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

"It's a trap. Did you forget? He tried to kill you."

When Anton tried stopping Kang Mu-hyuk, Makar eagerly suggested.

-If you really can't trust me, you can bring a bodyguard, but only one. And it should be someone who only follows your orders, not from the Tsar Guild. Ah, I think that fierce-eyed person who blocked my attack last time would be good.

As Makar openly suggested No Song-rin, Kang Mu-hyuk initially suspected it was a trap. However, he soon realized that the current situation did not explain his actions.

'Now that everything is exposed, what'll he gain by catching me? He's way too clever for this to be just simple retaliation. He even has the patience to have waited over ten years for revenge. He mentioned the condition about the bodyguard casually, but he must have thought of it beforehand.'

Moreover, he didn't even ask for the release of his comrades, meaning he wasn't thinking about the aftermath. He must have some other intent. It seemed that there were things he could only say to Kang Mu-hyuk in the absence of the Tsar Guild involved.

'Whether I go or not, Makar is going to proceed with his plan. Team leaders Yeom and Pyo need time to get acquainted with the raid plan. I should meet him first and stall for time.'

Kang Mu-hyuk readily accepted Makar's request.

"Where?"

"Team Leader Kang!"

Anton exclaimed in shock.

Makar smiled and added.

-I figured you'd accept the offer. Ulichyamiralla, Yumasheva 79. It's a supermarket so it should be easy to find. See you in an hour."

Anton glared at the screen. As their eyes met, Makar added as if he had forgotten.

-Oh, right! Almost forgot. I meant to show you this.

Soon after, the smartphone screen switched to the rear camera, and a separate monitor came into view.

On the monitor, a massive creature was seen crouching.

"Oopoomangbawoo..."

Anton couldn't continue his words.

Seeing the surrounding buildings damaged here and there, it was clear this wasn't a recording of a past scene; it meant it was live.

'How did he install the camera?'

Makar responded as if answering his question.

-I installed it way back.

"Way back? Were you planning to provoke Oopoomangbawoo from the start?"

-That's not the important part. Look down there, look at that.

Makar manipulated the monitor to zoom in on one side of the video.

-The oval, round thing. It's an egg. Laid by Oopoomangbawoo.

"!!"

-Do you know what this is?

He turned the rear camera back and showed a small switch resembling a car remote.

-It's a detonator for a bomb installed in Oopoomangbawoo's egg.

"You can't be serious...!"

-I've placed a small bomb under the egg. There were two in total; I've already triggered one. That's why Oopoomangbawoo got agitated. The remaining one hasn't gone off yet so it didn't go far. It's still in the nest, protecting it but what will happen if the other one also explodes?

Anton bit his lower lip at Makar's threat.

"Are you telling us not to try to pull any stunts?"

-You've understood well. Just stay quiet while I talk with Guild Leader Kang. Even if you send Hunters, they won't be able to stop me from pressing this detonation switch.

"Th-this bastard... You've crossed the line of what I can tolerate."

Kang Mu-hyuk calmed down the enraged Anton.

"See you in an hour. Okay, then."

He hung up the call without waiting for Makar's response and said, "We don't have time. Please have the Tsar Guild prepare a raid team to support the Oopoomangbawoo raid."

"Is there really a way out?"

"I will share the raid plans with you. You can judge after you see them."

Released from the Tyrant Guild, Pyo Beom-hee was relieved to see familiar faces in the Tsar Guild.

While Kang Mu-hyuk was away, she got the lowdown from No Song-rin and gasped in surprise.

"Wow, Mr. Ko was a spy? Inside the Federation? That is a proper betrayal!"

"Thanks to this, we'll have a lot more to leave out from the Federation in the future."

When Kang Mu-hyuk responded so casually, Pyo Beom-hee was once again impressed by how he handled the whole chaos.

"I just asked Kozlov to call you thinking, 'somehow it will work out.' I didn't think I'd actually be released. What's your secret? How did you manage to convince the Tyrant to let us go?"

"Because we needed both of you to capture Oopoomangbawoo."

"What does that mean? If it weren't for Oopoomangbawoo, you would have just left us there?"

"Of course not."

"Whatever happened, I don't have the courage to face you right now."

Yeom Soo-hyung, who had fallen into a trap of the enemy and became a prisoner, thus hindering Kang Mu-hyuk's efforts, bowed his head in shame.

As someone strict with himself, this was a blow to his pride.

"So, Oopoomangbawoo has started making its move? It seems very agitated. Will the original plan still work?"

"Even if Team Leader Yeom had become a giant and tried to lead him away, it would have failed. Because of the egg, there was no way Oopoomangbawoo would have quietly followed. That's why we need Team Leader Pyo."

"Me?"

