The Wise Cleaning Life Of A Returning Genius Hunter [EN]: Chapter 337

336. Side Story – Episode 14

When Chief Seo Min-cheol and the Dowon Faction members arrived at Ha Eun-hye’s house, she was already gone.

The room was a complete mess.

Chief Seo Min-cheol was dumbfounded as he searched every nook and cranny, but he couldn’t find Ha Eun-hye.

Just in case, he turned on the computer, but everything had been wiped.

“You son of a bitch!!”

Bang—!!

Chief Seo Min-cheol screamed and kicked an object rolling around on the floor.

‘Damn it…….’

Chief Seo Min-cheol bit his lip.

The more time passed, the more anxious he became.

You can only control a dog when you have its leash.

The moment you let go of the leash, the one who was holding it becomes dangerous.

If this situation becomes known to the Chairman, even he won’t be safe anymore.

So, he had to recover the files as quickly as possible before the Chairman noticed that the leash was loose.

“Find her no matter what before sunrise tomorrow.”

Chief Seo Min-cheol pointed his finger at Kim Bae-soo, the leader of the Dowon Faction’s action team.

“I’ll try, but… if she’s determined to run, it’ll take a little longer.”

“You have your gang members, don’t you! She couldn’t have gone far anyway, so search this area thoroughly!”

“Boss, this isn’t our territory. If we let our guys loose and they get spotted by another organization, it’ll be troublesome.”

“That’s your problem to figure out!! I’m ordering you, so just do as I say without arguing, you son of a bitch!”

Chief Seo Min-cheol raged and screamed.

His eyes seemed to have already lost their reason.

“We have to make sure this incident disappears before it gets to that bastard Woo Seok-ho’s ears. Otherwise… I’ll be the first to die.”

His voice trembled.

His face was consumed with fear and dread.

He was extremely anxious and fidgety, as if being chased by a ghost.

Ring—.

Suddenly, his phone rang in his pocket.

At the same time, Chief Seo Min-cheol’s face stiffened.

“…….”

Soon, his lips began to tremble.

The ringing continued incessantly, and Chief Seo Min-cheol slowly took out his phone from his pocket.

He checked the caller with a sense of disbelief.

「Chairman Woo Seok-ho」

The moment those words appeared on the screen, Chief Seo Min-cheol’s heart sank.

His vision went black, and his mind went blank.

He almost lost his strength and collapsed.

But Seo Min-cheol closed his eyes tightly and tried to calm his breathing.

Then, in a trembling voice, he slowly opened his mouth.

“H-hello.”

「Oh, Seo Min-cheol.」

Chairman Woo Seok-ho’s raspy voice came through the phone.

“…W-what brings you here at this hour?”

Chief Seo Min-cheol tried to pretend he didn’t know.

But.

「You finally caused an accident, didn’t you?」

“……!”

At that one sentence, Chief Seo Min-cheol’s breath caught in his throat.

How did he already know…?

He hadn’t done anything that could have leaked out…….

As his mind raced with such thoughts.

「Why, wondering how I found out?」

Chairman Woo Seok-ho spoke first.

「You son of a bitch. Do you think I would have just left the guy holding a knife to my neck alone?」

“…….”

Chief Seo Min-cheol’s hands trembled.

He was being watched.

Damn it, why didn’t he think of that?

Knowing Chairman Woo Seok-ho’s personality, there was no way he would have left the guy holding his leash alone…….

Only then did Chief Seo Min-cheol realize his mistake and closed his eyes tightly.

「Well, let’s talk about the details in person. Come to my office right now.」

Chairman Woo Seok-ho issued an ultimatum.

Chief Seo Min-cheol, who understood what that meant, attempted a final plea.

“There’s… no need to make things bigger, is there? If you give me a little time, I’ll solve everything.”

「No need. I’ve already asked someone I trust.」

“Yes…?”

「That guy will take care of everything neatly. That rookie from the control team and that bitch who ran away with the file, all of them.」

“T-they’re just rookies. I can find them. If you give me a little time…….”

「Hey, Seo Min-cheol.」

Chairman Woo Seok-ho’s voice, which was already raspy, became even lower.

「The only reason that file could have been your weapon was because you were the only one who had it.」

“…….”

「But now that it’s out of your hands, that weapon will be aimed at your neck.」

Chairman Woo Seok-ho continued in a calm tone.

「So come to me right now. Before I kill you first.」

Soon, the call was unilaterally cut off.

Chief Seo Min-cheol dropped his phone and stared at the ceiling.

‘Shit…….’

He was screwed.

***

“Where are you now! Ms. Ha Eun-hye! Ms. Ha Eun-hye!!”

「…….」

‘Damn it…!’

I was still holding the unresponsive phone in my hand and hurriedly left the headquarters.

After conveying a word asking for help, the voice suddenly cut off.

But the call was still connected, so I could faintly hear the surrounding sounds.

The sound of a large number of vehicles was heard not far away.

Judging from the sound of people, it was definitely near a downtown area.

