The Il Sung Group Chairman, Kim Min Sung, had put his youngest son, the Strategic Business Director, Kim Do Hyuk, in charge of all matters regarding the Il Sung guild.

After the Raids began, guilds became the most important business enterprise to corporations. The fact that he had total control over the guild showed how much the public trusted in him.* (*The public rightfully assumes that they don’t put maniacs in charge of superpowered armies. Whether this is true or not is a different story.)

However, there was no end to the man’s greed.

He increased the guild’s achievements and tried to set himself up into an advantageous position in order to cement his position as successor; ultimately, he put his hands on items of mass destruction.

“Did you say the Director called for me?” Chul Min, the Il Sung Guild Leader asked his subordinate. Chul Min looked under the weather, almost like he was sick, and had thick dark circles under his eyes.

“Yes, Guild Leader. All work is to be halted immediately, and he wanted you go to his office,” his subordinate guild member said.

“Ha,” Chul Min sighed. He couldn’t even guess why he was called to Do Hyuk’s office.

“We’re preparing a car right now,” his subordinate guild member said.

Because the heads of the top thirty guilds had a considerable amount of power, they were treated as if they were heads of major corporations.

‘Not me, though..’

Chul Min dressed up, and straightened out his clothes; mixed feelings flitted across his eyes. There were exceptions to everything, and he was one of those exceptions.

The Il Sung Group Strategic Business Director, Kim Do Hyuk actually held all the power, and he was closer to a puppet than a proper guild leader.

“I’ll drive today. Please rest in the guild house.”

He wanted to clear his mind.

The guild member nodded his head and said, “I understand.”

“Thank you for all your hard work.”

He went to the guild house’s parking lot, and got into his own car, not the guild’s, and went to Il Sung Group’s headquarters.

It took around an hour to go from the guild house to the headquarters.

He finished parking, disembarked from his car, and started to walk quickly to the Strategic Business headquarters. He would’ve used high-speed movement if he could, but he couldn’t do that inside the building.

“Hoo!”

Chul Min reached the Director’s office and took a deep breath before knocking on the door. The moment he went inside, he saw Do Hyuk reclined in his chair while he cleaned his glasses.

‘It seems like something happened.’

Since Do Hyuk usually didn’t have such a serious expression, Chul Min felt extremely anxious. Upon discovering Chul Min, Do Hyuk took a sip of his coffee and opened his mouth.

“Please sit,” Do Hyuk said stiffly.

“An explanation.. Could you please explain what’s going on?”

“I mobilized the guild’s Executive Branch last night,” Do Hyuk said.

“I’m sorry?” Chul Min couldn’t believe his ears for a second. He hadn’t received any report regarding the Executive Branch’s deployment.

“Are you saying you deployed the Executive Branch without my approval?”

Chul Min was infuriated, as it was common sense for the Guild Leader to have full authority over the deployment of the Executive Branch.

Comparatively, the Executive Branch Leader could only deploy the Executive Branch a few times under their own discretion.

“Are you reprimanding me right now?”

However, common sense didn’t apply to Do Hyuk. When he saw Do Hyuk’s firm attitude, he forgot what he was going to say.

“You’re going to need to reflect on that, Guild Leader. Does it even make sense that a dozen Executive Branch Hunters couldn’t even kill one S-rank Hunter?”

“Are you saying you mobilized the Executive Branch and attacked an S-rank Hunter?”

“That’s correct. Is there a problem with that?”

Do Hyuk’s response almost made him fall to the floor. Not only did he mobilize the Executive Branch Hunters, but he had also attacked an S-rank Hunter; he realized that it was not some ordinary serious matter.

Still, Chul Min was worried that Do Hyuk hadn’t admitted that it was his mistake.

‘He’s young, but I didn’t think he’d cause so much trouble..!’ Chul Min lamented.

Do Hyuk was exceptionally talented in business, but it hadn’t been long since he had been appointed as Strategic Business Director, so he didn’t have enough experience in this field yet.

Moreover, he had been hot-blooded since his youth.

He hadn’t realized how dangerous an S-rank Hunter was, and had ignored the opinions of his advisors, hence he had caused trouble.

“Director. S-rank Hunters aren’t that easy to take care of.”

“It seems like it’s not impossible, though.”

“That’s true but..”

“Fine. Mobilize all the guild members that you can. You must kill that S-rank Hunter. On that note, please mobilize A.S.A.P..”

A sigh naturally came out. He wouldn’t listen.

“Do you have a reason for killing that S-rank Hunter?”

“Our secret plan has been exposed. We have to kill him before he tells others about the plan.”

Chul Min was speechless; he knew a day like this would come.

Chul Min had been against Do Hyuk’s plan to gather items of mass destruction, but Do Hyuk hadn’t listened to his opinion.

“Does the Chairman also know?” Chul Min asked softly, and Do Hyuk flinched. There was only one person he feared, the Il Sung Group’s Chairman, Kim Min Sung.

“My father probably doesn’t know yet. Thus, we have to take care of it quickly.”

Do Hyuk didn’t want his mistake to be exposed to the public. He didn’t want his plan involving the items of mass destruction to destabilize his place in the race for succession.

“I won’t skimp on supporting you. Please kill him without fail.”

“I understand,” Chul Min replied reluctantly. The matter had only gotten bigger ever since he had attacked an S-rank Hunter, so he thought it wouldn’t be long before Min Sung figured it out.

