๐๐ก๐๐ฉ๐ญ๐๐ซ ๐๐๐: ๐๐๐๐๐จ๐๐ค 3
โWhen do you plan on coming to America?
Siwoo showed an indifferent reaction to his friend’s voice that he hadn’t heard in a long time.
“Well. . . I have a lot to do here. Do I really need to go?”
โOf course you do, you goblin turd! Didn’t you know there’s a presidential election at the headquarters a few days from now?
“I know, but it’s not related to me, is it?”
โHahaha. If I ripped your skeletal femur out and beat you to death with it, it still wouldnโt vent my anger. How can you say it has nothing to do with you when your brother is in trouble?
Edward burst into hearty laughter and swore at Siwoo’s unreasonable words.
Originally, it was supposed to be just a slightly bigger meeting, but Cargill Juan’s side suggested a presidential election, saying it would not be good for HSIU to leave the president’s position vacant for too long.
Although there were only two candidates, Edward and Cargill Juan, it was like the final showdown between the two major factions of HSIU.
Therefore, Edward was trying to rally his supporters one last time and get them to attend the meeting that day.
โI can list around 200 reasons why you should come, but Iโll just shorten it to two to save you and me some time. The first is that I have to be president if you want smooth political activity in the future, and the second is that Iโll kill you if you donโt come. Understand?
“Hmm. . . I donโt really get it. But I might go if you ask me earnestly.”
โThis. Is. My. Earnest. Request. If you don’t come, I’ll really kill you.
Siwoo chuckled at his friend’s words.
It seemed like it had been a long time since he had laughed lightly without deep worries.
“Okay, since you’ve asked like that, I’ll make sure to go. Are the election preparations going well?”
โWell, thanks to you, some supporters have gathered. At a place where meritocracy is the principle, people cheer when a decent rookie like you appears.
“I’m being called a rookie. . . but I don’t think it’s because of my experience.”
โWhat’s important to them is your activity since joining HSIU. Even though it’s not public yet, the fact that you brought in the half-demons has had quite an impact.
Half-demons are a group who, after their existence became known, have never sided with anyone until now.
They are beings who didnโt side with either the demons or the humans, instead staying alone at the boundary, but now, for the first time, they have chosen a side.
Only a few national leaders and executives on Edwardโs side in HSIU headquarters know about this for now, but once itโs officially announced, Siwooโs stock will go up tremendously.
“Do you have any information on the opposing Cargill Juan?”
โNo. Their information wall seems thicker than I thought. I guess the people who gave us the information knew that things wouldnโt end well for them if Cargill Juan became president, so nobodyโs talking.
“Didn’t you have moles planted on their side? What about the information they brought?”
โDonโt act like Iโm some secret agent that can just plant spies.
Thatโs right, in that regard, he was a rather old-fashioned guy. His methods were clumsy too.
Edward was a gentleman with an upright character and noble disposition as a member of a noble family.
After meeting Siwoo, he was influenced by him and became a bit crude in speech and flexible in his way of life, but his essence did not change.
However, Cargill Juan was different.
He grew up in an immigrant family that moved from Mexico to the United States and learned how to survive in the slums from a young age, spending each day there.
As crime and corruption piled up, his reputation grew, and Cargill Juan started a money laundering business, achieving enormous success in that underworld.
In the midst of this, he awakened his abilities and happened to join the early members of HSIU, which led him to his current position.
However, these facts were not made public due to Cargill Juan’s thorough identity laundering.
It was something that Siwoo had found out thanks to his underlings in the โunderworldโ, so it was only natural that Edward, who lived honestly, wouldnโt know.
โJust because I belong to the vice-president faction, he sent an assassin after me right away. How foolish. Would Edwin really be able to win a political fight against someone like that?โ
Considering Edward’s upright character, Cargill Juan seemed to be a formidable opponent.
However, if Cargill Juan couldn’t be defeated, there would be no righteous future for HSIU, and even the ‘Blackwood’ family would have difficulty maintaining its position.
“Hang in there, I’ll help you in my own way.”
โWhatโs this? Youโre saying youโll help? Iโm supposed to feel happy about that? Something feels off.
“The HSIU badge turned out to be more useful than I thought. It’ll be easier for me to operate if you become the president, won’t it?”
โOh, my dear friend whose panties are stained with ape dung, I’m moved to tears by your pursuit of self-interest over friendship.
“That’s all you need to know. Are Marco and Martinez doing well?”
