The Wise Cleaning Life Of A Returning Genius Hunter [EN]: Chapter 56

055

No one anticipated his appearance, leaving all the executives in the seminar room speechless.

“Those voices are still the same as ever.”

Chairman Park In-beom’s voice was low and gravelly.

He looked around the room, then shifted his gaze to Director Lee Doo-shik.

“Long time no see, Lee Doo-shik. Have you lost some weight?”

“…Yes. Thanks to you.”

Chairman Park In-beom let out a short, mocking laugh.

Unlike him, however, Director Lee Doo-shik had to struggle to manage his expression.

Even he hadn’t expected the Chairman to come in person.

He’d been promised a knife [betrayal or opportunity for advancement], but he never thought they’d actually bring in the Chairman.

‘Kim Jun-woo, that bastard… He denied being on the line when it suited him…….’

The corners of Lee Doo-shik’s mouth quirked up.

“It’s become quite a mess while I was away, hasn’t it?”

Soon, Chairman Park In-beom limped onto the platform.

“I picked up those miserable bastards, fed them, and gave them a place to sleep, and now they try to act like the owners as soon as I leave the house empty.”

“…….”

“…….”

Everyone was silent with stiff expressions when Director Song Cheol-shik raised his voice.

“This isn’t something to be taken emotionally, Chairman. We were simply following the regulations!”

Chairman Park In-beom raised his cane and pointed at him.

“Regulations, my ass. Isn’t the procedure to notify the person being dismissed and then put the matter to a vote? Do you think I wouldn’t know that?”

“Don’t be unreasonable! No one has known where you’ve been for over three years, and we can’t contact you, so how can we notify you!”

“No one knew…?”

“Yes!”

Song Cheol-shik answered confidently, but Chairman Park In-beom looked amused.

“Then how did that cleaning guy find me?”

“……Cleaning guy?”

“Cl-Cleaning guy, you say?”

Everyone looked bewildered at Park In-beom’s words.

They all looked like they didn’t know what he was talking about.

Among them, Seo Min-cheol alone had a serious expression.

Having heard the phrase ‘that cleaning guy’ hundreds of times in the last four months, Seo Min-cheol immediately knew who he meant.

‘Could it be……!’

Seo Min-cheol bit his nails.

Even after Lee Soo-yong dug up Kim Jun-woo’s information, he investigated a few more times, just in case.

The results were still the same; he couldn’t find any connection to the Chairman.

But how could someone with no connection find the Chairman, whom even the executives didn’t know how to reach?

Seo Min-cheol began to feel extremely uneasy.

“Wait a minute.”

At that moment, Director Lee Doo-shik raised his hand.

“So, are you saying that even though there was a way to contact the Chairman, you raised the agenda without notifying him of his dismissal?”

“It… it seems so.”

Chairman Jang Dae-hyun’s expression began to grow complicated.

“No, why does that matter now! The voting results are already in! It’s a done deal, so let’s quickly pass it and move on to the next one!”

Song Cheol-shik shouted urgently.

Chairman Jang Dae-hyun glanced at Chairman Park In-beom.

Of course, from the moment the vote count was completed, the Chairman was as good as dismissed. So, there was no reason not to push through with the resolution.

However, if it was true that they had ignored the notification process despite having a way to contact him, the agenda could be withdrawn regardless of the voting results.

Of course, that decision was entirely up to Chairman Jang Dae-hyun.

But one choice could bring unpredictable consequences, so Chairman Jang Dae-hyun couldn’t easily make a decision.

It wasn’t just Jang Dae-hyun who couldn’t make a decision.

Several other executives were also rapidly shifting their eyes, wondering what action to take in this situation.

The Chairman’s perfectly timed appearance meant that someone in the headquarters was in league with him.

That also meant that he knew what had been happening in the association until now.

Perhaps he had joined hands with that person and deliberately watched silently until now.

To identify his enemies and the association’s enemies.

‘I shouldn’t have listened to that bastard Song Cheol-shik.’

That thought flashed through the minds of all the executives.

A subtle tension began to flow through the seminar room.

Now they had to choose.

Whether to push forward or change course now.

“Ha, haha. It seems there was a mistake in the agenda process. We didn’t even know.”

At that moment, one of the executives moved first.

