Against the Clock: The Team Leader’s Pursuit of Glory

“Uah, screw being considerate to others!”

“I know, right? You just can’t keep it in, right? Aaaaaaah~ Oppa!”

The moment Kim Nari cheered almost as if she was screaming, suddenly a thought crossed Go Eul-ji’s mind.

‘The person hiding there doesn’t seem like he’s allies with the group on the lower floor. If I secretly mess around with him a little bit, the other group will probably handle him, right? After all, they must be in a pinch too. And then, I can admire my dear BTA all I want. Okay.’

Go Eul-ji didn’t have to watch Mr. Cho. She was keeping a watch on him regardless. She could sense and mess around with anything and everything in the space she occupied.

She used her powers secretly without letting anyone catch on. The power she released was so miniscule that even Mr. Cho couldn’t detect it.

Zoooom!

Go Eul-ji controlled her mana as it traveled through space. The screw holding the backstage display stand that Mr. Cho was standing on, came loose. It titled slightly and everything on top of it came tumbling down.

Mister Cho hurriedly stretched out his hand, but he couldn’t hold back his voice.

“Who was it?!”

“Daare (who was that)?!”

Kim Myung-jun and Ryushin shouted out together.

The bodyguards of Igo Clan rushed out of the shadows, surrounding the source of the noise.

But Mister Cho had left that place already.

Igo Clan Hunters sent a message about the presence of an intruder through their skill after coming across the traces of the dust being swept due to someone’s presence.

“I think he’s gone. Do you think it was the Slayer Guild?”

Kim Myung-jun shook his head at Ryushin’s question.

“I know the Slayer Guild keeps watch over the Japanese hunter scene, but there’s no way they can act this quickly. At best, they might figure out that someone has entered South Korea.”

“The clan members, and even I couldn’t detect this person. This person has got to be extremely skilled. Where else would someone that talented be from if not the Slayer Guild?!”

Those words were clearly of someone looking down on the Korean Hunter scene.

Kim Myung-jun didn’t think of Ryushin as overconfident. After all, he and his clan members were just that talented. But he got the feeling that Ryushin underestimated the Korean Hunters.

The words they commonly used often appeared in Japanese news too, like “Fallen Peninsula’s Hunter Scene”. That was enough evidence of how much they looked down upon the Korean Hunter Scene.

“There are some seriously talented Hunters in Korea outside of the Slayer Guild too.”

“It seems my words offended you. I meant that they hid despite someone as skillful as you being right here. It seems I unintentionally looked down on you.”

“That’s not what this is about. I’m just saying there are actually amazing, talented Hunters here.”

“Makes sense. Ju Se-ah’s here too after all. But of course, she was formerly a member of the Slayer Guild.” \\

Ryushin forcefully mentioned Ju Se-ah in the middle of the conversation, but Kim Myung-jun started thinking of Kang Mu-hyuk.

‘He’s not even a Hunter. Why did I think of him first?’

Kim Myung-jun had already labeled Kang Mu-hyuk as more dangerous than Ju Se-ah.

He figured Ju Se-ah could raise the level of an individual or an organization at best, but Kang Mu-hyuk was capable of revolutionizing the entire Hunter World.

In that sense, the Japanese Hunter Association could be unintentionally targeting a vital point of the Korean Hunter World.

Though, of course, there was no reason to tell Ryushin that. Kim Myung-jin was kind of a twisted person. He wasn’t so nice to help even with bad feelings involved.

‘Also, if Kang Mu-hyuk’s gone, that won’t benefit me much. Iron Wall has a lot of enemies. They’ll be crushed before they can grow if there’s only Ju Se-ah on their side. If that happens, I’m going to lose my life trying to be on the lookout for Ju Se-ah. What a hassle. Ju Se-ah needs to grow within limits, for me to do the same.’

He was at the forefront of the forces aiming to kill Ju Se-ah, yet at the same time, it was such an irony that both their destinies were tied to each other.

It suddenly struck Kim Myung-jun. That this crisis was just a veiled opportunity. He thought the success or failure of this operation had nothing to do with him and that rather, there was a higher chance of it hurting him.

But by changing his way of thinking, he could use the situation to his advantage.

‘I need Kang Mu-hyuk first. Unlike the members of Slayer and the Japanese Hunters, at least that guy listens to others. Should I reach out to him?’

Oblivious of Kim Myung-jun’s wicked thoughts, Ryushin decided to leave the scene for now.

“We can’t be at a place that has already been breached any longer. Let’s end our meeting today now.”

“How should I get in touch with you?”

“About that, I’ll get in touch with you.”

Kim Kyung-jun could sense that he didn’t completely trust him.

It wasn’t plain discrimination. Rather he was intrinsically a distrusting guy.

‘I guess there’s no trust on both sides.’

So it was better to carve out a way for himself in advance.

‘Necronomicon...’

Aila’s explanation kept going.

The number of cases like ‘Amazon Goblin Matron’ and ‘Necromancer of Sader’ were way more than Kang Mu-hyuk had thought. Since this was internationally known, there were instances of information manipulation and even cases without any no record at all.

