The Wise Cleaning Life Of A Returning Genius Hunter [EN]: Chapter 77

076

Inside the plane heading to Vietnam.

“Haaah…”

I was sitting in business class, yawning repeatedly.

Assistant Manager Shin Suji had urged me to finish this week’s work before leaving, so I stayed up all night yesterday, making me extremely sleepy.

Moreover, I had been reading the same documents over and over since takeoff, and my eyes were getting increasingly tired.

However, I couldn’t stop reviewing the documents.

I needed to find additional points to propose on top of the insufficient budget and prepare countermeasures before arriving at the site.

Of course, there was no way to stop the yawns that kept coming out.

“Haaah…”

“Ugh, if you’re that tired, just sleep! It’s really annoying, seriously!”

Han Yubin, who was in the seat in front of me, turned around and grumbled.

It seemed like it had been bothering him for a while.

“I don’t have time for that. It’s not like negotiations will work out on their own just because I show up.”

“What’s going to come out of just staring at those documents? Looking at them, there doesn’t seem to be any important information anyway.”

“Is the information going to tell me it’s important? You have to look to see something. If I don’t do this with such a ridiculously small budget, we’ll have to go back empty-handed.”

“…Tch.”

Han Yubin turned his head, seemingly speechless.

Kim Minju, who was watching this, asked in a calm voice.

“So, did you find anything?”

“Well, there’s nothing that stands out. I need something that can provide key assistance with a small investment… but there’s nothing that satisfies both. Everything is either too large in scale or not essential.”

I answered without taking my eyes off the documents.

“Why make it so difficult? Shouldn’t we just support the operations team? I heard there aren’t many Hunters there.”

Han Yubin couldn’t resist butting in again.

“That’s a bit difficult.”

“Why?”

“The Vietnamese Association doesn’t have a support team.”

Han Yubin made a small ‘ah’ sound.

“It seems like the conditions aren’t right to create a team that needs to be plastered with cutting-edge equipment and research facilities. Well, every country has its own circumstances.”

“Hmm… Well, if there’s no support team, it’s a bit difficult to support the operations team recklessly. But sending a support team would be overkill.”

“……”

Instead of answering, I stared at Han Yubin with a surprised expression.

“Why, why are you looking at me like that?”

“No, it just makes me realize you were actually an operations team leader.”

“Ha…”

Han Yubin looked dumbfounded.

Kim Minju, who was watching the scene, chuckled.

“Anyway, the infrastructure is more lacking than I thought. I have a few things in mind… but there’s a limit to what I can confirm with documents. Let’s find out the rest when we arrive.”

They both nodded at the same time.

Several hours passed, and the plane landed at the airport.

Noi Bai Airport, located in Hanoi, Vietnam.

As soon as I finished immigration and came out, the humid air immediately enveloped my whole body.

A man was waving at us in front of the bustling arrival hall, mixed with touts and tourists.

“Are you from the Korean Association?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Nice to meet you. I’m Huin from the Vietnam Association’s control team.”

It was awkward, but his Korean pronunciation was quite accurate. He seemed to be the local association employee who was supposed to pick us up.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Kim Junwoo from the Korean Association’s Seoul headquarters. You speak Korean very well.”

“Haha. Thank you. I taught myself.”

The man who introduced himself as Huin scratched his head with an embarrassed expression.

However, it seemed a bit difficult to have a smooth conversation, so when I asked if it was okay to speak in English, he readily switched languages.

After a brief handshake, he led us to his car.

“It’s a bit of a distance to the headquarters. You must be tired from the trip, so take a nap. I’ll wake you up when we arrive.”

“It’s okay. I’ll look at the scenery along the way.”

“Haha, okay.”

Huin started the engine with a hearty laugh.

We entered Hanoi city.

The first thing that caught my eye as we entered the city center was the debris of collapsed buildings everywhere.

Of course, it seemed like restoration work was in progress, but it didn’t seem to be going well. It got even worse after we left the city.

It was as if there had been a war; there wasn’t a single place that was intact. There were even entire villages that had been completely devastated.

Unlike the city, it seemed like no attempt had been made to restore these places, leaving the collapsed debris as it was.

“Haha. That’s why I recommended sleeping.”

Huin laughed awkwardly.

I refrained from answering.

I understood his feelings quite well.

After all, it wasn’t exactly a sight to show guests who came to do business from abroad.

“May I ask what happened?”

“Well, as you can guess.”

Huin smiled bitterly.

“50 years ago, on the day the first ‘Cailo’ opened.”

“Cailo?”

“Hole. In Vietnam, they used to call dungeons that way.”

50 years ago.

The day the comet ‘Sinia’ collided with Earth and dimensions began to open.

Of course, in those days when the whole world was in chaos, the concepts of abilities and dimensions were not yet established.

Now it’s unified as the word ‘dungeon,’ but back then… even in Korea, people called it whatever they wanted.

