The Wise Cleaning Life Of A Returning Genius Hunter [EN]: Chapter 317

316

“Crazy……”

The massive hole covering the skies of New York.

The moment the void of darkness itself opened, that was the only word I could utter.

Complete darkness.

A form of nothingness where time and space ceased to exist.

It felt as though it would swallow us whole at any moment.

“W-wait a second……”

“Isn’t that thing moving?”

“It looks like it’s coming down…?”

As everyone was looking up at the sky, the camp suddenly began to stir.

I narrowed my eyes and carefully observed the massive void.

Just as they said, the hole was slowly descending towards the ground.

“Uh, uh…?”

“Wait…!”

“Aaaaaaah!!”

As it got closer, people began to get sucked into the hole one by one.

“Goddammit! Evacuate immediately!!”

“Take shelter in nearby buildings!”

“Move, move, if you don’t want to die!!”

Immediately after witnessing the scene, Kim Min-ju, Department Head Han Yu-bin, and I raised our voices.

Subsequently, the massive force that had covered New York began to retreat simultaneously.

Troops from each country’s association hurriedly boarded the ships again, while the rest entered nearby buildings.

In just a few minutes, the battlefield was completely empty.

Only Wesley, the Secretary-General, the department heads, and I remained.

“You two should go in as well.”

“…What about you, Instructor?”

Kim Min-ju asked as I spoke.

Instead of answering, I looked at Secretary-General Wesley in front of me.

There were no allies or enemies here anymore.

Everyone was struggling to survive in a chaotic mess, but that was just buying time.

In the end, there was only one way to end everything.

“I have to see this through here.”

Kim Min-ju and Han Yu-bin’s expressions hardened.

“Y-you’re not planning to face him alone, are you?”

“We’ll help too!”

“No. I’ll take care of it.”

Although they stepped forward, I spoke firmly.

“Withdraw. That’s an order.”

I said, slowly taking a step forward.

[Unique Skill: Emperor]

[Mind Link Protocol 解除 (Release)]

At the same time, I released the links I had placed on them.

Strategy and command were meaningless now.

“If you blow everything away, control will be gone. That’s not your goal, Secretary-General.”

“I told you. It’s over.”

Secretary-General Wesley smiled.

“Are you sure about this? You’d have a better chance of survival if you ran away with them.”

“……”

I turned around.

I could see people evacuating into ships and buildings.

I shook my head.

“What’s the point of running away now? Unless we fly to the other side of the world, we’re all going to die anyway.”

“Hahaha! So you told your subordinates to evacuate knowing that? You lied.”

“It’s not a lie.”

I said.

“Because I’m going to kill you here.”

Secretary-General Wesley was still smiling.

But only the corners of his lips were raised, and there was no emotion in his eyes or expression.

“It’s a shame. We should have ended it like this from the beginning.”

Secretary-General Wesley shrugged as I spoke.

I knew it too. I knew this would happen, but I had been too busy struggling to go back.

I deliberately ignored it, and I tried to avoid getting involved.

I just thought it was a distant and difficult task, and I was only focused on solving what was in front of me.

If I had faced it head-on from the beginning…….

‘Someone wouldn’t have had to die.’

A bitter smile escaped me without my knowing.

And then.

“To be honest… I didn’t think it would turn out like this. Who would have imagined that a cleaner from the East would be the one standing in my way until the end?”

“Thank you for the compliment, but I’m not the one standing in your way.”

“Hmm…?”

I replied with a smile.

“We are.”

[Unique Skill: Emperor]

[Activation conditions being checked]

[Currently identified allies: 1]

[Currently identified enemies: 1]

[A special confrontation situation has been identified.]

[The effect of the unique skill is transformed.]

Soon, my body began to glow.

[Special Confrontation Situation – Opposition]

[From this moment on, no third party can exert any influence on the confrontation between the two.]

[This effect will last until the confrontation ends.]

Until one of them dies, no one will be able to interfere.

So… from now on, I have to risk my life too.

[Unique Skill: Genesis – Awakening]

[Everything in the Universe (森羅萬象) [Shinra-bansho; lit. all things in nature]]

Kugugugugu―!!

No matter what happens, we have to finish this.

***

At that time, when Kim Jun-woo was confronting Secretary-General Wesley.

“Yu-bin! Get inside quickly!”

Kim Min-ju and Han Yu-bin took refuge in a nearby building as he ordered.

However, Han Yu-bin kept looking back.

“Are you sure we don’t need to help? Even if he’s that guy, facing Wesley alone is……”

“He’s the Instructor.”

Kim Min-ju replied with a firm expression.

“Who else would I trust if I don’t trust the Instructor?”

“……”

Only then did Han Yu-bin nod and enter the building.

There were many WDSO [World Defense Special Operations] troops who had taken refuge there, and they were all watching Kim Jun-woo and Secretary-General Wesley.

“Is that really okay…?”

“He’s all alone like that for us……”

Cha Seok-hyun and Guild Leader Yoo Ji-woo, who were monitoring the situation outside, also spoke with worried voices.

And it wasn’t just them.

“If Team Leader is in danger, I’m going to help him right away.”

“We can’t just leave everything to Team Leader!”

“Me too!”

Everyone in the WDSO there was thinking the same thing.

