Chapter 61
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Translator: MJK
Chapter: 61
Chapter Title: The Villain's Demise (2)
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Park Jin-su couldn't stop grinning the entire way to the meeting spot.
A one-on-one interview with Gorani-man12!
If he pulled this off, he'd earn Park Min-chul's trust, solidifying his position in the National Hunter Management Bureau.
And when Park Min-chul seized the next presidency as promised, the director's seat was as good as his.
"I wonder what Gorani-man's secret hideout looks like... Heh heh heh. Probably a garden overflowing with special crops? Might snag a few if I play my cards right."
Whistling cheerfully, Park Jin-su tore the scroll from Gorani-man12 without a second thought.
Fwiiiish!
The scenery warped before his eyes, and suddenly he stood in the middle of a forest shrouded in eerie gloom.
"...Where is this?"
The sky burned crimson-black. Every tree around him twisted in grotesque, unnatural shapes.
And above all, that faint stench mingling in the air.
'Iron... mixed with rotten sulfur?'
The foul reek of those two scents blended together assaulted his senses.
Park Jin-su had smelled this before—somewhere.
In a classified National Hunter Management Bureau document: [Report on Domestic Special Hazard Zones].
The Forest of Atonement, deep in Jiri Mountain where no human footfall dared tread.
A D-Rank Hunter who entered and vanished had left a final report describing this exact odor.
Rumors swirled that it devoured only the wicked...
"Why meet in a place like this?"
As Park Jin-su scanned his surroundings, a man emerged slowly from the trees ahead.
"Ah, you've come!"
Before even seeing the man's face, Park Jin-su bowed at a perfect ninety degrees, fawning shamelessly.
"Thank you for coming out in person! If you join the Bureau, I can offer treatment on par with an S-Rank..."
"Are you recruiting me to the Bureau?"
"Of course! Absolutely! Just say the word!"
"Even after I got fired? You want me back?"
"...Pardon?"
Only then did Park Jin-su look up—and doubted his own eyes.
This was supposed to be a stranger, yet the face staring back was achingly familiar.
'Wait... where do I know that face from?'
His brain fired chaotic signals.
A person who absolutely shouldn't be here.
A pathetic nobody he'd erased from memory—why did that face overlap with Gorani-man's spot?
In this absurd cognitive dissonance, a name slipped from his lips unbidden.
"...Jang Kang-hyun?"
He'd come to meet the legendary Gorani-man, so why did the E-Rank pest he'd squashed like a bug stand before him instead?
"Jang Kang-hyun, Deputy Jang! That's you, right?"
The man's face remained utterly expressionless.
"What are you doing here? Where's Gorani-man?!"
Park Jin-su shouted, still clueless.
Kang-hyun glanced at him and let out a soft pfft.
"That's me you're looking for."
"What?"
"I'm Gorani-man12, Team Leader Park."
Kang-hyun pulled out his device and showed the exact chat log between Park Jin-su and Gorani-man12.
It was unmistakably the ID shaking up Tower Market.
Tower Market's system prevented account tampering—undeniable proof.
"No way... You? How could trash like you...!"
As denial hit, Kang-hyun vanished from sight.
In a blink, a chilling voice came from behind.
"Still haven't grasped the situation?"
Kang-hyun lightly touched Park Jin-su's shoulder.
But that touch carried the overwhelming pressure of something immense crushing down.
"Ugh... Aaaargh!"
His shoulder blade felt like it would shatter.
But the pain paled against the storm of information flooding his mind from Kang-hyun's fingertips.
'W-what is this?'
Gorani-man snapping the Disaster Flower in Okinawa.
Muryong shattering every Tower record.
All pointing to one man.
'No way... this is real?'
Was this the forest's hallucination?
No—his brain screamed it was truth.
The man before him radiated absolute dominance, capable of all that and more.
And that man was Jang Kang-hyun?
"W-wait, Deputy Jang... no, Kang-hyun! It was a misunderstanding! Just a big mix-up!"
Park Jin-su's attitude flipped 180 degrees.
He groveled flat on the ground.
"Please, come back to the Bureau! It's a mess without you. Don't you know how much your colleagues are suffering? You've got patriotism, camaraderie!"
He banked on the soft-hearted Jang Kang-hyun falling for emotional blackmail.
But Kang-hyun just stared blankly, unmoved.
"Now you talk of camaraderie? After shoving me into the fire?"
"I-I must've lost my mind! My fault—all mine! Forgive me!"
"Forgiveness?"
"Yes! Anything! Money? I'll pay. Position? Take mine!"
That slippery tongue.
He'd sell his soul to the devil to escape.
Kang-hyun knew those words rang hollow.
"...Still not listening?"
With persuasion failing, Park Jin-su crossed the unforgivable line.
"...Jang Kang-hyun. Your sister, Jang So-ye. Still in the hospital, right?"
"Huh?"
Unbelievable.
Daring to mention his sister now?
"Think I don't know which hospital? One word from me, and she could be in... real danger."
Park Jin-su smirked vilely, threatening him.
"Do as I say! Come back with me now—tell the Assemblyman you'll return and serve the nation!"
Kang-hyun tilted his head, locking eyes with Park Jin-su.
