Laborer Mr. Kim Reaps Sweet Rewards with Auto-Hunting - Chapter 75

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 75

North Korea, Pyongyang.
The Workers’ Party Building No. 1, known as the Chairman’s office.

“So… Japan made you do it?”
“Not made me—we conducted a fair trade arrangement….”
Tsk.
“Yes, yes! That’s correct!”

Chairman Kim Il-jung, the building’s master, nodded vigorously as he answered.

“There’s nothing else you’re hiding?”
“There isn’t! I’ve told you everything—please, just spare my life!”

A backroom deal with Japan.
Of course it was secret.
But….
Yes.
Anything was better than death.

“Hmm…, so you received a promise that if you handed over Hunters, you’d be given weapons….”
“That’s correct!

Kim Il-jung stared ahead with trembling eyes.
On top of the desk.
A space used merely for processing business.
Hardly even that—mostly just approvals.
Naturally, there was little need for many objects.
Normally?
At most, just documents and office supplies.
But today, in that space sat something wholly incongruous.
A bear doll of some kind.
No.
Could you even call it just a doll?

“Well, let’s set that aside for now. There’s still something you haven’t told me, isn’t there?”
“That, that couldn’t be the case.”

Where in this world was there a doll that rested its chin on its hand and spoke….
And look at those eyes.
How could that possibly be a doll?
What was this?
A feeling as though possessed by a ghost.
He wished it were a dream.
But it wasn’t.
Why not?
His entire body was screaming in agony right now.
There was no way this was a dream.

“Rolling your eyes again, are we? It seems the power of the magic is still insufficient.”
“No, no! I’m not!”
“Unjang, Worker. I believe we should demonstrate the Truth-Telling Magic once more.”
“Heh, that does seem to be the case. I shall make ready at once.”

These mad creatures.
Truth-Telling Magic—what nonsense.
Just a mad old man and a mad bear doll.
Crazy bastards.
I wanted to scream it out loud, but…
I forced myself to hold it in.

“Pig, did you just curse?”

No.
I held it in, you insane freak.

“N-no, of course not!”

I apologized reflexively, even as self-loathing crept through me.
How had it come to this—me, the master of this land, reduced to this?
These lunatics.
Where the hell did they come from?
Could the rebels have called them?
No.
Those fools don’t have the capability.
I was lost in thought for only a moment.
Then the bear’s next words made me freeze.

“So you’ll explain why you ran a background check on the Personnel Director.”

What?
The Personnel Director?
Why would…?

“Unless…”
“Ha, I heard you were an incompetent pig, but not to this degree. Fine. Let me introduce myself properly. The Personnel Director sent me.”

Insane.
The Personnel Director sent them.
That name.
Of course I know it.
I issued the order to find him just days ago.
But…
How did they get here?
The Personnel Director is from South Korea’s Revolutionary Talent.
There’s the DMZ—a real barrier…
My confusion lasted only seconds.
Survival instinct kicked in fast.

What do I do?
Tell the truth?
That I was trying to find the Personnel Director and recruit him as a Revolutionary Talent asset for this nation?
And if that didn’t work out, send him back somehow?
Would they believe that?
I’d be dead on the spot.
Me—a descendant of the Baekdu Bloodline—dying so pathetically?
What a dog’s death that would be.
I had to find a way, any way…

“Japan! It was a condition Japan wanted!”
“Japan?”
“Yes! They promised to give us an extra weapon if we brought them information on the Personnel Director!”
“Is that so?”

The bear thing.
It tilted its head, curious.
I had no choice.
There’s no way to verify it right now anyway.

“Just tell me everything you know. How you contacted Japan, what you discussed—all of it.”

Right.
I had to trust them.
At least my life was spared.
If I held anything back now?
Dead.
Instantly.
Without hesitation, I told them everything.

“Good. Thank you. I’ll be going now—behave yourself.”

Those monsters.
They nodded, then vanished like smoke.

“Thank you for sparing me! I’ll cooperate whenever you need!”

I kept shouting, just to be safe.
A long, shaky breath of relief escaped me.
Phew.
I’m alive.
Those insane South Korean bastards.
Me—bearer of the Baekdu Bloodline, the great master of this nation—humiliated?
I won’t stand for it.
This shame will be repaid in full.
How?
I’ll find a way.
Worst case—
I’ll plant a nuclear warhead.
If a nuke sits on their heads, even that old Revolutionary Talent bastard would die, right?
I was smiling, swearing vengeance in my heart, when I froze.
Why was there a chill running down my spine?