The World Hunter Federation concluded that all of this had a connection to a “mysterious being.”

“This isn’t just about its connection to summoning. Though the phenomena involved were different, in several instances, the end result was annihilation of those involved. But this case had a different outcome compared to prior cases.”

“You’re referring to our guildmaster and I making it out alive, right?”

“Yes. You two are not just valuable as witnesses. I think you could even find a clue about these mysterious phenomena and beings. Do you have a lead that could be of help? It doesn’t have to be something huge.”

Kang Mu-hyuk fell into deep thought.

‘Something out of the ordinary? I saw that ominous black mana during the summoning ritual of the Goblin Matron. The other Hunters didn’t see it. And the explanation for this difference in us is probably....’

Mana Poisoning.

That was the most reasonable factor he could think of that could have caused this.

‘Revealing the issue of mana poisoning isn’t an important matter. It is a ticking time bomb that I haven’t taken care of yet. But it isn’t going to explode right away. However, this very disease will reveal my weakness. I need a mechanism to protect myself.’

Seeing Kang Mu-hyuk racking his brains gave Aila anxiety. She could see something was definitely the matter. But she didn’t say a word, and waited patiently. Her experience taught her that forcing him to speak up would only ruin things. Humans tend to be doubtful if you approach them too openly, so she was especially careful.

Kang Mu-hyuk’s eyes that were looking into the distance just happened to find their focus at that moment. He spoke as he looked to his side.

“Before I tell you, I’d like to request you to keep this a secret, Chairman Han Byung-gu.”

“I can’t say much for my other qualities, but I’m known for being tight-lipped. Don’t worry. You can proceed.”

“A person’s tongue is the last thing you can trust in this world. I can’t believe a promise made with empty words.”

“You want me to draft a contract or what?”

“You’re not the one who needs to make the contract.”

“What?”

Kang Mu-hyuk turned his gaze once again and glanced at Aila.

“Miss Aila, you must make me a promise.”

“Me?”

Aila pointed her finger at herself with her eyes widened.

Standing next to them, Raven went into a fit of rage. He grabbed Kang Mu-hyuk by the collar.

“Oi! Don’t you know who you\'re in front of? What the hell kinda prank is this?!”

“Who the hell are you to step forward as you wish?”

Raven flinched on belatedly, seeing Ju Se-ah’s hand on top of his.

‘When did she grab me?’

All she did was slightly grab his shoulder, yet he couldn’t budge.

She was exuding a murderous aura enough to paralyze his whole body. He soon regretted doing this.

Aila figured Ju Se-ah had already reached S-rank but didn’t know how to fully draw out her powers yet. So she thought of her as no different than an A+ranker.

‘Despite having the same ranks, there’s such a huge gap between them?’

But it wasn’t Raven who’d back out from the scuffle. Now that it had come to this, he tried lifting Kang Mu-hyuk by the collar even if he had to force his way through.

As his stance changed, his veins began to bulge out. His muscles got thicker, and the mana he exuded changed in nature. All of this took the form of muscular strength.

Ju Se-ah didn’t see it directly like Kang Mu-hyuk, but she sensed this change.

“You’re using some pretty odd power. But who do you think you’re trying to show off to, huh?”

Thud!

“!!”

As soon as Ju Se-ah exerted strength with her teeth clenched, Raven’s hand left Mu-hyuk’s collar and he fell to his knees. Ten times the force of gravity seemed to be pressing down on his shoulder.

The ground caved in where his knee hit down.

‘I lost in terms of strength?’

Raven bit his lips trying to squeeze out any strength he had in him.

“Stop it!”

“But, Alex...!”

“You should be ashamed, Raven. Miss Aila was quiet about it. How could you just jump at him as you wished? Or you should’ve at least won. You can’t even assess your opponent’s capabilities. Look at yourself!”

Raven lowered his head at Alex’s reproach of his actions.

Once the matter seemed to have worked out, Ju Se-ah also let go and stepped back.

“Get up now, Raven. Kang Mu-hyuk wasn’t discourteous towards me. If he’s going so far to say that, this must be a matter of difficulty for him. This request is simply a fitting price to pay for his burden.”

Aila helped Raven up, and glanced at Kang Mu-hyuk. After all that sudden commotion, Kang Mu-hyuk was simply looking at himself.

‘I can’t believe how composed his gaze is. You’d think he belongs to our race after seeing those eyes.’

Was that why he seemed trustworthy?

Aila spoke up.

“Kang Mu-hyuk, what promise do you want me to make?”

“I want you to guarantee you’ll keep this a secret. The matter I’m about to speak of could become my weakness.”

“So that promise applies to Han Byung-gu too.”

“I mean, he’s dying to take me out. I’m just saying this because he’s surely going to use this to drag me down.”

“You brat! Do I look that petty to you? I wouldn’t be so selfish when there’s the threat of a Gate!”

“You said you’d kill me over a call when I scouted Go Eul-j!?”

“That was.... It was a matter of my little grandchild. No grandpa would just let it slide. Aila. It’s not that. Why are you looking at me that way? You think I’d actually kill him?”

