Chapter 113
A change of regime following a coup and the outbreak of civil war in North Korea.
As a result, the situation seemed unstable for a while, but appeared to be settling down with the arrival of one man.
That man was Lee Seonghyeok, who had defected to South Korea, then driven out the Chinese forces and seized power with the support of South Korean Hunters.
The holy knight of Juche ideology.
He had already been quite famous overseas and in Korean online communities.
Though mostly as a target of ridicule.
─How can those three generations of fat pigs be your gods? lol
└LOL, legendary.
─Not the great God, Buddha, or a prophet of Islam... A holy knight who worships a dictator as his god? Is that even possible? lol
└Thanks to that, he became North Korea’s second-in-command... Seems like a deal worth making, doesn’t it?
└OMG, if I had to kiss a North Korean dictator’s ass to become second-in-command, I don’t think I could do it.
└There are a lot of people with strong stomachs, lol.
It was shocking enough when the news first broke that Lee Seonghyeok had defected to the South. But it was even more shocking that he’d gone back north with South Korean support to retake control of North Korea.
But the real shock came from somewhere else.
It was something Kim Yura, South Korea’s third-ranked Hunter and a participant in the North Korean expedition, said on a major livestream.
“Ms. Kim Yura, you’ve got to tell us some stories, too.”
South Korea’s biggest YouTube channel, K-Hunters, boasted ten million subscribers.
At the words of Seol Taesan, its owner and host, Kim Yura chuckled and replied.
“I signed an NDA before I went up there. If I let something slip, they’ll slap me in cuffs, you know?”
“Oh, come on. You’re South Korea’s No. 3. Who’s going to put you in cuffs?”
“These days, people only care about Kim Segyun and that Zephyros fellow. I’m yesterday’s news, right? Plenty of people say I just picked off an empty house. And what the heck did that old guy Zephyros eat to look so young?”
“Come on, you’re not really bothered by comments like that, are you?”
“I’m human, too! Of course I can get bothered!”
She snapped back, but there was no sign she was really angry; a playful smile played at the corners of her mouth.
“Well, actually, I can’t get bothered. Kim Segyun’s on a whole different level. Honestly, I’m not even jealous. As a South Korean Hunter, I should be grateful. He’s brought us plenty of benefits, after all.”
“That’s true. It’s not like Kim Segyun gets much out of clearing a place, either.”
“Exactly. The government’s support money is pocket change, too. When he was a rookie, you could say he was at least building his name, but now Kim Segyun’s clearing things for free. Straight-up volunteer work. I’ve got nothing against him. And you meme-making bastards on the internet, post this part, too. Don’t edit it weirdly and take it out of context.”
Kim Yura paused for a moment, then put on an obsequious expression and said,
“So, Lord Segyun, I’m counting on you to take care of the last two uncleared Gates, too.”
“Puhahahaha!”
While the host and viewers burst into laughter,
“Oh, by the way, should I tell you a story?”
The host exclaimed excitedly at Kim Yura’s words.
“Tell us, tell us. Whatever it is, tell us.”
“I’m not sure if I’m allowed to tell this or not.”
“Doesn’t matter if you are or not. You have to tell us.”
“Tsk. I was wrong to ask this demon obsessed with views.”
“Oh, come on, noona! Let me make a living! I hyped up a big story about you telling us North Korea stories today. If you leave without telling us, the viewers are going to turn on me!”
Kim Yura clicked her tongue and slowly began speaking.
“You all know I went to the States, right?”
“Sure. It went pretty well, didn’t it?”
“Yeah, it was fine. But I wonder how many of you know I teamed up with Kaiser while I was in the States?”
The chat exploded at the sudden Kaiser story.
Even though he was now technically a former world’s strongest, that title was still impossible to dismiss.
“Noona, you partied up with Kaiser before?”
“Yeah, once, as a fill-in.”
“How come I never knew?”
“Because he was buried under NDAs, too.”
“So you can tell the story now?”
“Yeah, the NDA expired, so I can talk about it now... I just never had the chance. Saying, ‘I teamed up with Kaiser back in the day’ sounds kind of lame. And I wasn’t even a regular member—I was a fill-in.”
“What’s lame about that? Having run a dungeon with Kaiser back then is practically a medal. Even Zephyros probably hasn’t done that.”