“I don’t know what you’re thinking, but it won’t come to that. Best to wake up now.”

What?
The old man?
I thought he’d left—

“This mage doesn’t leave loose ends behind.”
“Wh-what are you—”
“Farewell.”

Slice.

Urgh…

Damn it.
If I’d known this was coming, I’d have at least cursed them properly…
Kim Il-jung, master of North Korea.
That was his final thought.

* * *

The interview with Kim Il-jung was over.
The result?
Unanimous rejection.
Unjang has gone to conduct an additional interview.
This will probably be the end of it today.
I could stop it if I really wanted to.
But why bother?

“Let’s hold a meeting first, shall we?”
“Yes, Manager.”
“This claim that Japan had someone investigate us—what do you make of it?”
“I’d say it’s probably a lie.”
“You think so?”
“Yes. Japan has no real reason to use North Korea for something like that.”

Todd’s explanation followed.
Though they lacked talented Hunters to be counted among the Five Great Powers,
Japan was still a nation of considerable strength.
They’d understand well enough why other countries kept their distance.

“There’d be no reason to stir the pot unnecessarily.”
“That’s true….”

It made sense.

“What about the weapons situation?”
“That’s not it, sir. There was already something odd about that.”
“Something odd?”
“Yes, Manager. Remember when I mentioned that several countries had set conditions larger than expected when we took this commission? Do you recall?”
“Ah, yes.”

There had been a few.
He said he’d check them over and report back.

“Exactly. The ones that seemed suspicious, which I’d marked as lower priority—I was planning to look into them through the Awakened Management Bureau and Truth’s Eye, but now the question finally makes sense.”
“I see. Hmm….”

Commissions received through the Awakened Management Bureau.
The primary purpose was securing Quest Points.
But that wasn’t all there was to it.
We’d also thought we might as well help other nations along the way.
I mean, wasn’t that reasonable?
There was no need to go out of our way to help.
Hand over a weapon or two and the problem’s solved.
Something like that, anyway.
So we didn’t even bother with an auction….
And they saw an opening to betray us?

“That’s infuriating, isn’t it?”
“It absolutely is! Arthur can’t let this slide!”

And on top of that.

“I suspect Japan isn’t the only one—there are probably a few other countries doing the same thing.”
“I had the same thought, Manager.”

Right.
There’s no way it was just one.
If we let this slide?
We’d be fools.
What’s the best way to handle this?

“I have a good idea, sir. Would you like to hear it?”

Huh, what’s this?
Unjang.
When did you arrive?
Whose opinion is it? Naturally.
Let’s hear it once.

* * *

[BREAKING: North Korea fires rocket artillery at its own Hunters—casualties among Hunters: zero.]
[North Korean Hunters claim that General Yi Sun-sin, the nation’s founding hero, protected them. But is it real?]
[BREAKING: Anonymous informant reports that Chairman Kim Il-jung died in the office of Workers’ Party Building No. 1.]
[BREAKING: Japan was behind North Korea’s missile attack on Hunters!]

News broke one after another inside North Korea.
The world reeled at the rapid spread of information.

– What’s going on? They fired rocket artillery at their own Hunters? Are they insane?
└ Maybe they’re in the middle of an internal rebellion?

– But why were there no casualties? I thought even Hunters couldn’t survive a missile strike.
└ It says General Yi Sun-sin blocked it?
└ ?
└ Yi Sun-sin? The “Let not the enemy know of my death” one?
└ Yeah. Check the Awakened forums. There’s a photo the North Korean Hunters posted.
└ Wow, that’s insane. Is this actually real?

Suddenly all this was happening.
Each piece of news was massive….
And apparently all of it was fact.

– The Kim Il-jung death thing must be some baseless rumor lol
└ Surprisingly, that’s also real.
└ Wh…?
– How could the Chairman die in the middle of Pyongyang?
└ He was assassinated, they say.

And all of this news, every bit of it.
The world.
North Korea’s leader dies in the heart of North Korea?
By assassination, no less?
What on earth was happening in North Korea?
Foreign people were bewildered by the reports.
And North Koreans were no different.

“Is it really true?”

Normally they would never have known.
Even if things happened inside North Korea, they would have been hushed up.
But this time was different.

