Against the Clock: The Team Leader’s Pursuit of Glory

"I see. I understand. I can't really say. Well, using that will depend on the situation. Whatever happens, the Federation will also have to take some risks since the reason we came here in the first place was because of the Federation's test. We should just hope it doesn't go that far. Well then, I'll contact you again."

After finishing the call with Alex, Kang Mu-hyuk made eye contact with Kozlov through the rearview mirror. Kozlov, who was curious about the content of the call, asked, "What's going on?"

"I spoke with the Federation. It seems that this situation arose due to bad blood between the Tsar Guild and the Tyrant."

"Bad blood?"

"Do you know about the 'Tragedy of Nazezhinsky'?"

"Naze... zhinsky... Of course, I know. Every Russian knows of it."

Kozlov, who was sitting in the passenger seat and giving directions, bowed his head. Suddenly, the mood in the car turned solemn, and only the voice of No Song-rin asking for directions broke the silence.

Kozlov occasionally glanced at Kang Mu-hyuk through the rearview mirror. He seemed reluctant to talk about Nazezhinsky. But when their eyes met, he sighed and opened his mouth.

"I'm not sure about the exact timing, but it must have been over 10 years ago. It was the incident when the Gate between Vladivostok and Nazezhinsky collapsed. I heard that when that happened, even a powerful boss monster crossed through the Gate. The monsters from the Gate headed towards Nazezhinsky, and I heard that most of the citizens there fell prey to them without being able to evacuate properly."

"Do you know what happened after as well?"

"I don't know anything beyond the government's announcement. That's the case for most Russians. Besides, back then, I wasn't a Hunter, so I had no way of hearing such information from another source."

"They say the Tsar Guild lured the boss monster to Nazezhinsky. To protect their own turf in Vladivostok, that is..."

"What does that have to do with Igor?"

"Apparently, at that time, the ones guarding the Gate at Nazezhinsky were the father and sister of the Tyrant, that is, the family of Dudnik brothers, Igor and Darden who are the current Tyrant Guild Guild Master, and Vice Guild Master."

"So, is that why the Tyrant Guild has been so persistent in moving into Vladivostok despite the Russian government's dissuasion?"

No Song-rin, who was driving, got distracted, causing the car to sway momentarily. Returning to their lane, Kang Mu-hyuk straightened his posture and said, "That's right. It would be right to see it as revenge."

"But what's strange is that the Tsar Guild seems unaware of that. They just think they're trying to take over Vladivostok. If it's about the incident where the Tyrant's sister died, there would have been a lot of talk at the time, and the Tsar Guild should have known."

When No Song-rin asked doubtfully, Kang Mu-hyuk answered, "Back then, the Tyrant wasn't an S-ranker. He was just a so-so Hunter from a middle-sized guild, trying to make ends meet, with his dad as the Guild Master. In contrast, even at the time of the incident, the Tsar Guild was the top guild in Vladivostok. They wouldn't have needed to figure out the circumstances of a smaller guild. Moreover, the current Tsar Guild Master wasn't the Guild Master back then."

"So, the matter just got buried and forgotten,"  Kozlov said bitterly and Kang Mu-hyuk nodded.

"That's only the case from the Tsar Guild's point of view. For them, the incident ended there, but there are still those who remember the tragedy and have been sharpening their knives."

"Those who remember? Sounds like there are others besides the Tyrant brothers?"

"Markar Voronin. They say he's a survivor from Nazezhinsky. He wants to punish the Tsar Guild for their crimes."

Screech!

Suddenly, No Song-rin hit the brakes. Not long after entering the port, a group blocked their way.

"Looks like they're from the Tyrant Guild. They seem rather manageable. What should we do, Boss? Should we just push through?"

Kang Mu-hyuk stuck his head between the driver and passenger seats to look straight ahead.

His senses, now more sensitive than ever, were catching the mana of the surrounding Hunters. The dense concentration of mana was clearly visible to his eyes.

Kang Mu-hyuk closed his tired eyes and rubbed his eyelids. Then his head started to throb.

'Seeing how clearly the mana is visible to me, it must be time to take the medicine. Looking at it for too long is tiring.'

While mana poisoning had the perk of making it easy to gauge the level of Hunters more accurately, the way he was becoming increasingly sensitive to the detection of mana over time was also proof that the medicine's effect was waning, so it wasn't entirely a good thing.

He felt the drug's effects diminishing, but he couldn't take it in advance due to the issue of tolerance. Fortunately, his body was not yet exhibiting any abnormalities. He had to endure as long as he could. He was already used to dealing with a bit of a headache.

