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

Although he had recently changed sides, fundamentally, Noh Song-rin was a double agent.

Of course, it was something he was forced into doing, more or less under coercion by Kang Mu-hyuk, but unexpectedly, he found it enjoyable.

It wasn't just fun; he had a knack for it. Dealing with Kim Myung-jun was still scary, but not enough to intimidate him when he was acting. He himself found that part quite fascinating.

'Seeing how all of this has continued to this point, is it natural for me to be on Kang Mu-hyuk's side? My goodness, well, isn't this flustering?'

Noh Song-rin thought Kang Mu-hyuk chose to take him to Russia because he was a 'nobody,' but Kang Mu-hyuk thought differently.

'Jang Deok-gu may be more brutal than anyone else in front of an enemy as a Hunter, but he's not the right person for a mission that requires bending or breaking the law. There's no Hunter better suited for doing bad deeds than Noh Song-rin after all.'

Kang Mu-hyuk needed someone for the rough tasks in this matter. Noh Song-rin was the right person for the job, as he would use any and every means possible when fighting against fellow Hunters.

"That must be Kozlov."

The face of the man waiting at the arrival hall matched the local guide's photo Alex had sent in advance.

"Mr. Yuri Kozlov?"

"You must be Team Leader Kang Mu-hyuk. And this is..."

"I'm Noh Song-rin."

"Pleased to meet you. Shall we talk while moving? I've prepared a vehicle."

Kozlov hurried them along as soon as he shook hands with the two.

"There are still eyes of the Tyrant Guild all over the place. And it seems the Tyrant is staying somewhere in Vladivostok as well."

"Where did you get that information?"

"We are in contact with the Tsar Guild. There's no place in this city with better intelligence than them."

"But you were ambushed, weren't you? Without any prior warning at all."

"I have no excuse for that part. But if the opponent is the Tyrant, it's understandable. After all, he is an S-ranker, and his guild is among the top tiers in Moscow. So it's not entirely incomprehensible that we failed to detect such a sudden strike."

"They say in Vladivostok, even God doesn't know what the Tsar Guild doesn't. This is unexpected."

"The Tsar Guild is not God. Being humans, they are bound to make mistakes."

Despite it not being his fault, Kozlov couldn't lift his face. Yet, he defended the Tsar Guild.

'Is he siding with the Tsar Guild implying nothing could've been done? Is he trying to avoid conflict as a mediator, or is he being cautious since he is of Russian origin?'

Kozlov, although affiliated with the federation, was mostly a local liaison operating in Russia. He couldn't help but be sensitive to the power struggles among Russian guilds.

Kang Mu-hyuk, understanding his situation, asked, "I didn't mean to fault you for not detecting the Tyrant's surprise attack in advance. What's important now is the current location of the Tyrant. Have you identified any possible hiding places?"

"Unfortunately, we haven't pinpointed his location yet. The Tsar Guild's intelligence team is also working at full capacity, but there's so much disruptive information that it's difficult to sift through."

"Then, we should start from the source of that information."

"You mean, the intelligence team? I'm not sure how you mean to start from there...?"

When Kozlov asked, Kang Mu-hyuk spoke as if it were nothing.

"The one who sold Team Leader Yeom Soohyung's information to Igor Dudnik. We need to root out the spy first to get to work."

"!!"

Cold sweat ran down Kozlov's back.

The guild and the federation had suspected the presence of a spy, but they hadn't been able to address it directly due to Igor's immediate presence in Vladivostok.

The Tyrant's presence was just so intimidating that even Vladivostok's top guilds were thrown into panic. But in the middle of this chaos, an outsider was stepping in to catch the spy?

Which guild would allow that?

Catching the spy would be problematic in itself. It would tarnish their reputation, essentially announcing themselves as a broken guild.

In the macho culture of Russia, guild members were like brothers. Betrayal by such a 'brother,' let alone the traitor being caught by an outsider, would be more than just a humiliation; it would be akin to kneeling in submission.

'I was told to be on my guard when meeting Kang Mu-hyuk, but... This seems more challenging than I anticipated.'

Tsar Guild's master, Anton Ivanov, looked incredulously at the foreigner who had requested a private audience with him.

Though he arranged for the meeting at the behest of Kozlov, since he was familiar with the federation liaison, all the words coming out of the visitor's mouth displeased him.

Had they not been sitting across from each other at a respectable distance, he might have lost his temper and struck his head on impulse.

'Does this man have nine lives or something? He's not even a Hunter but his tone of speaking is no different from asking for a death wish.'