“That’s right! Right then, General Yi Sun-sin appeared out of nowhere. He said, ‘People of the nation, I shall protect you!’ And he stretched his hand up to the sky like this!”
“Stretched it?”
“And the missiles that were flying down from the sky—bang! Bang! Bang!!!—they just exploded in mid-air, didn’t they?”
“Yeah! Isn’t that how it happened?”
“Of course! Weren’t I part of the Revolutionary Talent that got driven out of Pyongyang back then? But I came back alive, didn’t I?”

The Revolutionary Talent members.
Those among them who were quick on their feet and well-connected.
They began seeking out acquaintances and spreading the information.
Thanks to them, the story spread like wildfire.
The North Korean people’s reaction was swift.

“General Yi Sun-sin has come?”
“Then… we can all live?”
“Good heavens…. Is this a dream?”

Though not to the degree of South Korea.
Yi Sun-sin was famous in North Korea as well.
A national hero who stood against foreign powers.
But why would such a general suddenly appear?
Of course, the reason spread quickly enough.

“Isn’t that pig Kim Il-jung the one who shook hands with Japan?”
“Is that really true?”
“I heard it straight from the Revolutionary Talent fighters. The general said he’d come to execute a coward who capitulated to foreign powers.”
“That son of a—, deserves heaven’s punishment….”

Once upon a time.
Unlike when North Korea was first founded.
The Chairman’s position is no longer absolute.
The people know what they know.
That South Korea lives well.
That they cannot survive without the Revolutionary Talent now.
Then why did they pretend not to notice?
Because they lacked the strength and courage to resist.
But now.

“General Yi Sun-sin and the Revolutionary Talent are waiting for their comrades.”

That courage was beginning to take root.
Why endure it any longer?

“I will join them, come what may.”
“Tell me what we must do.”

Ordinarily, an unthinkable situation.
The slightest misstep would mean being dragged away. How could they resist out of fear?
But.
General Yi Sun-sin will protect us.
This belief stirred them into motion.

“In three days, the Revolutionary Talent forces will push into Pyongyang. You need only respond then.”
“Understood.”

* * *

England, London.
The conference room of the Special National Security Agency, the institution that manages Hunters.

“The Hunters will win.”
“The People’s Army has almost entirely defected, so it’s a hundred percent certain.”

How North Korea would unfold without its master.
England already understood this.
The developments ahead.
Right down to who would be behind it all—everything.
The other great powers would see it the same way.

“Should we prepare accordingly?”
“Are you insane? Leave it alone.”
“Ah…, is it because of the Manager?”
“Yes. No point in needlessly irritating the man.”
“Phew…, what exactly does this person do to wield such power…?”

Indeed.
Arthur Brant exhaled slowly.
Was this even possible?
Even for an exceptional Hunter—a single individual, no less….

Upended China.
Replaced North Korea’s regime.
And moreover?
He’d made it so England herself didn’t dare to intervene in the process.

“Still, at least the other nations are in the same position—isn’t that fortunate?”
“True enough.”

A fair point.
The United States, Germany, Russia, and so on….
The great powers?
He was monitoring their every movement.
Not a single one stirred.
They were all thinking the same thing, no doubt.
One wrong step and they’d all get tangled up together. Disaster.
So for now, they watched.
The problem was.

“What was Japan going to do about it?”

He’d received word not long ago.
Something about helping mediate North Korea.
Suspicious, suddenly.
So he’d investigated.
And confirmed it immediately.

“Entrusted him with multiple weapons, they say. Audacious bastards, I’ll grant them that.”

England had considered it too.
Simply hadn’t acted on it.
If the Manager had been someone to laugh at, they’d have tried it.
But he wasn’t.
So curiosity bloomed.
How would he respond?

“Perhaps it will all pass quietly, sir? After all, it’s Japan—hardly in the same position as half-collapsed China or North Korea.”

It passes quietly because it’s Japan?
Hmm.
Would it, though?
For now, he’d simply watch.
Watch, and respond accordingly.

* * *

Days passed.
And once again, news that would astonish the entire world erupted.

[North Korean Hunters Enter Pyongyang Without Bloodshed]
[North Korea’s Ranked First, Park Mu-pal, Conquers the Chaos Tower Floor 60!]

In North Korea.
And.

[Manager confirms: Production requests from Japan and several other nations denied.]

In South Korea.

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