The Wise Cleaning Life Of A Returning Genius Hunter [EN]: Chapter 168

167

“Do you think this makes any sense?”

International Hunter Association Headquarters.

Secretary-General Wesley, standing before Team Leader Noah Balance, began, “Do you think this makes any sense?”

Team Leader Noah hesitated for a moment. “It appears Representative Kim Jun-woo manipulated public opinion within Japan. Branch Manager Shoichi hastily passed on his authority and fled to avoid responsibility. It’s possible it was planned from the start…”

“I know that much. I understand he had to, otherwise we or Japan would have had to hold him accountable. But that’s not what I’m asking about…”

Secretary-General Wesley’s sharp gaze turned to a man.

“What face do you have to show up here, after passing off the branch on your own to save your own skin? Branch Manager Shoichi.”

“…N, no!”

Branch Manager Shoichi, prostrate on the floor, shook his head frantically. “S, save my own skin? That’s absolutely not true! I only entrusted the authority because I believed Representative Kim Jun-woo would help our branch.”

“You believed that? The man who tried to swallow the Korean Association under the guise of helping?”

“…….”

“And another thing. I heard you took a contract fee and a kickback as a condition for passing on the authority. How do you explain that?”

Branch Manager Shoichi’s shoulders flinched at the pointed remark.

Secretary-General Wesley, seeing this, spoke as if he understood. “It was a sham, wasn’t it?”

“……!”

“You were planning to live comfortably in a scenic place with the money you received, but later realized what you held in your hand was not money but a worthless piece of trash… Only after realizing you were deceived did you come to me for help. Isn’t that right?”

“Th, that’s not it…”

Branch Manager Shoichi’s voice trailed off.

Secretary-General Wesley shook his head, looking at him with disdain.

‘Did he think I wouldn’t know?’

“Haa, please give me one more chance! This was an unfair transaction from the start, so can’t you revoke the delegation of authority at the Secretary-General’s level! If you remove Representative Kim Jun-woo and entrust it to me again…!”

“Why should I do that?”

“……Yes?”

Branch Manager Shoichi’s pupils shook at the firm refusal.

“Thanks to you, the Japanese branch has already suffered an internationally irreparable disgrace. If we continue to maintain the branch, what would neighboring countries think?”

“…….”

“Even if you return, it’s obvious you won’t be able to exert any influence on Korea and China, so why should I reinstate you?”

“B, but isn’t it a great loss for the headquarters to have a perfectly good branch taken away by Kim Jun-woo, that bastard…!”

“Well, that’s true. It’s a great loss to have the branch taken away right under our noses, but…”

Secretary-General Wesley approached Branch Manager Shoichi, who was still prostrate on the floor. “It seems it’s more of a loss to keep the Japanese branch now.”

“…….”

“The withdrawal process is already underway. The Japanese branch will now be under Karma Corporation. Of course, Representative Kim will never call you again.”

Branch Manager Shoichi shook his head in disbelief.

But it would have been fortunate if that was all.

An even more cruel end awaited him.

“Well, that’s that… Branch Manager Shoichi, you must take responsibility for selling our branch without permission.”

Secretary-General Wesley said calmly.

Of course, he couldn’t just let go of the shameless bastard who handed over the branch and crawled back on his own.

“You will have to compensate for the estimated profits we could have earned from the Japanese branch over the next 10 years. Of course, I’m thinking of reducing it a bit, so don’t worry too much.”

“H, how much…”

“We’ll generously reduce it by 50%… so just compensate 2 trillion [currency not specified, likely USD or a similar high-value currency].”

“Y, yes…?!”

Branch Manager Shoichi’s heart sank at the unimaginable amount.

“2 trillion?! That’s, that’s ridiculous…!”

“Of course, Branch Manager Shoichi can’t afford that amount personally. But, I heard your son is the CEO of a fairly large small and medium-sized enterprise?”

A smile appeared on Secretary-General Wesley’s lips.

“Just send us all the profits your son’s company makes. I think it will still be insufficient. If your grandson… or even your great-grandson works hard, it might work out somehow, right?”

“…….”

“Anyway, think of it as all the wealth your descendants earn for the next three generations will be devoted to me. This is the contract, so sign it and go.”

“N, no…! This is too much!”

Faced with a death sentence, or perhaps a contract more terrible than death, Branch Manager Shoichi made a final desperate attempt.

“Please, just once… please save me just once. I will take responsibility and resolve it somehow.”

“When did I say I would kill you? Didn’t I say I would save you?”

“Th, this is no different than telling me to die…”

“So, you’re saying you can’t sign it?”

“Please, just have mercy…”

Branch Manager Shoichi finally put his hands together and began to beg.

Of course, he wasn’t dealing with someone who would be swayed by such petty actions.

“Well then, I have no choice but to go the Eastern way to match the Branch Manager.”

“…Y, yes?”

“Team Leader Noah, cut off one of Shoichi’s thumbs and use it as a stamp.”

“……Understood.”

Soon, Team Leader Noah’s shadow loomed over Branch Manager Shoichi.

“W, wait a minute…!”