“That’s right. Ah, how can you handle work like this? I thought you had notified him, of course.”

“If I knew this, I wouldn’t have voted in favor!”

“It’s an agenda that violates the regulations. Let’s just pretend it never happened, shall we?”

Following him, several people hurriedly changed their tune.

“Wait a minute! Are you saying we should withdraw a formal agenda just because the notification process was omitted?”

“We also tried our best to make contact! Don’t you remember that a dedicated team was created half a year ago?”

“That’s right! We did everything we could!”

“Chairman! Proceed anyway!”

But the opposing side was not to be outdone.

Chairman Jang Dae-hyun had a headache.

As he hesitated to make a choice while fiddling with the gavel, Director Song Cheol-shik opened his mouth again.

“Chairman, if you have any conscience, you shouldn’t do this! After disappearing for over three years, you’re only coming back now that a dismissal proposal has been put forward!”

Everyone, whether they were for or against it, inwardly agreed with those words.

The seminar room, which had been filled with sparks, fell silent.

To hear Chairman Park In-beom’s answer.

“You don’t need to know why I went into hiding or why I’m back.”

But he had no intention of giving them the answer they wanted.

“Jang Dae-hyun, so what are you going to do?”

“…….”

The Chairman asked the Chairman as if testing him.

Few people could maintain their momentum in the face of the charisma that came from his years of experience.

“I will… withdraw the agenda.”

Clang, clang, clang—

The sound of the gavel echoed.

A smile spread across Chairman Park In-beom’s face.

“Good. Now that I’ve officially returned, can I say something? I don’t need much, you just need to know one thing.”

The Chairman scanned the executives.

“From now on, I don’t need any parasites in my association who only waste money without caring about the team.”

At that one word, everyone’s face turned pale.

“Therefore, I am planning to create a planning division as of today and promote a major internal reorganization. And as for the person in charge…….”

Soon, Chairman Park In-beom’s gaze landed on one person.

“How about it, Lee Doo-shik? Can you do it?”

“You always leave things like that to me.”

“You know, you’re definitely retiring now that I’m back. You have to do something like this to stay in the association!”

Director Lee Doo-shik smiled.

At that moment, every executive in the seminar room sensed it.

The knife had reached their chins [they were in danger of being cut].

***

Around the time the board meeting was in full swing.

Cleaning Team 3, including me, finished our morning work and went to the headquarters cafeteria for lunch.

But a staff member blocked us in front of the cafeteria entrance. Then he said something quite absurd.

“…What did you just say?”

“You’re not allowed to use the cafeteria.”

I frowned at the incomprehensible situation.

Moon So-yeon and Han Sang-hyuk, who were next to me, also looked quite embarrassed.

“Why suddenly…?”

“The policy came from above.”

“From where above?”

“Would you know if I told you?”

The staff member seemed too bothered to even answer.

It seemed that the fact that I had no connections had already spread.

Well, I expected it, but…….

It feels terrible.

“Let’s go, Jun-woo. We can eat outside.”

“Yeah. Honestly, the cafeteria food was terrible anyway.”

As I glared at the staff member, Moon So-yeon and Han Sang-hyuk pulled me away.

Since I couldn’t cause trouble until the board meeting was over anyway, I gave up and turned around. At that moment.

“Hey, you can’t do that when you’re all working together.”

Team Leader Lee Soo-yong appeared from inside the cafeteria.

“It’s okay. Come on in. There’s nowhere to eat outside at this hour anyway.”

Then he gestured to us.

“……Yeah, well.”

It was an act of kindness I couldn’t understand, but… I entered the cafeteria without any particular response, and Moon So-yeon and Han Sang-hyuk followed with reluctant expressions.

The cafeteria was almost full during lunchtime. Of course, there were no cleaning teams among them. I could feel subtle gazes.

I took a tray and sat across from Lee Soo-yong.

“So, what exactly was the announcement from above?”

“It’s just as you heard. The cleaning team is no longer allowed to use the cafeteria.”

“Why is that?”

“Some complaints came from other teams. They said it smells and is dirty. Well… honestly, it’s a bit much since you’re handling monster corpses all day.”

What the hell is that nonsense?

Don’t Hunters handle monsters?

“And from now on, we’ll be in charge of Operation Team 2’s operations.”

