The Wise Cleaning Life Of A Returning Genius Hunter [EN]: Chapter 338

337. Side Story – Episode 15

“Yang Min-ho… are you referring to *him*?”

Seoul Headquarters, Operation Truth Investigation Committee.

Director Seo Min-cheol asked, his voice trembling, as he faced Chairman Woo Seok-ho in his office.

“Yes. He’s unparalleled in that world. A cleaner, or something like that.”

“I am aware of that. However…”

Yang Min-ho.

Who among those who make a living hunting in dungeons in Korea *doesn’t* know him?

The number one hunter in the country and the highest-paid freelancer.

That title alone is enough to describe him, but the real reason he’s famous in the industry is something else.

A fixer for influential figures such as politicians, businessmen, and celebrities.

No one knows exactly how he handles things, but he always delivers clean results without fail, earning him the nickname ‘Cleaner.’

His existence is an open secret, but he is so closely tied to the upper echelons of South Korea that he can’t be touched rashly.

To think they would bring in such a person.

‘Isn’t this going too far…?’

With that thought, Director Seo Min-cheol cautiously spoke.

“Isn’t he too dangerous to just scare some kids? More than anything, we can’t predict what he’ll do, and it could just make things bigger…”

“Scare? When did I say I was just going to scare them?”

“……Pardon?”

Director Seo Min-cheol’s eyebrows shot up.

However, Chairman Woo Seok-ho remained silent, simply staring at him with a blank expression.

Soon, Director Seo Min-cheol realized what that meant and jumped up from his seat.

“W-wait a minute! They’re just rookies. There’s no need to go that far…”

“I have a need to.”

“Even so…”

“Listen, Seo Min-cheol.”

Chairman Woo Seok-ho’s eyes narrowed.

“You know, if you were going to grab my leash, you should have held on tight. You knew what would happen to you if you let go, right?”

“……”

The pressure he exuded was immense.

Director Seo Min-cheol froze, swallowing hard.

As he did, Chairman Woo Seok-ho leaned back in his chair and continued.

“And by the way, the girl who ran off with the file… turns out she’s the daughter of Hunter Ha Ki-shik.”

“…Yes, yes?”

“Employee Ha Eun-hye, I mean. Tsk, I should have looked into her more closely when she joined. I couldn’t pay attention because I was preparing for the election, and this is what happened.”

“……”

“This incident is no coincidence or accident. Ha Ki-shik’s daughter intentionally accessed that file. Just by looking at her, she seems like a girl with her guts hanging out; do you think she’d be scared by threats?”

Director Seo Min-cheol looked bewildered.

He had no idea about this either.

Ha Eun-hye was the daughter of the person involved in that incident? How could he have known?

‘Is this even possible…?’

Soon, Seo Min-cheol’s pupils began to dilate.

The matter had become too big.

He started this to keep Kim Jun-woo in check, but he never imagined it would come to this.

Where did it all go wrong?

From daring to hold Chairman Woo Seok-ho’s weakness over him and trying to make a deal?

Or from openly manipulating the control team’s files?

Or was it already wrong from the moment he fell for that bastard Lee Soo-yong’s words?

‘Damn it…!’

Director Seo Min-cheol gritted his teeth.

He knew best what kind of person Chairman Woo Seok-ho was.

Fifteen years ago, he openly framed someone else for his own brother’s murder.

Besides that, he must have done countless worse things to get to this position.

Dealing with a rookie with no connections would be nothing to him.

Now that he had lost even the leash to control him, there was no way to stop him.

Far from stopping him, his own life was hanging by a thread.

So now was not the time to think about stopping him.

“……I’m sorry.”

He had to find a way to survive.

“I acted without knowing my place. Please… forgive me.”

“Hahaha! Now you say that?”

“……”

Chairman Woo Seok-ho’s sharp gaze pierced him.

But only for a moment.

“Well, don’t worry. I have no intention of killing you. You’re the head of the operations headquarters, after all; there’s no point in touching you.”

“……”

“The problem will be solved once the file is taken care of anyway. Let’s just deal with that girl and pretend nothing happened. You know what I mean, right?”

At Chairman Woo Seok-ho’s words, Seo Min-cheol silently nodded.

At that moment, only one thought came to Director Seo Min-cheol’s mind.

*Thank goodness.*

If it ends with that one rookie… yes, that would be a relief.

As Director Seo Min-cheol breathed a sigh of relief, that moment.

Bang—!

The door to the chairman’s office burst open with a deafening roar.

At the same time.

Thwack—!

Seo Min-cheol’s jaw twisted.

It was over in the blink of an eye.

A stranger suddenly barged in.

He instantly climbed on top of Seo Min-cheol and kept punching him in the face.

And before long.

“You son of a bitches!”

He looked back and forth between the two men and spoke, his face contorted with anger.

The stranger who appeared with the momentum to devour the men in front of him was none other than.

“Where is Ha Eun-hye?”

The ace of Operations Team 1.

It was Hunter Kim Jun-woo.

***

“Where is Ha Eun-hye?”

“……”

At my question, Director Seo Min-cheol simply looked at me and burst out laughing.

I nodded.

Crack—!

His nose broke.

“Yeah, fuck it. Let’s go all the way.”

I raised my fist again.

And then.

