Chapter 139
“Suho, I understand if you prefer working separately, but how about we at least share information moving forward?”
After handing over all the intelligence she had, Baek Miho made this final proposal before returning to her guild.
“You don’t intend to capture every escaped villain, do you? Hmm… If you’re just doing this to meet the guild establishment requirement, then roughly fifty should be enough.”
The reason she said “roughly” fifty was because the criteria for recognized hunting experience wasn’t based on the number of villains caught—it was determined by the total bounty value of the villains captured.
If Suho targeted lower-ranked villains, fifty would be sufficient.
If he went after higher-bounty villains, he could fulfill the requirement with even fewer.
Now that Baek Miho understood Suho’s goal, she had given up on recruiting him and decided to focus solely on resolving this crisis.
“And besides, we’re not doing this for money either. Our priority is securing the safety of the citizens as quickly as possible. We don’t care if you claim all the bounties—so let’s work together.”
It was an offer with no downsides for Suho.
He nodded.
“Sounds good.”
He shook hands with Baek Miho.
—
After parting ways with Baek Miho, Suho headed straight to Pocheon, where Jisan Prison was located.
[Master, do you plan to start tracking the villains from the prison itself?]
As they traveled, Quay emerged and asked about Suho’s plan.
“Quay, if you were in their position, what would you do?”
Since Quay was a former villain, he had insight into how they thought.
[If it were me… I would leave the country immediately.]
For escaped villains being hunted by the Association, there weren’t many options.
[No matter how strong a villain is, they can’t do anything if a group of stronger Hunters comes after them. That’s why they must stay hidden.]
This was precisely why, despite 500 villains escaping, they had remained quiet instead of causing chaos.
But for ordinary citizens, that only made things more terrifying.
Super-powered criminals could be blending in among them, waiting for the right moment to strike.
If the villains had openly rampaged, people could at least run away—but this silent infiltration meant that once they revealed themselves, escape would be impossible.
[For example, there was a case where a seemingly normal woman followed someone home and murdered an entire family just to hide in their house.]
A villain on the run had committed another crime.
And because awakening abilities weren’t always visible, it was nearly impossible to distinguish them from ordinary people.
Unlike pre-cataclysm criminals, awakened villains were on an entirely different level.
[But that was back then. Now, hiding in Korea is almost impossible.]
The Hunter Association’s tracking system had drastically improved.
[If they want to evade the Association, they have no choice but to flee the country. And there are only two ways to do that.]
When a villain escapes, their passport is immediately revoked.
So, given Korea’s geography, there were only two possible escape routes:
[Either they swim across the ocean, like I did… or if they can’t, they’ll have to head north.]
“North Korea.”
[Exactly. And since Jisan Prison is already in Pocheon, escaping north is far easier than heading to the ocean.]
“But right now, North Korea has Choi Jong-In stationed there.”
With both Chairman Woo Jin-Cheol and S-Rank Hunter Choi Jong-In stationed in North Korea, only insane villains would choose that route.
Hearing this, Quay nodded in agreement.
[That means the ones who aren’t strong enough to swim are still stuck in Pocheon.]
“Right. And the mastermind of this breakout, Hwang Dongseok, is a C-Rank—not strong enough to swim.”
That was one reason Suho had headed straight to Jisan Prison.
And the second reason…
[Kieeek! As expected, our Young Lord is truly brilliant!]
Beru, who had been silently listening, suddenly lifted his head, his eyes sparkling.
[And in order to rescue Hwang Dongseok, Hwang Dongsu will have no choice but to come to Pocheon!]
Suho had already learned about Hwang Dongsu’s identity from Beru.
Hwang Dongsu.
In his previous life, he had been ‘Grid’, one of Sung Jin-Woo’s Shadow Soldiers.
However, when time reset, he returned to his human self, losing all his memories of being Grid.
But that didn’t matter to Beru.
The moment he learned that Hwang Dongsu was involved, Beru had been thrilled.
[This is perfect! Now, we can kill Hwang Dongsu again and restore him as Grid!]
“That’s not as easy as it sounds. He’s an S-Rank villain.”
[S-Rank or not, all humans die when their heads are separated from their bodies.]
“My mother is an S-Rank too.”
[K-Kieek…?!]
At Suho’s words, Beru froze in place, then immediately bowed his head to the ground.
[This foolish servant has committed an unforgivable sin!]
“Anyway.”
Ignoring Beru, Suho turned his gaze forward.
“We’re here.”
Jisan Prison.
Even before entering, Suho could smell the blood lingering in the air.
The stench was overwhelming.
Just from that, he could imagine the horrors that had occurred two days ago.
And beside him stood a being with an even keener sense of smell.
“The Perfect Escape”
“Gray.”
