Chapter 130
Chapter 130
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 130
Chapter Title: 24. Mystery of the Red Zone (2)
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Press conference hall.
The reporters who received word from Representative Ito Kentaro dropped everything and swarmed in like bees. They had no choice. He was the sole challenger to Representative Shimizu Hiroshi, the man who embodied the people's will. If someone like him was suddenly calling a press conference, their instincts told them it wasn't just any ordinary matter.
And soon enough.
"Here he comes."
"Get the shot."
Flash.
Flash flash flash.
Strobe lights erupted from every direction.
Ito Kentaro walked in with calm familiarity, arriving at the podium and silently scanning the crowd of reporters without a word.
This decision.
He wasn't entirely sure if it was the right call.
It might leave a massive stain on his political career, but even so, he judged it necessary.
For the Japanese people.
And for a new direction in Japan's political landscape.
Finally, Ito Kentaro opened his mouth.
"What I'm about to tell you is the truth about the south that the Japanese government has desperately tried to hide—the taboo we can no longer speak of. Three years ago, after the massive Link disaster struck the south, public outcry demanded we rescue those citizens who couldn't evacuate in time. Indeed, the government assembled subjugation teams and tried to heed the people's will, but they failed, and to this day, no meaningful results have been achieved. That's the truth as you know it. In reality, there have been over a dozen subjugation attempts, and when every single one ended in failure, the government decided to halt operations, deeming further losses too great a risk to Japan's stability."
One S-Rank hunter.
And countless forces below that had perished.
It was a black hole devouring Japan's strength, leaving the government no choice but to weigh human lives on the scales.
Should they save the south?
At the cost of even greater sacrifices?
The conclusion was to stand by.
Neglect and abandonment were the only ways to preserve their forces.
"The mysterious fog blanketing the entire south disrupted communications and disoriented everyone—that was the primary cause of failure. But the true enigma, the unidentified evil spirits whose nature we still haven't grasped, was the insurmountable problem we deemed unsolvable. An S-Rank hunter took his own life. Driven mad by the spirits, he massacred his own allies in a rampage. We had to accept that this was beyond resolution."
"Then why reveal the truth now?"
"If you still haven't identified the spirits, doesn't that mean a solution is as distant as ever?"
Questions poured in.
It was the reaction he'd expected.
To resolve this issue, he had to bluntly expose just how hopeless the south's reality truly was.
"Correct. The Japanese government still hasn't reached the truth and has been delaying, waiting for some miracle that might one day occur. But just moments ago, shocking news came from Kitakyushu. A hunter from Korea entered the Red Zone and returned after rescuing a large group of survivors—people not seen even once in the past three years."
"Gasp."
"Survivors?"
Flash flash flash flash.
Chaos erupted.
Reporters' eyes bulged as they frantically jotted down notes.
A few had already heard rumors, but hearing it straight from Ito Kentaro's mouth carried real weight.
The board was set.
Amid the boiling interest, Ito Kentaro kept his expression neutral.
"The reason I'm exposing the government's shame from this platform is clear. While we accepted it as an unsolvable dilemma and did nothing, a hunter from a 'foreign' country—not even Japanese—performed the miracle of saving survivors. And right now, he's continuing rescue operations in the Red Zone. He's in danger. Facing a problem no single individual can handle, the benefactor who gave us hope could die. Therefore, I have one request for the Japanese people. Forming a subjugation team will cause massive casualties. As feared, those losses could shake Japan's foundations. But we can no longer stand by in this situation. So."
He took a breath.
In the tense silence that even hushed the reporters, Ito Kentaro instinctively knew this was the moment to stake his political life.
"To save our benefactor, lend your strength to this decision."
Japan's press conference.
Korea's media, ever sensitive to news, soon received the shocking report.
Among them.
"...Huh?"
Kim Min-young couldn't hide her bewilderment.
At first, curiosity piqued at the mention of a Korean hunter, but when a Japanese reporter she regularly contacted named 'Kang San,' she felt a daze wash over her. Kitakyushu was infamous in Japan for its social issues—why was Kang San's name at the center of it?
'Why is he helping people even in Japan?'
It didn't make sense.
This was too dangerous.
Kitakyushu's Red Zone was a problem even the nation had abandoned, yet one man stepped up to solve it.
Foolish.
Even in Korea, he'd been the same.
When the Link crisis hit, he'd risked his life without hesitation, always doing good deeds without claiming credit. As the saying goes, a leaky ladle at home leaks abroad—though usually negative, here it rang positive. The same altruism he'd shown in Korea, he was repeating in Japan.
Truly.
Impressive.
She had no choice but to admire him as a person.
Japanese reporters fact-checked if it was really Kang San, but if any Korean would pull something like this, Kim Min-young thought of him first. The Kang San she knew was exactly the type.
She immediately asked the Japanese reporter for a favor.
