The Wise Cleaning Life Of A Returning Genius Hunter [EN]: Chapter 325

324. Side Story – Episode 2

“Kim Jun-woo?”

The Korea Ability Dimension Management Association, Seoul Headquarters.

Situation Room.

When Team Leader Lee Soo-yong, who had come to visit, suddenly mentioned him, Chief Seo Min-cheol opened his mouth with a puzzled expression.

“Of course, I know him. He’s the ace of your team. Or… should I say the ace of the Seoul Headquarters?”

“Well… he is an ace. Team 1’s performance is all thanks to him.”

“But, why him all of a sudden?”

Chief Seo Min-cheol scribbled on a document and asked casually.

He had never met Kim Jun-woo in person, so all he knew about him was the information on paper.

Age, education, rank – official information that anyone could know.

Of course, even if he didn’t know him well, his impression of him wasn’t bad.

Kim Jun-woo.

A rising star who had been in the spotlight since he joined the company with the title of the youngest Hunter in Korea.

In just five years, he achieved the fourth A-rank in Korea, and as the team’s one and only ace, he has been breaking the highest performance records every month.

That alone was enough to prove his skills.

As the head of the operations department, there was no reason for him not to like him.

Therefore, he was quite puzzled that Team Leader Lee Soo-yong suddenly brought up Kim Jun-woo.

“Lately… he seems to be getting a bit too arrogant.”

“…….”

When Team Leader Lee Soo-yong said that quite seriously, Chief Seo Min-cheol burst out laughing.

“I was wondering what it was. Hey, just let him be a little arrogant. He’s an ace. If you treat him like those other losers and he goes somewhere else, you’ll be the only one who loses out.”

“Chief!”

“And how many times have you come to me complaining that your subordinates are getting too big for their boots? Someone ignored you, disobeyed your orders, didn’t attend the company dinner…. Just take care of that kind of thing yourself. Don’t come to me.”

Chief Seo Min-cheol brushed him off, and Team Leader Lee Soo-yong spoke again in a heavy voice.

“Kim Jun-woo… is beyond that.”

Unlike usual, he looked quite serious.

Chief Seo Min-cheol also seemed to sense something was wrong, and this time he showed a serious attitude.

“What do you mean, beyond that?”

“Lately, he’s been participating in subjugations almost every day. Three times a day, and only blue grade or higher [Blue grade dungeons are considered moderately dangerous].”

“Why? If he has the ability to do that, he can do it. It’s not really a problem. We’re happy to see our performance go up.”

“If you only look at it that way, there’s no problem. However, the operation plans he’s participating in are a bit strange.”

“What…?”

Chief Seo Min-cheol’s eyebrows twitched.

In principle, the team leader should write all dungeon operation plans himself.

However, Kim Jun-woo was recognized for his skills and was granted the authority to plan his own operations.

It may seem like an easy task that anyone can do, but operation planning is actually the most important part of the operation stage.

A job to minimize mistakes during subjugation.

Even the smallest flaw can lead to an accident during subjugation.

If there’s something strange about it, it’s a pretty serious matter…….

“How should I put it, it seems too focused on himself.”

“…….”

“It’s like the team members are just there to fill the numbers to get permission to subjugate, and he’s going to do all the actual subjugation himself.”

Chief Seo Min-cheol looked deflated at Team Leader Lee Soo-yong’s answer.

“If a good guy is going to operate with a good guy in mind, why is that a problem…?”

“The timing is strange. He’s been doing only those kinds of plans ever since…….”

“Ever since when?”

“…….”

Team Leader Lee Soo-yong bit his lip as if he didn’t want to say it.

But only for a moment.

“The Regen Dungeon… after that.”

He managed to get it out of his mouth.

At the same time, Chief Seo Min-cheol looked at him with pitiful eyes.

The Seoul Regen Dungeon incident.

A day of shame and humiliation that Team Leader Lee Soo-yong didn’t even want to think about.

He was frightened by the constantly emerging monsters and handed over command to Kim Jun-woo just six hours after the start of the operation.

He heard that he immediately locked himself in the temporary control room and called his family.

