The Wise Cleaning Life Of A Returning Genius Hunter [EN]: Chapter 219

218

After receiving information from the support team, we drove together in Min Yu-jin’s car.

“So?”

She, who had been driving in silence for a while, finally spoke.

“Why did you disappear? For a year, too.”

“…….”

Of course, I couldn’t answer.

In the first place, I didn’t even know if she and I were still together after the regression.

“If you were going to break up, you could have at least said something. Am I supposed to hear about you on the news?”

“I was just… busy.”

That was the only answer I could come up with after thinking for a while.

But Min Yu-jin continued with even more puzzling words.

“Are you doing this because you feel pressured?”

“……What are you talking about?”

“I told you not to worry because I can support you for the rest of your life once I become a Hunter.”

At those words, I quietly scratched my head.

It seemed that the relationship I remembered was quite different… but I couldn’t ask her directly.

After agonizing over it for a while, I came up with a little white lie.

“…Actually, I had an accident.”

“What?!”

At that one word, Min Yu-jin’s gaze immediately snapped to me.

“On my second day of work, I went into a dungeon and my gas mask came off, so I inhaled some gas. They said it damaged my brain nerves.”

“Re, really?! Are you okay now?”

“There’s no major problem with my body. But I don’t remember things from before very well.”

“……!”

Her mouth dropped open, seemingly quite shocked.

I continued speaking with a calm expression.

“That’s why I couldn’t contact you. My phone broke, and I couldn’t remember your number, or what happened during that time. So I just…….”

“Just disappeared like that?”

I nodded.

“You idiot. What does that matter? Did you think I would abandon you if you were sick and it was a hassle?”

“…….”

I’m grateful that she said that… but it’s a lie.

“Anyway, so you don’t remember things well, is that it?”

“Yeah.”

“I helped you a lot because you couldn’t get a job for years after graduation. Do you remember that?”

“No…….”

I couldn’t get a job, so she helped me?

Really, it’s too different from what I remember.

“I always bought you food, too. But… you felt pressured, like you were leeching off me. Every time, I told you not to worry because I would support you once I became a Hunter.”

“……Hunter?”

“You don’t remember that either? We decided to become Hunters together in high school.”

“Ah, I remember that.”

That was the same.

“But… it was almost an impossible dream. You’re a non-Awakened, and I’m an E-Rank [the lowest rank for a Hunter].”

“……Do you still want to become a Hunter?”

“Yes.”

She answered immediately.

“That’s why I applied to be a non-commissioned officer and became a detective. Well, I’m working hard… but it’s not going well.”

She tried to hide her bitter expression as she continued.

“Seriously… the guy I was supporting because he couldn’t get a job is now the most successful guy in Korea. Come to think of it, you’re the CEO of Karma, right? Do I have to suck up to you now?”

“…….”

My expression hardened at those loaded words.

Then, with a hopeful heart, I carefully asked.

“By any chance, are you thinking of starting again…….”

“Sorry.”

Another immediate answer.

“I don’t think so.”

She smiled at me.

“At first, I was angry, felt betrayed, and missed you… but now I don’t feel anything.”

“…….”

I breathed a sigh of relief.

That’s a relief.

It was a relationship that ended more than 10 years ago for me, so there would be no point in starting again now.

“Anyway, it’s good that I heard the story like this.”

“…Yeah.”

“Anyway, forget about that and tell me more about the suspect’s information. Why was he fired this time?”

“Choi Jong-hyuk? He didn’t get fired; he left. During the screening period, he teamed up with a company director and tried to slander the head of the operations division, but he got caught.”

“He’s still doing that kind of thing… ?”

“I know. Anyway, the higher-up of that company director is the assemblyman [a member of the national assembly] we’re looking for.”

“Why are you looking for him?”

“Because he seems to be related to the International Association.”

“Hmm.”

She nodded.

“According to the information sent by the support team… his residence is in Seoul, but his whereabouts haven’t been confirmed for a month. I asked a colleague who lives nearby, and they said he hasn’t been home for a while.”

“A month ago…….”

“It overlaps with the time when CEO Joo went missing.”

I opened the text message sent by the support team and checked the contents again.

“But there’s a record of him using his credit card at a convenience store in Ulsan around the same time. The location is… here.”

