Chapter 138
“The Great Prison Break and the Bounty Hunter’s Privilege”
Due to the mass breakout at Jisan Prison, public opinion regarding the Hunter Association had plummeted.
—They were idiots for gathering all those dangerous villains in one place!
—It was a ticking time bomb waiting to explode!
—Should’ve just executed all the villains from the start instead of imprisoning them!
—Where are all those ‘humanitarian’ morons who kept yapping about villain rights now?!
—How the hell did so many of them escape at once? Isn’t that supposed to be a maximum-security facility?
—The guards must have been bribed.
—Or maybe the guards were villains too.
—Wow. The moment Chairman Woo Jin-Cheol steps away, this happens?
—We should fire every Hunter in the Association except the Chairman!
—The Chairman should take responsibility and resign first!
—Then who would take his place?
—Let Choi Jong-In be the Chairman. He’s an S-Rank Hunter, after all.
—To be honest, Woo Jin-Cheol was only A-Rank, so he was never really qualified for the position.
—Still, you have to admit that he’s the one who kept this country safe.
—Yeah? And he’s also the reason we’re in this mess, since he created Jisan Prison in the first place.
—But can they even fix this disaster?
—I’m too scared to even go outside anymore!
—This is practically a dungeon break!
A dungeon break.
That was actually a fitting way to describe the situation.
The number of escaped villains from Jisan Prison was 500.
Most of them were mid to low-tier villains, but for ordinary non-awakened citizens, even encountering a single low-tier villain was a life-threatening experience.
An awakened criminal was essentially no different from a monster.
However, the real crisis wasn’t just the sheer number of escaped villains—it was the lack of Hunters willing to capture them.
The reason?
Same as the Lee Minseong incident.
There’s no money in it.
From a Hunter’s perspective, why waste time tracking down villains in hiding when they could make far more money by clearing dungeons instead?
Because of this, the Hunter Association was in a state of full-blown crisis.
—
“Public opinion isn’t our concern right now. Our priority is securing the safety of civilians by hunting down these escapees as quickly as possible.”
With a grave expression, Han Jaehyuk briefed Suho on the current situation.
“We’ve sent out emergency cooperation requests to all Hunter guilds across the nation. However, the only guild actively assisting us is the White Tiger Guild.”
The difference between this situation and the Lee Minseong case was scale.
That time, they only had to deal with one person—Lee Minseong.
This time, it was five hundred.
There simply weren’t enough Hunters to handle the task.
“That’s why we’d like to grant you a temporary ‘Association-Certified Bounty Hunter’ license, Hunter Sung Suho.”
“Association-certified? What’s the difference?”
“A certified bounty hunter can enter other guilds’ exclusive territories without requiring separate authorization.”
“……!”
Suho’s eyes widened.
“Are you saying I can freely enter dungeons controlled by other guilds?”
“Yes. However, you are not allowed to hunt monsters inside those dungeons.”
“Even if I run into them while chasing a villain?”
“My apologies. That was a poor choice of words. To be precise, you cannot take out any monster corpses or mana stones from the dungeon.”
“So, entry is allowed, but looting is not.”
“That’s correct. For security reasons, we will conduct inspections at the Gate exits to ensure compliance.”
“Well, that’s understandable.”
Suho nodded obediently at Han Jaehyuk’s explanation.
But inwardly—
‘…This is a jackpot.’
He had only intended to hunt villains, but now he had unexpectedly gained an incredible privilege.
‘So basically, I can use villain hunting as an excuse to enter any dungeon and kill monsters?’
Sure, they would inspect his belongings at the exit.
So what?
Could they check his Inventory?
Or detect the existence of Shadow Dungeons?
If he wanted, he could harvest monster loot in secret without anyone ever realizing it.
Of course, excessive hunting would leave traces, and that could arouse suspicion if done too often.
But loot was just a bonus.
What truly mattered to Suho was the hunting itself.
‘This means I can level up anywhere.’
In fact, if he simply killed monsters and left their bodies behind, guilds wouldn’t even mind.
Since other Hunters didn’t gain experience from kills, all they’d see was free loot left behind—which was actually a win-win situation for them.
‘It’s a shame this license is only temporary.’
If only it were permanent…
—
Suho officially began his bounty hunt.
Like all other bounty hunters, his first step was gathering information.
Finding villains who had gone into hiding required meticulous analysis.
Of course, Han Jaehyuk had already provided the Hunter Association’s reports, detailing the escapees’ profiles and a list of those already recaptured.
Han Jaehyuk also promised to relay any new intel immediately, but Suho preferred to investigate on his own as well.
His first target for information?
The White Tiger Guild.
Since they were the only guild actively assisting in the manhunt, they were bound to have valuable intel.
And, as luck would have it, Suho happened to have a direct line to someone high up in the guild.
Baek Miho, Vice President of the White Tiger Guild.
Suho immediately called her.
Exactly one hour later…
“Tch. Seriously? I’m meeting quite the big shot today.”
Standing before Suho was Baek Miho, arms crossed, wearing an annoyed expression.
And frankly, she had every reason to feel that way.
“The Mastermind Behind the Prison Break”
“You ignored all my calls, and now you suddenly ring me up out of nowhere asking for information?”
But Suho was shameless.
“Oh, I did? My bad. I was abroad for a while.”
