Chapter 415: Special (6)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 415: Special (6)
A sudden notification, delivered right before the operation was set to begin.
The gist of it was this:
“Hunter Han Ju-hee has selected Hunter Son Seo-yeon to be her personal guard.”
It was Han Ju-hee being Han Ju-hee.
The worst possible move, made out of a mother’s concern for her daughter.
And just as I expected…
Seo-yeon’s face flushed red and pale upon hearing the news.
Betrayal, anger, sorrow.
Her expression shifted as cold and fiery emotions warred for dominance.
“Hmm…”
Waves of feelings she had never once shown before now swelled within her.
Seeing that made one thing clear.
If I left her like this, something far worse than I imagined could happen.
“Therefore, Hunter Son Seo-yeon, please pack your things quickly and come with me.”
The man delivered his message in a stiff tone with a rigid expression, completely oblivious to the atmosphere in the room.
Hey, you… have you ever heard of reading the room?
In a situation like this, you’re supposed to at least pretend to be cautious with your words.
I briefly scowled at his inflexible manner.
Then, seeing Seo-yeon frozen in place, unable to do anything, I fell into thought.
“…What should I do?”
I could hear the team members whispering among themselves.
“What are we supposed to do in a situation like this?”
“…It’s an order from Hunter Han Ju-hee. Shouldn’t we follow it?”
“Even if it feels like an unjust order?”
“Still, but…”
“Seo-yeon is in a ‘Very Angry’ state…”
“Sigh, she’s at it again…”
It seemed opinions were divided even among the team.
This was a bit tricky.
The Hunter industry generally professes a culture of autonomy, but there are times when one must adhere to strict rules and a chain of command.
Large-scale operations like this one were a prime example.
With so many Hunters involved, they needed to be in sync—if not perfectly, then at least to a reasonable degree.
Han Ju-hee was essentially the commander leading the Hunters from Korea.
If word got out that we ignored her orders, we’d surely catch all sorts of hell for it, but…
“Seo-yeon sunbae.”
“Huh? Y-yes…?”
“You decide. Will you accept Hunter Han Ju-hee’s request to be her guard, or will you come with us?”
But we had our own argument to make.
Anyone could see this was a mother’s ploy to pull her daughter out of a dangerous area.
Even if the incident became public, her past achievements and her maternal instincts would be highlighted, and she likely wouldn’t suffer any consequences. But by the same token, it could also be a reason for me to avoid blame.
If I brought up the standards of equity and fairness, it would be more than enough grounds for exemption.
That’s why I couldn’t quite understand it.
She had to know I wouldn’t just listen to any order she gave, so why issue one like this?
There were two main possibilities.
Either her emotions had become so intense that even her much-vaunted rational mind couldn’t control them…
…or the situation was so urgent that she had to resort to such measures to get her daughter out.
Personally, I’d be thrilled if it were the former, but knowing how resilient her reason was, the latter seemed more likely.
Just then, the association staff member protested in a stiff tone.
“Hunter Kim Do-jin. Are you saying you will not follow Hunter Han Ju-hee’s directive?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“…This could lead to a very uncomfortable situation for everyone.”
His tone was somewhere between advice and a warning.
“An uncomfortable situation, you say.”
That’s possible.
However.
“If things get uncomfortable in Korea, couldn’t I just emigrate?”
“……!”
A strange sense of pleasure washed over me as I finally saw the staffer’s face twist. I continued.
“I’m pretty sure wherever I go, they’d welcome me with open arms.”
Open arms? Please.
The moment I even hinted at defecting, countries would probably have their prettiest women spread their legs to bring me over.
An exaggeration, you say?
Not at all.
When that bastard Kim Tae-yang posted on social media, ‘It’s so hard to live in Korea because of public opinion,’ love calls poured in from all over the world.
I heard some country in the Middle East even offered to let him have seven wives and eight concubines.
But Kim Tae-yang said he’d rather die than go to the Middle East.
He said what he wanted wasn’t seven wives and eight concubines, but just a hundred different women, or something like that.
In other words, he didn’t want the responsibility that came with marriage; he just wanted to enjoy the pleasure.
Anyway.
I asked the man again.
“What do you think?”
I was sending him a message.
A warning that no matter how great Han Ju-hee was, if he stuck too close to one side, he could end up like a kite with its string cut.
Did I ask him to take my side?
Wouldn’t it be better for him to just stay neutral and play both sides?
As if she’d had some sort of realization after seeing me shut down the association staffer, Seo-yeon, who had been deliberating, finally spoke.
“Please tell my mother… no, Hunter Han Ju-hee.”
A change in how you address someone can often reveal a great deal.
By calling Han Ju-hee a Hunter instead of her mother, she was issuing a final warning to keep public and private matters separate. It also meant her opinion of her mother had once again hit rock bottom.
“I will carry out the operation with my team. So, unfortunately… tell her to find someone else for her security detail.”
Her stance was firm, not yielding a single step.
