Chapter 308 – Part 2 – The New Team Leader

“D-don’t be ridiculous! Surrender my ass!”

An Gi-hyeon was about to shout when he flinched.

A trickle of blood flowed down from his throat where the dagger touched.

“Don’t move. You’ll die if you do. Oh, of course you’ll die even if you don’t surrender.”

“What the hell, you bastard?”

An Gi-hyeon, who was about to shout again at Choi Seong-min’s provocation, clamped his mouth shut.

‘Fuck. He’s got it pressed right against me so I can’t even swallow my saliva?’

Moreover, what about those eyes?

‘Those are the eyes of someone hoping I’ll die by accident.’

Only then could An Gi-hyeon regain his reason.

Because if he died, he wouldn’t even be able to plan revenge.

“I-I surrender.”

“You made a wise decision.”

Only then did Choi Seong-min withdraw the dagger from his throat.

“It was a good match. Team Leader.”

He politely offered a handshake first, but it happened to be with his right hand.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I forgot you don’t have a hand.”

Then he switched hands, but An Gi-hyeon couldn’t help but be furious.

‘This shameless bastard! He’s definitely doing it on purpose to mock me!’

Humiliated, An Gi-hyeon ignored the hand Choi Seong-min extended.

Because shaking hands here would make him feel even more miserable.

“What just happened? Did the team leader surrender?”

“Don’t tell me he already lost? This anticlimactically?”

“He had a dagger to his throat. Then he lost.”

“How did he close the distance in the blink of an eye?”

“Wasn’t that Choi Seong-min hunter the same D-rank as us?”

Among the spectators, no one had properly seen Choi Seong-min’s movement.

They were all similar D-rank hunters, and since expectations were low, most hadn’t been concentrating.

In the midst of this, the only one who properly saw every movement was Song Chi-hyeon, who was A-rank.

‘He used the Sprint skill and closed the distance in one go.’

Being able to read thoughts, he could even tell what skill Choi Seong-min had used.

That wasn’t all.

He could also know in advance what strategies the two had planned before the match.

‘Both had the strategy of striking first as soon as it started.’

The strategies were the same, and Choi Seong-min won because he was faster.

That was all.

‘But Choi Seong-min’s movement was much faster than I expected. Did he match his equipment options around movement speed?’

His reflexes also seemed to already exceed D-rank level.

‘That guy’s combat power is definitely not 20,000.’

Otherwise, there’s no way he could beat C-rank An Gi-hyeon in 1 second.

“As you can see, the martial prowess exam is Choi Seong-min’s victory. Therefore, the next Hunter Management Department Team 2 Leader is confirmed to be Choi Seong-min. Choi Seong-min, to commemorate becoming team leader, greet the employees.”

At Song Chi-hyeon’s announcement, Choi Seong-min stepped forward.

“Hello, I am Hunter Choi Seong-min, who will be taking the Team 2 Leader position. Let’s work well together from now on.”

When the formal introduction ended, formal applause erupted.

Although he had entered as a parachute appointment, he had proven his intelligence and martial prowess in front of everyone.

He had proven his qualifications to become team leader.

‘Choi Seong-min, that son of a bitch……!’

Of course, there would be employees like An Gi-hyeon who wouldn’t acknowledge it.

But since the Great Hero had personally placed him, they couldn’t openly express dissatisfaction.

They could only grind their teeth silently like An Gi-hyeon.

Grind-

An Gi-hyeon quietly slipped out from among the people, leaving the applause behind.

---

‘Fuck, shit!!!’

Is this what they mean when they say a rolling stone displaces a fixed stone?

An Gi-hyeon, who was heading home, felt uncontrollable anger toward Choi Seong-min.

‘That bastard! I’ll definitely repay the humiliation I suffered this time. Not just this time, but all the humiliation from last time too, everything!’

Whether intentional or not, he had to step down from the team leader position because of that guy.

And embarrassingly, in front of his subordinate employees.

It couldn’t help but be a disgrace as team leader.

That wasn’t all.

Grind-

An Gi-hyeon’s face crumpled like paper when he looked at his wrist.

