The Wise Cleaning Life Of A Returning Genius Hunter [EN]: Chapter 197

196

“Hey, what do you think you’re doing!”

The Karma Corporation dispatch team had just arrived on the scene.

With the help of Hanbyul Construction, they were heading to the airport for rescue operations when some Hunters blocked Kim Min-ju’s path.

“Who are you with! How did you get in here?”

“Ah, we are…”

Kim Min-ju paused mid-sentence and stared at the man blocking her way.

Judging by his appearance, he seemed to be a support force from the Chinese Association headquarters.

In other words, they were the ones who had caused this situation in Hong Kong.

“I’m Kim Min-ju, the head of operations at Karma Corporation. We’re heading to the airport for rescue operations, so please move aside.”

“Karma Corporation…?”

The man’s expression momentarily stiffened.

But only for a moment, before he opened his mouth with a grim voice.

“This is clearly an operational zone of the Chinese Association headquarters. Who gave you permission to conduct rescue operations here?”

“We didn’t receive permission from anyone. What kind of permission is needed to save people?”

“Ha! Isn’t it obvious? This is China. Third parties with no connection shouldn’t interfere arbitrarily.”

“We’re not entirely unrelated. Our representative is trapped at the airport right now.”

“……!”

At that moment, the man hesitated briefly.

“There are… survivors at the airport…?”

“Yes.”

“That can’t be. We clearly made sure…”

The man muttered incomprehensible words.

Kim Min-ju’s gaze sharpened as she watched him.

“Anyway! Even if it’s a rescue operation, you can’t operate in the operational zone without permission! Go back!”

“I’ve had enough of this! Saving people, and there’s some crazy bastard trying to stop it… !”

“Yubin!”

When Han Yubin couldn’t stand it any longer and stepped forward, Kim Min-ju immediately stopped her.

Because no matter how she thought about it, something was strange.

Even if it was their operational zone, why would they go so far as to stop rescue workers with such unreasonable demands?

Kim Min-ju carefully asked after organizing her thoughts for a moment.

“I heard that the Chinese Association has given up on rescue operations, is that correct?”

“Th, that’s! If we recklessly proceed with rescue operations now, even the rescue team could be in danger…!”

“That’s strange. Shouldn’t citizen evacuation and rescue operations be the top priority in a monster outbreak situation? This is a principle that must be followed regardless of the country.”

“……”

The man seemed speechless and closed his mouth.

“But to withdraw without even conducting a basic search, without even knowing if there are survivors… That seems to be beyond common sense.”

Kim Min-ju took a step towards the man and spoke.

Even if this situation was planned from the beginning, there’s no reason to give up on rescue operations.

Rather, rescuing survivors would be more effective for image-making than succeeding in subjugation and having casualties.

But they still gave up on rescue operations?

Just because the rescue team might be in danger?

‘Even if I concede a hundred times that that’s really the reason…’

If a third party offered to do the rescue instead, wouldn’t that be a welcome thing?

They could achieve their goals without lifting a finger.

The fact that they’re desperately blocking even that means something suspicious is going on.

It’s as if they were sure there wouldn’t be any survivors, or they wanted them to die.

Or else…

“There’s a reason why other people can’t search the airport.”

“……!”

The man’s pupils shook for a moment.

Kim Min-ju didn’t miss the opportunity and drove the wedge in.

“I’m just saying this in case… You’re not the ones who attacked the airport, are you?”

“…Wh, what nonsense are you talking about!”

“If that weren’t the case, there’s no reason to stop the rescue operation. Are you stopping us because you’re afraid we’ll find traces of skill usage while searching the airport?”

“I’ve had enough of listening to this! If you keep talking nonsense, we won’t stand still either!”

“Then you’re saying you didn’t attack it?”

“Of course not!”

“Then get out of the way.”

At that moment, Kim Min-ju’s eyes flashed with a blue light.

“Before I clear you out myself.”

[Unique Skill: Thousand-Hand Guanyin (千手觀音)] [A Buddhist deity known for compassion and multiple arms, symbolizing the ability to help many simultaneously.]

