Laborer Mr. Kim Reaps Sweet Rewards with Auto-Hunting - Chapter 86

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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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Episode 86

At the successive thunder of explosions.
Japan’s Prime Minister, Miyamoto Hayato, blinked rapidly.

Bang! Boom—!

No.
What is this?
He’d clearly given the order to bombard….
Then why were explosions detonating in empty air? Bang! Bang!

“Impossible….”

This made no sense.
There was no way this was real.
Surely all that bombardment hadn’t been blocked?

“This is critical, Prime Minister! Thirty minutes remain!”
“Thirty minutes?”

Madness.
The time had already slipped away like this.
And the whole thing was being broadcast live, no less.

“My approval ratings….”

No.
It had to be stopped, somehow.
No matter what it took, he had to buy time….

“Aide, assemble Hunters immediately. Send people to Tokyo Bay to attempt negotiation with that creature.”
“With respect, sir, might I suggest reconsidering? Compromising with a terrorist could backfire catastrophically.”

A backfire.
Perhaps. That was possible.
But now was the moment to try anything, everything.
Besides.

“I have no intention of compromising. I’m telling you to buy time by any means.”

If the creature couldn’t be reasoned with at all, that would be one thing.
But Yi Sun-sin—this monster?
It had even announced where it would strike.
So reason was possible, then.
Since it must want something to act this way, couldn’t time be bought?

That was what he’d hoped for.
It hadn’t worked.

Crash! Crash—!

Rather than listen.
Immediately, with a deafening roar, flames erupted from all sides of the Turtle Ship.

“Blast it! Aide! Check the Yasukuni situation immediately!”
“Switching the feed at once, sir.”
“What? You had this prepared already?”
“Currently, Yasukuni Shrine. Meiji Shrine. Even here, near the Prime Minister’s Official Residence—broadcast cameras have already been stationed everywhere.”

A bitter laugh escaped him.
They’d prepared everything?
Was I the only one who thought I could stop it?
As he watched the screen through that hollow mirth—
a familiar sight came into view.
The distance made it seem smaller.
The shrine’s distant profile, reduced to miniature.
But then.

“What? It’s still standing?”

Could the shot have missed?
That futile hope lasted only a moment.

Bang!!!!!

A single cannonball struck with terrible force, and pandemonium began to unfold.

Boom! Boom-boom-boom!

One shot, then another.
With each ringing crack, cannonballs buried themselves deep.
With every impact—
the shrine crumbled further still.

“Ah….”

The main hall at Yasukuni’s heart.
The Treasure House.
The Assembly Hall.
Even the Torii at the entrance—all of it, gone.
And beyond that—

Whoosh!

flames erupted from every side.

“Hell itself has come to earth.”

Unbelievable.
That Yasukuni Shrine would burn so fiercely.

“Prime Minister! You cannot stand idle! Meiji Shrine is under attack! This location is in danger too—you must escape at once!”

Right.
Yasukuni was only the beginning.
There were still more designated targets.
Meiji Shrine.
And the Prime Minister’s Official Residence itself.

“Why this place, of all places….”

No matter how he reasoned through it, it made no sense.
Yi Sun-sin was a general of Joseon.
Yes, he’d have grievances against Japan aplenty.
Yasukuni Shrine or Meiji Shrine?
That much, he could understand.

They’re both symbols of imperialism, really.

Whoosh!

Yasukuni Shrine, burning brightly even now.
The far-right extremists?
Their eyes would probably roll back in their heads.
Some of them might faint.
Miyamoto Hayato?
Well….
What’s it to me?
It’s the polling numbers that matter. They’ll plummet.

But why the Prime Minister’s Official Residence? It has nothing to do with Joseon.
Absolutely nothing.
Could it be because I touched North Korea?
That makes no sense.
For such a trivial reason?

“The Hunters! What about the Hunters?”
“We’ve mobilized all the government-affiliated Hunters, but….”
“What?”
“I’m sorry, sir. Most of them fled the moment they saw that barrage.”

What?
State-employed Hunters.
They sang loyalty when we were paying them.
And now they run at the first crisis?

“Pathetic cowards. At least send the Hunters who showed up to attack. We have to hold the line somehow!”
“We already tried, sir. Just like the first bombardment, it was all blocked.”

