Solo Leveling- Ragnarok

Chapter 138:

Due to the mass exodus from Jisan Prison, public opinion of the Hunter Association has been very bad in recent years.

-Is it a problem that you put all those dangerous villains in one place in the first place?

- It was a ticking time bomb that could have exploded at any moment.

-So you should have killed all the villains instead of locking them up in the first place?

- Where are all the human rights bastards of the villain?

- No, I mean, how much neglect did you manage so many of them to escape at once? The most secure facility?

-Aren't the guards bribed by the villains?

-Were the guards also villains?

How can this just happen when the president of the association, Woo Jin-chul, is absent?

-Let's kill all the Hunters of the Association except for the President of the Society!

- Isn't it right for the president of the association to take responsibility and take off his clothes before that?

- So who is the president of the association?

- The last person should be the president of the association. It's an S-class Hunter.

-To be honest, Woo Jin-chul was a Class A, so he wasn't qualified to be the president of the association.

-Still, I have to admit that the person who made our country run like this is Woo Jin-chul.

-The reason why we are in this situation now is because of the Jisan Prison that Woo Jin-Chul built, right?

- But is this really something that can be resolved?

- I'm afraid of villains, so I can't even go out.

- Isn't it practically the same as a dungeon break?

Dungeon Break.

In a way, it was accurate.

The number of villains who escaped from Jisan Prison is as high as 500.

Of course, most of them were low-to-mid-level villains, but for the non-awakened citizens, encountering even one low-level villain was actually life-threatening.

The Awakened who became a criminal was a demon beast.

However, there was another reason why the situation was so serious.

So many villains had escaped from prison, but there weren't many hunters willing to catch them.

The reason was the same as in the case of Min-sung Lee.

I can't afford it.

For the Hunters, it was much more profitable to go into the dungeon one more time to find the villains who might be hiding somewhere.

In that sense, the Korean Hunter Association has been completely out of fire these days.

"I don't care about internet opinion. The important thing now is to hunt down the escaped villains as soon as possible to ensure the safety of the citizens."

Team leader Han Jae-hyuk briefed Suho on the current situation with a serious expression.

"We sent a large letter of cooperation to Hunters across the country, but in the end, the only guild that actively cooperated this time is the White Tiger Guild."

However, the scale of the incident was different from that of Min-sung Lee.

At that time, I only had to catch one Min-sung Lee, but this time it was as many as 500.

There were not enough manpower to capture such a large number.

"That's why we're giving you the status of 'Association Certified Bounty Hunter' for a limited time."

"What's the difference if you're an association official?"

"Yes, Bounty Hunters who are accredited by the Society may enter the territory of another Guild without obtaining a separate permit."

"...!"

At that, Suho's eyes widened.

"Does that mean you're free to enter dungeons that other guilds have exclusive rights to?"

"Yes, that's right. Just don't hunt down demons in the process."

"What if you're chasing a villain and run into the monsters in the dungeon?"

"Oh, I'm sorry. I'm being vague. To be precise, it is illegal for you to bring out the corpse of a demon beast or a magic stone."

"The only thing you're allowed to do is enter."

"That's right. To prevent this, please understand that your belongings will be inspected when you exit the gate."

"Well, I can't help it."

It was Suho who nodded obediently at Team Leader Han Jae-hyuk's explanation.

But inwardly, he was smiling with repentance.

'... Is this a big hit?'

I tried to catch some villains, but unexpectedly gained a lot of power.

"If you want to, you can use the villain excuse to go into any dungeon and hunt down the demons, right?"

You want to check your belongings at the gate?

So what are you supposed to do?

Will they be able to inspect their own "inventory"?

What about the Shadow Dungeon?

If he made up his mind and hid the by-products of the beast, no one would notice.

Of course, it would be difficult to conceal the traces of the hunt, and if he did so, he would end up arousing suspicion.

But the by-products of the Demon Beast were secondary.

What was more important to Suho was the hunt itself.

"You can level up anywhere!"

On the contrary, if he only hunted and left the corpses of the demon beasts behind, it would not be a bad situation for the guild at all.

They don't gain experience by killing demons like they did, so if they could just get by-products effortlessly, it couldn't be better.

"It's a shame that this permit is only on hold for a limited time."

I wish I could do it for the rest of my life.

* * *

Suho began the villain hunt in earnest.

It started out just like any other bounty hunter.

"Let's gather information first."

In order to find the villain who hid from the hunters' pursuit, it was important to analyze the information.

Of course, I had already received the basic information from the association through Team Leader Han Jae-hyuk.

However, the information was only personal information about the escaped villains and which of them were caught so far.

Team leader Han Jae-hyuk said that he would share the information that came to the association directly in the future, but Suho decided to take the initiative to investigate the information more actively.

The first way to do this is through the White Tiger Guild.

The White Tiger Guild, which was actively cooperating with the villain hunt, must know a lot.

And it just so happened that Suho had the contact information of a fairly high-ranking person in the White Tiger Guild.

'Vice President Baek Mi-ho.'

Suho immediately called Baek Miho.

Exactly one hour later.

"Oh my gosh. I'm meeting a great person today."

Standing in front of Suho was Baek Miho, who had crossed his arms with a very sad expression.

She had every reason to do so.

