Chapter 452: Chapter 452

The other household members were also very happy when Choi Yeonseung announced that he would stay.

“As expected! I knew we could count on you!”

“Yeah, there’s no way we’d leave a hero like you out of this! We’ve been humiliated by those humans, and we won’t be able to forgive them even if they’re brought to their knees and humiliated just like us. Their punishment will be legendary, something that generations on end will speak of! We’re going to have fun, haha!”

“...”

Choi Yeonseung tried to explain the misunderstanding to the household members but ended up failing. They were pretty close to each other, so it didn’t really matter to them why he had stayed behind to fight anyway.

“Humans call you the Martial God. It sounds like a pretty honorable title. Hey, let’s all call Choi Yeonseung by this title from now on.”

“No, forget it,” Choi Yeonseung cut them off with a straight face. Who the hell called him that...?

‘I really can’t get used to the titles that hunters receive.’

Even in the first generation, hunters who disliked titles really disliked them. A prime example was the Iron-Blooded Ice Emperor Lee Changsik.

Ah! Over here! South Korea’s representative A-grade hunter! Iron-Blooded Ice Emperor... Hunter Lee Changsik is here!

-Iron-Blooded! Ice Emperor! Why Iron-Blooded?! Is it because he has never backed down even if hundreds of monsters attacked him? Why Ice Emperor? Ice-type skills from all over the world...

-Why is he frowning?

-It’s natural to be angry when seeing monsters! As expected of the Iron-Blooded Ice Emperor!

‘Man, just call people by their names. Why keep giving them nicknames?’

‘That’s how the media is. Please understand.’

‘Aren’t these reporters taking bribes to make up nicknames?? They gave me the nickname of Jangchung-dong’s Great Swordsman! I’ll kill them!!’

‘Please be patient. It’s a bad idea to pick a fight with reporters. There’s a hunter in this other clan with the nickname of Kimchi Fighter.’

‘How could I be patient? I don’t want these bastards cheering me on!’

Hunters were even more dissatisfied if their nickname wasn’t what they had hoped for. They wouldn’t say anything if they got something cool, but they would obviously complain if they got a weird title.

Choi Yeonseung’s title wasn’t particularly strange, but he wasn’t very fond of it. It felt pompous and unnecessary to him.

‘You should call a person by their name. Why attach a title?’

-By the way, what type of monster is the amabie?

The goddess of sloth was curious.

It hadn’t been long since humans had started giving names to monsters, so all the monsters that appeared on Earth were called by different names in the Abyss.

The amabie was a monster found in Japan, and it had been named after a legendary Japanese monster. The monster itself was a huge gas cloud that resembled a human silhouette.

-Ah, you’re talking about the corrupted cloud.

The goddess of sloth seemed puzzled after hearing Choi Yeonseung’s explanation. The corrupted cloud wasn’t a particularly strong monster. Of course, it wasn’t weak either, but humans could definitely handle something like that.

So why did those stubborn politicians kneel down and beg the household members to kill it?

-How do you usually deal with an amabie in the Abyss?

-After getting rid of it, you need to move the inhabitants of that area somewhere else. That land needs to be abandoned for a while.

-Well, you can do that in the Abyss, but it’d be extremely hard to do something like that on Earth.

The amabie was considered an S-grade monster not because of its raw strength, but because of how much damage it could inflict. Because its form was that of a gas cloud, the amabie would detonate itself before dying and spread a plague over a vast area.

Fortunately, the plague it spread was mild. The monster would be absolutely horrifying if unleashed a terrible pestilence that could kill everything.

The amabie wasn’t that dangerous in the Abyss; the realm was essentially endless in terms of land, so its denizens could relocate whenever they wanted. However, this monster would cause unimaginable damage on Earth, where humans lived crowded together in relatively small areas.

The amabie would be a problem regardless if it reached Tokyo or if it was killed before that.

Choi Yeonseung understood why the Japanese government had swallowed its pride and asked for help like this. If word got out that an S-grade monster was threatening to destroy Tokyo, it would be impossible for the current regime to do anything about the chaos the public would create.