The unprecedented incident in Seoul resulted in many casualties and enormous damage.

Of course, it wasn’t Team Leader Lee Soo-yong’s fault.

However, the problem was that Kim Jun-woo, who took over the command, eventually stopped the Regen Dungeon.

Even though he was an ace, he was only a B-rank Hunter with five years of experience at the time.

While that guy was blocking hundreds of monsters on the scene for five days, the elite team leader handed over command to his subordinate and ran away from the scene.

This fact must be an indelible humiliation for Team Leader Lee Soo-yong.

He probably started to crack down on his team members even more after that day.

That was the only way he could hide his inferiority complex and sense of inadequacy.

‘You idiot…….’

Chief Seo Min-cheol felt sorry for him for abandoning his role as the operations team leader and running away, but he had no intention of holding him accountable.

The moment he held him accountable, he would be proving that he was incompetent. And that arrow would soon return to himself, who had put him in the position of Team 1 leader.

Chief Seo Min-cheol didn’t drag the story out any longer and moved on to the main point.

“So, you’re saying that he’s been making extreme operation plans since the Regen Dungeon incident? And he’s suddenly been increasing his participation in subjugations?”

“…Yes.”

At first glance, that didn’t seem to be a problem either.

However, Chief Seo Min-cheol definitely felt something strange this time.

As he said, the damage that day was truly enormous.

The unprecedented incident almost destroyed not only the association but also the entire city of Seoul.

After that shocking incident, many hunters left the association in addition to the dead hunters. They were afraid to go into dungeons anymore and submitted their resignations one after another.

As a result, the Seoul headquarters is currently suffering from a general shortage of personnel.

They are asking for help from local operations teams and private guilds, but even so, the performance of all teams is currently at an all-time low.

“In that situation, he’s suddenly increasing his subjugation volume with a focus on his own performance…….”

Chief Seo Min-cheol crossed his arms and continued.

“Surely he’s not taking on all the work for the sake of the remaining team members…….”

“There’s no way.”

“Then what…….”

Chief Seo Min-cheol’s eyes flashed for a moment.

“He’s ambitious.”

“…I think so too.”

Eventually, the two men came to the same conclusion.

If he stands out with outstanding performance when all the teams are at the bottom, he will naturally catch the eye of the higher-ups.

Above all, Kim Jun-woo has been in the spotlight since he registered as a Hunter.

‘I heard that he’s scheduled for an S-rank review soon…….’

His stock will probably rise even more.

Of course, the board of directors knows that.

The best ace in the headquarters, who has proven his skills and name value, is monopolizing the performance?

In this case, the guy who will be in danger right away is…….

“You’re in big trouble, Soo-yong.”

There’s only one.

“Ch, Chief…!”

Team Leader Lee Soo-yong stood up in a panic when Chief Seo Min-cheol spoke with a playful expression.

However, Seo Min-cheol also knew that this was not a situation to laugh about.

“Sit down, you idiot. I don’t like the idea of him pushing you out either.”

“…….”

“Above all, it’s not good to see a young guy like him already thinking about becoming a team leader.”

Team Leader Lee Soo-yong calmed down after hearing that.

Well, Kim Jun-woo is definitely a valuable asset to the operations team. So, his ambition can be seen as cute until now, but…….

A good subordinate is only cute when he is a subordinate.

But if he tries to stand shoulder to shoulder with me, he will only be subject to checks from then on.

“Your performance is my performance. If you get pushed out, my evaluation will naturally drop as much. So, you have to be the Team 1 leader until I get on the board of directors. You know that, right?”

“Of course.”

“If a guy with no pedigree comes up with good skills, neither you nor I will be able to live in the association like we do now.”

“…….”

Team Leader Lee Soo-yong nodded heavily at the unexpectedly serious reaction.

Chief Seo Min-cheol crossed his arms again and leaned back in his chair.

“Let’s see, then…….”

He muttered softly, shifting his gaze out the window.

“What should we do?”

***

“Hey, get out of the way in the front.”

A blue-grade building-type dungeon located in Cheongdam-dong.

An old and dilapidated mansion.