"Yes, yes. Please run a friendly article on Kang San. He's someone whose identity I can vouch for in Korea too. I'll compile and send you data on what he's done here. His track record should win over the Japanese public."
She sprang into action.
If Ito Kentaro aimed for public opinion, Kang San's Korean exploits would ignite it.
And that wasn't all.
After hanging up.
Reporter Kim Min-young began drafting an article right away.
The intro laid out the incident.
If Korea paid attention to this event, the Japanese government couldn't just sit idly by.
The situation in Japan.
While Kim Min-young wrote her article, certain people had already received the unreported details.
"Damn."
"...Why is he being so reckless?"
Jo Han-byeol's father, Jo Kang-rae, twisted his face.
Seated across from him, Yeon Gyu-seong couldn't hide his complicated expression either.
Yeon Gyu-seong spoke.
"At least Woo-bin and Han-byeol are safe, that's a relief. But we can't just sit back and watch something happen to Mr. Kang San."
Moments ago.
He'd contacted the kids.
After hearing the story from them, Jo Kang-rae felt even more compelled not to leave Kang San like this.
"He's a real fool. Even if he wants to help people, staying alone in that dangerous place? He must've done it to keep his promise to us. If he'd brought Woo-bin or Han-byeol into the Red Zone, he'd have more people to protect. Really, he's nothing like me."
His chest tightened.
When he sent his siblings back.
What had Kang San felt?
Preserving strength clearly boosted survival odds, yet he'd chosen without hesitation.
Of course, he thought it natural.
If Kang San's goodwill threatened his child, he wouldn't take it lightly.
But learning he'd shouldered all the risk alone made Jo Kang-rae's emotions boil.
"I have personal connections in Japanese politics. I'll reach out and try to get the government to send a subjugation team somehow."
"Yeah, I'll make some calls too."
The two men.
Sprung into action.
Kim Min-young's article, and the two fathers' outreach.
The mounting efforts snowballed, rippling straight into Japan.
Ito Kentaro's press conference.
Even that alone stirred reactions in Japan.
Japanese citizens who heard the news voiced their thoughts on SNS.
Everyone was in an uproar.
With the south's hidden truth exposed, reactions ranged from confusion to outrage.
Among them, families of survivors raised their voices.
Public opinion boiled over.
Crowds surged.
Awakened to the south's truth, they rallied to save Kang San.
The chaos at the Kitakyushu gate stemmed from these masses flooding in.
Those helped by him.
Those fired up by the outrage.
They gathered for various reasons.
Nakamura Genji watched the unfolding events.
'He kept his promise.'
Ito Kentaro.
He'd used his one favor on him.
No regrets.
Kang San couldn't die like this, and above all, his abilities were essential for ongoing rescues. The issue was the excessive delays. With a realistic deadline of about a day, considerable time had already passed.
If he didn't return by then.
They'd have to go in after him.
No matter how dangerous the Red Zone, he wouldn't just watch.
Then.
Whoosh—
A glow flared.
The crowd rushed forward.
Another teleport scroll activation—they eyed it hopefully for Kang San's return.
But.
"He's not here."
"Not this time either."
No Kang San.
Nakamura Genji grabbed someone in haste and asked.
And the answer, as always.
"...He gave us the teleport scrolls and went to rescue more survivors."
The same situation.
The same response.
Nakamura Genji had no idea how to react anymore.
The seventeenth trial.
Cleared this one too.
Fortunately, no A-Rank monsters, just a small group of under ten. Joy was fleeting. No sooner had he handed them teleport scrolls than the eighteenth trial hit.
The same type of trial.
He moved on.
Rescued more survivors with great difficulty.
But no joy.
[The Nineteenth Ordeal and Trial Has Been Assigned]
📍 Objective: Due to the karma of the wicked, locate the nearby survivor village and safely return them to Kitakyushu. Tracking reveals the location at once, but failure within 5 hours will revoke all prior rewards and intensify the karma.
🎁 Reward: All Stats +10, Teleport Scroll x1
'...Fuck.'
The nineteenth trial.
No end in sight.
Trials chaining endlessly—after sending survivors out first, Kang San felt a profound emptiness.
When would it end?
And the 5-hour limit meant this nineteenth trial was far more perilous.
The map showed 3 hours just to reach the survivors, leaving no room for rest like closing his eyes. His mouth parched. Muscles screaming, he sensed his limits approaching.
'If I hadn't chosen Kitakyushu, would this have happened?'
Who knows.
Coincidence?
Or inevitability?
Uncommon circumstances defied common sense.
Then.
Shhh.
Sounds faded.
Catching his breath, he looked ahead—the world seemed to slow.
Rising fog.
Beyond it, a woman's silhouette.
Clack clack.
Clack clack.
Familiar scene.
Familiar figure.
As it took form, goosebumps prickled Kang San's skin.
"Long time no see."
From the fog, Luca Bellino emerged.