Ch. 232 - You Just Need To Close Your Eyes for a Moment.
Against the Clock: The Team Leader’s Pursuit of GloryThis chapter is broken. Please report this on discord.
This chapter is broken. Please report this on discord.
Thomas kept opening and closing his palms, mimicking the gripping motion like a newborn.
The wind of mana flowed between his fingers and he felt water pooling in his palm and fire burning in his core. Everything around him was made of mana—the buildings, the people, all of it. Only then did Thomas begin to feel at ease with mana.
“You seem stable.”
“I can’t keep this up for long. I need get things done before I lose control.”
“What’s the plan?”
“All bee-type monsters are sensitive to sound.”
“Most monsters have good hearing.”
“The bee-type monster is even worse. A loud noise can stimulate the entire hive. That’s because they’re a swarm species that actively communicate with each other. They perceive sound as an attack from the enemy and instinctively eliminate threats before they can endanger the hive.”
“So you're saying something triggered them?”
“Or, maybe, it was an attack.”
In other words, someone had stirred up a whole army of wasps.
“Oh? Wait, don’t tell me the method you mentioned earlier was…?”
“I’ll lure them with sound. Of course, that means they’ll see us as enemies, and you’ll be in danger. You just need to hold the line while I prepare my magic.”
“That’s fine by me. But if sound is the bait, it has to be loud. Do you have a way to do that?”
“It’s not my own creation, but it should work.”
Thomas smiled confidently.
***
“Eul-ji, are you okay?”
Kim Nari looked at Go Eul-ji with concern. She was staring ahead blankly, not even wiping the blood from her nose. Seeing her bloody face, Nari felt sorry for Eulji. She took out a handkerchief to clean the dried blood, but it wouldn’t come off easily. She went to the bathroom but it was a mess, making it almost embarrassing for her to move around, so she picked up a water bottle lying on the floor and washed Go Eul-ji’s face.
“Come on, do “humm~” Blow your nose so the blood comes out.”
“Humm!”
“There, that’s better. Let me see… Okay. No more blood from the nose. Are you hurt anywhere else?”
"Nope."
“Then what’s wrong? Do you feel unwell?”
“No, I’m fine physically. It’s just… my heart hurts.”
“Why?”
“Because I can’t forgive myself.”
“But you did great today. You were incredible. You saved so many people.”
“But I abandoned my oppas. I’m a useless piece of trash. If I were a real fan, I should’ve dropped everything and gone to save them.”
“The BTA members… they’re all safe. The event staff said so earlier.”
“That’s a relief, but… still, I abandoned them because of my duty as a hunter. It’s shocking that I made that choice.”
Kim Nari understood Go Eul-ji’s feelings. Go Eul-ji wasn’t a crazy stalker fan, but she was definitely a hardcore one. For years, she had barely gone outside. She had even gone against her maternal grandfather’s wishes—the man who had lovingly raised her to be a hunter—just to join a guild, all for the sake of affording a meal ticket for his idol. That alone was proof of how much he loved BTA.
“Eul-ji, I think you’re mistaken. If you hadn’t stopped the monsters here, BTA oppas would’ve been in danger too. That’s why you’re the most loyal fan.”
“R-really?”
“Of course~!”
“Right? So I was right to do that, huh?”
“I acknowledge you as a true fan of BTA.”
“I-I do too.”
Suddenly, a tongue-twisted Korean voice came from beside her. Go Eul-ji turned her head and saw a foreigner raising her hand—the blonde girl he had saved earlier.
“Oh? You’re safe too. That’s a relief.”
“Thank you for your help, Sanyangkun(hunter).”
“You’re pretty good at Korean. But you don’t have to call me ‘Hunter’ in Korean.”
“Okay. Hunter girl.”
“That’s even worse. You sound so awkward. I have an interpreter, so just speak in English. We seem to be around the same age, so talk comfortably.”
Go Eul-ji tapped the brooch on her lapel. The girl let out a small sigh of relief, as if a weight had been lifted from her chest, and then continued speaking.
“Ha, thank goodness. I did learn Korean, but I’m self-taught, so I’m not very good at it. My name is Catherine. Thank you so much for saving me earlier.”
“Ayy, don’t mention it… We have to help each other to survive.”
“Not a big deal? No way. Thanks to you, Miss Hunter, everyone is safe.”
Catherine looked around and gestured at the crowd. Only then did Go Eul-ji notice the gazes of the people gathered around. Their eyes were filled with respect and admiration. It was overwhelming for her as she had spent most of her life in hiding, far from the spotlight.
“Please tell me your name, Hunter. I will remember it for the rest of my life.”
“Yes, please tell us!”
“I wish you good health and good fortune, Hunter.”
“Thank you for saving us.”
At Catherine’s words, the crowd erupted. Their voices blended into a unified cheer, that was deafening and soon, someone started clapping. Before she knew it, the entire crowd joined in.
“No, I can’t tell you my name… Ugh, this is too much.”
Go Eul-ji whispered to Kim Nari. She didn’t dislike the attention, but she had never received this kind of public praise before. She had no idea how to handle it. Just as she was struggling to figure out how to react, a message suddenly popped into her mind.
"Oi, kid."
"No Songrin?"
"You’re getting way too comfortable. You don’t even call me ‘ahjussi’ anymore?, huh"
"Ahjussi?"
"Somehow, that feels even worse."
“You don’t like this or that. By the way, you suddenly used your message skill because there’s trouble on your end, right?"
