Apocalypse Hunter

Chapter 112: Terror Sleeping Underground (Part 2)

“Why must the Hive be destroyed?”

“The monsters of the Hive… They definitely throw up more chips than any other monsters.”

Taehone gave an account of how many chips could be extracted even from microbes in the Hive. That was how many chips the monsters of the Hive had in their possession.

“With that superficial reason, they might have convinced Odin Corporation.”

They had manipulated the corporation by using the chips as bait. However, he thought that the real goal might be something else. It was a no-brainer.

Most likely, it was revenge. One would be hard-pressed to find a hunter who didn’t hold hatred toward monsters. So, hunters taking revenge on monsters was not out of question. Among those who had died there, there could’ve been someone special to him, or maybe it was just to get back something he had lost.

“Is he all right?”

“He’s not crippled, but… He was infected with the poison, and his face is messed up. It seems like he wears a mask now.”

Zin could somehow understand why Taehone was having a difficult time deciding on how to respond to the Dominator situation at hand.

————–

Few knew that the monster hunters had been massacred. The Hive search had been carried out in strict secrecy, and the subject was taboo in the Nest.

The tragedy was buried quietly because neither of the two survivors were willing to share their heroic journey. Odin Corporation could not care less about the deaths of the hunters. They were bent on their own business and had no interest in those who had seen blood after provoking the Hive.

After returning from the Hive, Taehone and Yoohwan had both been traumatized and had stayed away from everyone. By the time Taehone had gotten himself back up and started teaching at the Academy, Yoohwan had left the Nest with his face in bandages.

Yoohwan had headed for Odin Corporation. They hadn’t been interested in what that has-been hunter wanted and tried to chase him away. However, Yoohwan had been desperate.

Figuring out what a company wanted was, in fact, simple. They needed someone who could make them a lot of chips and someone who could open up new markets.

Yoohwan was going to throw the bait at Odin Corporation. It was about a huge business, the profits expected from that business, and the size of the market that could be controlled. Yoohwan was a hunter, but at the same time, the fact that he was a city hunter made him different from hunters of other areas.

He knew how the enterprise worked and could clearly explain, at any moment, how his ideas could yield huge profits.

But he had overlooked one important thing: no one wanted to talk to a leper too hideous to look at.

He was beaten up even before he had a chance to explain his grand plan. However, Yoohwan hadn’t stopped there.

He had knelt in front of Odin Corporation’s headquarters, had had his head on the ground, and had begged them to have a conversation with him. The guards had chased him and beaten him, but he had not backed down, begging for a conversation.

No one had paid any attention to him… Except for one.

Luwin, the fourth son of Odin Corporation, had been the one interested in Yoohwan. He had been interested in his pockmarked face and his pathetic appearance.

“Him being the fourth son of Odin Corporation meant that he was able to lead a well-to-do, luxurious life, but at the same time, was in an impossible position to be the close to Mr. Odin.”

Enterprises in big cities were like empires, and the big ones, like Odin Corporation, were the empire itself that dominated New Hong Kong.

The fourth son of the emperor, Luwin, took Yoohwan in. Everyone wondered why the emperor’s son was taking on a dirtbag, but it was only seen as something eccentric, which was the norm for that tribe of people.

It was easy for people to assume that being generous to such people was a new hobby of his.

But Yoohwan wasn’t able to start his business and, instead, became Luwin’s personal bodyguard and martial arts instructor. With a mask covering his face, Yoohwan became Luwin’s shadow. That was ten years ago.

And five years ago, Luwin became emperor.

The brothers were all dead, and Mr. Odin was also killed under mysterious circumstances. There was no circumstantial evidence that a murder had been committed.

Because there was no evidence, people knew that Luwin had murdered all of them.

However, without proof, people had no choice but to fear Luwin’s power.

No one opposed his rise to the emperor’s throne.

He was the youngest chairman in the history of Odin Corporation.

“Mr. Odin, the Guardian is here.”