[Skill Activation]

Sss-.

A blue aura began to flow along Kim Min-ju’s entire body.

“Ha…! Are you saying you’re going to fight the Chinese Association in China? Do you think you can handle it?”

“We’re not the kind of people who weigh the pros and cons before acting.”

“Well, go ahead and try.”

[Unique Skill: Peerless General (國士無雙)] [An unmatched warrior, unparalleled in the nation.]

The man also activated his skill and drew a large pair of swords from his waist.

At the movements of the two, both camps quickly prepared for battle.

A touch-and-go situation where anything could happen the moment someone moved a finger.

“……”

“…….

They were continuing their war of nerves while meeting each other’s gaze when it happened.

Kugugugung-!

The ground began to shake again.

“T, Team Leader! It seems another dungeon has appeared!”

“Damn it…!”

The man frowned at the report of a Hunter.

But that wasn’t the end of it.

Kieeeee-!

Grrr-!!

The figures of monsters began to appear in the distance.

It seemed they had noticed the presence here.

“Shit, why now…!”

The man alternated between looking at the monsters running towards this place and Kim Min-ju opposite him, gnashing his teeth.

But contrary to him, Kim Min-ju wore a relaxed expression.

“Is it okay for you to be standing here like this? It’ll be a big problem if you can’t stop those things now.”

“Tch…!”

The man clicked his tongue.

“Don’t do anything foolish. I’m warning you.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Everyone, prepare for battle!”

Soon, the headquarters forces, including the man, turned towards the approaching monsters.

Han Yubin, who was watching their backs, shook her head.

“Those guys… they’re going to be annihilated, right?”

“I don’t think so. I think they value their lives too much. They’ll probably run away as soon as they realize they can’t handle it.”

Kim Min-ju shrugged and replied.

“Well, let’s hurry too. It’s dangerous if we delay any longer.”

“Okay.”

They hurried back to the scene.

***

“What?”

Hong Kong Branch, Central Control Room.

A sudden radio transmission came to Team Leader Lai Bi-woo, who had seized command of the branch.

It was none other than a radio transmission from Team Leader Zhang Xian, who was at the scene.

「There were Karma Corporation guys at the scene! They say their representative is alive at the airport and they’re trying to carry out a rescue operation.」

“You didn’t let them proceed, did you?”

「That’s… we had to stop the monsters, so we couldn’t help it…」

“Hey, you stupid bastard! How could you just let them go like that!”

「W, we had no choice.」

“Damn it…!”

Team Leader Lai’s hand clenched tightly.

He was already going crazy because of the unplanned dungeons that were being created, and now even the Karma Corporation guys were moving.

This is dangerous.

If they search the airport and find traces of skills, it’ll be a real problem.

Besides, the fact that the Karma Corporation representative is still alive means…

‘Shit, everything’s going wrong…’

Control Team Leader Lai nervously swept back his hair.

Then he raised his voice to a control team employee.

“Has there been any word from headquarters yet? We need to know why dungeons keep appearing!”

“Ah, there’s no response yet. Headquarters is just saying they’re looking into it…”

“This is bullshit!”

Team Leader Lai slammed his desk and shouted.

“First, request additional troops from headquarters. We can’t handle this with the current personnel.”

“A, understood!”

“And Karma Corporation is…”

Team Leader Lai trailed off without realizing it.

No matter how he thought about it, he couldn’t come up with a good solution.

“…Did you call for me?”

At that moment, Branch Manager Hwang, who had been summoned, entered the control room.

At the same time, a spark flashed in Team Leader Lai’s head.

This is it.

Maybe we can solve it by using that guy.

He tried to hide the smile that was spreading across his face and opened his mouth.

“Branch Manager Hwang. I was looking at the branch’s current status and found that there was quite a bit of a deficit in the budget for the last quarter.”

“Y, yes? That can’t be…”

“Not only that, but I also found records of receiving huge amounts of cash from companies in Hong Kong.”

“I think there’s some misunderstanding, those companies have been sponsoring us for years. It’s not what you think…”

“Quiet.”

