Chapter 89
Chapter 89
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 89
Chapter Title: I Am the Guide!
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89
Two days left.
Why had he sought power and influence?
To use it at a time like this, hadn't he?
The moment he stepped out of the Hunter Management Agency, a dancer descended from the sky and dropped to one knee.
"What shall we do?"
She had come to offer aid, but her actions were exactly as Lee Yong-un had anticipated for Minister Baek Myung-hee.
In the end, whether it was the martial world or reality, the principle held true everywhere people lived: even the highest powers knelt to greater authority.
"I never wanted to do this for Myung-un's sake..."
But this was the Hunter Management Agency he had visited on the off chance.
He had expected it, yet now that his prediction was unfolding before his eyes, it felt worse than he had imagined.
"Is there truly no other way?"
The only path left was one only Yong-un could take, beyond any normal route.
He had no choice but to resort to the final measure.
Gazing up at the darkening sky, Yong-un issued his command to the dancer.
"Mobilize the Slaughter Society."
"I'll track down the brokers."
"It'll take considerable force. Our opponent is the Minister of National Defense."
"We've anticipated that. With one designated sacrifice, no matter how powerful the Minister of National Defense, he won't escape the Slaughter Society's schemes."
Even hearing that the Minister of National Defense was the enemy, not a trace of worry colored the dancer's words.
Was it for nothing that the Slaughter Society was the darkness and terror entrenched in Korea?
To them, even the president would be no cause for fear when carrying out their operations.
The Slaughter Society existed everywhere—and nowhere at all.
"I trust you."
"It will be as the Supreme One wills."
The dancer bowed her head and turned to leave.
At that moment, Yong-un's phone rang, and he raised a hand.
At the gesture to halt, she paused mid-step and bowed once more.
Then, a familiar voice came through the receiver.
[Yong-un Hunter!]
"Our conversation should be over."
It was Minister Baek Myung-hee, whom he had just spoken to moments ago.
Yong-un's low, edged voice reverberated.
Even his subordinate dancer flinched and glanced nervously at him.
Yet Minister Baek Myung-hee's voice boomed undaunted.
[The matter with Myung-un Hunter. I'll handle it.]
Her voice sounded refreshed, as if she had gained some profound realization. Yong-un's eyebrow twitched.
"What is she plotting?"
Was she planning to ally with the Minister of National Defense to buy time?
That thought crossed his mind first.
But her following words made Yong-un reevaluate Minister Baek Myung-hee entirely.
[The head of the Hunter Management Agency—that's me, Baek Myung-hee. I admit it. I failed as its director!]
Yong-un had met countless people.
Through building emotions and conversations with them, he could gauge their thoughts from their voices alone.
[My hunters! I'll protect Myung-un Hunter!]
Minister Baek Myung-hee's resounding voice carried through.
It was the voice of one who had achieved enlightenment.
A powerful tone brimming with genuine emotion that couldn't be feigned.
"Can I trust her?"
A faint smile tugged at Yong-un's lips as he asked.
"I asked if I can trust you, the one called the director of Korea's hunters."
[Yes! Trust me! If I fail, I'll step down as head of the Hunter Management Agency. I'll follow your word, Yong-un Hunter!]
At her shocking, unprecedented declaration, the dancer lifted her bowed head in surprise.
Minister Baek Myung-hee, of all people, saying something like that?
The dancer's gaze shifted to Yong-un.
'What on earth did he say to her... to make Minister Baek Myung-hee...'
Amid her gaze,
Yong-un wiped away his faint smile and nodded.
"I'll trust you and wait."
[Yes, just watch!]
Click.
The call ended.
Meeting the dancer's stunned stare, Yong-un offered a serene smile once more.
"I rescind the order. Let's give her a chance."
"Ah, yes! Understood."
He pocketed his phone and passed by the kneeling dancer.
Was it relief at avoiding that dreaded final measure?
Or because her words had pleased him?
Whatever the case, the dancer tilted her head at Yong-un's receding figure, his surging anger seemingly subsided.
"What did he do?"
Her gaze turned to the Hunter Management Agency building.
A woman who had endured years as director under pressure from the four major guilds.
That was Minister Baek Myung-hee.
How could someone so proud of her role as director, so dutiful and responsible, speak of resigning?
Stunned by the astonishing words she had overheard, the dancer's eyes fixed on Yong-un's distant back.
"As expected of the Supreme One... truly remarkable."
A deep smile curved her lips, her respect for Yong-un swelling further.
She already held him above the minister, and this incident unintentionally deepened her loyalty even more.
"So cool."
Her tongue wet her lips.
Separate from her loyalty, the small lotus budding in her heart began to unfurl its petals.
= = =
She had always believed she held the upper hand.
As the head of an agency.
As a minister, she thought her will was always right, her judgments infallible.
'Reign in the four major guilds.'
'Summon the leaders of the four major guilds.'
Even those titans of Korea's hunter world seemed like mere puzzle pieces to her.
But then.
'Don't interfere.'
Lee Yong-un appeared—a new puzzle piece that shook the entire board she had so meticulously assembled in her name as minister.
Perhaps the very board she thought she had pieced together perfectly on her own.
'If you're the director...'
His single phrase had rattled her soul.
All her past as minister flashed before her eyes.
'Assemble all hunters at Bupyeong Station.'
'Don't do that. Obey me.'
Was it not anger at the puzzle board ruined by Yong-un?
Or had she merely seen him as a small piece to control as its 'minister' master?
Or was it an attempt to check him, now the master of a new puzzle board?
'Stop him!'
