As the conversation reached this point, Sang-woong immediately understood why the villagers had all gathered like this.
“That’s right! Didn’t you say you were a Grade E Hunter before? You’re the only Hunter in our village. Please, you have to help us!”
The Village Head even clasped his hands together and pleaded earnestly.
His acting was fairly convincing.
At that, the villagers behind began to cling to Sang-woong one by one.
“Sang-woong, please, just help us this once!”
“Yeah, Sang-woong, you’re the only one we have! Our entire harvest is about to be ruined!”
“We’ll eat at your Restaurant more often and spread the word about how good it is. Please, we’re begging you.”
There were all sorts of sweet-talking, pleading, and even people with tears brimming in their eyes.
Sang-woong couldn’t help but laugh at the sight.
Just a few days ago, these were the same people who stood idly by with their arms crossed whenever the Village Head threw his weight around.
Not a single person spoke up against the Village Head’s wrongful actions.
Sang-woong folded his arms and looked around at them.
“It’s true that I’m a Grade E Hunter, but… why should I help all of you?”
His voice was calm, but there was a distinct firmness to it.
The villagers’ faces were visibly flustered.
The Village Head’s expression started to harden.
“Come now, we’re all asking you like this… Isn’t it a bit heartless to treat fellow villagers this way?”
The Village Head, frustrated by Sang-woong’s unexpected firmness, subtly raised his voice.
For him, shouting and pressuring people came more naturally than begging.
“Heartless, you say?”
Sang-woong let out a snort.
“Who was it that piled up a heap of scrap materials in front of my parents’ house and hurled all kinds of insults? Was it someone else who blocked the path to our field? Back then, you sure didn’t treat us like fellow villagers.”
At Sang-woong’s sharp retort, the Village Head made an awkward face.
And as if on cue, all the villagers’ eyes turned toward the Village Head.
There was a silent pressure in the air: This is all your fault, so take responsibility.
A bead of cold sweat trickled down the Village Head’s scalp and ran along his face.
If this went wrong, he could end up shouldering all the blame.
“There was a misunderstanding back then!”
The Village Head tried to explain.
“A misunderstanding, you say? I’d like to hear what kind of misunderstanding that was.”
Sang-woong took a step forward and asked.
But the Village Head couldn’t say a word.
How could he tell all these villagers that he acted that way just because he was jealous of the rising value of the farmland?
Unable to bear it any longer, some of the villagers spoke up.
“What happened before, we really do feel sorry about it. The Village Head regrets it, too.”
The old lady from next door spoke cautiously.
“Regret, huh?”
Sang-woong glanced at the Village Head.
The Village Head’s face was still stubbornly hard.
If anything, he looked as if he was struggling to hide his anger.
There was no sign of regret at all.
“Well… I’m not so sure. And to be honest, I’m already busy enough running my Restaurant. I don’t have the time or the reason to go hunt Mutant Water Deer.”
Sang-woong drew a firm line.
“Come on, we’re begging you so desperately. Are you really not going to help?”
The villagers’ voices grew louder.
“When the Village Head was tormenting my parents, where were all of you? Didn’t you all pretend not to notice?”
At Sang-woong’s question, the villagers had no reply.
Only a heavy silence filled the Restaurant.
The Village Head stomped his feet anxiously.
His plan was falling apart. He couldn’t back down like this.
“Sang-woong! Even so, is it right to turn away from your fellow villagers in their time of need? Are you saying it’s fine as long as you live well by yourself?”
The Village Head raised his voice again.
“Turn away, you say?”
Sang-woong looked at him with a dumbfounded expression.
“Before talking about turning away, maybe you should look at yourself first. You’re the one who always ignored others’ hardships and only cared about your own benefit. I don’t think you’re in a position to talk about duty.”
At Sang-woong’s resolute attitude, the villagers could no longer say a word.
On their faces was a mix of disappointment and embarrassment.
They’d come in a crowd, but faced with Sang-woong’s unyielding stance, there was nothing they could do.
Finally, the Village Head glared at Sang-woong and said,
“You farm too, don’t you? Do you think you’ll be safe? The day will come when you regret this!”
Unable to hold back his anger, he stormed off in a huff.
But to Sang-woong, the Village Head’s words made no sense at all.
He had Leon, the Divine Beast, at his side.
As long as that guy was around, the Mutant Water Deer wouldn’t even think of coming near.
Seeing that Sang-woong didn’t react even after he tried threatening him, the Village Head slammed the Restaurant door as he left.
The villagers followed him out one by one, all wearing dejected expressions.
Sang-woong let out a deep sigh only after confirming that they had all completely left.
He tied his apron around himself once again.
Customers were still waiting in the Restaurant.
Sang-woong silently returned to his post.
However, in the end, Sang-woong had no choice but to go after the Mutant Water Deer.
A few villagers who were close with his parents persistently asked for his help, and his kind-hearted parents finally gave their consent.
“It’s just that people couldn’t stand up to the Village Head’s tyranny openly, but there were plenty who were hurting and cursing him behind the scenes.”
When his parents spoke this way, Sang-woong had no choice but to bow his head.
