The media manipulation had begun, and the public perceived the Il Sung guild as a heinous guild, who mobilized their Executive Branch to attack a Hunter who did nothing wrong.

It was a satisfying result, so Sung Joon was able to smile.

He decided put off his attack on the Il Sung guild and planned to begin his attack when public sentiment peaked.

A few days after the media manipulation had begun, Jung Chul came looking for Sung Joon.

“You’ve handled things well.”

The two met at the park nearby Sung Joon’s studio apartment. Sung Joon complimented Jung Chul, as the results of his media manipulation were satisfying.

“I didn’t do much,” Jung Chul responded.

“What do you mean? The results are great..”

“We’re certainly the ones who started manipulating the media first, but we’re not the ones who took the lead* and caused it to progress full-scale.” (*Jung Chul and his crew were the ones who started the media manipulation first, but someone else is responsible for making it successful.)

Jung Chul was referring to a third party intervening.

“What are you talking about? Please explain in more detail,” Sung Joon said. Jung Chul opened his mouth after taking a sip of his coffee.

“There’s someone else who took over the reins and helped us. We investigated, and we think it’s the Blue Dragon Group. No, I’m absolutely sure it’s the Blue Dragon Group.”

“I think I understand what’s going on. You don’t need to worry about it,” Sung Joon said.

If the Blue Dragon Group intervened, it meant that Seol Ah, or even Tae Seok (Blue Dragon Group Chairman) was involved, but they shouldn’t have any ill intentions.

‘I should meet Yoon Seol Ah soon.’

After all, it was good manners to thank someone for their assistance.

“Anyway, the Il Sung Group tried to refute the claims, but because the Blue Dragon Group intervened, our plan turned out to be this effective.”

“Are you saying that the Blue Dragon Group’s intervention was helpful?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Then that’s enough.” Sung Joon smiled.

“When are you planning your attack? We’ve manipulated the media enough. It’s not possible to bring down the Il Sung Group with this, but at the very least, the Il Sung guild has become a ‘villain’,” Jung Chul said.

A cause was necessary in society today. Sung Joon had become a victim through media manipulation, and he had all the cause he needed.

“If the Il Sung guild’s the ‘villain’, then the ‘hero’ has to take them down.”

“Indeed.”

Though it was impossible to bring down the Il Sung Group with this incident, the Il Sung guild had become the ‘villain’. Now, the public should side with him when he acts in ‘self-defense’.

“I don’t know if this will help, but we’ve acquired the list of Executive Branch Hunters. There’s simple information recorded on it, so it’ll be a good point of reference,” Jung Chul said as he took out a document envelope. Sung Joon opened the envelope, and scanned a few of the documents.

“It seems like it’s trustworthy information.”

“I’m trying my best to not handle uncertain information,” Jung Chul said. Sung Joon smiled softly, and nodded his head.

“I’ll start my attack within a week. I’ll leave the public to you.”

“Since we came to an agreement, I’ll do my best so support you.”

In exchange for Jung Chul’s help, Sung Joon had promised that he would hand over all of Il Sung’s items of mass destruction aside from one.

“I should get going. Great work today.”

After he said his farewells to Jung Chul, he returned to his studio apartment. He leaned against his sofa, and drank his hot coffee, locked in thought.

“Here, or there, there are enemies everywhere,” Sung Joon said to himself. Rishubalt, who had been pacing around in the living room, came closer, and opened his mouth.

“All you have to do is cut down your enemies.”

It was just like him to say something so clear and simple, but Sung Joon shook his head.

“It’s not that simple over here (in this world).”

“Then do you plan to apologize?”

“Apologize? That’s a luxury.”

Sung Joon had fought in the Empire’s battles for dozens of years and survived; if there was one thing he remembered, it was that he couldn’t show his enemies any mercy.

Sung Joon’s response caused Rishubalt to smile.

“Now you’re sounding like your old self, my lord.”

Sung Joon chuckled and emptied his cup of coffee.

“I should sleep early. You see, I changed my mind.”

“My lord..?”

“I’ll be attacking the Il Sung guild house tomorrow night.”

“How will you declare war?” Rishubalt asked.

