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

"Why the straight face? You're the one who always creates all the fun on your own."

Kang Mu-hyuk glared at Hyun Junggeon again. Faced with his fierce gaze, Hyun Junggeon wiped the amused smile off his face.

Ignoring Hyun Junggeon's demeanor, Kang Mu-hyuk continued.

"Just because there's a beach hold doesn't mean you can enter the Korean Peninsula as you please. There are other countries to consider, and it's even harder to make an overt attempt to take control."

"Right. Even though they're not as powerful as they used to be, Korean Hunters still have a lot of experience. They won't go down easily. Plus, with the UN resolutions, it's tough for Hunters to dominate foreign markets."

"So, what's happening in the Demonic Realm must be a preparation to use the beach hold. A situation where we know Sinuiju is falling but can't stop it. Or a situation where they can't pay attention to it."

"You could consider them as completely separate incidents too."

"Is it really unrelated?"

"It's just a possibility. In reality, it smells too fishy. Even without evidence, it's too obvious a story. It's enough to raise suspicion."

"Is that why you called me? Because you don't want to see an obvious story play out? To ruin it?"

"No matter how much I think about it, there's no one better at screwing over monsters or Hunters than you, Guild Leader. I'm not a patriot, but I can't stand seeing Chinese people causing a ruckus in my house."

At that moment--

"I knew it. You were pretending to be oblivious, but you knew everything. Mr. Hyun."

A man speaking in Chinese was standing across the street.

Kang Mu-hyuk could feel the hostility radiating from him. He tapped the tie pin with the translation skill he received from the alliance. Instantly, the Chinese words started making sense.

"It's been hard to see you because you've been hiding in the 'Prison Village.' Now that you've come out, I'm at a loss. Mr. Hyun."

"Haha... Zhang Zhongxun. A big shot suddenly appeared?"

From their conversation, Kang Mu-hyuk confirmed two things.

First, the Prison Village.

According to the information sent by No Song-rin, the Prison Village was a slum. It was named that because it was centered around the former Sinuiju Prison.

The reason this place was notable in Sinuiju was that most of the residents in the slum were either descendants of former North Korean Hunters or newly awakened Hunters following in their footsteps. They were a formidable force that stood their ground even with Chinese Hunters taking control.

'Here I was wondering how Hyun Junggeon was safe all this time after bothering the Chinese Guilds. So he was in the Prison Village.'

The next noteworthy point was the Chinese man in front of him, Zhang Zhongxun.

'The expedition leader of 'Falling Blossoms,' a foreign guild based in Sinuiju. According to No Song-rin's information, he's an A-ranker. He's definitely a big shot in Sinuiju.'

Even though 'Falling Blossoms' was known as a guild based in Sinuiju, his presence here meant that Hyun Junggeon was indeed working for one of the Chinese guilds he mentioned.

Kang Mu-hyuk realized the gravity of the situation just by the fact that a Hunter of Zhang Zhongxun's status had moved personally to deal with Hyun Junggeon.

"Mr. Hyun, unnecessary curiosity shortens your life..."

"Yes, yes, I know, I know. Even with my limited Chinese, I get it. Knowing too much will get me killed, right? Why are all villains so damn yappy?"

"Ha? Villain?"

Zhang Zhongxun snorted disdainfully.

"If I'm a villain, does that make you a hero? To me, Mr. Hyun, you're just an extra. A speck of dust that will disappear today. I came here personally to clean up someone as insignificant as you. You should be grateful."

"That's a long-ass ramble for someone whose main point is I'll kill you."

Zhang Zhongxun approached. He drew a from his back. The rising moonlight shone over the cold blade. Hyun Junggeon's reflection was visible on the blade. He sneered at Zhang Zhongxun.

"Even dust can be a nuisance if you stir it up. Did you think I'd just go down easily?"

Suddenly, he drew a gun from his coat. It wasn't a pistol but a submachine gun. Although small enough to fit in his hand, it was unmistakably a submachine gun.

"Where did you get a gun...!"

Tat-tat-tat-tat!

As Hyun Junggeon gleefully pulled the trigger, Kang Mu-hyuk ducked and moved towards a vehicle.

Zhang Zhongxun didn't even try to avoid the barrage of bullets. The gray armor coat he wore provided strong physical protection, but even without it, his resistance as an A-rank Hunter rendered the bullets useless.

"A futile struggle."

With an exasperated sigh, Zhang Zhongxun quickly closed the distance between them. His sword slashed at Hyun Junggeon's neck.

"Keok!"

The sword cut through empty air. What he sliced was Hyun Junggeon's afterimage.

Beneath the blade, Hyun Junggeon had barely ducked his head and was smirking. His extended arm touched Zhang Zhongxun. With his palm open, he precisely twisted Zhang Zhongxun's vulnerable side.

"Did you think I was a civilian just because I used a gun?"

Zhang Zhongxun realized he had been deceived.

'There was no information anywhere that this guy was a Hunter...'

The price for his mistake was a rib. Hearing the sound of his bone breaking, Zhang Zhongxun gritted his teeth and swung his sword again.

