The Wise Cleaning Life Of A Returning Genius Hunter [EN]: Chapter 211

210

“Departure? What business does that guy have over there?”

Chief Lee Ah-young retorted, dumbfounded by the sudden news from her staff.

“I heard he left to check on the Haramura Workshop’s weapon bidding…”

“What does he need to check? That’s all Sung-il’s responsibility!”

“Well, don’t take it out on me…”

The staff member trailed off, looking troubled.

Lee Ah-young, realizing she was venting at the wrong person, sighed and tried to calm down.

Well, I get it.

Leaving at this timing, his intentions are obvious.

“He probably thinks it’s better to hide until the review is over rather than get caught. As long as they can’t find evidence, he won’t give them any excuse.”

“That son of a bitch…”

“You can say that again.”

I replied, pinching the bridge of my nose.

To think he’d consider fleeing overseas just a day after the rumors spread.

Just how much has he prepared?

‘Well, thanks to him, my suspicions are confirmed…’

The problem is that with the prime suspect running away, we can’t get a confession or evidence.

“What do we do now? If the review period ends like this, Ms. Kim will definitely be disqualified…”

“…”

I couldn’t answer easily and remained silent.

Then, I quietly sorted out my thoughts.

To resolve this, we must reveal that Choi Jong-hyuk and Park Jang-mok intentionally spread false rumors to bring down Kim Min-joo.

Only then can we hold them accountable.

If we fail, Kim Min-joo will have to take all the blame.

But so far, we only have suspicions; there’s no conclusive evidence that they were the masterminds behind this.

That’s why I was going to summon Park Jang-mok.

To somehow prove his relationship with Choi Jong-hyuk and the International Association.

But with him running away, the means to prove their misdeeds has disappeared.

“No, it’s not like there’s no way at all.”

Then, Chief Lee Ah-young cautiously opened her mouth.

“There’s Choi Jong-hyuk. If he confesses to this…”

“Do you think he will?”

“…”

Chief Lee Ah-young couldn’t answer.

As I said, we only have suspicions; we have no evidence that he was the mastermind behind this.

If he continues to deny it, we can no longer hold him accountable.

Choi Jong-hyuk probably knows that too.

In the end, unless he confesses himself, we have no way.

“Then what are we going to do! Are we just going to stand by?! Or are we okay with Ms. Kim getting kicked out?!”

“…”

I ran my hands over my face.

Even if she loses her hunter qualification in the worst-case scenario, I can still keep her in the strategic planning division with my authority.

Even if she’s not a hunter, she can still assist me.

For example, Han Yu-bin is doing just that.

So, no matter what happens to her, I can keep using her.

However…

‘Her hunter life has to end because of this cheap trick…?’

I can’t stand to see that.

I raised her myself.

I can’t allow my pride to let her quit because of this disgraceful incident.

“I can’t stand by. If we can’t do it, we should get someone else to catch them somehow!”

“…Someone else?”

At that moment, someone flashed through my mind.

‘Someone else… someone else…’

I kept repeating those words for a moment.

‘I have no choice…’

After hesitating for a moment, I took out my phone.

“This is Kim Jun-woo. Are you available to talk right now?”

「Yes, I am.」

The recipient was none other than Moon So-yeon.

“Things have gone a bit awry. Director Park Jang-mok fled overseas to avoid getting caught, and he won’t be back until the review is over.”

「What?! Then, what happens to Min-joo unnie [older sister/female friend]?」

“Without evidence, we can’t catch those guys. If that happens, the responsibility for this will fall on her.”

「Oh…」

“So, I’m sorry to ask this favor… but if you’re okay with it, could you hang out with Choi Jong-hyuk just once?”

「…Pardon?」

“I heard at the last meeting that Choi Jong-hyuk seemed a bit interested in Ms. Moon So-yeon…”

After a moment of silence from her.

「…I understand what you mean.」

She quickly understood and spoke with a determined voice.

「Leave it to me.」

“…Thank you.”

I hung up the phone and turned my gaze to Chief Lee Ah-young.

“Then all that’s left… is someone who can use force would be good.”

“Are you going to use violence?”

“It’s just for preparation, as always. Well, since it’s the review period, a hunter wouldn’t do. But we need someone who knows how to handle hunters roughly…”

“Hmm…”

We both thought about a suitable person for a moment.

“…”

“…”

It seemed like we both could only think of one person.

“Will it be okay…?”

“…He wouldn’t kill them, would he?”

I was a little worried, but I had no choice.

Because he’s always serious about twisted things.

“So… where is Han Yu-bin right now?”

***

“Kim Min-joo and Team Leader Lee Tae-beom are like that?!”

On the headquarters rooftop.

The hunters from Strategic Planning Team 2, who were smoking, were still gossiping about the rumor.

“What, you just found out? It’s been crazy all day because of that?”

Another man reacted with surprise to a man who seemed shocked by the story.

“I just got back from a mission. But is it true?”

“I don’t know if it’s true or not.”

“But I heard someone actually saw it? Was it Team 4 or Team 5…”

Another man frowned and muttered.

Of course, they didn’t hear it exactly, but accuracy or truth wasn’t important to them in the first place.

“Wow, that’s shocking. She doesn’t seem like she would do that at all…”

“They say the pretty ones do the dirtiest things behind the scenes.”

“Seriously, with that innocent face, she was chasing after guys behind our backs.”

“Hey, maybe… she got the division chief position by doing that behind the scenes?”

“No way…”

“No way, my ass! There’s no guarantee this is the first time. Honestly, is Team Leader Lee good-looking or capable? If she’s like that with someone who has nothing, what about with the higher-ups?”

