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

It was a lodge prepared in a quiet place on the outskirts of Seoul. A fairly large plot of land that was used privately, and the only people in the vicinity were the Chairman's attendants.

The sedan carrying Kang Mu-hyuk came to a stop at the entrance to the lodge. The security guard protecting the lodge ran over to open the rear seat.

At a glance, it was a polite attitude fitting for entertaining a guest, but it could turn into the exact opposite depending on the Chairman's decision.

"This way."

Kang Mu-hyuk moved towards the place led by Director Jung.

As he neared the entrance to the lodge, a strange sight caught Kang Mu-hyuk's eye.

A man was seen sipping a beverage at a shaded table under a parasol. Unlike the other guards, he seemed nothing special at first glance, but for some reason, his eyes kept being drawn to him.

Kang Mu-hyuk slowed his pace, unable to take his eyes off the man, and scrutinized him closely.

Finally, as the man turned his head and their eyes met, a stinging sensation pricked the back of his neck. An uncomfortable feeling. It felt like he had seen something unsettling and dangerous.

He stopped in his tracks and stared intently at the man. Only when the man's face emerged from the shadow did his features become clear.

'That person is...!' Kang Mu-hyuk's eyes twitched.

"Chairman is waiting for you. Please, quickly..." Director Jung tried to hurry Kang Mu-hyuk but stopped abruptly when he saw the man rising from under the parasol.

"It's fine. It's fine. Nobody's going to die if we make that gentleman wait a bit." The man faced Director Jung with a smirk and casual tone before he extended his hand to Kang Mu-hyuk as if to shake it.

"My name is Kim Myung-jun. I work under Chairman Tae, handling various tasks."

"I'm Kang Mu-hyuk. I am also, in effect, under Chairman Tae. In a way, we're like family."

Kang Mu-hyuk grasped Kim Myung-jun's hand. A stench wafted from his mouth---a foul smell without the odor of falsehood. Kang Mu-hyuk knew who the man was.

'Kim Myung-jun. Executive of Han Sung Enterprises. Originally from Ujungdo, a prison mate of Noh Song-rin. A lackey of the Slayer Guild.'

This was the man from Han Sung Enterprises who had urged Noh Song-rin to get Gong Du-ri to hack. He hadn't expected him to pop up here. No, on second thought, it wasn't strange.

Chairman Tae had created the Taesung Guild with the support of the Slayer Guild, and although Han Sung Enterprises seemed to be a small-to-medium-sized business that handled item post-processing, it reeked the stench of the Slayer Guild.

The connection between Chairman Tae and Han Sung Enterprises was overflowing.

'Maybe Director Jung is also part of Han Sung Enterprises. I wondered why such a capable Hunter would be under Chairman Tae. It's not inconceivable if one thought of him as an outsourced manpower.'

Kang Mu-hyuk quickly assessed the situation in his mind and spoke without being shaken.

"Would you care to give me a business card? We might end up doing business together in the future."

"Shall I?" Kim Myung-jun fumbled awkwardly with his hand inside his jacket's breast pocket, then his outer pockets and waistband before scrunching up his face.

"Aigoo! What to do? I forgot my business card. Haha, what's so important about a scrap of paper like that? If the Chairman needs it, he will be able to connect you to me."

"You must be close with the Chairman."

"It's not so much that we're close, but he often seeks me out because I do my job well."

"You must be a contract employee then. I'm what you'd call a regular employee."

At this jesting comment, Kim Myung-jun's lips quivered and then sealed shut. It was because the words indirectly implied that he wasn't a member of the group.

As Kang Mu-hyuk attempted to continue the conversation, Director Jung interrupted, "The Chairman is waiting."

Kang Mu-hyuk raised his eyebrows. Director Jung's tone was one of asking permission from Kim Myung-jun.

'Director Jung seems to be wary of Kim Myung-jun. The hierarchy is clear.'

Kim Myung-jun didn't hold him back any further. He said to Kang Mu-hyuk, "Go on then. Rich and powerful people seem to grow more impatient as they age."

"That's too bad. You seem to be one of the few people I could have a real conversation within this dreary place."

"It's not just today. We will meet again."

"Next time, I hope it's a bit longer."

Kang Mu-hyuk turned back the way he had come. Director Jung continued to guide him, his face still expressionless. Glancing back, Kang Mu-hyuk saw Kim Myung-jun wave with a smiling face. To anyone watching, they might have seemed close.

"Not being a Hunter sure makes one brash. I can understand why Ju Se-ah's recent actions have been so aggressive. With a guy like that around. This will make things bothersome."

Kim Myung-jun spoke to himself, wiping away his smile, clicking his tongue a few times as he watched Kang Mu-hyuk's retreating back, his expression one of genuine difficulty.

"What about the promise?"

The question was abruptly thrown out with a menacing face. Tae Jin-sung, while wiping away accumulated dust, had tightened his characteristically stubborn lips.

"It failed. Guild Master Ju Se-ah was just too good."

"Is it not because you lack ability?"

"Rather than lacking ability, it felt unfair."

"Unfair?"

"What's the use of ruining my career to just take over the guild?"

"You're not hungry enough, that's why. You have to starve to realize how comfortable and well-fed you are now." Tae Jin-sung clicked his tongue, scolding.

Kang Mu-hyuk snickered, and whether it was because he felt the insolence in that gesture or not, a vein popped on Tae Jin-sung's forehead.

"If you slaughter the cow just because you're hungry now, how will you plant the next crop? Ultimately, the foundation of the guild is the Hunters. There's no reason to follow a failed non-Hunter leader. You knew that when you easily agreed to my request for the Guild Master position, didn't you?"

"You asked for that position, knowing all that?"

