Chapter 149

Asking me what I was trusting in to act so cocky. And using informal speech at that. I stared at the guy for a moment before speaking.

“Then what are you trusting in to act so cocky?”

This guy was not a hunter. Looking at his attire, he looked like someone who had crawled out of a place like the National Intelligence Service.

“The Korean government.”

I wore a hollow expression at his words. Trusting in the Korean government and acting cocky.

This is one of the representative mistakes people belonging to an organization make. Their organization is great, but they fail to realize that they themselves are not.

I placed my hand on the table and lightly pressed down with my index finger. The finger dug into the table like it was tofu, making a hole.

“Friend. What are you going to do if you keep scraping at my temper and I make a hole in your forehead exactly the same shape as this table?”

“Ha, are you threatening me now? This conversation is being recorded.”

Recording. So what was I supposed to do about that? I moved my index finger, which was stuck in the table, back and forth to draw a 凸 shape.

“Hey, do you think I have a cool, polite, and kind image like other famous hunters?”

The public thinks of me as a talented hunter, not a kind one. It meant that at this late stage, stories like being disappointed or not knowing I was this kind of person would not come out just because I acted cocky toward a government official.

“So, are you saying you will kill me, a government official?”

“What do you think?”

I slowly rose from my seat, leaned on the table with both hands, and thrust my face right in front of his nose.

“Do you think I will kill you? And do you think the Korean government will issue a most-wanted notice for me if I kill you?”

The guy fell silent at my words. He seemed to be trying to think of a rebuttal, but he would not be able to find one.

“If you were someone like President Jo Wonhoon, the situation would be different. But what are you? You are just one of the civil servants rolling around in the government at best.”

I placed my hand on top of his head.

“Even if I apply strength to this hand right now and make your head look like a watermelon struck by a sledgehammer, the Korean government will not move.”

In the current situation, they could move even less. Before long, the Korean government was planned to mobilize Korean hunters on a large scale to stop Gonsalok.

It meant they were in a situation where every single talented hunter was precious.

And the achievements the Headhunter had built up so far were enough to make even other hunters stick out their tongues in awe.

Unless it was after Gonsalok was dealt with, the Korean government could not touch the Headhunter right now.

“….”

The guy was looking at me with wide eyes. He was trying to look composed in his own way, but he could not hide his frantically trembling pupils and his face turned pale.

I tapped his head a few times and sat back down.

“So, let us observe etiquette with each other and talk politely while in a tense state. Would it not be better if we don't offend each other?”

The guy, who was silent for a moment, rose from his seat as if he had made a decision.

“Hunter Yoo Chan-seok, it seems there is no point in talking any further.”

He suddenly came out like this. Then… after contemplating for a moment, I laughed.

“Since it seems I will not work, I suppose you are planning to poke at Jung Oh-hoon?”

The opponent said nothing and stood up.

“You may go back. Go eat that great seolleongtang of yours.”

I readily rose from my seat, left the hotel security room, and headed toward the lodging where Han Sang-ah would be waiting.

“Ah, you are here.”

“Wow you actually prepared it.”

Three sets of seolleongtang delivered uncooked caught my eye.

“Jung Oh-hoon has not returned yet, so let us wait.”

Han Sang-ah nodded at my words and then turned her gaze to the table. A set of playing cards was arranged on the table.

“What were you doing?”

“Klondike.”

Looking at the arrangement of cards on the table, I smirked.

“It is Windows Solitaire.”

“Right, it is more famous by that name.”

While I was watching Han Sang-ah play cards for a while, the door opened with a beep. Jung Oh-hoon returned, wearing a quite serious expression.

“Mr. Jung, why that look on your face.”

“Chan-seok. I want to try and believe that I made the right judgment. Sit down for a moment, let us talk.”

I readily sat on the sofa at those words. And then, Jung Oh-hoon opened his mouth.

“Those guys in suits tried to persuade me to confess.”

“A confession huh. Seeing as you are telling me that story, it seems those friends did not get what they wanted.”

Jung Oh-hoon nodded at my words and answered.

“And it means I did not receive what they promised to give me either.”

“What did they promise?”

Jung Oh-hoon took a deep breath. I reached out to the side without a word. The hotel refrigerator opened, and a bottle of mineral water flew into my hand.

I handed that water bottle to Jung Oh-hoon. Jung Oh-hoon drank the water and then spoke.

“I was married, and now I am divorced. My ex-wife is paralyzed from the waist down. It is because of my mistake.”

“What kind of mistake?”

Jung Oh-hoon clenched and unclenched his fists several times before answering.

“My wife was a doctor and was volunteering in Yanggu. I was a hunter back then too. Anyway, we drank alcohol together in Yanggu on our wedding anniversary.”

Since it was a wedding anniversary, it was not such a grand thing.

“It was a good day, right? Both of us got intoxicated. At that time, the defense line in Yanggu was suddenly breached, and monsters began moving south.”

They said they intended to evacuate. At that time, Jung Oh-hoon was not a skilled individual, so he could not deal with the monsters moving south, and it went without saying for Jung Oh-hoon’s wife, who was a civilian.

“The transportation provided for the evacuation of civilians required a one-hour wait. My wife said we should just wait anyway. Because both of us were intoxicated.”

But Jung Oh-hoon’s thoughts seemed to have been different.

“I thought we could not wait for a whole hour. It was too dangerous. Since we had a car too….”

Jung Oh-hoon lowered his head and muttered quietly.

“It was drunk driving. Damn it. I should have just waited.”