“…Why?”

“Why else? The proxy planning was caught. The team leader will probably be replaced too.”

“As far as I know, Kim Min-joo wrote the plan herself. Isn’t it okay to get advice?”

“Why are you complaining to me about that? Complain to the audit team.”

Lee Soo-yong raised his chopsticks and pointed at me, continuing to speak.

“But you… shouldn’t just be worrying about Kim Min-joo. The same goes for the others. The cleaning team is also scheduled for a staff reduction. Well, to put it bluntly, you won’t see anything good while you’re still in the association.”

“…So?”

“So, why don’t you just quit now?”

Soon, Lee Soo-yong smirked and continued.

“Isn’t it enough that a guy with no connections has been doing whatever he wants until now?”

“Hey! What is that supposed to mean……!”

“Hey.”

As Moon So-yeon jumped up from her seat, Lee Soo-yong glared at her with a serious expression.

“Who are you glaring at right now? Did you think I was an idiot because I’ve been nice to you for the past few days?”

At the same time, the gazes of all the Hunters in the cafeteria turned to them.

“Try saying one more word. I’ll make sure you can’t work in this industry for the rest of your life.”

“…….”

Moon So-yeon froze.

In the end, she couldn’t say anything more and averted her eyes, and Lee Soo-yong smirked.

“A cleaner should just clean.”

Lee Soo-yong pushed his tray, and the food spilled onto the floor, splattering everywhere.

“In that sense, clean this up…….”

“What the hell is going on here?”

At that moment, a grating metallic voice echoed.

At the same time, Lee Soo-yong’s face instantly hardened.

With a look of disbelief, Lee Soo-yong slowly turned his head, and an old man in a neat suit was standing there.

“Ch, Chair…….”

Lee Soo-yong’s voice began to tremble like an aspen.

Meanwhile, Chairman Park In-beom, as if he wasn’t interested, passed him and approached me.

Instead of the shabby clothes he had worn a few days ago, he was dressed in a neat suit.

“I see you arrived on time.”

“Well, thanks to you. I just stopped by after the general meeting and had some time left over.”

“You must be tired from coming all the way to Seoul. You should have just gone in and rested. You’re not in good health.”

“I just wanted to see your face since I came all the way here. But… I think it was a good thing I came. Thanks to you, I got to see such a ridiculous sight.”

The Chairman’s gaze flew to Lee Soo-yong.

Then Lee Soo-yong opened his mouth with an incomprehensible expression.

“Oh, the dismissal proposal should have passed today, right? You’re no longer the Chairman, so don’t interfere unnecessarily!”

“Your news is late. Well, that’s why you’re doing things that even these little kids wouldn’t do.”

“Someone who has nothing to do with the association, where did you……!”

Slap—.

The back of the Chairman’s hand brushed Lee Soo-yong’s cheek.

I was so surprised by what happened in the blink of an eye that I covered my mouth.

“Hey, Lee Soo-yong.”

The Chairman’s eyes flashed.

“Who are you glaring at right now?”

“…….”

Lee Soo-yong hurriedly averted his eyes.

Chairman Park In-beom tapped his cheek and continued.

“From now on, just shut your mouth and stay out of sight. If you want to stay in the association.”

“…….”

Leaving the defeated Lee Soo-yong behind, the Chairman turned to me.

“I’ve certainly been away for a long time. No matter how I look at it, you’re not the kind of person to be treated like this.”

“You flatter me.”

“If something like this happens again, come find me anytime. There are plenty of Hunters, and it won’t be a problem if I cut a few [remove some].”

As his gaze turned to the surroundings, everyone lowered their eyes.

There was no one in this place who could confidently meet the Chairman’s eyes.

“Well, I’ve seen your face, so I’ll be going now. Let’s have lunch together sometime later.”

“I understand. Please go in.”

“That’s strange… I feel strangely familiar.”

Chairman Park In-beom smiled and tilted his head.

“Oh, you should wipe up what you spilled on the floor before you leave.”

As Chairman Park In-beom left, the cafeteria was enveloped in silence.

All the Hunters there, including Lee Soo-yong, seemed to have stopped thinking, but it was obvious what they were thinking.

They must have belatedly realized that the core of the association had changed.