“Tell him to come in.”

Buildings with elevators and automatic doors were rare in the big city, too. However, Odin Corporation had a considerable amount of electric power and automation in their facilities.

In the first place, if there had been no elevators in such a large building, there would have been a prerequisite to hire employees with strong thighs.

A skyscraper standing tall in a big city, Asgard Tower, that was the name of Odin Corporation’s heart.

‘Whiing.’

When the automatic door opened, a man with an iron mask appeared. His body looked strong, and one could feel the tight muscles rippling under his suit.

He stood in front of the chairman and bowed his head.

“I’m late, Mr. Chairman.”

“I feel uncomfortable with your saying that when you’re ten minutes early.”

“I’m sorry.”

Yoohwan had been his bodyguard from the moment he met Luwin. Of course, that had been on the surface.

The pock-faced person that everyone ignored at the time was just a nasty leper to others, but Luwin recognized his essence.

At that time, the pockmarked person getting beaten by the bodyguards in front of the building had been one of the two best monster hunters in that wide region. He had been a killing machine that could’ve twisted the neck of three guards beating him up in just three seconds.

Luwin had been able to see that.

One had saved his face, but lost his eyes and arms, and the other had an unblemished body. What was a hunter? He was a hunter. Did it matter that his face was messed up? His skill wasn’t affected.

Luwin had raised him up and smiled at Yoohwan, who had been wearing shabby bandages soaked in puss.

“You haven’t lost anything, so why are you acting like the world has abandoned you?-

“…”

At those words, Yoohwan had lowered his head, and Luwin had placed his hand on Yoohwan’s puss-filled cheeks.

“From now on, you shouldn’t lower your head anywhere.”

Since then, Luwin had made him his right-hand man, and Luwin’s judgment had been correct.

He had proved without a doubt that while he had lost his face, he had not lost his ability.

There was no one among the executives who did not know that Yoohwan was Luwin’s hitman, and that he had played the biggest role in making Odin Corporation Luwin’s.

But because there was no evidence, people were afraid of Yoohwan.

Luwin swiveled his chair over to the window. He could see the city at night. It was a view that could only be seen in three places in the world. And it was a view that only someone who had climbed to the top could enjoy.

“What’s the situation?”

“The market takeover is in good shape. When the Hive is destroyed, people will know the power of Dominator, and the market will be completely transferred from the Nest to Dominator.”

The Hive’s destruction would have two effects on Odin Corporation:

One, they would get a huge amount of chips by destroying monsters in the Hive, and Odin Corporation would take possession of the numerous chips laying dormant in the Hive.

Second, by Dominator succeeding in something that the hunters had failed to do in the past, they would get a huge marketing boost. That would cause the Nest to completely lose its credibility in the monster hunting arena, and Dominator would be able to take full control of the monster hunting market when that happened.

Luwin had promised to listen to Yoohwan’s request when he became chairman, and the promise had gone into effect two years ago.

Yoohwan had organized a group of hunters called Dominator, and although the organization was still in the red, the prospect was that it would be in black within a few years. Yoohwan was operating Dominator with confidence and stability, utilizing his past experiences to his advantage. The organization became stronger and added more staff.

Yoohwan was a loyal henchman, and when Luwin authorized the creation of Dominator, he even wept under his mask.

No one was more suitable as a silent supporter.

Yoohwan asked, “How was your meeting today?”

“Hmm…”

Luwin turned the chair, and his face was the same as the salesperson’s that Zin had met that day, Course.

“It felt good. I also understood why he wanted to get to the Hive ahead of time.”

Luwin had a pleasant smile on his face. Yoohwan had reported Zin’s appearance to Mr. Odin, who had gone to check out Zin face-to-face himself. And of course, it was rare for Mr. Odin to go out and see someone.

However, Yoohwan’s report had made it worth it.

“He was the key figure in the Fenrir Industries case.”

“… If I remember correctly, I think you’re talking about the hunter who took down Fenrir Security Company by himself. Is that right?”

