Chapter 34: Big News (1)
A space filled entirely with darkness.
It wasn’t ordinary darkness. It was so deep that no light could shine brightly within it.
One could call it an abyssal pit.
“…”
The resident of the pit, Jacob Harrison, sat with his eyes closed, deep in meditation.
The surroundings were packed with black mana, yet he couldn’t use it.
Moreover, his depleted mana showed no sign of recovering, so there was little he could do.
At first, the terrifying presence watching him had caused considerable psychological pressure.
But as time passed, he gradually grew accustomed to it.
“Thank you for watching over me today as well.”
Perhaps because he had changed his mindset.
He began to think that the terrifying existence wasn’t trying to kill him, but might even be protecting him.
And so, like offering a prayer to a god, he gave thanks.
Of course, he did so entirely on his own schedule.
Time was impossible to measure here.
The owner of the subspace, Chae Jin-young, had placed a dungeon-grade hourglass inside.
“Hmm…”
The dungeon-grade hourglass was a tool designed to measure the time ratio between Earth and dungeons.
On Earth, it flipped once every hour, but if it flipped ten times in the dungeon, that meant time flowed ten hours faster inside.
“It still hasn’t flipped even once… Just how much slower is time here compared to Earth?”
Jacob felt that time in the subspace flowed far more slowly than on Earth.
Otherwise, this sensation of endless, eternal time couldn’t be explained.
Gurgle…
“…”
He suddenly remembered the hamburger he hadn’t finished earlier.
Two beef patties with bacon—it had been pretty tasty.
For some reason, he’d hesitated to eat it carelessly and only managed one bite.
“Next time, I should just eat it without overthinking.”
As he rose from his spot with that thought—
Swoosh—
A person appeared out of thin air, flailing arms and legs.
A middle-aged man with slightly receding hair. Likely Korean.
“Let me goooo!”
Jacob waited until the rampaging Korean calmed down a bit before calling out.
“Hey, Korean.”
“You—who are you? Where the hell is this?”
“Calm down. And whatever you do, don’t look up.”
Ignoring Jacob’s warning, the man looked around—and then glanced upward.
“Grrrrk…”
His eyes rolled back, foam bubbled from his mouth, and he fainted on the spot.
***
Tzzzt—
Chae Jin-young emerged from a black portal directly into the Intelligence Department Director’s office.
Jeong Bo-hoon, spotting him, let out a short sigh.
“…I’d really appreciate it if you didn’t portal straight into my office.”
“You haven’t had lunch yet? Shall we go get some kimchi jjigae?”
“Stop changing the subject.”
Jeong Bo-hoon had recently started feeling like his hair was falling out much faster.
To be precise—ever since Chae Jin-young joined the Intelligence Department.
He hadn’t even realized he had hair loss before, but thanks to this guy, he was now painfully aware.
Still, there was nothing Jeong Bo-hoon could do about it.
If he kicked this psycho out of the department, who knew what disaster might follow.
It was actually more comforting to keep him close.
“You’re so nitpicky. Anyway, I heard you were looking for me.”
“…Yes. There’s a new assignment.”
“Ooh, an assignment. What is it?”
Chae Jin-young sat down on the sofa across from Jeong Bo-hoon and asked.
“The situation in the North Korean Contaminated Zone is getting unusual. According to military contacts at the Beijing embassy, monsters have recently started appearing outside the contaminated zone.”
Beijing Command — short for the North Korean Border Command.
It was a command newly established four years after the Great Change, following the collapse of the North Korean regime and the territory being swallowed by the contaminated zone.
The North Korean Contaminated Zone was incomparably larger and more dangerous than even Hongcheon.
Roughly 80 percent of North Korea had become contaminated zone.
Because of that, people in the know referred to it not as a contaminated zone, but as the “Demon Realm.”
It was heartbreaking that land that would one day need to be reclaimed had turned into a perilous contaminated zone, yet ironically, it served as a buffer against China.
But Chae Jin-young knew the truth.
The exact opposite situation would arrive soon.