Kim Yura giggled and covered her mouth at the praise, then turned serious and said,
“Anyway, Kaiser was really strong. I was surprised. He was so strong, I wondered if I’d ever seen a Crusader as powerful as him.”
“Of course. That’s why he was the strongest in the world.”
“At the time, he’d already come down a little from his prime, or he was right at the end of it—somewhere around there. He wasn’t even in his true prime, and he was still that strong.”
“Who doesn’t know Kaiser’s strong? So... was Kim Segyun stronger than Kaiser during that North Korean expedition?”
Kim Yura scoffed at that.
“Kim Segyun’s on a completely different level. He’s not even in the same conversation. You could bring in several Kaisers in their prime and they still wouldn’t stand a chance.”
“He’s that strong?”
“That strong. He didn’t show us everything, but there were times he stepped in. Every time, I got chills. He was just that powerful.”
“Then what about the Kaiser story...”
“Ah, Lee Seonghyeok. He’s a holy knight, too. Honestly, I figured North Korea’s strongest wouldn’t amount to much. But... Lee Seonghyeok was on the level of the Kaiser I’d seen.”
The chat went wild at Kim Yura’s bombshell statement.
And within just a few hours,
every major South Korean Hunter news outlet was filled with articles about Kim Yura’s remarks.
By about a day later...
the same remarks had appeared in major American news outlets, too.
The reactions from South Korean and American netizens were close to disbelief.
Half of them said there was no way a Hunter who had once reached the top of a country’s rankings would lie about something like that.
The other half said it was just an exaggerated story for views.
Of course, Kaiser Corporation responded with vehement denials.
[Kaiser Corporation ‘displeased’ by remarks from South Korean Hunter Kim Yura.]
[Kaiser Corporation: ‘We will not tolerate any kind of statement that damages Kaiser’s honor.’]
[Kaiser Corporation requests correction of ‘Kim Yura’s’ remarks.]
Normally, Kim Yura would have backed down and said it was a joke, but this time she was a little angry, too.
Starting that morning, she’d gotten calls from the U.S. Embassy and people at Kaiser Corporation’s Korean branch,
and even from the American agency—more than ten calls in all.
In a fit of anger, she contacted South Korea’s largest daily newspaper.
[Hunter Kim Yura has no intention of retracting her remarks.]
[North Korea’s strongest Hunter stronger than Kaiser?]
[Is Kaiser not the world’s strongest Crusader? Hunter Kim Yura’s remarks cause a stir.]
And the ripple effect of what had been little more than a joking anecdote...
was bigger than expected.
**
Kaiser’s day began with five daily newspapers in print.
Some people might wonder who still reads paper newspapers these days, but as an old-fashioned man, Kaiser preferred to get his news from print, at least.
But today, he couldn’t even get past the front page before crumpling it up.
[South Korea’s Former No. 1 Hunter Says North Korean Hunter and New Leader Lee Seonghyeok Is Stronger Than Kaiser!]
The front pages were full of headlines with roughly the same slant.
The holy knight of Juche ideology, who had been nothing but a laughingstock, was supposedly stronger than him.
And it was hard to stomach everyone being swayed by the words of some Asian fill-in who’d only ever teamed up with him once.
This sort of thing drove people in the Hunter industry absolutely crazy.
But it wasn’t as if he could actually go fight a North Korean Hunter.
Still, the damage caused by that one statement was enormous.
For starters, Kaiser Corporation and its affiliates’ stock prices plummeted.
An emergency meeting was called at once.
“There’s no way she made that statement without thinking. This is clearly an attack on Kaiser Corporation.”
“That’s right. Hunter Kim Yura belongs to an SG Group affiliate.”
“But 98% of South Korean Hunters belong to SG Group... No, that’s not...”
Someone tried to tell them the truth, but the agitated mood swallowed their words immediately.
“We need to retaliate at the group level, too.”
“But how would we retaliate...?”
“Hmm...”
South Korea was one of the few countries in the world where Kaiser Corporation’s influence was unusually limited.
Kaiser Corporation had tried to pour massive sums of money into the country when the dungeon market opened, but the South Korean government had narrowly managed to hold them off, and the country had rallied around Kim Segyun.
