Chapter 17: Use the Gun and Your Head (1)
Finishing the business trip to Nonsan didn't mean my day ended there.
If it were a normal day, I would have joked around with the elders at the village hall or casually loaded the freshly caught seafood onto the truck and relaxed, but today was different.
I was lounging on a plush leather sofa, sipping soju from a bowl while using the dried meat as an accompaniment.
Across from me, a middle-aged man was fidgeting anxiously, only moving his fingers.
It was President Sung, a businessman operating in this region.
That miserly fellow was notorious even in the area.
Since he was treating me to soju and dried meat, it must be a pretty good deal.
Well, if I can't handle it, I can just say "I ate well" and walk away.
The pity is on his side.
"So... Jang Yeopsa... what I want to say is..."
"Quickly, quickly. Are you going to send me on a dispatch? Just go already?"
"Ah, okay, okay! I was just preparing my mind."
President Sung rushed to his desk, grabbed his laptop, and played a video for me.
It was black and white, so it looked like CCTV footage.
The location was inside an old warehouse in the mountains.
And inside the warehouse, a huge mantis was waving its antennae and standing there.
"A mantis, huh... If it's just a simple mutated creature, leave it alone for about a month. It'll die on its own, right?"
"How would Jang Yeopsa know that?"
"If it's just grown in size, it will suffocate and die in no time."
I had a vague memory of seeing something like that before.
Giant insects are a common trope in horror movies, but with the current air, they can't maintain that huge body.
So... this mantis was destined to die on its own.
"That's fortunate, but I have to order the items in the warehouse somehow..."
"Report the mantis outbreak and call the hunter. I can't handle meat-eating insects either."
"Then why did I call Jang Yeopsa!"
Seeing him get angry without reason, it seemed there was a reason he couldn't do it.
"Then, did you hide something in the warehouse?"
"I'm not that kind of person!"
"Then what?"
"If I call even an E-rank hunter, the dispatch fee would be..."
"I ate well."
The guy was trying to haggle again.
Without listening more, I was about to stand up, but President Sung desperately grabbed my wrist.
"So~ You're not saying you'll ask Jang Yeopsa instead of the hunter, are you? Right?"
It seemed like the first time seeing such shamelessness from even this miserly guy.
It wasn't unreasonable for that stingy guy to act this way.
No matter the low rank, calling an E-rank hunter costs as much as adding a zero to the back of what I charge.
Plus, they take extra fees based on danger, which is standard.
Huntsmen connected to the county office like us are perfect for cheap labor.
Of course, under the assumption that we take the job.
So that's why he's clinging so desperately.
"I already gave you a hint. If left alone, it'll die on its own."
"What does that mean! We people like us would go bankrupt if we don't do business for a month!"
I sighed loudly as if to show off.
"So. When time passes, the weak one will be easy to handle.
By calling the hunter then, I can process it cleanly without being taken advantage of."
I was stubbornly resisting, so President Sung had no choice but to walk back to his desk.
Then, he took out a cigarette from the drawer and lit it.
"If you don't want to see me again, smoke it."
"Jang Yeopsa was also a kid back then?"
"That's an old story. Now, if one smells the cigarette smell, they get scared."
"Wow... you became a mom too, huh."
President Sung grumbled and threw the cigarette back into the drawer.
He thought for a moment, then with a clinking sound of metal, handed me a warehouse key.
"Last request. Take the advance payment with the equipment in the warehouse first.
The rest will be settled after it's done."
"What's in there?"
"You know I run a logistics business? If I make excuses like 'mutant hides' or something, it's fine."
It seemed he was trying to lure me into the dark path.
Honestly, the proposal was tempting.
If it's physical, the transaction is clean.
"Instead, submit the official harmful wildlife extermination request to the Environment Department.
Without a single document, I can't help you."
"Okay, okay! I'll submit it right away, so Jang Yeopsa can receive and process it."
"And if the warehouse is empty, do you know what happens?
Even if I make excuses, I can eat the warehouse whole without liability?"
President Sung jumped at my threat.
"I'm stingy, but I don't lie! Whatever is visible, take it with you!"
"Yes~"
Although it dragged on, the deal was closed.