"Team Leader Park."
"...W-what."
"You don't deserve to leave this forest."
Kang-hyun turned his back.
This pocket dimension linked to his [Abyssal Sin-Eater] planted in Okinawa's heart.
No evil heart could walk out on its own.
"I told you! Disobey, and your sister—!"
"Do your worst."
"What?"
"By the time you escape—if you ever do—the world will have changed. Your pathetic threats? Meaningless."
"Ridiculous! It's just a forest—I'll walk out!"
Ignoring him, Park Jin-su thrashed wildly to flee.
But no matter how far he ran, he looped back to start.
"W-what the hell! What's going on?!"
"Any last words?"
Kang-hyun asked the still-denying Park Jin-su.
Finally, Park met his gaze straight.
"...!"
No rage, no hatred.
Just an abyssal void deeming him lower than vermin.
That look shattered him—irrefutable, horrifying reality.
Chills!
Primal terror gripped him; pleas burst forth.
"S-spare me...!"
"Wrong. You'll spend eternity here, feeling the pain you inflicted."
"...What?"
"The forest will show you clearly. No true remorse? No escape."
Park Jin-su collapsed to his knees, screaming in disbelief.
"N-no, you can't leave me! Deputy Jang! Please!"
"Repent sincerely. Face your sins. That's your atonement, Team Leader Park."
"Nooo...!"
Kang-hyun tore a dimension scroll and returned to reality, leaving Park behind.
His malice and despair would nourish the [Abyssal Sin-Eater] perfectly.
Would Park ever reflect humanely and escape?
Who knows.
Maybe a lifetime.
Park Jin-su's hell began.
"Hah... hah... hah...!"
He sprinted madly to escape.
Demonic thorny vines shredded his flesh; writhing hellbugs gnawed his bare feet—but he couldn't stop.
Kwaaaah!
Unseen monsters howled relentlessly from behind.
How long had he run?
Light gleamed far ahead.
The exit!
"Just... a bit more!"
Squeezing his last strength, he hurled himself toward it in ecstasy.
"...?"
But he'd arrived not at the exit.
Back at his starting point from hours ago.
"Uwaaah... Uwaaaaaah!"
Endless despair.
Joy of finding escape, crushed by returning to zero—infinite loop.
One of the Forest of Atonement's punishments for the wicked.
And worse awaited.
[Paying the price for your evil deeds.]
Visions unfolded before Park Jin-su's eyes.
E-Rank Hunters he'd scorned and expelled, torn apart by monsters right there.
Families of subordinates he'd saddled with blame, weeping homeless on the streets.
His countless vile acts replayed vividly, infinitely.
"Ugh... Urgh! Why me?! What did I do wrong?!"
Forced to confront his sins.
The Forest of Atonement's cruelest punishment for the unrepentant wicked.
Job's done clean. That rushed 500 million in slush funds made it easy.
Must've skimmed plenty before.
Yes. Starting with this embezzlement, all his past corruption's surfacing. Even if he returns, hell awaits. His family's in for a rough ride.
Reaping what he sowed.
He'd long known Park Jin-su skimmed plenty during his Bureau days.
But the guy was meticulous there—hard to catch.
This time, biting the 500 million bait Viper dangled exposed it all.
Officially, Park got duped by a fake Gorani-man scammer, lost big, and fled overseas.
Assemblyman Park Min-chul leaked it to the press fast.
Yeah. Made that assemblyman look like a fool too.
Their greed to score big off Gorani-man boomeranged.
Assemblyman Park Min-chul's position's shaky now. Won't collapse easy, though.
Park Jin-su had nowhere left to return.
Everything flowed exactly as I'd commissioned from Viper.
Thanks—sorted perfectly. Appreciate it.
Sent the promised goods.
When I tasked Viper, he hesitantly asked a favor.
Could I add my crops to his rare collection? Just one of each kind?
I packed generous hauls of items I wasn't trading lately: [Golden Corn], [Honey Sweet Potatoes], [Sun-Kissed Pumpkins].
My god... This much?! Truly grateful, Gorani-man!
Viper rejoiced like a kid.
-Hmyu!
Finishing with Viper, Muryong tugged my pant leg impatiently from beside me.
Pointing at the massive picnic basket on Gorani's neck, he stomped his feet.
Displeased with me glued to the device.
"Sorry. Shall we head out?"
In Okinawa, I spread a mat by the blue seaside.
To check the [Abyssal Sin-Eater] planted in the island's forest heart, growing wildly day by day.
Fueled by Park Jin-su's malice, it had doubled in lushness.
Shwaaa...
Instead of ominous black aura, it emanated iridescent rainbow glow, breathing new life into the dead soil.
Tiny sprouts pushed from the earth; charred trees sprouted fresh branches.
-Hmyuuht?
Muryong, Hasuo, Gorani, and the chickens frolicked excitedly at the mystical sight.
Pat pat!
As Muryong toddled to the shore,
Far below the waves, massive shadows of Hydra and Kraken flinched and fled into the depths.
"Beautiful, isn't it?"
Even so, our peaceful days flowed on.
Fed by someone's evil as fertilizer.
Ironic—among the loveliest sights I'd witnessed.