Chapter 240 - You Just Witnessed It

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Jang Deuk-gu and his party had no choice but to pass through Culver City in the west. The fastest route from the hotel to the concert venue was southwest, but cutting through the city that was swarming with carnivorous hornets would have taken a significant chunk of time and stamina. They had no choice but to follow a path with fewer hornets, taking a longer detour westward before heading south. The problem was, they couldn’t just ignore the residential areas of Culver City.

The group Jang Deuk-gu had been rescuing quickly grew in size, becoming too much for him to handle alone. Thomas also helped by injecting himself with an even smaller dose than the one he had used back at the hotel, and Johanna, who had accidentally joined them, also helped. But since the number of additional survivors was too many, they struggled to keep up.

Jang Deuk-gu suggested asking for help from other hunters, and Thomas volunteered to be their guide since he knew all the guild bases in LA. Once Jang Deuk-gu managed to gather the reluctant hunters through his unique style of persuasion, they were able to complete the rescue operation in no time. After rescuing Culver City as quickly as possible, they handed off the cleanup to one of the most influential mid-tier guilds in the area and immediately changed course to the south.

While heading south, they managed to get in contact with Kang Moo-hyuk’s team, who were moving northward.

“I'm glad to see everyone made it out safely. Is Hunter Thomas doing all right?”

“I’m managing it thanks to the medicine you gave me.”

“I heard from Eul-ji that you used magic?”

"I could, after adjusting the dosage. Though the effect doesn’t last very long."

"If you keep using it in short intervals, it could have adverse effects on your body. Try to take it easy for now.”

"I was already at my limit—I wasn’t planning to push myself any further."

After checking on Thomas’s condition, Kang Moo-hyuk turned his attention to Johanna.

“And who might this be?”

“This is Johanna Ceretti, an A-rank Hunter from the Italian Gloria Guild. She’s been a great help on our way here.”

Jang Deuk-gu introduced her, and Johanna waved it off like it was no big deal. Kang Moo-hyuk studied her for a moment, then smiled and reached out to shake her hand.

“Thank you for helping our guild members. If you don’t mind me asking, what brings you to LA?”

“Why do you ask?”

“Well, the Gloria Guild is known as one of the top-tier guilds in Italy. I was just a bit surprised to see a high-ranking hunter in the U.S. during the busiest quarter of the year.”

“It’s nothing special—I’m on vacation.”

“Vacation?”

“Technically, I’m on a sabbatical. I just happened to get caught up in all this while traveling the world.”

“I see. I was just curious, no need to overthink it.”

Kang Moo-hyuk let it slide with a casual remark, but in his mind, he was already piecing together Johanna’s profile.

‘If she’s high-ranking in the Gloria Guild, she’s definitely skilled. I’ve never heard of a hunter taking a sabbatical, so there’s probably more to her story. Since we're already in the U.S., maybe we should consider reorganizing our guild into a multinational one. After all, there’s no shortage of hunters in this place.’

Following Thomas, Johanna, too, was an excellent hunter to recruit. Fueled by his ambition to recruit talent, Kang Moo-hyuk swiftly devised a new plan and spoke up—

"Now that we’ve assembled our whole team, things should go much more smoothly from here."

“What are you planning to do?”

At Jang Deuk-gu’s question, Kang Mu-hyeok laid out his next move. Listening from the side, Thomas tilted his head and spoke up.

“I’m saying this as someone from Ithaca…that guild would’ve been the first to run when things went south. They’re not the type to stand their ground and fight monsters head-on.”

“That’s why I’m trying to bring in O.C.”

“O.C.?”

“Out of all the Hunter factions in LA, the one that stands to lose the most if the city falls is O.C. Given how long you've been active here, Hunter Thomas, I’m sure you probably know why."

It was something that any hunter with even a passing interest in LA’s power structure could have guessed. O.C. was an organization that brought freelance hunters into the spotlight. The fact that such an organization existed at all showed how poorly freelancers were treated.

‘Freelancers on the West Coast can at least make ends meet. But on the East Coast, guild turf wars are brutal. And the central region has poor infrastructure. Freelancers rely on cities to survive. If that foundation is destroyed, they will inevitably lose their jobs.’

It was rare for freelancers to accumulate a large fortune. Unlike guild members, they had to buy all their equipment and supplies with their own money. Even if they managed to sell a high-value monster corpse or get lucky with a skill book, they had to spend the money on upgrading their gear. Since they didn’t have savings, they often had to team up for hunts, take government quests, or help out with guild work. All this hinged on a functioning city. So if a city fell, the freelance hunter economy would sink with it. Thomas understood what Kang Moo-hyuk was trying to do, but he wasn’t sure if it would work.

“But O.C. isn’t any different from the other guilds, they’re not making any moves either. From what I’ve seen, the only freelancers doing anything are the few Mr. Jang roped in back in Culver City.”

“That’s an understandable move. If they know anything about the carnivorous hornets, they’re probably waiting to see how things play out before making a move. Our job is to give them a reason to make that decision a little faster.”

“I’m not sure they’ll take the bait. The LA branch manager isn’t someone to take lightly…there’s a reason he’s such a controversial figure. No guilds in LA have ever been able to keep him in check.”

“That's expected. The big guilds have never treated O.C. as an equal at the negotiating table. To them, it's just a disorganized group with no real foundation. Since they’ve never acknowledged O.C., they’ve never bothered to engage properly. Plus, Ithaca has been at odds with the O.C. since its inception, so they're going to bite on that.”

