Chapter 57 – Hunter [Crank]

December 3, 2027.

19:31.

52nd floor, Yangseon Group headquarters, Yeouido. Yangseon Guild Master’s office.

Yang Seungjun stood with his hands clasped behind his back, gazing out the window at the falling winter rain.

A short distance away, the Yangseon Guild manager stood respectfully, his hands folded in front of him.

“Seo Joo-hwi… in a way, she was a woman with incredibly bad luck.”

At Yang Seungjun’s words, the manager merely nodded silently.

Yang Seungjun continued.

“Of all days, an A-Rank Awakened One had to appear that day. Ha, damn. The odds of getting struck by lightning while walking down the street, surviving, and winning the lottery are probably higher.”

Yang Seungjun extended his left hand, index and middle fingers raised. The manager took a small cigar from his pocket and placed it between Yang Seungjun’s thick fingers. As Yang Seungjun brought it to his mouth, the manager lit it with a lighter.

Exhaling smoke with a scent completely different from ordinary cigars or cigarettes, Yang Seungjun went on.

“Still, it was good for swaying public opinion somewhat. Those idiots from the Geondong Guild handled the response so damn stupidly. Sigh. If only Father were still in good health, the bill would have passed right away. Anyway.”

Yang Seungjun blew out smoke. The smoke, tinged with a purple hue, lingered in the air before slowly dissipating.

“Well, both the ruling and opposition parties are too preoccupied with next year’s general election anyway. I don’t have any expectations for this session.”

Yang Seungjun looked at the manager.

“The ruling party will win next year’s general election, right?”

In response to Yang Seungjun’s question, the manager answered.

“President Hyeon Woongryeol’s approval rating is maintaining the 70% range. Moreover, with the Awakening of an A-Rank Hunter, a so-called nationalistic fervor is generally pervasive. Given this atmosphere, I think the ruling party will likely win with a significant advantage. Actual opinion polls are also showing that trend.”

“Hmm… The official nomination process will start around February next year. Let’s see… Draft a plan to get about twenty of our people into the National Assembly.”

“T-twenty, sir?”

“What, is it difficult?”

The manager showed a troubled expression. But the words ‘It’s difficult’ or ‘It’s impossible’ did not come out of his mouth.

“…I will do my utmost to draft the plan.”

“Good. That’s more like it.”

Yang Seungjun turned his gaze back to the window.

“By the way, what on earth is that guy thinking?”

Yang Seungjun’s gaze was directed towards the National Assembly building, but what occupied his mind was not the image of the Assembly building.

“Back when he was creating the JH Guild, there was talk about dungeon sweeps and such, but what he’s actually doing…”

Yang Seungjun exhaled cigar smoke.

“Well, from the perspective of people like us, it’s a relief he hasn’t snatched our rice bowls.”

A flash of lightning lit up the sky, followed by thunder.

As he watched, Yang Seungjun’s eyes gradually grew hazy.

A woman was running through the darkness, pelted by the winter rain.

As if being chased by something, she ran with a terrified expression, looking only ahead.

“Aaah!”

With a single shriek, she fell forward.

With a frightened expression, she looked at her own ankle.

A tough whip was wrapped around her foot.

“Ugh, ughhh…”

She strained to undo the whip, but once coiled, the whip held her ankle tightly like an anaconda gripping its prey and wouldn’t let go.

“Huuuuhhh…”

The woman shed tears. While trying to undo the whip, her fingernail tore off.

Thud, thud.

Meanwhile, a man approached the woman.

The man looked at the woman struggling and crying as she tried to undo the whip and smirked.

“Don’t struggle pointlessly in advance. Even an Orc can’t get out of this once caught.”

At the man’s words, the woman raised her head and looked at him.

“P-please save me…! Save me!”

The woman screamed. But the man wasn’t flustered; instead, he smiled leisurely and drew even closer to the woman.

“This is a redevelopment zone. No matter how much you scream, lady, only cats will come, you know?”

Finally, the man reached the front of the woman.

The man slightly crouched to meet the woman at eye level.

“See, if you had just followed me nicely when I was hitting on you like a gentleman at the bar, why did we have to make things so troublesome for each other, huh? Since we’re going to do it anyway, we could have done it in a warm motel.”

The woman, who had been shouting at the top of her lungs to be saved, soon began pleading for mercy towards the man, clasping her hands together.