Seeing that Mu-hyuk had a title unheard of in Russia, made Anton wonder if Korea and Russia viewed Hunters very differently.

Yet, recalling that Hunters, regardless of nationality, age, or gender, were all the same kind of bastards, he figured that they would not be so different after all.

In a word, the behavior of the Korean in front of him could be said to have crossed the line by any standard of either country.

"So what you're saying is we should catch the spy first. And you say you're going to catch him yourself? Within an hour?"

"There's no certainty. I'm just saying let's exclude the most likely few cliques. If it works, we catch him, if not, we don't."

"Hey, Dmitry. Am I the fool here, or is this guy speaking an alien language? I can't understand a single word he's saying."

Anton shrugged his shoulders towards the Vice Guild Leader, Dmitry, making a joke. Then he immediately became serious and added, "Look, Team Leader Kang Mu-hyuk. Let me start with a premise. We don't dislike Koreans that much. Rather, we see them as good business partners, much better than those untrustworthy islanders(Japanese). I ask for your understanding so that you don't forget that."

"..."

"And now, onto my point... Oi, Korean. What nonsense are you spouting? Do you think you're invincible because you have the Federation behind you? If you don't want a hole in your head, just get lost."

At Anton's murderous aura, No Song-rin, who was beside Kang Mu-hyuk, fiddled with the outside of his pocket. He felt the curved blade of a Karambit knife.

'If I keep following Team Leader Kang here, I'm going to die of a heart attack first.'

The Tsar Guild, while a provincial city guild in Russia, could be considered between Tier and A-rank in scale compared to Korean guilds. In terms of mobilizing Hunters, even Korea's Tier guilds had nothing on them.

Why would he desperately meddle with such a guild, touching upon a topic that shouldn't be messed with, as if he was seeking death?

Having faced so many threats, Kang Mu-hyuk had grown accustomed to surviving such a murderous aura and opened his mouth, "Russian guilds consider their members as family and brothers, right?"

"Do you think I'd let a spy be for such a lousy reason?"

"It's the same in Korea. We call guild members family, meaning we live and eat together."

"Huh? Here I was thinking about your point. Are you asking me to save your family? Are you trying to seek my sympathy?"

"It's not that..."

Kang Mu-hyuk, indicating he had something urgent to say, leaned forward toward Anton, who was sitting across from him.

Anton perked up his ears, curious about what was to be said.

"I'm going all out to save my family, so it'll be every man for himself."

"!!"

"Please take that as my will here."

Having concluded that politely, Kang Mu-hyuk straightened up and leaned back on the sofa.

"You son of a-!"

"Ugh, Master Anton! Please, hold back, endure! Killing Team Leader Kang will only make things worse!"

"Let go, Kozlov! That guy's threatening me now? How dare someone who's not even a Hunter mess with me?!"

"Calm down, Guild Master! We still have the Oopoomangbawoo matter. If we act rashly, Vladivostok could be blown away."

Anton barely calmed down by the efforts of Kozlov and Dmitry.

No Song-rin, who had instinctively grasped the Karambit knife, took a breath and whispered into Kang Mu-hyuk's ear.

"Are you crazy, Team Leader?"

"This much is fine. As they said, as long as we have Oopoomangbawoo, they can't harm us."

"What kinda bullshit is that..."

Kang Mu-hyuk negotiated as if he was in a different world and No Song-rin was about to say something to him, but then gave up.

It looked risky, but Kang Mu-hyuk was always successful in leading a situation, so he didn't have anything to say to him.

Kang Mu-hyuk added another word to Anton, who was trying to calm his excitement with deep breaths.

"So, stop whatever operation you're planning by having our people kidnapped, yeah?"

"What are you talking about all of a sudden?"

"So the Tsar Guild didn't know that a Tyrant was coming to Vladivostok? Plus, you didn't notice that he was going to attack our members? And on top of that, you don't even know where he's hiding. You expect me to believe that?"

"Hmph! You think an S-ranker is a random rank like a card in deck? If we say we can't do it, no one can."

"Exactly. The Tyrant is an S-ranker. Not someone who'd hide and cower somewhere. And with his personality, there's little chance he'd hide."

 "What about Igor's nasty temper?"

"Let's just admit it now."

"What do you want me to do right now..."

"The spy who leaked our information to the tyrant. Tsar Guild. Isn't it you guys?!"

Silence fell among the people. Kozlov, who was shocked belatedly, glared at Anton and shouted.