While heavily intoxicated, he drove for the evacuation. He ended up speeding, and the result was clear.

“I am a hunter anyway, so my body is strong. An accident occurred, but I was not severely injured. But my wife was not a hunter.”

Eventually, she became paralyzed from the waist down due to the car accident.

“Because of my choice, the person I love ended up living that way for the rest of her life. There were two things that person needed.”

First, enough money to live without discomfort even while carrying a disability for life. Even when the world was normal, a large amount of money was spent for a person with paralysis to lead a proper life.

In a situation like the current one, much more money was obviously needed. Since it was not a relaxed world enough to be considerate of people with disabilities.

“I can provide the money. I am a hunter, and if I don't care about the means and methods, I can rake in money somehow. The problem is the second condition.”

A person who can always be by her side. No matter how much money there is, if there is a disability, someone must always be by her side.

“If I struggle to earn money, I cannot satisfy the second condition, can I?”

Jung Oh-hoon leaned back on the sofa and spoke.

“After divorcing her by using verbal abuse and threats, I met one of her friends and talked. I send the money I earn to my wife’s friend. That friend gives the money to my wife and looks after her.”

“I specifically chose a male friend among her friends and asked. My ex-wife is now remarried to that friend.”

Jung Oh-hoon’s ex-wife now had both the money to be fine even with a disability and the person to always be by her side.

“She is a person who became unhappy because of me, but now she has become happy. Well, it seems she curses when I appear on TV. I acted like a son of a bitch to divorce her somehow.”

I see. I wore an ambiguous expression.

“Do you think that was the best?”

“No, the best would have been me not being stubborn and waiting for the vehicle provided for evacuation.”

Jung Oh-hoon, who was scratching his head, spoke.

“I made my wife paralyzed and made her quit her life as a doctor where she felt rewarded. Damn it, no one wants to be treated by a doctor who is paralyzed. It is like the director of a hair loss center being bald.”

Jung Oh-hoon continued in a low voice.

“Still, don't say I should not have divorced her. If that person had continued to live with me… she would have had to be alone in an empty house, having lost all her dreams and hopes.”

Jung Oh-hoon took a deep breath and emptied the rest of the water bottle in his hand.

“Of course, with her personality, she would have said she was fine. But for me to not let her go in that situation would just be me holding onto her by force because of my own greed and lingering regret, even after making her like that.”

After hearing this much, I think I roughly knew what those guys in suits would have said when they sought out Jung Oh-hoon.

“Did they say they would help your ex-wife?”

“Yes. And it was not a level of support that could be fully expressed by just saying ‘I will help’. They could not threaten me with my wife’s life. Because I have quite a few people hired to protect her.”

Jung Oh-hoon raised his head and looked at me.

“I kept my mouth shut.”

“Yes, you made a good choice. I don't know how much the government promised to support, but I just have to let you earn more money than that.”

Jung Oh-hoon nodded at my words.

“I believe you have the ability to do that.”

“Look at what I have done so far. And think about what we can achieve in the future.”

I don't trust people. I suffered far too much in that other world.

But if someone trusted me and gave something up, there is an obligation to at least make sure they don't regret that choice.

At the very least, a human being should act that way.

“I have heard enough of the story, let us eat the seolleongtang.”

At my words, Jung Oh-hoon looked at the seolleongtang for a moment and said.

“You should have ordered the special size. The granddaughter of a tycoon family is cheap huh.”

Jung Oh-hoon’s voice had returned to its original state. He seemed to think he had spoiled the mood by bringing up a gloomy story. There was no need for that though.

“Mr. Jung, shut up and just eat.”

Anyway, since the person involved did not seem to want this kind of atmosphere much, I should match that.

Originally, cooking was not possible inside the hotel, but there was no such thing in the Presidential Suite. We sat at the dining table after boiling the seolleongtang.

While eating, I said as if declaring.

“When the government breaks the Gonsalok related issue and mobilizes Korean hunters, we will just have to remember this.”

Jung Oh-hoon and Han Sang-ah looked at me while eating.

“We will have to suffer like hell.”

“Hearing that story made my appetite vanish.”

Jung Oh-hoon muttered like that.

“It is different from before. If we don't produce overwhelming results at Gonsalok, a path of suffering will open the moment we return to Korea.”

The Korean government was in a situation where they even sent people to entice Jung Oh-hoon and try to threaten me. Although Han Sang-ah was somewhat free from such pressure from the Korean government….

It was not certain how long that would last either. It should be seen that the Korean government was effectively observing etiquette toward Han Sang-cheol, the Chairman of Geumyang Group. And etiquette is always discarded when the situation turns bad.

“So, what is the point.”

I immediately answered Han Sang-ah’s words.

“Let us rest well. Because from the moment the Korean government breaks the Gonsalok related issue, dirtily difficult days will unfold.”

It was something I had said before anyway. Both of them would be sufficiently prepared in their hearts.

Han Sang-ah immediately answered as if she had been waiting.

“We can rent a cabana at the hotel’s outdoor swimming pool. If we rent it for the whole day, a barbecue platter and hot dog set, brisket jjamppong and black pork tangsuyuk, four signature cocktails, 5L of beer, and five kinds of drinks are free.”

Jung Oh-hoon and I stared blankly at Han Sang-ah. Han Sang-ah, who looked back and forth between me and Jung Oh-hoon, cautiously added one more thing.

“…It is craft beer.”

“I cannot pass up craft beer and barbecue.”

Jung Oh-hoon reacted immediately.