“P-please save me. Please… please save me…”

Seeing the woman’s state, the man laughed out loud, seemingly pleased.

After laughing for a while, the man began stroking the woman’s cheek with his hand.

“Lady. In life, you encounter all sorts of shitty things. It’s also possible to meet a Villain like me.”

At the man’s touch, the woman felt goosebumps all over her body.

She flinched and tried to avoid his touch, but for some reason, she couldn’t break free.

“But you’re lucky, lady. I at least commit only one crime at a time. This time, I just need you to let me have a nice, refreshing release.”

“Huuuuuuk…”

“The guy who got caught by me last time at that phone booth… did his neck break from the whip?”

Saying this, the man giggled repeatedly.

That drove the woman into even deeper terror.

“Now, let’s begin. It’s my first time doing this in the rain too. Hehehehehe.”

The man stood up from his spot. Then he slowly unbuckled his belt and began pulling down his pants.

Imagining the horrific event about to befall her, the woman fell into extreme fear.

Just as the man was about to pull down his pants and underwear.

“Hey, asshole, keep your damn pants on.”

A different man’s voice suddenly rang out.

The expression of the man taking off his underwear froze.

The man slowly picked up the whip handle he had placed on the ground.

The whip binding the woman’s leg loosened smoothly.

“Who the hell are you?”

The man turned towards the direction of the voice and spoke.

“Who am I? I’m the guy who catches scum like you.”

From the darkness, a man, Siguk, appeared with a sneering expression.

The moment he saw Siguk, the man’s expression froze completely.

“N-no way…”

Right after flashing a cold smile towards the man, Siguk disappeared from the spot.

Thwack-!

Siguk’s fist, having traversed space in an instant, struck the man squarely in the face.

The man flew backward, hit a utility pole, and collapsed to the ground.

“Ah, shit. That bastard got his spit on me.”

Siguk muttered while shaking off his right hand.

Siguk’s gaze turned towards the woman.

The woman was looking at Siguk with disbelief.

Siguk grinned at the woman.

“Master, confirmed. D-Rank Villain Choi Jong-tae. It’s this bastard.”

A young man crouching next to the unconscious Villain lying under the utility pole, checking something, spoke to Siguk.

Siguk nodded and approached the young man.

The young man held an umbrella over Siguk.

“I’m already wet anyway. You use it.”

After pushing the umbrella away, Siguk grabbed the hair of the collapsed Villain, Choi Jong-tae, and lifted him up.

“Yes, apprehended. The location is Yongsan-gu, Itaewon-ro…”

While the young man, JH Guild manager Park Seongjun, was calling the Superhuman Association, Siguk slapped Choi Jong-tae’s cheek to wake him up.

“Ughhh…”

Looking at the now-conscious Choi Jong-tae, Siguk spoke.

“Now, procedure is procedure. From this point, pursuant to the Special Act on Hunters, Agents, and Awakened Ones… Hey, Seongjun, which article and clause was it?”

In response to Siguk’s question, Park Seongjun, who was on the phone with the Association, answered.

“Article 33, Clause 3!”

Siguk turned his gaze back to Choi Jong-tae and spoke.

“You heard? Anyway, based on that, we are apprehending locally wanted Villain Mr. Choi Jong-tae and transferring him to the Korean Superhuman Association. All incidents occurring during the transfer from this Hunter to the Superhuman Association…”

“You son of a bitch!”

At that moment, Choi Jong-tae’s sharp fingernails flew towards Siguk’s face.

But Choi Jong-tae’s hand didn’t even get near Siguk’s face.

“…I believe I was in the middle of explaining. Any incidents during the transfer are solely the responsibility of you, the Villain.”

“Grrruuuk!”

Choi Jong-tae writhed in pain from Siguk’s grip, which felt like it would crush his wrist.

Snap-!

“Gyaaaaah!”

Just like that, Siguk broke Choi Jong-tae’s right wrist.

Choi Jong-tae collapsed as if crumbling on the spot, clutching his wrist dangling at a grotesque angle, and wailed.

“Haa… Damn, this bastard is whining so annoyingly.”

Thud-!

Siguk’s foot shot up and struck Choi Jong-tae’s chin.

Choi Jong-tae, who had been wailing in pain, lost consciousness again.

Siguk looked at Park Seongjun and asked.

“Hey, when are the Association agents coming?”

“They said it’ll take about 10 minutes?”

“What, why would it take 10 minutes?! How can they catch Villains like this?!”

