Chapter 1555 – 1555. 성유니콘
A storm of bone-deep torment had passed. The guy became more polite.
“Name.”
He answered my question with a look as if his will to live had been stripped away.
“…Kim Hang-seok.”
I looked at the watch on my wrist. The letter O was displayed. It meant he wasn’t lying.
‘I wasted time tenderizing him with bone-deep torment. I only have five minutes left to use the lie detector.’
I had to ask questions quickly if I didn’t want to waste time.
“Tell me your affiliation.”
“There’s nothing really to call an affiliation. We’re just hunting dogs hired by them.”
The watch displayed O. It wasn’t a lie. At least, this guy didn’t feel any sense of belonging.
“So you’re a contractor?”
“Something like that. It’d be more accurate to say we’re exclusive contractors. They use us, and we get their money.”
“But you said you were the execution team earlier?”
“We’re the execution team because we do as we’re told.”
Kim Hang-seok’s eyes darted around. Unlike his very anxious expression, everything he said was the truth.
“You said Noh Ji-soo isn’t your boss, right? Is there someone above Noh Ji-soo?”
“Noh Ji-soo’s Five Sads is just one of the guilds that teamed up with the Hwangha Gate. It’s just one axis of the Triangle.”
“Triangle?”
“It refers to the three guilds that have contracts with the Hwangha Gate. Five Sads, No Count, and Hamchorom.”
No Count and Hamchorom. I hadn’t heard of those guilds. It wasn’t strange, considering I wouldn’t have known about Five Sads if it weren’t for Oh Jun-hyuk.
“They’re all black guilds, I presume. Are they all selling drugs?”
“Yes. No Count is mainly in charge of drug distribution. Five Sads increases new addicts in clubs, and Hamchorom focuses on only the most important clients.”
“Quite organized. What about the Hwangha Gate?”
“The Hwangha Gate provides the drugs and manages the Triangle. The Hwangha Gate is the one that hired us.”
This was also the truth.
A certain situation came to mind. Noh Ji-soo, the guild master of Five Sads, had reported me to the Hwangha Gate, and the Hwangha Gate had decided to deal with me without hesitation.
“Are you only targeting me?”
“Our mission is just to kill you. We don’t touch the target’s family. That draws too much attention. Unless your family knows something, that is….”
“A murder to silence them, huh.”
Oh Jun-hyuk wasn’t a target. Either Noh Ji-soo hadn’t told the Hwangha Gate about Oh Jun-hyuk, or they thought he was easy to deal with.
“How involved is Noh Ji-soo?”
“Noh Ji-soo was the one who gave us information about you. That damn bitch… She didn’t even say you’d be this strong.”
Kim Hang-seok gritted his teeth.
Noh Ji-soo must have said I was a promising but merely B-rank hunter. It was only yesterday that I went to Five Sads and caused a ruckus. There hadn’t been much time to investigate me.
“Do you know who else is involved?”
“I know that some high-ranking government officials in South Korea are involved. I heard that one of the executives of the Association is also cooperating.”
“Why? What’s so lacking? Did the Hwangha Gate find their weaknesses?”
“Human greed is endless.”
“So it’s about money. Tell me their names.”
“I only know some of them.”
“I know, just tell me.”
“…I’ll tell you everything. So please, just kill me cleanly.”
He rattled off the names of the high-ranking government officials involved. I frowned. The Triangle’s power was bigger than I had thought.
‘This isn’t something I can handle alone.’
I killed Kim Hang-seok and fell into thought.
‘Even if I use all my connections, it won’t be enough. Baek Ji-eun, an executive of the Korean Hunter Association, can keep the other executives in check, but… what about the rest?’
Should I ask Ha Seung-hee to borrow the power of Sejin Group? Sejin Group was a corporation. They couldn’t use their power if the targets were high-ranking government officials. Wealth and power were different. You could wield power with wealth, but there was no reason for Sejin Group to spend money just for me. Even if they did spend money, they wouldn’t be able to completely control the power.
‘I need power to handle this. Power….’
There was no option to lie low. They tried to kill me. Our relationship was already screwed, so I’d kill them before they killed me.
‘I can’t stand being on the receiving end.’
I thought of the powerful people in South Korea. Among them, the person who could be called the most powerful.
‘Should I put an Absolute Hypnosis Sticker on the president?’
I had 2,000 points right now. If I earned just 1,000 more points, I could buy the Absolute Hypnosis Sticker.
‘The current president doesn’t have much time left in office. Spending 3,000 points on that president is a bit….’
I excluded the president.
Ministers came to mind. No matter how I thought about it, they didn’t seem like such great figures.
‘Damn it. I don’t know the power structure well because this is reality. President, ministers, members of the National Assembly…. They’re all just for show.’
I thought of fictional works. In fiction, the power structure didn’t always follow the titles. There were many cases where even those with high titles were just puppets. There were also forces that controlled power from behind. There was no reason why reality couldn’t be the same.
