Hoarding In Hell [EN]: Chapter 250

250. Utopia (5)

Hyun-woo and Song Yeo-un were silent for a long time.

They stared at each other with dumbfounded expressions, then shook the broker hanging there from side to side.

The broker, with blood rushing to his head, groaned and sobbed.

“What are you talking about? The Korean government is smuggling its own ability users overseas? Does that make sense? Are ability users weapons?”

Ability users are often compared to weapons and used like mercenaries. But they are different from actual weapons or mercenaries.

Immigration isn’t like mercenaries who work for a short time and return, and Hunters can’t be produced in factories like weapons.

Not to mention skilled, high-level ability users.

“I, it’s true! It’s a request from the South Korean government.”

“In detail.”

“Ugh, I, I don’t know the details well either. But a high-ranking official in the government made a proposal to South China. They said they would send ability users there for immigration soon, so please take a commission for each person.”

“A commission for each person? Huh, it’s like a slave auction.”

“I, I appear to be working for the South Chinese government on the surface, but the client is actually the South Korean government. The South Korean government is turning a blind eye to me and brokering the transfer to South China. But somehow the information leaked, and suddenly other countries’ governments got involved…….”

“You’re a traitor.”

Song Yeo-un said plainly.

It was an apt metaphor.

If the broker’s words were true, there was a traitor in the government.

If a Flood occurred in a dungeon, it couldn’t be stopped with just national defense. That’s why the government is desperately trying to prevent ability users from immigrating.

But to encourage that and take a commission in the middle, it was like selling the country’s flesh and blood.

“For that to be possible, it would have to be someone higher up than usual…….”

“It must be someone pretty high up. Probably not just one or two people either.”

At Hyun-woo’s words, the broker nodded desperately.

“Yes, yes! That’s right. There are more than one or two people involved in this. Not only South China and Korea, but also numerous overseas clans and countries are tied to this. There will probably be several people who will freak out if they are disturbed! I don’t know who you are, but daring to endure…… Ugh!”

“You’re even worrying about me, as expected of a broker.”

Hyun-woo broke the broker’s remaining fingers.

Leaving the broker’s screams behind, Song Yeo-un whispered in Hyun-woo’s ear.

“Are they trusting the bullets we’re making?”

The military is currently using mana bullets made by JeonNeungRyeon [a fictional organization] . That will cover the Hunter’s gap to some extent.

But there was bound to be a limit. From 4-star level, there were plenty of monsters that bullets didn’t work well on.

“I don’t think they’re that stupid, I think they really intend to sell the country.”

You need ability to sell the country. If you’re stupid and small-minded, all you can do is cheat on the weight of goods in the market, let alone the country.

“It seems like it’s becoming clear who we need to take care of first.”

Hyun-woo released the broker from the rope he was hanging from.

The broker tried to get up while sobbing, but couldn’t stand properly because of his broken fingers.

Hyun-woo tapped on his phone in front of the broker and said.

“We’ll keep the phone. Your family’s numbers and important information must be in here, right? What do you have to do so that I don’t actively use this information?”

The broker immediately understood what Hyun-woo was saying. He bowed his head to the ground and begged earnestly.

“I will leave Korea and never return! I will never talk unnecessarily!”

The broker was relieved just to have saved his life.

Doing business with Hunters in this industry is like risking your life.

Not only do the intelligence agencies of various governments try to stop it through extreme measures, but there are also cases where Hunters who try to defect kill brokers to silence them if things go wrong.

“Good.”

Hyun-woo grabbed the broker’s chin and lifted it up, snapping his fingers in front of his eyes.

At that moment, the broker unknowingly brought one of his broken fingers to his mouth.

The broker soon realized what was happening and struggled to escape. But he couldn’t stop the movement anymore.

With a crunching sound, the broker’s ring finger fell off.

Sobs and crunching sounds continued to echo in the basement.

Even Song Yeo-un looked at Hyun-woo with a disgusted expression.

“I’ve planted a mental shackle in your mind. If you talk unnecessarily, you’ll experience firsthand the saying that there’s no finger that doesn’t hurt when you bite all ten fingers.”

***

After leaving the basement, leaving the broker behind, Song Yeo-un shook her head and said.

“Branch Manager, I didn’t know you could do that? A mental shackle, I’ve never seen that before.”

“No, there’s no way there’s anything that convenient. I just made him believe it. Even if he guesses who we are, he won’t leak it.”