“Why don’t you stop there?”

The man next to him intervened.

The chief of the Operation Truth Investigation Committee.

It was Chairman Woo Seok-ho.

“You have quite the temper, just as I’ve heard.”

“……”

I let go of Seo Min-cheol’s collar and approached him.

“Are you the one who messed with Ha Eun-hye?”

“What if I am?”

“Where is she?”

As I clenched my fist tightly, Chairman Woo Seok-ho smiled.

“Why, are you going to kill me if I don’t tell you?”

“If necessary.”

“That won’t happen.”

He slowly shook his head and continued.

“Seriously, is Ha Eun-hye that important to you that you’d throw away the rest of your hunter life?”

“……”

“Or are you expecting to get away with touching me in this industry?”

I closed my mouth.

After a moment, I wiped the blood off my fist and sat down facing Chairman Woo Seok-ho.

“Why are you going this far?”

“Hmm?”

“You’re making too big of a deal out of trying to keep just one hunter in check.”

I spoke seriously.

“If what you want is to be left out of promotions, I’ll accept it. If you want to send me to a local branch, I’ll go without a word. If you’re worried about the file manipulation leaking, I’ll keep my mouth shut.”

“……”

“So please, let Ha Eun-hye go now.”

“Haha, hahahaha!”

Then, Chairman Woo Seok-ho suddenly burst into laughter.

“You don’t understand the situation at all.”

“Pardon?”

“Do you really think I’m going this far because of that one file that Seo Min-cheol manipulated?”

A meaningful answer.

My eyebrows twitched.

“To be honest, you’ve done nothing wrong. If there’s anyone to blame, it’s the guy lying over there. What can someone who’s done nothing wrong do?”

“……”

“Well, I’ll let you off the hook for beating that guy like a dog. You were wronged, so I should at least be fair.”

He continued.

“But don’t get involved any further. If you don’t know anything, just stay out of it. It’s better for your well-being.”

“……”

I nodded without answering.

Then I quietly got up from my seat.

He’s right.

I can’t touch that man here.

Of course, I can’t throw away my hunter life for a rookie I’ve only known for a few days.

But.

“That rookie better be safe until I find her.”

That’s only if he stays in line.

“If anything happens, you better be prepared, Chairman.”

“Hahaha! Can you even find her? I heard you have an important subjugation [monster hunt] scheduled for 8 a.m. tomorrow. There are only six hours left. And you know, reporting it to the police won’t do any good.”

An open provocation.

I ignored it and said.

“I clearly warned you.”

As I turned my back to leave the office.

“But you know….”

He spoke again.

“Why are you so attached to that rookie? I heard she’s the kind of woman who doesn’t care what happens to others. What’s your relationship with her that you’d come all the way here?”

“……”

I hesitated for a moment.

“She’s a coworker.”

With those words, I stepped back into the hallway.

I tried to calm my mind and organize my thoughts.

I broke in to find out Ha Eun-hye’s location, but unfortunately, I didn’t get anything.

But even so, I was able to learn a few things.

First of all, the current situation is not Seo Min-cheol’s doing.

From the looks of it, he didn’t expect it either.

If so, then Chairman Woo Seok-ho must be holding the knife right now.

And there’s something else I don’t know about involved here.

While Ha Eun-hye was investigating my case, she accidentally discovered something that touched Chairman Woo Seok-ho’s reverse scale [a metaphor for something that angers someone greatly].

‘Or… his Achilles’ heel.’

Now that he’s come forward, I can’t handle it alone.

More than anything, the fact that he’s still in the office means that he’s entrusted the work to a third party, not directly involved.

If so, it’s even harder to track.

‘Damn it…….’

I can’t think of a way.

I can’t just look for her without any clues, and as Chairman Woo Seok-ho said, reporting it to the police won’t do any good.

What should I do? At that time.

-By the way, Hunter Kim Jun-woo is great, but… how about trusting your colleagues a little more?

Suddenly, those words that Ha Eun-hye had said flashed through my mind.

I took a deep breath.

I soon picked up my phone.

Because only one person came to mind at this moment, I immediately called him.

“Team Leader Pyeon.”

As soon as the phone connected, I spoke.

「Did you find it?」

“Can I ask you for one more favor?”

「…….」

There was a moment of silence.

「Tell me.」

He said.

“Please check all the CCTV cameras near City Hall from 11 PM to 1 AM.”

「Yes…?」

“I think the rookie has been kidnapped.”

「Sigh…….」

A troubled groan was heard.

“Is it difficult?”

「No. It’s possible… but it’s difficult for *us*. The authority to access the system is in another team.」

“Another team?”

「I mean the support team.」

My eyebrows twitched.

The support team and the operations team don’t get along very well, so asking for something is not very appealing.

「I’ll tell them the story, so can you contact the Hunter Management Office again?」

“……I understand.”

I was a little reluctant, but now is not the time to be picky.

I hung up and waited for a while, then called the number that Team Leader Pyeon sent me.

After a short ringtone, the phone finally connected.

“This is Kim Jun-woo from Operations Team 1.”

「I heard the situation roughly from Team Leader Pyeon. It seems like the investigation team’s rookie has been kidnapped?」

A sharp female voice.

It was Lee Ah-young, the deputy director of the Hunter Management Office.