Chapter 13
Chapter 13
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 13
Chapter Title: I'll Be the Arsonist (2)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
"What the hell is this crazy bastard?!"
Kudangtang-!
A raucous noise echoed through a house in Seongbuk-dong.
Even as the furious assemblyman kicked his chair aside, his personal secretary calmly flipped through the files.
"As I said before, he's a hunter using the alias Yeoto. His registered real name with the Association is Jeong Do-jin."
"Are you messing with me right now? Who doesn't know that?! I was asking what kind of bullshit it is that this punk Yeoto is stirring up a fuss over the Gate Live Broadcast Ban Law!"
The enraged assemblyman was a politician who strongly supported the Gate Live Broadcast Ban Law.
His secretary explained in response to his growling tone.
"It's because Hunter Yeoto's broadcast... no, his actions, are perfectly skirting the justification for the ban."
"What can you do with just justification? Or does this guy's parents own some massive corporation or something?"
"No. His family is perfectly ordinary."
The assemblyman slumped into his chair and downed his drink.
"Then what the hell is the problem? 'Since no one's going in anyway, I can do live broadcasts all by myself?' Ha, that's nonsense I could counter with ten arguments right here."
Hunters were the heroes of modern society.
Heroes who protected citizens from monsters.
But would anyone broadcast a firefighter putting out a fire live on air?
Hunters being heroes had nothing to do with them making money off live raid broadcasts.
'No matter how special the hunter profession is...'
The assemblyman huffed and poured himself another drink.
People—whether much or little— all liked money.
It was an obvious truth.
'But everyone hates a money-crazed lunatic.'
People all liked money.
But there was such a thing as moderation.
That was why the public didn't oppose the ban.
It wasn't their problem, and it wasn't some unjust false accusation.
Sure, plenty of people would be disappointed not to see gate raid broadcasts anymore.
"If gate raids are truly noble heroic acts, you shouldn't even think of selling them for money."
-Crunch!
The assemblyman, chewing on ice, murmured lowly.
"Exactly. In Congress, I can just say, 'We made regulations for the hunters' safety, and now they're all money-mad, spouting nonsense!'"
"Nonsense, sir?"
"If this isn't nonsense, what is? The whole world will be buzzing over this issue, right?"
"Yes, precisely."
Now they could finally get to the point.
The secretary nodded in relief.
"It's definitely causing a massive uproar. The entire world, in fact."
"...The entire world?"
"Yes. Politicians around the globe are clashing over Hunter Yeoto... Jeong Do-jin's broadcast method."
The assemblyman's guess about the general outline was correct.
But the scale of the incident was entirely different.
The fire started by that mad arsonist voodoo sorcerer wasn't just singeing the Korean hunter world—it had spread far beyond.
At the same time, countries on the opposite side of the globe were ablaze with the same issue.
"The Gate Live Broadcast Ban Law is for the hunters!"
"Spit on it! How many people have their livelihoods tied to the live broadcast market, and all you do is spew that lie?!"
"Hey, if you're in politics, show some dignity!"
"God damn fuck!"
"Chicksho!"
Korea, Japan, Germany, the UK, France, the US.
Politicians in each country were bickering over the exact same problem.
"Assemblyman Steven! Compose yourself! Jumping on some Eastern hunter's nonsense like this?!"
"Compose myself? Compoooose? Are you kidding me?!"
The fiercest debate was in the US.
The young governor bellowed in the assembly hall.
"This hunter is simply fulfilling his duty while pursuing freedom! The duty and freedom of hunters!"
"Damn right! Assemblyman Steven is correct! Why don't you try refuting that? What's wrong with that Korean hunter... Yeah-to?'s raid method?!"
"What's wrong? You said it perfectly! It's a sneaky trick to circumvent the ban, that's why!"
"Nonsense! It's an innovative gate raid method with zero casualties! This hunter's raid has nothing to do with the ban!"
"Like hell it doesn't!"
The Gate Live Broadcast Ban Law was an international law.
In other words, the debates surrounding it were international affairs.
That was why.
"I don't deny the ban itself! However! Denying Hunter Yeoto's 'summoned beast raid party' too? You're practically advertising that you've taken backroom bribes from the regulation advocates!"
"Wh-who said I took bribes?!"