"What is this about, Guild Master Anton? Is what Team Leader Kang Mu-hyuk said true?"

"Hahahaha!"

Anton burst into laughter. Kozlov frowned, and Kang Mu-hyuk could not relax his serious expression. As the atmosphere turned cold, Anton waved his hand and said, "Ah, sorry, sorry. How can I not laugh when he made such an absurd accusation? Look, Team Leader Kang. Why would we leak information to Igor, who is targeting us? A novel's beginning and an end gotta match for it to be appreciated. You wrote this shit up way too poorly. How can we expect to get anywhere with that?"

Kang Mu-hyuk spoke, extending his index finger.

"Firstly, you inform the Tyrant that we've found a solution to theOopoomangbawoo issue. Secondly, you entice the Tyrant to attack the Iron Will members."

"Hey, your basic premise is already flawed. Let's assume, for argument's sake, that we did entice the attack. But then we're supposed to solve the Oopoomangbawoo situation. With the Iron Will Hunters at risk of dying in the attack, who would devise such an uncertain plan?"

Anton interrupted Kang Mu-hyuk. Unperturbed, Kang Mu-hyuk responded to his question, "Uncertain? Not at all. There's no need for the Tyrant to kill our members. In fact, killing them could pose a problem. After all, the Tyrant is shackled by the Russian government. Acting on a kill-first basis is only possible in a lawless state. The natural choice would be to keep them alive for negotiations. Should I continue?"

Anton failed to stop Kang Mu-hyuk from continuing.

"Third, this is where it gets important. Thirdly, use Vladivostok's media and community to publicize the Tyrant's atrocities. Portray him as a despicable character who kidnaps the solvers of the Oopoomangbawoo situation in an attempt to take over the city. The public, already at their breaking point over the Oopoomangbawoo situation, would condemn the Russian Federal Government. Thus, make it impossible for the central government to protect the Tyrant, forcing him to let go of Vladivostok."

"Hmph! Now that's truly a real piece of fiction!"

"Before coming to Vladivostok."

"..."

"I asked the Federation for a favor. I asked them to allow me to use their best intelligence asset. Clairvoyance, was it?"

"Clairvoyance!"

Kozlov was so shocked that he covered his mouth. Anton, noticing his reaction, asked, "Clairvoyance? Do you know about it?"

"I'm not high enough in security clearance to know exactly what Clairvoyance is. But I do know it's the Federation's top intelligence asset. To think they'd let you use it... It seems the Federation really values you, Team Leader Kang Mu-hyuk."

"What exactly is Clairvoyance?"

 "I've heard it's an intelligence asset that, given the right conditions, will surely find out any information it's tasked to discover."

"I gave the Federation two keywords."

As soon as Anton finished explaining, Kang Mu-hyuk interrupted.

"Vladivostok and Igor Dudnik. I asked them to find out where he was hiding. They might have found him by now. We'll soon uncover the location he is hiding that even the Tsar Guild couldn't find him. Shall we discuss this again when that time comes?"

Anton suddenly ruffled his hair.

"Damn it! Dmitry, that's why I don't do this stuff!"

"G-guild Master..."

"Yes, I released the information. Now that we're on the topic, let me ask. How the hell did you know?"

"There's something else I'm curious about."

"Curious about? I don't know what that is, but I'm more curious here!"

Anton snapped, but Kang Mu-hyuk kept his mouth shut. Anton didn't hold out long and declared surrender.

"What are you curious about? Tell me."

"Who proposed this plan?"

Aila asked Alex about an unresolved doubt.

"Alex. Did Kang Mu-hyuk really ask for the ability to use clairvoyance? There's no way the Round Table would allow that."

"He didn't exactly ask to use Clairvoyance. He didn't even know of its existence."

"How did he use Clairvoyance then?"

"He just asked me for a few favors."

"Favors?"

"One of the things he asked for was to be informed about what the Federation's top intelligence asset was. How it works, how powerful its intelligence capability is, whether our agents in Russia are aware of its existence, and so on. He requested information."

"Just information?"

"Yes. Being affiliated with the Federation, everyone knows one or two rumors about Clairvoyance, so it wasn't particularly difficult to fulfill his request without revealing its true identity."

"And what does he plan to do with just that?"

"Well, I didn't hear exactly. But from what I've gathered, it seemed to involve a threat? Negotiation? Something along those lines... Anyway, it was one of the things he intended to use as material."

"Material? For what purpose?"

"I don't know the details, but it seems Team Leader Kang Mu-hyuk had been suspicious of the Tsar Guild from the beginning."