‘Even if there aren’t forces controlling from behind, the ones with real power must be separate. I need to find that out first.’
If I controlled that powerful person with the Absolute Hypnosis Sticker, I could have a sweet time.
‘Let’s go out of the dungeon and ask Baek Ji-eun. She’s an executive of the Korean Hunter Association, so she’ll know the power flow in South Korea well.’
•••
-Hwangha Gate? Five Sads? Flash Powder? Triangle?
A woman’s voice, sounding as if she was dumbfounded, came from the smartphone. It was Baek Ji-eun, an executive of the Association.
-What the hell are you getting into?
“I heard that one of the Association’s executives is also involved.”
-Even an Association executive? That’s messed up.
“You sound cheerful for someone in that situation.”
-Wouldn’t my influence increase if one of the Association’s executives is gone? Who is that executive? I’ll cooperate in sending that executive to hell, no matter what. If they belong to the Association, I can’t forgive them for doing such crap, but more than anything, my path to success is important.
“Was his name Choi Ma-woong?”
-Ah, that bastard? I knew he was shady, but I didn’t think he’d be involved in something like this. Good. I didn’t like him from the start.
“What are you going to do? You’re not going to charge in recklessly, are you?”
-Do you think this older sister would act like you? I’m going to report him to the Association President with evidence. The President really hates this kind of thing, if nothing else. I can just pick up the crumbs that fall afterward.
“The President doesn’t hesitate to throw out his own family. That’s unexpected.”
-There’s no such thing as family in this world. The Association is not a warm place, if nothing else. If you’re careless, you’ll get your head chopped off. Anyway, thanks for the information. I’ll find the evidence myself. It seems hard to wipe out all the people involved… Choi Ma-woong. I’ll make sure to get rid of that guy for sure.
“I’m not asking you to do everything. Just tell me how the power flows in South Korea. Not just what’s publicly known.”
-Hmm. So you’re interested in this kind of thing too? You wouldn’t want common information…. Okay. I’ll give you some top-secret information. Do you know the Five Great Families of Korea?
“I know. I learned about them in school. They’re also hunter families, right?”
The so-called prestigious hunter families. That was the Five Great Families of Korea.
The Dongcheong Shin Family (東靑 申家), the Namjeok Ok Family (南赤 玉家), the Seohuk Hyun Family (西黑 玄家), the Bukbaek Son Family (北白 孫家), and the Cheonju Hwang Family (天柱 黃家).
Among them, the Cheonju Hwang Family was said to be the best. But there was almost no information about the Hwang Family. There was so little known about them.
-The Five Great Families are martial families with a long history. Their starting point goes beyond the Goguryeo era to the Joseon Dynasty. There were monsters even back then, and the Five Great Families have been hunting monsters ever since. The Korean Hunter Association is also influenced by the Five Great Families, so why would politics be any different? Even the president can’t treat the Five Great Families carelessly. It’s even said that more than 30% of the current power holders in South Korea are from the Five Great Families.
“I didn’t know they were that great. So they’ve been running everything themselves all this time. But why is South Korea so quiet?”
-Because there’s nothing particularly bad about it? The Five Great Families have basically lived for South Korea. They’re not loyal to a king or anything.
“It’ll be difficult if those guys are involved in this.”
-That’s unlikely.
“Why are you so sure?”
-The Five Great Families haven’t just been hunting monsters. When foreign enemies invaded, they fought for this land more actively than anyone else. Which country do you think the Five Great Families hate the most?
“…Japan?”
-Correct. And the next one?
“…China?”
-You know well. You said the Hwangha Gate is a black guild from China, right? There’s almost no chance that the Five Great Families would team up with a black guild from China. The Five Great Families have a great sense of pride.
“So if I just leak this information to the Five Great Families, they’ll take care of it themselves?”
-Well, it won’t be that easy. The Five Great Families haven’t directly intervened in almost ten years. They won’t directly intervene unless it’s a truly worst-case scenario.
“So there needs to be something else to move the Five Great Families. Thanks. I have a better idea of what to do now. Can you connect me with the Bukbaek Son Family?”
-Sorry. I’ve never even greeted anyone from the Bukbaek Son Family. But I can introduce you to the Seohuk Hyun Family.
“No, it’s okay.”
I knew about the Seohuk Hyun Family. They held the medical community of South Korea in their hands. It wouldn’t be strange to say they dominated it.
The reason I wanted to meet the Bukbaek Son Family was because I had something to trade with them. I wouldn’t get anything by meeting the other Five Great Families.
“More importantly. My friend wants to get a job at the Hunter Association. Can you make a spot for him?”
-Hmm. I’m not so sure about just anyone.
“He’s D-rank. He’s not skilled, but he’s a good guy. He’s graduating from university this time.”
-D-rank is a bit low to put under me. But well, I can make a small spot for him.
“Thanks, sis. I’ll treat you later.”
-I’m going to eat something expensive.
“Whatever.”