But Hyun Junggeon was already out of his reach.

Just as Zhang Zhongxun was about to launch another attack, the sound of a car engine roared in his ears. Suddenly, headlights blinded his vision.

Hyun Junggeon leaped onto the vehicle driven by Kang Mu-hyuk, pushing his hand into the roof to support himself.

Zhang Zhongxun tried to regain his sight using his night vision skill, but Kang Mu-hyuk turned off the headlights just in time. The abrupt darkness rendered Zhang Zhongxun temporarily blind.

Kang Mu-hyuk drove the car straight at Zhang Zhongxun. The bumper crumpled as Zhang Zhongxun rolled over the hood. Cracks appeared on the windshield, and he landed on the roof. Hyun Junggeon, lying flat on the roof, nudged him off like a volleyball toss.

"Goodbye. Let's not meet again, yeah?"

Thud!

"Urgh! You bastards!"

As Zhang Zhongxun tumbled to the ground in humiliation, he threw his sword at the driver's seat. Hyun Junggeon deflected it with a throwing knife.

"You're really persistent."

"Look out ahead!"

Amid Hyun Junggeon's taunting of the receding Zhang Zhongxun, Kang Mu-hyuk's warning came.

Hyun Junggeon turned his head forward. Hunters were emerging from the trees on both sides of the road.

"I'm not good at direct confrontations!"

In an instant, dozens of throwing knives shot out from Hyun Junggeon's coat. The Hunters surrounding the vehicle fell back, groaning as the blades targeted their vital points. But the danger wasn't over. More Hunters pursued the vehicle, rapidly closing the gap.

Hyun Junggeon smashed the passenger window and climbed inside, shouting.

"Guild Leader Kang, is this the best you can do? Step on it!"

"I knew I shouldn't have gotten involved with you."

Kang Mu-hyuk gritted his teeth and pressed harder on the accelerator. The engine roared in protest as it propelled the heavy SUV forward.

The car, following the railroad tracks, soon reached a river. It was a tributary of the Yalu River, but it was quite wide and deep.

A railway bridge loomed ahead. Kang Mu-hyuk tried to drive onto the road, but Hyun Junggeon quickly stopped him.

"Turn right, and it won't end well. There are enemies hidden there."

"Then where?!"

There was only one option. Before Hyun Junggeon could answer, Kang Mu-hyuk swerved the steering wheel. The car broke through a barricade and onto the railway bridge.

The vehicle shook violently due to the train tracks. The Hunters quickly caught up as the car slowed down.

"Damn it, do we have to fight?"

As Hyun Junggeon prepared himself, Kang Mu-hyuk saw through the rearview mirror that the Hunters were spreading out along the bridge's sides.

"Mr. Hyun, do you trust me?"

"What are you talking about out of nowhere? Then tell me. Do you trust me?"

"No."

"Right, that's normal. In this line of work, that's how you survive. But that's not very helpful right now."

"But I do trust your skills as a Hunter. So, I'll leave the rest to you."

"The rest?"

Suddenly, Kang Mu-hyuk turned the steering wheel. Towards the river. The vehicle broke through the guardrail and flew off the bridge. It plunged into the river below. Airbags enveloped the driver's and passenger's seats.

Splash!

The Hunters on the bridge looked down at the car sinking and bubbling.

Zhang Zhongxun, who arrived late, berated his subordinates.

"What are you staring at?! Idiots! Hyun Junggeon is a Hunter! Do you think he'll die from that?!"

"You mean he's a h-Hunter?"

"What did you say, you rascal?! "He's a h-h-h-Hunter"?!"

"Ugh! Ack! Ugh...!"

Infuriated by their ignorance, Zhang Zhongxun mercilessly beat the responding Hunter.

After the Hunter lay there, a bloody mess, Zhang Zhongxun, panting heavily, gave them another command.

"What are you doing?! Get down there and find them! If you don't catch Hyun Junggeon today, you're all dead!"

Not far from the bridge, on the riverbank of Sinuiju, Hyun Junggeon climbed out of the water. With one hand, he dragged Kang Mu-hyuk. He pulled the limp Kang Mu-hyuk out of the water by his collar.

"Ugh..."

"Are you hurt? Of course, he is, idiot. He drove straight into the river. If it weren't for me, your head would be cracked open, not just your limbs. Mr. 'Kang Muttonhead'."

Hyun Junggeon's taunt met with Kang Mu-hyuk's weak response, his voice strained from pain.

"It was a better chance than trying to break through them when they had us surrounded."

"Look, you're not a Hunter. Regular people don't make decisions like that. Do you think this is an action movie? You weren't like this before. How did you become so reckless?"

"I trusted you to handle the rest. And you did protect me by risking yourself."

"What if there was no water in the river? It's the dry season now."

"I knew there would be water. I read that after the construction of the Sinuiju Dam, several reservoirs were created to store water. This place included."

"Huh? You may be on the verge of death, but that tongue's pretty lively, huh?"

Hyun Junggeon laughed in disbelief.

