Chapter 22
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 22
Chapter Title: The Dark Side of the Flawless City and the Key to Survival
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Deep underground in a certain location in Seoul, in a special interrogation room.
The field commander of this Seoul assault operation and A-grade villain Black Wolf was bound head to toe in mana restraints.
Looking down at him were Hunter Association Headquarters Chief Irmi and Wiz Guild Leader Kim O-jun.
"Tell us, why did China and Russia go to such extremes? What were they after, even after losing 5,000 spies?"
At the Wiz Guild Leader's question, Black Wolf bellowed, veins bulging in his neck.
It wasn't fear—it was raw resentment and injustice boiling up from the depths of his bones.
"That blacksmith bastard... That damn Lee Do-ha!"
Black Wolf slammed his head against the desk, screaming in rage.
"What do you know?! Do you have any idea how much we prepared for this day?! It took China and Russia twenty years just to collude and infiltrate the world's economy and security!"
His desperate cries were heartbreaking.
The grand scheme of bribing politicians in every country, planting spies in major guilds, controlling the media, and slowly strangling the world without firing a single shot.
That ambition to swallow the world whole had been reduced to nothing by a single individual.
"And yet, all because of one lousy blacksmith swinging a hammer! Every plan turned to scraps of paper! Logistics ground to a halt, funding dried up, and all our embedded spies were wiped out overnight!"
An army, nuclear weapons—none of it. A single production-class hunter had toppled an empire.
Black Wolf couldn't accept it, shedding bloody tears.
"It's so unfair... Infuriating! A great empire kneeling to nothing more than gear stats! If it weren't for him!"
Irmi silently watched the scene before asking coldly.
"Who's the mastermind? Shadow?"
At that name, Black Wolf's tantrum stopped dead.
A mix of awe and pity flashed in his eyes.
"He... isn't the mastermind. He's just a hostage."
"A hostage? That A+-grade assassin?"
"The Chinese have his little sister. They're using medicine to suppress her curse of unknown origin as bait, turning that noble soul into their hunting dog. Now that we've failed... they'll send Shadow himself to Seoul. When that happens, your systems and everything else will be smashed to pieces."
Lee Do-ha watched this scene from beyond the monitor, chin resting on his hand, staring blankly at the screen.
"Shadow, huh..."
But that was it.
Lee Do-ha assigned no further meaning to the name. Whether he had a backstory or not, invading his territory would exact a price.
The outside world stood in perfect peace, the polar opposite of the interrogation room's darkness.
But beneath that peace lay a massive societal ripple unintentionally triggered by Lee Do-ha.
In the forge's break room, the TV blared a news flash.
"Breaking news. Seoul's crime rate has hit 0%, stabilizing public safety. However, with previously arrested criminals and the 5,000 spies captured this time, national prison occupancy has exceeded 300%."
The anchor read the script with a troubled expression.
"In response, the Ministry of Justice is considering early release for minor offenders due to lack of space..."
Lee Do-ha, sipping coffee, muttered to himself as he watched.
"Criminals overflowing, no place to put them..."
No sooner had the words left his mouth than a blue system window flashed in the air.
[Administrator's will confirmed.]
[Creating special containment zone: Abyss Prison to resolve prison space shortage.]
[Forcibly transferring all inmates from national prisons and detention centers to the Abyss.]
[Description: Isolation zone in a sub-space, not physical reality. It materializes and infinitely reproduces inmates' traumas.]
A massive black cube-shaped sub-space miracle appeared in a dimensional rift invisible to ordinary eyes in Seoul's skies.
Simultaneously, inmates vanished from prisons nationwide, wrapped in light—a bizarre phenomenon.
This place was on another level from real prisons. No need to feed or house them—an infinite space.
"Aaaagh! Stay away! Fire! It's fire!"
"Please, spare me! I won't do it again! Stop, please!"
The prison interior wasn't like real jails with iron bars.
Inmates faced their personal solitary cells manifesting their deepest fears.
An arsonist who set fires was trapped eternally in flames, feeling the heat forever. A murderer who stabbed someone endured being stabbed thousands of times in agonizing repetition—a horrific punishment.
The captured spies suffered the same. They were locked in illusions of being dragged home and tortured, screaming eternally.
Hey, do you guys know where criminals are being sent these days?
Not police holding cells or prisons.
They're sending them to the Abyss that Lee Do-ha made. Saw an interview with some petty crook who came back from there?
Just stayed in a white room for a day, came out pissing himself saying "I'll never do bad things again" and joined a temple right away lololol
What the hell do they show in there?
