Chapter 290: Chapter 290

“What nonsense are you saying?!”

Gaston was furious.

The secretary who had delivered the news was so flustered that she couldn’t raise her head. The head of the department who was next to her couldn’t just watch, so he stepped in to help.

“Now now, don’t take it out on her.”

“You’re talking nonsense, aren’t you?! Why is that A-grade hunter here when he should be on Earth?”

Gaston had a point.

People would joke about A-grade hunters, saying things like ‘A-grade hunters pay close attention even to falling leaves.’

It wasn’t that A-grade hunters were weak, but they only cared about themselves. Only those who had climbed the ladder while collecting all sorts of achievements through raids could reach A-grade.

Once they reached that position, they had to pay attention to the smallest changes or events, regardless of whether they were intentional or not. Those hunters usually lived comfortably, but when there was a real crisis for humanity, everybody wanted them to step up.

“How long has it been since the S-grade raid occurred in the United States? Besides, Dragon Hwang has fallen.”

“Yes...”

‘Why is this son of a ■■■ treating me like this...’

The secretary inwardly cursed Gaston. In any case, Choi Yeonseung had actually come there. What could she do about that? It wasn’t like she couldn’t just tell him to leave.

“Please calm down. He must be up to something.”

“...Yes, certainly.”

“Think carefully about Hunter Choi Yeonseung’s situation, Mr. Gaston. Due to the fall of Dragon Hwang, he was put in charge of Dragon Industry, a highly prominent company.”

Hearing this, Gaston finally got a sense of what was going on. Hunters who only knew how to kill monsters and clear dungeons had to be incapable of doing business. How many high-grade hunters had started their own business only to end up ruined?

Choi Yeonseung wouldn’t be much different. He possessed a variety of abilities, but this was something that Dragon Hwang had forced on him.

A person who had nothing to do with the world of business was suddenly in charge of Dragon Industry. Choi Yeonseung was clearly prideful, so he needed to achieve some results in order to silence the opposition within the company. However, could he actually come up with a good method?

“I see. Is this about his performance? Ah, right... He’s doing something that doesn’t fit him.”

“Did you see the high-tech farm project he announced the other day? He was talking nonsense about growing Abyssal plants on Earth.”

“Hah! He’s absolutely crazy.”

“Yeah. Who knows, maybe he realized in hindsight that it's impossible.”

“He must’ve scurried away...”

Gaston clenched his jaw, looking really satisfied. Generally speaking, the best partner in business was an unhappy one.

He didn’t know what Choi Yeonseung came there to say, but there was no reason not to hear him out. If it wasn’t a favorable offer, Gaston would unconditionally refuse!

‘Now’s my chance to vent all the anger that has accumulated because of that dumbass president.’

Gaston rubbed his palms together and stood up. It wasn’t often that one got to dominate an A-grade hunter. Perhaps hunters thought they were nobles, but the real nobles were those like Gaston who were running a company.

***

“???”

Choi Yeonseung was a bit taken aback by Gaston’s attitude.

‘What? Is he crazy?’

First of all, his posture was a bit… It was very stiff and arrogant.

Gaston sat with his legs crossed on the table and leaned back, as if declaring with all his might that he didn’t give a damn about Choi Yeonseung.

Choi Yeonseung didn’t understand, so he asked Aine in a low voice, “Did I do something wrong?”

“...No. I think he’s just out of his mind.”

Choi Yeonseung saw that Aine’s fingernails were digging deeply into her palm. She was fuming.

‘Are these pieces of ■■ crazy as a group...?’

Aine barely stopped herself from lunging at them. She didn’t know what was in the heads of those at Alland that made them so arrogant. Were they really saying that Hwang Gyeongryong had fallen?

Even if Hwang Gyeongryong collapsed, Dragon Industry was still on its feet. Alland couldn’t collide with them even if they wanted to.

Their disrespectful attitude was unbelievable. It was so absurd that Aine couldn’t even guess why they acted like that.

