Chapter 52: Turbulent Times!(2)

Even the seemingly solid Villain Union was starting to show cracks.

The flow of the world, which had become rigid since the appearance of the Tower, also began to change.

There were bound to be those who looked unfavorably upon Choi Min-hyuk, the one leading all these changes.

Specifically, the corporations that dominated the existing monster industry felt this way.

With the revitalization of the lower floors, a new playing field was being established.

This led to infinite competition, meaning that even if they managed to establish a guild on the 10th Floor, a loss was guaranteed.

As Choi Min-hyuk ascended toward the 20th and 30th Floors, the existing industry would inevitably be pushed back further.

Under the current System, the Korean Tower was bound to take the lead.

Perhaps that was why the number of people making the wrong choices was steadily increasing.

“The situation isn’t good,” William said.

The SS-class hunters gathered in the United Kingdom wore heavy expressions.

Not every SS-class hunter was present.

Only the most trustworthy individuals, those with absolutely no ties to the villains, sat at the round table William had prepared.

Sword Saint — William

War God — Cheon Tae-san

Saintess — Maria

Sage — James

Magic Engineer — Werner

Mage — Sergei

There were only six of them.

This meant the other five were dangerous.

Aside from the two who were confirmed to have defected, three others were wavering.

Humanity was currently facing a significant crisis.

“How many have decided to participate?”

Cheon Tae-san asked.

William tossed over a report he had received.

“Out of the top 100 monster-related corporations in the world, seven have clearly chosen their side.”

“Those madmen.”

“They’ve lost their minds.”

“If they’re willing to go along with it even after hearing their plan, we shouldn’t consider them human anymore.”

“Scum.”

The SS-class hunters gnashed their teeth at the corporations participating in this madness just because their profits had decreased.

William spoke again, indicating that an even worse situation was unfolding.

“If you include those with a foot in both camps, there are close to twenty companies. The problem is that some of them are fully prepared to defect to the villains.”

“Does that mean some of the companies in Korea might join the assassination plot against young Min-hyuk?”

Cheon Tae-san asked.

William nodded slightly.

Cheon Tae-san let out a soft sigh.

When a company reached the status of a giant corporation, it was entangled like a spiderweb with subcontractors and affiliates.

If twenty giant corporations were trying to aid in Min-hyuk’s assassination, just investigating which company would move and how would be a massive headache.

“Why go this far? Developing the lower floors should be beneficial for them as well,” Maria asked, sounding as if she didn’t understand.

William gave a bitter smile.

“I thought so too. But according to the experts, they hate it because it doesn’t bring profit; instead, it’s like nurturing new competitors.”

For most of the companies at the bottom of the top 100 monster corporations, they were currently barely surviving through price competition.

Now, they would have to compete with new companies entering the market after profiting from the lower floors.

Furthermore, they might have tolerated it if it was just the lower floors since there was little overlap, but the moment Min-hyuk surpassed the 20th Floor, many of their flagship products might be slashed.

In a market where it was several times harder to climb back up once pushed out, those companies that had just established themselves and started raking in profits would naturally think of killing Min-hyuk.

“Madmen.”

“They are indeed obsessed with money.”

“We should have cleaned them up sooner.”

Sergei and Werner nodded in agreement with James’s words.

The SS-class hunters radiated a murderous aura as they thought of the giant corporations filled only with thoughts of money.

William waved his hand as if telling them to calm down.

“That’s why they must have joined hands with the villains. We all knew this.”

They had expected that companies in close cooperation—not just trading a few items through the back door or handling minor requests—would eventually cross the line.

Because of this, the World Association had already labeled them as ‘Black Corporations’ in top-secret documents.

Although they had turned a blind eye to avoid creating global chaos, they would eventually have to open this Pandora’s box.

The problem was that this moment seemed to be arriving sooner than expected.

“The time for a large-scale operation will come soon.”

“When?”

In response to Cheon Tae-san’s question, William stared intently at the agents’ reports.

“Within 1 month at the latest.”

Given Choi Min-hyuk’s climbing speed, reaching the 20th Floor would be faster than expected.

They would try to settle the matter before that point.

Seeing how he achieved explosive growth on the 10th Floor, the villains wanted to settle the score before he climbed to the 20th Floor and became even stronger.

The giant corporations also had to settle the score before he reached the 20th Floor, which could be considered the starting point of the low-end market.

Thinking this way, there was a high possibility they were setting the 19th Floor as their deadline.

“Considering he went straight from the 9th Floor to the 10th Floor, they might try to settle things before the 18th Floor,” James remarked.

Sergei added that they might have to move even more urgently.

“They might even target him before he enters the 16th Floor. We don’t know what might happen if the Tower changes again.”

Recalling how the Tower underwent massive changes after he jumped to the 15th Floor, everyone agreed that the best timing for the villains to cause a terrorist attack would be before he entered the 16th Floor.

“The situation has become urgent. I should go meet young Min-hyuk myself first,” William said.

Cheon Tae-san nodded slightly.

“I’ll also stop my Tower raids for a while.”

“The rest of you, please cover for us while we’re gone.”

Though they furrowed their brows, everyone nodded.

As if there was no disagreement about protecting Choi Min-hyuk, everyone stood up.

William spoke to them with a serious expression.

“On the day we move on a large scale, I plan to reveal the hidden truth as well.”

“That will cause a great deal of chaos.”

Everyone sighed with heavy expressions at Cheon Tae-san’s words.