Song Yeo-un stared at Hyun-woo with her mouth open. She stopped for a moment and then hurried to follow him again.

“Oh, my gosh. I almost fell for it too! But, if you were going to shut him up like that, why didn’t you just kill him and bother to keep him alive like that? Have you really become a mild-mannered Branch Manager?”

“What do you usually think of me as?”

Hyun-woo said with a sigh.

“It’s a matter of fairness. What do you think is the best punishment we can give? Okay, let’s talk about everything except torturing and killing them until they die. To put it bluntly, it’s killing them in the end, right?”

“There’s a very diverse process leading up to the end…….”

Hyun-woo ignored Song Yeo-un and continued.

“If the best punishment is the death penalty, then the guy who committed a really big crime and the guy who played that minor role are getting the same punishment. I don’t really think that immigration brokers are that bad of a crime. If you think about it rationally, everyone would want to escape from here.”

“Hmm…… that’s true.”

“But punishment should get heavier as it goes up.”

In the end, the target Hyun-woo is aiming for is the one who should receive the heaviest punishment.

It didn’t feel right to kill a broker or something with such a target in mind.

You can call it a personal whim. Anyway, Hyun-woo was originally capricious.

“But if you go up like that…… hmm.”

Song Yeo-un tilted her head and looked worried.

No matter how loyal she was to Hyun-woo, it was still unsettling to go against the country she lived in.

“Why, are you worried about becoming a traitor?”

Song Yeo-un looked startled. It was natural for someone who had been taught from a young age that patriotism was the top priority and that ‘treason’ was the biggest crime in the world in dramas.

“Wouldn’t it be a little like that?”

Hyun-woo grinned. He didn’t deny it at all.

“A traitor versus a rebel, it’s going to be an epic match.”

Song Yeo-un shook her head.

“So where are we going next? We’ve met a Hunter and a broker, are we going to take down the higher-ups right away?”

“No.”

Hyun-woo turned his head and looked at the sky that was just beginning to dawn.

“I need to meet Yu-min.”

***

The ‘temporary shelter’ where Yu-min was hiding was none other than her old officetel [a studio apartment].

Even though the police would have raided and turned it upside down, there was no sign of it being disturbed at all.

Hyun-woo felt memories flooding back as he came to the officetel after a long time.

But Yu-min didn’t seem very happy.

“So…… you didn’t come straight in because you were plotting treason and were with another woman, is that what you’re saying?”

“Ah, over there.”

Then Song Yeo-un raised her hand and said.

“I like women, so you don’t have to worry about that. The Branch Manager doesn’t really have any feminine side anyway.”

“…….”

It felt like she had suddenly heard a bombshell declaration. Yu-min, who had initially said it as a joke, had a complicated expression on her face.

According to Song Yeo-un’s words, it was Hyun-woo’s turn to ask Yu-min, ‘What were you doing with another woman?’ this time.

But asking such a question seemed rude to Song Yeo-un.

Hyun-woo struggled to find something to say and barely managed to find a topic of conversation.

“What were you doing?”

“Of course, I was thinking about overthrowing the country by consolidating my power while you were gone.”

As expected of Yu-min.

“You must have known about the broker too, right?”

“Of course. Only JeonNeungRyeon was caught, Park Hwi-so’s organization is safe. I’ve already confirmed which government is contacting who. It’s a bit difficult because Yerden suddenly disappeared…… but the plan has only been slightly delayed.”

I’ve been thinking about it for a while, but Yu-min seemed subtly skilled at this kind of thing. I thought it was because she was a smart graduate student, but when I think about the other assistants who worked under Dr. Do Won-kyung, that didn’t seem to be the case.

“But the broker problem is nothing. If we overthrow the country anyway, we’ll have to catch the existing Hunters right away. Immigration doesn’t happen that quickly anyway.”

“How are you going to overthrow the country?”

“By causing a Flood, of course.”

“……A Flood, what?”

“Kirson taught me before. He said that if you engrave these patterns on the return stone, a Flood will occur. But he also said that the total amount of monsters that can occur per dungeon is fixed, so if you overuse it, the dungeon’s intelligence will be consumed.”

It must be academic curiosity, right? I have to believe that.

Yu-min displayed a map of the country on her tablet PC. There were already star-shaped marks in various places.

“Here, here, here. These are strategic locations in South Korea. If a Flood occurs here, Seoul will inevitably be turned upside down. They’re all like the aorta leading to Seoul. If these are blocked, electricity, water, and material transportation will be cut off starting tomorrow.”