"In the meantime, you've chewed up all my calls, and then you call me all the time? Do you want information?"

But Suho was brazen.

"Oh, did you? I've been out of the country for a while."

"Foreign? Oh, somehow the phone was turned off... No, you don't roam abroad, what are you doing? In this day and age, is there anyone who goes abroad without a cell phone?"

It was Baekmiho who grumbled at Suho's words.

But the excuse worked, and his voice was much softer than it was at first.

"Anyway, I'm busy right now, so I'll get down to business. Need information about the villains of Jisan Prison?"

"Yes, I'm a certified bounty hunter."

"Well... Good job. The more hands the better."

As the conversation continued, Baek Miho's eyes, which had been pouty the whole time, gradually relaxed.

After all, the reason why Baek Mi-ho has been so busy lately is because of Jisan Prison.

Perhaps if it hadn't been for Suho, she wouldn't have come to see her in person.

In the first place, the vice president of the White Tiger Guild wasn't something that just anyone could meet.

However, Baek Mi-ho had already worked hand in hand with Su-ho once, so she knew his combat power better than anyone else.

That's why, from that day on, he crumpled his pride to recruit Suho, and kept in touch.

'Of course it's all chewed.'

"Oh, I was overseas."

"... Oh my gosh. I've got a quick eye."

Baek Mi-ho, who was about to feel bad again, ended up laughing at Suho's sudden interruption.

"Anyway, what information do you need?"

"Everything. I just arrived in Korea today, so I don't have much information."

"Looks like you've been to a real foreign country."

Finally, her tight arms were untied.

In fact, Suho felt a strange feeling when he saw Baek Miho's reaction.

'I don't think it would have been like this if I had blocked the information that I had followed Thomas Andrew.'

According to team leader Han Jae-hyuk, the association had completely blocked information about him at the time.

The reason for this was that if it became known that Korean Hunters were being recruited into overseas guilds, there would be a long-term trend of Hunters to go abroad more and more.

In fact, Suho wasn't recruited by Scavenger, but it was something the association had to take care of for the safety of their country.

"Anyway, where do you want to start? Area? Figure? If that's the case, why don't you just move with our guild this time?"

"That's the same as scattering up and looking for it anyway. And I know the region. In the first place, Jisan Prison is located in Pocheon, so they must have scattered around there."

"Then I guess you can focus on the characters."

Baek Miho said as he unfolded the documents he had brought with him to Suho.

"First of all, you know who started this crisis, right? C-class villain brassstone."

"Yes, it's on the news. But one thing I wonder is, how did a C-class villain become the ringleader?"

Suho decided to solve the questions that arose after parting ways with Han Jae-hyuk.

There were also A-class and B-class villains in Jisan Prison.

But how could the instigator of this situation be just a C-class villain?

"Oh, to explain that, I have to tell you how the villains in Jisan Prison were controlled."

Jisan Prison.

As a villain prison with the highest security rating in South Korea, there was one thing about it.

All prisoners have a pair of electronic anklets attached to each ankle.

"Those that sex offenders kick?"

"It's a two-step development from there. There's a tiny bomb built into it."

In response to Suho's question, Baek Miho shrugged and continued.

"The tiny bomb is designed to explode when the anklet is impacted or the wearer uses mana."

The dangerous invention, the so-called "magic restraints," was developed under the leadership of the association's president, Woo Jin-chul.

"But the president of the association actually insisted that the bomb should be put on the neck instead of the ankle in the first place."

The argument was that if you use magic, you should be able to control the villains if you blow your throat off.

"Unfortunately, the proposal was ultimately voted down and it was just a matter of time. The reason, of course...."

"The villain is also a human being, and there is room for rehabilitation, but are you depriving him of human rights too much?"

"That's right. At that time, several civic groups staged a protest in front of the courthouse. That argument was accepted."

Of course, having to live with a bomb around his neck was a very horrible punishment for human beings.

If there is a machine error, the neck will be blown off.

"So the bomb that was going to be around my neck at first came down to my ankle. After all, it was just to prevent the villains from using their magic."

"What if you regenerate your ankle after the bomb goes off?"

Suho's question was answered by Baek Miho with a nod.

"That's a sharp point. After all, some of the villains are healers. So the president of the Society gathered the healers from among the villains and dropped them into another prison."

For Woo, he had chosen the best course of action.

"Anyway, when we blocked the villains' magical powers, a hierarchy was created among the villains that had nothing to do with their magic. It's like a normal prison."

"Alas. That's why a C-class villain could be the ringleader."

Only now did Suho's mind begin to picture what the situation was like in Jisan Prison.

Suho's gaze scanned the papers for the brass stone that Baek Miho had handed him.

"Name Hwang Dong-seok. AKA Hairy Inspiration."

"But it was only the guards who really called him by that nickname. There was no big man who could call the Brass Stone, who reigned as the king of Jisan Prison, such a ridiculous nickname."

"Looks like you fought well."

"No, sir. It wasn't so much about the fight as it was about his brother."

"Brother?"

With that, Suho's gaze naturally checked the "brotherhood" that was checked under the document.

His eyes widened.

"S-class villain?!"

"Yes, S-class villain Hwang Dong-soo. He's Hwang Dong-seok's brother."

[Kiek?]

At the familiar name, Berga suddenly raised his head in the shadows.