Chapter 160
Chapter 160
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 160
Chapter Title: Questioning Loyalty
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After exchanging greetings with the assembled hunters, I grabbed a folding chair propped up near the tent, unfolded it without asking, and took a seat as I spoke.
"Is Hunter Kim Sun-cheol here?"
The hunters warming themselves by the campfire all turned to look at one of their own. He gave a small nod.
"I'm Hunter Kim Sun-cheol."
"Nice to meet you. Glad to finally cross paths."
I kept my smile in place as I opened my mouth.
"Could I get a cup of coffee? Oh, and everyone else besides Hunter Kim Sun-cheol—mind giving us the tent for a bit?"
No sooner had I settled into the folding chair than I casually asked for coffee. Kim Sun-cheol eyed me for a moment before nodding. The other hunters glanced around awkwardly, then quietly stepped away.
A moment later, Kim Sun-cheol returned with a cup of instant coffee mix and handed it to me.
"Thanks. Let's see here... Well, well."
As I said that, I reached out for the empty coffee stick still clutched in Kim Sun-cheol's hand. Taking it from him, I turned the stick over in my fingers, chuckling softly.
"Takes me back. After I soloed that Rank-3 Erosion Core, I got a chance to meet the mayor of Incheon."
With that, I flicked my index finger at the printed image of the female hunter on the coffee stick wrapper.
"She said if I helped her out, she'd make me the model for this coffee ad as payback. Hard to believe that's already been months ago."
I stared at the coffee stick for a few more seconds, then tossed it to the ground with a flick of my wrist. Looking up at Kim Sun-cheol, I took a sip of the coffee.
"Not bad for instant coffee. Should've just done the ad shoot. Might've scored a few free boxes."
I chuckled to myself for a moment, then smacked my lips. Kim Sun-cheol, who'd been listening to my rambling, finally spoke up cautiously.
"Sorry, but could I ask why you've come to see me?"
"Oh? Right."
I scratched my head as if the thought had just occurred to me, giving an awkward smile.
"It's nothing major. I overheard some chatter around the tents—turns out a few hunters under my command have been griping."
"About that..."
I raised my right index finger slightly to cut him off. Kim Sun-cheol paused mid-sentence.
"Command, huh. It's a complicated feeling. Headhunter's just the three of us, you know. Never imagined I'd be directing over ten thousand hunters like this. Turns out it's tougher than I thought—but kinda fun too."
I brushed the dust off my knees with a couple of pats, then grinned.
"I've gotten the hang of it moving from Nanning to Jingdezhen. Well, 'getting the hang of it' isn't always a good thing. Especially with command."
Kim Sun-cheol just wanted to know why I was here. He probably hoped I'd hear him out on the topic and then leave.
But I had no intention of doing that. I was deliberately steering the conversation off-topic, dragging it out. All while slowly tightening my grip around his throat, bit by bit.
"For example, you start seeing lives as just numbers."
I let out a small sigh and shook my head.
"Sad reality. As the commander, I get easy access to unit movements, enemy positions from reports—all that intel. But the hunters taking orders? They're in the dark."
I crossed my legs, laced my fingers together on top, and fixed my gaze on Kim Sun-cheol.
"They don't know how risky their mission is, how strong or numerous the monsters are, their odds of dying. Stuff like that."
Stroking my chin, I continued.
"What was I saying? Right, numbers. In command, sometimes you have to throw your forces into the fire no matter how bad it looks. And every time, I'm the one weighing their lives on the scales."
I lifted both hands slightly and mimed a balance scale, rocking them up and down.
"Send them there, and probably over 80% buy it. So, out of all the hunters under me, who do I pick? Whose life is the cheapest among..."
I tilted my head as if pondering deeply, then went on.
"...my bunch? Who's the most expendable? The weak ones, the cowards."
Playfully miming the scales with my hands, I eventually lowered them and stared straight at Kim Sun-cheol.
"And then there are the ones who won't follow orders properly. Sure, we're all here out of duty to defend Korea—but who knows."
"...Yoo Chan-seok Hunter."
I leaned back against the chair laughing haha, completely ignoring Kim Sun-cheol's attempt to speak.
"Unreliable allies can be more dangerous than enemies sometimes. Like how cancer cells spreading inside are deadlier than a broken bone from outside impact. If you don't cut it out, it endangers the whole body."
