Chapter 585: A Stale Old Connection (4)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 585: A Stale Old Connection (4)
The driving force behind the Ministry of Land Protection’s growth was public support.
The citizens, anxious after the recent massive disaster, and the President and his ruling party, who had keenly felt the need for reform after watching politicians flounder about despite being hailed as experts—their fervent support was the single greatest reason the Ministry could act without restraint.
It was in this context that they had been able to snatch the Hunter Association’s investigative authority in what was practically a daylight robbery. With the knife of public opinion in one hand and the blade of the ruling party in the other, they had held both to the Association’s throat and demanded they hand it over. Even an organization as powerful as the Association had been helpless to resist.
Maeng Gi-yong, the Minister of Land Protection, knew this all too well. The moment the public’s interest waned, their own steep ascent would come to a halt.
And so, he worked relentlessly.
He used the sword they had placed in his hands to achieve results, pushing the limits right up to the brink of public complaint. He didn't focus on long-term projects whose effects would take time to see, but on smaller, immediate victories that offered instant gratification.
He had to keep feeding them those satisfying, punchy moments.
Only by holding their attention for even a single day longer could he advance his own ambitions, and those of his organization.
Just as he was cruising along, constantly tightening the reins that might have otherwise gone slack, a hidden reef suddenly appeared, blocking his path.
No, it didn't just block it—it smashed the bow of his ship to pieces.
Riiing!
Riiing!
The phones in every office throughout the building were ringing off the hook. Probably half the calls were from reporters, the other half from enraged citizens.
Sitting alone in the minister’s office, he pressed his fingers into his throbbing temples and sank into thought.
‘How on earth did this happen?’
The incident had begun at dawn.
He had been working late before returning home to catch a few hours of sleep when an urgent call came from his chief of staff.
—“S-Sir, it’s an emergency! The assassin we took over from the Association has escaped from prison!”
At first, he had scoffed at the words. It was that absurd.
Jincheon was his superior’s man. In other words, the Ministry of Land Protection was the only place in the entire country where he could breathe easy. What kind of fool would abandon a comfortable hideout and throw himself into a world where enemies lurked around every corner?
At the same time, he knew his chief of staff was no idiot who would wake his superior at this ungodly hour with such a fabrication.
Which meant one thing.
‘Something happened.’
Something had occurred in the brief time he had been away.
He immediately headed to the office.
And there he saw it.
The door to the room where Jincheon had been confined—no, hosted—had been violently torn from its hinges. And inside the empty cell, not a single trace remained.
The moment he saw it, alarm bells screamed in his head.
‘What in the world…?’
As he’d already concluded, an escape was out of the question. That left only one other possibility.
‘Someone kidnapped him?’
If an outside intruder had breached their security and abducted him, it would explain everything.
It was at that exact moment.
“Ah…!”
Three days ago.
The words Kim Do-jin had uttered just before leaving the minister’s office flashed through his mind.
—“I’m just telling you to be careful. It’ll be a headache for everyone if that guy escapes.”
He had definitely said that. But Maeng Gi-yong hadn’t taken it seriously. He had dismissed it as just another ploy to rattle him.
Of course he had. Who in their right mind would have thought that even an S-rank Hunter would storm a government building to kidnap a criminal?
Honestly, he still couldn't believe it. But the circumstances were clear.
No, there was no other explanation.
The only one in this country with the skill to break through the Ministry’s ironclad security and take Jincheon was…
His mind descended into chaos.
‘Why would he do something like this?’
He wouldn't have taken him just to prevent an interrogation. So what was his real goal?
His expression hardened rapidly.
It hit him.
The single worst move Kim Do-jin could make against them.
Panicked, he burst out of his office and shouted at his chief of staff.
“Control the media, now…!”
Something was strange.
Even as he yelled at the top of his lungs, his chief of staff just stood there dumbly, his eyes fixed on something. His breathing was heavier than usual, his eyes wide as if they would tear.
A sense of unease creeping over him, Maeng Gi-yong walked over to his chief of staff to see what he was staring at so intently.
It was a smartphone.
“……”
To be precise, it was one of the countless internet articles that were popping up like mushrooms after a rain.
【Vicious Criminal Who Attempted to Assassinate Kim Do-jin Escapes! What Was the Ministry of Land Protection Doing?】
It was too late.
* * *
“Easy peasy.”
I went for a little walk at dawn. Along the way, I happened upon a man who had lost both his arms, so I brought him back with me and gave him a warm room.
And my, was he happy about it.
“Kim Do-jin, you son of a bitch…! Just kill me already!”
So this is the satisfaction that follows a good deed.
“How sweet.”
I might even get addicted to this.
After sending a mass message to the guild members—‘Use of the private room at the very back of the training hall is prohibited’—I read the breaking news article that had just been published as the sun came up.
“Gasp, a vicious criminal escaped?!”
