The Wise Cleaning Life Of A Returning Genius Hunter [EN]: Chapter 12

011

The spacious office.

The man sitting at the desk wore a rather unpleasant expression.

It was clear at a glance that my visit was quite unwelcome… but I had no other choice.

Talking to the management department staff would only result in them saying that approval from above wasn’t coming, and I couldn’t exactly cause a scene as a janitor…

‘Well, aside from everything else, this is the fastest way.’

I glanced at the man with the grizzled hair.

Then, I shifted my gaze to the nameplate on the desk.

The man’s name on the nameplate was Seo Min-cheol.

His title was none other than the Director of the Seoul Headquarters of the Otherworld Management Association.

In other words, the man at the very top of the Seoul Headquarters I belonged to.

‘Hmm, Seo Min-cheol, huh….’

If I remember correctly, he’s the guy who was newly appointed around this time.

As soon as that *jerk* took the position of director, those guys on his side got parachute appointments one after another, I think.

That’s how enormous the influence of the ‘Seo Min-cheol Line’ was on the Association.

Of course, with my current status, it’s a position I can’t even dream of looking at….

But if I’m going to make a move, shouldn’t I strike at the head first?

“So….”

Director Seo Min-cheol, who had been silent, finally opened his mouth.

“You want to increase the budget for the cleaning team?”

“Yes.”

“You should have gone to the management department with that kind of request.”

His tone suggested that he couldn’t even be bothered to respond.

“What hunter would bother dealing with the mobs in a subjugation [minor monsters]? You just have to catch the boss to be done.”

“……Oh, you *were* a hunter?”

“No. I’m a janitor.”

“…….”

Director Seo Min-cheol’s eyes changed several times in a brief moment.

“So, right now, a janitor has come directly to the director to ask for a budget increase?”

“Exactly.”

“Not even a team leader, but a regular employee?”

“Yes.”

“……Well, I guess it’s the age to jump in without knowing anything. I understand.”

The director scanned me up and down.

It was an openly dismissive gesture, but I didn’t dislike being called young.

“But what would the cleaning team spend money on? It’s not like you have a lot of expenses.”

“Isn’t it obvious that I’m asking for an increase because the budget is *less* than those few expenses?”

“Ha, haha! I’ve never seen such an audacious *guy*. Ignorance is bliss, and here you are….”

“There was an accident.”

I cut him off with the heaviest voice possible. Of course, I didn’t forget the serious expression.

“The protective suits are quite old, but there was no budget to buy new ones. We had no choice but to work as is, and the suit tore, and eventually one of the team members was exposed to monster venom.”

“……I haven’t received such a report?”

“Well, it just happened.”

Director Seo Min-cheol hesitated at the unexpected story.

Of course, he didn’t look like he believed me, but either way, he’ll find out soon enough, whether he wants to or not.

“I understand that you want to save money on the cleaning team, but at least you have to prevent accidents. Not giving us money to buy protective suits is just ridiculous.”

“It’s unfortunate, but the headquarters doesn’t have any money either. Do you think we wouldn’t give it if we could? But we’ve allocated it as evenly as possible. It’s not like we gave the cleaning team less.”

“You don’t have money?”

“Yeah, you little punk. …Well, what would you know about the Association’s situation? It looks like you haven’t been here long.”

At his words, I smiled faintly.

No employee can argue with the statement that there is no money.

Unless they know the internal affairs of the Association well, they can’t know if it’s true or false.

“I don’t think so.”

But you should only do that while sizing up your opponent.

“……What?”

“You pulled in a huge amount of this year’s budget. The budget allocated to the Otherworld Operations Department alone is hundreds of billions [of Korean won, roughly equivalent to millions of US dollars], and 70% of that was allocated to the operations team.”

Suddenly, Director Seo Min-cheol’s eyes narrowed sharply.

“Y-You, how do you know that…?”

“Don’t you know it too, Director? You can’t use it all anyway. Above all, there hasn’t been a single ‘Red Grade’ dungeon this year. Well, I know you’re going to try to get rid of the remaining budget at the end of the year with commemorative subjugations and joint raids… I’m just saying you should put a little more where it’s really needed.”

“……!”

“What do you think? It doesn’t seem like a difficult request.”

A rigid expression.

Director Seo Min-cheol stared at me fiercely before slowly opening his mouth.

“……What are you?”

“I told you, I’m a janitor.”

In contrast, I smiled gently.

“And this isn’t just about the cleaning team. You have to think about your position, Director. You’ve been in office for, 3 months…?”

“……2 months.”

“Yes, 2 months. You worked hard to get to that position, you should stay there for a long time. The cleaning team is already known for being treated poorly, and if the citizens find out that there was an accident because there was no budget to buy protective suits, wouldn’t the headquarters be in quite a bit of trouble?”

“Are you threatening me right now?”

“Of course not. I’m just saying.”

Eyes that tried to see through me no matter what.

The director’s face was 180 degrees different from when I first entered the office.

But that was only for a moment.

“……Okay, I understand what you’re saying.”

Director Seo Min-cheol let out a faint sigh.

It worked.

“So, how much would you like me to increase it?”

“Whatever you feel like.”

Whether it’s 10 won [Korean currency, a negligible amount] or 100 won, I’ll be happy as long as it goes up.

“Then, I think we’re done talking, so I’ll be on my way….”

“Wait.”

Just as I was about to get up from my seat.

