The Wise Cleaning Life Of A Returning Genius Hunter [EN]: Chapter 228

227

“W-What’s going on? What is it?!”

At the emergency exit on the first floor of the shopping mall.

No Sang-gu, who had rushed out of the restroom with Kim Jun-woo, was hiding there with his girlfriend.

His girlfriend kept asking what was happening, but No Sang-gu had no idea either.

An earthquake?

Should they run outside, then?

No… wasn’t it said that going outside could be more dangerous?

No Sang-gu was utterly confused.

Even as he floundered, unsure of what to do, the building shook more and more violently.

“Ah, Oppa! Do something!”

“What do you want me to do!”

“Are we just going to stay here, then?!”

“Staying here is the safest!!”

Their voices began to rise.

And then, the wall of the emergency exit cracked loudly and split open.

The cracks spread little by little, reaching the ceiling, and it felt like it would collapse at any moment with the vibrations.

The two men and women were stuck in such a place, unable to do anything.

Damn it, what the hell is going on?

Is it dangerous?

Surely they weren’t going to die like this.

‘Damn it, just my luck…….’

No Sang-gu gnashed his teeth.

And then.

“Here! There are people here!”

The emergency exit door opened, and a middle-aged woman’s voice was heard.

“Are you okay? Come out quickly!”

“……”

“……”

The two men and women stared blankly at the woman.

The one who came to rescue them was none other than the cleaning lady they had argued with a little while ago.

“W-What! Why is it you, lady?! Where’s 119 [emergency services number in Korea]!!”

“There’s no time for that! You have to get out now, so hurry up and come out!”

“How can we trust you! It’s safer to stay here…!”

It was that moment.

Kugugugung―!

The ceiling couldn’t withstand the cracks and collapsed with a loud roar.

[Unique Skill: High Panic Berserker]

Bang―!!

Then, the woman who had argued with them earlier jumped out and blocked the debris with her whole body.

“……”

“……”

A red aura swirling around her entire body.

A murderous glint in her eyes.

The men and women involuntarily swallowed hard at her goblin-like appearance.

“Get out now. If you don’t want to die.”

“Y-Yes……”

No Sang-gu involuntarily answered and came out as she warned with her red eyes flashing.

They were guided by the two women and immediately began to evacuate.

Even while evacuating, No Sang-gu had a dumbfounded expression.

Not because the building was shaking and the ceiling was collapsing… but simply because the woman he had argued with was a Hunter [a person with special abilities].

Soon after, when they got out of the building, there were already many people evacuated there.

“A dungeon appeared?”

“Didn’t you hear the broadcast earlier?”

“Crazy… how can a dungeon appear in a building? Did the strike team deploy?”

“Karma Corporation executives were there, I heard?”

“Executives?”

“The head of the operations headquarters, and the planning and support headquarters were all there. CEO Kim Jun-woo too.”

“Those people were all here?”

“Wow, lucky.”

“I know……”

The sound of people talking as if they were watching a fire across the river [an idiom meaning they were unconcerned about the disaster].

No Sang-gu listened to the story and couldn’t help but be shocked.

Because… the heads of Karma Corporation were the best combat power in Korea.

The fact that such people were all gathered here meant…….

‘Then that woman is a Karma executive…?’

No Sang-gu glanced at Han Yu-bin.

Damn it, who did he pick a fight with?

He was belatedly regretting it when.

‘Wait. Does that mean the man who followed me to the bathroom…….’

CEO Kim Jun-woo?

No Sang-gu belatedly realized who they were and bit his lip.

Damn it, if you get on Karma’s bad side, you’ll never be able to live a normal life again…….

Should he apologize now?

No, when he thought about it, they were the ones who started the fight first.

No matter how he looked at it, he didn’t do anything wrong.

Yeah, let’s be confident and stand tall.

His girlfriend was watching, so he couldn’t lose face and bow his head.

As he was making up his mind, someone appeared.

“H-He’s coming out!”

A man covered in blood and emitting a black aura and a woman with an indifferent expression sheathing her sword appeared outside the building.

Like a demon king and a warrior.

An overwhelming presence.

