I Became a Hunter with the Heavenly Slaughter Star Trait. - Chapter 62
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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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Episode 62
Episode 62
Core Guild.
The woman who received the report was silent for a moment.
-Tap, tap, tap…
The sound of fingers drumming on the desk stops.
-Heh.
And then a short laugh follows.
“He refused?”
“Yes. But he said freelance cooperation is possible.”
“Ha.”
A sound that could be either a sneer or admiration.
The woman leaned her head back.
“There’s no point in making another offer, is there?”
“No. The other guilds are in the same position.”
“He’s smart.”
Her face had already lost its smile.
“Tell them we understand.”
“Yes.”
“As politely as possible.”
Even if it looks servile.
* * *
Hyeonmu Guild.
The guild master’s face grew more distorted with each page he turned.
“So, you’re saying it’s a refusal?”
“Yes. He won’t join any guild, but…”
“He’ll work together if requested?”
“That’s right.”
“…Interesting.”
The man who had been lost in thought for a moment speaks up.
“Not bad.”
“…!”
“It might even be better than recruitment.”
Joining hands only when both sides need each other.
Perhaps that could be a better choice.
For both Lee Tae-pyeong and Hyeonmu.
“Then, the reply…”
The man didn’t answer.
Instead, he carefully examined Lee Tae-pyeong’s records.
“Who would have thought a hunter even greater than Choi Mu-ryeong would appear.”
“…”
“In any case, it would be good to maintain ties.”
“Yes.”
“I’ll send the reply myself.”
* * *
Taegeuk Guild.
“Really? He’ll work with us even once?”
A short-haired girl excitedly shuffles through the documents.
“Yes. If the conditions are right.”
“Amazing.”
The girl starts reading the documents again.
Line by line.
“…This.”
She carefully exhaled.
“We weren’t rejected, right?”
“Well…”
“He gave us an opportunity.”
“…In a way, that could be it.”
“We’re definitely saying okay.”
“Should I reply with that?”
“Yes. Right now.”
* * *
Baekya Guild.
Seo In-ha, who had just returned to the country, was reading the ‘answer’ sent by Lee Tae-pyeong, having set aside even the most urgent reports.
“…”
Silence follows.
“…What should we do?”
At the deputy master’s question, Seo In-ha smiled silently.
“It doesn’t seem like a situation we can do anything about.”
“But, other proposals…”
“Rather than that, we need to make different preparations.”
-Swish.
The papers disappear with a strange sound.
“This is different from Choi Mu-ryeong’s time.”
“…”
“He didn’t join hands with the Management Bureau…”
Seo In-ha’s eyes narrow.
His smile slowly fades.
“He’s trying to create his own game.”
* * *
Late in the evening, Kang Min-a came to visit.
“Tomorrow, the Deputy Bureau Chief said he’d like to have a talk.”
Deputy Bureau Chief.
The level just jumped up significantly.
“The Bureau Chief wanted to meet you directly, but there’s a minor issue…”
Kang Min-a smiles awkwardly.
I didn’t bother to ask what the ‘minor issue’ was.
When the time comes anyway,
the Bureau Chief will come looking for me himself.
“That sounds good.”
“…!”
I can feel Kang Min-a’s tension easing.
“I also had something I wanted to discuss.”
“Our Management Bureau views Lee Tae-pyeong’s case very! Very positively, so please feel free to say anything.”
At Kang Min-a’s words, I smiled slyly.
“Can I really speak freely?”
Did my smile look ominous?
“Just, just a little freely…?”
“Haha. Don’t worry, I’ll go easy for Kang Min-a’s sake.”
“I trust you, Hunter Lee!!!”
And the next day.
“Good morning, Hunter Lee!”
Kang Min-a came out to greet me again.
We’re inside the same Management Bureau anyway, really.
We headed to the Deputy Bureau Chief’s Office at the appointed time.
Unlike the guild meeting, there weren’t many people.