"When we sent you to Russia paired with Team Leader Yeom, it wasn't just to support him. We had a Plan B in mind."

"What's Plan B now?"

"It's about your trait, Team Leader Pyo. We need to control Oopoomangbawoo's poison."

"This man. Why do you wanna kill me?"

Pyo Beom-hee was shocked and jumped up.

"With Team Leader Pyo Beom-hee's ability to control poison, shouldn't a regular raid work out somehow?"

"You're taking revenge on me right now, aren't you? After saying that it'll 'somehow work out'? Please tell me you're joking."

"I'm serious."

Pyo Beom-hee looked distressed.

"Do you realize how potent Oopoomangbawoo's poison is? A Hunter can resist it with mana, but that only works as long as their mana holds out. I bet I'd run out of mana before I could control all the poison. And do you know how much of the poison there is? Even I won't be able to contain the amount of poison which is enough to destroy a whole city."

"What if we prepare a vessel for it?"

"A vessel?"

Kang Mu-hyuk picked and showed her a picture on his smartphone.

"What's this? This black and round thing."

"It's something borrowed from the Federation. They call it 'Poison Well'."

"Poison Well?"

"It's a unique-grade artifact that can store and extract poison."

"Gasp! U-Unique!"

Pyo Beom-hee was startled and dropped the smartphone. Even though she wasn't physically holding the Poison Well, she picked up the smartphone with reverence, as if it were a sacred relic.

"You borrowed a unique-grade item?"

"I originally intended to get an item that could hold poison through the Guild Cooperation Agency, but there was nothing suitable to handle Oopoomangbawoo's poison. Luckily, I found this when I searched the Federation."

"No. That's not the point. It's a unique grade! There are only a few of those even in Korea! And they just lent it out like that?"

"They made a mistake, after all. It's not like we asked them to give it; borrowing it was something they couldn't easily refuse. Moreover, artifacts with special abilities like the Poison Well are hard to find a proper handler for. They agreed to lend it when we promised to make good use of it and return it since it had been sitting in storage for so long."

Ju Se-ah, filling in for the stunned Pyo Beom-hee, who was overwhelmed by the thought of handling a unique artifact, raised an objection.

"Even if the Federation sends it, wouldn't it be difficult for it to arrive in time?"

"It's already in Russia, currently being transported from the airport."

"That quickly?"

"As I said, we had prepared Plan B in advance. When we heard that things had gone awry in Russia, we immediately requested it from the Federation, and fortunately, it arrived just in time."

Ju Se-ah was astounded, throwing up her hands.

'I really want to open up his head and see. How far ahead is he thinking?'

While most raids prepared Plans B, C, and D, Kang Mu-hyuk did that at a completely different scale. Who else could manage to extract a unique artifact from the Federation?

Especially for a raid on a creature like Oopoomangbawoo, where there existed few historical examples and strategies, devising new methods was no small feat.

'And all that on top of there's the matter with the Tyrant, turning this whole thing into chaos.'

Besides, he had Ju Se-ah smuggled into the country, and even exposed the identities of the traitors conspiring in the Tsar Guild and the Federation. It was astonishing to think back on how he managed to methodically solve tasks that would overwhelm most people.

"You will have 30 minutes to learn how to control the Poison Well. I will stall Makar in the meantime, so please wait at the designated location. There's no time to brief the rest of the plan, so please refer to the plan document."

"Just 30 minutes...?"

Before Pyo Beom-hee could complain, Kang Mu-hyuk left the room with No Song-rin, leaving Ju Se-ah behind to console her.

"You know Guild Leader Kang can be a bit sudden, don't you? I'll support you, so let's try to make it work."

"Well, we've been through a lot together, so it's not that I don't know him. But he seems worse than before."

"As serious as the situation is, it can't be helped."

Pyo Beom-hee understood that too.

This wasn't her first time experiencing a raid organized in haste, and for a veteran like her, the raid plan document was sufficient. Because if the poison could be handled, Oopoomangbawoo would not be a difficult opponent.

However, that didn't mean her mission was easy. Handling the unique artifact, the Poison Well, was challenging in itself.

People often thought artifacts worked just by holding them, but in reality, they were quite complex to operate. Countless artifacts were such that any misuse could harm not only monsters but also oneself or one's teammates.

Moreover, dealing with poison was an even more sensitive matter. And now a unique-grade artifact?

It was common knowledge that the higher the grade, the more difficult it was to control.

Pyo Beom-hee lamented in a dying voice, "No matter how much I think about it, I must have done something wrong to have Guild Leader Kang assign me this task."

Kang Mu-hyuk headed to the address Makar had given. He saw a fairly spacious supermarket by the roadside. It was a single-story building, and the area looked like a ghost town, giving the market an eerie feel.