Hole, tunnel, mouth, etc.

Compared to those, ‘hole’ was a pretty honest word.

“We were late in our initial response back then.”

Huin continued.

“Were there no ability users?”

“Nope. There were ability users, but we couldn’t find the dungeons in time. Three-quarters of Vietnam’s total area is mountains.”

“I understand. Korea had similar conditions, so we had a lot of trouble building a subjugation infrastructure in the early days.”

“But Korea isn’t that large, and the information industry is quite developed, right?”

“……”

That was certainly true.

Despite having similar conditions to Vietnam, the reason we were able to build infrastructure relatively quickly was largely due to those two advantages.

How quickly can the location of a dungeon’s appearance be identified, and how quickly can we move to that location?

These two factors are the criteria for judging how well the subjugation infrastructure is built, and the Korean Association was fortunate enough to establish these two early on.

If what Huan is saying now is true, it means that the Vietnamese Association was not able to do so.

“In the end, many monsters escaped the dungeons, and the result is this.”

“……I see.”

“But it’s not much different now. We haven’t even recovered from the damage we suffered 50 years ago, but dungeons continue to appear.”

Huin’s voice became quite serious.

“If a dungeon appears in the mountains where the road is completely cut off, we have to wait until the road is repaired, and then monsters escape in the meantime, causing damage. Then we’re late for the next subjugation. It’s a vicious cycle.”

This was the reason why the development of the operation infrastructure was slow even after 50 years.

This was terrible news for me, who was trying to support the parts needed for the association’s development instead of the insufficient budget.

In this situation, no matter what I support, it will be more expensive than it’s worth.

‘This is more troublesome than I thought.’

I swept my hair back with a troubled expression.

“We lack operation infrastructure, we lack the number of Hunters. We don’t have a support team that everyone else has. And the salary isn’t high either. It’s a real pain in the ass.”

Huin chuckles.

“Wouldn’t it be better to sell it to the International Association?”

“……”

Huin’s face, which had been smiling, hardened slightly.

“Well… there are circumstances.”

“You should have at least requested support.”

“About a year ago…”

Suddenly, he cut me off with a firm voice, took a breath, and continued.

“A red-grade dungeon appeared in Phuong Mountain. At that time, 36 Hunters belonging to the operations team were trapped in the boss room, and we couldn’t carry out a rescue operation with our capabilities.”

“Ah!”

I reacted without realizing it.

Realizing my mistake, I quickly closed my mouth.

“At that time, we requested support from the International Association and the surrounding major associations.”

Huin smiled at me.

“Of course, the Korean Association too.”

“……”

I tried to manage my expression as if I didn’t know.

But I knew about it.

Even though it was before my regression, I knew about it.

At that time, the association president suggested that I dispatch a rescue operation, but I refused outright.

The reason was that our operations were busy… but the real reason was different.

There was nothing to gain.

Besides, I thought the International Association would step in even if we didn’t.

This time, maybe Seo Mincheol or Team Leader Lee Sooyong refused. They probably thought the same way as me.

But they, and I, were missing one thing.

“They all died. Not a single association helped.”

That the other associations had the same idea as us.

Looking at it coldly, that’s the way it is, but if it’s in front of the victim, I can’t help but feel uncomfortable.

“But I’m happy now. A customer has appeared who wants to acquire our association!”

“……”

I tried to avoid his gaze because he was speaking with such sparkling eyes. It was like sitting on pins and needles.

‘Damn it, I should have just slept…’

Tsk, I clicked my tongue once.

I turned my gaze to the outside of the car as if to avoid it.

***

“Wake up, friends. We’re here!”

I suddenly came to my senses at the voice waking us up. I must have fallen asleep without realizing it.

I was so tired that I felt like I had been unconscious for hours.

“Haaah…”

I yawned loudly and opened the car door, only to find that it was already dark.

I stretched and looked around with drowsy eyes.

Darkness where I couldn’t see an inch ahead. The only thing that caught my eye was the dense trees around me.

“As expected of the tropics, the forest is lush…”

Wait a minute.

Forest?

I suddenly woke up.

I narrowed my eyes and slowly looked around again. Still, the only thing I could see around me were lush trees.

There was no sign of a building that looked like headquarters.

“Mr. Huin? Didn’t you say we arrived? No matter how I look at it, this is just a mountain…”

“We’ve arrived.”

“Huh?”

Just as I was wondering what he meant, I heard rustling sounds from all directions.

“……Sir.”

Kim Minju stuck close to me.

We fixed our gazes on the dark forest and remained tense.

The rustling sounds gradually grew louder.

I felt a presence right in front of me.

What appeared was none other than dozens of armed groups.

Kim Minju opened her mouth with a faint sigh.

“This is probably…”

“Tch, damn it.”

My brow furrowed automatically.

I was genuinely annoyed.

“Looks like we’ve been backstabbed properly.”

This is going to be a pain in the ass, really.