“……”

No Sang-gu, who faced that sight, decided to just apologize.

***

“T-Thank you.”

“I owe you my life!”

As soon as they finished the subjugation and went outside the building, the citizens poured out their gratitude.

‘I told them to evacuate, but they were just watching here.’

The situation wasn’t very pleasant, but it wasn’t anything new, so he accepted the greetings in a perfunctory manner.

Then, he saw a familiar man’s face among the people.

For some reason, he looked quite anxious, and he was the man who had argued with Han Yu-bin a little while ago.

He seemed to have something to say to me.

I smiled slightly as I watched him fidgeting nervously.

It seemed like he finally realized who we were.

‘Well… if I push him now, he’ll somehow apologize…….’

There were many eyes watching, so I had to use a more gentlemanly method.

With that thought in mind, I turned to the cleaning lady.

Then, I bowed politely to her.

“Thank you for your help.”

“Ah, no. I didn’t do anything……”

“No. Thanks to the lady’s help, risking the danger, everyone was safe.”

With those words, I glanced at the man.

This was a performance.

A performance to let him know what he had to do now.

The CEO of Karma Corporation gave all the credit to the cleaning lady, so could he, who knew my identity, just stand still?

“Th-That, about earlier……”

And as expected, the man approached me and opened his mouth.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know you were CEO Kim Jun-woo……”

“What are you talking about?!”

I narrowed my eyes at the story that was somehow very out of focus.

“Are you saying you wouldn’t have apologized if I wasn’t the CEO?”

“……”

“And, I think there’s someone else you should apologize to.”

The man’s gaze lost its way and wavered.

As I continued to stare at him, the man eventually turned to the cleaning lady.

“……”

Then, he bowed deeply without saying a word.

Whether it was his last bit of pride, or whether he thought he was too ashamed to apologize now.

Well, that was something.

As I watched the scene for a while, a large tattoo engraved on his arm caught my eye.

“Well, that’s that, what organization do you belong to?”

“……Yes?”

“Aren’t you living an organized life? Who’s your boss?”

“Th-That, now I’m under Deok-su hyungnim [term for older brother or respected male figure]……”

Deok-su.

Deok-su, huh…….

As I rummaged through my head, the name suddenly came to mind from the depths of my memory.

‘Hong Deok-su…?’

Should I call this fate?

I opened my mouth with a smile.

“Your boss will be very disappointed if he knows what happened today.”

“D-Do you know my boss…?”

“To some extent.”

Well, he was someone I had a relationship with before the regression.

I pondered the old memories for a moment.

Then, before long, I nodded.

Yeah.

I think that guy would be good.

“Let’s meet your boss.”

“Yes, yes…?”

“Didn’t you hear me? Let’s meet Hong Deok-su right now.”

“Ah, that’s……”

The man scratched his head and carefully continued.

“If you want to meet my boss, you’ll have to wait about 15 years……”

……What?

What the hell are you talking about all of a sudden…….

***

A day had passed since the vacation that didn’t feel like a vacation ended.

As soon as I returned to work, I took Director Lee Ah-young and headed straight to Ansan.

Soon after arriving at the place.

“…Why did you come here?”

Director Lee Ah-young asked with a dumbfounded expression.

“Didn’t I tell you? I’m going to form a new team. I’m here to recruit team members.”

“B-But why come to a place like this? This is……”

Soon, Director Lee Ah-young’s gaze turned to the wide building in front of her.

“It’s a prison……”

“It’s not just any prison.”

I shrugged and continued.

“It’s a special isolation facility for ability users.”

“……I’m more anxious.”

Director Lee Ah-young squinted and looked at me.

A special isolation facility for ability users.

Also known as Ansan Prison.

Ability-related crimes that have been steadily occurring since ability users emerged.

Because they can commit crimes much more easily and on a larger scale than other violent crimes, the punishment for them is also very severe.

But no matter how much they isolate the criminals, they have the power to escape whenever they want.

So there are a few special rules here.

First, all inmates imprisoned here can never see sunlight.

Second, meals are unconditionally limited to one per day.

Finally, only one cup of water is given every six hours.