‘Every time I see this empty wrist, anger toward that guy wells up and I’m going crazy.’

But he couldn’t get satisfying revenge either.

That might be why.

He still couldn’t give up his lingering attachment and was dreaming of revenge.

‘If only the ambush succeeds…… If I can just injure that guy first, I can definitely win!’

He acknowledges that Choi Seong-min is fast.

Honestly, it’s true that he couldn’t even react during the match.

‘But that’s all. That guy’s only advantage is being fast!’

If he could just restrain that fast movement, he was confident he could definitely win.

‘I need to cut his legs first with an ambush. Tomorrow I’ll approach pretending to apologize, then slash from behind……’

While having such thoughts.

“You still haven’t come to your senses.”

Suddenly a third party’s voice was heard.

“Huh, wh-who is it?”

When the startled An Gi-hyeon turned around, a familiar face came into view.

“Gr-Great Hero-nim?”

It was none other than Song Chi-hyeon.

‘Why did that bastard suddenly appear?’

While cursing the Great Hero inwardly, he outwardly bowed his head and showed respect.

“Hello, Great Hero-nim. Do you perhaps have something to say to me……”

“I find guys like you the most disgusting. Acting obsequious on the outside while cursing in all sorts of ways inside.”

“Pardon?”

Step step step-

An Gi-hyeon sensed a strange atmosphere from the Great Hero walking toward him.

His expression and tone were cold and heavy, unlike usual.

Most of all.

‘Why, why is he armed?’

The sight of him armed with armor and sword was enough to bring up anxious thoughts.

‘I-I need to run away.’

An Gi-hyeon, who instinctively felt danger, hesitated and stepped back.

But when his heels touched something and he turned around, it was a dead-end alley.

‘Ah.’

Only then did An Gi-hyeon realize.

That Song Chi-hyeon had driven him into a mouse hole.

That he might die here.

“Gr-Great Hero-nim. Why are you doing this……”

“I told you, you’re disgusting.”

“……”

Facing Song Chi-hyeon up close, he could definitely feel it.

The killing intent emanating from his eyes.

“Did you think you could survive after daring to insult me?”

“Great Hero-nim, that’s……!”

“Making excuses again? Why do guys like you all have the same reaction?”

“……”

“Do you think I don’t know what you’re thinking right now? You’re thinking of all sorts of ways to get out of this situation. Right now you were thinking of kneeling and begging desperately, weren’t you?”

An Gi-hyeon’s eyes widened.

“H-how……”

“It’s useless anyway. Since I know there’s no sincerity, none of the methods you thought of will work.”

Song Chi-hyeon smirked as he looked at the despairing An Gi-hyeon.

“Disgusting bastard whose outside and inside are different. Acting polite on the outside while badmouthing superiors inside.”

“……”

“Of course, I’m not in a position to talk about others either. Just thinking about Kwak Min-cheol, that bastard, makes curses come out automatically.”

‘Kwak Min-cheol means…… the Association President?’

Whether An Gi-hyeon was surprised or not, Song Chi-hyeon only spoke his own words.

While gradually closing the distance.

“That’s why I’ve been under tremendous stress lately. I get angry even at trivial things. Especially when lowlifes like you crawl up, it really makes me furious. I need to relieve stress somehow before I die of anger.”

Song Chi-hyeon, who had closed the distance to 2 meters, stopped walking.

“You must have thought you could manipulate me with that clever three-inch tongue of yours, but if you’re going to lie, you should look at who you’re dealing with.”

“I’m sorry. Great Hero-nim. I was wrong……”

“It’s already too late, bastard.”

A flash of light flickered in front of An Gi-hyeon, who was trying to apologize.

At that moment, An Gi-hyeon felt like the world was shattering.

Slash slash slash slash slash-!

Finely torn blood and flesh scattered on the alley walls.

Song Chi-hyeon, who had shredded An Gi-hyeon with his Sword Dancing skill, frowned at the flesh stuck to his body.

“Damn. I hit him from the maximum range but it still splattered.”

He wanted to handle it as cleanly as possible, but it would be better not to leave a corpse if possible.