The Deputy Bureau Chief and one person who appeared to be his secretary.
And one person who seemed to be from the information department or somewhere.
“Welcome, Hunter Lee Tae-pyeong.”
The Deputy Bureau Chief was a middle-aged man with an affable appearance.
We exchanged formal greetings and took our seats.
“I’ve confirmed Hunter Lee’s intentions.”
Getting straight to the point.
“It caused quite a stir.”
“Did it?”
“You rejected recruitment offers from all of South Korea’s Top 5 Guilds.”
“Hahaha.”
“So then, are you giving our Management Bureau a chance?”
The Deputy Bureau Chief looks at me with a smiling face.
“…I wanted to think so, but it doesn’t seem like that’s the case.”
I looked at the Deputy Bureau Chief and answered.
Confidently.
But not arrogantly.
“Yes. Something I want to try came up.”
“Is it something our Management Bureau can’t help with?”
“Hmm….”
“The Bureau Chief has very high expectations for Hunter Lee.”
Trying to sweet-talk me.
Of course, staying with the Management Bureau had its advantages too.
But,
‘If I stay with the Management Bureau like this, I’ll end up similar to Choi Mu-ryeong….’
That’s right.
Just as Choi Mu-ryeong became the Management Bureau’s sword,
I too would become the Management Bureau’s weapon.
There would be many benefits that come with that.
Starting with various conveniences, then money, power, honor….
But in the end, all of that would become shackles on my feet.
Well,
Choi Mu-ryeong seems to be overcoming all of that with a ‘sense of mission.’
But I don’t want to do that.
“If you rejected all guild recruitments, then Hunter Lee’s expectations for the Management Bureau are also….”
Before the Deputy Bureau Chief could worm his way in like a snake,
I calmly cut off his words.
“I simply didn’t like the conditions.”
“Pardon?”
“You know, no one offered a ‘blank check.'”
The Deputy Bureau Chief’s smiling face stiffened.
He too would know well what a blank check means.
A declaration that I’ll do everything my way.
“As I said before, I simply didn’t like the conditions.”
That’s the truth.
It’s not a grand reason, so there’s nothing to hide.
“….”
A moment of silence flows.
“Haha, I see.”
However, the Deputy Bureau Chief skillfully continued the conversation.
“Still, it seems you’ll be cooperating with other guilds….”
“Yes. In the end, the goal is the same.”
“The goal being….”
“Naturally, bringing down the Tower.”
I’m not sure if the Tower collapses just by reaching the top,
but if I can reach the top….
‘I’ll be able to see the end.’
I smiled and handed the Deputy Bureau Chief documents I had prepared in advance.
“Of course, I need the Management Bureau’s help too.”
“…!”
“This is a new contract.”
The Deputy Bureau Chief begins carefully reading through the documents.
The content was simple.
Guarantee of Tower climbing at least 4 times per month.
Cooperative climbs with the Management Bureau will be given top priority.
Just these two things alone were already sufficient benefit for the Management Bureau.
“This is….”
The Deputy Bureau Chief, who had been reading the documents for a while, opens his mouth with a subtle expression.
“This isn’t something I can decide alone.”
Gulp.
The Deputy Bureau Chief swallows dryly and signals to his secretary.
“I’m sorry, but could you wait just a moment?”
When I nod, the Deputy Bureau Chief gets up from his seat.
And the Deputy Bureau Chief makes a phone call somewhere.
The other party is probably….
“Yes, Bureau Chief.”
The Bureau Chief.
He’s calling that Bureau Chief who couldn’t come in person due to ‘circumstances.’
After talking on the phone briefly, the Deputy Bureau Chief says,
“The Bureau Chief says he wants to speak with you directly.”
“Sure.”
“Then, I’ll put it on speakerphone.”
A moment later,
-Hunter Lee Tae-pyeong?
“Yes, Bureau Chief.”
A thick voice that clearly showed his age came through.
-You made quite a surprising proposal.