No.
That can’t be right.
It blocks bombardment.
It blocks Hunter skills.
So how in the world are we supposed to fight that thing?

“There’s no choice, Prime Minister. You must evacuate immediately.”
“Understood. Prepare to leave at once.”

Yes, we have to flee.
But.
Even as we run, there’s still one thing to do.
Yi Sun-sin—the Spirit of the Past.
A catastrophic monster that blocks every attack thrown at it.
Now it’s clear.
Japan’s strength alone isn’t enough.
Then what?
We have to request reinforcements.

“And send out support requests to the major powers right now. Tell them we’ll pay whatever price they ask. Ask them to help us stop that monster.”

* * *

At that same moment.

“This is… insane…….”

Arthur Brent.
He was a renowned British Hunter, and his eyes stayed fixed on the Japanese broadcast in mounting disbelief.

Boom! A deafening explosion!

“They’re blocking all of that?”

Guan Yu, who had turned China upside down.
Yi Sun-sin, who had appeared in North Korea.
Each time, the affected nation had erupted in chaos.
But until now, he’d let it slide.
Why?
Guan Yu, and Yi Sun-sin.
Well.
Supposedly they were noteworthy figures in history.
But they were just Spirits of the Past, after all.
There was no way they could have mounted a proper response.
If they had responded properly?
Then that outcome would never have happened.

“China was the same, North Korea the same….”

Once in China, once in North Korea.
A Spirit of the Past had appeared a total of two times so far.
Of those, how many did anyone handle properly?
Zero.
None whatsoever.
China was a nation that deified Guan Yu.
When he first appeared, they’d cheered, he’d heard.
What kind of response could you expect from that?
North Korea?
Well.
That wasn’t even a proper nation to begin with.
Not worth discussing.
So this time, he’d watched with hope.
To see how Japan would respond.
Wondering if Yi Sun-sin could really be held back.
And the result?

“Not letting even a single step through.”

This made no sense.
Arthur Brent was defined by two titles.
[UK’s Top-Ranked Hunter / House of Commons Member]
Of these two, which did he prefer?
The latter—House of Commons member.
He harbored considerable ambition for power and prestige.
And with keen interest in international affairs, he understood the landscape all too well.

“Japan’s military capability shouldn’t be something to ignore.”

That nation had no army.
Instead, it possessed military forces called the Self-Defense Forces.
That firepower was absolutely nothing to scoff at….

“They repelled it without a single casualty?”

If that were true, an invasion of British soil might be unthinkable.

“This wasn’t in the calculations….”

Arthur Brent muttered absently to himself.
Spirits of the Past.
He’d honestly thought that if they brought modern firepower to bear, they could handle it.
But the result?
The Turtle Ship didn’t even get scratched.
No.
Not scratched — more precisely, the bombardment didn’t even reach it.

“If I’d been there.”

Arthur Brent’s current tower floor count stood at sixty-five.
With the Manager now at the top, that made him third.
Third strongest in the entire world.
He could say it with certainty.
He couldn’t handle that.
If that bombardment had caught Arthur?

“Hmm….”

He would’ve been pulverized in an instant.

“Member, the Intelligence Bureau has sent over the information you requested.”
“Thanks.”

Information his secretary had retrieved from the Intelligence Bureau.
What was in it?

“An analysis of the Yasukuni Bombardment, sir.”

Of course — the British Intelligence Bureau at work.

Distance from the Turtle Ship.
Destructive radius of the cannonballs.
Estimated destructive power.
And so forth.

Everything he needed was there.
But then, why?
Arthur Brent’s gaze fixed on one line.

[Casualties: 0]

“They leveled such a vast area and had zero casualties? How does that even make sense?”

How had they pulled that off?
The answer lay directly below.

——-
※ Prior to bombardment commencement. Eyewitness accounts confirm sightings of an individual believed to be Guan Yu and a Blonde Man both inside and outside the shrine under investigation.
※ Investigation results confirm factual accuracy. Guan Yu and the Blonde Man evacuated all remaining personnel who had not fled to safety outside the shrine.
※ The Blonde Man’s identity is presumed to be the individual who gained notoriety by breaking records during a mid-entry incursion into a Monthly Boss Raid in Korea previously.
——-

So in other words, to summarize.

