Ranker Who Shatters Myths - Chapter 193

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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The Broken Ranker

 

Devours Myths

 

Chapter 193

 

Dueokshin’s Teeth (3)

 

The commute to work after a long time.

 

Even the bus crossing the Han River felt fascinating.

 

‘South Korean office workers are really amazing. How do they commute through such crowded places every morning?’

 

Since hunters’ work usually takes place in the afternoon or at night, their commutes tend to be later overall.

 

But today was the day his long vacation ended,

 

and Im Won-young had sent a message last night saying there was something to discuss, so he had left early.

 

―Did you have a good vacation? I think I heard you went overseas.

 

―I’ve been quite delayed organizing the support aspects related to Z Team.

 

―After all, Z Team has now become a team that truly represents White Burn, hasn’t it?

 

―Please come over when you have time.

 

‘Originally, I planned to finish the sworn brotherhood contract with Jiaoma Wang by last night and then go to the company… but it’s not easy.’

 

Jiaoma Wang’s illness was definitely showing improvement.

 

Thanks to Wuyong Wang recovering his status and the society called the 【Seven Great Sages】 coming alive, he too had received good influence.

 

But conversely, his madness had deepened even more.

 

It was because of the demonic nature that Bull Demon King had left deep in his unconscious.

 

‘The demonic nature is transforming into a heart demon. If that heart demon worsens, it could deteriorate into qi deviation. I need to find a solution somehow…’

 

Qi deviation is a magic power side effect commonly warned about for rankers and above.

 

It refers to the phenomenon where magic power goes berserk when improperly stored, during emotional turmoil, or when psychological shock is severe.

 

There was also the risk that one’s mind could collapse and give birth to a demon person.

 

Moreover, if qi deviation struck a demon king like Jiaoma Wang, it was hard to predict what kind of disaster might occur.

 

‘Rather than trying to suppress the heart demon’s agitation with a sworn brotherhood contract, what if I change direction and instead intervene in Jiaoma Wang’s unconscious to remove the demonic nature…?’

 

Just as Lee Hyeon’s worries were deepening,

 

「Do you think that’s easy? Just watch for now.」

 

Then, Son Wukong suddenly poked his head up above Lee Hyeon’s head.

 

‘When did you come out? You said you hated crowded commutes and would sleep.’

 

「How could I sleep when you’re radiating such chaotic thoughts?」

 

Are you blaming me for this?

 

Lee Hyeon was about to let out a hollow laugh when he noticed Son Wukong’s gaze was fixed elsewhere.

 

「A churros shop I haven’t seen before.」

 

In the middle of Gangnam street. A large churros shop had newly opened on the first floor and was operating.

 

‘Yes. It seems to have just opened.’

 

「It smells like a good restaurant.」

 

‘Did you wake up smelling that—’

 

「It smells like it would be very delicious! They say it’s authentic Spanish style! Authentic style that’s hard to see in Korea where most are Mexican style! There! We must conquer that place!」

 

‘You definitely woke up smelling sugar.’

 

「What are you doing, you fool! The gods are giving an oracle that the path lies in going to that place, so how can you go in the opposite direction!!」

 

‘This is the way to the company. I’ll stop by there later when I get off work.’

 

「Turn around! The delicious churros smell is getting farther away!!」

 

‘Please stop pulling my hair.’

 

「My churros! My churros!!」

 

Lee Hyeon shook his head watching Son Wukong throw a tantrum like a five-year-old child.

 

When would he ever mature?

 

‘…Hm?’

 

「Look over there! Your subordinates are also coming out with very happy faces! A good restaurant! It must be a good restaurant!」

 

Two familiar faces, a man and woman, were coming out of the churros shop clinging together and smiling brightly.

 

It was Kim Min-jeong and Eom Gi-seon.

 

“So then Min-yul suddenly shouted.”

 

“Really? Hoho! That’s crazy.”

 

“That’s what I’m saying!”

 

Whatever was so enjoyable, they were affectionately linking arms and sharing churros from a paper cup.

 

“…”

 

Lee Hyeon stood still in the middle of the street watching the two,

 

“Noona, so today, this evening… huh?”

 

“Why are you so surprised all of a sudden? What’s there… !?”

 

The two also belatedly discovered Lee Hyeon and stiffly straightened their backs.

 

Their faces turned pale in an instant.