“Haha, this is the result of thinking about what I could do.”
-It’s certainly appreciated on our end. To have a hunter of your caliber willingly accumulate public merit to protect South Korea’s safety.
“Well, I am a citizen of South Korea after all.”
-Hahaha! A kind of sense of duty, is that it?
“Perhaps so.”
The man on the other end of the speakerphone laughed for quite a while,
then soon brought up a sharp question.
-The strange thing is.
“…”
-You’re not asking us for anything.
“Yes.”
-The fact that you won’t join any guild, and that you’re willingly cooperating with the Management Bureau…
“…”
-From the Management Bureau and the nation’s perspective, there’s absolutely no loss.
“That’s right.”
-That’s what makes me even more curious.
“…”
-What exactly it is that you want.
I smiled while looking at the three characters “Bureau Chief” on my phone screen.
“I’m planning to establish a new guild.”
Instantly, the meeting room stirred.
Since this was news even Kang Min-a didn’t know, she couldn’t hide her surprised expression either.
-A new guild?
It seemed only the Bureau Chief on the other end of the speakerphone wasn’t surprised.
“Yes.”
-I’d like to hear the details.
“The reason I haven’t joined hands with any guild is because I felt that no guild matched me.”
-There are few vessels capable of containing talent like yours.
“Of course, if it were the Management Bureau, it would be a vessel capable of containing me.”
The Bureau Chief chuckled from the other end of the speakerphone.
Even knowing it was just something to say, he seemed pleased.
“If I stayed with the Management Bureau, wouldn’t I receive too much ‘expectation’?”
-Expectation…
“Like Hunter Choi Mu-ryeong.”
-…
“Of course, Hunter Choi Mu-ryeong is an excellent hunter. But you already know how many dogs are out there tearing at him, don’t you, Bureau Chief.”
Hunters affiliated with the Management Bureau were public figures.
No, perhaps they were closer to entertainers running around day and night on the stage called the Tower.
Whenever even the smallest Tower-related incident occurred,
Choi Mu-ryeong was the one immediately dragged in.
Unlike guild-affiliated hunters,
if you did well, you broke even; if you didn’t, you got cursed at.
If I stayed with the Management Bureau, there was a very high probability I’d become Choi Mu-ryeong 2.0.
Even for conquests I didn’t participate in, I’d be dragged out
to get cursed at with ‘What was Lee Tae-pyeong doing?’
Since the Management Bureau was inevitably closely tied to politics,
there were quite a few cases where Choi Mu-ryeong was thrown out to cover up the nation’s mistakes.
‘…I absolutely can’t tolerate that kind of thing.’
Guild-affiliated hunters
basically receive ‘protection’ from their guilds.
Meaning they wouldn’t be torn apart from all sides like Choi Mu-ryeong.
Even if the Management Bureau was good, good,
that was only true for average hunters.
Once you grew as large as me,
the Management Bureau would inevitably become a suffocating place.
-So?
“I’m going to try building a new home with my own hands.”
-Are you serious?
“Yes.”
-If you stayed with the Management Bureau, you could receive treatment that surpasses even Hunter Choi Mu-ryeong. And yet…
“What I want isn’t treatment, but freedom.”
-…
The Bureau Chief fell silent for a moment.
-Can’t you think it over once more? I promise all conveniences equivalent to a one-person guild. Whatever you want…
“Bureau Chief.”
-…
“You already know that what I’ve promised is sufficient, don’t you.”
A low chuckle flowed from the previously quiet speakerphone.
-You’re a stubborn fellow.
“You’re one to talk, Bureau Chief.”
-If we had met and talked in person, I definitely could have changed your mind. What a shame.
Along with a tongue-clicking sound, the Bureau Chief let out a deep sigh.
And then.
-Fine.
“Thank you.”
-Hunter Lee Tae-pyeong.
“Yes.”
-Don’t forget that we helped your beginning.
I grinned as I replied.
“I’ll never forget.”
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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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