I heard it's a place where you infinitely experience your own crimes.
Whoa... These days judges give slaps on the wrist talking about criminal rights, but Lee Do-ha doesn't mess around.
This is true justice. Way better than prisons wasting tax money.
No need to feed or house them. Escape impossible.
Lee Do-ha's prison instilled eternal remorse more terrifying than death in criminals.
Seoul's 0% crime rate stemmed not just from surveillance, but primal fear of the Abyss.
[System verification process activated.]
[Analyzing inmates' memories and mental waves to classify the wrongly accused from true criminals.]
The prison's operation revolutionized.
No more guards patrolling with batons. Instead, psychometry hunters with mental skills were hired as new investigators.
"This... is it real? We just peek into their heads?"
A newly hired psychometry hunter asked, stunned.
Based on the system's preliminary memory data sorting, investigators only confirmed if inmates were truly guilty or wrongly accused.
The innocent were released immediately; true villains sent to the Abyss's deepest Trauma Room.
There, they infinitely relived their crimes from victims' perspectives—hell itself.
Former guards now handled building maintenance, earning easy paychecks. The justice system achieved flawless perfection without errors.
One offhand remark from Lee Do-ha had overhauled South Korea's entire judicial framework.
While Seoul ran under a perfect system, across the ocean, the White House was in panic.
"Mr. President! Russia's top three guilds and twelve Chinese hunter organizations... have been deemed non-functional as of today."
The CIA Director shakily displayed footage.
The screen showed interior combat in Corrupted Gates, comprising 70% of global gates.
"As you know, the air inside Corrupted Gates is pure poison. Breathing alone halves hunters' abilities, while monsters grow twice as strong with toxin."
Russian hunters looked pathetic on screen.
World-renowned master-forged swords corroded like rusted metal on contact with polluted air. Hunters flailed like drowning men, torn apart by monsters.
The feed switched to Korean hunters.
Holy golden light emanated from their gear, clearing polluted fog wherever it touched. Hunters flew like on flat ground, massacring monsters spectacularly.
"That's... just gear difference?"
"Yes. Meister Lee Do-ha's Purification series. Without it, Corrupted Gates are impossible."
The Director reported gravely.
"Terror-linked groups were wiped out the moment gear purchases were blocked. This isn't trade sanctions. It's ripping off hunters' oxygen masks."
The President slumped.
"Damn... Tried contacting them?"
"Not yet. World leaders are watching each other. Afraid to move first and lose face—or offend Lee Do-ha."
Not just America. UK, France, Germany—all major powers silent.
They watched their hunters die like dogs, calculators clicking, unable to bow first.
Back at the forge in Seoul.
Lee Do-ha monitored the silence, no contacts incoming.
"Ms. Irmi."
"Yes, Meister. No official contact requests yet. They're all just watching."
Lee Do-ha smirked, setting down his coffee.
"Testing the waters? Seeing who blinks first in this staring contest."
He saw through their psychology.
They were desperate, yet clung to superpower pride, acting stiff. Amusing.
"Then make them wait longer. Lock them out even if they want to come."
Lee Do-ha snapped his fingers at the air—crack.
Monitors in the US President's, UK PM's, French President's offices lit up with massive system alerts simultaneously.
[Current Administrator does not permit external visitors.]
The President shot up in the Oval Office.
No envoys sent yet, but it felt like their thoughts were read—a preemptive notice.
[We will observe your attitudes.]
[World representatives will be summoned at a later necessary time. Respond then.]
[All access to Seoul prohibited.]
Unilateral declaration.
Not "when will you come?"—but "wait quietly until I call."
"What? Telling us not to come? Before we even reached out?"
"Mr. President... The system seems to be monitoring all our comms."
World leaders were stunned.
This wasn't negotiation. Just orders from the designer.
They could no longer fly to Seoul or call. Reduced to waiting endlessly for Lee Do-ha's summons.
Back inside the forge.
Lee Do-ha turned off the screen with satisfaction.
"Those who caused chaos in my zone must pay."
Lee Do-ha manipulated the system window again.
[Global Auto-Distribution Network activated.]
[Warning: Hostile entities and individuals detected—immediately blacklisted.]
Red warning windows popped up on hunters' terminals worldwide.
Not mere notices—these were loyalty pledges to Lee Do-ha for survival in a polluted world.
Lee Do-ha gazed toward the distant eastern sea, murmuring lowly at unseen foes.
"How will you respond?"
His sights had already transcended Seoul, aimed at the world's throat.