Thirty minutes had already passed since the operation began, and he shouted at the team members who were walking ahead.

“Ye, yes…?”

“Get out of the way because you’re in the way. I’ll go to the front.”

“Th, the leader is supposed to scout in the front…….”

“That’s only at the beginning. We’re already halfway through, what kind of scouting are you talking about? Get out of here and go to the back.”

“…….”

The team member at the front quietly retreated to the back of the formation.

The expression on his face was quite displeased, but… what could he do?

Due to the nature of building-type dungeons, there are many rooms that are not easily visible.

Besides, from the middle onwards, you never know when and where monsters will pop out…….

Kaaaaaa―!

It was then.

“Mo, monsters appearing in the rear!”

Sure enough, monsters appeared from behind.

Two of them.

Creatures in the form of giant rats.

“Get out of the way. I said get out of the way!”

He immediately crossed the formation and headed to the rear, and at that moment.

[Unique Skill: Thousand-Hand Guanyin [A skill that allows the user to attack with multiple weapons simultaneously, resembling the Buddhist deity Guanyin]].

There was someone who stepped forward before me.

Swish, swish―.

It was none other than Kim Min-joo.

Swish, rustle―!

Thud―!

“…….”

I stopped in my tracks and watched her fight.

They were just blue-grade small fries, so it wasn’t too difficult to deal with them, but…….

‘That bitch’s shoulders…….’

I felt a sense of incongruity in her movements for a moment.

While I was narrowing my eyes and observing her for a while, the situation was quickly resolved.

“Two creatures appeared, all dealt with.”

“…….”

Instead of answering, I slowly approached her.

And then, I opened my mouth with a sharp voice.

“What are you doing!”

“……Ye, yes?”

She looked quite flustered.

“I told you to do the mapping. Who told you to interfere in the battle without permission? This is a violation of orders. Do you understand?”

“…….”

“Just do what you’re told. Don’t show off with skills you don’t even have.”

I turned my back without even hearing an answer.

“Moving out.”

I continued to move forward at the front again for a while.

At the end of the hallway on the 3rd floor, I found a door that was tightly locked.

I checked the ability wave detector on my wrist.

‘Here it is…….’

I immediately picked up the walkie-talkie and contacted the control team.

“Boss room found. We will enter as soon as we are ready.”

When I reported that, I received an incomprehensible answer from the control team.

「The estimated subjugation time is 1 hour, can you move it up a bit?」

“…Why?”

I frowned and asked, and the control team staff member opened his mouth with difficulty.

「The cleaning team is waiting outside the dungeon right now. But if they don’t start working within 30 minutes due to other jobs, they won’t be able to meet the schedule…….」

“Ha.”

I couldn’t help but let out a hollow laugh at the absurd answer.

“We’re the ones in the operation right now. We’re the ones who are in the dungeon, and we’re the ones who will lose our heads if we make a mistake.”

「…….」

“But, are we supposed to worry about the cleaning team’s schedule?”

No answer came from the walkie-talkie.

Of course.

They also know how ridiculous it is to ask us to adjust the operation time to accommodate another team.

“We’re the ones who do the subjugation, and we’re the ones who set the subjugation time. So, tell the cleaning team and everyone else to wait quietly.”

「…Understood.」

With those words, I turned around and looked at my team members.

“As I said during the briefing, the boss is Crazy Rat. It’s not very dangerous, but it’s a very fast monster. If you’re all clustered together and get attacked, you’ll all die together, so spread out as much as possible as soon as you go in.”

“Ye, yes.”

“You, provide support fire from the rear, you, just heal… you, keep moving around so that the monster doesn’t target them.”

“Understood.”

“And Kim Min-joo.”

While assigning roles, I looked at her for the last time.

“You don’t do anything.”

I gave that order.

“…Yes?”

“Just stay in the back. And don’t show off like you did earlier.”

“…….”

At my words, she lowered her head with an expression that I couldn’t tell whether she was angry or dejected.

Of course, I didn’t care what emotions she felt.

“If you understand, get ready. We’re going in.”

I threw open the huge door.

And at that moment.

‘What…?’

My face stiffened at the scene in front of me.