Those guys are working hard. Theyโre much more diligent than you, and they listen to my orders well. Iโm thinking about making them my close aides while Iโm at it.
“Do as you please. Anyway, let’s see each other at the meeting.”
After hanging up, Siwoo thought about Cargill Juan.
He was a man with a dirty past, so he would surely be using dirty tactics even now to beat Edward.
‘๐ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฑ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐น๐ต๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐จ๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ช๐ค๐ข.’
In fact, it didn’t really matter to Siwoo who became the president.
But if Cargill Juan became president, it was obvious that he would create more trouble for Siwoo in order to cover up the past assassination attempt.
In that case, it would be better for his friend Edwin to become president so that Siwoo could comfortably continue his activities while selling out HSIUs name.
‘๐ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฏ’๐ต ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐บ ๐ญ๐ช๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ญ๐ช๐ต๐ช๐ค๐ด ๐ด๐ต๐ถ๐ง๐ง. ๐๐ถ๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฐ๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ช๐ณ๐ด๐ต ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฑ๐ข๐บ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ช๐ค๐ฆ. ๐๐ข๐ณ๐จ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ.’
๐ท๐ท๐ท๐ท๐ท๐ท
โYou seem free these days.โ
“. . .Excuse me? What did you say?”
Siwoo had come to visit the ใHSIU Gangbuk Branchใ and was spending time in Hwang Jeong-gu’s office.
This was the first time he had visited since he had been transferred to the HSIU headquarters.
Hwang Jeong-gu was working on paperwork when he looked up at Siwoo’s words with a bewildered expression.
There were more than two boxes of documents piled up on one side of the table, and he was saying he had extra time?
Siwoo took a sip of his coffee.
Hwang Jeong-gu’s resentful gaze poured in from across the table, but he paid no attention to it.
“When I was there, I was buried in paperwork and working. I couldn’t even think about going home, so I slept on the sofa.”
“Senior? When I worked with you, I did most of the paperwork, didn’t I?”
“If you’re free, would you like to go to a cafe with me? The air here is a bit stuffy.”
“. . .You can see me working, right?”
Hwang Jeong-gu sighed as if he had no patience for this pointless back-and-forth.
Lately, the gates had been opening frequently, and the monsters that came through were causing a lot of incidents and accidents.
The large guilds had said they would increase their patrols and security, but that alone was not enough.
In the end, HSIU had decided to increase its staff, but they were still short-handed.
“Jeong-gu.”
“Yes, senior.”
“I’m bored. Is there anything fun to do?”
ใ๐๐ก๐๐๐ฉ ๐ซ๐ข๐๐, ๐โ๐ฆ ๐ก๐ฎ๐ง๐ ๐ซ๐ฒ. ๐๐๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐ก๐ข๐ฆ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฌ ๐ฌ๐จ๐ฆ๐๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐๐ญ. ๐๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ข๐ซ๐ฆ๐ข๐ซ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ก๐ฎ๐ง๐ ๐ซ๐ฒ ๐ญ๐จ๐จ.ใ
โHee-hee.
Pre crawled out of Siwoo’s pocket and let out a plaintive cry.
Next to him, Pumirmir, who was the size of a pinky finger, lay sprawled out like a puppy, looking weak.
“If you’re hungry, take the kids out to eat.”
“Oh. Are you paying?”
“. . .Do you know how much difference there is between your salary and mine, senior?”
Seeing Hwang Jeong-gu’s aggrieved expression, Siwoo chuckled and patted him on the shoulder.
“Don’t worry. They don’t eat as much as you think.”
“Are you really going to take advantage of me?”
ใ๐๐’๐ซ๐ ๐๐ข๐ง๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐ ๐จ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐๐ญ! ๐ ๐ฐ๐๐ง๐ญ ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐๐ญ ๐ฌ๐ก๐จ๐ซ๐ญ ๐ซ๐ข๐๐ฌ ๐๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐๐ง๐๐๐ซ๐ฅ๐จ๐ข๐ง!ใ
“. . .Senior?”
Beep beep beep. Beep beep beep.
At that moment, the alarm in the office corridor began to blare.
“Team Leader! A monster has appeared in the city! The gate level is unknown, but the monsters that have appeared appear to be a group of ogres!”
“What the hell, if they’re ogres, they’re ogres, what do you mean a group of ogres?! Are they traveling in a group?”
“I don’t know. . . . The hunter who discovered them reported it that way. They couldn’t have mistaken them for a group of orcs. . . Should I ask again?”