“I don’t know. From what I remember, you once said you’d kill a Hunter and you did...”

“That guy was a villain!”

Kang Mu-hyuk pointed to han Byung-gu in all his rage, and said to Aila, “Did you see? In addition to promising confidentiality, I want you to guarantee my safety too.”

“Um.... It certainly seems that’s the case.”

“Aila.... Why are you acting like you get it?”

Aila paid no attention to Han Byung-gu’s sulky words.

“So how do you want me to make the promise? After all, you said you don’t trust a person’s word.”

“Of course, by writing up a contract.”

“You’re not just asking me for silence, right? To be honest, I can’t pay you back with much. Except for teaching you magic. But of course, humans can’t seem to learn it, maybe because they’re so used to skills.”

“The Federation will take care of the price. What do you think, Mister Wilkinson?”

Alex sighed seeing Aila who had a bothered look on her face.

“I can only do so much within my authority. How much do you want?”

“First categorize my secret as Federation’s special intel. That way, even those in charge of the Hunter Federation won’t easily tell someone.”

“Hmph! Just because the Federation compels silence doesn’t mean that’ll stop them completely.”

“So are you saying you’ll leak it? Do I have to doubt the autonomy of the Chairman of the Association that represents the Korean Hunter World now?”

“That’s... Ehem. Ehem! All you got is that yappity mouth.”

Ju Se-ah snickered seeing Han Byung-gu get worse every time he opened his mouth.

Han Byung-gu tried shooting daggers at the Guildmaster and the leader with his eyes, but couldn’t even squeak in response to Kang Mu-hyuk’s statement.

Kang Mu-hyuk took that as a sign of his acceptance to the situation.

“And the second guarantee I want is for my safety as you just said.”

“Guarantee of your safety?”

“Not sure if you know, but our guild recently completed a war-rank mission. The raid was beyond the guild’s capacity, so we took a lot of damage. On top of that, we have the Rider Wolf.”

“So you’re saying someone’s after the treasure.”

Alex instantly understood what Kang Mu-hyuk meant.

“Within South Korea, supply contracts set up a minimum safety mechanism set when it comes to Tier Guild supply contracts. But it’s failing to resolve the expected interference from nearby nations. If our Guild Leader becomes an S-ranker as Miss Aila checked, we’re worried it won’t simply be them trying to suppress us, but also proactively attacking us.”

“There’s certainly a group that doesn’t see the Korean Hunter World in a positive light. So? I’ll say this in advance. We can’t directly dispatch troops. China and Japan are active supporters of our Federation. We can’t offend them.”

“There’s no need to dispatch troops. You just need to make a statement of support.”

“Statement of support? Just so you know about this too, the Federation is currently refraining from commenting on specific guilds in public.”

“You don\'t have to make a statement by saying it out loud.”

“If not out loud, then...?”

“I want the Federation’s support in breeding Rider Wolf.”

“Support?”

“I know the Federation has influence over the US political world. The US political circles are drawing a lot of funds from the guilds. Asian guilds aren’t the only ones who want Rider Wolf. We want to learn the know-how of the Auto Ranch that the US is developing. I want the Federation to arrange that.”

“!!”

“Strange people?”

The intelligence team’s report made Sung Seon-jae’s nerves stand on end. That was because the intel came from Japan.

Manager Lee Kang-san, in-charge of Japanese intelligence, scratched his head, and spoke as he looked at the document.

“None of their movements made us think “this is it!”. But what was suspicious was that some Japanese warehouse issued equipment landed in the Incheon Airport. That means there’s someone who’s going to use that equipment, right?”

Sung Seon-jae thought the same.

‘The alliance has some secret organizations, so they can’t chase people. That’s the limit. So they monitored the movement of equipment. I can’t believe we caught this. Aren’t they looking down on us too much?’

He suddenly became suspicious. Wasn\'t this way too easy?

“Aren’t they being too negligent by blatantly using airplanes?”

“But they didn’t try to trick or hide it.”

“Why do you say that?”

“They came in a diplomatic bag.”

“Jeez, the Japanese are basically pushing this intel in front of our faces. I softened up a few Japanese ambassadors just in case. I can’t believe they actually did this...”

Sung Seon-jae asked Lee Kang-san in a cool and calm manner.

“What should we do?”

“Where are they delivering it to?”

“We’re in the middle of finding that out.”

“They came in secretly. So they can’t be upright people. Since they’re hiding, they won’t just come out openly. These guys look down on Korea, so they wouldn’t come as tourists. High chance they chose someone from within the country to get here. Try digging into the Yakuza businesses connected to the Alliance. We’ll find something.”

“Yes, sir.”

Lee Kang-san made a note in his diary and asked with caution.

“Shouldn’t we make preparations too?”

“What preparations do you mean?”

“Like asking for cooperation from other Tier Guilds by letting them know about this...”

Sung Seon-jae smiled bitterly at Lee Kang-san’s suggestion.

“I would’ve done that already if that was possible. Everyone is busy just trying to survive. At least we ought to have our act together.”