Not long after he uttered his last words, a terrible scream echoed from the Secretary-General’s office.

***

Haneda Airport.

With departure time approaching.

Because Branch Manager Lee Ah-young and Headquarters Manager Ha Sung-il decided to stay in the Japanese branch and take charge of the internal problems that still needed to be resolved, only Han Yu-bin and I were returning to Korea today.

“Seriously…”

Branch Manager Lee Ah-young, who came to see us off, still sighed as if she was dumbfounded.

“One person said they were going to check out a tabloid and ended up taking over the Japanese branch, and the other unified the Yakuza [Japanese organized crime syndicate] forces throughout Japan…”

“Didn’t everything work out well in the end? The International Association accepted the withdrawal request without much complaint.”

“Hmph, isn’t it a bit funny that you cause all the trouble and I have to clean it up?”

“……Didn’t you come all the way here saying you would take care of the cleanup yourself?”

Unbelievable.

Anyone would think I passed it on.

“I’m just saying, just saying.”

Branch Manager Lee Ah-young mumbled vaguely as if she had nothing to say.

“Well, please take care of everything. If any problems arise, contact me immediately.”

“Don’t worry about here and just focus on the headquarters. How much work has piled up while the Representative was away? You’ll have to go to work as soon as you get back, you know?”

“……That’s the most dogshit thing I’ve heard in a while.”

Damn it, when am I ever going to get a break?

“Then have a safe trip back, Representative. Contact me when you arrive.”

“Okay. Then both of you, please work a little harder.”

Headquarters Manager Ha Sung-il also shook hands and saw us off.

After completing all the procedures and boarding the plane, we were waiting for takeoff when it happened.

“Han Yu-bin, can I ask you something?”

After organizing my thoughts, I cautiously opened my mouth.

“What is it?”

“It’s not about anything else, it’s about what happened to your friend when you were in the American branch.”

“…….”

As soon as I brought it up, her expression became subtle.

She didn’t seem angry, just a little embarrassed by the sudden topic.

“Why are you asking about that…?”

“Were there any similar incidents in the American branch?”

“……?”

She reacted as if she didn’t understand the intention of the question.

So I brought up the main point first.

“About three years ago, a cleaner from the American branch died in an accident. But as far as I know, the dungeon the cleaner was assigned to was a low-risk level, so there shouldn’t have been any factors that could have caused death… Do you know anything about that accident?”

“Ah… I’ve heard of that, but why are you suddenly asking about that?”

“Because I’m going to make a deal with someone.”

The current PB Corporation Balance Team Leader and the world’s number one hunter.

Of course, there was no need to say that much.

Han Yu-bin seemed a little uncomfortable after I vaguely glossed over it, but she still answered.

“I’ve only heard of it, I don’t know the details. The name was… Sophia Western Wood, I think that was it. You know, the world’s number one hunter? I remember it because she has the same last name as that person.”

It seemed she didn’t know that she was that person’s younger sister.

“So, was it really an accident during work?”

“That’s… not certain.”

“Not certain, what does that mean?”

“It’s a little difficult to explain…”

She paused to organize her thoughts and then continued to explain.

“I heard this too, but according to a control team employee, a cleaning completion report was submitted at the time without any special details. So nothing happened until the work was finished.”

“……?”

What is she talking about?

There were no problems with the work, but she had an accident during the work?

“The cleaning work was completed without any problems, but after that, an accident suddenly occurred and she lost her life? What on earth happened?”

“I don’t know that far. However, International Association headquarters employees went to the dungeon immediately after the cleaning completion report was submitted, and they said Sophia didn’t come out of the dungeon.”

“No, what…”

The headquarters went to the dungeon in person?

Why?

“What about the cleaning team colleagues who were with her? Those people must know something.”

“Of course, the branch investigated those people. But they were all so scared that they weren’t in a state to be investigated. It seems they were very shocked by something, whatever it was.”

She clicked her tongue as if it was unfortunate and continued.

“Anyway, those colleagues all quit soon after. I have no idea what they’re doing since then.”

“……I see.”

“Did that answer your question a bit?”

“No.”

“……?”

“In the end, you don’t know what happened either. If I had known this, I wouldn’t have asked. It just makes my head hurt more.”

“…….”

It was a half-joking remark, but Han Yu-bin’s eyes flashed with murderous intent.

Seeing her clenched fist trembling, I immediately pretended not to notice and turned my gaze away.

In fact, although I said that, I had a rough idea in my head.

Cleaning work that proceeded without any problems.

Headquarters employees who visited the dungeon directly immediately after.

Mysterious disappearance. Colleagues who closed their mouths.

When I inferred from these, what I could think of was…

‘Something came out of the dungeon during the cleaning work?’

Bank item [a valuable or rare item stored within a dungeon]?

No, the branch wouldn’t bother to go directly to retrieve a bank item that they had acquired.

If it was something important enough to go directly to retrieve…

I don’t know.

If I could figure it out that far with just those clues, I’d be a ghost.

Well, I should find out more details when I have time.

What happened then, what came out of the dungeon.

I organized my thoughts and leaned back in my seat.