After listening to the executives’ discussion for a long while, Kaiser spoke in a low voice.
“...That’s enough. All of you, get out.”
“Kaiser...”
“Can’t you hear me? I’ll handle it. All of you, get out.”
“...Understood.”
Once all the executives had left, Kaiser immediately made a call.
“Mr. President? This is Kaiser. The reason I’m calling is...”
**
The South Korean presidential office.
The Minister of Economy and Finance, attending a cabinet meeting, let out a near-scream of frustration.
“It’s impossible to raise tax revenue any further! We’re already squeezing it to the limit. If we make the wrong move now, we could plunge into a long-term recession!”
South Korea was pursuing a plan to maintain a dual government during a transitional period, then reunify through absorption.
But the tax revenue required was simply too great.
“Fortunately, we have a decent amount of reserves in the treasury, which can cover us for about two years. But if we keep this up without finding new sources of funding, we’ll default.”
“A tax increase...”
“Then which taxes are you planning to raise?”
“Corporate tax...”
“The performance of ordinary companies has remained fairly steady. If we raise corporate taxes now, they could be crushed in international price competition. Of course, dungeon development companies are posting record profits, but...”
“Then we could have a tiered corporate tax rate... Ah...! I’m sorry.”
Different corporate tax rates for dungeon development companies and ordinary businesses.
It had certainly been a policy in the past.
In the early days of dungeon development, the corporate tax rate applied to dungeon development companies had actually been lower.
It was a kind of reward for helping develop the industry.
But in modern times, the corporate tax rate for dungeon development companies was about one and a half times higher than for ordinary businesses.
They had almost no expenses beyond labor costs, and no need to expand infrastructure, so they made enormous profits.
The problem was WDDO’s opening of the dungeon market.
The problems caused by opening the dungeons weren’t limited to the influx of foreign capital.
Under the WDDO dungeon-opening treaty, even discriminatory corporate and income tax rates were treated as violations.
South Korea wasn’t one of them, but because Hunters earned so much, some countries taxed their income at a higher rate than ordinary people’s. The WDDO treaty prohibited that, too.
The discriminatory corporate tax rates in place in South Korea had also been revised when the dungeons opened under WDDO.
That was why SG Group’s profits were at an all-time high.
From the government’s point of view, it was a dilemma.
If they raised corporate taxes across the board, ordinary companies, with their lower net profit margins than dungeon development companies, would suffer. But if they left taxes as they were, the dungeon development companies would profit far too much.
On the other hand, introducing a discriminatory corporate tax policy would violate the WDDO treaty.
“Yes, if we could just introduce discriminatory corporate taxes, all our problems would be solved.”
“In the end, North Korea becoming self-sufficient really is our best option.”
“Yes... The best solution would be for the U.S. to remove North Korea from its list of state sponsors of terrorism as soon as possible. It wouldn’t turn things around overnight, but it would certainly help.”
Even if North Korea wanted to open its markets now, the U.S. still hadn’t lifted its designation as a state sponsor of terrorism.
Both the South Korean and North Korean governments had requested it, but the U.S. remained silent.
There were rumors that American officials had been influenced by Japan, which was opposed to Korean reunification.
“Minister of Foreign Affairs, how are things? Are the talks with the U.S. going well?”
At President Kang Minkook’s question, the Minister of Foreign Affairs let out a troubled sigh.
“They’re being stubborn. They say they need to see North Korea’s ‘genuine commitment,’ but what on earth does that mean...?”
“We’ve agreed to nuclear inspections, promised to pursue nuclear disarmament in stages, and agreed to comply with human rights standards... What else is there? We’ve agreed to do all of it, and that’s still not enough?”
We’ve done everything they asked!
Despite Lee Seonghyeok and South Korea’s willingness to do everything necessary to normalize North Korea, the U.S. remained unyielding.
“Even people in American political circles are puzzled. They say North Korea has made enormous concessions at this point, so why won’t the U.S. accept them?”
At that, Zephyros, the director of the National Intelligence Service, spoke up.
“The NIS believes this is due to VIP interference.”
“VIP...?”
“I mean Kaiser.”
“K-Kaiser?”
“Why Kaiser all of a sudden?”
The president’s eyes widened in surprise as he asked.
