Just Leave It to Me
Kang Moo-hyuk declared a raid retry and headed to the situation room, where he peeled the map off the wall.
The enlarged map of Da Hong Dan County spanned an entire wall.
He tossed it to the floor and shoved the nearby desks aside. Yi Suk-young rushed over, swiftly clearing away the clutter, and the civil servants caught on to his intent, pitching in to help.
The moment space was cleared, Kang Moo-hyuk spread the map out flat. He grabbed a board marker and marked 'X's at every fork. For straight roads without alleys or narrow lanes, he drew lines at appropriate intervals from the previous markings.
After marking for a good while, the finished pattern looped around the outskirts along the main town roads.
"This... isn't this the path Hyeon Jeong-geon Hunter mentioned for the 'kabulak whirl'?"
"Kabulak whirl... Ah? Spinning top? Yeah. It's the 'Aggro Lure Tactical Line'. Circling Da Hong Dan in a loop."
Yi Suk-young memorized the catchy operation name "spinning top" and asked,
"Why mark the spinning top path?"
"Hyeon Jeong-geon is an assassin type, but he uniquely has wide-area taunt and damage skills. While he loops the monsters, we'll use 'group pooling' tactics."
"What's group pooling?"
"It's a hunting strategy for peeling off large monster clusters into small groups to whittle down forces. Works great on low-intelligence monsters."
"Ah? Teasing hunt? I get it. We've used something similar."
Though still unfamiliar with hunter terms, Yi Suk-young showed her eagerness to learn, quickly adapting.
Kang Moo-hyuk reviewed the plan while explaining the tactics to her, scrutinizing the map at his feet.
After staring at it intently, he addressed the county office civil servants.
"Could you call in the people in charge of sewers and roads, construction and buildings, and the urban power grid?"
Soon after, reps from roads, waterworks, construction, and urban development entered the situation room.
"Who's the roads manager?"
"That's me."
"This map looks pretty old from the faded paper. According to the revised border defense plan five years ago, roads were widened for large trucks and helipads. But no marks here. Any new paths punched through or changed?"
The roads manager examined it closely and pointed out a few spots.
"Here. And here. Oh, this one's newly cleared too. For heliport use."
"Mark them."
Kang Moo-hyuk handed over a blue board marker.
While the roads manager updated the map, he turned to the waterworks rep.
"I recall the local evacuation plan linked underground shelters to sewers for emergencies. Any such spaces?"
"Planned but shelved."
"Isn't that mandatory?"
"No budget. Got some construction done, then pushed back."
The waterworks manager scratched his head awkwardly.
Kang Moo-hyuk handed him a red marker.
"Mark what's built first. Hydrant locations too. Triangles for those."
"I don't remember all the hydrants... I'll check the records."
As the waterworks manager left for documents, the construction rep asked tensely,
"What do you need from me?"
"Facilities built for monster blocking. Buildings five stories or taller. Mark them all. Budget issues there too?"
"No, that went per plan. I know all locations. Five-story buildings... not many in this backwater."
"Mark what's there. Green pen—circles for buildings, squares for facilities."
Kang Moo-hyuk then consulted the urban power grid rep over the map, getting the needed info.
Soon, the map was complete.
Kang Moo-hyuk gathered No Song-rin, Hwang Dong-soo, and the party leaders for each unit in the situation room.
They ringed the central map. Seeing the myriad marks, tension rippled through them. It looked like a massive operation was in play.
Hunters who'd experienced Kang Moo-hyuk's orders before felt anticipation. Late joiners leaned in for the hot guild master's raid strategy.
"New orders. From now on, the raid force's job is evacuating civilians in the marked operation zones. And..."
Gulp!
"Demolish buildings."
"???"
North Pocheon buzzed.
Freelance hunters entering Hunter Village sensed the chaos.
Then, as guild members vanished one by one, they grew puzzled.
"Iron Will folks are nowhere. They were rushing around this morning."