“Perhaps every SS-class hunter except for us has become an enemy. Let’s assume the worst-case scenario.”

With William’s final words, the secret meeting, the first in a long time, came to an end.

***

At that time, Korea was in an uproar.

As Min-hyuk engaged in official dialogue with the representatives of the Villain Union, people associated with the Black Corporations, which acted as subordinate organizations to the union, were entering Korea one after another.

That wasn’t all.

Employees of the Villain Union, disguised as monster-related corporate workers, were requesting to enter Korea in large numbers.

As a result, the Korean Hunter Management Bureau was in a state of emergency.

“The number of villains sneaking into Korea is increasing.”

“Do we know their intentions?”

“It’s difficult to determine at this point.”

Because Min-hyuk had decided to cooperate with the villains, it had become difficult to blindly block them.

They were currently blocking those with criminal records, but if they blocked those who hadn’t committed crimes yet, Min-hyuk might be criticized for breaking his promise.

Furthermore, the fact that the villains who entered were behaving themselves made it impossible for the Hunter Management Bureau to arbitrarily kick them out.

“…This is driving me crazy. Surely some of them are planning a terrorist attack.”

It was just as Park Yeong-hwan was messily ruffling his hair and sighing.

Suddenly, the phone in his pocket rang.

[Cheon Tae-san]

As soon as he saw Cheon Tae-san’s name on the screen, Park Yeong-hwan answered the call.

—The villains will move soon to kill Min-hyuk.

“As it happens, villains are entering Korea in droves.”

—Tsk.

They might try it before he goes to the 16th Floor.

I’ll get there as fast as I can, so protect him by any means necessary until then.

Feeling that something unusual was happening, Park Yeong-hwan stood up immediately after hanging up.

“From now on, block the villains from coming into this area as much as possible. And mobilize all agents!”

“Yes, sir!”

At Park Yeong-hwan’s urgent command, the staff moved quickly.

Sensing that the situation was escalating, Park Yeong-hwan first called Min-hyuk.

“Are you outside your house right now?”

—Yes.

I came out for a bit to look at Orcs.

“Ah… right.”

Park Yeong-hwan bit his lip as he recalled what Min-hyuk had said.

After finishing his repeated clears and to prepare for the 16th Floor, arrangements had been made for Min-hyuk to enter a Gate managed by the Hunter Management Bureau where Orcs appeared and to examine Orc corpses.

It was to let him prepare for the 16th through 19th Floors in advance.

—Is something wrong?

“The villains’ movements are suspicious. It’s better to postpone your preparations for the 16th Floor for now…”

It was as he was saying that.

Suddenly, the sound of an explosion began to echo through the phone.

—It seems they’ve already moved.

“I’m heading there right now. First, the Bonfire…”

Park Yeong-hwan, who was about to speak urgently, bit his lip as he saw that the call had been disconnected.

Just as he was about to head to Min-hyuk’s location himself…

“We have an emergency. Simultaneous terrorist attacks are occurring right now.”

“Arrest everyone suspected of being a villain. You have permission to kill.”

“That’s the problem. A significant number of villains are actually helping to suppress the attacks.”

Park Yeong-hwan looked troubled at the news that the villain groups known as the four major powers were helping to suppress the terrorism.

“First, dispatch agents to Choi Min-hyuk’s location immediately!”

“We’ve already taken action. All World Association agents are also moving toward that location.”

“I’ll be heading there too, so tell them to take appropriate measures on their own instead of reporting.”

“Yes, sir!”

After giving his orders, Park Yeong-hwan headed straight for the helipad.

He fell into thought as he moved toward the operation area on a standby helicopter.

‘The timing was too precise.’

They had targeted the brief window when the SS-class hunters, including Cheon Tae-san, were holding a secret meeting and the World Association had deployed many agents and hunters to specific Gates to fill the void left by the SS-class hunters.

‘Is the anomaly in the domestic Gates also their doing?’

Reports were coming in that anomalies were occurring in many of the Gates within the country, and the Hunter Management Bureau’s hunters and giant guilds had been dispatched.

It hadn’t been long since the dialogue with the Villain Union, and after the union had been dismantled, the villains hadn’t properly established themselves in the country, so they had let their guard down.

‘…Is it the Black Corporations?’

It wouldn’t be simple Black Corporations.

Those had long since been identified and placed under surveillance by the Hunter Management Bureau.

In other words, a significant number of ordinary corporations that the Hunter Management Bureau hadn’t identified were participating in this operation by the villains.

The question was whether it would end here.

‘Please, hold on.’

Park Yeong-hwan clasped his hands as if in prayer.

At that time, those who had caused a massive explosion at the monster processing plant began a wave of attacks toward Choi Min-hyuk.

Agents nearby were seen rushing over, but they were being delayed by individuals disguised as laborers.

It would be a short time, not even 20 seconds, but for hunters, that amount of time was more than enough for an assassination.

“Die!”

One laborer stabbed a knife toward Min-hyuk with eyes full of murderous intent.

‘I’ve never seen him before, so what kind of grudge could he have to emit such thick murderous intent toward me?’

For a moment, such questions complicated his mind, but contrary to his thoughts, Min-hyuk’s body was already moving.

*Slice!*

The man’s head rolled on the floor, his face frozen in disbelief as his throat was cut in an instant.

Already moving forward, Min-hyuk began a massacre against the terrorists who had reached levels at least ten floors higher than him.