* * *

Sung Joon left the hospital after requesting that they do not allow his father to go out. His synchronization rate had reached 39%, but he wasn’t feeling great.

He returned to his studio apartment, and the next morning, he met with Jung Chul, rather than attacking the Il Sung guild.

“You must’ve been infuriated, but you held it in well,” Jung Chul said.

He had thought that Sung Joon would immediately attack the Il Sung guild. If that had happened, the Il Sung Group would’ve used their immense funds to manipulate the media and drive public opinion against him.

“I’m not stupid. I’m planning on manipulating the media.”

“That’s a good idea. The most important thing these days is public opinion. You have an advantageous position right now, and you have justification, so it won’t be difficult, Mr. Kang Sung Joon. The problem is funds,” Jung Chul said honestly.

He really wanted to help Sung Joon, but this kind of plan required a lot of money.

“I’ll take care of the funds, so please don’t worry about that and start.”

“You don’t have to worry about it. I’ll make the Il Sung Group’s image plummet within a week,” Jung Chul said, overflowing with confidence.

Manipulating information would be a difficult task, but if they had enough money and definitive evidence, it wouldn’t be difficult to manipulate the media.

Il Sung was also trying to ‘fabricate’ the truth, but Sung Joon had definitive evidence and became the victim, so it was difficult for the assailants to manipulate public opinion.

“Then I’ll get started immediately.”

Jung Chul parted ways with Sung Joon, and immediately got to work. He told the press and wrote on the internet that the Il Sung guild’s Executive Branch had struck first, and had also sent/uploaded the black box footage.

The Il Sung Group, which could be considered the main body of the Il Sung guild, had kept the public quiet on last night’s events, but after Jung Chul initiated their plan and spread their definitive evidence, the public started to voice out.

[Shocking news! The Il Sung guild attacked a virtuous Hunter!]

[Do you think they did it because he refused their recruitment? They must actually be a brutal guild!]

[This is a first in our country! An S-rank Hunter being attacked!]

The evidence regarding the items of mass destruction wasn’t completely solid, and more importantly, it could cause a mass panic, so Jung Chul hadn’t attached that information.

The Il Sung Group Chairman, Kim Min Sung belatedly realized the severity of the situation, and ordered that they manipulate public opinion, but it was unfortunately after Jung Chul had hired part-timers to comment and control the internet.

[How could the Il Sung guild do this!?]

[I knew they would cause trouble eventually.]

[They have some nerve to have attacked an S-rank Hunter.]

[I truly recognize it as ‘self-defense’ this time.]

The people were in agreement, and the part-timers that Jung Chul had employed created an environment where people could freely criticize the Il Sung Group.

Il Sung tried their best, but public opinion was quickly worsening.

* * *

The door to the Chairman’s office opened, and a full-suited man urgently walked in. He slightly bowed towards the Il Sung Group Chairman, Kim Min Sung, and opened his mouth.

“Chairman, public opinion is quickly turning against us. It’s true that the Il Sung guild erred, but it’s happening too fast.”

“It seems like someone intervened.”

Min Sung realized that someone had intervened without much difficulty. He was Il Sung Group’s Chairman. He hadn’t experienced something like this only once or twice in his life.

“There are more and more members that want to leave the guild.”

The worsening public opinion, and not knowing whether Sung Joon, known as ‘Self-Defense’, would attack them or not, caused the Hunters to start leaving the Il Sung guild.

The executives stayed, but it wasn’t an issue that the normal guild members could just ignore.

“The S-rank Hunter, Kang Sung Joon, is just watching the situation right now, but we don’t know when he’ll decide to act.”

“Do Hyuk must really be struggling,” Min Sung muttered.

Min Sung was really worried since Do Hyuk was responsible for all matters regarding the guild. After losing his first and second sons to a Raid, Min Sung started showing more special interest and affection towards his youngest son, Do Hyuk.

“Young master (Do Hyuk) is also trying his best, but it seems like the guild and the Strategic Business headquarters won’t be enough,” the secretary replied. Min Sung sighed briefly, and opened his mouth.

“Is there no response from the government?”

“They’re remaining silent on the issue.”

The government’s silence meant that they were obviously siding with Sung Joon.

“They took so much of my money, yet now they’re silent..” Min Sung lamented. The money that he had been giving to politicians and government officials felt like a waste.

“We’re (the Il Sung Group) going to help Do Hyuk.”

“I understand.”

“If the public opinion worsens, we can just cut off the tail*.” (*An expression meaning that they’ll sacrifice someone who’s expendable. Usually refers to lower level employees.)

“When you say you’ll cut off the tail, do you mean..?”

The secretary didn’t understand what Min Sung was saying at first.

“I’m saying that we’ll put all the blame onto the Il Sung Guild Leader. Don’t we have to protect Do Hyuk no matter what?”

Although Min Sung spoke with such cruelty, his expression didn’t change one bit. Do Hyuk was the one who mobilized the Executive Branch, but normally only Guild Leaders have the authority to mobilize the Executive Branch.

If all goes well, they would be able to pass all the blame onto the Guild Leader, Chul Min.

There may be remaining evidence that Do Hyuk ordered it, but the Il Sung Group will be able to manipulate the evidence.

“I understand. I’ll prepare for that in advance,” the secretary nodded his head, and replied. He was saying that he’d prepare the fabricated evidence, so that they’d be able to use it immediately if the situation required it.

“S-rank Hunters also.. need to learn their place..”