 

In the middle of Gangnam Boulevard where many people were busily moving around,

 

Grin!

 

Lee Hyeon smiled.

 

Like an evil spirit.

 

* * *

 

―Senior.

 

―Senior?

 

―Could you please answer?

 

―You won’t spread it around, right? Right?

 

―Please keep it secret from Team Leader Im.

 

―Right?

 

―Senior.

 

―Senior!!!

 

―(Earnestly praying cat emoji)

 

Buzz. Buzz buzz.

 

Lee Hyeon’s mobile phone had been ringing non-stop since morning.

 

“You seem very busy from the morning?”

 

A small conference room located in the White Burn headquarters building.

 

Im Won-young was trying to have a conversation with Lee Hyeon when he glanced at the mobile phone and tilted his head.

 

“Oh, this? You don’t need to worry about it.”

 

“Isn’t it from Manager Kim Min-jeong? Seeing how urgently she’s contacting you from the morning, it seems like something urgent.”

 

Im Won-young saw ‘Junior Kim Min-jeong’ displayed at the top of the mobile phone and sent a worried look, but,

 

Snort.

 

“It’s fine. She just got caught by me having a boyfriend.”

 

“What? Manager Kim has a boyfriend?”

 

Im Won-young’s eyes widened slightly.

 

“Yes. Oh, of course this is a secret. Let me just send one quick text.”

 

“Of course.”

 

A sinister(?) smile hung on Im Won-young’s lips as he nodded.

 

He seemed to mutter to himself, ‘So that’s why her replies have been so slow lately? Hehehe,’ but pass.

 

Lee Hyeon left a really short message.

 

―I’m watching what you’re doing.

 

―Haha

 

Then he turned off his mobile phone.

 

By now, Kim Min-jeong was probably clutching her temples and roaring “Jang Lee Hyeon!!!” like a lion.

 

‘Who told them to enjoy a date in front of the company from the crack of dawn? It’s all their karma. Hehehe.’

 

They probably thought they could enjoy an early date to avoid their coworkers who generally had later arrival times,

 

but not a chance.

 

Lee Hyeon had absolutely no intention of easily letting go of a weakness(?) he had caught.

 

It absolutely wasn’t because he was envious as a single person. They got caught being happy in front of the sacred company, so as a team leader, he was giving them punishment.

 

Really.

 

‘But when exactly did those two hit it off like that? There was always a strange atmosphere between them though.’

 

Lee Hyeon quickly looked through the documents Im Won-young had given him while thinking about how to torment his juniors later.

 

“This looks good.”

 

Im Won-young’s eyes widened slightly at Lee Hyeon’s words as he put down the documents.

 

“You’ve already read all of that?”

 

“Of course. Just looking at the strategic and administrative support sections – guaranteed command independence, direct budget approval, field agent protection immunity clauses, and for personnel support there’s dedicated medical team assignment, family guarantee programs… You’ve even given combat, technical, information, network support, and Level 1 data archive access rights. What more could I want?”

 

“You really did read it all.”

 

The contents could truly be called exceptional.

 

“I especially like this part the most.”

 

Lee Hyeon tapped the content written on page 3 with his index finger.

 

―Guaranteed Command Independence.

 

“You’re recognizing us as a semi-independent assault unit, right? We’re granted operational authority without upper-level reporting, and we’ve secured funding lines we can spend without central auditing.”

 

Im Won-young was surprised by Lee Hyeon’s excellent insight, but smiled with satisfaction that he had accurately grasped their intentions.

 

“I can confidently say it’s guarantees equivalent to X Team or Y Team, or even better.”

 

Meaning it was on par with A Team.

 

Considering that A Team was essentially the direct unit of the next Guild Leader, it was definitely tremendous treatment.

 

“We hope that Z Team will become more than just a simple assault unit – the Jet Team, something greater that goes beyond rebuilding Blue Thunder.”

 

Suddenly, Lee Hyeon’s eyes sparkled.

 

“You mean…?”

 

“You can consider that we ultimately plan to separate Z Team as an independent company.”

 

“…!!”

 

“Not immediately, but we plan to gradually give you the Right of Salvage as well.”

 

“…”

 

“How about it? Wouldn’t White Burn’s umbrella be a suitable place to continue dreaming of Blue Thunder?”