'How could he handle a demon gate alone...'
'Block it. Order the nearby troops in the minister's name to prevent Demonus from entering.'
The faint regret and inexplicable emotion seeping in after her commands—she had felt it for some time.
Why hadn't she realized it was envy, jealousy, and anger?
She lifted her head.
Yong-un's seat was now empty, devoid even of lingering warmth.
Yet there he sat.
"Are you the director now?"
"Not yet..."
Yong-un nodded slightly.
Her past mistakes and unspoken inferiority complex flickered by.
"Then what are you?"
"I... I'm..."
I'll live for the hunters.
Korea's hunters.
I'll strive for their convenience and survival.
A lifetime of memories flashed like a lantern show.
Ending with her younger self, the first minister, brimming with passion.
Ding.
The moment she read the text on her phone on the table,
Baek Myung-hee shot to her feet.
And shouted toward Yong-un.
"I am the guide!"
[Sender: Lee Yong-un Hunter]
[Content: I saw you as just another rotten sprout, but it seems I misjudged. Prove me wrong. Prove I was mistaken about you.]
Her younger self, filled with zeal and joy as the first minister, overlapped with her current self.
The young Baek Myung-hee who accepted her mistakes and evolved immediately.
The old Baek Myung-hee, corrupted by power and seeking control, faded.
At the same time, the seat where she had shouted, mistaken for Yong-un, dissolved like an illusion of time.
Leaving only emptiness.
'The guide.'
Clenching her fist, Minister Baek Myung-hee pulled out her phone.
To undo her error of seeking greater power to control the puzzle pieces,
she made the call.
[Not a junior anymore, haha. Looks like your talk with Yong-un Hunter went well.]
"Yes, it did."
Precisely, not power to control puzzle pieces,
but the wrong choice to control another board's master, Yong-un.
"You need to withdraw the pressure on Myung-un Hunter right now."
[...What did you just say?]
"Myung-un Hunter can't enlist in two days,"
[Have you lost your mind?!]
The Minister of National Defense's roar—something she had never heard before.
Yet Minister Baek Myung-hee didn't flinch an inch.
The young Baek Myung-hee.
"Hunters are under my jurisdiction. No matter the Ministry of National Defense, administrative priority over hunters lies with us—the Hunter Management Agency!"
[You... you...]
"Oh, and by the way, no matter what you do, enlistment in two days is off the table. I checked—Myung-un Hunter has applied for World S-Rank evaluation with the GHO."
[Baek Myung-hee!]
She had returned.
"Try it if you dare, Minister of National Defense! Even you can't command greater authority than the World Hunter Organization GHO."
= = =
No matter how long a Daoist had cultivated, admitting one's faults and evolving from them was no easy feat.
Those in power and high positions could claim it even harder.
Just acknowledging a mistake diminished their dignity and status.
But.
Baek Myung-hee had done it.
He had nearly dismissed her as a rotten branch, covering and denying her own wrongs.
Yet in no time, she transformed—from a rotten branch into a small tree with unseen, sturdy roots.
[Sender: Minister Baek Myung-hee]
[Content: I've canceled the enlistment scheduled for two days from now.]
A sapling with every potential to grow into a great tree.
"Now we just wait?"
The dancer smiled beside Yong-un, who gazed at the night sky from the rooftop.
He shook his head.
"Now it's time to move."
"Pardon?"
[But it's not over. Don't underestimate the Minister of National Defense. He'll surely pull some stunt.]
He pressed a button on the text, revealing the hidden message.
Yong-un chuckled and pocketed his phone.
The dancer, reading it, grew serious.
"The current Minister of National Defense wields immense power and connections. From what I know, one of his key contacts—an alumnus—is the GHO UK branch director."
"Is that so."
Quite the well-connected Minister of National Defense.
He might even use those ties to sever Myung-un's lifeline of a World S-Rank evaluation.
A 'mistake' would cost him nothing.
"Supreme One, if that alumnus moves, it could get messy. Shall I prepare brokers in advance? Or perhaps mobilize the Slaughter Society after all..."
But contrary to the worried dancer, Yong-un—the very person concerned—exuded leisure.
A picture of utter nonchalance that only made her more anxious.
"Supreme One...?"
Finally, she made a pleading face toward him.
'If his brother gets dragged into the military like this... it'll be a disaster.'
She knew well how fiercely Yong-un cherished his family.
Should that happen, she didn't want to imagine what followed.
Yong-un, cloaked in rage and murderous intent.
No one in this world could stop him.
As the dancer fretted,
Yong-un, silently staring at the sky, patted her shoulder.
"Worry not. It won't take as long as you think."
"Pardon...?"
"She's doing better than expected."
What was he seeing?
She followed his gaze to the night sky.
But obscured by streetlights, it was nothing but pitch-black darkness, without a single star.
Yet Yong-un gazed into the gloom with a radiant smile.
Bright enough to push back all shadows.
"Ah..."
The dancer was entranced.
Yong-un rose without sparing her a glance.
As if resolved, he smiled and said,
"What mattered was securing these two days. Time has returned as promised, so now I proceed with my plan."
"Y-Yes... yes!"
"You've done your part, so now it's my turn."
"Are you... talking to me...?"
His cryptic words.
The dancer stared at him blankly.
Then, looking down at her, he said,
"I'll be right back."
"W-Wait a moment!"
Her words didn't reach him.
No one remained where Yong-un had stood.
"What about the GHO! It's the UK branch director! Supreme One! Supreme One!!"
Left alone, she clutched her lingering worry and shouted at his empty spot.