The short man, the tall man, as well as the glasses-wearing man met in the dark once again, a small light slightly illuminating the room.
Therefore, the three men’s expressions were slightly visible.
They all wore grave expressions.
“The Hunters who were supposed to assassinate him failed. We couldn’t even find their bodies,” the short man said.
“Did you say two A-rank Hunters and three B-rank Hunters were killed? Was the target not an A-rank Hunter?” the glasses-wearing man shook his head, and said. The short man weakly bowed his head, and opened his mouth.
“It was a mistake. The target was the 14th S-rank Hunter, ‘Self-Defense’ Kang Sung Joon.”
“Are you saying we messed with an S-rank Hunter?” the glasses-wearing man asked, astonished.
S-rank Hunters had enough power to shake the nation, and were frightening existences that the country itself couldn’t thoughtlessly mess with.
Plus, Sung Joon, who had just become an S-rank Hunter, was renowned for his monstrous growth rate.
“Are you scared of just one mere S-rank Hunter? Our guild’s Executive Branch has also several skilled Hunters. Even if there are several casualties, the matter should be solved as long as we send several A-rank Hunters,” the tall man said.
His voice was filled with pride and confidence in his guild. There were certainly plenty of skilled Hunters in their Executive Branch, but they couldn’t afford to mobilize their entire force.
Even now, the guilds in the top twenty were informally fighting in the dark.
“Then don’t we have to back off immediately?” the glasses-wearing man said. He was terrified at the prospect of trouble with an S-rank Hunter. However, the short man shook his head, and opened his mouth.
“Kang Sung Joon probably already knows that we’re the ones who ordered the assassination. It’s not in his character to just let this go by.”
He perfectly understood Sung Joon’s personality.
The case of ‘self-defense’ was quite famous, so if someone actually bothered, they’d be able to find the corresponding information. He had already finished his investigation.
“We need a plan.”
“Why do we need a plan? Doesn’t it all end if we just break him with the guild’s strength?” the tall man asked. However, the situation wasn’t that simple.
“It’s safe to say that an S-rank Hunter is a one-man army. We have to take this matter a bit more seriously,” the short man calmly said. The tall man slightly bit his lip, and opened his mouth.
“In any case! Starting now, we’ll consider the S-rank Hunter Kang Sung Joon as a dangerous character. Hence, all matters will be reported to the Director.”
The man’s words marked the end of their meeting.
* * *
The day after he met with Seol Ah, Sung Joon called Jung Chul to set up an appointment. Jung Chul readily accepted since he had just finished a dungeon run, and was resting right now.
Sung Joon parked his car close to the auction house, got out of the driver’s seat, and waited for Jung Chul amidst the November night breeze.
“What are you planning to do?” Rishubalt asked.
He was about twenty minutes early, so he didn’t see Jung Chul. Sung Joon seemed to be enchanted by the night air while waiting for Jung Chul, and Rishbalt cautiously asked when he saw him pacing around.
“I have to kill them all,” Sung Joon responded, after confirming that there was no one nearby. He wouldn’t let anyone who bared their teeth at him live.
That’s what he’d done up until now, and that’s what he’d continue to do.
“I agree. It’s a heavy sin for them to have dared point their swords at you, my lord. You must thoroughly punish them,” Rishubalt said firmly. His voice was filled with rage. Rishubalt, who had served Sung Joon as his lord in his past life, felt helpless at the fact that he couldn’t punish those who dared show hostility towards his lord.
The only thing he could do with a spirit body right now was agree with Sung Joon and express his anger.
“Of course I have to punish them,” Sung Joon replied, and nodded his head. He took out a canned coffee from his bag, and started drinking it; he was able to see Jung Chul only a little while later.
Sung Joon wordlessly got into the driver’s seat and Jung Chul naturally sat into the front passenger seat.
“I’ve come to see you a lot earlier than I had expected.”
“That’s what I’m saying. Would you like to drink one?”
Sung Joon brought out another canned coffee, but Jung Chul smiled, and shook his head.
“I appreciate the thought, but I’ve recently been drinking coffee daily like I have an addiction.”
Since he had a lot of work lately and had to work overtime for multiple nights, he had no choice but to drink a lot of coffee.
“Have you investigated the bodies?”
Jung Chul’s subordinates had taken care of the bodies of the Hunters who had tried to kill Sung Joon. He had a small hope that there may have been something on them, so he had asked, but Jung Chul expression was dark.
“We tried investigating, but we didn’t find anything. However, under the circumstances, don’t you think ‘Il Sung’ is certainly involved?
“I do have circumstantial evidence, but I believe we should be sure about everything,” Sung Joon said.
“You’re right.” Jung Chul replied, nodding his head.
“I’ll intervene in this case. In exchange, when I’ve completely dealt with the issue, you have to give me one of the items of mass destruction that ‘Il Sung’ possesses.” Sung Joon said.
The items of mass destruction specialized in killing people on a large scale. On the other hand, they would be extremely important in the battle against the Empire.
He was acting against ‘Il Sung’ since they had made the first move, but if he could also receive a reward from Jung Chul, it would be like killing two birds with one stone.
“Are you saying you want an item of mass destruction?”