I handed my phone to Min Yu-jin, who was holding the steering wheel, and showed her the address.

Then her eyebrows twitched.

“Are you sure about this place? There’s nothing around here. It’s an abandoned factory complex.”

“Then that’s even better.”

“What…?”

“If Choi Jong-hyuk teamed up with that assemblyman and joined a Hunter organization, he’ll be living in a group. Since the organization itself is illegal, they’ll need to hide their bodies as a group. In a dormitory or lodging.”

“Abandoned factory…….”

“Yeah.”

I smirked.

“That’s the hideout of an illegal Hunter organization.”

“…You’re more like a detective than I am.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment.”

Min Yu-jin smiled instead of answering and quickly drove the car toward the location I pointed out.

The car became quiet again.

“I’m saying this in case you misunderstand…….”

“……?”

“Chief Lee Ah-young… I have nothing to do with her.”

I carefully conveyed those words.

Then Min Yu-jin let out a hollow laugh.

“I don’t know…….”

She glanced at me and gave me a meaningful smile.

“I don’t think she thinks that way.”

***

“…….”

“…….”

Sehun Chemical, sales team office.

Chief Lee Ah-young and Team Leader Lee Sang-woo, who were left there, were sitting still without saying a word to each other.

Lee Sang-woo kept looking at Chief Lee Ah-young.

It was because she seemed very uncomfortable.

“…Shall I get you some tea?”

“…….”

“There are snacks in the pantry, so you can take them out and eat them as much as you want.”

“…….”

Team Leader Lee Sang-woo kept talking to try to ease the cold atmosphere, but Chief Lee Ah-young didn’t answer at all, as if she was thinking about something else.

In the end, Team Leader Lee Sang-woo used a trick to escape from that suffocating place.

“Ah, oh my, look at my mind! I forgot to contact the president of the contract company. Then I’ll go to work…….”

“How often do ex-lovers get back together?”

“Yes, yes…?”

But Chief Lee Ah-young didn’t even allow that.

“Well, well… wouldn’t it depend on the person?”

“It looked like they dated for quite a long time… Surely they’re not thinking of getting back together now, are they?”

“Well, you can ask me…….”

Team Leader Lee Sang-woo scratched his head.

Chief Lee Ah-young didn’t seem to expect an answer either and continued to talk to herself.

“No, that woman is that woman. If you broke up, it’s over, what is there to stick around for? And on top of that, they’re going for a drive alone?!”

“……? The two of you just went to investigate…….”

“Ah, damn it! The more I think about it, the more absurd it is? I was looking forward to going on vacation together, but she made me do a background check, and I put up with it and followed her, but she introduced me to her ex-girlfriend! Is it okay for me to be angry about this?!”

“…….”

Team Leader Lee Sang-woo had a troubled expression.

If you came to investigate, you should just investigate. Why are you giving me love advice?

“Haa…… It’s shocking that he had a lover. I thought he was a person who had no interest in women at all.”

Chief Lee Ah-young sighed deeply and muttered.

In the end, Team Leader Lee Sang-woo, who couldn’t stand it any longer, carefully opened his mouth.

“If you’re interested, why don’t you tell him directly…….”

“…….”

Chief Lee Ah-young had a rather complicated expression.

But that was only for a moment; she shook her head as if she didn’t want to think about it anymore.

“It’s okay. I’ll just focus on the work now.”

“…….”

She’s so fickle, what a tiring person.

Team Leader Lee Sang-woo sincerely thought so.

“By the way… you said the employees all went out to protest together, right? What was the atmosphere of the protest like?”

“It was great, needless to say. The city hall even said they would reconsider GT Construction and Assemblyman Kang Jong-gu. A local broadcasting station came to cover it, so I thought this would really work out if we did well…….”

Team Leader Lee Sang-woo couldn’t finish his words and sighed deeply.

At that sight, Chief Lee Ah-young asked a little more carefully.

“Did Assemblyman Kang Jong-gu and GT Construction make any statements?”

“No. They were silent. I even went to see them in person, but they wouldn’t even meet me.”

Are they going to play dumb?

Well, if the person backing them is such a great guy, it would be strange to respond.

“Then… we need to find out more about GT Construction and Assemblyman Kang Jong-gu.”

“Yes?”