At her words, the association staffer’s head dropped helplessly.
“…I understand. I will relay your message to Hunter Han Ju-hee.”
It was his own form of surrender.
A signal that he had no intention of antagonizing or pressuring us, and that we should all take a step back.
For us, it wasn’t a bad option at all.
“I’ll be taking my leave now.”
The man got into the car he’d arrived in and drove away.
We had overcome one crisis, but the anxiety hadn’t completely vanished.
“I… I did the right thing, didn’t I?”
Son Seo-yeon asked me, as if seeking confirmation that her choice wasn’t wrong.
But I didn’t give her the answer she wanted.
“I don’t know. The results of something done recklessly are usually only known later.”
“…Ah.”
Choices come with responsibility.
Today, all she had done was make a choice.
The responsibility for it would come later.
And only after she had fully shouldered that responsibility…
“Then you’ll be able to judge for yourself whether your choice back then was right or wrong.”
This is what makes choices so frightening.
You never know when the consequences of your decision will appear.
Perhaps the reason people get addicted to gambling is similar.
If it goes well, you hit the jackpot; if not, you go bust.
Either way, you find out the result the moment you flip over a card, right?
“So until then, we just have to wait. While doing our jobs properly. Okay?”
Hearing my words, Seo-yeon smiled faintly and nodded.
“Yes…!”
Now that’s much better. A smile looks good on you.
Having quelled the anxiety in her heart, I turned to the team and declared.
“Shall we get going?”
The operation was beginning.
* * *
Day and night in the Black Market evoked completely different feelings.
If their night was a time to welcome customers, their day was a time to prepare for them.
For that reason, it was lively in a different way.
“What the hell? Why is the stock of B-rank mana stones so low?”
“The recent crackdown has been tight. We were lucky to get even that much.”
“Damn government bastards. They were happy to take our stuff before, and now they pull this…!”
New goods were brought in, and display shelves were filled.
And…
“Are you the bastards who’ve been causing trouble in our territory?”
“What if we are?”
“Then you’ll have to pay the price.”
CRASH!
CRUNCH!
Countless fights broke out for reasons big and small.
For them, it was just another day.
They were all focused on their own tasks, treating even the bloodiest of brawls as nothing special, when…
BOOOOM—!
A massive explosion echoed from the sky.
“Wh-what was that?”
“What’s going on?!”
While they were in a state of confusion, Hunters from the three nations who had been on standby stormed in.
“Sh-shit! Who the hell are all these guys?!”
They were Hunters the villains had never seen before.
Then, spotting familiar faces among the intruders, the villains erupted in a furious rage.
“Public Security… there are Public Security bastards mixed in with them!”
“What…?!”
Hunters and Public Security, storming in without any warning.
The recent, tense atmosphere between the government and the Black Market.
Even the most uneducated criminals knew exactly what this meant.
“So the bastards are finally abandoning us!”
“Fuck…! Everyone, grab your weapons!”
“Don’t run, you idiots! It’s not like we have anywhere else to go if we back down here!”
The villains of the Black Market descended into chaos.
Some fled in a panic, while others calmly assessed the situation and stood their ground to fight.
But their strength alone was not enough.
The Chinese government had staked everything on this operation.
They had even swallowed their pride and bowed their stiff necks to request support from neighboring countries.
However, they didn’t want to expose the entire Black Market.
What they wanted was for the Black Market to return to its original state: a source of resources under government control, one they could profit from and intervene in whenever they pleased.
At this, the Public Security officers mixed in with the Hunters raised their voices.
“Organizations not affiliated with Hexagram, surrender immediately and follow the government’s orders! If you do, your crimes will be forgiven!”
The call to surrender echoed from all directions.
Simultaneously, those who had been clashing weapons with the Hunters began to declare their surrender one by one.
But this only served as a catalyst for further chaos.
“Die!”
“Surrender my ass!”
Some of the villains pretended to surrender, only to launch surprise attacks on the Hunters.
Despite this, the Public Security Hunters continued to urge them to surrender.
This put the allied Hunters in an incredibly awkward position.
“Those bastards, this isn’t what they told us!”
“They said to kill them on sight! Why the sudden change…?!”
“Fuck, what are we supposed to do?!”
With those genuinely surrendering and those faking it all mixed together, it was impossible to tell who was who.
Should we just ignore the Public Security and kill them all? What if that causes problems later?
They were all wrestling with these thoughts when it happened.
“Surrender? Don’t make me laugh.”
A storm of blood erupted from one side.
“I-I surrender!”
“I said I surrender!”
“Nope~ Not buying it.”
It was Kim Do-jin, the single-minded purist who never compromised with criminals.
He burned and froze those crying for surrender without exception, making an example of them for all to see.
Then, he turned to the hesitant Hunters and spoke in a pathetic tone.
“None of the bastards who’ve washed up here are anything but human trash. Let’s just kill them, shall we?”
His words were the spark that ignited the Hunters.