The Following Day...

Morpheus returned to the branch headquarters of the Jopoke and met his captain again.

This time, the atmosphere of the room was much more welcoming, unlike the previous meeting, as all the other team leaders also had a smile on their faces.

Morpheus was liked by most of them because, as teenagers, many of them started around the same era and slowly but surely rose to their positions. At least half of the team leaders also belonged to the same group as him when he joined over 15 years ago.

"Hyung-nim, I have returned," he spoke and bowed respectfully.

"Ah, look at it! My protege has returned!" spoke the captain gleefully and stood up from his seat with a wide smile.

Clap!

Clap!

The other team leaders also stood up from their respective seats and started clapping as the prodigal son had returned after his banishment.

"Welcome back, hyung!"

"Mol-phi-ussa noona (older sister) is back!" spoke one of the gang leaders jokingly.

"Yah! Jugeulle?! (Wanna die?)" replied Morpheus with a pissed off expression.

"We missed you, hyung!" spoke another team leader.

And finally, the captain himself greeted Morpheus with open arms and hugged him tightly.

Now, why was everyone’s reaction starkly different than a month ago?

It was simple... their organization worked on producing results while punishing those who fucked up their operations.

Even if Morpheus did not intend it, the hunter dying inside the casino bar under his leadership was a major blow to their group.

They had to keep the casino closed under the name of renovation for a couple of weeks, and a lot of regular customers had stopped coming due to the incident, as it was no longer a safe place for them.

And only last week did the business pick up the pace again.

The situation would have been very dire, and Morpheus would have faced a bigger punishment if he hadn’t sold off his hunter gear.

It allowed the captain to make amends on his behalf to the generals of the Jopoke and also get leniency for Morpheus.

If he hadn’t offered them as compensation, which yielded the organization a couple of hundred million won on the black market... they would not be talking in this room on friendly terms.

Although Morpheus felt betrayed at the start, he came to understand that if he were in the captain’s position and any of his underlings had fucked up like that... his neck would be on the line at that time.

So the way his captain handled things was a far better outcome for everyone compared to Morpheus losing both his arms and legs instead.

"You’re not holding a grudge against me now, are you?" asked the captain with a smile, but also in a domineering tone.

"Ani! (No) How can I be mad at you, my handsome and manly hyung-nim!

I’m sure you did your best to save my skin. For that, I’m eternally grateful.

You know what?!... I’ll name my firstborn after you, hyung-nim!" responded Morpheus zealously and bowed again.

"Aigoo! See, you should learn something from him, you punks!" spoke the captain with a wide smile and patted his back thrice.

"Huh?! Who the hell is going to marry this Eternal Virgin?" spoke a team leader who was senior to Morpheus.

"Sunbae(senior)... I don’t fuck hookers, like you. I want to date and marry a woman of character, not a whore." replied Morpheus.

"Yah! Since when do women of ’character’ marry gangsters like us, saekkiya!" retorted the senior.

"Airshhh! Not even a minute back, and you guys are already bickering like always," spoke the captain and signalled Morpheus to take a seat.

"Now that you’re back... let’s talk about your demotion." said the captain, his expression turning serious.

"The generals were pleased with your compensation and the fact that it circumvented a lot of losses we incurred by closing the casino for weeks.

So they have graced you with the choice to pick up whichever division you want to serve in next." iterated the captain calmly.

This was the obvious rule in any organization like theirs. And Morpheus wasn’t the first to face these kinds of repercussions.

"But you know the rules. You will start from the bottom ranks of the team.

Hell, you will have to even address a bunch of young kids as your ’seniors’ there." mentioned the captain.

"Hyung-nim... I had a lot of time to think in the solitary apartment that you arranged for me to hide in.

And I’ve decided to join the Cleanup Crew," spoke Morpheus.

"What?! Are you mad or something?!

Those are the guys who get rid of bodies and all the bullshit that hunters make.

Not only is it tedious work, but the money you would make will be 10 times less.

That’s basically a public toilet janitor’s work, you idiot!" spoke the captain with an angry tone.

"Hyung! That’s not just demotion... It’s basically a career suicide." spoke one of the team leaders.

"Yahh! You are the best fighter in our division.

We get that you fucked up big time. But you are wasting your years by going there.

There is no way for a guy like you to rise in ranks among those nerds."

This time, it was the senior whom Morpheus squabbled with.

They may not see eye to eye, but in the end... they were part of the same gang, growing together throughout their teenage days. So there was a lingering camaraderie there without a doubt.

"And that is why I must go there," replied Morpheus firmly.

"Explain." spoke the captain and arched his back against his luxurious chair.

"The bastards who sent that hunter... they knew about my alias as Black Hawk already.

Means there may be a spy among one of our teams. And it had barely been a month since I was put in charge.

Those people who want to destroy our businesses will likely try to dig up that hunter’s death and bribe some investigator or prosecutor to investigate the disappearance later." explained Morpheus with a concerned tone.

"When that happens, I shouldn’t be available to the public eye in any of our divisions.

They can use it against us later, so I need to completely disappear from their radar while making it easy for you to handle things without much trouble.

The Cleaning Crew is the only division in our organization which has the most inconspicuous members. Those guys barely make their existence known while still serving our jopoke.

It’s the best place for me to hide without burdening you guys." spoke Morpheus with an earnest tone.

And truth be told... He was being earnest in his word. Their life was bound by hierarchy and order. But it was also bound by loyalty to their teams. 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

Morpheus had plenty of good memories with everyone present here while growing up. They were his only family, even if he did not admit it openly.

A family wasn’t perfect. But men tend to do everything for it, even if they were never appreciated for their efforts and their sacrifices.

The atmosphere turned heavy, and a pin-drop silence ensued.

Most of them understood what Morpheus was doing for them. Many times, people cut and run to save their own skin. But he chose to stay and still staked his own future so that they wouldn’t face any dire consequences.

Sigh!

The captain sighed and spoke with a heavy tone.

"Now I feel bad for making you do this. But I understand... so for at least tonight...

Let’s have a celebration party! All the booze, the girls, and the food are on me!" shouted the captain.

"All hail the captain! All hail hyung-nim!"

A roar echoed in the headquarters as everyone cheered with their lungs out.

******************

Morpheus was given a fitting farewell party and on the following day...

"I greet you, captain!" said Morpheus.

However, this time... the captain he spoke to was a man wearing spectacles.

The aura was different from the previous captain, and his gaze was colder and precise.

"Why do I always get the runt of the litter?" he spoke in an exasperated tone.

"Yahh! You better not fuck up my operations. You get that?!

I’m taking you under my wing only because the generals ordered me to. Otherwise, no way would I let a musclehead like you in my team." spoke the captain.

Behind him was a crew of 5 more people. Two of them were women, and including the captain, they would be the main team.

This division had no other team members or different groups under its command. But no one dared to look down upon them in their organization.

"I will try my best not to be a hindrance, captain." spoke Morpheus as he bowed.

"You better not be. Otherwise, I will crush you down." spoke the frail-looking team captain.

BOOM!!

The next moment, his aura erupted, and a dark green hue surrounded his body.

The captain of the Cleanup Crew, with his oppressing aura, revealed himself as...

A B-rank Hunter.