-With the help of other household members, we can kill it so that it doesn’t spread.

Choi Yeonseung realized something strange as he was speaking.

‘Wait. If it’s an S-grade monster, they would’ve easily noticed it... How come they haven’t detected it all this time?’

-Did they detect it and then hide it?

-What kind of people would do that in their own country? What’s the point of hiding it in this situation?

-Then they must’ve hid it in the past...

-That still doesn’t make sense... Wait.

Choi Yeonseung paused.

A few years back, a monster wave had struck South Korea, China, and Japan, plunging all three countries into chaos.

There had been a lot of turmoil on the Japanese side, but they had ultimately announced that they had killed every monster...

‘It can’t be...’

***

“Isn’t it because you didn’t do your job properly that the prime minister had to resign?”

Naturally, the atmosphere at the gathering of Japan's big politicians wasn’t good at all. An S-grade monster had suddenly appeared after they had taken enormous damage and confronted the constellations.

“Why is an S-grade monster suddenly coming out? Why the hell is the Hunter’s Office even receiving a budget?! Aren’t you the Minister of Defense?! Tell me!”

The minister who got called out resented his incompetent subordinates. If the hunters had done their job properly in the first place and stopped all the monsters, their approval rating wouldn’t have dropped as much as it had.

“I apologize. We failed to kill the amabie during the last monster wave, and it escaped into the sea... It seems that it’s reappeared.”

“...”

“...”

Everyone else fell silent at the minister’s remark. Each of them were responsible for this mess.

At that time, the Japanese government had needed to deal with the monster wave as soon as possible in order to restore its shaky approval ratings.

After receiving reports that several monsters rated A-grade and higher had escaped the hunters, the government had issued an order.

-If we can’t detect the monsters within a few hundred kilometers of the affected area, it means they’ve escaped to another country. Officially declare that the raid is over!

-Shouldn’t... Shouldn’t we warn the other countries?

-Are you stupid?! If we do that, who’s going to take responsibility for those monsters?!

-I-I’m sorry.

Everyone had tacitly agreed to it and moved on, so they couldn’t say anything now.

“In any case, we need to kill the amabie as soon as possible. This isn’t your ordinary monster. The amabie is S-grade, so it can inflict tremendous damage. Do whatever it takes...”

“I know! Who are you blaming right now?”

“I’m sorry! But...”

“The constellations will come around and help us,” Foreign Minister Matsuoka intervened as the meeting was growing awfully tense. Everyone in the room turned to look at him.

Matsuoka was known as the Trickster, and among all the politicians gathered at the meeting, he was the one who dealt with constellations the most.

“The constellations might be conceited beings, but they also have their own sets of laws, just like us. That’s all you need to know in order to convince them.”

“Ooh...”

“The prime minister is resigning, and the constellations will appreciate that.”

Japan was run by a prime minister, not a president.

Once a prime minister was elected, he in turn elected a bunch of ministers to form the Cabinet. Unlike a president, the prime minister didn’t have a fixed term on his position, and he could resign whenever he wanted.

Thanks to that, it was relatively easy to bail out whenever problems occurred. It was enough for the prime minister to elect someone from the Cabinet who was on the same page as him as the new prime minister.

That way, he could continue being a bigshot within the party even after resigning.

Even though the resignation of the current prime minister was just a sly tactic to maintain power while dodging responsibility, it looked like a remarkable sign of humility and sincerity in the eyes of the constellations. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

“After the prime minister resigns, we need to apologize for our foolishness and restore the stability of the country while seeming sincere. If we do that, the good god constellations will forgive us.”

“As expected, Matsuoka! That’s actually reassuring.”

“But there’s one problem.”

“What is it?”

“It’s Hunter Choi Yeonseung, who’s still in the country.”

“Hunter Choi Yeonseung?”

The politicians responded like it was absurd, and some of them even chuckled.

“I know that he’s an A-grade hunter, but aren’t you overestimating him? He’s just a hunter at the end of the day, right?”

In some countries, hunters had the government wrapped around their finger, while in others, officials controlled hunters on a daily basis.

Japan was the latter.