Still, he couldn’t just let things slide as they were.
He needed to take measures so that nothing like this would happen again.
As soon as he closed the Restaurant, Sang-woong went to find the Village Head.
The Village Head greeted Sang-woong with a frown.
“What do you want?”
His voice was filled with annoyance at Sang-woong’s presence.
After this incident, the Village Head had faced heavy criticism from the villagers.
Not all of the villagers were on his side.
Those who had been cowed into silence, and those who were furious about this incident, had all spoken out.
If things stayed like this, this year’s harvest would be ruined, and they couldn’t just stand by.
Because of that, all sorts of Subsidies and the Development Fund, along with the Village Head’s many acts of corruption, had been exposed.
Now, far from keeping his position as Village Head, he was on the verge of being chased out of the village he had lived in all his life.
“Village Head, you heard, right? I’ve agreed to deal with the Mutant Water Deer.”
Sang-woong spoke calmly.
“And?”
The Village Head’s reply was sharp.
His tone was like, “Just do your job, why are you telling me this?”
“There’s one troublesome condition I have.”
“Condition? What condition?”
The Village Head looked at Sang-woong as if it was absurd.
He thought the matter was already settled with the villagers.
Yet Sang-woong had come to him to talk about conditions.
Already frustrated with his predicament, this just added to his irritation.
“The Head’s Land that blocks the path to our field—transfer it to me.”
“What? That…!”
The Village Head jumped up from his seat.
“Transfer the land, you say?”
The land Sang-woong was asking for was only a few pyeong and wasn’t expensive.
The problem was that giving up that land would reverse their positions.
By blocking that land, he had prevented Park Mancheol from farming and had successfully driven him out of the village.
But if, on the contrary, Sang-woong took over that land and blocked the path, then the Village Head wouldn’t be able to farm himself.
Not only that, but his own field could become a dead-end property, and its price would drop significantly.
If that happened, he might even have to beg Park Mancheol to buy it off him, even at a low price.
In short, it would be like putting a noose around his own neck.
This was not a condition he could accept.
As the Village Head hesitated, Sang-woong spoke coldly.
“If you don’t like it, forget it. I’m only stepping in because of my parents—I have no real desire to do it.”
“What kind of nonsense is this! Using my weakness against me, trying to blackmail me! A brat like you, how can you live like that!”
The Village Head exploded in anger.
Honestly, the only reason this happened was because the value of his land had gone up—if Sang-woong had any conscience, he should have offered some money for it out of decency. Instead, he was using this opportunity to squeeze his neck…
This was an unacceptable deal.
“I understand how you feel, Village Head.”
Sang-woong turned his back, as if there was no longer any point in continuing the conversation.
Seeing that, the Village Head felt like a bucket of cold water had been dumped over his head.
If he refused Sang-woong’s terms now, not only would the Mutant Water Deer problem go unsolved, but the villagers’ anger, fueled by his exposed corruption, would only grow more intense.
“W-wait a moment…”
The Village Head had no choice but to call out to Sang-woong, who was about to leave.
He absolutely didn’t want to hand over the land, but there was no other way.
‘All right, just say I’ll give it to him for now and take it back later. Let’s see what that brat does then.’
After thinking it over, the Village Head finally spoke, sounding utterly defeated.
“F-fine. I’ll hand it over.”
“Are you really going to transfer it?”
Sang-woong double-checked, just to be sure.
“Yes. I’ll transfer it. What use do I have for that land now, anyway.”
The Village Head tried to put on a pitiful smile.
But at Sang-woong’s next words, his expression twisted.
“Then please prepare the registration transfer documents today.”
“Uh, uh, well, that…”
The Village Head never expected him to demand they draw up the paperwork right away.
He thought, since Sang-woong was young, he could just humor him a bit and it would all blow over.
“Isn’t it normal to get the reward after the work is done? You should deal with the Mutant Water Deer first.”
The Village Head wasn’t wrong.
But the problem was that Sang-woong didn’t trust the Village Head at all.
“I’ll say this one last time. Unless you stamp the documents, I will not go after the Mutant Water Deer. No, I don’t need the land. Let’s just forget about the whole thing.”
As Sang-woong resolutely stood up, the one in trouble was the Village Head.
‘With a personality like that, he really might just call the whole thing off.’
“Can you really talk so carelessly about something that concerns the entire village’s livelihood? Are you even human?”
The Village Head tried to drag the villagers in again to put Sang-woong in a bind.
But Sang-woong was already a step ahead of him.
There was no way he would miss the Village Head’s petty schemes.
“Go ahead, do whatever you want. I hear you’ve already spread all sorts of rumors about my family. At this point, what difference does one more rumor make?”
At Sang-woong’s words, the Village Head felt his breath catch.
Everything he had done was now coming back to him like a boomerang.
Just as Sang-woong said, nothing could move him anymore.
Suppressing his humiliation, the Village Head had no choice but to accept Sang-woong’s terms.
“Then, I’ll be going now. Contact me as soon as the paperwork is ready.”
Sang-woong stood up.
Watching him go, the Village Head gnashed his teeth in frustration.