Chapter 138 - Chapter 138 (1/2)

Park Jong-Su's expression became sombre as he resolved himself to at least get this much out of the negotiation.

The boss-level monsters were responsible for the majority of losses suffered in dungeons. And to minimise the potential losses to his raid team, Park Jong-Su made an aggressive move and asked Jin-Woo to deal with the boss monster, instead.

'With the strength Hunter Seong Jin-Woo displayed back inside the ant tunnel, he should be able to deal with the boss monster all by himself.'

Feeling nervous that this offer would be rejected, Park Jong-Su kept his mouth shut and waited for Jin-Woo's answer. However, in a complete contrast to Park Jong-Su and his gradually-stiffening face as time ticked by....

'Keu-heuph....'

In order to hide a smirk trying to break out of his lips, Jin-Woo lifted the hand previously supporting his chin right up below his nose and covered the entirety of his mouth. Then, formed an impressive frown.

He wanted to look as if he was giving it a very serious consideration here. And it worked wonders.

Park Jong-Su forgot all about the passage of time and solely concentrated on Jin-Woo's decision, as his hands were soaked in sweat.

After a long while, Jin-Woo let out a soft sigh, and then....

"Alright."

….Continued on with what he wanted to say.

"We'll do it that way."

Park Jung-Ho's two hands, hidden under the table, clenched into tight fists.

'Yes! It's done!'

Just from hearing Jin-Woo's consent, Park Jong-Su felt that all his worries and burdens weighing down on his shoulders were being washed away.

Why did he even waste his time worrying about this problem until now? He should've done this from the very beginning.

For the first time since leaving Busan, the frozen-stiff face of Park Jong-Su broke out into a bright smile.

The only remaining thing now was to contact the Association and get the raid permit. What with Hunter Seong Jin-Woo agreeing to cooperate, there was no point in hesitating anymore.

"It's been some time since the Gate first appeared, so at the latest, we need to start the raid tomorrow."

"Then, I'll see you tomorrow."

"Ah."

Park Jong-Su stopped packing his stuff and hurriedly made a suggestion.

"Instead of that, how about we travel south together in our car?"

Since they were going to meet again tomorrow anyway, wouldn't it be more efficient to move around together, instead of making a promise like this? Park Jong-Su made his suggestion with that in mind.

"We'll guide you to the best hotel in the city, and we will also pay for your lodging."

However, there was no reason for Jin-Woo to travel a long distance inside a cramped car. All he had to do was to insert one of his Shadow Soldiers inside Park Jong-Su's shadow, and that'd be it.

With that, he'd never get lost and would never be late, either.

He sneaked a glance at the circular-shaped shadow crawling away on the floor and came up with a suitable excuse.

"I already made a prior arrangement for this evening, so it'll be difficult for me to go with you."

"Aha!"

"But, don't worry. I'll definitely make it in time."

There was no way a Master of a Guild like himself would be late to a party, after all!

It was then.

Jeong Yun-Tae, the Vice-Chair of the Knight Order, had to leave the conference suite briefly to take care of some "personal business" earlier on. He was just about to walk back inside, but he stopped and screamed at the top of his lungs.

"H-hyung-nim!!"

Park Jong-Su panicked and jumped up to take a wild look around him.

"What?! What now?!"

"The shadow! It just moved! From that side to this side!"

Park Jong-Su froze up for a second, before he stood straight back up and glared at Jeong Yun-Tae.

"Hey, Yun-Tae.... Are you drunk right now?"

"...."

Sensing the atmosphere had suddenly gotten a bit chilly all of a sudden, Jeong Yun-Tae forgot what he wanted to say and rubbed below his nose with his index finger.

"I said, are you drunk right now?"

"Uhm, I had a couple of beer as an appetizer back in the motorway service station, hyung-nim."

"Didn't I say that you gotta be more mindful when we're trying to conduct official business?"

"I'm sorry, hyung-nim."

Jeong Yun-Tae bowed to Park Jong-Su, before bowing to Jin-Woo as well.

"I'm sorry, Hunter-nim."

Park Jong-Su proceeded to push the back of Jeong Yun-Tae's head further down and bowed himself as well.

"This guy here, he means well, but he also sometimes spews out nonsense with a couple of drinks in him. I apologise if we ended up making a fuss."

"No, it's fine. I mean, shadows can move around sometimes."

And so, as the meeting was coming to an end in a friendly atmosphere, Jin-Woo's phone resting on the conference table suddenly vibrated.

Vrrrrr....

'Who's this?'

He took a look at the caller, but he couldn't recognise the number.

"Excuse me. I'll have to answer this call."

"Ah, yes."

Jin-Woo asked for his guests' understanding like a gentleman and made his exit from the conference suite. Both Jeong Yun-Tae, responsible for making a bit of racket just now, and Park Jong-Su with his nervous heart, spat out a long, long sigh of relief.

Soon after that, though, Jeong Yun-Tae tilted his head and softly muttered to himself.

"Argh, but the shadow really moved...."

"Imma just.... You!"

Jeong Yun-Tae finally shut his mouth up over this matter after being subjected to Park Jong-Su's fierce glare.

After a short silence....

Jeong Yun-Tae grew curious about the result of the negotiation and opened his mouth again.

"Hyung-nim, so, like, what happened?"

"What do you mean, what happened? He agreed to cooperate."

"Now that's great news!"

The previously-tense face of Jeong Yun-Tae brightened up immediately. A wide grin still attached to his face, he asked some more.

"By the way, did you ask him about joining our Guild?"

"Don't even bring that up. He shows me this, saying that he's making a Guild for himself."

Just like what Jin-Woo did earlier, Park Jong-Su picked up the file [List of applicants for the Guild founding member spot] and showed it to his companion.

Jeong Yun-Tae cackled to himself.

"The Guild situation in Korea has more or less been stabilised by now, so how big would his Guild get by making one at this stage? If he just joined up with ours, he'd be treated like a king, yet he's willing to go through so much pain for nothing here."

"Yeah, what a shame that is."

Park Jong-Su licked his lips in regret over the missed opportunity and tried to put the file back in its original position, but then, an application form slipped out of there. He got startled and quickly picked it back up only for his expression to freeze up right there.

"Huh?"

A photo of a rather familiar-looking woman was attached to the application form.

"Keok!"

Even Jeong Yun-Tae's expression froze up as well.

"H-hyung-nim, isn't she.....??"

Jeong Yun-Tae couldn't believe it even though he saw it with his own two eyes. Park Jong-Su nodded his head as a confirmation.

"Uh, you're right. That's the Vice-Chair of the Hunters Guild."

Jeong Yun-Tae silently observed Cha Hae-In's photo for a bit, before sneakily checking out Park Jong-Su's mood.

"Hyung-nim. Shouldn't we also do stuff like mergers and acquisitions?"

Right away, Park Jong-Su's expression crumpled.