The Wise Cleaning Life Of A Returning Genius Hunter [EN]: Chapter 329

328. Side Story – Episode 6

Slap—.

Immediately after Kim Junwoo’s hand struck her cheek.

The Special Ops Team 1 office froze as if time had stopped.

Hunter Kim Minjoo was dumbfounded by the unbelievable sight before her, forgetting to even close her mouth.

Everyone in the office was greatly taken aback.

“……”

Kim Minjoo, the hunter who was suddenly slapped, was also in shock.

Although the sound was loud enough to be heard in the next team’s office, she felt more bewildered than hurt.

Kim Minjoo looked at Kim Junwoo with a bewildered expression.

Then.

“I told you not to move.”

He opened his mouth with a cold expression.

“I clearly told you to stay back. Who do you think you are, interfering?”

“……”

“If you want to show off your skills, do it in your own operation. Don’t cause trouble in my dungeon.”

Kim Minjoo didn’t understand immediately.

She just blinked and stared at him blankly.

Disobeying his orders and helping him was the reason she had to get slapped in the office as soon as she came to work?

Kim Minjoo couldn’t understand at all.

But Kim Junwoo didn’t seem to care about her feelings and pointed his finger at her, saying,

“If you act on your own again, you’re permanently banned from my operations. Do you understand?”

“……”

Kim Minjoo still couldn’t answer.

Kim Junwoo didn’t seem to expect an answer either, as he turned his back on her as soon as he finished speaking.

Kim Junwoo is an ace hunter in Special Ops Team 1, which is called the elite.

He is in charge of most high-risk level subjugations, and he also writes the operation plans himself.

In other words, not being able to participate in Kim Junwoo’s operations in the future means…….

It meant that she wouldn’t be able to set foot in dungeons above the Yellow rank in the future.

And that was like a death sentence to Kim Minjoo.

This place was truly fucked up.

Hierarchy and rank were more absolute than anywhere else, and those below were not even treated as colleagues.

Her father was the same.

He was hospitalized with a shoulder injury during a subjugation, but this place recommended him to retire.

He had worked here his whole life, risking his life, but because he was a B-rank hunter, they chose to discard him rather than fix him.

Kim Minjoo joined the association because she knew so well that it was such a place for only one reason.

So that hunters of all ranks can work together as colleagues.

In addition, to ensure that departments other than the operations team are also treated fairly.

To prove that her father was not discarded because he was useless, she had to climb to the top of this place.

To do that, of course, she needed skills and achievements.

The reason why she participated in subjugations like crazy, day and night, was also because of that.

But if she was excluded from the most important high-risk level subjugation…….

Wouldn’t it be meaningless?

“If it’s a subjugation team……”

Kim Minjoo opened her mouth heavily, facing Kim Junwoo’s back as he walked away.

“If we’re at least colleagues working in the same place, shouldn’t we work together to subjugate in difficult situations?”

“……What?”

Kim Junwoo stopped walking and turned to look at her.

With an expression as if he couldn’t believe what he had just heard.

Nevertheless, Kim Minjoo did not stop speaking.

“No matter how I think about it, I don’t know what I did wrong. I responded appropriately in a crisis situation, and I even prepared the ground for Vice Team Leader Kim Junwoo’s attack. If everyone, including me, had attacked together, it would have been more efficient…!”

“Efficient?”

Kim Junwoo scoffed.

“There were guys who said that 6 months ago, too.”

“Yes…?”

“They said that if everyone worked together in dangerous situations, they could definitely overcome it. So, even in a situation where hundreds of monsters were rampaging in the middle of Seoul, they didn’t lose courage and fought back. Do you know where those guys who said that are now?”

Soon, Kim Junwoo’s cold voice was heard.

“They’re all dead. Torn to pieces so badly that their bodies couldn’t even be recovered.”

“……!”

Kim Junwoo raised his finger again and continued.

“Listen carefully. The second thing I hate most in the world is guys who don’t have the ability or skill, and who act without knowing their place.”

“……”

“If you were even a little later, you would have lost an arm. You wouldn’t have been able to be a hunter for the rest of your life. No, honestly, putting that aside, what’s even more ridiculous is…….”

Kim Junwoo took a moment to catch his breath.

“Even that is considered damn lucky in this industry.”

“……”

Kim Junwoo’s face looked quite complicated as he said that.

But that was only for a moment.

“If you’re thinking of dying, find another way. I don’t want to clean up corpses in my operation.”

Kim Junwoo left the office as soon as he said that.

Soon, the frozen office began to murmur.

“That… he’s completely crazy.”

Kim Seyoung, who was watching the two from the next seat, clicked her tongue and added a word.

But Kim Minjoo just lowered her head and took a moment to sort out her thoughts.

The reason why he tries to do all the subjugations alone as obsessively as possible is because he’s blinded by performance and money?

No.

That’s not it.

“He’s just a son of a bitch.”

He’s just a sociopath disguised as a perfectionist.

He’s not doing it alone for the sake of performance, but because he’s desperately trying to do it alone because he’s afraid that his reputation will be tarnished if someone dies.

I don’t even want to associate with him.

But…….

“Am I avoiding shit because I’m afraid of it?”

I must participate in the Yellow rank subjugation scheduled for the week after next.

So what can I do?