Kim Min-ju felt a surge of emotions at the sight.

Once, Kim Jun-woo was ignored by others and became the target of internal politics just because he was from the cleaning team.

Even though his abilities and skills were no different back then.

Nevertheless, Kim Jun-woo had risen to this point on his own.

As a result, now the WDSO… no, everyone in the world truly believed in him and followed him.

At this moment, no one cared that he was from the cleaning team.

‘You’ve worked hard. Really…….’

An organization that had been a mess just a few years ago.

Kim Min-ju felt deep admiration for the unbelievable change in the organization.

But it didn’t last long.

「Min-ju! Are you listening?!」

A desperate radio transmission came from Department Head Lee Ah-young, who was in the temporary operations control room set up on the Hanbyul Trading ship.

“Yes, yes. I’m listening.”

「About that hole. According to the temporary analysis, it’s the same dimension as a dungeon.」

“What do you mean…?”

「If you get sucked in there, you won’t even find the body.」

“……”

Kim Min-ju swallowed hard.

Then, Lee Ah-young continued to speak again.

「The problem is that the ether it emits is hundreds of times more powerful than the ether emitted from dungeons. Even though it’s currently about 15km vertically above the ground, its power far exceeds the Red-level value!」

“Then……”

「As far as we can tell, it’s getting closer to the ground at a rate of 1km per minute. And if it gets closer than 5km above the ground…….」

Lee Ah-young swallowed hard once.

「Everything within a minimum radius of 500km to a maximum of 1,500km will disappear.」

“……”

“……”

Kim Min-ju and Han Yu-bin’s faces hardened rapidly at her report.

However, Kim Min-ju tried to keep her composure and asked again.

“Getting closer at 1km per minute… does that mean we only have 10 minutes left?”

「Yes. If you don’t get out of that radius within those 10 minutes, the entire eastern United States will disappear from the map.」

Damn it, Kim Min-ju gritted her teeth.

There was no way to get out of that radius in 10 minutes.

In this case, there was no point in hiding here.

Kim Min-ju turned her head and looked at the WDSO troops.

Not only in this building, but also in other places, hundreds of thousands of people were hiding.

「What should we do……?」

At that time, Lee Ah-young asked in an almost panicked voice.

Kim Min-ju bit her lip once.

“…What do you mean, what should we do? We have to hope that the Instructor finishes it in 10 minutes.”

That’s how she answered.

And then.

“Isn’t 10 minutes enough…?”

Someone approached Kim Min-ju and opened her mouth.

As if asking what she meant, she frowned and turned her head.

“There’s a Dimensional Stone Gate, right?”

It was none other than Director Chloe.

At her words, Kim Min-ju, Han Yu-bin, and Lee Ah-young, who was on the radio, widened their eyes at the same time.

“T-that’s right! If we use the Dimensional Stone Gate, we can evacuate everyone in 10 minutes!”

“Ah, I didn’t think of that.”

「Chloe, can you do it?」

When Lee Ah-young asked, Chloe nodded.

“Well, it’s not difficult because all I have to do is adjust the gate exit……”

But then, she looked out the door with a troubled expression and continued to speak.

“The problem is that the exit is right in the middle of the battlefield.”

“W-well, there’s still time, so if we go and adjust it now…!”

“That’s a bit ambiguous.”

Chloe replied firmly to Kim Min-ju’s words.

“It’ll take at least 5 minutes to operate, and even if it does, we have to maintain the ether of the Dimensional Stone as stable as possible to open the gate……”

“……”

“But well… the ground is shaking like this, so I don’t know if it’ll be stable. If you ride the gate even a little unstable, it’ll be no different from being sucked into that hole.”

“……”

“……”

The department heads closed their mouths at Chloe’s words.

But only for a moment.

“I’ll give it a try.”

Kim Min-ju raised her head as if she had made a decision.

Then, Chloe opened her mouth as if telling her not to do anything reckless.

“What, what are you going to do? As I said, it takes 5 minutes just to operate, and if you think about stabilizing it, it’ll take even longer? In the meantime, you might get sucked into the hole first.”

“Then that’s what happens. But we can’t just do nothing.”

Kim Min-ju said firmly.

At the same time, she scanned the WDSO troops once again and continued to speak.

“The lives of over a million people are at stake.”

“……”

“……”

A silence fell.

At that moment, someone let out a burst of laughter.

“You can’t help being a good person.”

“Yu-bin…?”

It was none other than Han Yu-bin, the Head of Planning.

“I’ll go with you too. Well, two people are better than one.”

Then, she approached Kim Min-ju.

Chloe, who was watching the scene, sighed and opened her mouth.

“I’ll tell you in advance… I joined WDSO to live. I’m not going to gamble my life, so don’t ask me to go with you.”

“Don’t worry.”

“In the first place, there’s no next move if you die.”

Kim Min-ju and Han Yu-bin replied with a smile.

「Then…….」

And the radio transmission that came.

「Please.」

Kim Min-ju and Han Yu-bin nodded instead of answering to the choked voice.

Of course, Lee Ah-young couldn’t see it.

Soon, the two stood in front of the building door and took a deep breath.

Immediately after, the two looked at each other without saying a word.

Squeak―.

They opened the door and went outside.