Chapter 35: As You Wish; In My Own Way

Chapter 35: As You Wish; In My Own Way

"You have quite the nerve, to demand something from me before I even ask you to. This is the first time, excluding Se-ah, that I've had such an encounter. Then again, given your leadership, I suppose you have a habit of shamelessly getting into ridiculous situations."

"Chairman, I took your first words in that way. You said I know how to pull the strings well, didn't you? You suggested that instead of trying to get hold of everything and making a mess, wouldn't it be better to focus on one sure thing? At least, that's how I understood it."

"I like your brevity. It seems Se-ah has found a good worker."

Nodding his head, Tae Jin-sung seemed satisfied.

"What can I do for you? Revoke the guild name change? Prevent the relocation to North Pocheon? Please, tell me what you want."

"You can keep the guild name and move wherever you want. But--"

"..."

"My demand is just one thing. You're hunting goblins, right? I want you to fail spectacularly."

"!!"

Kang Mu-hyuk clenched his teeth then loosened his jaw to ask, "What degree of failure are you talking about?"

"People need to die for Se-ah to snap out of it. She's seen a lot of deaths since she was a child, so one or two wouldn't affect her at all. If at least half are wiped out, that should be enough. She needs to see firsthand the consequences of her recklessness."

Heat surged in Kang Mu-hyuk's heart. His cool head heated up.

'Don't get angry yet. Anger won't solve anything.'

Kang Mu-hyuk repeatedly reminded himself as he kept his gaze low, not daring to make eye contact with Tae Jin-sung, lest his boiling anger be revealed.

Regulating his breathing surreptitiously, he spoke, "Do you need to go through all this trouble? Why not just disband the guild?"

"Why? Don't want to do it?"

"Gambling with people's lives requires staking your own. I fear that my life might be at stake because of this matter with Guild Master Ju Se-ah. As you know, Guild Master Ju Se-ah is the top Hunter in South Korea. Even if you, Chairman, promise to protect me, she's not someone I can avoid."

"You've found a good excuse to refuse. But shouldn't your concern be trying to get out of here before you try to dodge Se-ah?"

No sooner had Tae Jin-sung finished speaking, a man, who appeared to be the Chairman's bodyguard, glared at Kang Mu-hyuk. Although he stood at a distance, his chilling gaze made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up.

Kang Mu-hyuk felt his skin being pricked. His body responded with a minor shiver to the intimidating aura. He felt the flow of mana.

'A Hunter, indeed.'

Certainly, he was no ordinary man.

Among the Hunters he had met, few possessed such a strong aura.

Kang Mu-hyuk, still not quite accustomed to sensing mana, couldn't miss the sizable quantity radiating from his opponent, who seemed to make no effort to hide it.

'At least A-rank, perhaps?'

Contrary to public opinion that Tae Jin-sung had no interest in guild affairs, he kept a high-level Hunter by his side.

'I thought he was an old man with little interest in hunting businesses.'

Kang Mu-hyuk felt the need to reassess his judgment of the Chairman.

"If you've accepted, then proceed as planned to Pocheon. Follow my orders there. Understood?"

Kang Mu-hyuk rapidly organized his thoughts.

What was the best course of action available to him at this moment?

For starters, if he didn't accept, he could be killed on the spot.

The involvement of a Hunter in itself was a means to make Kang Mu-hyuk disappear from this world without anyone knowing.

His body could be thrown to a mountain monster, with his bones never to be recovered.

Monsters were the perfect partners in disposing of a body.

'But lying would also be problematic. I could evade the situation for now, but not the repercussions.'

Even though it was difficult for large corporations to influence the Hunter industry, Iron Will Guild wasn't free from such corporations since it was under the Taesung Group. It was clear that Chairman Tae Jin-sung would obstruct him in some way.

A way to navigate around this had to be found.

As Kang Mu-hyuk's mind was swiftly churning, Tae Jin-sung gestured at him with his chin.

"If you understand, then leave. Director Jung, escort our guest."

Along with the order, the Hunter moved.

Feeling a compulsive need to not back down, a lightning bolt of insight struck Kang Mu-hyuk's mind.

He hastily knelt down and spoke.

"Wait, Chairman, shouldn't I also gain something if I am to take a risk?"

"Heh, even in this situation, you're keen on your own benefits. Aren't you feeling guilty about betraying your director?"

"If the role you want me to play is that of a traitor, then I should do as you say."

"Right, what do you want?"

At the end of the conversation, the chilly voice squeezed Kang Mu-hyuk.

Kang Mu-hyuk organized the thoughts swirling in his head and said, "Obviously, the position of a Guild Master. I need your promise to guarantee at least the Team Leader's position."

After a moment of silence, Tae Jin-sung opened his mouth.

"Show me results first."

---

"Five goblin soldiers moving west on Yeowu Hill Road."