"If I hadn't made that proposal, would my sincerity have been conveyed? I probably wouldn't have been able to face the Chairman then."

"And now you think you can?"

At Tae Jin-sung's words, Director Jung, who had been standing at the entrance to the study, stepped forward.

Kang Mu-hyuk felt a blatant killing intent from behind him as he continued to speak, "When I work with someone, I value a 'win-win' situation. Back then, I was caught off guard and couldn't make a proposal that would satisfy the Chairman."

"Looking at your long-winded speech, it seems like you're trying to fish something out. Keep going."

Kang Mu-hyuk inhaled deeply before speaking, as if exhaling his words, "The point is, isn't it okay if Guild Master Ju Se-ah comes under your shadow, Chairman?"

"One is simply not in my shadow just because one is in the guild."

"I don't know the reason, but I know that you treat the guild as your own child. So here's what I propose. What about completely severing the connection of the child you've already let out from the family register?"

"Stop beating around the bush and get to the point."

"Please list the Iron Will Guild."

"!!"

At the sudden proposal, Tae Jin-sung's eyes widened.

Listing the guild? Even for an A-rank guild, that was a challenging task. In fact, there were very few A-rank guilds that had been listed. Most were Tier-ed Guilds. But for Iron Will, barely making it to C-rank, to even speak of listing was absolutely stupefying.

It was natural for Tae Jin-sung to make a face as if he had been unexpectedly slapped.

'Without Guild Master Ju Se-ah, it's a guild that would generously be classified as C-rank. As it stands with Iron Will.'

Kang Mu-hyuk knew his proposal was outrageous but thought it wasn't entirely impossible.

The reason was precisely the existence of the Taesung Group. Perhaps Tae Jin-sung sensed Kang Mu-hyuk's intentions as he scoffed incredulously.

"If you're tossing that proposal thinking 'Taesung will make it work,' then it's quite disappointing."

"I know there are a few ambiguously listed companies among the dozens of Taesung affiliates. It happens that Taesung Machinery is struggling right now. It wouldn't be bad for us to take over, with a decent appearance arranged."

"Hmph! You mean to say you would even attempt a backdoor listing? To my knowledge, there has been no guild that has used such a method."

"That's because it's a guild."

"Because it's a guild?"

"Most people still don't think of a guild as a business. Neither do the Hunters."

"Earn that much money and not think of it as a business? That's a humorous thought."

"That humorous thought is reality. It's even ambiguously expressed in the Guild Law."

Seven years ago, the National Assembly tightened the Guild Law's shackles to prevent tax evasion by guilds making significant profits. But it was challenging to define a guild, an organization closely tied to monster security, solely as a business entity.

Loose and ambiguous legal provisions could be interpreted as either a collar or an earring. Moreover, the public still tended to see guilds as some sort of heroic group. Hunters defined themselves somewhere between profit-driven activity and heroic deeds. Therefore, guild operations flowed differently from ordinary business activities or economic structures.

Even if someone noticed these loopholes, it was regarded as a sacred area by someone and couldn't be easily touched.

"So, let's say we list it. What do I gain?" Tae Jin-sung asked, as if testing the waters.

"Firstly, you naturally bring Guild Master Ju Se-ah into the group. Having been at Titan, I've seen that a corporation isn't something the Guild Master can control at will. In Taesung, the guild, which is currently a semi-independent organization, officially becomes a group-listed affiliate."

"...The second is?" Tae Jin-sung couldn't deny the thrill in his ears, even though he considered it reckless.

Kang Mu-hyuk, who had noticed that subtle change in emotion, spoke up at once.

"When it becomes a corporation, we can even turn the Guild Master into a contracted salaried worker. Guild Master Ju Se-ah has no significant stake in Iron Will. It's not the Hunter's rank that dictates the power, but the shareholders."

Before he knew it, Tae Jin-sung's hand, which had been wiping the blade, had stopped.

That evening.

Kang Mu-hyuk sought out a luxury bar to secretly meet someone.

It was the same VIP bar where he had met Tae Jin-sung's second son, Tae Soo-man, but the difference was that today's host managed the place directly, so the security was even more stringent.

As Kang Mu-hyuk sat down in the private room set with fine whiskey and appetizers, the door opened and the host entered.

The protagonist was Oh Jung-su of Hanju Group.

"It's been a while, Guild Leader Kang. I never got to congratulate you on the successful suppression of the Goblins in North Pocheon. I should come to visit Sanjeong Lake sometime."

"Thank you. I couldn't ask someone as busy as Director Oh to come and visit. I should be the one visiting."

"Is everything going smoothly?"

"Between the last Ampule Kit and the construction company connection this time, thanks to your help, it's progressing well."

"Oh, don't mention those, haha. I feel uncomfortable just giving you the phone number of a medium-sized construction company we occasionally worked with since our Hanju Group couldn't directly intervene."

They sat down and poured each other drinks, but neither of them touched it to their lips.

After exchanging pleasantries and updates, Kang Mu-hyuk brought up the main subject.

"Have you bought the stocks?"

"I've bought as much as possible since it's not that expensive, but..."

"We can't proceed in the name of Hanju."

"Yes. We have people managing that. We're collecting it under a different name, so it won't be noticeable. But why Taesung Machinery...?"

"That's still a secret..."

"Hanju and Iron Will, aren't they friends? On the same boat."

"Well, it would be shameless to hide it from the one who is helping. We're trying to secure a friendly stake."

Contemplating Kang Mu-hyuk's response, Oh Jung-su asked with an incredulous look.

"Are you planning to acquire Taesung Machinery through Iron Will?"

"Yes. We're preparing for the public listing through them."

At Kang Mu-hyuk's definite answer, Oh Jung-su's face turned to one of utter shock as he froze.