"Yeah. Tried asking something—gone when you need 'em."
"Can't patrol that hard forever. Gotta loosen up after the initial push."
"They run this special zone like an amusement park. Probably up to some weird shit again."
"Weird or not, who cares? Best hunting spot ever. Jiri Mountain or Gaema Plateau pay well per turn, but travel kills the hourly rate. Nothing beats here."
"Finish coffee and hunt. Light day to shake off yesterday's fatigue. Oh, swing by community center en route. Gotta drop those dried herbs before they crumble."
Hunters heading to the center pre-hunt hit a snag: it was temporarily closed.
Luckily, they set up a tent outside for byproduct buys. But the cramped space slowed processing.
Impatient distant hunters grumbled, but black-uniformed guild members darting nearby prevented outright chaos.
Soon, vehicles hauled huge crates—big enough for two or three people—and hunters sensed something big.
"What? Trouble?"
"Feels like raid launch."
"Look—full plate armor, not light gear."
From the commander's office overlooking the HQ plaza's murmurs was Jang Deok-gu.
"Hard to keep hunter mouths shut with the hunting grounds open. Maybe should've closed it."
"No choice, Commander Jang. Boss has his reasons."
Pyo Beom-hee, entering just then, replied to his mutter.
"Still, leaving special zone monsters to freelancers feels off. Like handing HQ defense to outsiders..."
"Special zones are patrolled by freelancers anyway. Hunter Village just makes it different. Left minimal staff—should roll fine."
"Not knowing northern severity, how long till guild's empty? Baekho mess still unresolved."
"Rescuing people first. Boss would ditch Hunter Village if HQ burns, long as folks safe."
"Commander's like that, but guild master too? Bigger issue."
"Birds of a feather."
Pyo Beom-hee shrugged, swiping her tablet. Equipment checkout form on screen.
Jang Deok-gu checked ampoule kits, shared weapons, armor, C Warehouse gear, then signed.
He handed the tablet back, asking,
"Warm-up status?"
"Members so patrol-heavy, can't find rhythm. Lee Jin-joo rolling expedition, Yeom Soo-hyung handling frontline raiders first."
"Drilled basics steady, but low ranks—real combat'll daze 'em awhile. Short hunting histories anyway."
"Better than before. Combat conditioning in Cheongjin. Briefing en route. Rushed, but evaluates training sessions. Good for guild."
"Equip tests? A-type regular hunting gear's been shelved long."
"An Ji-il babies it since Titan days. Top shape anytime."
"Situation room in Cheongjin. Have Gong Du-ri prep operator sim training."
"Already chewed her out."
Jang Deok-gu thought Pyo Beom-hee a godsend.
Sudden full guild mobilization. No guild master, no commander.
Alone? Unthinkable. Most members far from vets.
Not rabble, but green hunters prepping guild readiness? Heart surgery sans anesthesia.
As he sighed quietly, call from Lee Jin-joo.
"Yes. Site command to expedition leader now. Good hunting."
Evacuating nearby civilians to county office, demolishing monster-block facilities and select buildings for terrain setup, rigging traps, picking ambush spots—night fell.
Darkened Da Hong Dan felt ghostly. No human presence—just monster domain.
Kang Moo-hyuk, relieved at Tumen River line's quiet, messaged Hyeon Jeong-geon.
"'Cause pooling's flawless?"
Yi Suk-young shuttled messages busily.
"Says give the operation."
Yi Suk-young trimmed and translated freely.
"Tell him: move as guided on signal."
Kang Moo-hyuk ordered a civil servant.
"Turn on guide lights."
The servant phoned somewhere. Moments later, from Hyeon Jeong-geon:
"Lights on."
"Lure monsters along streetlights. We'll group pool at ambushes."
"Commander. Hyeon Jeong-geon Hunter says just leave it to him."
Yi Suk-young thumbs-upped. Kang Moo-hyuk ordered the raid force.
"Start with No Song-rin Hunter."