“We can’t just wait. We have to prepare for the possibility that we won’t be able to find the Hunter organization. Well, we should find out as much as we can.”

Chief Lee Ah-young said that and immediately made a phone call to someone.

“Ah, Chief Ha. I’m calling because I have a favor to ask.”

“Huh? Chief Lee, weren’t you on vacation?”

It was none other than Ha Seong-il, Head of the Overseas Business Division.

“…It’s a bit complicated to explain. Anyway, do you know anyone at GT Construction?”

“My sister knows a little bit. They’re competitors, after all. But why?”

“We’re looking into the Pohang Resort project. Originally, there was someone who had already bid on the site, but GT Construction snatched it away.”

“Re, really?”

“It’s clear that someone helped them… Can you find out whose help they borrowed?”

“Hmm, it won’t be easy…….”

“Jun-woo is also looking for it with his eyes wide open. Please.”

“If the CEO is directly involved, I have no choice. I’ll look into it.”

“Thank you.”

It was the moment she hung up the phone with a thank you.

Detectives in plain clothes rushed into the office.

“We’re from the Pohang Southern Police Station’s Violent Crimes Team. Are you Lee Sang-woo?”

“Ye, yes… What’s going on…….”

“A body presumed to be CEO Joo Se-hoon has been found. We’d like you to come with us for identification.”

“Yes, yes…?”

Chief Lee Ah-young’s eyebrows twitched at those words.

***

In front of the abandoned factory, which we had arrived at before we knew it.

In that desolate place that no one could imagine someone living in, Min Yu-jin said with a nonchalant face.

“Let’s go in.”

“Wait, it could be dangerous, so you stay outside…….”

I tried to stop her, but Min Yu-jin didn’t even listen and headed to the factory without hesitation.

A wide and dark space.

As if it had been stopped a long time ago, there were many machines that had become completely scrap, and a musty smell stung my nose from all over the place.

Bedding and various items placed haphazardly on one side came into view.

It was clearly a trace of someone living there.

And quite a few people.

‘I guessed correctly.’

At that moment when I was muttering like that.

“What? Who are you!”

A man who appeared from somewhere discovered us and shouted.

At the same time, Min Yu-jin took out her ID.

“I’m Detective Min Yu-jin from the Southern Police Station’s Violent Crimes Team 2. I’m investigating the suspect in CEO Joo’s disappearance. Do you happen to know Choi Jong-hyuk?”

“…….”

“…You know him.”

She said with a smile.

“Is Choi Jong-hyuk here now?”

“I don’t know such a person?”

“Let’s not make it difficult and go easy. Do you think it’ll be the end if you don’t talk? How about I arrest you all first?”

“Ha! Do you have a warrant?”

“…….”

Oh, you little…

Are you using invincibility [referring to the legal protection against arrest without a warrant]?

At that moment when I was momentarily hesitant, several of the man’s colleagues appeared from where they had been hiding.

“What did we do to arrest you!”

“Hey, who’s your boss? If you’re from Violent Crimes Team 2, is it Chief Go Bae-soo?”

“Are the police allowed to arrest good citizens like this these days?”

“Leave when we’re saying it nicely. If you don’t want to get hurt.”

Each of them threatened us with the most ferocious expressions they could make.

I slowly looked at the scene and let out a faint sigh.

Looking at it, these guys must be members of the Hunter organization, too. Of course, I can’t arrest them because there are no charges, but…….

‘If I beat them up a little, wouldn’t something come out?’

Even if I beat them up a little, they wouldn’t be able to report it anyway.

Thinking that, I grabbed Min Yu-jin’s shoulder and opened my mouth.

“Step back. I’ll take care of…….”

And at that moment.

Thwack―!

“……?”

The jaw of the man in front of me snapped.

“Anyway, there’s no one who listens when you talk to them.”

Min Yu-jin openly scoffed and loosened her shoulders.

I was so surprised by the sight that my body froze for a moment.

‘Wh, what is…….’

That’s because she’s an E-Rank who is no different from a civilian.

But she knocked down a criminal organization member who used to be a Hunter with one punch with her bare hands?

“Tell me in ten seconds if you don’t want to wear a bib when you eat in the future [implying they’ll be eating soft foods due to injuries].”

“…….”

“…….”

Min Yu-jin’s eyes flashed.

I swallowed my saliva without realizing it.