Chapter 301: Chapter 301

“Where did he go?” asked Choi Yeonseung curiously. He was certain there was one more person, the manager of Hanseong Energy.

“Well, since you seem to dislike him, we came instead of him.”

“Ah. It’s not that I don’t like him. It’s just that he has some strange misconceptions about people.”

Department Manager Kim Junghyeong wasn’t a bad person, but he was indeed rather tactless. After all, he had said in front of Choi Yeonseung, “It’s because of patriotism! As expected of Hunter Choi Yeonseung! Patriotism!”

“What brings you here?” asked Choi Yeonseung.

“We’re here to see if we can buy some life plants.”

This event wasn’t just an opportunity for clans and companies to show off. It was easy to have a false impression given how the media only showed the fights and misdeeds of hunters, but underneath all that, fierce scheming took place.

Companies would always do things like this:

If a small or medium-sized clan presented a useful magic skill, everyone who participated looked at it indifferently.

-Isn’t this type of magic lacking practicality?

-That’s right. You’ll just die while you cast it.

-He’s like a kid with no experience in the real world…

The presenter would feel bitter and leave the stage in tears at such a cold response, but then the corporate people would quickly sneak up to them.

-Pss, how much do you want?

-Huh?

-How much do you want in order to teach us that magic? You know what kind of clan we have, so I’m sure you’ll make the right call. I’ll definitely give you twice as much as the other clans, so just us...

-Hey! Don’t hand it over to those people who booed you so rudely earlier. We will take it!

...As such, this event brimmed with sly people who resorted to any kind of trickery in order to get their hands on any good technology at all costs.

It was natural that the Gorn’s Life Plant announced by Dragon Industry had attracted a lot of attention. It was a top quality life plant that had exceeded everyone’s expectations!

At this point, it was more important to secure the plant itself rather than its growing method or its particular details.

‘I’d prefer to find out how to grow it, but such information won’t be disclosed unless the people at Dragon Industry are shot in the head.’

‘I thought it would never be possible with just a few spells... How did they build the high-tech farm? Did they do it with the power of a constellation?’

‘Constellations don’t care about such skills...’

‘Regardless, we must secure the life plant. We have to be the first ones to get it, no matter what.’

Few items from the Abyss were useless. Some of them weren’t particularly useful, just rare and valuable. Nevertheless, the Gorn’s Life Plant had to be secured no matter what.

The plant could be given to hunters who were actually fighting, used for development at a pharmaceutical company, or if that didn’t work, they could send it to a chairman’s house for a holiday gift to bring a smile to their face.

“I’m sorry, but we can’t really promise you the plants first.”

An employee of Dragon Industry went out of their way to refuse. There was no need for Choi Yeonseung to answer such a trivial question. After all, this was a matter that his subordinates had to deal with!

The people from Hanseong Energy were disappointed by the response. They had expected it, but still…

‘Indeed, the value will be higher if it’s auctioned in public.’

‘If people are going to fight for it with money, isn’t it almost impossible for us to secure it?’

“Wait,” Choi Yeonseung added suddenly.

“?”

“Sit down.”

Hearing that, the people from Hanseong Energy sat down looking slightly flustered. It felt overwhelming for them to be suddenly told by an A-grade hunter to sit down.

What was going on?

‘Did we say something rude?’

‘Who knows? Did we come off as brazen?’

‘Were we impolite with our suggestion?’

‘Ah. The manager said he would come himself. Why did he send us...?’

The employees sat there shaking in their boots.

Choi Yeonseung kindly offered them something to drink.

“Now, drink.”

“This... What is it?”

He offered them some warm tea that exuded a fragrant aroma. It was clearly different from black tea or coffee in the sense that the aroma strangely seemed to restore their energy.

“It’s herbal tea.”

“Aha. Thank you. What type of herb is it? Licorice? I had it once when I went to a country house...”

“It’s made from Gorn’s Life Plant.”

“Pfft!”

Hearing that, one of the employees spewed his tea to the side. The price of the tea he had just drunk was probably higher than his salary.

“...If it doesn’t taste good, you don’t have to drink it,” said Choi Yeonseung in a rueful voice.

The employee shouted in dismay, “No! No! It’s actually insanely delicious!”

“Forget it. If it’s not good, then don’t drink it...”

The others cast the employee who had just spat his tea murderous glances. The employee tried to explain and clear up the misunderstanding.

“N-no, I spat it because I was shocked when I realized how valuable it was! It really is delicious! Here, look!”

He then picked up the teacups beside him and drank them in one go. He was so flustered that he couldn’t actually taste it, but the tea really was delicious. With every gulp, he felt energy spreading through his body.

“...”

‘No, this bastard...’

The other employees swore inwardly at him. They understood that he had to amend his mistake, but why did he have to drink their tea before they even tried it. They also wanted to taste it…!

‘If I ask for another drink...’

‘Don’t be ridiculous.’

‘Okay.’

The employees just gulped nervously. They couldn’t go out of their way to ask for the tea.

The moment the situation was cleared up, Choi Yeonseung said, “The reason I told you to sit down is because I have a question.”

“Feel free to ask anything!”

“Yes, thank you. How is Hunter Han Seha doing?”

“...”

The employees were surprised to hear the unexpected name. Han Seha was one of South Korea’s A-grade hunters with the moniker “Mad Dog.”

“Is she doing well? Last time, she beat up a reporter and caused a controversy...”

“Shut up, you dumb asshole. Do you think she meant to do that? Hunter Han Seha is spreading South Korea’s reputation to every corner of the world!”