Jung Chul looked like he couldn’t believe him, but soon shook his head. Even if he didn’t allow it, Sung Joon could attack Il Sung alone and take the items of mass destruction anyway.
He realized that Sung Joon was being considerate; he nodded his head, and opened his mouth.
“Alright, if you take care of the issue, I’ll give you one of the items of mass destruction and I won’t skimp on the support for this matter.”
“What kind of support is possible?”
He was curious all of a sudden, and as soon as he asked, Jung Chul smiled.
“If you want to operate a secret auction house, you need information. I have several trustworthy informants working for me. All of them will help you.”
Most of the people who knew him didn’t know it, but Jung Chul also ran a private information agency that possessed several informants.
“That’s reassuring.” Sung Joon said honestly.
He had plenty of strength, but he was lacking in terms of information gathering. However, it seemed like Jung Chul would cover that for him. Jung Chul took out an a file of organized documents.
Since there was a risk of digitalized documents being hacked, there were several informants that carried around documents on paper.
“My informants have started investigating ‘Il Sung’. It’s been hard to get information on the group up until now, but now it’s possible for us to obtain some information regarding the guild to some extent.”
Jung Chul took out one of the documents and quickly skimmed it. He looked at Sung Joon, and opened his mouth.
“The security is tight, so we haven’t been able to figure out much. However, the group has transferred a significant amount of funds, and we’ve confirmed that most of it is being used under the pretext of special activity costs.”
“So it seems that they purchased the items of mass destruction by siphoning money from the group.”
“We cannot be sure, but based on the circumstances, it’s highly likely.”
Jung Chul couldn’t be absolutely sure due to his prudent character.
“They must have a helper on the inside,” Sung Joon said, and Jung Chul nodded his head.
“The gathered funds comes out to an extremely high sum. A high-ranking individual from Strategic Business will also have been involved.”
“If that’s the case, then it’s highly likely that the Strategic Business Director, Kim Do Hyuk, is involved.”
“It’s certainly possible, since Kim Do Hyuk has recently been trying to get an advantage in the dispute over succession. He has plenty of motive for doing so,” Jung Chul said.
Recently, the Il Sung Group Chairman’s health had worsened, so the battle of succession had intensified. It seemed like Do Hyuk was planning something big in order to succeed the group.
“The entire Il Sung Group isn’t involved. That, I’m sure of.” Jung Chul said with certainty, and Sung Joon nodded his head.
“I’ll entrust you with gathering the information. I’ll intervene in places where you need force.”
“I understand.”
Jung Chul disembarked from the front passenger seat, and Sung Joon drove back to his studio apartment parking lot. He parked, took the elevator up, and saw someone at his front door.
“She’s an A-rank Hunter.”
She was a woman with yellowish dyed bobbed hair. She had felt Sung Joon’s presence, and turned her sight towards the elevator.
“I’m Ha Ji Yeon from Il Sung guild’s Executive Branch. May I have a moment of your time?”
She had exposed the fact that she was part of the Il Sung guild’s Executive Branch, something that she could’ve hidden; it was a small threat.
Sung Joon’s eyes moved, and he calmly scanned his surroundings.
‘There around ten of them…?’
He didn’t know just little while ago. However, as he focused, he was able to sense several presences.
They must’ve utilized a specialized item, or they had lied low from afar, outside the range of his senses.
“Don’t you think this goes against etiquette?”
Sung Joon’s voice was filled with killing intent. Since they had brought their Executive Branch Hunters along, he could tell that they were already semi-hostile.
If that was the case, they didn’t need to speak. Sung Joon had already considered them as enemies.
“I believe that etiquette doesn’t really matter in the current situation.”
“Let’s go down to the first floor. It’ll be better to talk about this while taking a stroll.”
Sung Joon and the girl went inside the elevator together. While the elevator was bringing them down to the first floor, he could clearly hear her nervous breathing.
An elevator is a confined space. If Sung Joon (an S-rank Hunter) wanted to, he could ambush her (an A-rank Hunter), and she wouldn’t have a means of resisting him.
“You don’t need to be so tense. Since I don’t plan on killing you… yet.”
The killing intent within Sung Joon’s voice caused Ji Yeon to be extremely anxious and she was briefly seized with the fear of death; when the elevator reached the first floor, the door opened.
Sung Joon got out first, and Ji Yeon followed behind him.
Sung Joon inhaled the cold night air, and opened his mouth.
“I’m curious as to why you came all the way to my house… Considering how many you brought with you, it doesn’t seem like you have good intentions…”
“I came all this way to deliver a message from the guild,” Ji Yeon said.
Sung Joon looked directly at her, and smiled cynically.
“Starting now, you should be careful with what you say. Since I may decide to kill you.”
A cold killing intent rose up that made Ji Yeon feel extremely anxious. She was not only an A-rank Hunter, but was also an Executive Branch executive who had experience killing.
Though Sung Joon’s leaking killing intent was faint, it was still at a level that she could barely endure. However, she tried her best, and with a calm expression, opened her mouth to relay the guild’s message.
“The guild demands that you be ‘reticent’, Mr. Kang Sung Joon.”
As soon as she finished, Sung Joon’s expression immediately changed.