The origin point of the first Monster Wave was precisely the North Korean Contaminated Zone.
There were still about four months left until the incident, but he couldn’t afford to let his guard down.
Things could always diverge from the pre-regression timeline.
“Monsters rarely come out beyond the contaminated zone boundary.”
Chae Jin-young pretended not to know and spoke first, prompting Jeong Bo-hoon to nod.
“It’s one of the rare cases even overseas. And even then, it was because someone deliberately drove the monsters out of the Creep. But I doubt there’s any Hunter in the North Korean Contaminated Zone capable of pulling off something like that.”
“So our mission is to find out who’s doing it starting now. Shall we head out immediately?”
As Chae Jin-young started to stand, Jeong Bo-hoon’s gaze suddenly turned serious.
“The North Korean Contaminated Zone is nothing like Hongcheon. Even for you, I can’t guarantee your safety. So please wait until the contamination protective gear being developed in the secret research lab is completed.”
“Looks like the artifact I handed over was quite useful.”
The ring that increased resistance to Creep’s toxicity.
It was an artifact once owned by GODS’s 1st-grade villain, Layla Piper.
He had passed it to the secret research lab to study how it was made, and it seemed progress was being made.
“Director Kim from the lab said it was a tremendous help. He even said he’d treat you to drinks if he ever meets you.”
“Drinks sound good. As long as the side dishes are high-end.”
“Anyway, all you need to do until preparations are complete is wait…”
Jeong Bo-hoon narrowed his eyes, paused meaningfully, then continued.
“…I heard you raided the Black Society last night.”
“Oh, as expected of the Intelligence Director. You already know.”
“Wiping out a villain organization is a good thing, but… couldn’t you at least give me a heads-up?”
Jeong Bo-hoon pressed his temples as he spoke.
“Ah, it was late at night. I couldn’t wake you up, Director.”
“I’m truly moved to tears.”
Jeong Bo-hoon barely suppressed the urge to cry and continued.
“But the Black Society is not a place you can just mess with carelessly. You must know who the boss is connected to.”
“Association President Yoon Soo-ho, right?”
“…Knowing that, you still crippled President Jeong? No matter how lazy Yoon Soo-ho’s ass is, he won’t just let this slide.”
“That’s exactly what I wanted.”
At Chae Jin-young’s words, Jeong Bo-hoon’s eyebrow twitched violently.
“You’re not… planning to kill Yoon Soo-ho, are you? Tell me no.”
“Why would I suddenly kill Yoon Soo-ho? I’m not a psychopath.”
“Th-Then… what exactly are you planning to do by dragging him out?”
“Director. My little sister’s survival from the contaminated zone—you still haven’t decided how to spin the story, right?”
Jeong Bo-hoon cleared his throat awkwardly.
“Ahem… We were just waiting for the Association to make the official announcement about the contaminated zone. If we step forward after that, the attention will be dispersed.”
“I have a good idea.”
When Chae Jin-young’s lips curved upward, anxiety slowly crept across Jeong Bo-hoon’s face.
“Is this about those GODS guys again?”
“They’re just side characters. The real lead in this story is Yoon Soo-ho. Doesn’t it sound exciting?”
“I’m not really a fan of horror movies.”
***
“The next item is an invitation from Shin Young Group Chairman Jeon Young-su. He says there’s a nice limited-menu Korean restaurant near Shin Young headquarters and would like to treat you. What should I do?”
Nam Ji-yoon, Chief Secretary of the Korea Awakened Association and a 3rd-grade Hunter, spoke.
Yoon Soo-ho, practically lying flat on the sofa, rolled his eyes toward Nam Ji-yoon and asked,
“Whether the food’s good or not, it’s a hassle. Tell him to come to my office. Delivery’s fine these days.”
“Yes, I’ll pass it along. Also, there’s a report from the North Korean Border Command that monsters are starting to leak out of the contaminated zone.”
“Discuss that with the Vice President and handle it.”
At Yoon Soo-ho’s words, Nam Ji-yoon felt the urge to speak rise to her throat, but she held it back and continued.