"You guys!! Money-grubbing lunatics desperate to cash in using the ban as an excuse!!"
Bedlam. Chaos about to erupt. A scene from hell.
No matter how you described it, the meaning was the same.
Jeong Do-jin's all-out aggro was incinerating the entire world like a nuclear bomb going off with a boom!
"...That bad?"
The assemblyman at home, chewing ice, gaped open-mouthed.
"N-no, why?! Why to that extent?!"
The assemblyman snatched the newspaper his secretary had brought.
"Can't I just claim what I said? Dismiss it as absurd for a money-crazed guy insisting on broadcasting to the end!"
"Assemblyman."
The secretary's throat felt parched. He wanted to down some of the straight liquor the assemblyman had out.
But what could he do? He had to hold it in during work hours.
"If you push that justification, it leads to banning even recorded broadcasts by hunters."
"So what’s the problem with th—!"
The assemblyman, about to shout, suddenly went blank.
He'd grasped the core of the issue.
"Because banning recorded broadcasts too would actually destroy the Hunter Association?"
"...Yes. To put it bluntly, it's like promising not to kick the balls, then landing a roundhouse the moment you see an opening, turning him into a eunuch."
The essence of the Gate Live Broadcast Ban Law was 'no live broadcasts.'
However, it didn't ban 'recorded broadcasts.'
The Gate Live Broadcast Ban Law was the hunters' Maginot Line.
So even the ban advocates had compromised there.
There was too much to lose on both sides for an all-out war.
But now, breaking that promise out of the blue?
"If you claim as you said that 'broadcasting gate raids at all is wrong,' the Association and hunters worldwide would lose their entire business foundation."
Live broadcasts during raids are banned for safety reasons.
Recorded broadcasts? Those are inhumane too, so ban them anyway.
No editing, no live—don't broadcast at all.
Shut down the gate raid broadcast business entirely.
What about the money invested in broadcasting?
Who knows.
That was where the assemblyman's argument inevitably led.
How would it feel to get that kind of sudden notice?
The imaginative secretary pictured it for a moment.
Like being dragged kicking and screaming to a circumcision you didn't want, only to step out of the car and realize you've arrived at a sex change clinic?
'They'd hijack the wheel and peel out even without a license.'
If it wasn't your parents who dragged you there, they might just run over the driver too.
"...F-first, can't we put out the immediate fire and roughly compromise?"
"Compromise? Hunters dropped their guard thinking they'd won, only to have one nut shattered—doubtful they'd negotiate then."
Even the secretary straightened up at that absurd notion.
Get half-castrated by an opponent's foul play, then buy the excuse 'I just swatted a mosquito on your balls!'?
That wasn't sportsmanship; that was being a sucker.
And hunters were never suckers.
"Uh... uh...."
He stared at his glass, agonizing for a full ten minutes.
The assemblyman, doing mental math, rolled his eyes.
"A-hem... This... yeah. This doesn't violate my promises to my friends."
"Pardon?"
"My buddies I keep in touch with. They only asked me to support up to the ban. They never requested I drag in hunters skirting it."
"Ah, yes."
The secretary cut his words short, and the assemblyman averted his eyes.
"Those friends knew what they were asking! They know blocking recorded broadcasts is impossible!"
"Yes."
"From the start, they probably don't want to make enemies of the hunters, right? If I overdo it and make more foes for my friends, what a tragedy that'd be?"
"Yes."
"A-and originally! The situation's changed, so we gotta recalculate!"
"Yes."
"...Ahem. Do you have something to say to me?"
"No, nothing. We'll proceed that way, then."
"Y-yeah. I'll hold my tongue in Congress too."
The assemblyman's conclusion was 'leave it alone.'
And the thoughts of politicians supporting the ban were much the same.
'Make enemies of the world's hunters just to tweak the ban? Crazy talk! No way. I can't!'
'My political career ends over some backroom cash? Hell no!'
'Anyway, gate live broadcasts shrink, so other markets expand accordingly. This is enough.'
All shapes and sizes, round and round.
In parliaments and cabinets swirling with countless conspiracies, the old politicians thought.
'Fuck, I don't wanna work.'
'Don't wanna suffer in my old age. Time to call it quits.'
They had much to lose, and even more to protect.
Rather than burn their hands on a hot potato, they were lazy bums who'd just dust off and leave.