As agreed, No Song-rin was the only guard with him. However, at a considerable distance, Hunters sent by Anton who were trailing them were on standby. They were there to capture Makar if necessary.

Kang Mu-hyuk repeatedly warned them to keep their distance. Only after Anton repeatedly assured him that he would not act rashly, with the Oopoomangbawoo on his mind, did Kang Mu-hyuk step into the supermarket.

As he walked deeper inside, a voice from the darkness stopped Kang Mu-hyuk in his tracks.

"You really came."

No Song-rin blocked the front.

"You don't need to be so guarded. I really called you here just for a conversation."

"Before we talk, I just have one question."

"Go ahead."

"It's purely hypothetical, but does this egg have anything to do with Oopoomangbawoo entering Vladivostok?"

"Why do you think that?"

"Just looking at the pre-installed camera and the bombs, it's too contrived to say that Oopoomangbawoo laid the egg after settling here, don't you think? It doesn't seem like a coincidence."

Makar clapped his hands at Kang Mu-hyuk's suspicious tone.

"I haven't known you long, but I'm really impressed."

"That means you brought Oopoomangbawoo to Vladivostok."

"Of course, it's unlikely that Oopoomangbawoo came to Vladivostok by coincidence. They say heaven helps those who help themselves. Such luck wouldn't come to me on its own."

"Did you steal the egg to lure Oopoomangbawoo here?"

"When I first discovered Oopoomangbawoo in the Demonic Realm, I rejoiced. I thought heaven was giving us a chance to get revenge. After spending a long time fostering discord with the Tyrant Guild and utilizing the Tyrant's grudge, the moment to shine had arrived. But we were missing a spark to ignite this powder keg."

"And that's when the Federation made the expedition offer?"

"That was truly the helping hand of the heavens. Who knew there was another Hunter with giant transformation ability? It was the perfect opportunity to mobilize those hesitant Dudnik brothers."

Makar's voice was excited. He seemed genuinely delighted.

Kang Mu-hyuk, damping his spirits, said, "But it ultimately failed. I ruined your plan. Wasn't it more of a judgment from heaven against you, rather than help?"

"Judgment. Judgment, you say..."

Makar's voice, which had been lively just moments ago, fell to a somber tone.

"Who is it that should be judged? You tell me."

"..."

"Is it the Tsar Guild, which lured Gate monsters and boss monsters to Nazezhinsky, causing the death of 300,000 citizens? Or is it Igor Dudnik, who, after losing his father and sister who died defending the city from monsters, resented the survivors and committed a massacre? Tell me who should the judgment be brought upon."

"So 700,000 Vladivostok citizens should die too?"

"I told you. People remember tragedy only when it becomes their own."

Makar twisted his face into a mad smile as he laughed.

"Don't be ridiculous! Do you think tragedy is so easily forgotten? Tragedy can only be forgotten when it no longer occurs. I can just look at you, and tell. You can't forget, can you?!"

Kang Mu-hyuk countered Makar's madness with anger, then shouted with an even more fierce expression.

Suddenly, Makar pointed at Kang Mu-hyuk and laughed brightly.

"Yes, exactly, that's it. That's why I wanted to talk to you."

"What?"

"Whether my plan fails or succeeds, it ends with my death or capture. Honestly, I don't care about my own safety. But the world needs to know about this. So how should I let this story be known?"

"..."

"I originally planned to take over a broadcast station, but that plan fell through. And with most of my comrades captured, who would I tell? The internet? It's dominated by the Russian government. They could manipulate it any time, and the internet can be shut down too. And I can't complain to the Russians. Who can live in Russia after opposing the guilds?"

"So you're telling a foreigner instead? Why would you trust me?"

"I don't trust you. Instead, I've looked into your background. Kozlov sent it to me, you see."

Kang Mu-hyuk had been focusing on the detonator that Makar had been fiddling with from the beginning. His hand movements, squeezing and releasing, were becoming faster.

It was clear that the time to end what Makar had planned was approaching.

Makar's speech quickened.

"You lost your family to monsters, and your dream of becoming an awakened Hunter is over now as well. Despite that, you still joined the guild and became the head of the Strategy Team, right? As a civilian too, that is! A person who fights to the end. That perseverance. You're like us. Like you said, you also can't ever forget that time. Because like us seeking revenge, you too seek revenge against the monsters. I'm sure you'd make an excellent messenger."

Kang Mu-hyuk calmly looked at Makar. His gaze held neither sympathy nor empathy.

"You're mistaken."

"??"

"I have no intention of becoming a messenger for someone obsessed with revenge."

"You might understand us if you think about it a bit more..."

"But let me make one thing clear."

"What..."

"You're nothing but a villain exploiting the tragedy of Nazezhinsky."