The Wise Cleaning Life Of A Returning Genius Hunter [EN]: Chapter 42

041

A day had passed since the hiring assessment.

Although Han Yoobin had returned to his usual peaceful unemployed life, he still wore a troubled expression.

The events of yesterday kept replaying in his mind.

It was good that he had received an apology from Kim Junwoo after the test. That was the reason he had attended in the first place.

However, no matter how many times he replayed it, he couldn’t understand why he had gotten so angry during the test.

It was true that Shin Taehwan’s nonsense had upset him, but it was just a cleaning test. There was no need to get that angry.

What he couldn’t understand even more was something else.

‘Just what is that guy…’

Han Yoobin clenched and unclenched his fist as he recalled the moment.

Han Yoobin’s Strength stat boasted a value far exceeding the maximum due to the ‘Limit Break’ skill.

Of course, thanks to focusing solely on Strength, his other stats were only at B-grade, but even so, his strength alone was the undisputed number one in the American branch.

Moreover, his unique skill, ‘High Panic Berserker,’ was activated.

At that time, his Strength stat had briefly exceeded tens of thousands.

And yet, that person had blocked it with one hand.

Beyond just blocking, he had even momentarily overwhelmed him.

A Hunter who could purely overpower him with strength?

Of course, they existed.

A few of the top-ranked Hunters within the world’s top 50. And the head of the largest guild in America, who was also the current world number one.

Including all of them, there were only about a dozen people.

But a cleaner, not even a Hunter, possessed strength comparable to those dozen people?

Why was such a person in Korea?

No, more than that, why was such a person in the cleaning team?!

‘I don’t know what he does, but it seems he’s not called a key figure in headquarters for nothing.’

So he does have ability.

Han Yoobin smiled wryly.

He habitually fiddled with the pendant on his necklace for a moment before shaking his head.

Well, what did it matter now anyway?

They wouldn’t be seeing each other again.

Regardless of the process, he had achieved his modest goal, so whether he passed or not didn’t matter at all.

No, it would be a problem if he didn’t fail.

He didn’t want to get involved with that suspicious person any further.

Buzz.

At that moment, a short vibration signaled the arrival of a text message. It was from an unknown number.

Han Yoobin checked his phone with a puzzled expression.

「You have passed the final interview for Cleaning Team 6 of the Otherworld Dimension Management Association’s Otherworld Operations Department. We sincerely congratulate you on your acceptance, and your start date will be announced later…」

“…”

Soon, an ear-splitting scream echoed throughout the villa.

***

[Condition Met]

[1 New Recruit for the Dungeon Cleaning Team]

[Acquired Skill: Excessive Bleeding – Unlocked.]

“Are you sure you’re okay with this?”

Kim Minjoo opened her mouth first, lifting her teacup.

Immediately after the announcement of the hiring assessment results, I visited the Tactical Team 2 office.

It was to receive the schedule from the Tactical Team for the cleaning work that had piled up during the assessment period.

But as always, the conversation had somehow strayed off course.

“What’s not okay about it?”

“It was obvious from the start that you didn’t like him.”

“First impressions can change. I’m quite satisfied now.”

Kim Minjoo nodded.

“He certainly seemed like a diligent person. I think he’ll do well even if he’s put into the field right away.”

“He better. That’s why I picked him.”

I answered calmly and lifted my teacup.

After much deliberation, I had ultimately pushed for Han Yoobin’s final selection.

The other interviewers weren’t too happy about it… but in reality, they had no choice.

After all, he had received the highest score on the practical task.

Even though there were some unsettling aspects, I highly valued the fact that he had shown remarkable progress in learning to clean over the week.

Even if his personality was a bit twisted, as long as he had the ability, I could make him do anything. Well, it’ll work out somehow.

“He’s probably good at his job… but I’m a little worried he might cause an accident because of his terrible personality.”

After all, he was a guy who had even been fired from the American branch.

I don’t know the details, but he must have done something with that temper.

“Well, I don’t think that will happen. Especially not to you, sir.”

“…Huh? What are you talking about?”

“Oh, didn’t Yoobin tell you?”

Kim Minjoo tilted her head.

“He mentioned it to us when he was tutoring. Why he was fired from the branch. Well, we actually pressured him to tell us.”

“So, what happened?”

“When he was working at the American branch, his only colleague was a Hunter from the Philippines. He received a lot of help and was a friend he could rely on emotionally…”

Kim Minjoo hesitated to continue.

“…He died. During an operation.”

That’s strange. Isn’t the American branch the place with the lowest casualty rate for Hunters? Dungeon deaths should only happen once a year, if that.

“Han Yoobin said it was a situation where he could have been saved. But the control team issued an order to retreat, saying they didn’t have the resources to rescue him, and Han Yoobin tried to rescue him alone… but it seems it wasn’t enough.”

“The International Association tells you to risk your life to save a colleague in danger. So, giving up on the rescue means…”

Kim Minjoo smiled bitterly.

“There must have been something fishy.”

“…Huh.”

A truly absurd answer came back.