 

The Right of Salvage was the right to entrust all distribution authority over acquisitions and spoils of war to the person in charge.

 

Each nation or power would never grant this except to High Rankers, and among them, only those of hegemony level or above.

 

They were saying they would give such a thing to Lee Hyeon.

 

Furthermore, to the entire Z Team.

 

It could essentially be seen as rebuilding Blue Thunder, no, independence.

 

‘If I can connect well with Homerus Holdings later… I might be able to accomplish much more.’

 

If Homerus Holdings operated in the shadows, Blue Thunder in the light,

 

and Lee Gun-san’s network supported them from behind,

 

would there be any place that could stand against them?

 

‘Then… we might get a little closer to our dream.’

 

Lee Hyeon closed his eyes tightly, imagining the team that would already be busily traversing the world stage.

 

Then after a long while, he finally opened them.

 

His gaze had sunk deep.

 

Im Won-young smiled faintly.

 

“Is it really okay to give us this much?”

 

“I think such exceptional treatment is naturally necessary to secure talent. I can say with certainty that even Astra would never,”

 

“Yes. They couldn’t provide this level of guarantee. I know that well.”

 

Im Won-young grinned.

 

“Actually, if you think about it, we at White Burn should be the ones thanking Z Team after the last Crevasse operation. Thanks to Team Leader Jang, White Burn was able to gain advantageous positions in many areas.”

 

Though Im Won-young’s face was full of fatigue from the hectic days of recent weeks,

 

he couldn’t erase the victor’s smile from his lips.

 

“It was the team members’ hard work.”

 

“Yes. That’s right. But it was Team Leader Jang who built such a team. That’s why we want to take care of you this much…”

 

Im Won-young placed new documents in front of Lee Hyeon.

 

“Thanks to that, we were able to prepare even this much more easily.”

 

Lee Hyeon’s eyes sparkled.

 

The sticker attached to the front symbolizing ‘Level 1 Classified’.

 

And,

 

the title written above it.

 

―Feng Jinghao Tracking Report.

 

“This contains the content related to Feng Jinghao that you requested before. I’ve also included recent trends from the chaotic Middle East Front.”

 

Lee Hyeon gathered the documents and quickly skimmed through them with his eyes.

 

Certainly, the content identified by the private company was mainly much more macroscopic than Lee Gun-san’s network.

 

“You’re planning to go catch Chairman Peng, right?”

 

“Yes. He’s absolutely not someone who would just forget past grudges. If we don’t see this through to the end this time, it’s obvious he’ll keep trying to hold us back.”

 

Lee Hyeon nodded as he closed the documents.

 

“Since you’ve given us independent operational authority, I’ll use it this time. Please help us intervene in the Middle East Front.”

 

“You’re really trying to take a difficult path.”

 

Im Won-young nodded heavily, knowing well the grudge relationship between Lee Hyeon and Feng Jinghao.

 

“Understood. Just organize the content and submit a plan, and I’ll approve it immediately.”

 

“Thank you.”

 

The Middle East Front was a place where Large Guilds, the Axis of Evil, various intelligence agencies and private companies were complexly intertwined to form the situation.

 

That’s why it earned the nickname ‘Ant Hell’.

 

If you carelessly tried to step foot there with an easy mind, it was a quagmire you could never escape from once you fell in.

 

It was hell in a different sense from Guam.

 

Since Feng Jinghao had stepped into Ant Hell with Russia backing him, Z Team had to approach as carefully as possible.

 

‘The Bull Demon King is also there… If the Bull Demon King got involved too, it’s essentially the Lower Realm and Heavenly Realm all mixed together.’

 

Lee Hyeon felt like the smell of blood and gunpowder was already vibrating at his nose tip – much more vicious than anything he had experienced so far.

 

‘The problem is how to approach this arena of competition in a way that allows us to establish ourselves well without major damage…’

 

Just as Lee Hyeon’s eyes were sinking deep,

 

“By any chance, could we join the conversation you’re having now? It seems like we might be able to help.”

 

English spoken in a low voice.

 

Lee Hyeon and Im Won-young’s heads turned in that direction.

 

Michael Shepherd was waving his hand lightly.

 

“Perhaps our Astra could provide some decent help?”

 

At that moment,

 

Lee Hyeon’s eyes flashed sharply.

 

Like a beast encountering an enemy.

 

Like a wild beast encountering its enemy.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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