have you finished your business?”
“No, not yet.”
“Then why come back here?”
“There’s something I need to pick up.”
“In this poison gas?”
“The poison gas should be gone by now.”
The poison gas released in Kang Jin-hyuk’s house was designed to naturally dissipate within six hours to destroy evidence.
It was information from Lee Hye-na, so there was no reason to doubt it.
“No, that’s not the issue. What if Titan guys barge in anytime...”
“You’re here, so it’s fine.”
Thanks to Jeong Dae-yoon’s illusion mimicking the Titan sentries, they hadn’t been discovered yet.
But there was no guarantee how long that would last.
“Hey, I’m flattered by your trust, but I’m not that free.”
“Yeah, thanks for helping on such short notice.”
Even amid his busy schedule with Tyrant matters, Jeong Dae-yoon had been waiting here for eight hours already for Kang Jin-hyuk.
Even considering he owed him a favor, going this far wasn’t easy.
“Sigh... Three more hours max. I can’t stay away longer than that.”
“That’s plenty.”
Kang Jin-hyuk confidently opened the door and entered his poison-gas-free home.
Looking at the utterly wrecked interior, he couldn’t help but sigh.
“When am I going to fix all this...”
The furniture, floors, and even wallpaper all needed replacing.
Pushing aside the bitterness, Kang Jin-hyuk headed to the attic and opened the door.
Pushing open the half-destroyed door revealed the dungeon entrance, unchanged as ever.
Fortunately, the state of the house had no impact on accessing the dungeon.
Just before entering, Kang Jin-hyuk checked the inventory newly strapped to his waist.
It was the very inventory Lee Jun-cheol had given him on his first visit.