Gwoooong—
At Suho’s call, a gray wolf pup emerged from his shadow.
[Gray Lv.35]
Fang Wolf
“Begin tracking.”
—
[Two Days Earlier.]
The atmosphere at Jisan Prison was as routine as ever.
Thud, thud.
As the inmates were let out for their daily outdoor time, they flooded into the prison yard.
Some worked out in the center of the yard.
Others gathered in small groups, laughing and whispering amongst themselves.
Despite being Korea’s highest-security prison for villains, its day-to-day routines weren’t much different from a normal prison.
But then—
“Ahhh. What a beautiful day!”
A single voice rang out.
At that moment, tension filled the entire yard.
Hwang Dongseok.
The uncontested ruler of Jisan Prison.
A C-Rank villain who had established absolute dominance within these walls.
“Oh, don’t mind me. Carry on with what you were doing.”
As he smirked and took a seat on a bench, every inmate he passed bowed their heads respectfully, avoiding his gaze.
And immediately, his underlings, known as the “Bearded Gang,” flocked to his side.
The other prisoners deliberately turned away, ensuring they didn’t meet his eyes.
“Hey, Dongseok. Quit scaring the others.”
“Tsk. Now what did I do this time? That really hurts my feelings.”
Even as a guard reprimanded him, Hwang Dongseok casually stroked his thick, unkempt beard and laughed.
His tone was friendly. His words were playful.
But his eyes—those were as cold as a serpent’s gaze.
A chill ran down the guard’s spine, but he maintained a neutral expression.
Truthfully, there was no reason to fear Hwang Dongseok himself.
He was, at best, a petty criminal.
A C-Rank villain, nothing more.
The real problem was his younger brother, Hwang Dongsu.
“Oh, right.”
Hwang Dongseok suddenly asked, almost offhandedly,
“By the way, did you ever catch my little brother?”
“……”
“Hah. Judging by your expression, I take it he’s still out there?”
“……”
“If only you could catch him soon—think of how much safer the citizens would feel.”
“……”
The meaning behind his words was clear.
– “My brother is still free. Aren’t you scared?”
Hwang Dongsu was a S-Rank villain, still at large.
And given how powerful he was, who knew when—or if—he would ever be caught?
And Hwang Dongseok used that fact to his advantage.
With an S-Rank villain roaming free, no inmate dared to oppose him.
After all, not every prisoner was serving life sentences.
One day, some would be released.
And when they were…
If Hwang Dongsu decided to pay them or their families a visit, they wouldn’t stand a chance.
Even the guards weren’t immune to that fear.
“Man, this weather is just too perfect.”
Hwang Dongseok grinned, watching the sunshine glisten over the neatly trimmed grass and flowerbeds.
Bees buzzed. Butterflies fluttered.
It was a scene of absolute tranquility.
Yet, no matter how powerful he became inside these walls…
This place was still a prison.
A cage that stripped him of his freedom.
But soon—very soon—
He would be free.
‘Heh. Today’s just the perfect day for an escape.’
His gaze dropped to the ankle monitor strapped to his leg.
Normally, just seeing that damn mana-restriction device would infuriate him.
But today?
Today, he smirked.
“Boss.”
The moment the guard walked away, one of his men approached and whispered in his ear.
“Everything is ready.”
“Heh. Good job.”
A sinister grin spread across Hwang Dongseok’s face.
For months, he had plotted his escape.
And now, it was finally time.
The prison’s security?
The Association’s Hunters?
None of that mattered.
With 500 villains rioting at once, he was confident they could break through anything.
As long as they dealt with the mana-restriction devices.
“Tonight.”
His eyes gleamed.
“We leave this place.”
And at last—
They had discovered the method.
A way to use mana, even with the restriction devices still attached.
Hwang Dongseok’s men had secretly distributed blue pills to every villain in the prison.
“Star Dust.”
A mana amplifier.
Smuggling this into the prison had been an agonizingly difficult task.
But after countless painstaking efforts, they had succeeded.
—
10:00 PM.
Following Hwang Dongseok’s orders, every villain in Jisan Prison ingested Star Dust simultaneously.
And miraculously—
The mana suppression devices failed to react.
“Whistle~ That guy was right. How did he even figure this out?”
For the first time in years, Hwang Dongseok felt mana surging through his veins.
Even though his men had already tested it, experiencing it firsthand was an entirely different thrill.
An exhilarating rush.
A powerful high.
“Well, then.”
His grin turned cruel.
“Time to begin.”
And then, in a voice laced with malicious delight, he gave the order.
“Kill every guard.”
—
WEEEOOOO—!
Jisan Prison erupted into chaos.
The blaring siren shattered the silence.
Screams echoed through the halls.
As the noise rang out, every insect resting on the flowers took flight, vanishing into the night.