With the vehicle stopped, Kang Mu-hyuk took deep breaths to manage his headache and organize his thoughts.

'Looks like there's one A-rank Hunter in the front. The B-rank Hunters are the ones surrounding us. On this side, there are two, A and A-. It's not impossible to break through them, but we didn't exactly come here to fight either. The problem is how they will react.'

At that moment, a voice that eased Kang Mu-hyuk's worries was heard.

"I'm warning you Koreans! Do not try to pull any foolish stunts and surrender quietly! Then, the Vice Guild Master promises not to harm you! So, don't resist..."

They got out of the car.

The Hunter Nikolayev, who Kang Mu-hyuk guessed was the only A-ranker among those surrounding them, stopped talking and stared at them intently. His gaze was particularly drawn to the last man who got out of the car.

The first two who got down the car were definitely Hunters, but that last man seemed to have no power, yet Nikolayev couldn't take his eyes off him.

'Is he their leader? I heard he's not a Hunter, but he certainly looks the part.'

 Kang Mu-hyuk stepped forward and said, "I came to have a word with your leaders. Could you show me the way?"

Nikolayev almost let out a snort of laughter.

'Is he trying to say he's a guest here and not a prisoner? He's got guts.'

Why did it matter? In front of Igor Dudnik, everyone would turn into a coward anyway.

For some reason, Nikolayev wanted to see him cower. He nodded happily.

"Since you were obedient, I'll show you the way to the Vice Guild Master."

Darden was about to tell Igor to end the fight when he heard from Nikolayev that a Korean named Kang Mu-hyuk was requesting a talk, so he just let him be.

'He's from the same guild as that woman, right? It'd be good to scare him a bit.'

Not long after, Kang Mu-hyuk and his party reached the location. Kang Mu-hyuk was more distracted by the battle at the breakwater than Darden.

"Don't worry, we have no immediate plans to kill your Guild Master."

"That sounds like you're saying you could kill her any time you want."

Kang Mu-hyuk turned his head to look at Darden.

Darden was surprised by his unshaken gaze.

"I'll get straight to the point. Please return our team members."

"I'll consider it if you promise not to attack Oopoomangbawoo."

"Don't you even care the slightest bit about the pain and fear the citizens of Vladivostok will experience?"

"There are plenty of places in Russia where people can't set foot because of monsters. That pain is not unique to this city. Moreover, you're not Russian, are you? Go back to the warm south. Leave this place to us."

"..."

"If you keep hesitating like that, your Guild Master will die."

At that moment, a subtle surge of mana was emanating from Darden's body. It seemed like he had used a skill, but it didn't appear to require a significant amount of mana.

"So it's a message skill."

It was obvious to whom the message was sent.

Afterward, with a loud shout, Ju Se-ah, who was attacked, fell behind Kang Mu-hyuk's group. The broken asphalt debris flew around. Among them, Ju Se-ah coughed up blood.

"Cough, cough... Wh-what is this? Our Guild Leader is here, huh? This is quite a sight, not fitting for a Guild Master's dignity at all."

"Are you okay?"

"An S-ranker hit me. How could I be okay?"

"Yet you're laughing. Did you hurt your head?"

"Ah, you mean this? I think I'll get the hang of it in a bit..."

A large figure landed next to Ju Se-ah.

Darden said to him, "If you've had your fun, let's call it now. At this rate, you might kill the opposing Guild Master before negotiations even start."

"You want me to hold back? The time for that has long passed."

Darden flinched as he turned to look at Igor.

"That blood..."

Igor's lips were split, bleeding. His hair was disheveled, and though no severe injuries were visible, signs of him being hit were evident.

"This bitch, is she really A+ ranker? She's been taking it seriously for a while now and is still standing. Something's off here."

While Darden was flustered, Ju Se-ah staggered to her feet.

"You're not tired of hitting, are you? I'd be disappointed. I still have a long way to go before I hit back as much as I've been hit."

"She's really so goddamn annoying. Fine, I'll kill you with all I've got."

"Both of you, please stop for a moment!"

Kang Mu-hyuk hurriedly intervened to prevent the two from clashing again.

"What's your deal now?"

"Guild Leader Kang, I'm fine. His fist has the impact of a cotton candy."

Provoked by Ju Se-ah, Igor bristled with a murderous aura, which Darden could not just watch silently.

"Brother!"

At Darden's shout, Igor turned around.

"Don't forget what's truly important because of this fight."

Instantly, Igor's murderous aura vanished. The change was so abrupt that Kang Mu-hyuk was dumbfounded.

Darden was just as confused. He felt there was something unusual about Igor's reaction.