As such, it was hard to believe that a single hunter, especially one from another country, would be much of an obstacle for the most powerful Japanese politicians.

What did a hunter know?

“He’s a weak hunter. The government rejected his request, so he had to come at the invitation of a clan. We can do whatever we want with Choi Yeonseung. Leave him to me!”

“That’s right! That’s right!”

Moreover, being constantly active made Choi Yeonseung look like a pushover.

The household members of the constellations had vented their frustrations by punching hunters and officials, but Choi Yeonseung had stopped them, saved the hunters, and even evacuated the citizens.

Thanks to that, his popularity with the general public had soared, but now he seemed even more like a pushover in the eyes of the politicians.

“He’s just like Kohei Nakao, an idiot who thinks he’s righteous. Shedding a few tears and asking him to save civilians will be enough to gain his favor. Some people just have a weak spot for dramatic stuff like that.”

“Shouldn’t we instead be wary of the Namahage clan? Those guys are a real pain in the ass. They refuse to obey orders. I mean, they’re the ones who invited Choi Yeonseung!”

“Guys, don’t underestimate Hunter Choi Yeonseung. My subordinates have already finished looking into him. He’s a great strategist. Moreover, he’s ruthless.”

“...!??”

The others were surprised by Matsuoka’s remark. They were concerned about the other constellations and the rebellious clans in Japan, but not really about Choi Yeonseung.

What was this guy saying?

“His actions so far may seem stupid at first, but it’s likely all part of his plan. Think about it. Many people from all over the world started talking when Dragon Hwang chose him as his successor.”

“Didn’t Dragon Hwang do that just because they’re good friends? Or maybe he owed him something...?”

“No. Dragon Hwang has noticed Hunter Choi Yeonseung’s abilities.”

“...!”

“In fact, ever since Hunter Choi Yeonseung took over Dragon Industry, its performance has improved drastically, and its market share is much higher than before. And it’s not just that. Choi Yeonseung knows how to use his reputation strategically, not just in South Korea, China, and the US, but also in Europe. That’s why he’s fought so many monsters rated A and higher in so many countries.”

“Uh... Isn’t he just a pushover who can’t say no?”

“Think carefully. The Namahage clan invited Hunter Choi Yeonseung, and the household members dared to ignore our orders and launch a raid at will. They even attacked Japanese hunters. In the meantime, Hunter Choi Yeonseung hasn’t stepped out of line at all, not even once. Isn’t it strange? Who led all of this?”

“...Hunter Choi Yeonseung...!”

The politicians got goosebumps at the sudden realization. They had thought that Choi Yeonseung was just a righteous hunter who couldn’t stand to see ordinary people in pain...

They found it hard to believe that he was the mastermind behind the scenes, controlling the rampaging constellations.

These politicians had experienced countless hardships and fierce conflicts in the political sphere, but now they were overcome with fear. They never would’ve guessed that a mere human could manipulate constellations like that.

“Negotiations are about to begin, but we have to watch out for Hunter Choi Yeonseung in the meantime. He will once again use the constellations’ household members as arrows while devising a cunning strategy behind the scenes.”

“Yes!”

“I will keep that in mind.”

The politicians were determined, but also terribly nervous.

Matsuoka had managed to make them understand what was going on. They had all been wondering why everything was going so poorly in Japan, but it turned out that someone had been plotting behind the scenes all this time!

‘Damn, he sure is scary!’

‘Doing all of this while maintaining a benevolent face...’

‘Even A-grade hunters risk dying when fighting monsters that are A or S-grade, and yet he’s risking his life for this? What a scary guy.’

***

The negotiations were carried out in secrecy.

Choi Yeonseung’s group had been invited to a garden known only by a few government figures. It had been created for the purpose of entertaining household members.

Seeing the politicians sitting down, Barbagi demanded, “First, hand over the head of your leader!”

“...”

Choi Yeonseung clicked his tongue when he saw the politicians turn pale.

Who would negotiate like this?

‘What’s going on?’

Choi Yeonseung felt uncomfortable. All the politicians were looking at him with terrified expressions.

It was Barbagi who had just threatened them, not him...