The Wise Cleaning Life Of A Returning Genius Hunter [EN]: Chapter 36

035

Headquarters Director’s Office.

Seo Min-cheol looked surprisingly calm, considering he had just received a one-month pay cut.

It was Lee Soo-yong who seemed more flustered.

“D-Did you say Kim Jun-woo is being promoted to team leader?”

“Yes. And it seems they’re creating a Cleaning Section Chief position to go along with it.”

“B-But how… The only one who could create a position out of thin air would be Lee Doo-shik, right?”

“He’s the one who did it. Anyway, it’s become a headache for us. Honestly, no matter who gets the Cleaning Section Chief position, it’s obvious that Kim Jun-woo will be the one effectively leading the cleaning team. Well, unless there’s an exception with the new team. So, what I’m saying is…”

Seo Min-cheol continued in a quiet voice.

“This new team. I’m thinking of copying Cleaning Team 3.”

“Excuse me?”

“We’ll plant our own people in the new team. Someone similar to Kim Jun-woo… or even more capable.”

Lee Soo-yong’s eyes changed subtly.

“You mean… an alternative to Kim Jun-woo?”

“Exactly. If we promise them a promotion to operations team leader after a year or two in the cleaning team, some people might bite.”

It was like how countless similar franchises pop up when one becomes popular. A similar situation.

The idea was to blatantly copy Cleaning Team 3 and ride on the cleaning team’s influence.

Or rather… it would be more accurate to say they were trying to copy Kim Jun-woo.

“Let’s ride it too. The cleaning coin.”

Seo Min-cheol was serious.

However, Lee Soo-yong was filled with worry.

“B-But… you said you wouldn’t touch the cleaning team anymore…”

“We’re creating a new team with capable people. How is that ‘touching’ them? We’re helping them.”

Lee Soo-yong looked up, his eyes wide.

It sounded right at first glance.

“The problem is… there are others who are thinking the same thing as us.”

“……Yes?”

“I heard that Director Go Eun-young and Director Song Cheol-shik are also trying to get their people into this new team. They have an amazing nose for these things. They’re already contacting civilian guilds to try and get a straw in there somehow.”

“Haha……”

A hollow laugh escaped without him realizing.

Lee Soo-yong couldn’t help but be dumbfounded.

Just a month ago, they didn’t even know what kind of work the team did.

Not just him. No one in the headquarters, including Seo Min-cheol, paid any attention to the team.

But now, the director and even the executives were rolling up their sleeves to get their hands on the cleaning team.

‘How did it end up like this…?’

Lee Soo-yong thought to himself, but he couldn’t deny it.

Currently, the Support Team, Operations Team 2, and now even the Control Team were watching closely, trying to get involved.

If left unchecked, it would truly create a faction that surpassed the headquarters’ influence.

But if a cleaning team that could do the same job as Kim Jun-woo was created…

And if that cleaner became our person.

We could regain the headquarters’ influence.

Beyond regaining it, we could suppress Kim Jun-woo’s team’s influence.

It was undeniable.

Depending on whose people get into Cleaning Team 6, the core of the headquarters would change in the future.

“Anyway, you should look into guilds in Gyeonggi-do and Chungcheongbuk-do [provinces in South Korea], and freelance hunters. I’ll look on my own as well.”

“Are there any specific criteria? Like, cleaning experience…”

“What nonsense are you spouting? What does that matter? Just find someone with a high rank and a lot of operational experience.”

Several names immediately flashed through Lee Soo-yong’s mind.

“Forget everything else, just find them faster than the others. Bring as many candidates as possible.”

“Understood. …Um, but.”

Lee Soo-yong immediately spoke again.

“What about Kim Jun-woo? He’ll definitely be interested in the new team. He probably knows that big shots are moving… He’ll definitely try to make a move too.”

“……That’s fine. Don’t worry about that. No matter who he finds, we just need to find someone better. And well… what kind of amazing person could a young punk like him find? At best, a few C or B-rank freelancers.”

Seo Min-cheol took out a cigarette pack from his pocket.

It had been four years since he quit because of his wife’s nagging.

He had endured for four difficult years… but seeing how the headquarters was turning out, he couldn’t live without cigarettes anymore.

“Even if we lose in everything else, we can’t lose in the connections game.”

Seo Min-cheol said as he lit a cigarette.

***

Operations Team 2 Office.

The complete withdrawal of the subjugation permit left them with nothing but time.

So, I went to find Kim Min-joo, thinking of slacking off.

“…Is it okay for you to be here like this?”

Well, even if I look for her, all we end up doing is sitting and drinking tea.

“Don’t tell me you’re slacking off because you’re scheduled for a promotion?”

“Don’t even mention that. I already have a headache because of it…”

I let out a long breath and continued.

“Ha, team leader after only two months of joining the company… I’m going to get a lot of hate from the other guys.”

“I don’t know. I think it’s a perfectly reasonable decision. If someone like me is a team leader, it doesn’t make sense for you to be just an employee.”

“That’s just your opinion. Organizations don’t work that way.”

I leaned back on the sofa.