‘There are people in corporate business that act like this?’

Aine had spoken to Choi Yeonseung before arriving in the city.

-Alland is a big company from France.

-What kind of company is it?

-Those people do a lot of dirty things and make a lot of money. Last time, they were caught dumping pollutants in Africa and it made the news.

-...Aren’t they just criminals? Why weren’t they punished?

-They covered it up with money and passed over it.

-So stuff like that doesn’t happen only in South Korea?

-Of course not… There’s no way that things like that only happen in South Korea. In any case, don’t worry too much about what I just said. There are many bad rumors about Alland, but it’s not like they can’t properly do business. They’ll listen to you and treat you respectfully.

If it comes from an A-grade hunter who is leading Dragon Industry, even words like ‘In fact, the injections you’re receiving are a conspiracy of the evil god constellations’ will carry a surprising degree of credibility.

-They’ll listen even more carefully if it’s a warning about the dangers that the cities built in the Abyss might face.

However...

“Don’t pay too much attention to it,” whispered Choi Yeonseung to Aine, trying to console her. It seemed that the roles had reversed.

Aine was ashamed because her judgment proved to be wrong. She looked up in a bewildered manner.

“I guess the other person is crazier than you expected.”

“But...”

“You’ve already done your job. Now let me do mine.”

Choi Yeonseung assumed the same posture as his adversary, leaning back and putting his legs on the table. By doing so, his feet collided with Gaston’s, pushing him back.

In response, Gaston looked baffled and furious as he glared at Choi Yeonseung.

“Hunter Choi Yeonseung?! Tell me why you’re here.”

“Ah, yes...”

Choi Yeonseung slowly opened his mouth. Judging from his adversary’s attitude, it didn’t seem like there would be a good outcome to this meeting. Still, he had to at least state the reason for his visit.

“The evil god constellations are targeting the cities built in the Abyss.”

“...Hahaha!” Gaston burst out laughing.

Was Choi Yeonseung trying to provoke mass hysteria with this ridiculous lie? Even so, it was too lowly of a plan for an A-grade hunter to come up with.

“Are you actually out of your mind?!” shouted Aine, unable to contain her anger anymore. Even with this shout, she still couldn’t bear it, so she picked up a glass in front of her and threw it at Gaston’s face.

Crack!

As the glass cracked, coffee streamed all over his face.

“Aaghhh!”

“What the hell are you doing?!”

“If you have eyes, you can see and judge for yourself! Think about who is in front of you right now and open your mouth. I can kill the two of you with just a finger!”

Even though Aine wasn’t active in the field, she was nevertheless a hunter and Hwang Gyeongryong’s daughter, so her fierceness couldn’t be exaggerated.

The moment a hunter threatened them with killing intent, the two people from Alland became terrified.

“H-Hey! What? Hurry in!”

Even though he was in pain, Gaston called out to the hunters outside, determined to survive this altercation.

Choi Yeonseung stood up the moment the startled hunters tried to come inside to escort the two people from Alland.

“Know that from now on, those who move without my permission will have their heads separated from their necks.”

“...”

Gulp!

They hadn’t been aware of it because Choi Yeonseung had been idle so far, but his ability to intimidate was unbelievable!

‘Is this what an A-grade hunter is capable of?’

Clearly only A-grade hunters were able to instill such fear in their opponents as they warned or threatened them. Actually, not even A-grade hunters could reach that level. There was a rumor that Choi Yeonseung was actually at a higher level than other A-grade hunters. Was that true?

“I don’t know if you guys normally lean back or stand on your hands when somebody talks to you… That would actually be hilarious. In any case, I just want to say something.”

Choi Yeonseung stood up, lifted up Gaston, and threw him into a chair. In complete contrast to before, Gason sat in a rather upright position and avoided Choi Yeonseung’s gaze.