The reason for these extreme rules was to reduce the stamina of the ability users to the maximum and prevent them from using their skills.

However, despite these efforts, riots occasionally occur, so all prison guards are also composed of ability users. They are the only ability users affiliated with the government.

Anyway, there was a reason for visiting this place.

“Honestly, I was a little surprised by the Hunter organization created by Assemblyman Jeong-hun… They were less likely to get caught with a dotted organization, and they were not noticeable to people. But they were also sure to get the job done.”

“Don’t tell me you……”

“Yes.”

Director Lee Ah-young trailed off with a surprised expression.

Instead of answering, I smiled.

“I’m thinking of following suit.”

“……”

Director Lee Ah-young’s expression hardened.

“The illegal Hunter organization has been noisy for days, and now you’re going to create such guys again…?”

“Don’t worry too much. I’m not going to imitate it clumsily. Well, I’ve talked about it here and there… and I’ve got the President’s permission.”

“Th-The President gave permission?!”

“Of course, this story is a secret outside.”

“Of course! If you say the wrong thing, you can’t handle it!”

“Anyway, I’ve told the warden here, so you don’t have to worry too much.”

I reassured her and stepped into the building.

Soon, a middle-aged man in uniform greeted us.

“Welcome. I’ve been waiting. I’m Warden Cheon Jae-yun.”

“Nice to meet you. I’m Kim Jun-woo.”

“This way, please.”

He finished the simple greetings and immediately led us to his office.

“So……”

Warden Cheon sat down and immediately got to the point.

“I’ve heard the story roughly. You’re going to form a new team with ability users who have criminal records.”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“May I ask why?”

“Hmm, this is a fact that only a very few executives on our side and the President know……”

I paused for a moment and continued.

“We are currently at war with the International Association.”

“……Yes?”

“Of course, it’s not a war through force… If I had to say it, I’d say we’re using any means to devour each other.”

Warden Cheon didn’t know how to react, perhaps because it was an unexpected story.

“Anyway, we are preparing to fight against the International Association. I have information that some people in Korea have joined hands with the International Association.”

“Wh-Who is it…?”

“Representative Jeong-hun, for example.”

“……!”

Warden Cheon’s eyes widened.

Well, the news only said that he was running an illegal Hunter organization, but the details were not reported, so it’s understandable that he’s surprised.

“I don’t know how many more there are besides him. The problem is… we have no idea where or how they will try to devour us.”

“So, you’re trying to find them?”

“And also entrust them with things that can’t be done officially.”

I smiled and continued to explain.

“Since they are moving secretly, we can’t investigate in the open either. But it’s a waste of manpower to make decent Hunters do such things, so we have no choice but to find them here.”

“I see. Well… I was just asking out of personal curiosity. Since the President’s instructions have been given, there’s no choice anyway.”

Warden Cheon took out the prepared documents as if he had answered.

“I’ve narrowed it down to model prisoners. I’ve excluded those with violent crime records.”

“Hmm.”

I skimmed through the documents.

Excluding violent crimes, most of them were caught for trivial things.

Fraud, theft, etc.

Most of them were unremarkable guys, but there were a few who stood out.

I quickly weeded them out and handed the profiles back to the warden.

“I’ll take the guys here.”

“……I understand. I’ll get them ready.”

Warden Cheon answered as he accepted the documents, but he still had a sullen expression.

“By the way…… are you planning to run the new team yourself, CEO? As you know, it’s not easy to control ability users……”

“Well, I was going to take it on myself, but the President strongly opposed it……. Well, I’ve found a suitable person for now.”

“Oh, who is it?”

“Hong Deok-su.”

“……!”

The warden’s eyebrows twitched greatly at the name.

“I think that person is here too…… Since we’ve come this far, can I see his face?”

“Th… I think you don’t know him well… He’s a terrible guy. Even the employees here hate him. I don’t know how much trouble it took to isolate him……”

“Well, shouldn’t it be that way for the guys below to listen?”

I didn’t take the warden’s words seriously.

I know better than anyone what kind of guy he is in the first place.

That’s why I chose him.

“Well, don’t worry too much.”

I smiled and continued.

“I’ll educate him well.”