Following Kang Mu-hyuk's instructions, the operator in the control room manipulated the equipment, and a green circle with a '5' appeared on the 120-inch monitor.

'There are 89 scouts that have been wandering outside. The scouting range has extended beyond the lake to Mangbong Mountain and Yeowu Peak. Except for the flat road on the west, the radius is almost four kilometers. The tribe is larger than we initially presumed.'

Kang Mu-hyuk scrutinized the map centered around the base camp. The camp was set up in an elementary school in Nogok Village, 7.5 kilometers south of Sanjeong Lake.

Because of the severe mana distortion, communication was not smooth, so they had set up temporary communication antennas on the peaks of Gwaneum Mountain and Sahyang Mountain, the left and right gates leading to Sanjeong Lake.

All this was possible thanks to An Ji-il, who had repaired the equipment brought out from Warehouse C. Because of his efforts, communication was available as far as Yeowu Peak in the northeast with Sanjeong Lake in the center.

'Not many Hunters in Iron Will have the telepathy skill. It's a popular skill monopolized by top guilds, so it's hard to acquire. If Team Leader An hadn't devised it after years of research, this operation would have been much more difficult.'

Kang Mu-hyuk still thought that the future of hunting depended on Project C.

"But why do we operate scouts, Guild Leader? I saw that the equipment team has drones."

In the corner of the control room set up in the old elementary school office, Gong Du-ri asked while operating the device.

"Each time you fly one, it uses a low-grade mana stone. Its efficiency isn't great, so 20 minutes is the max limit."

"Are they using low-grade ones? Wow, that's one expensive drone."

"Besides, flying drones only heightens the goblins' vigilance. The reason we placed the camp in the south, not the easier-to-access west side of the lake, is to stay out of the goblins' line of sight."

There were two major routes to Lake Sanjeong: Route 78 running east-west, and Route 387, which penetrated the north-south direction.

The goblins actively moved in the west, where the retreat was easier, while firmly blocking the narrower intersections in the southeast. Even from these patterns of behavior, it was clear that they were a highly intelligent goblin tribe.

'Obviously hobgoblins, and maybe even goblin chiefs or clan heads.'

A large tribe with a well-established map system. The Sanjeong Lake Goblin Clan was a more difficult adversary than anticipated.

"Continue to gather information for a few more days, upload it to the DB as you compile it, and share it on the outer board..."

[ED: DB is DataBase.]

It was at the moment when Kang Mu-hyuk was providing instructions.

Alarm!

"This is Delta Two! Squirrels! Squirrels incoming!"

An urgent voice echoed through the radio.

In contrast to the urgency in the radio operator's voice, Kang Mu-hyuk calmed him down with a composed voice.

"Don't you know how to report properly? Calm down and report as trained."

"I'm sorry. A group of squirrels are gathering. They seem to be moving south soon. There are about twenty."

"Has Delta Two's position been exposed?"

"No. They do not seem to be aware of it yet."

"Approximate distance?"

Kang Mu-hyuk looked at the monitor, and Gong Du-ri skillfully displayed the location of Delta Two.

'Sahyang Mountain entrance, 2 kilometers. A 30-minute walk, but with the average speed of a squirrel, it wouldn't even take 10 minutes.'

Kang Mu-hyuk assessed the situation and issued an order.

"Delta Two, hold your position. Keep watch for follow-up monsters."

"Yes. Understood."

"Team Leader Gong, tell the ranged attack prevention team and the outpost to retreat."

"Yes, sir."

Kang Mu-hyuk grabbed another microphone attached to the operator's equipment and brought it to his mouth.

When he pressed the button next to the microphone, a short alarm sound spread throughout the camp.

At the alarm, Hunters and staff flinched.

Then Kang Mu-hyuk's voice rang out.

"Announcement to the entire camp. First-class combat readiness initiated. Situation spread. More than twenty squirrels are moving south from the north side of Route 387. We are entering defense mode in the camp. Over."

After issuing the order, Kang Mu-hyuk immediately opened the office door and went outside.

He wanted to check the readiness of the Hunters.

As the hallway was chaotic, Kang Mu-hyuk went to the central entrance.

There, Ju Se-ah was already outside.

She was frowning as she looked around the schoolyard. The expression on Kang Mu-hyuk's face, who was standing next to her, was not much different.

"They can't seem to get it together. Just because of twenty squirrels."

"They are the trickiest among the three-star monsters... But this is definitely a problem."

Ju Se-ah sighed naturally at the sight of the flustered Hunters. It was fortunate they were stumbling, yet finding their way back to their positions.

Kang Mu-hyuk felt like he was carrying a heavier stone than Ju Se-ah's sigh.

'If it continues like this, we'll be annihilated by the goblin tribe, even without Chairman Tae Jin-sung's demand.'",