I have to put up with it, even if it’s dirty.

As she sat down again, something suddenly flashed through Kim Minjoo’s mind.

‘Wait a minute…….’

If Kim Junwoo is a perfectionist who doesn’t want to leave even a single flaw in his operation…….

There’s no reason to forcibly proceed knowing the dungeon intervention situation, right?

‘…….’

Kim Junwoo basically distrusts his team members.

He sees everyone other than himself as a moron.

That human being who hates leaving corpses in the dungeon and tries to solve everything by himself… it doesn’t make sense that he was trying to carry out an impossible operation.

It makes even less sense that that human being forgot that important information.

‘Then…….’

I can only explain it as intervention from somewhere.

But who?

Someone who hates him enough to slander the best ace in the team…….

‘……There are too many.’

Kim Minjoo glanced around the office and shook her head.

Well, whatever, is it my business?

It’s all his karma.

***

“How do you think it will go?”

Operations Headquarters Office.

Team Leader Lee Sooyong asked Headquarters Director Seo Minchul in a low voice.

“Well… I think it will go well.”

Then, Headquarters Director Seo Minchul smiled slightly and replied.

“Anyway, the possibility of dungeon intervention is clearly written in the control team file. Whether it’s a mistake or intentional, we can tie it to Kim Junwoo’s responsibility.”

“But… after all, it’s my role to review the proposal…….”

Lee Sooyong trailed off.

That meant that he was worried that the blame would fall on him, and Seo Minchul immediately understood the intention.

“Don’t worry. You can bow your head and go in before the committee steps in.”

“Yes…?”

“You take the initiative and bow your head, saying it’s your responsibility. Anyway, it’s obviously Kim Junwoo’s fault, so it’s ambiguous to hold you responsible.”

“I see.”

Team Leader Lee Sooyong tried to hide his smile.

And then.

“There’s no… risk of getting caught, right?”

He carefully asked that question.

“Kim Junwoo knows that the file is forged, so if he finds a clue…….”

“How could that bastard?”

“Yes, yes…?”

“The committee is already on our side. What can that bastard do to find a clue?”

Seo Minchul raised his voice as if he was angry, not just confident.

“Of course, Kim Junwoo knows that there’s a problem with the file. But… what can he do? The moment he tries to prove it, he’ll have to turn not only the Operations Headquarters but also the committee and the upper echelons of the association into enemies.”

“……”

Team Leader Lee Sooyong’s eyes were uneasy, as the scale seemed to be getting bigger and bigger than he had expected.

“So, even if it’s unfair, there’s nothing you can do. If you don’t want to end your hunter life, you have no choice but to admit it was a mistake.”

Team Leader Lee Sooyong just nodded silently at Seo Minchul’s words.

“By the way, how did you win over the committee? They’re notorious for being the most conservative guys in the association, along with the audit team…….”

“Being conservative doesn’t mean they’re perfectly clean and spotless, does it?”

“……Yes?”

Team Leader Lee Sooyong’s eyebrows twitched.

At the same time.

“I’m talking about Chairman Woo Seokho.”

Headquarters Director Seo Minchul said, taking out a cigarette.

Chairman Woo Seokho.

The chief of the Operation Truth Investigation Committee.

As soon as that person’s name came out, Team Leader Lee Sooyong was startled.

“That human is going into politics this time, I heard?”

“Suddenly?”

“Well, it’s not really sudden. When you think about it, all the things that human has done for the past three years have been cleaning up after the political parties.”

Team Leader Lee Sooyong honestly didn’t remember what he had done, so he refrained from answering.

“But… about 15 years ago, something happened shortly after Woo Seokho became the chairman.”

“What was that…?”

“The then-Team Leader of Special Ops Team 1 was his younger brother, and a hunter died by mistake during an operation that he participated in himself.”

“A death accident as soon as he was appointed. It must have been a headache.”

“Yeah, it must have been a headache.”

Seo Minchul chuckled and continued.

“The good thing was that there was only one witness. Anyway, it seems like he tried to deal with the witness, but it didn’t work out because other people rushed in.”

“So… what happened?”

“What happened, it’s obvious. Chairman Woo used all the means he could to cover up the incident, and he pointed to one guy as the person responsible for the accident at the time and blew him away.”

“No, don’t tell me…….”

“Yeah. That witness.”

Headquarters Director Seo Minchul took a deep breath of cigarette smoke and continued.

“Well… he was an old, full-fledged B-rank hunter. Above all, I heard that his shoulder was destroyed while arguing with the team leader at the scene. He bundled everything together and sent him away.”

“That’s what happened.”

“But…….”

At that time, Headquarters Director Seo Minchul smiled slyly.

“15 years later, with the election ahead of him, it wouldn’t be good for this story to spread, would it?”

“……”

“Thanks to that, the story went well.”

Team Leader Lee Sooyong felt chills at his smile.

Team Leader Lee Sooyong just thought that it was so fortunate that he was on that man’s line.

“But… how do you know that story, Director?”

“Hmm?”

“15 years ago… weren’t you still in the control team, Director? You wouldn’t have had any contact with Chairman Woo Seokho’s work.”

Seo Minchul snorted at his question.

“I was the one who was monitoring the dungeon situation in real time at that time.”

He gave an unexpected answer.