‘Well, even if the murder is discovered, it doesn’t matter much.’

Insulting a Great Hero is a serious crime.

If necessary, he could make excuses that he personally punished him using the insult charge as pretext.

There probably wouldn’t be anyone bold enough to investigate a Great Hero as a murder suspect anyway.

‘This should prevent that bastard from bothering my subordinate anymore.’

Swoosh-

Song Chi-hyeon, who had finished his business, concealed himself with stealth.

In the alley where he disappeared, only the fishy smell of blood lingered.

---

The day after the qualification exam.

Choi Seong-min, who came to work at the Hunter Management Department, felt the changed gazes of the employees.

‘Just yesterday they were looking at me with disapproving eyes as a parachute appointment relying on connections, but now……’

They were glancing at him with mysterious gazes mixing respect, fear, and envy.

But that was all.

Not a single employee approached first to talk or greet him.

‘I’m supposedly a team leader but getting treated like I’m invisible? Well, a newcomer who entered the day before yesterday became team leader, so they probably don’t want to acknowledge it.’

But especially at times like this when no one greets you, you need to step forward and greet first.

It was an opportunity to score points with the new team leader.

‘If they’re quick-witted employees, they should step forward and greet me by now……’

“Ah, hello, Team Leader. Good morning indeed.”

The person who greeted him first was Kim Jun-taek, a 4-year employee.

He was the employee who had taught him various things on his first day.

“Good morning. Employee Kim Jun-taek. Let’s get along well from now on.”

“Yes, thank you.”

‘Surprisingly quick-witted. I like him.’

After Kim Jun-taek made his impression and left, several more people came to greet him.

Rather than sincere greetings, it felt more like they were trying to curry favor to grab onto a new lifeline.

‘Well, it doesn’t matter. As long as subordinates just listen well.’

Unlike Song Chi-hyeon, Choi Seong-min didn’t care much whether his subordinates were truly loyal or not.

‘Anyway, I’m also planning to use them when needed and discard them when they’re no longer necessary.’

Although he had become team leader of the Hunter Management Department, it wasn’t a position he planned to stay in for long from the beginning.

‘I need to climb up. To higher places.’

When your rank rises, your position naturally rises too.

The team leader position was just a temporary stop to secure hunting time.

Creak-

Choi Seong-min, who entered the team leader’s office, saw the nameplate that had already been changed.

[Hunter Management Department Team 2 Leader Choi Seong-min]

‘To already reach a team leader position despite being D-rank. Having good connections really is good.’

Although he had earned it through skill, yesterday’s show was purely to gain people’s recognition.

Without the big shot Song Chi-hyeon behind him, such rapid promotion would have been impossible.

‘It was good to take the qualification exam. Otherwise, there definitely would have been complaints here and there.’

There might be employees who appear saying they can’t acknowledge the results and rebel, but because he had shown his skills in advance, he could prevent such troubles at the source.

‘Now, shall I handle some work as team leader?’

Choi Seong-min sat in front of the computer and clicked the mouse to process various tasks and approvals.

This continued for about 2 hours.

Choi Seong-min put down the mouse.

He had finished all his work.

‘The team leader position really is good. The employees are out on field work all day monitoring other party members, but the team leader already finished work and is just killing time here.’

Since he processed work quickly, he had plenty of time.

‘At times like this, I should go hunting with other teams……’

The good thing about being team leader was that quitting time was earlier than other employees.

Unless there was additional work, he could officially leave after just filling the regular 4 hours.

‘I’m bored.’

That’s when it happened.

When the internal phone rang, Choi Seong-min immediately answered.

“This is Hunter Management Department Team 2 Leader Choi Seong-min.”

-Oh, so you’re a proper team leader now?

Hearing the voice, he could tell who it was.

“This is all thanks to the Great Hero-nim.”

-Thanks to me, what. It’s all the result of your own excellence.

Song Chi-hyeon, who was chuckling warmly over the phone, got to the main point.

-Make some time after work.

“I have plenty of time…… May I ask what it’s about?”

-Now that you have time to hunt, I want to introduce you to a team.