“...”

Choi Yeonseung had a stern look.

“You don’t have to lie. In addition, I’m not asking about such things. I’m asking how she’s doing in the company.”

“Ahhh...”

The employees finally realized what Choi Yeonseung meant.

“But Hunter Han Seha isn’t interested in corporate work.”

She was an A-grade hunter and the granddaughter of a chairman. Thus, there were many people ready to lend her strength at every possible moment. As such, Han Seha had a few possible options when it came to positions within Hanseong Group. Things like department head or managing director...

However, Han Seha wasn’t interested in political battles within the company. She preferred to kill monsters using that time.

“She’s a person who likes to separate...”

“I see. Is there anyone she doesn’t like?”

The employees flinched at the question.

Choi Yeonseung spoke gently, “Isn’t that natural though…? No matter where you go, you'll always come across people you get along with and people with whom you don’t see eye to eye. Now, who doesn’t she get along with?”

“That... She doesn’t like Director Han Hyeokrim that much, but... It’s not like she hates him! They’re still from the same family.”

‘I guess they don’t like each other.’

Han Seha was the chairman’s granddaughter, so he obviously favored her. Because of that, his children kept a watchful eye on her and kept her in check. Among them, Director Han Hyeokrim was the most blatant one. He was like an uncle, but he tried to organize opposition and reduce her influence at all costs.

“Is he succeeding in that?”

“It doesn’t seem to work very well? Han Seha doesn’t involve herself in matters regarding the company, so there’s nothing he could attack her with...”

If Han Seha was greedy for a position or a faction, he could come after her. However, she couldn’t care less about such things, which made it meaningless for Director Han Hyeokrim to attack her.

‘It still bothers me.’

Choi Yeonseung asked Aine, “If it’s like this now, won’t it be more dangerous for her later on?”

“That... That’s true. Korean companies are known to have internal strife because of the conflicts between the founder’s family members.”

“It’s a bit weird to have a reputation for that.”

When South Korea had become famous for its unique cuisine and K-pop, Choi Yeonseung had felt weird as he thought to himself, ‘When did it become so famous?’, but it wasn’t like he was embarrassed by that.

Meanwhile, this… This was definitely embarrassing.

“Hunter Han Seha is a bit immature,” added Aine.

“...”

“Don’t look at me like that...”

Seeing Choi Yeonseung look at her with an unusually stern expression, she spoke in a somewhat hesitant tone, “First of all, one has to prepare in advance if they want to participate in this type of management. Even if she starts as department head, director, or any other high position, she won’t be able to do anything later on unless she gets her own people she can trust. But she doesn’t seem to care about that...”

“I see. I also need to take care of it.”

“...Huh? Do you really have to do that? Can’t you just let her live on her own?”

“How could you say that??”

“...I’m sorry. I’m sorry. Do whatever you want. “ Aine gave up on trying to persuade him after hearing his response. Come to think of it, if she liked the fact that Choi Yeonseung looked after her, it was rather shameless of her to ask him not to look after others as well.

“Which faction is Director Kim Junghyeong part of?”

“I don’t think he belongs to a faction.”

“I see. How many life plants do you need?”

“Huh? You’re actually giving it to us??”

“Yeah. Since you’ve come this far, I can’t send you back without giving you a gift. Tell them you owe me one.”

“Thank you! Thank you!!”

The employee texted Kim Junghyeong right away.

-Department manager. A miracle has happened! He says he’ll give us the life plant!

-What did I say? He reacted that way because he was embarrassed, but it must be patriotism!

‘...I’m not telling him that…’

The employee hid the reply as he felt that it would anger Choi Yeonseung. Moreover, it really didn’t seem like he had agreed to give them the plant because of patriotism…

***

“Parker Group’s stock prices are going down a bit.”

“Is there a reason for that?”

“Ah... I suppose… They thought you would fail, so they acquired the related companies in advance and waited. They’re facing backlash now.”

“I’m sorry for that.”

“Really?”

“No. I just said it out of courtesy.”

Choi Yeonseung went with Aine to where Gloria was. The latter had a serious expression.

“Did something happen?”

“I think the stocks she owns are going down.”

“...”

Gloria didn’t answer, so it seemed that Aine hit the nail on the head. Still, she couldn’t sit still when guests came. Gloria sighed as she stood up.

“Nice to see you. I was waiting for you... The information I told you was helpful, right?”

“How can you say that? It wasn’t helpful at all.”

Aine instantly contradicted her, which caused Gloria to cast her a murderous glance. Aine immediately stopped her from passing over the situation.

Choi Yeonseung also asked in a dumbfounded manner, “You don’t intend to deceive people with such tricks, do you?”

“...It’s a misunderstanding. The Parker family would never do something so stupid. ”

Gloria changed her words as though she had given up. The stock price had dropped and there was no means of negotiation. Therefore, unlike her usual politeness, she was currently very blatant.

“Yes. I admit that the information I gave you this time was wrong. Is there anything else you want? If so, just tell me what it is. But if it’s something completely unreasonable...”

“Nah, it doesn’t matter if I’m just teaching martial arts. Bring the person here.”

“???”

Gloria couldn’t believe her ears. She thought it was a trick, but Aine was poking Choi Yeonseung’s side like crazy.

“Just like that?!?”

“Just like that.”

“...Are you actually a pusho... No. Nothing.”

“Did you mean to call me a pushover just now?”

“Nope. No idea what you’re talking about.”

Before he knew it, Gloria’s attitude changed.