Director Seo Min-cheol raised his hand to stop me.

“By any chance, do you know Hunter Kim Min-joo?”

“……Why do you ask?”

“So you do know her.”

Director Seo Min-cheol then wore a satisfied smile.

I couldn’t understand the intention of the question.

Why is that girl’s name coming up here?

What does it have to do with this?

“I’ll review the budget increase and contact you sometime tomorrow. You can go now.”

“……Yes.”

I left the office with a sullen expression.

***

Janitor?

What a load of crap.

Director Seo Min-cheol smirked as soon as the office door closed.

Then, he immediately picked up the phone and made a call on the company line.

「Yes, Director.」

Soon, a familiar voice was heard from the other side of the phone.

“Oh, Soo-yong. A janitor just came to the office… I think it’s that *guy* you told me about last time. The one Kim Min-joo is learning swordsmanship from.”

「Yes?! That crazy…! How dare a janitor visit the Director…」

“No. That *guy* is not a janitor.”

「……Yes? Then what is he?」

“I don’t know. But he’s definitely not just a janitor. Judging from the fact that he knows all our information, it seems like he’s someone related to the Association. He just suggested to me to increase the cleaning team’s budget… No matter how I look at it, that doesn’t seem to be his real purpose.”

A brief silence.

「……Anyway, he’s currently assigned to the cleaning team, right?」

“That’s true… but why?”

「That’s perfect. I was just telling you before, wasn’t I? That we need to set an example. We can’t let him keep climbing like this…」

“An example?”

「We need to teach him how to bow his head to his superiors.」

***

Early morning.

As soon as we got to work, Team Leader Park delivered a memo from above to us.

But somehow, his expression was very dark.

All the team members who looked at the memo together couldn’t help but be shocked.

“D-Disciplinary action…?”

“Damn it, they should be compensating her, but they’re giving her disciplinary action?!”

Mun So-yeon had received disciplinary action.

“Hunter! This doesn’t make sense?! Honestly, this isn’t right!”

Han Sang-hyuk raised his voice, but it seemed like Kim Min-joo couldn’t understand it either.

The reason for the disciplinary action was none other than a violation of the prohibition of side jobs.

They claimed that ‘the accumulation of fatigue due to side jobs was the cause of the accident’ and rejected both the industrial accident claim and compensation.

That’s right.

Mun So-yeon had been working a night job without the Association’s knowledge.

Judging by their expressions, Team Leader Park and Han Sang-hyuk seemed to have known.

Was that why she was so tired?

Well, that’s beside the point… the real problem was something else.

It was the few lines attached to the very bottom of the announcement.

‘The accident was due to personal negligence.’

In other words, since there was no evidence that the equipment was old, the budget increase was also rejected.

“Ha, damn it, really….”

I clenched the paper as if I would tear it up and swallow it right away.

I felt genuinely annoyed for the first time in a while.

Thanks to that, I didn’t even notice Mun So-yeon approaching.

“Um… Jun-woo, don’t worry too much about it. I’m really okay!”

“……Yes?”

“The disciplinary action is just a warning… and I didn’t really expect the industrial accident claim anyway.”

“…….”

What is she talking about again?

“Hey, I saw you in a new light, you *know*. I can’t believe you took the lead and even met the director for our sake. I knew you were crazy, but you’re really out of your mind.”

“Yeah, Jun-woo. It’s enough that you did this much for us. Don’t take the result too much to heart.”

“Teacher….”

Suddenly, the team members were comforting me.

I wondered if they had all eaten something wrong.

I was quite bewildered, but that was only for a moment.

‘Well, that’s beside the point….’

Something was wrong.

No matter how I thought about it, it wasn’t something to go this far for.

It wasn’t like I asked for a lot of money, or filed a compensation lawsuit, but there was no reason to reject it while bringing up the side job.

It was just a little extra money that would be spent anyway, but to be so extreme….

‘No matter how I look at it, it’s intentional.’

But why?

Was there any reason to dislike us so much that they would come out so forcefully?

“Could it be because of me…?”

At that time, Kim Min-joo carefully opened her mouth with a worried expression.

“What are you talking about? Why would it be you?”

“Actually, when I used my vacation last time, I told the team leader about the cleaning team. He’s the type of guy who values hierarchy so much, so I thought he would definitely see it in a bad light… I was wondering if it was because of that, that he’s setting an example….”

“Wait, what’s your team leader’s name?”

“It’s Lee Soo-yong, the team leader of Operations Team 1. Do you happen to know him?”

“……Ha, haha.”

Yeah, no wonder, damn it.

I know what’s going on now.

Lee Soo-yong.

A representative figure of Director Seo Min-cheol’s line.

He got appointed as a team leader through a parachute appointment [appointment based on connections rather than merit]. And that too, the team leader of the elite Operations Team 1.

There’s no way I could forget that *jerk*. I was on that *jerk’s* team back then too.

A guy who just flaunted his authority without any skill.

‘So that’s why he asked if I knew Kim Min-joo.’

It’s certain. That *jerk* conspired with Director Seo Min-cheol. He must have thought he was setting an example because I seemed to be climbing up for no reason.

‘Those bug-like *jerks*….’

Unknowingly, my hand clenched tightly. As a result, the document in my hand was completely crumpled.

Okay… so this is the answer?

If you come out like this, I have my own plans.

I didn’t want to use this method, but I can’t help it.

‘………I have to give up, I guess.’

There’s no other way.