“Yes, I’ll take care of it. Next, there’s a meeting request from Assemblyman Park Jeong-jae of the Peace Party. The date can be whenever is convenient for you, President…”
“Set it for tomorrow at 17:00. The location should be a high-end restaurant nearby.”
Yoon Soo-ho rarely made appointments, but when it came to fellow party members, the story was different.
Nam Ji-yoon, who had watched Yoon Soo-ho since his early days, didn’t like the change she was seeing.
How had someone once hailed as the greatest Hunter in Korea become more interested in politics than in his duties as a Hunter?
If the man considered Korea’s top fighting force continued to neglect his responsibilities, serious problems would arise in the future.
It would be ideal if there were someone who could rein him in, but no one in the country had the power to overwhelm him.
The only one with even a slight chance was Shin Soo-jeong, the other 1st-grade Hunter, but she despised getting involved in such matters.
After a brief moment of hesitation, Nam Ji-yoon shook her head and resumed her report.
“President, it has been five days since the SP Guild went missing. The search teams have scoured everything except the deepest parts of the contaminated zone, but no bodies have been found.”
For the first time, Yoon Soo-ho’s expression darkened slightly.
“Is there no manpower we can dispatch to the depths?”
“It’s possible, but we’d likely just end up adding more corpses to the list.”
“Hongcheon is always the problem. Four years ago, we lost eight 2nd-grade Hunters. This time, it’s the SP Guild Master and sixteen elite members.”
“The Acting Secretary General Shin Hye-yeon, who temporarily took over as Guild Master, has also been missing for several days. At this rate, one of the three major Guilds will collapse.”
“That’s definitely a problem. Personally, I didn’t like Min Hae-joon, but there’s no denying his abilities were genuinely helpful.”
Yoon Soo-ho had no fond memories of Min Hae-joon, but setting that aside, he had been an outstanding Hunter.
Through collaboration with Shin Young Group, he had developed various Hunter equipment, lowering mortality rates during raids.
High raid success rates had also played a major role in preventing gate explosions.
The government and the Association had approved the Hongcheon Contaminated Zone restoration operation precisely because they trusted the SP Guild’s outstanding performance and capabilities.
And now, the responsibility of announcing their total annihilation fell to the Association President—Yoon Soo-ho.
It would be difficult to escape accountability for approving such a dangerous operation.
If that happened, his political standing could be shaken as well.
“We should begin preparing the full-announcement of their deaths soon.”
Yoon Soo-ho closed his eyes and said nothing for a moment before rubbing his face tiredly and speaking.
“Nam, let’s delay the announcement a little. Just two more days. One full week sounds better.”
“Is there a particular reason to delay?”
“Announcing after five days of searching looks less impressive than after a full week. And in those two days, we need to create some news.”
“News… you mean?”
Nam Ji-yoon felt uneasy.
When Yoon Soo-ho, who usually refused to move, talked about creating news, it was never a trivial matter.
“If we announce the SP Guild’s deaths, it will cause massive turmoil in Korea, and public criticism against me will grow louder. So we need an incident to neutralize that.”
“Is there anything I can help with?”
Nam Ji-yoon wanted at least some clue about what Yoon Soo-ho was planning.
“Nam, please compile a list of villains causing recent problems, as well as high-risk dungeons with imminent gate explosion risks.”
“Shall I prepare it right away?”
“No. I have somewhere to go for a bit. Leave it on my desk when you leave today.”
“…Understood.”
Nam Ji-yoon bowed and left the office.
Left alone, Yoon Soo-ho took out his smartphone and dialed someone.
The boss of the Black Society—President Jeong.
He would be the perfect person to provide the necessary help.
—Ugh… hello…
Hearing the pained groan from the other end, Yoon Soo-ho furrowed his brow.
“Hyung-nim, why does your voice sound like that?”
—Some crazy bastard… got me.
“Where are you right now?”
—In my office…
“Stay right there.”
With an annoyed expression, Yoon Soo-ho released his mana.
Swoosh…
Leaving behind a blue afterimage, his figure vanished.
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