In the end, it was a good decision, but Kang Mu-hyuk's disregard for his own life was shocking. He was like his past self from Titan, yet somehow different.

'He's beyond my expectations. This is getting more interesting.'

Hyun Junggeon was pleased with the changed Kang Mu-hyuk.

"Guild Leader Kang, if you're like this from the start, how much more fun are you planning to give me later?"

Kang Mu-hyuk, pale-faced, coughed weakly.

"Cough, cough... I said it's not funny..."

"Hey, what's wrong with you... Damn, you're bleeding from the back of your head... I told you not to trust me. Hey, Guild Leader. Stay with me!"

Hyun Junggeon hoisted Kang Mu-hyuk onto his shoulder. Pursuit would begin soon. He needed to find a safe place and treat Kang Mu-hyuk before that.

"Don't die from the start. The real fun is just beginning."

When Kang Mu-hyuk opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was an unfamiliar ceiling.

His vision, still unfocused, swirled with dizziness. When he closed his eyes, an earthy smell filled his nostrils. His hearing returned as he swallowed several times. Though his body was still heavy and his head felt cloudy, the surroundings became clearer.

He barely managed to open his eyes and looked around carefully. He was in an attic with wooden beams, a space not often seen these days.

The low ceiling almost touched his head when he stood, and the sunlight sneaked through a narrow window, barely visible from outside. He realized a night had passed. With his senses returning, he became fully aware of his surroundings.

"Where am I...? Ugh! My head..."

Kang Mu-hyuk felt the bandages wrapped around his head. However, he instinctively knew his headache wasn't just from the injury.

'Mana poisoning is flaring up.'

It felt like he was thrashing in the water. His head was heavy, and the world spun as if he'd lost his sense of balance. The feeling, slightly different from ordinary symptoms, made his whole body feel weak.

'Come to think of it, I didn't get my injection yesterday. Still, it's strange. Missing it by one day doesn't usually worsen my condition this badly. Is it because of the aftermath of the accident?'

While Kang Mu-hyuk pondered over his suddenly worsened condition, Hyun Junggeon climbed up the stairs.

"Oh? You're awake. Man, that was a close call. If I didn't have a stashed potion, you might have been a goner."

"A potion?!"

Kang Mu-hyuk was startled.

"Yeah, a potion. Why? Afraid it might have been a bad one? Don't worry. It was a low-grade one, but it was legit."

Only then did Kang Mu-hyuk realize why his body was in this state. The potion had triggered the initial symptoms of mana poisoning.

"Damn it, potions are poison to me."

"Poison? What are you talking about?"

"My clothes. There should've been a case in my jacket. Where is it?"

"If you mean the case... Oh, the one with the syringe? I threw it away. It was all broken."

Hearing Hyun Junggeon's innocent words, Kang Mu-hyuk laughed bitterly.

"Ugh? This is driving me crazy. I shouldn't have come after all."

"Jeez, this is driving me crazy. What is this place?"

No Song-rin was lost. Or rather, was there even a path to follow in the first place? He was in the sewers beneath Sinuiju. While fleeing from the endless onslaught of enemies, he had no choice but to open a manhole and hide.

"They say this underground was dug for wartime use. When did they convert it into sewers?"

When he was young, his father had told him about the underground facilities in Sinuiju. He'd always wondered how big it was, imagining it as a secret base for children or an emergency shelter for people.

But now that he was here, it was unbelievably vast. Even excluding the parts converted into sewers, it seemed large enough to accommodate the entire population of Sinuiju, if slightly exaggerated.

Moreover, the underground wasn't just one level. There were second and third levels.

As he wandered, he sensed movement at the end of a sewer passage.

'Five.'

No Song-rin hid his body in the shadow of a bent passage.

'Their footsteps are quiet. Are they trained assassins?'

A shadow stretched long as it moved towards him, illuminated by a light in the darkness. The figure slowly approached where he was hiding. No Song-rin gripped his karambit tightly.

'Eliminate them as quickly as possible and escape.'

The moment the faint shadow touched his feet, No Song-rin sprang from the shadows with murderous intent, aiming to overpower his opponent.

"Die!"

"Aaaah!"

"Uaaaaack!"

No Songrin's feet froze at the piercing screams.

"Th-these guys... what are they?"

"Ueeeeeeng!"

"Uaaaaang!"

"Waah! Waaah~!"

In his confusion, No Song-rin looked down. He saw dwarfs barely reaching his waist. They were looking up at him, crying---his worst fear, more terrifying than any monster.

"Wh-why are kids here? Hey, who are you? Why are you here?"

"Waaaah!"

"Waaaah~!"

"Stop crying. Oi, I hate this kind of thing. If you keep crying, I will scold you! I'll eat you up!"

Panicked by their incessant crying, No Song-rin tried to threaten them, revealing his murderous intent, but that was a mistake.

"Waaaah!"

"Waaaah!"

"Oh... what have I done..."

Seeing the children grabbing his pant legs and wailing, No Song-rin felt his mind start slipping into confusion.