“Yes”

“Isn’t he old by now? That happened before I was born. Although, I do know from looking at you that one’s experience only makes them better…”

“He doesn’t grow old.”

“What does that mean?”

“Exactly what it sounds like.”

“I’m not sure. You know I hate riddles, don’t you?”

“He’s a… a devil hunter.”

“… I’ll have to see it for myself.

After hearing that, Luwin could no longer sit at ease.

As much as Mr. Odin was serious enough to take the matter into his own hands, at the same time, he was cautious.

After Fenrir Industries collapsed, Odin Corporation was actually able to become the strongest player in the big city. So, Zin, a key figure in the Fenrir Industries meltdown, could, in a way, be regarded as a benefactor of Odin Corporation.

“When I’m judge someone, I definitely need to see the person in person.”

Zin, whom Luwin met, was quite an interesting person. Hunters were money-driven, and sometimes, chips were some hunters’ sole purpose.

But Zin also had that uncanny look of a hunter with an attitude that said that chips were just a means to an end.

“I have something additional to report.”

“Oh, about the other hunter?”

“Yes.”

Luwin had met Zin, but he had also instructed Yoohwan to find out about Ramphil, whom he could not meet.

“Today, that guy crushed the three gangs of Giorgio, Jordan and Gruzza.”

“Oh, you mean those useless bastards? Do you mean to tell me that he did that alone?”

The reason why the gangsters that ruled Harlem were considered worthless was because Odin Corp had the resources and the power to wipe them out with a simple gesture. And some of those gangsters were tied to Odin Corporation whether they knew it or not.

At Luwin’s question, Yoohwan nodded. Apart from being surprised by whether it was possible, Luwin was curious about something else.

“Why did he do that?”

“He asked if they’d like to pay him the reward money with death, or pay him more than that now, and then took their chips.”

“Hmm?” At the explanation, Luwin tilted his head.

“So, he ripped off the gangsters… Is that what you mean?”

When the chairman of Odin Corporation used the words “ripped off,” Yoohwan felt a cold sweat, but he was not exactly wrong.

Rather than being surprised by the act, Luwin had made a different judgment. He knew well that there was no point in being surprised by such things.

“Well, as a hunter, he must have been after the reward money, but he got paid more money than that to leave them alone. What do you think about that, Yoohwan?”

“In my opinion, he’s definitely not a hunter.”

Yoohwan, who had lived for a long time as a hunter, knew that that wasn’t the way of a hunter.

“Hmm…”

Not only was he not a hunter who was engaging in bounty hunting, but he was also doing things hunters wouldn’t do in order to get more chips.

What that was pointing to was simple.

“I don’t know why, but I guess he needs a lot of chips.”

Even Zin had said that he had a place to go. Where they had to go, no one knew, but there was a good chance that they had come to the city to collect a significant amount of chips before going there.

Not surprisingly, chips were their goal.

“OK. Tell them not to retaliate on that.”

“Yes.”

Gangsters were sometimes useful longterm pawns for businesses, and Odin Corporation was able to control them.

“Isn’t that our talent?”

“What are you going to do?”

Luwin blurted out as if he had a great idea, “If they need chips, then we can give it to them.”

With that said, Luwin dismissed Yoohwan.

After Yoohwan left, Luwin called his secretary.

“Tell them to keep investing and report back on the movements of Zin, the hunter. In addition, look into that guy named Ramphil.”

Luwin looked out of the window, as if he had a feel for something. Beyond the nightscape of the city was a dark space with no lights on and no buildings around it, like a circle. No one went around the thick wall, surrounded by the circle.

“That guy is definitely not human. If needed, you can make contact.”

“Yes, sir.”

Even after the secretary had left, he kept on gazing at the huge wall. That always silent wall had made this big city. And the wall seemed to still to have no interest in the world.

It seemed like it didn’t.

“The devil hunter… and another…”

He smiled like a child waiting for something exciting to happen.