“Anyway, there’s no work due to the aftermath of the settlement season, so I should rest while I can. Once I get promoted, I won’t have a moment to spare. Ah, did I interrupt you?”

“No. It’s not that…”

Kim Min-joo looked puzzled.

“Didn’t Assistant Manager Lee Ah-young ask you for something?”

“Ah, that?”

I put down my cup and said.

“I’m not going to do it.”

“……Yes, yes?”

“What kind of insight do I have to plant someone? I don’t even know anyone around me. And there’s no one suitable.”

Then I threw my head back.

All motivation disappeared after a week of hard work went to waste.

Well, strictly speaking, it wasn’t a complete waste.

Thanks to it, a new team was created.

More than anything, if a new team is created, the headquarters will try to squeeze people in somehow.

If that happens, the condition will be automatically met, so there’s no need for me to go out of my way to suffer.

Lee Ah-young’s condition?

Who cares.

Anyway, the cleaning team is slowly getting on the safe track, and I’ll soon be taking on the team leader position, so I can just focus on cleaning…

Ah, no.

I can just focus on unlocking.

“Well, if that’s the case, I have nothing more to say.”

Kim Min-joo smiled brightly.

“But still, if you were to pick someone directly, what criteria would you use?”

“Hmm… Someone obedient and with a good personality?”

“…That’s, unexpected.”

…What were you expecting? Seriously.

Well, as long as I can use them as a long-term pawn for unlocking, I don’t care. So, someone unnecessarily proud and capable would only be a hindrance.

“What about you? If it were you, who would you pick?”

“Um, I…”

Kim Min-joo lowered her head slightly and pondered for a moment.

“Anyone but a woman.”

“……”

She gave a bizarre answer.

What kind of anachronistic remark is that?

And you’re a woman too.

I didn’t know how to react, so I just stared blankly when.

Knock knock—

Someone knocked on the office door.

“Excuse me.”

The person who entered the office with great courtesy was.

‘…Who is it?’

He looks familiar.

“I’m Team Leader Pyeon Chang-hyeon from the Control Team, who called you before.”

“…Ah, ah! Yes, I remember.”

Only then did the face in my memory match.

I wondered who it was, but it was that guy.

Team Leader Pyeon Chang-hyeon from the Control Team.

A guy who was vaguely connected to Seo Min-cheol’s line.

But well, seeing how he was cut off in the disciplinary committee, this guy is quite pitiful.

“Why is the Control Team Leader in the Operations Team…?”

Kim Min-joo carefully opened her mouth.

Then, instead of answering, Team Leader Pyeon took out a stack of documents.

“Let’s cut to the chase. You must take Cleaning Team 6 this time.”

“…Yes?”

A resolute voice.

But I couldn’t understand what he was saying.

“Director Seo Min-cheol, as well as Director Go Eun-young, Director Song Cheol-shik, and so on… are all eyeing the new team. I heard they’re already trying to fill it with their own people.”

“W-Wait a minute. What are you suddenly talking about?”

“I’m trying to help.”

“But why suddenly…”

“…I can’t associate with those guys anymore.”

Team Leader Pyeon said, frowning.

His eyes were full of venom.

Tsk, the shock of being backstabbed this time must have been bigger than I thought.

“Anyway, you may or may not know, but there’s a lot of interest in the cleaning team within the headquarters right now. They want to keep it in check but can’t, and they want to get close to it but have no justification. It’s become a team that needs to be obtained more than any other team. That’s the position the cleaning team is in right now.”

“So… you’re saying they’re fighting each other to take over this new cleaning team?”

“That’s right. They’re probably trying to plant someone who can handle both operational planning and field command, like Cleaner Kim Jun-woo.”

“Seriously, if there’s someone like that, they should put them in the Operations Team instead of the Cleaning Team…”

Are they out of their minds?

What is the cleaning team, some kind of Kingsman [a reference to the movie Kingsman: The Secret Service, about a secret spy organization disguised as a tailoring shop]?

And they’re making a big mistake.

Trying to prepare an alternative to me?

Unbelievable. Who dares to imitate me?

Instead of finding someone similar to me and copying our team, they should have thought about catching me somehow and bringing me to their side.

“So, Cleaner Kim Jun-woo, you should prepare too.”

Team Leader Pyeon then placed the stack of documents he was holding in front of me.

“This is a list of hunters with decent recent rank trends. Some are affiliated with famous guilds, and some are former operations team leaders. Take a quick look and tell me if there’s anyone you like. We’ll try to scout them with our budget.”

“The development is happening too fast, so I’m a bit confused… You’re saying I should pick someone from this list to plant as my own person?”

He nods.

Ha, seriously.

Coming here with all this prepared on our first meeting.

He’s completely determined to stick with me?

‘Still, those guys are something else. Don’t they have anything better to do? Doing this over one cleaning team…’

I grumbled like that, but I still shifted my gaze to the list that Team Leader Pyeon had prepared out of courtesy.

As he said, they were all formidable hunters. Some of them were even comparable to Kim Min-joo right now.

Well, of course.

“Yes. I’ve seen it.”

I’m not interested.

I don’t care if they eat each other up.

I don’t want to get involved in the power struggles of high-ranking people.