Chapter 125
Chapter 125
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 125
Chapter Title: Kaesong Fortress Cleared
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With this, we'd taken care of the fortress piled up with corpses in Kaesong, at least for now.
It hadn't been all that tough. We were just three hunters, but two of us were on Hope's List.
And the remaining one had pushed the third-ranked hunter on Hope's List to the brink of defeat and beaten Taebaek's representative.
If you added up our total combat power, it was pretty insane.
People might think you're messing around if you went to war with just three bullets, but what if those three bullets were nuclear missiles? That changes everything, right?
"Here, eat up. It's field rations."
By the time we got back to our lodging, Jeong No-hun was boiling curry in a pot.
"Pineapple curry?"
What the hell is this guy doing? The words almost slipped out, but I swallowed them back down.
I already thought putting pineapple on pizza was a sign the world was going to hell. Pineapple in curry?
"I put it in every time. Just try it. The taste is out of this world."
I scooped some into my bowl with a skeptical look on my face.
And just like that, a bizarre combo of rice, curry, and pineapple was complete.
"Who eats rice and pineapple together?"
"People do in China."
I shot back at Han Sang-ah.
"You mean like pineapple fried rice?"
"No, they chop up pineapple flesh, mix it with glutinous rice, stuff it into a hollowed-out pineapple, and steam it in a bamboo steamer."
I wouldn't nitpick other countries' food, but... honestly, I couldn't imagine that tasting good. The pineapple curry seemed tame by comparison.
Anyway, we ate our pineapple curry rice and chatted.
The topic at the dinner table was, naturally, what Han Sang-ah and I had discussed earlier: the link between people turning into monsters and the Erosion Cores.
"So, shouldn't we stop it? Expose them, or threaten the Korean government if we have to..."
Jeong No-hun threw out his opinion. I gave him an ambiguous look.
"Stop what? You think they'll quit just because we tell them to?"
"Well, no. But we have to do something."
This wasn't something you could just block.
"Hunters all crave more power. And the Korean government wants to keep its dominant position."
It was like yelling "Stop!" to help some kid getting beat up by bullies. No difference.
No matter how hard we tried, the hunters and government chasing their own goals and greed wouldn't listen to us.
"So, what's your plan?"
"Trying to block it is pointless. We need to eliminate the root cause."
Here too, I applied the same principle as saving the world and people.
"The surest way to make everyone a non-smoker is to wipe cigarettes off the face of the earth."
No cigarettes, no smoking. No need for quit-smoking clinics or campaigns. Just erase them, and everyone's a non-smoker.
No testing individual willpower.
"So, the solution here is destroying the Erosion Cores?"
"That's where it circles back to. Honestly, it's the only thing we can do."
Han Sang-ah chimed in.
"At the very least, we could reveal the truth and warn everyone to drive it underground."
"The Korean government is the one trying to use that right now."
How could it go underground if the government had no intention of hiding it?
"Worse, they could paint us as the elite and bury us."
There was an easy path to power and one that made citizens safer.
But we were spouting nonsense to protect our vested interests.
Once they framed it that way, how could we respond?
"The world doesn't spin so righteously, and most people don't even want it to."
I clapped once and finished my curry.
"So, let's eat up, wait for the hunters joining us, and recruit more people."
The three of us handled the fortress. But the fights ahead wouldn't be so easy. Even with 30 more joining now, it'd be brutal.
We needed more hunters and money. 30? That's like trying to conquer North Korea with a company. Insane.
"We can gather more. But more than that, we could pull in Taebaek's hunters too."
I let out an "Oh?" at Han Sang-ah's words.
"Tell me more."
Han Sang-ah pulled out a comb and ran it through her hair as she explained.
"Instead of saying Taebaek cooperated on the Kaesong raid, we'll ask them to send hunter support."
She continued.
"Paju is the front line Taebaek's been holding. They've maintained it for years."
"And we three wiped it out."
Taebaek was in a real bind. People would praise us while thinking, "Then what the hell has Taebaek been doing all this time?"
"Only a handful saw it with their own eyes: us and the Taebaek hunters from the Paju branch."