“Abroad? Ah, no wonder your phone was off… Wait, why the hell weren’t you using international roaming? Who goes overseas without a phone in this day and age?”
Baek Miho grumbled at Suho’s excuse.
Still, perhaps because the reasoning made sense, her tone softened considerably.
“Anyway, I’m busy, so let’s get to the point. You need information on the Jisan Prison escapees, right?”
“Yeah. I’ve just been officially appointed as an Association-Certified Bounty Hunter.”
“Huh… Well, that’s good. Given the situation, we need all the help we can get.”
The more they talked, the more Baek Miho’s initially annoyed demeanor began to relax.
After all, Jisan Prison was the very reason she had been running herself ragged lately.
If anyone other than Suho had called, she wouldn’t have bothered meeting them in person.
As the Vice President of the White Tiger Guild, not just anyone could demand a meeting with her.
However, Baek Miho had already fought alongside Suho once before and had firsthand knowledge of his combat prowess.
That was why she had swallowed her pride and tried repeatedly to recruit him after that incident.
‘Of course, he ignored all my calls.’
“Oh, come on. I told you—I was abroad.”
“…Ugh. You’re annoyingly quick-witted.”
Just as Baek Miho was about to get irritated again, Suho’s playful tone made her chuckle instead.
“Anyway, what exactly do you need to know?”
“Everything. I just arrived back in Korea, so I don’t have much intel.”
“So you really were overseas, huh?”
Finally, Baek Miho uncrossed her arms, her stance becoming more relaxed.
Meanwhile, Suho found himself genuinely impressed.
‘They actually managed to suppress all information about me following Thomas Andre?’
According to Team Leader Han Jaehyuk, the Hunter Association had completely restricted any news about Suho’s involvement with Thomas Andre and the Scavenger Guild.
Their reasoning was simple:
If word got out that Korean Hunters were being scouted by foreign guilds, it might encourage more Hunters to leave the country.
Even though Suho hadn’t actually joined Scavenger, the Association had no choice but to intervene to protect national security interests.
“So, where do you want to start? Locations? Individuals? Honestly, why not just work with our guild again this time?”
“That wouldn’t change the fact that we’d all be splitting up to search separately. And I already have a general idea of their locations—Jisan Prison is in Pocheon, so they likely scattered outward from there.”
“Alright, then I’ll focus on individuals.”
Baek Miho pulled out some documents and spread them before Suho.
“You know who started this whole mess, right? C-Rank Villain Hwang Dongseok.”
“Yeah. They mentioned him in the news. But one thing’s been bothering me—how did a C-Rank villain end up as the mastermind of this whole breakout?”
After parting ways with Han Jaehyuk, this question had continued to nag at Suho.
Jisan Prison housed A-Rank and B-Rank villains as well.
So how had a mere C-Rank villain ended up in control of the situation?
“Ah, to explain that, I need to first tell you how the prisoners at Jisan Prison were being controlled.”
Jisan Prison.
A maximum-security facility specifically built for villains, it had one unique feature:
Every single inmate was fitted with a pair of electronic ankle restraints.
“You mean like the ones sex offenders wear?”
“This is about two levels more advanced. These contain miniature bombs.”
As Suho listened, Baek Miho shrugged and continued.
“The bombs are designed to detonate if tampered with or if the wearer tries to use mana.”
This ‘Mana Suppression Device’ was a highly controversial invention, spearheaded by Chairman Woo Jin-Cheol himself.
“In fact, Chairman Woo originally wanted them installed on prisoners’ necks instead of their ankles.”
His proposal was simple:
If a villain attempted to use mana, their head should explode instantly—only then would they truly be under control.
“But unfortunately, that motion was denied.”
“And I’m guessing the reason was… human rights concerns?”
“Exactly. A bunch of activist groups protested outside the courthouse, arguing that villains still had the right to rehabilitation. Eventually, their demands were accepted.”
Admittedly, strapping explosive collars around prisoners’ necks was extreme, even by Jisan Prison standards.
One mechanical malfunction, and their heads would be blown clean off.
“So instead of neck collars, the bombs were moved to their ankles. The important thing was blocking their mana use, after all.”
“What about regeneration? Couldn’t they just heal their blown-off ankles?”
At Suho’s sharp question, Baek Miho nodded approvingly.
“Smart question. Some villains are healers, after all. That’s why Chairman Woo separated all healer-class villains into a different prison.”
It was the most effective measure available at the time.
“Anyway, with their mana sealed, the villains developed a hierarchy based on raw physical strength—like a normal prison.”
“Ah. So that’s how a C-Rank villain could become the leader.”
Finally, the pieces started falling into place in Suho’s mind.
His gaze lowered to the documents on Hwang Dongseok.
“Name: Hwang Dongseok. Alias: ‘The Bearded Old Man.’”
“Though, only the prison guards called him that. Inside Jisan Prison, he ruled as an absolute monarch—no one dared to call him something so ridiculous.”
“So he was strong?”
“No. It was because of his younger brother.”
“His brother?”
At that, Suho instinctively glanced at the ‘Family Relations’ section of the document.
His eyes widened.
“…S-Rank villain?!”
“Yep. Hwang Dongseok’s younger brother is Hwang Dongsu—an S-Rank villain.”
[Kieeek?!]
At the mention of that name, Beru suddenly popped his head out from Suho’s shadow, his mandibles clicking in agitation.