"Yeah. A swarm of flesh-eating wasps is wreaking havoc in the city. All communications are completely cut off. I had to move within range of my message skill just to contact you, so I'm a bit late. Did the concert get attacked too?"
"Ah, the concert… the one I’d been waiting for this for months…"
"Judging by your tone, it looks like you handled it somehow. Anyway, the Guild Leader wants you to join us."
"Is Guild Leader Kang okay?"
"That guy? You think he’d go down so easily? If anyone should be worried, it’s the wasps."
"Oh! Are we going hunting?"
"Yeah. Apparently we’re attacking a wasp nest."
“Come on, a raid in the middle of my vacation? At this rate, this isn’t just overtime—it’s practically slave labour."
"By the way, I heard the rest of the concert is being cancelled."
"I’ve been cursed, no doubt."
"Since the overseas schedule was a mess, the group said that when they get back, they’ll only focus on domestic performances for a while. That means you can finally use the meal vouchers you’ve been saving up."
"So, where’s Guild Leader Kang Mu-hyuk?"
"At the Hunter Criminal Force." Go Eul-ji replied with a serious expression.
"The Guild Leader... They finally caught him. He should’ve not crossed the limits."
"They didn’t catch him. He went there because he had business.”
"Ahjussi, again? Was one trip to Ujungdo not enough for you?"
"I-It’s not what you think..."
No Songrin trailed off. It wasn’t just because he felt wronged—he genuinely felt like he’d be dragged into an American villain prison. His head throbbed as past traumas resurfaced.
People came into view as Go Eul-ji checked the location of the Hunter Crime Force. Everyone around her had serious expressions, pretending not to notice anything while secretly exchanging messages. Their unease was obvious.
In a country where hunters were used as entertainment content daily, they noticed that Go Eulji was using messaging skills. They were curious as to what she was talking about but were even more anxious about the thought the fact that her movements could change depending on the contents of the message. If Go Eul-ji left, what would happen to them?
.
"Ahjussi, going there isn’t the problem. I don’t know what to do here. I’m a little confused."
"What do you mean?"
"If what you said is true, then wasps are swarming all over the city. If I leave here and this place gets attacked, what happens to the people then?"
「… … .」
"You don’t have an answer either, do you?"
"I’ll go to the Hunter Crime Force, ask the Guild Leader, and get back to you. Just wait."
"When exactly are you going there?"
No reply. The message skill had gone out of range.
"What did they say?" Kim Nari asked.
Go Eul-ji leaned in and whispered. "It looks like this isn’t the only place under attack. There’s chaos all over LA. The Guild Leader told me to join them, but after hearing about the situation here, he told me to stand by. Looks like I’ll be joining the raid."
"Raid?!"
Kim Nari instinctively raised her voice out of shock and Go Eulji covered her mouth. But by then, the word raid had already spread like wildfire among the people there. The cheers from earlier turned into a roar. People began realizing that the concert hall wasn’t the only place under attack. Fear spread as they pieced together the situation—even communications were cut off.
Some recalled the Gate Out incident from last spring, and in an instant, panic set in. Go Eul-ji wanted to calm the crowd, but she didn’t know how. No matter how skilled she was, she was still just a teenager.
‘How does Guild Leader Kang handle things like this? I can’t just beat everyone into submission…’
***
There wasn’t much Kang Mu-hyuk could do immediately. He had given valuable advice, but this was America—a place where his influence was nonexistent.
‘Even if the Guild Master is an S-rank, she’s still just a rookie S-ranker. A hunter with no real standing in the global community. That’s why my words don’t carry any weight here.’
He had considered using the World Hunters Federation as a connection, but that was risky.
The power dynamics between the Federation, politics, Super S, and the major U.S. guilds were too delicate. One misstep and it could backfire horribly.
‘Wherever the Federation goes, it attracts the hatred of the large guilds.’
These two forces were constantly at odds. He couldn’t use the two without a comprehensive plan. As he mulled over his next move, Hamilton returned to the bunker a while later.
"It’s just as you predicted, Guild Leader Kang. The Ithaca Guild has shut down its headquarters."
"The Ithaca Guild?"
"I heard from the branch manager that their reputation isn’t great to begin with."
"Even if their reputation is bad, their skills aren’t. If a major guild like that pulls out, the smaller and medium guilds will follow suit. And the other large guilds, the ones who’re just watching for now, will use this as an excuse to retreat too."
"They’re basically putting themselves shooting themselves in the foot."
"No. They might actually be playing it smart."
"Smart?"
"At first, they'll take heat for it. But once more guilds start leaving LA, it’ll be brushed aside in the end. If they start using the defecting major guilds as a scapegoat to justify themselves, the ones who were slow to act will be the ones in a pinch. So they’ll have no choice but to align and steer public opinion together.”
In the hunter world, it was not pure black and white; in fact it was shaded by grey. Someone who was a hero today could be a villain tomorrow. Ironically, someone who was always the good guy was considered strange.
Hamilton, being well-versed in how things work in this field, spoke with deep concern.
"Then our top priority should be warning the other guilds."
"Warnings won’t work when their life is on the line."
"Then what do we do?"
"Can I borrow the White House’s name for a bit?"
"You mean...?”
"Give me a few official powers, and I’ll pressure a couple of major guilds."
“How?”
"It’s simple, Mr. Hamilton. All you need to do is turn a blind eye to the East’s request for a moment.”