Team Leader Lai’s voice dropped low.

“Take your excuses to headquarters. Drag him away.”

“Yes?! W, wait a minute…!”

Before he could finish speaking, the employees grabbed Branch Manager Hwang’s arm.

“Wait a minute! What are you doing! What’s going on all of a sudden…!”

“Anyway, that’s why we shouldn’t give branches operating rights. They openly commit these kinds of irregularities because headquarters can’t pay attention. Isn’t that right?”

“Wh, what…?”

Only then did Branch Manager Hwang vaguely realize what was going on.

“Y, you bastards! Was this your plan from the beginning? You’re the ones who attacked the airport, aren’t you?! You trash! How long do you think you can hide your dirty faces?!”

“Well, I don’t think you’re in a position to say that, considering you’re the one committing irregularities while avoiding the eyes of headquarters.”

“Bullshit! If you investigate a little, you’ll find out it’s all nonsense…!”

“Haa… Branch Manager Hwang.”

Team Leader Lai sighed and approached him.

“I know everything. I know you’re not the kind of person with a big enough capacity to commit irregularities.”

“Wh, what…?”

“This is just a punishment. A punishment for daring to doubt headquarters.”

Branch Manager Hwang’s face stiffened for a moment.

“Of course, those things may not be evidence if we have a formal legal battle, but as you know, this isn’t the situation for that right now. You’ve heard the story of a high-ranking official’s corruption case that took less than a day from trial to execution, right?”

“……”

“How many hours do you think it will take you?”

Team Leader Lai gave a chilling smile.

Then he slowly continued.

“Well, it’s one way to send you off like this… but I’ll give you one option anyway.”

“What is it…?”

“Order the branch personnel to bomb the airport. Right now.”

“……!”

Team Leader Lai brought up the main point.

That’s right.

Even if the Korean bastards search the airport, we can just bury it again before they find anything.

“Then I’ll make sure the corruption case never happened.”

With the branch manager doing it himself.

***

“Haa, haa…”

Immediately after subjugating the dungeon that appeared in the wreckage.

I came out of the dungeon, gasping for breath.

It’s definitely too much to subjugate a Yellow-grade dungeon alone.

‘Since I don’t have any information…’

This is almost a suicide mission.

It’s a subjugation I don’t want to do again.

I muttered and plopped down on my butt in the wreckage.

“Are you okay?”

At that time, Branch Manager Lee Ah-young approached and asked worriedly.

“Yeah, well…”

“I told you to just leave it alone, why did you bother subjugating it?”

“If it’s a randomly generated dungeon, you never know when monsters might escape. It might be good for taking refuge in the short term, but leaving it alone is actually more dangerous.”

“…I see.”

“Well, it’s a relief that the rescue team is coming. I didn’t think the headquarters guys would move this quickly. How did they do it when the airport was destroyed…”

“Well, they’re not going to stand still when you’re in danger.”

Branch Manager Lee Ah-young shrugged.

That’s when it happened.

Bang! Kugugugugu-!

Suddenly, the ground began to shake violently.

I jumped up, thinking another dungeon had appeared… but it didn’t seem to be the case.

“Slowly! Lift it up as slowly as possible!”

“Put supports underneath!”

“Be careful, there’s a risk of a secondary collapse!”

I heard voices above my head.

Soon, the wreckage that was blocking the ceiling began to move slowly.

Eventually, dazzling sunlight poured through the gap.

“Teacher! Ah-young!”

A rather welcome figure appeared.

“Long time no see?”

“Are you all okay?! Just wait a little bit! I’ll send the crane down now!”

“We’re okay, so rescue the citizens here first.”

“Ah, yes!”

I felt a little relieved.

I was letting out a faint sigh when it happened.

“…What’s that?”

Something was flying towards us from the sky that was revealed above the wreckage.

It was gradually sparkling more and more and began to fall right above our heads.

“…Hey, hey! Get out of the way!!”

“Yes…?”

The moment I shouted at the rescue team.

Bang-!!!!

An enormous impact occurred along with an ear-splitting roar.