There Is No Bad Land in the World
Guild Star TV.
A comprehensive guild channel with 1.2 million subscribers.
Today was the day for their most popular viewer-participation debate, and a cheerful female subscriber’s voice rang out on the topic of “What do you think about the Mir Guild relocating their home base?”
“So you’d prefer Seomyeon, viewer?”
“Can’t miss that post-match beer, right?”
“Thank you for the excellent opinion.”
The call with the passionate Seomyeon supporter ended, leaving only one guest remaining.
“Time for our final caller. This one’s special. If you’re interested enough in the guild to watch this broadcast, you’re probably active in the community—and if so, you’ve definitely seen this person. He’s been absolutely on fire in the guild forums lately. We are honored to have him. It’s ForumQuitter!”
“Haha, that chant is something else. But wow, what a voice. I was genuinely surprised the first time I heard it. You must get compliments all the time, right?”
“You heard the previous interviews. What did you think?”
“Why do you say that?”
“……”
“As a fan, you’re saying we should trust the guild instead of feeding this controversy?”
“None at all.”
“A childish metaphor, but it hits home.”
“Still, if the guild actually moves, wouldn’t you be disappointed?”
“Wait one moment. We’ve just received breaking news. The Mir Guild representative has started his own broadcast. ForumQuitter, in light of that… ForumQuitter? Hello? ForumQuitter??”
The first shovels for the Yongwanggung project had officially broken ground.
Rusted, long-abandoned factory grounds were now swarming with an endless stream of trucks and heavy machinery.
The demolition crew that arrived first parked in front of the hideous steel structure.
“Wow, this place is finally getting torn down.”
“Should’ve happened years ago. Prime real estate in Yeongdo left to rot for decades.”
“Just building a parking lot here would help the area a ton, right?”
Beneath a long banner, people stood in a seemingly endless line while three coffee trucks pumped out drinks without a moment’s rest.
“……So the fan club is the one who sent these coffee trucks?”
“They’re sending boxed lunches later too. And late-night snacks in the evening.”
“Boss! Huge news! The ‘Busan Table’ restaurant is catering the site. Yeah, that one. The place where you took your son for his matchmaking dinner! The owner’s a Yongbung.”
People talked a lot about toxic fandoms, but the actual firepower when you felt it on your skin was beyond imagination.
At first the demolition crew had assumed it would be an ordinary job. But from that moment on they began sensing something was very different.
The heavy machinery had been pouring in nonstop for three or four hours straight. It wasn’t some company reunion—all the top demolition teams in Busan had gathered.
The headcount and scale had completely surpassed common sense.
When the final special demolition team of Awakeners arrived, they finally understood.
“Holy… shit.”
“I thought only the fans were crazy with money. The boss is on another level.”
“Gives me chills. Is he insane? How much is he spending?”
In this line of work, everything ultimately came down to labor costs.
Normal demolition sites often had five men doing the work of ten, sometimes even four. All to squeeze out more profit.
Here, it wasn’t just ten men doing ten men’s work—they had twenty, thirty, sometimes more.
There was only one way to read it.
He was buying time with money.
At that moment the Rolls-Royce—now practically Lee Shin’s symbol—glided onto the site.
When Lee Shin stepped out, gasps rose from every direction. Even the grimy workers were struck by his sculptural appearance. Calling him a real-life heartthrob felt inadequate. He was a walking act of terrorism.
At Lee Shin’s glance, his secretary signaled the waiting demolition foremen. They hurriedly formed neat lines.
The men who had been grumbling about the fuss stood at attention and, as if on cue, let out astonished breaths.
“Whoa……”
“This guy’s nuts……”
It was a spectacular sight.
It looked like a siege army. Workers armed with hard hats, steel harnesses, and every kind of tool stood like a wall, backed by ranks of heavy machinery.
Before them, Lee Shin placed a hard hat on his head with one hand and took the microphone with the other.