“Why would Kaiser do that?”
“...Apparently, he took offense.”
“Took offense?”
Ryu Hyeonsu went on to explain, bringing up Kim Yura’s remarks that had recently shaken the world.
After hearing the story, the president gave an incredulous laugh.
“You mean he really did all this because of that rumor? How petty.”
“Apparently, Kaiser thinks it was a scheme by the South Korean government.”
That was what Zephyros had heard from his contacts inside Kaiser Corporation, where he had quite a few connections as a first-generation Hunter.
“There’s no reason our government would do that, is there?”
“...Exactly.”
Zephyros gave a small sigh and continued.
“In any case, as one of the current president’s major super PAC donors, Kaiser made a strong request to the president.”
“...He asked us not to lift the sanctions on North Korea?”
“Yes.”
Who could have known that one individual Hunter’s remarks would lead to all this?
“Still, we can’t blame Hunter Kim Yura for this. Anyone could make a personal comment like that, couldn’t they?”
“That’s right.”
“If there’s anyone at fault, it’s that we didn’t know Kaiser could be this petty.”
A few people laughed softly at President Kang Minkook’s complaint.
“This is going to be difficult for a while. The U.S. is still leading the world order...”
To break that hold...
something truly extraordinary would have to happen.
But it would be foolish for a president to rely on such a stroke of luck.
Even knowing that, President Kang Minkook couldn’t help hoping for a miracle. The situation was that difficult.
He didn’t want the entire country to fall into recession while trying to support a nation of thirty million people on the verge of bankruptcy.
“For now, let’s wait and see. And let’s keep asking the U.S. to lift the sanctions on North Korea. It won’t be easy, though.”
As long as a major donor was firmly exercising his veto, it would be difficult for even the U.S. president to go against him.
Especially for a first-term president who still had one reelection campaign ahead of him.
There’s a saying: “Do all you can, then leave the rest to Heaven.” If we do everything humanly possible, Heaven will answer us.
And...
**
‘Owner of a Gate’
Under the international agreement, Gates generally had no owner.
Strictly speaking, the country was the owner, and the government could impose regulations such as controlling access to a Gate...
But that meant blocking off the entire area around the entrance. There was no way to actually prevent someone from entering.
Even if someone suddenly slipped into a Gate, there was nothing anyone could do about it.
They could only wait for them to come out, then arrest them or demand compensation for damages.
But...
Kim Segyun had done it again.
─Segyun-hyung is a Gate owner now!
└LOL, that’s insane. Being a landlord wasn’t enough, now he owns a Gate, too.
└Above the Creator is the landlord, and above the landlord is the Gate owner, LOL.
People went wild over something the world had never seen before,
but the busiest of all were legal experts in countries around the world.
The precedent was that the state owned the Gate, but...
now a real ‘Gate owner’ had appeared.
─But the Gate’s name is terrifying as hell. The Demon Realm, seriously?
└There’s no entry-level restriction, either. No stages.
└It was a level-scaling Gate to begin with, though.
─Segyun-hyung, what on earth did you do? The owner of the Demon Realm... Then... you’re...
└The Great Demon King, Segyunman?
└Damn, that’s insane.
At first, people had focused solely on Kim Segyun’s achievement and the unprecedented concept of a Gate owner...
─But what exactly would you find in the Demon Realm?
─I bet the rewards are good, too...
─The Demon Realm? What guy wouldn’t want to visit at least once?
└Girls want to go, too!
They began to focus on the name Demon Realm and the Gate itself.
And...
when the first South Korean expedition to the Demon Realm was dispatched, following Kim Segyun’s instructions after he returned to SG Group,
they couldn’t help being stunned by the new Gate called the ‘Demon Realm,’ which was fundamentally different from any Gate that had come before.
‘No limit on the number of entrants’
‘Almost the size of a planet.’
‘Hundreds of thousands of quests’
Putting their reports together...
The conclusion was obvious.
‘This isn’t a Gate. It’s an entire world.’
And that naturally led to another conclusion.
‘Kim Segyun... has become the owner of an entire world.’
North Korea, which had bolted its borders shut and opened them only toward South Korea.
And toward the ‘new world.’
Hundreds of thousands of Hunters began entering South Korea.