“That makes sense.”

“Damn… he has a point?”

They were snickering and adding more rumors to the rumors when.

“He has a point?”

A chilling voice brushed past their ears.

When they turned their heads, a woman was approaching them.

But they didn’t recognize her.

“…Who?”

“Do you know her?”

“No, I’ve never seen her before.”

As they stared at the woman with puzzled expressions, she began to walk towards them.

And then.

Thwack—!

She punched one of them without warning.

“…!”

“Wh, what…!”

The man collapsed in one blow.

His colleagues were greatly shocked by the sudden attack, but the woman who threw the punch calmly opened her mouth.

“I’m asking. Does that make sense?”

“You, who are you?!”

“How dare you to a hunter here…!”

He tried to grab the woman by the collar, but…

“…!”

The man instinctively stepped back as soon as he saw the murderous look in her eyes.

“What are you doing? Say more of what you were saying earlier.”

“Yo, you who the hell…”

“I said, try it?”

The woman slowly began to approach with her eyes wide open.

The two men could instinctively tell.

This woman is seriously thinking of killing them right now.

“Sh, shit! Don’t come…!”

[Unique Skill: Laevatein [Norse mythology: a sword mentioned in the Poetic Edda]].

Eventually, the man who felt his life was threatened activated his skill first.

The woman smiled eerily as if she had been waiting for it.

[Unique Skill: High Panic Berserker]

Red energy began to erupt.

Only then did the two men realize something was wrong with the overwhelming force.

“W, wait a minute…”

“Who the hell are you…!”

The woman clenched her fist instead of answering.

Just as she was about to rush towards them again.

“Stop there.”

A man appeared and stopped her.

It was none other than the head of Karma Corporation.

CEO Kim Jun-woo.

“C, CEO…!”

“This woman suddenly used violence…!”

“You shut up.”

After silencing them at once, Kim Jun-woo opened his mouth to the woman.

“I have a favor to ask, so come with me. Don’t make things worse when the situation is already bad.”

“…So, you’re just going to leave those mouths alone?”

“Isn’t it more of a problem that the strategic planning division chief is doing this?”

The eyes of the two men widened at those words.

Han Yu-bin glared at them.

“…Okay.”

She gave up and turned around.

“Y, you won’t get away with this!”

“Assault during the review period! Is it okay just because you’re the division chief?!”

“Worry about yourselves, not me. If you run your dirty mouths in front of me one more time…”

Han Yu-bin glanced at them and continued.

“I’m really going to kill you.”

“…”

“…”

The men couldn’t say anything to her sincere warning.

Han Yu-bin followed Kim Jun-woo, leaving them behind.

Only after entering the stairs did Han Yu-bin ask.

“So, what’s the favor?”

She was clearly in a very unpleasant state.

“From now on, I’m going to catch the person who spread this rumor. Before that, promise me one thing.”

“…?”

Kim Jun-woo continued with a serious expression without a smile.

“Not to kill them.”

***

“Yes, Director.”

Outside the Strategic Planning Team 5 office hallway.

Choi Jong-hyuk carefully answered the phone again after making sure no one was around.

「You little rascal, you used your head a bit?」

“Haha. Thank you.”

「Anyway, I’ll go back when the review is over, so you watch yourself. Especially Kim Jun-woo, be careful of that guy. His instincts are no joke.」

“Don’t worry. Even if he notices something, he won’t be able to push me because there’s no evidence anyway.”

「Well, that’s true. Anyway, got it. Let’s have a meal later. I’ll buy you something expensive.」

“Hahaha, I’ll be looking forward to it. Then…”

He hung up the phone and let out a faint sigh.

As he thought, the rumor spread throughout the headquarters in just one day.

Regardless of the truth, Kim Min-joo’s image has completely plummeted.

It’s going according to plan.

‘But something’s strange…’

It’s definitely going according to plan, but something still feels off.

It wasn’t anything else, but the motel key he entrusted to the intern was still nowhere to be found.

‘Damn it, did she give it to someone else…?’

Well, even if that’s the case, it doesn’t matter.

I can just say I mistook it for something else, or that I made a mistake because I was too busy during the review period.

There’s no clue to prove that I’m the mastermind behind this rumor anyway.

Even if Kim Jun-woo comes, it’s no problem.

I just have to be confident. Just be confident.

That’s what he was repeating to himself.

“Um… Senior.”

Just then, Moon So-yeon approached and spoke to him.

“Hey, what happened to what I asked you to do? Did you put it there?”

“…Yes. I put it there.”

She answered, avoiding his gaze.

Then, after hesitating for a while as if she was hesitating about something, she spoke again.

“Um… I was thinking about it while I was putting it there.”

“…?”

“Could it be that the thing you asked me to do is related to the rumor that’s going around the headquarters right now…?”

Choi Jong-hyuk flinched for a moment.

But that was only for a moment. He soon maintained a calm expression and scoffed.

“What are you talking about? That’s just…”

“Senior, I need to become a full-time employee.”

Moon So-yeon cut him off and blurted out something out of the blue.

“Wh, what are you talking about all of a sudden.”

“If you’re related to this rumor, I thought you might know the higher-ups well…”

Moon So-yeon trailed off for a moment, then slowly brought up the main point.

“You said it’s good to have something to believe in, right?”

“…Y, yes.”

“Then…”

At that moment, Moon So-yeon smiled slightly and made eye contact with Choi Jong-hyuk once.

Then, she quietly continued.

“Would you like to have a drink together today?”