“Guan Yu, the Blonde Man, and Yi Sun-sin — all working together. And on top of that, the Blonde Man even opened a Gate and did a mid-entry breach during a Monthly Boss Raid.”

Those three had something in common.
One thing.

“The Manager….”

Until now, it had been speculation.
But now it was certain.

“This monster of a man. What exactly is his ability?”

No.
Could it be just one ability?
Item crafting with impossible specifications.
Commanding transcendent beings like Guan Yu, the Blonde Man, and Yi Sun-sin.
And what else?
Without anyone ever catching on.
Even clearing dungeons without regard for distance.
Doing it all alone….

“Representative, a support request just came in from Japan. How should we respond?”
“A support request? What are they asking?”
“They’re asking us to help apprehend Yi Sun-sin, who’s appeared in Tokyo Bay. Since no one knows how that monster will move, they’re offering to pay whatever we demand if we’ll lend our strength.”
“Ha….”

Lunatics.
How in the world do they think they’ll catch that.
“Refuse it.”
“You’re refusing?”
“So they want us to fly out and hunt it down? I’m sorry, but I’ll pass. I’m not a death-seeker.”

But.

“No one knows how that monster will move?”

That can’t be right.
The Japanese.
They still haven’t come to their senses.
As if this happened by accident.
It’s all karma.
I’d stake my life on it.
Miyamoto Hayato.
If that idiot had just not dug into the Manager’s personal information, they’d have gotten through unscathed, wouldn’t they?
Well, we’ve profited from it anyway.

So the Manager is definitely behind them?
Then we need to adjust our stance.
We absolutely cannot become hostile to him.

“Let me start by taking down the Prime Minister.”

Ah.

“Since I’m certain now, I should give them a gift. Tell Japan this—even at this point, they should grovel to the Manager. That way, they can at least avoid the worst outcome.”

Well.
Whether his pride will let him apologize is another matter.

* * *

“We’re declining the commission, but if I may offer one piece of advice—even at this point, you should grovel to the Manager….”
“Is that the UK’s official response?”
“The former is official. The latter was a personal remark added by Arthur Brent.”

Evacuation from the Prime Minister’s Official Residence complete.
In the meantime, a response arrived from the UK.

“Grovel before the Manager of the Personnel Management Office.”

Out of nowhere?
I tilted my head, then froze.
Could it be…?

“Are you saying the Manager of the Personnel Management Office is connected to what’s happening now?”

That had to be it.
Why else would they bring him up?

“Now that I think about it, something did feel off.”

Prime Minister Miyamoto nodded.

“Aide. Before Guan Yu appeared in China, didn’t those people pull strings in Korea?”
“That’s correct. At the time, I believe they were orchestrating a massive campaign using the media and politicians, all concerning weapon production.”

Right.
I definitely remember hearing about that.
But it’s the same this time around?

“Yi Sun-sin appearing in Tokyo Bay occurred around the time we started pushing back against the Manager of the Personnel Management Office.”

Now that I heard it out loud, the pieces fit perfectly.

“The root of all this is the Manager of the Personnel Management Office.”

Damn him.
We pressure him through a Commission, and he responds with terrorism?

“That is… Your Excellency. Perhaps his earlier attempt to court smaller nations and obtain multiple items was also connected?”

Hmm.
Is that so?
We paid the agreed price anyway, so I’m not sure what his grievance is.
Well, it’s possible.
But I have no intention of apologizing.
Instead.

“Prepare a press conference right now.”
“A press conference, Your Excellency?”
“Yes. We need to make clear who’s behind this crisis.”

Ah.

“And add this: if the attacks on the Meiji Shrine and the Prime Minister’s Official Residence stop, I’ll cancel the press conference.”

So, Manager of the Personnel Management Office.
Can you keep this up?

* * *

“Yes, sir! Manager! What are your orders now! I stand ready to obey!”

So.

“If we stop the bombardment, you’ll stay quiet?”
“Yes! That’s right!”

Japan is threatening us?
Those bastards have really crossed the line.

“Ignore them. Blow them away.”

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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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