I roughly expected it, but as expected, when humans gather, there’s always something shady going on. It’s no different whether it’s domestic or overseas.

“Han Yoobin requested a reinvestigation from the American branch executives, but it was ignored. After that, well, he stormed into the control team and got into an argument, and then punched the control team leader…”

“Geez, he deserved to be fired.”

The motive was understandable, but the method made me sigh.

I shook my head.

“Anyway, please treat him well when he comes. He’s a person with many wounds.”

“No way. If I treat him well just because of what happened, he’ll hate it even more. He’ll think he’s being pitied.”

He’s a proud guy, after all.

But putting that aside for now.

‘…Should I not have accepted him?’

If he had just lost his temper and caused an accident, I would only have to be careful of that one guy, but the scale is bigger than I thought?

This is making me even more uneasy.

“…Well, it’ll be fine. Anyway, it’s not our business, so let’s just focus on our work for now.”

Saying that, I got up from my seat first.

“Are you leaving already?”

“What do you think I do for a living? I took a few days off because of this hiring assessment, and now I have a ton of work piled up.”

“Ah, sir.”

Kim Minjoo’s voice hurriedly followed.

“What.”

“Congratulations on your promotion.”

She gave me a bright smile.

***

International Hunter Association, New York Branch, USA.

Dungeon Control Team, Operations Command Center.

A high-rise office with a panoramic view of New York City. A man with a bulging belly was staring out the window with a very angry expression.

“Damn it!!”

With a thud, the window shook.

Only his fist hurt, but Control Team Leader Jason didn’t care.

“Why the hell was the operation file still there! I told you to destroy it immediately!”

“We definitely deleted the data on the control team side. It seems there was a copy on the operations team side.”

Chloe, the support team leader, lowered her head.

A slender figure with a sharp, golden bob.

She was a woman whose appearance would make anyone mistake her for a model if they weren’t affiliated with the branch.

“Are you trying to make excuses?! If that file is leaked to the press, it won’t end with just getting our heads chopped off!”

Jason’s voice echoed loudly.

But Chloe didn’t bother to answer.

“Damn it, if you were going to leave, you should have left quietly…”

Jason’s gaze turned back to the window.

His anger went back several months.

The unexpected accident that occurred during the operation Han was in charge of. As a result, one Hunter was stranded and left alone in the boss room.

Han had requested the deployment of support troops to save the Filipino Hunter, but Jason had ignored the request.

After weighing the estimated profit of the dungeon against the budget for deploying troops, it didn’t add up.

For Jason, who had been siphoning off a significant portion of the subjugation profits into his own pocket, one Filipino Hunter and hundreds of millions of won in slush funds weren’t even worth considering.

In the end, the Filipino Hunter lost his life, but it wasn’t a big problem.

The higher-ups didn’t take it seriously, and report manipulation was Jason’s specialty.

Jason submitted a report to the higher-ups, fabricating the circumstances at the time to make it seem like the conditions for rescue were not met. Thanks to this, the association also stopped investigating and concluded the incident as a ‘dungeon accident.’

Han went crazy, but that in itself was helping Jason. It created a justification for kicking out that eyesore.

Everything seemed to be going smoothly.

Until Han left the branch and took the original operation file from the control team with her.

If that file were to be released, it wouldn’t just reveal the truth about the accident.

Manipulation, lobbying.

Above all, it would also reveal that he had been embezzling operation profits.

“So, damn it… find a way to recover it no matter what.”

Jason gritted his teeth.

“Should we try to negotiate?”

“Do you think negotiation will work with that personality?”

“Then what are you going to do?”

“What else? I’ll have to take it back by force.”

Chloe flinched.

“…Are you thinking of attacking? It’s too risky to do something in another country. Besides, Han isn’t someone who would fall for that.”

“…”

Jason’s fist tightened.

She was right.

If there were any witnesses, it would only make things worse, and a violent clash in the city would have more to lose than to gain.

Above all, it’s not a good method because it has to be handled secretly.

Damn it, is there no suitable way?

“…Has her current status been identified?”

“Yes. According to the information team, it seems she has rejoined the association, as her profile has been re-registered in the internal network.”

“What are you talking about? Her Hunter license was suspended.”

“That’s… her affiliation on the profile is not the operations team, but the cleaning team.”

“…What?”

Holy… Jason barely managed to hold back a curse.

“I can’t understand it. Why did that crazy bitch join the cleaning team?”

“I don’t know about that.”

Chloe shook her head.

Then, Jason’s eyes suddenly sharpened.

“Wait. If she rejoined the association… the Korean Association?”

“Yes. That’s right.”

“Come to think of it, weren’t we supposed to propose a joint operation to the Korean Association next week? What happened to that?”

“Are you talking about the Loop Dungeon case? I haven’t contacted them yet.”

“Contact them quickly. And… secure the operation no matter what.”

His voice was getting more and more excited.

Chloe, who was feeling uneasy, cautiously opened her mouth.

“Why, why are you doing this?”

“I told you. I’m going to recover it no matter what.”

A smile spread across Jason’s lips.

He just had an interesting idea in his head.