“I am Lee Shin, representative of the Mir Guild. Before we talk business, I want to offer you all my congratulations. Today is the day we remove a stake of shame that has been driven into this city for over thirty years. Today is the day the city of Yeongdo is reborn.”
“And it is you who will create this historic moment with your own hands.”
People who had wondered what there was to celebrate slowly changed their expressions as Lee Shin continued. His words carried an inexplicable power. His maxed-out Charm stat of 101 stirred something deep in their chests.
But simply stirring emotions had its limits. To truly capture their hearts, something more decisive was needed.
Cold, hard cash.
“As you all know, I’m a man with nothing but money. And I have a lot of it. Enough to buy all your precious sweat and still have plenty left over.”
Lee Shin snapped his fingers. Men in black suits with the same aura as his secretary stepped onto the platform and overturned several apple boxes. When the boxes were lifted away, everyone froze in shock.
“……!”
Neatly stacked rectangular piles of 50,000-won notes. How much was that? And why were they here?
“I know a thing or two about running a guild, but I’m useless at everything else. You all know far more about demolition than I do.”
Nothing was more pathetic than an amateur pretending to know everything.
So Lee Shin decided to shut up and open his wallet.
“Work hard and take your reward. All the money here belongs to you.”
Lee Shin sat atop the mountain of bills, crossed his legs, and gazed leisurely toward the sea. The workers followed his gaze to the ocean partially hidden behind the rusted steel structure.
“Don’t you think the sea view from here will be spectacular?”
“……”
“I can’t wait to see it. The sea, that is.”
“……!”
Lee Shin smiled refreshingly.
“What are you waiting for? Start demolition.”
The heavy machinery roared to life, belching smoke all at once.
Lee Shin’s performance produced tremendous results.
With an overflowing number of top-tier professionals, a sense of mission ignited by Lee Shin, and unlimited cash as fuel, the work speed was nothing short of astonishing.
The performance bonuses especially triggered a subtle competitive spirit.
The mindset of “take as much as you work” evolved into “I have to take more than that guy!” People forgot the meaning of fatigue and furiously unscrewed bolts and hauled rebar.
“What? Zone 3 is already finished?”
“Dammit, Zone 5 is ours! Move it, guys!”
The heat grew so intense that Lee Shin had to step in and restrain them.
“Make sure you’re always wearing your hard hats.”
“When working overtime, stay within the supervisor’s line of sight.”
“If anyone gets injured, that entire team will be pulled from the site. Be careful!”
One day passed. Zone 1 disappeared.
Two days passed. Zone 2 disappeared.
After just three days, when the hideous eyesores in Zone 3 vanished, the first to react were none other than the citizens of Yeongdo.
“Look how fast they’re working. Whoa, it’s disappearing so cleanly!”
“I hated even looking at it. Good riddance.”
They naturally began praising Lee Shin.
“My younger brother works demolition and says they’re throwing around performance bonuses like crazy. Everyone’s going red-eyed trying to earn more.”
“Representative Lee works with real sincerity. Not like most people these days.”
As trucks loaded with scrap metal crossed the Yeongdo Bridge, Lee Shin’s name appeared more and more on the lips of the citizens.
The Yeongdo District Office promoted the changes aggressively, and the citizens grew excited by the transformation happening in their city.
And they began to anticipate.
Once the wall that had trapped the island for nearly thirty years was torn down, what would the interior look like? What kind of future would this project bring to a city that had been left for dead?
Exactly one month after demolition began, a thunderous explosion blew away the final barrier sealing the factory grounds. The special Awakener demolition team had destroyed it in one strike with explosive magic.
Citizens walking the street were drawn toward the white dust cloud as if enchanted. Cars stopped in the middle of the road to stare.
When the dust finally cleared.
“It’s the sea!”
There it was—the sea, stretching out beyond the vast open ground.
“Pretty nice view, right? Have a drink.”
Lee Shin held out a can of beer.
Sipping it while watching the sunset over the horizon tasted absolutely perfect.