There aren’t many cases where someone calls for help in such a place.

If necessary, they could find a police station or ask for help from people nearby.

In other words, the fact that she contacted me in such a place meant that both of those options were impossible.

She was either trapped somewhere or being chased.

Above all, the voice of a man I faintly heard a little while ago…….

‘She was being chased…….’

My brow furrowed.

If she was caught by that man, it would become really dangerous from now on.

It wouldn’t be strange if something happened.

But I still couldn’t understand this situation.

From the moment she said she would look for clues, I expected that if she was caught, there would be some kind of pressure.

Even then, I thought she would be labeled as an internal whistleblower and be transferred to a rural area, or at worst, be fired… I never thought it would go this far.

Isn’t that so?

What on earth are they doing to keep just one person in check?

‘Seo Min-cheol, you son of a bitch…….’

After gritting my teeth, I ended the call and dialed Control Team Leader Pyeon Chang-hyeon.

“Team Leader Pyeon. I’m going to send you a number; can you track its location?”

「Yes, yes?」

“It’s urgent. I’m asking for your help.”

「…….」

When I abruptly got to the point, Team Leader Pyeon seemed quite flustered and hesitated to answer.

But only for a moment.

「Is this perhaps related to the dungeon intervention incident?」

He asked an unexpected question.

“Did you know about it, Team Leader?”

「I check all dungeon information and store it on the server. If it was manipulated, there’s no way I wouldn’t know.」

“Then why haven’t you said anything until now…?”

I asked in a dumbfounded tone at his matter-of-fact reply.

「Isn’t that the same for Hunter Kim Jun-woo?」

A reply that felt like a strong blow to the back of the head came back.

「Isn’t that how working life is? Pretend you don’t know even if you do, pretend you know even if you don’t… No matter how I look at it, it’s something the higher-ups are doing, so what can I, a mere team leader, do to get involved?」

“…….”

Exactly the same thought as me.

I didn’t want to get annoyed, I didn’t want to make things bigger, so even I, the person involved, remained silent.

So there’s even less reason for a third party to step in.

「I don’t know what’s going on, but wouldn’t it be better to just let it pass quietly? Just go home and focus on the subjugation [dungeon raid] tomorrow…….」

“A rookie from the investigation team is in danger. Judging from the circumstances, there’s a possibility that she’s being kidnapped… or threatened.”

「Yes?」

That’s right.

No matter how I think about it, there’s no reason for a third party to step in.

But if there’s someone who steps in in this situation, he must be either stupid or an incredibly stubborn fool.

A stubborn fool who prioritizes doing what he has to do before calculating gains and losses.

“She’s only been with the company for three months. She’s not even on the operations team, but she’s putting her neck on the line. And do you know why?”

「…….」

“Because we were silent.”

Team Leader Pyeon hesitated to answer at those words.

After a moment of hearing small groans as if he was contemplating something.

「……I understand.」

He finally opened his mouth.

「I’ll contact you as soon as I locate her.」

“Thank you.”

「Hunter Kim Jun-woo.」

And then, Team Leader Pyeon spoke in a heavy voice.

「It’s 7 hours.」

“…….”

「As you know, no matter how urgent it is, you must participate in this subjugation.」

I swallowed hard.

“I understand.”

I answered calmly and hung up the phone.

At the same time, a sense of self-loathing welled up from deep inside.

After the Regen Dungeon, I indiscriminately subjugated lower-level dungeons and leftover dungeons.

I didn’t have the luxury to consider performance, team situation, or my physical condition.

I was just blindly focused on killing monsters.

That was revenge for the colleagues who lost their lives in the Regen Dungeon, and it was also a punishment for me for not protecting them.

And it was anger at this reality where it was taken for granted that countless hunters fought monsters and died to protect citizens.

The more monsters I killed, the lower the probability that other hunters would lose their lives, a truly foolish and simple calculation.

According to that calculation, the subjugation team members other than me were just there to fill the numbers, and there was no reason for them to participate in the battle with me.

I firmly believed that was my role.

Preventing people from throwing their lives away for the sake of roles and missions.

Assigning a minimum value to the lives of hunters who were taken for granted to be sacrificed.

Just putting everything aside and saving even one less person from dying.

But…….

Because of that ridiculous goal, an innocent rookie was driven to her death.

Then who was that goal for?

Ding—.

As I was immersed in that thought that suddenly came to mind, a text message arrived.

It contained the coordinates where Ha Eun-hye’s phone was last connected, and as soon as I confirmed it, I headed straight there.

The place wasn’t far from the headquarters.

No, it was a place where you could see the headquarters building right after turning just one corner.

A dead-end alley that was that close.

As I stepped into the dark alley where even the streetlights were broken, the first thing I saw was.

“…….”

Ha Eun-hye’s phone, lying alone.

I slowly approached and picked up her phone.

At the same time, I began to vaguely imagine what had happened here.

And then.

‘Seo Min-cheol, you son of a bitch…….’

Crack—.

The phone in my hand shattered, and an unbearable anger engulfed my entire body.