“Haahใ ก Leave it. Ask him again later. Send me the coordinates or a photo on your phone.”
Hwang Jeong-gu grumbled as he hurriedly packed his gear.
โOh, senior. Are you going to eat first? After youโre done. . . Can I go? Sigh. . . Another late night at work.โ
“Okay, you devil. You’ve taken advantage of me enough.”
Siwoo got up from the sofa and stretched.
โThen what will you do? Werenโt you saying that you were going to the States tomorrow or the day after. . .?โ
โHm. Iโll take a late flight tomorrow. There probably wonโt be many combat hunters there, right? Iโll go and help.โ
“Wow. . . What’s gotten into you? I was going to ask you anyway.”
“It’s okay. If I send this kind of activity report to the headquarters, they’ll give me a bonus. I’ll have to squeeze it out of Edwin later.”
“Is that okay. . . I wonder?”
Hwang Jeong-gu thought to himself that the hunters at headquarters were strange as they walked out together.
๐ท๐ท๐ท๐ท๐ท๐ท
The city where the group of monsters had appeared was shrouded in a thick fog, perhaps due to the influence of magic.
It was not just a simple fog, but a mixture of magic, so that ordinary people could collapse from shock if they were exposed to it for a long time.
Kuuung! Kwaaaang!
Beyond the fog, where it could not be seen, the sound of buildings collapsing and vehicles being crushed could be heard.
“Has the evacuation warning been issued?”
“Yes, it has been confirmed. However, because of the fog and the sudden appearance, there are probably many people who have not been able to evacuate in time. Teams of hunters with detection abilities have been dispatched in other directions.”
“I see. . . . In that case, I will focus on eliminating the gate rather than rescuing people. You do what you have to.โ
“I didn’t expect anything else. Please be safe.”
After parting ways with Hwang Jeong-gu, Siwoo entered the fog in a different direction from him.
ใ๐๐ก๐ ๐๐ญ๐ฆ๐จ๐ฌ๐ฉ๐ก๐๐ซ๐ ๐ก๐๐ซ๐ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ ๐ซ๐๐๐ญ! ๐๐ญ’๐ฌ ๐๐จ๐ณ๐ฒ, ๐๐ฎ๐ญ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ฆ๐๐ ๐ข๐ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐๐ง๐ง๐จ๐ฒ๐ข๐ง๐ !ใ
“Why is it annoying?”
ใ๐ ๐๐จ๐งโ๐ญ ๐ค๐ง๐จ๐ฐ. ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ง๐ค ๐ ๐๐๐ง ๐ฌ๐ฆ๐๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ฌ๐๐๐ง๐ญ ๐จ๐ ๐ ๐๐๐ฆ๐จ๐ง.ใ
Pre pinched his nose with his wings.
Demons.
Siwoo opened his dantian and circulated his magical power throughout his body.
He also erected a magical shield to prepare for a sudden attack by a monster.
Of course, he was not doing this just to deal with ‘ogres’.
To other hunters, they might be a formidable opponent, but to Siwoo, they were not a very impressive monster.
But call it a hunch.
Siwoo opened his senses wide to the strangely ‘dirty’ gaze he felt in this fog, along with Pre’s reaction.
If it was a naturally occurring gate, it would not matter, but if it was caused by ใPandemoniumใ, it would mean that they were there.
That was when it happened.
โThis is Group 4. The target is approaching.
Someone’s muttering voice in the fog reached Siwoo’s ears.
‘๐๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ข๐ณ๐จ๐ฆ๐ต ๐ต๐ข๐ญ๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ฎ๐ฆ?’
Siwoo put strength into his toes and reached the spot where the voice had come from in one go.
“Who are you?”
At the sudden appearance of Siwoo beside him, the other person seemed to panic and stumbled backward.
“You need to answer me.”
Siwoo kicked the leg of the fleeing man.
It was a gentle kick, but the other person’s leg was bent at a 90-degree angle from Siwoo’s kick.
“Keuheuk!”
“I’m asking you, are you targeting me?”
At Siwoo’s indifferent interrogation, the other person grimaced in pain and smashed the bottle he was holding on the ground.
“This. . . .”
A hallucinogenic herb that drove monsters wild.
“Heuk heuk heuk. You’re going to be ogre food now.”
With those words, the other person plunged the small dagger he was holding into his own neck and killed himself.
“Hmm.”
Siwoo was curious about this incomprehensible situation, but there were more pressing matters to deal with.
โKwoo-ooooh!
It was the group of ogres approaching him.
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