A vicious criminal is on the loose! And it’s the very same guy who tried to assassinate me during the last terror attack!
Reading the flood of articles, I slapped my forehead and shook my head.
“Oh, dear me.”
I even warned them to keep a close eye on him, and they still let him get away.
“Ugh… why do I suddenly have chills down my spine?”
A wave of fear washed over me. That was a tough fight back then. What if that bastard comes after me again? What if he ambushes me while I’m walking home at night? Will I… even make it home safely today?
“Agh, now I’m getting angry.”
None of this would have happened if the Ministry of Land Protection had just managed their criminals properly.
Wanting to vent my frustration somehow, I logged into my SNS account for the first time in a long while and wrote a post. I heard that kids these days use SNS for private chats and post everything that happens in their lives.
“This is my first post since my sophomore year of college… how many years has it been?”
It was an account I hadn't properly managed in a long time, but the number of followers had grown to a level incomparable to back then. I heard it was popular because it was the only place to see pictures of me from before I became a Hunter, or something like that.
The number of followers had now reached about 300 million. In terms of followers alone, I was apparently not just number one in Korea, but somewhere in the top ten worldwide.
I wouldn't know.
Seriously, if I write one post here, are all 300 million people really going to see it?
Without a single thought for the consequences, I poured my current, miserable feelings into each and every letter.
「This is Kim Do-jin...
I saw the articles online.
I am devastated.
He was an opponent so strong that even I couldn't guarantee victory, which is why I implored them to be extra careful with him just three days ago. I never imagined something like this would happen.
I thought I had dedicated myself to the country where I was born and raised, but to be treated like this is disappointing.
I apologize to the nation, but I think I need to take some time to recharge...」
Without any hesitation, I hit the post button and tossed my smartphone onto the mattress.
“Do-jin, time to eat!”
“Okay, I’m coming!”
I wonder what’s for dinner.
* * *
The articles attacking the Ministry of Land Protection were endless.
This was karma for having held the public’s attention so tightly until now. Public interest was both a medicine and a poison. When positive, it was the greatest source of strength, but the moment it turned negative, there was nothing worse.
They moved to contain the damage as quickly as possible.
They immediately held a press conference, inviting and seating only reporters who were friendly to their cause. Then, they began a Q&A session that felt more like a well-rehearsed play.
“What happened?”
“It appears someone from the outside breached our security and aided the criminal’s escape.”
“Are you saying the security system was flawed?”
“It was a security system designed in cooperation with the Magic Tower. In fact, the Tower Lord, Hunter Han Ju-hee, personally oversaw the deep-level security. To say it was flawed is out of the question.”
“Then are you saying the intruder was powerful enough to break through such security?”
“At present, that seems to be the only possible explanation.”
They deftly redirected public opinion.
It’s not just our fault. This would have happened to anyone.
“What is the current status of the search?”
“I cannot give you the exact details as information could leak, but we have made significant progress.”
“The public is trembling in fear. Do you have anything to say to them?”
The minister immediately bowed his head.
A full 90 degrees. No, even lower.
Revealing the slightly thinning crown of his head, he pleaded.
“I am deeply sorry for disappointing the people of this nation. I will stake my life to ensure that an incident like this never happens again.”
That was it.
It would be impossible to completely turn public opinion around. But this would be enough to soothe the anger of those who were still on his side.
That was sufficient.
It was a detour, but if he could use them as a base to build up support again, it wouldn't be impossible to recover their original growth trajectory.
Just as he was about to leave the stage, feeling a sense of relief, a voice called out.
“M-Minister!”
His chief of staff, who had been waiting, stopped him with an urgent cry.
He was annoyed. What was it this time?
“What is it?”
“H-Hunter Kim Do-jin posted on his personal SNS account. P-Please, look at this.”
The chief of staff handed over his own smartphone.
Taken aback, he accepted it and looked at the screen.
Kim Do-jin had made a post on the social media platform that young people were supposedly crazy about.
「This is Kim Do-jin...」
The post began with three periods, an opening as gloomy as could be.
As he read on, he felt the hair on his head stand on end.
This was a clear attack. It was filled with reproach, asking why they had let the criminal go despite his explicit warning. That one sentence threatened to unravel everything. After all, failing to secure a prisoner after being warned was nothing short of proof of their incompetence.
But the problem didn't end there.
“What do we do, Minister? Hunter Kim Do-jin has over 300 million followers…!”
“Three hundred… million?”
His head spun.
He had an SNS account too. It was created as a channel to communicate with his younger supporters, and it had, at most, 1 million followers—a number he had only gained on the back of creating the Ministry of Land Protection.
But 300 million?
‘A number that vastly exceeds the entire population of South Korea.’
The meaning was clear.
That single post had drawn the world’s attention to this incident.
“……”
A sense of crisis, greater than any he had felt even in the days when he was ignored by everyone, washed over him.