'Igor is perceiving that woman as an enemy. To him, an enemy is only someone strong enough to be a threat to him. Could it be that the woman is an S-ranker?'

As a lull suddenly fell, Kang Mu-hyuk quickly spoke before another fight could break out.

"Nazezhinsky!"

Both Igor and Darden glared at him simultaneously.

"You've been used by the survivors of Nazezhinsky. Do you realize all of this is a conspiracy they've plotted?"

"Pfft! Here I was wondering what it would be."

Darden let out a scoff, and Kang Mu-hyuk's expression hardened.

"As I thought. You knew already."

"Of course. Did you think we'd be swayed by those scum? From the moment they first approached us, wagging their tails, wanting to destroy the Tsar Guild, we saw right through their dark intentions."

"Does that include their intention to bring the Tyrant Guild's reputation to the ground?"

"Of course. But it doesn't matter. Because people only see the results. Even if they complain now, as long as we handle it somehow, they'll forget this ever happened."

Darden crossed his arms and confidently continued, "For example, we frame it like this: 'We, the great Russians, will resolve Oopoomangbawoo with our own strength, not with outside forces!' This is our justification. Having interfered with the Tsar Guild's affairs won't be a big issue. Why? Because Igor Dudnik, Russia's pride and an S-rank Hunter, will step forward to protect us."

Kang Mu-hyuk understood the plan Darden had devised.

It wasn't just about solving the Oopoomangbawoo issue and pushing out the Tsar Guild to take over Vladivostok. Through this incident, he aimed to revive the Tyrant's image in the public as well.

Just as Kang Mu-hyuk had done with the orc tribe raid, overlaying the image of a guardian guild on Iron Will.

'Would the survivors of Nazhensky have been unaware of this?'

It seemed somewhat implausible to think they were being knowingly used. To Kang Mu-hyuk, Makar definitely seemed to harbor hostility even towards the Tyrant.

'Listening to Darden, it seems they figured out about the plan to tarnish the Tyrant's image on their own, not from Makar. That means Makar was indeed preparing to corner the Tyrant politically along with the fall of the Tsar Guild. And that got exposed.'

In other words, the intention was to cause trouble for both sides.

In a way, the Tyrant and Makar were in the same boat. Both had lost family in Nazezhinsky due to the choices of the Tsar Guild.

Yet, to think Makar also intended to turn the blade of revenge against the Tyrant. He couldn't fathom why.

'I don't know about other things, but one thing is certain. They prepared for this revenge for over 10 years. Makar will never let things go as Darden intends.'

The expression of Makar, who seemed calm even when captured, came to his mind. This series of events wasn't over yet. He had a premonition that something unpredictable would happen if they stalled for time.

With no other choice, Kang Mu-hyuk decided he had to use the last resort he had informed Alex about, which could be considered a threat or a scam.

'I'll have to apologize to the Federation... but it's important to restrain the Tyrant Guild for now, so-'

He recalled the contents of Alex's last report, which had confirmed his suspicions, and spoke.

"It seems you are the naïve ones here. Do you really think the survivors of Nazezhinsky will just leave you alone?"

"..."

"They were clearly displaying hostility towards your Guild Master. Did they really get used by you, unaware of how things would turn out?"

"So what's your point?"

Instead of asking why Kang Mu-hyuk was saying such things, Darden asked him what he intended to convey.

'That means I hit a nerve.'

It was clear that there was something yet unrevealed between the Tyrant and the survivors of Nazezhinsky.

"The survivors of Nazezhinsky have more influence than you think in many places."

"Many places? The Vladivostok administration? The Kremlin? It doesn't matter to us which one. We're fine. We can just listen to the complaints. No one has the guts to say anything to an S-ranker anyway."

"Do you think just the Kremlin is the end of it? Even with the support of the Russian people, they don't even have the slightest bit of power to stop a Hunter."

Kang Mu-hyuk shook his head, causing Darden to tilt his head in confusion. Everyone around them drew question marks over their heads, not understanding the situation.

Just when everyone became curious, Kang Mu-hyuk spoke up.

"The World Hunter Federation. Did you know that the Federation also had a hand in the background of this incident?"

"What bull crap..."

"Mr. Yuri Kozlov."

Kang Mu-hyuk turned to look beside him. Kozlov, facing him, had shaky eyes.

"I hoped it wasn't you."

Kozlov remained silent. Darden, completely failing to grasp the situation, asked irritably,  "What the hell did this Federation guy do?!"

Kang Mu-hyuk sighed and answered, "Mr. Kozlov from the Federation is also a survivor of Nazezhinsky."