The Wise Cleaning Life Of A Returning Genius Hunter [EN]: Chapter 176

175

“…An incident from three years ago?”

I feigned ignorance at the blatant probing.

But Chloe, still suspicious, stared at me with sharp eyes.

“Pretending not to know, or genuinely unaware…”

“What are you talking about? Explain it so I can understand. I’m actually getting curious.”

“…”

Chloe stood still, scanning me from head to toe.

Then, as if unwilling to waste any more energy, she waved her hand and said,

“Never mind. Go do your work.”

“…”

She then left.

I maintained my feigned ignorance until she completely disappeared.

‘…There’s definitely something there, huh?’

I chuckled to myself.

She’s trying so hard to hide it… but being so obvious is just giving it away.

It makes me want to dig deeper.

“Did you get the contact information?”

Kim Min-ju asked as she approached.

“Yeah. They said they’d lend us a car too, so let’s meet right away.”

“That’s good. We have plenty of time…”

Han Yu-bin replied instead, but I shook my head at her.

“If all three of us move together, they’ll definitely find it strange. Chloe is already starting to suspect something.”

“…?”

“We’re here for the subjugation project, aren’t we? At least one of us should pretend to be working.”

“So…?”

“Han Yu-bin, please go to the area we’re planning to purchase and review the subjugation system.”

“…”

She wore a look as if she expected this.

“…Do I have to go alone?”

“What, should I have Chloe go with you?”

“…”

She glared at me for a moment.

Then, with a light sigh, she trudged down the hallway.

“The employees here would faint if they saw this.”

“What are you talking about?”

“She’s the one who turned the branch upside down because she didn’t like her boss, but she’s following your orders so obediently. Wouldn’t they be shocked?”

“…”

Is that how it was?

***

“As expected of our CEO!”

Karma Corporation Support Headquarters Office.

Head of the headquarters, Ha Seong-il, who had just returned from his trip, was hearing about the expo.

As he exclaimed in admiration, Head of the headquarters, Lee Ah-young, wore a rather displeased expression.

“Is it really something to be so impressed about?”

“Of course. Where else in the world would you find a CEO who would even hold an expo for a temporary storage facility?”

“…”

“Honestly, do you really think the CEO was just trying to slack off? You know better than anyone, Head Lee. You know he can’t stand by when something happens to his employees.”

“…I know.”

Of course, she knew.

She might nag Kim Jun-woo about slacking off, but she knew better than anyone that he wasn’t really trying to slack off when he started this.

He couldn’t stand the fact that the perception of the cleaning team was still so low, even after all this.

And regardless of the process, holding the expo was quite effective as a result.

They didn’t explicitly inform people that the apartment complex was jointly requesting the closure of the temporary storage facility, but somehow it started spreading online.

People who had been to the expo fiercely criticized their selfish behavior, and as public opinion grew increasingly heated, even the local government stepped in.

As a result, all temporary storage facilities were reopened.

As a bonus, the perception that the dungeon cleaning team was a legitimate subjugation force, just like the operation and support teams, was finally starting to take hold.

Rumor has it that Kang Sun-bok, the head of the women’s association, was at the center of the opposition to the closure of the temporary storage facility….

Well, the truth has yet to be revealed.

“But how did the issue between the cleaning team and the local residents spread on the internet? I heard we didn’t publish any articles about it.”

Lee Ah-young lowered her voice and replied,

“Department Head Park Geun-tae’s son is a YouTuber.”

“Ah…”

Ha Seong-il understood everything with that one word.

“Anyway, it’s not easy to find someone who takes care of their employees like this. There must be a good reason why he’s recognized by all the employees.”

“Well… I guess so.”

“If we keep going like this, it’s only a matter of time before he’s recognized by people all over the world. He might even swallow up the International Association before long.”

“I don’t know…”

Lee Ah-young, who was always full of confidence, showed an unexpected negative reaction.

Naturally, Ha Seong-il couldn’t help but be taken aback.

“Is there a problem?”

“There is. The International Association has finally acquired all the Bank Items.”

“…?”

He tilted his head.

His expression clearly asked what that had to do with anything.

“Dungeons and Hunters are the most important elements worldwide right now. There are differences in numbers, but there isn’t a country without Hunters and Dungeons. There are even countries where the subjugation project is the only national industry.”

“Y-yes, that’s how we’re making money too.”

“But if one person owns all the Bank Items, they can control all the Dungeons and Hunters in the world at will.”

“…!”

“For example, they could arbitrarily adjust the number of Dungeon appearances worldwide to manipulate the global economy, or use that as leverage to take the lead in all international affairs.”

“That’s… certainly dangerous.”

“Well, it would be fortunate if that were all. Depending on how it’s used, they could do much more.”

Ha Seong-il’s expression stiffened at the unexpected story.

“Is there no way to stop it?”

“We could stop it if we could recover the Bank Items. That’s why the CEO went to America. Of course, I don’t know if he’ll succeed…”

“If he fails, is there a backup plan?”

“I don’t know.”

Lee Ah-young trailed off.