Instead of the other huntsmen running away screaming from the request, I take it, get the items and money.
President Sung gets rid of the warehouse's headache at a cheap price.
This way, both sides have a satisfying business.
Of course, President Sung's pitiful customer who is about to be skinned alive would be the one hit by lightning.
Right after closing the deal with me, President Sung submitted a complaint to the local Environment Department.
Before leaving the office, my phone in my pocket rang. It was the Environment Department staff.
"Jang Yeopsa, is President Sung's story true?"
"Yes, but?"
A voice from the phone sounded incredulous.
"Why is that stingy guy suddenly spending money?"
"Hunters are expensive, and I'm cheap."
"Should I drag you and give you a good beating?"
"No, leave it. Those stingy guys need to be fooled by their own schemes to wake up."
At my words, the Environment Department staff paused for a moment, then continued in a serious voice.
"Well... if Jang Yeopsa thinks so, then yes.
Anyway, be careful. Giant mantises are not to be taken lightly."
"That's when you meet them outside in the open."
At that, the staff laughed pleasantly, realizing my meaning.
"Ah~ So that's what you meant! Then, well, handle it well. Call me when it's done."
"Okay, take care."
After hanging up, I laughed too.
'Mantis, not dangerous. If I couldn't see it and met it in the vast forest.'
After the call with the staff, the incident proceeded smoothly.
The extermination request was immediately accepted.
The bounty was quite generous considering it was a meat-eating insect.
The warehouse item list submitted by President Sung, despite his stinginess, listed even a bag of snacks in detail.
That way, if any incident happens later, I can claim more compensation.
The next day.
I sat in the truck driver's seat, slowly looking through the item list sent by the staff, marking with a ballpoint pen.
Most were food or useless junk, but mixed in were some appealing items.
Equipment that was supposed to be delivered to hunters, or the latest household appliances.
'This time, I could bring home a computer or two.'
After circling what to take on the list, I visited President Sung's office again.
When I handed him the marked list, he put on his glasses and stared for a long time, then nodded.
"Hunter equipment is out. Household appliances are okay.
The computer location is also suitable, so if the mantis goes wild and breaks it, it's a plausible excuse.
They'll compensate from the other side."
"Can't you just slip away so easily?"
"The world has become unbelievable, so why not do some unbelievable things?
Isn't this situation even more believable?"
My head throbbed from that forced logic, but it seemed only my mouth would hurt if I argued.
I went to the main point, explaining my plan to President Sung.
I asked President Sung to show me the warehouse floor plan.
When he displayed it on the laptop, I pointed with my finger to one corner.
"Is this the refrigerated warehouse?"
"Eh? Ah, that's the freezer. Originally, the whole warehouse was a freezer, but I converted it to a regular warehouse."
"You're quite skilled."
I said with a smirk.
"Thanks to that, it will be done quickly."
"Quickly? Even though it's a mantis?"
"We use guns. But I sometimes use my head too."
I lifted the ballpoint pen and drew a straight line from the refrigerated warehouse area to the current location of the mantis.
"Thanks to the conversion of the refrigerated warehouse, this poor mantis will freeze to death within a day.
If it doesn't freeze to death, its limbs will be frozen stiff and die from my gunshots. Simple, right?"
It seemed President Sung finally understood the situation,
As he just opened his mouth, staring blankly at me.
"People usually think insects are weak to fire or electricity,
But actually, these guys are much weaker to cold.
It's like mosquitos disappearing after summer."
After my explanation, President Sung's face, which had been distorted, looked nice.
But what can I do, promises are promises.
Thinking the stingy guy might say something else, I added one more thing.
"And you can't change the warehouse as you please, right?"
After that, President Sung seemed to realize he had gone from 'eun' to 'byeong', 'jeong' level.
He immediately spread his face that was distorted and burst into a hearty laugh.
"Um~ As expected, Jang Yeopsa~! If it were the hunter guys, they would have been turned into ice blocks~!"
"Are you giving praise? I'll leave right away, so come with me."
"Why me?"
"Then who will open the freezer door?"
President Sung grumbled as he stood up, but what could he do.
He fell for his own scheme.