So we could easily claim we pushed through with Taebaek's cooperation.
If Taebaek sent hunters our way—more than just lodging and bases like before—we could demand real support.
"Still, my neck's itching. Feels off."
"Yeah?"
Han Sang-ah reached over and scratched the back of my neck.
"No, I mean partnering with untrustworthy bastards doesn't sit right."
She went "Ah" and held out her smartphone.
"What's this?"
"Video I took on my phone. Snuck it while you fought that ghost knight."
It showed just Han Sang-ah and me charging into Kaesong. Short clip, about 15 seconds, just the fortress interior.
But it was enough. No Taebaek hunters in sight—just us two.
Release this, and any claim Taebaek fought with us to secure Kaesong is a lie.
"That changes everything. Good work."
We had a bomb collar to keep the shady ones in line.
With this, we could cooperate. I patted Han Sang-ah's back.
"Well done. Now go bite Taebaek."
"Not biting."
She was the idea's mastermind, so she'd handle the negotiations. She'd already proven her skills raising funds for the Jaun Valley subjugation.
As Han Sang-ah stood, she told Jeong No-hun,
"Warn me next time before pineapple in the curry."
"Why?"
"I'll prep my own food."
Meaning it sucked. Tastes differ.
"Chan-seok, you didn't like it either?"
"Nah, rice is rice. Pretty much the same unless it's top-notch."
Except for Sa Seung-hee's cooking, I hadn't raved about any meal.
I'm not picky. I'd probably devour that steamed pineapple glutinous rice if offered.
After eating, Jeong No-hun fiddled with his phone.
"Whatcha doing?"
"Shopping."
Shopping? Suddenly? I glanced over—his face was dead serious. I looked away.
"Stock trading or something?"
"I'm good at cards like hwatu and poker, but stocks always dumped me from the top. Quit that."
Not that, then. Whatever he bought, time would tell.
Meanwhile, Han Sang-ah wrapped up with Taebaek around 4 a.m.
"Starting tomorrow, Paju branch hunters will cooperate with us."
"Good news."
She continued,
"But not on our Erosion Core raids themselves."
"What does that mean?"
She spread a map and plopped down.
"We're short on numbers."
"Biggest problem, yeah."
We had to push from Paju to Pyeongseong. Obstacles in the way? We could smash them, as proven in Kaesong.
"Short numbers means we can't hold the spots we clear."
Spot on. That's why numbers mattered. We could smash monster-held spots, but not defend them after.
Just three of us. My nuke analogy fit perfectly.
Nukes wipe enemies but can't occupy empty land. That's for soldiers.
"Taebaek will handle that."
We clear, they send hunters to hold and clean up small Erosion Cores around.
"Just holding isn't enough."
She replied,
"Our deal's simple: We take out the big ones, Taebaek secures the area and clears minor monsters and Erosion Cores."
"After we clear Samhyeol-dong, what about the land Taebaek was holding?"
"Negotiation rights with companies go to Taebaek. We get 35% of their cut."
Jeong No-hun frowned.
"Sounds like we're losing out."
"They had a point. Maintaining cleared areas costs them big in manpower and funds."
Han Sang-ah rolled up the map.
"Under these terms, Taebaek commits up to 850 hunters, three operating teams, and supplies for maintenance."
"35% ain't bad then."
More like "as much as 35%" territory.
"Issue is if Taebaek gets greedy later and cuts our supplies."
"We need bases for raids, not survival. We're fine without them already."
Even if they backstab us in Pyongyang, three of us can slip out to Paju no problem. No supply issues.
Can't hold bases, but don't need much to retreat either.
"And if they do stab us in the back... Taebaek will regret it big time later."
"Oh, and they want no more hunters beyond the initial 30 we agreed with."
For the original 30 committing from the start, Taebaek would negotiate shares directly.
To minimize later disputes slicing the pie.
"Fine. But we'll check the deals. If their cut's off, we'll negotiate ourselves."
They're hunters who trusted and followed us. We owe them fair shares.
"I can squeeze that in."
For now, Paju Taebaek hunters were heading to Kaesong. Han Sang-ah would handle my extra requests in follow-up talks.