She herself hesitated to call this a backup plan.

Because this was almost a urban legend.

“Have you heard of Eden?”

“…No.”

Ha Seong-il’s eyebrows furrowed.

“50 years ago, on the day when dimensions opened and abilities appeared all over the world, a comet fell to Earth.”

“Ah, I know about that. It was a comet called ‘Cinia,’ right?”

“That’s right. Scientists around the world speculate that the current phenomenon was caused by that comet. So, there’s talk that if we investigate the comet, we might find a way to return the world to its original state.”

Lee Ah-young continued, twirling her pen.

“But unfortunately, no matter how much they studied the remains of the comet, they couldn’t find anything special. They were just frozen rocks.”

“So, you’re saying that this phenomenon has nothing to do with the comet.”

“I can’t be sure. We may not have found the connection yet. Above all, a hypothesis put forward by one of the researchers at the time was quite popular among scientists.”

“A hypothesis…?”

“The hypothesis is that the undiscovered core of Cinia is the cause of all these phenomena.”

Lee Ah-young replied with a serious expression.

“In that case…”

“Yes. Eden refers to the core of that Cinia.”

Ha Seong-il’s expression became quite complicated.

He didn’t know how to accept a story that was so far removed from reality.

Lee Ah-young softened her voice to ease the tension.

“The story is that if we destroy Eden, we can go back to the way things were.”

“Going back to the way things were means…”

“Literally, back to the time when there were no Dungeons, no Hunters, and no abilities.”

“…”

“But in the end, it’s just a hypothesis, and we don’t even know if Eden exists… It’s just an urban legend.”

Lee Ah-young waved her hand after speaking.

It meant that it wasn’t a story worth thinking deeply about, but Ha Seong-il still had a serious face.

“If we were to discover that Eden, the Bank Items would be useless.”

“That’s right. Because Dungeons and abilities would all disappear. Of course, that’s if the person who found Eden destroyed it.”

“Of course, they would destroy it. If we could go back to the way things were…”

“Do you really think so?”

“Yes…?”

“There are hundreds of millions of people worldwide who work in Dungeon-related industries. If Dungeons disappear, all those people would lose their jobs. Who would easily destroy that? The same goes for you and me. Even if the cleaning team found it, they would never destroy it.”

“…”

Ha Seong-il refrained from answering.

Because it was true without any room for rebuttal.

“Moreover, if the International Association were to discover Eden first… Well, that would be the worst-case scenario.”

“It’s a difficult problem.”

“That’s right. We don’t even know if it exists, and even if it does, we don’t know if we can find it… And even if we do find it, if it falls into the hands of the International Association, then there’s really no way out.”

“…If it were to be discovered.”

Finally, Ha Seong-il opened his mouth with difficulty.

“I hope the CEO discovers it.”

Lee Ah-young paused for a moment, then smiled.

“I agree.”

***

“Is this the place?”

“Yes, this is the address.”

A residential area in Trenton, a city near New York.

I parked the car in front of a very ordinary-looking house and checked the documents one more time.

“Oliver Johnson, 34 years old. Worked in Cleaning Team 2 for 5 years. Then, he resigned 3 years ago due to personal reasons…”

Cleaning Team 2 from three years ago, that’s for sure.

He’s one of the people who was in that Dungeon.

‘I thought he was hiding away, building walls around himself… but it’s not really like that.’

I glanced at the house, which looked ordinary in every way.

Thinking that I might be able to meet him easily, I pressed the doorbell of the house.

Bang—!!

“…?”

“…?”

I clearly heard a gunshot from inside the house.

At the same time, a bullet pierced the door and narrowly grazed my head.

‘…Ha.’

Easy my ass.

“S-Sir… let’s step back for now.”

“No, it’s okay.”

If he really intended to kill me, he wouldn’t have stopped at one shot.

This is just a warning.

Of course, even if it’s a warning, it’s not normal to fire a gun as soon as someone rings the bell.

‘What is he so afraid of?’

I waited for a moment and then spoke towards the firmly closed door.

“I’m Kim Jun-woo, the CEO of Karma Corporation.”

“…”

“We’re establishing a new cleaning team, and Branch Manager Michael recommended you. Would you be willing to talk for a bit?”

“Go back.”

That’s not the answer I wanted.

“If you join our team, I promise you a higher salary than before.”

“I’m not interested, so go…!”

“In addition, we’ll guarantee your safety.”

“…!”

The answer was cut off for a moment.

A heavy silence continued for a while.

“You, you… you’re not from the International Association…?”

He finally spoke properly.

I didn’t miss the opportunity and replied in a low voice.

“No. We have nothing to do with the International Association. We’re just trying to recruit you to our newly established cleaning team…”

“Don’t lie! There are hundreds of retired cleaners besides me! What’s your real purpose in coming here!!”

“Real purpose…”

He’s quick-witted, considering how terrified he is.

Sigh, I can’t help it.

To ease his suspicion, I have no choice but to reveal my true intentions.

“I’m going to eliminate the International Association.”

“……?!”

“How about it, are you willing to talk now?”