“It seems too concentrated in Seoul.”

“Korea doesn’t care even if a few places explode in the provinces. Seoul has to be a little sore for them to freak out as if the sky is falling. Anyway, our goal isn’t to destroy Korea, but to scare them, so there will be almost no civilian casualties with this much.”

Yu-min said that and zoomed in on one part of the map.

“In particular, there is a special prison near here, which is a detention facility exclusively for ability users. Everyone is in solitary confinement and it was deliberately built near a dungeon. If a Flood occurs here, the prisoners will inevitably be released. That’s what the facility was originally made for.”

Yu-min smiled and said.

“And there are also Hunters belonging to JeonNeungRyeon imprisoned there. I’ve already sent a message through someone. When the Flood occurs, that’s the signal. Also, I’ve drawn up a list of people to watch out for and targets to eliminate in case of an emergency. From political and business figures, soldiers, ability users, and professors who need to be prevented from escaping overseas…….”

Yu-min’s plan was chillingly detailed and organically connected.

No matter how I thought about it, it didn’t seem like a plan she had made in just a week while locked up in an officetel.

“Didn’t you just eat and plan a coup? How do you know so much about this?”

“Huh? Doesn’t everyone dream of a coup once in middle school?”

Hyun-woo and Song Yeo-un were silent at the same time.

Then Yu-min shouted as if she was wronged.

“No, really, I was born as a great man and I’m going to overthrow the country and become the king of this country and rule with an iron fist! I’m going to indulge in women, wine, and pleasure, and then be betrayed by my confidant, bang, bang, bang, and die screaming! Haven’t you ever dreamed of that?”

“Wow, she’s not only planned a coup, but she’s also planned her final years.”

“Oh right, you said you were thinking about overthrowing the country too, Oppa? Do you have any plans?”

Hyun-woo fell silent for a moment.

He had his own plans. What he had done before meeting Yu-min was also part of the plan.

But when he actually met her and heard her plan, it was pathetic.

“Um…… I was thinking of cutting off the government’s limbs first, and then going to Park Gyu when they get desperate and watching him slowly die in despair.”

“No, I mean, how are you going to do that…….”

Yu-min, who was about to ask in detail, fell silent.

Yu-min started to calculate by putting Hyun-woo’s existence into her plan.

After drawing complicated charts and relationship diagrams, Yu-min let out a deep sigh after about a minute.

“As expected, if you’re strong, you don’t need a plan or anything. You can just take what you want.”

“Ah, does it seem possible?”

“There are several problems that come with it, but I guess Oppa will somehow solve them with his strength anyway…… Of course, if I combine it with my plan, I can minimize the side effects. I can also reduce collateral damage.”

Yu-min turned off the tablet PC. Then she stared at Hyun-woo and said.

“Of course, this is a matter of whether or not to execute it. Anyone in middle school can make a plan.”

“Ah, I already executed it.”

“……You’ve already started?”

“Yes. I attacked the TaeSung-affiliated Hunters last night. They must already know they’re under attack.”

Yu-min looked haggard.

“Then this isn’t the time to be doing this! We need to contact the branch right away and tell Park Hwi-so, and we need to move right away! We don’t know when the military and TaeSung will attack! If they have a good reason, they might tear JeonNeungRyeon apart to prevent them from uniting!”

“Ah, you don’t have to worry about TaeSung.”

Yu-min was flustered at Hyun-woo’s answer.

“Huh?”

“I destroyed the Lapis Lazuli 2, 3, and 4 teams, and the Obsidian team is all finished. There’s the Red Jasper team, but they’re mainly active in Busan, so they won’t be able to interfere. Oh, and the interrogation of the broker is over.”

“Ah, no, wait a minute. So the two of you destroyed all of the Lapis Lazuli teams?”

“Except for Team 1. I don’t know where they are.”

“Actually, the Branch Manager did it all by himself.”

Song Yeo-un added to Hyun-woo’s answer.

“Even so, the Lapis Lazuli team is the strongest organization in Korea? No, wait a minute. How much stronger have you gotten in the past two weeks, Oppa? This is completely beyond my calculations. What level are you now?”

“Um.”

Hyun-woo pondered how to answer without sounding boastful and opened his mouth.

“I’m about level 71 now.”

It seemed like he should explain about becoming a Star later.