After hearing the rest of Kang Moo-hyuk’s explanation, Thomas couldn’t help but be impressed, letting out a low whistle.

“There may be challenges when it comes to execution, but the overall strategy is solid. I’m honestly impressed you came up with all this in such a short time.”

"It’s too soon to be impressed. We still need to find a way to bring Ithaca on board. We'll also be laying the groundwork in the meantime."

“Laying the groundwork…? Oh. You mean that.”

“Yes, that.”

“Stop!”

Go Eul-ji raised her hand and interrupted the conversation. Everyone’s attention immediately shifted to her.

“What are you two even talking about?”

“Oh, I’d like to know that too,” Noh Song-rin added, raising his hand.

Johanna followed suit, only to blush and slowly lower her hand. Jang Deuk-gu, as if he wasn’t interested from the beginning, just stared off at a distant building.

“Can you please speak in a way we can actually follow? At first, I could kind of keep up, but then you just dropped the subject and everything—how are we supposed to understand that?”

“It’s nothing serious. It’s just about me transferring to Iron Will.”

“Oh, transferring? Huh? Transferring? Thomas, are you joining our guild?”

“Yes. Captain Kang made me an offer.”

At Thomas’s words, Go Eul-ji stepped in closer. She cupped her hand over her mouth and whispered into his ear.

“If you’re being threatened by the Captain, blink three times.”

Thomas didn’t understand what Go Eul-ji was talking about, so he just blinked silently. Go Eul-ji jumped in surprise.

“For real?! Wow, I didn’t think our Captain was that bad… How could you force a sick person to join? That’s illegal, you know. Just be satisfied with me as your victim and let Thomas go. Don’t bully someone who’s lower-ranked!"

“Hunter Go Eul-ji, were you ever a victim?”

“You’re the one who threw me to the Guildmaster, you evil Captain! I was on vacation, and you worked me to the bone!”

“That’s pretty harsh. I’m not someone who makes people work during their vacation."

Even Johanna, who’d been silent the whole time, gave Kang Moo-hyuk a look like he was the worst captain ever.

"Noted. I’ll be sure to report your complaints to the Guildmaster to stop picking on you."

"Ack! That’s not what I meant! Are you trying to get me killed?!"

"That, Hunter Go Eul-ji, is what we call a threat."

“…”

"What I offered to Thomas Hunter was a proposal. And to you, Hunter Go Eul-ji, I made a very good offer. Think about it—when you get back home, you’ve got a dinner scheduled with BTA. They call that a reward in this industry, right? You’ll be a successful fangirl. Still upset about your vacation being cut short? If you really feel that way, we can cancel your contract. Of course, that means no living the dream as a successful fangirl anymore."

“I-I’m sooorryyy~!”

“No. I’m afraid I can’t let this slide. I’ll be terminating your current contract.”

“P-please, Captain, anything but that…”

“Then let me propose a new deal—one extra meal voucher with BTA, a limited-edition item exchange, and a birthday song performance for Hunter Go Eul-ji."

“!!”

“In return, the contract period will be just a bit longer.”

“Y-yes! That’s totally fine. I don’t mind at all! Let’s sign it right now!”

Noh Song-rin used a message skill on Go Eul-ji, whose eyes had gone blank like she was in a trance.

「Hey, run away.」

Only then did Go Eul-ji snap out of it and quickly cover her mouth.

“Gasp!”

Kang Moo-hyuk took his phone out of his pocket and tapped through an app on the screen.

“The words you just said about signing the contract were recorded. If you back out, I’ll see you in court.”

“You devil…”

“If you still want to back out, you’ll need to start by having a meeting with the Guild Master.”

“Even Satan would bow down to you, Captain…”

“We’ll also offer you the best salary and benefits in this industry for your rank. How does this figure look?"

Kang Moo-hyuk opened his smartphone calculator, wrote down the numbers, and showed it to Go Eul-ji.

"Did I say Satan (사탄 Satan)? Slip of the tongue—I meant candy (사탕 Satang). Yes, candy. Even candy would bow down to you, Captain, you're just that sweet. Hahaha."

“Then I’ll take that as a yes to the contract. Hahaha.”

Seeing the two of them laughing together, Johanna cautiously asked Jang Deuk-gu.

“…What just happened?”

“Exactly what you saw. You just witnessed Korea’s top rookie getting scammed.”

Johanna was left speechless by Jang Deuk-gu's blunt response. His tone was flat, but the content sounded like he was joking.

‘What is with these people? Isn’t this supposed to be a serious situation? And now they’re suddenly renegotiating a contract? Is this some kind of cultural difference? How can they be so relaxed right now?’

Johanna did her best to stay sane. The look Kang Mu-hyuk had given her just moments ago flashed through her mind. She had a gut feeling that whatever shady move he pulled on Go Eul-ji was headed her way next.

‘I need to be careful, at least until this situation is over.’

The concerns about carnivorous hornets had disappeared from her mind.

– Ladies and gentlemen on board, may I have your attention please. This flight from Incheon to Los Angeles is scheduled to arrive in about seven hours. We may experience some strong turbulence along the way, so please stay calm and follow the crew’s instructions for your safety.

After the in-flight announcement ended, the hunter in first class pulled an eye mask over her eyes and leaned back in her seat.

"Guess I’ll be there after a quick nap. I wonder if Captain Kang is doing well?"