Park Seongjun just shrugged his shoulders.

“Ah, shit.”

Siguk looked down at Choi Jong-tae lying collapsed in the rain, then moved to a spot sheltered from the rain.

“Are you alright?”

“Ah… Yes, th-thank you.”

“Not at all. It’s what we should do. Are you hurt anywhere? Should we call 119 for you?”

Watching Park Seongjun warmly tending to the woman who had almost been raped by the collapsed Choi Jong-tae, Siguk chuckled softly.

December 5, 2027. 15:30.

Blue House reception room.

Hyeon Woongryeol and Gu Seongguk were sitting facing each other, drinking tea and conversing.

“Two days ago, we caught another one and handed him over to the Association.”

At Gu Seongguk’s words, Hyeon Woongryeol chuckled heartily.

Gu Seongguk continued.

“Since the JH Guild was officially launched on November 14th, this is the third Villain apprehension.”

Hyeon Woongryeol, who had been chuckling at Gu Seongguk’s words, took another sip of tea and spoke while holding the teacup.

“Isn’t that a good thing? That a Hunter like Lee Siguk is catching problematic Villains for the public good, not for personal gain.”

“That may be so, but… If he was going to create a Guild and not go on dungeon Raids, but only catch Villains, wouldn’t it have been better to just join the Association? There is a bounty for helping the Association catch Villains, but it’s only 500,000 Won per head, isn’t it?”

“Hahaha. You know there are people like that, right? People who don’t want to be civil servants but want to engage in public service activities. What should I call them, like civic group types? That’s probably the category Hunter Lee Siguk falls into, isn’t he?”

“Hmm… From my perspective, it just seems like he’s meeting the minimum standard to maintain his Guild business license…”

Gu Seongguk took a sip of tea.

At Gu Seongguk’s words, Hyeon Woongryeol smiled and spoke.

“Hahaha. Regardless of intent, if the result is even one less Villain, isn’t that a happy thing for everyone?”

“That is true, but…”

“And isn’t it fortunate? That Hunter Lee Siguk or the JH Guild didn’t join the Hunter cartel.”

At Hyeon Woongryeol’s words, Gu Seongguk nodded with a stiff expression.

Hyeon Woongryeol continued.

“Recently, evidence of large-scale lobbying targeting lawmakers, regardless of party affiliation, has been detected.”

“Lobbying, you say?”

“Well, if it were the usual kind, we might turn a blind eye, but the problem is the source of these lobbying funds is the National Hunter Federation.”

When the name of the organization, the National Hunter Federation, came from Hyeon Woongryeol’s mouth, Gu Seongguk’s expression darkened further.

“After the Seoul Station Villain terror incident last time, public opinion opposing the government’s policy to support small and medium-sized Guilds began to surge rapidly.”

Hyeon Woongryeol took a sip of tea.

He looked at Gu Seongguk with an expression devoid of any smile and spoke.

“Newspaper editorials questioning whether public institutions protected by small and medium-sized Guilds are truly safe from Villain crimes are pouring out like a flood.”

“…Are you saying the National Hunter Federation is behind that?”

“There’s no evidence. But circumstantially, it’s 100%, isn’t it?”

Contrary to its name, the National Hunter Federation was composed of Masters and managers from large Guilds.

While they claimed to be for Hunter camaraderie and rights improvement, in reality, they were merely an interest group representing only the interests of large Guilds.

And one of the government policies they regarded as the biggest thorn in their side was the policy to support small and medium-sized Guilds.

Gu Seongguk took a sip of tea with a troubled expression and spoke.

“It’s only about 500 billion Won annually at most. Even that is divided among the small and medium-sized Guilds, so the amount each gets is around 2 to 3 billion Won. Sigh… For them, that’s the profit from running just two or three dungeons, but for someone else, it’s their total annual revenue, and they want to take even that away…”

At Gu Seongguk’s words, Hyeon Woongryeol nodded.

He took a sip of tea and then cautiously spoke to Gu Seongguk.

“Actually, that’s why I wanted to see the Association Chairman today.”

Gu Seongguk tilted his head in confusion.

Hyeon Woongryeol glanced around slightly and lowered his voice.

“Actually… intelligence has come in that Seo Joo-hwi, the perpetrator of the Seoul Station terror incident last time, was in contact with the Yangseon Guild before the crime.”

At Hyeon Woongryeol’s words, Gu Seongguk’s expression rapidly froze.