I picked up my coffee cup again, swirling it slowly as I watched him.
"I checked your record, Hunter Kim Sun-cheol. Quite the varied career. With all that experience, you must understand where I'm coming from."
"..."
Kim Sun-cheol stayed silent. I spoke to him softly once more.
"Right? When someone asks a question and gets no answer, it makes the asker look bad."
"...Yes, I understand."
"Good to hear. Some of the hunters under me now are reinforcements from Changsha—at my request."
He couldn't possibly be unaware. He was one of those reinforcements from Changsha, slated to secure Nanjing and then rotate back to Hefei.
"A bit of attrition isn't a big deal, honestly. If we lose some borrowed troops, I can just fill the gaps with my original command hunters and send them back good as new."
Kim Sun-cheol's body trembled slightly at my words. It meant I could send him to the hottest spot mid-operation, get him killed or crippled, and face zero consequences.
Plus, he might follow my orders blindly into danger without even realizing it.
I was threatening Kim Sun-cheol. But I never voiced a direct threat.
"In war, lives boil down to numbers... but that's not healthy. I want to keep a sound mind and hunter life going long-term. Under my command, no one dies unless it's absolutely necessary."
I clicked my tongue.
"We're hunters. Even surviving a grave injury could end your career. Then what? Switch to a desk job? Wonder if a hunter could even adapt to normal life..."
I trailed off, staring at him in silence for a long stretch before speaking again.
"I really like cooperative guys. Nobody wants to lose their favorites. Bust your ass on a dangerous mission, die without proper recognition? That's a dog's death—nothing else."
Use your head, Kim Sun-cheol. Time to pick a side. Choose wrong, and tough days await. Your old outfit ZhuGong is far away. Right now, you're under my command.
You go where I say, do what I order.
"Anyway, one question. Choi Yeoreum, or Sung Si-hoon?"
"What do you...?"
I clicked my tongue and shook my head.
"Don't pretend you don't get it. And I already said— no answer makes the asker look bad."
I clapped twice and looked at him.
"I'm repeating myself, but let's call this the first ask. Answer properly this time. Oh, to make it easier, rephrased question."
No more Mr. Nice Guy. I dropped my voice a notch.
"Sung Si-hoon, right?"
Choi Yeoreum wouldn't pull this now. She's busy with internal power struggles at Wonder Club. After a moment's hesitation, he nodded.
"Yes."
Sung Si-hoon had quietly instructed Kim Sun-cheol and a few others to stir up pointless unrest among my troops.
I nodded, smiled again, and stood up.
"See? Simple question, simple answer. Why drag it out over something this easy? Oh, since you're cooperating, mind helping a bit more?"
There had to be others besides him. Even Sung Si-hoon couldn't order every single reinforcement from ZhuGong like this. Secret directives are easier to hide with fewer people.
"Know any other hunters who got similar orders? Cooperate, and we can be friends."
Sell out your buddies, and you won't get sent to the meat grinder in the next op.
Once the mouth opens, the rest spills easy. Kim Sun-cheol spilled everything he knew without resistance.
"Thanks for cooperating, Hunter Kim Sun-cheol. Let me think what I can do for my new friend. You'll hear good news by morning."
With the job done and intel secured, I dumped the cold coffee from the cup onto the ground beside me, gave him a nod, and left.
Of course, one wasn't enough. I picked another from the names he gave, ran the same play, and got a confession.
"Matches up."
Back at the tent, I confirmed the two statements aligned. No liars.
Time to keep my word. I called over Jeong No-hoon and Han Sang-ah to discuss.
"Pull 'em to Nanjing defense?"
I shook my head at Jeong No-hoon's suggestion.
"Then I lose command authority. They're still Sung Si-hoon's plants stirring shit. Can't trust 'em at our rear."
"Wow, cooperating and still suspicious."
Only a fool trusts at face value. Out of my reach, they'd scheme again no problem.
"Stick 'em in direct command then. Keeps my promise, easy to watch."
"Yeah, if we're not trusting anyway, better close by."
I agreed after hearing them out. Might as well keep them under my nose—like assigning a problem soldier as the battalion commander's orderly.
Not that they have orderlies anymore.
"The two who cooperated, fine. The rest?"
"Obvious."
The others would ship out on "recon" duty to the front lines—the riskiest spots.
The difference? The two got lucky. The rest didn't.