“But it’s a different story when my niece is angry. You crossed the line first, so don’t hold a grudge against me for what I do here. It will only become more difficult if you increase my workload for no reason.

Gaston exclaimed, “I won’t let this go!”

“You’re not getting it. What are you going to do? Do you intend to complain to the US government?”

Choi Yeonseung laughed at Gaston. He had only realized this after becoming an A-grade hunter.

It was actually difficult to punish a hunter who had made up their mind to be bothersome, and that was especially the case with high-grade hunters.

No matter how big Alland was, it was just a French company. Even if they complained to the US government, the government was likely to indifferently say something like ‘Yes, we understand’ and then toss their complaint into the bin.

“I will also complain to the Korean government!!”

“The Korean government? Well… Go ahead. I think the South Korean government will be a bit embarrassed.”

There was a chance that the Korean officials would find it absurd, but at the end of the day, there would be little to no impact on South Korea if France turned this into a scandal.

Gaston was well aware of that. He was burning with resentment and he gritted his teeth. He felt like his anger wouldn’t go away if he didn’t somehow deal a blow to Choi Yeonseung.

“You’ll be the one to regret it! I know you have to gain some achievements. If you don’t achieve anything, do you think the other CEOs will just stay still?”

“What the hell are you talking about?”

Choi Yeonseung was slightly embarrassed for the first time in a while. It was so nonsensical that he didn’t even know where to start.

However, perhaps Gaston had meant something else.

The Frenchman exclaimed triumphantly, “It’s too late for regrets! Now that it’s come to this, there will be no cooperation! Make sure to try your best to establish yourself in that company of yours!”

“I can’t deal with him. Aine, let’s go. He has to be crazy...”

Choi Yeonseung shook his head in disbelief and headed toward the door.

The hunters who were standing there awkwardly exchanged looks as if asking each other, ‘Should we stop him or not?’

“Get out of the way.”

“Yes!”

At Choi Yeonseung’s words, the hunters instantly parted to either side. Gaston became even more angry seeing that Choi Yeonseung and Aine were leaving in such a carefree manner.

“You idiots! What were you doing?!”

“If we’d provoked an A-grade hunter and a fight broke out, the two of you could’ve been caught up in it...”

“You’re just making excuses! You worthless asshole!”

***

-I heard that those who have a lot of money and power are respected on Earth, but I don’t understand it.

The goddess of sloth spoke like she, too, didn’t understand what had just transpired.

[The ‘Goddess of Balance Who Walks Ahead’ urgently says that this plan didn’t fail.]

“Oh, yeah. I don’t think it failed either. Goddess, we just have to get another partner. That guy is not our only option.”

Choi Yeonseung quickly calmed down the goddess of balance when she became flustered and tried to come up with an excuse.

This sight saddened the goddess of sloth quite a lot.

-Being swayed like this by one mortal... Emotions are very...

-I’m not a mortal. I’m a constellation.

In any case, there was no reason to deal with nut jobs like Gaston. Choi Yeonseung would try to find someone else to cooperate with.

"Wait a minute!"

“?”

Some hunters came running from behind, and some of them were familiar. They were clearly the hunters from France.

“Do you remember me?”

“I’m sorry. Who are you?”

“You saved my life in Paris back then...”

“I saved the lives of many people, so I don’t remember.”

The hunters exclaimed in admiration at Choi Yeonseung’s words.

“...I was joking.”

“No, I really respect you!”

“I’m sorry, Hunter Choi Yeonseung. We were told that you were treated badly by Alland.”

“There is no reason for you to apologize. It’s not your responsibility...”

At Choi Yeonseung’s words, the French hunters looked around before whispering quietly, “Will there really be a raid?”

“Why do you ask that?”

“I have some guesses... Alland’s methods are quite dirty.”

“How dirty are we talking about?”

“It’s no different from China!”

‘Whoa, he’s so good at explaining.’

Choi Yeonseung was impressed by the explanation of the other hunter. The comparison was enough for him to completely understand the situation.