A declaration of war seemed unnecessary, but there was nothing better to justify his actions. Sung Joon seemed to ponder briefly, and opened his mouth with a calm expression.

“Wouldn’t announcing my attack look better?”

“I agree. The people who remain despite your announcement are essentially telling you that it’s alright to kill them,” Rishubalt replied. Sung Joon nodded his head.

“Alright, I’ll announce my attack first thing tomorrow.”

The next morning, Sung Joon posted a bulletin board message on Hunter.com, stating that he would attack the Il Sung guild house at night, and those who didn’t want to be involved should run away.

Before even ten minutes had passed, his message had become a top-rated post with several dozens of comments.

[Declaration! Of! War!]

[Self-Defense is really drawing his sword!]

[He could just attack, but he’s being a gentleman.]

[It’s better because it’ll reduce unnecessary casualties.]

[It seems like he will kill whoever remains in the guild house.]

The Hunter.com users showed a positive response. It seemed as though he had discarded the idea of an ambush, and was attempting to reduce unnecessary casualties, which was enough to make a good impression on the public.

Sung Joon closed Hunter.com, and took a call from Eun Joo.

“This is Kang Sung Joon.”

“Mr. Sung Joon? It’s me, Eun Joo.”

“Yes, go ahead.”

“I heard that you were attacking the Il Sung guild house tonight.”

“The news sure does spread quickly,” Sung Joon said, laughing lightly.

“You posted that on Hunter.com, Mr. Sung Joon. It’s spread everywhere already.”

Not every Hunter used Hunter.com, but several people did indeed use it, so the spread of rumors from one person to the next wasn’t slow.

“I’m going to attack them today.”

“The guild has received funds from the Il Sung Group and have used those funds to even employ PMCs. Will you be alright on your own?”

Several PMCs (private military companies) were created with safety in mind; they were formed in South Korea when the Raids started to occur.

It seemed as though the Il Sung guild had used the funds that the Il Sung Group had provided them to hire nearby PMCs, but it wasn’t that easy.

Because of Sung Joon’s declaration of war, the majority of the PMCs were terrified of facing an S-rank Hunter, and had refused their offer.

Only a minority of them had accepted their offer.

“It’s alright. I was alone from the start.”

“Please don’t say that. You’re not alone.”

“Thank you for saying that.”

“I’m not just saying it. I’ll go with you.”

“I appreciate the thought, but no.”

Eun Joo made up her mind, and spoke, but Sung Joon firmly denied her. If she joined up with him, there’s a possibility that his justification would weaken.

“B-But..”

“Thank you for your consideration, Ms. Choi Eun Joo. That much is enough.”

“Mm..”

It didn’t go as planned, so she groaned. He could tell what kind of face she was making from beyond his phone, so Sung Joon smiled faintly.

“You know me well, don’t you? The Il Sung guild won’t be able to beat me, even if they send their entire force,” Sung Joon said, overflowing with confidence.

“I’ll trust you.”

And their conversation ended.

Sung Joon inspected his gear, and he acted precisely at six o’clock in the evening. He drove his car all the way to the vicinity of the Il Sung guild, and after using his stealth skill, approached the side of the building.

‘There are a ton of them.’

There was a garrison of several different PMCs that surrounded the ten story Il Sung guild house.

They didn’t have any tanks, but they had an armored car patrolling the vicinity, and gun turrets installed in various locations. He also saw snipers on the neighboring buildings.

“They’re just insignificant bugs. They won’t even last one second before your sword, my lord,” Rishubalt said. Since he was currently using his stealth, Sung Joon couldn’t respond, but he was in agreement.

Sung Joon slowly infiltrated the group and raised his sword when it was approximately eight at night; that was when the guards were changing shifts.

At the same time, the stealth detection item activated, and an alarm rang out.

His attack had begun.

* * *

As the situation was critical, the Il Sung Guild Leader, Chul Min, was summoned by Do Hyuk to the Group’s headquarters. He arrived immediately, but all of the elevators were stuck at a higher floor, and he didn’t have the spare time to wait for them, so Chul Min used the stairs to get to the Director’s office.

He was also an A-rank Hunter, so it wasn’t difficult for him to climb the stairs.

“It’s Han Chul Min.”

Chul Min knocked, and carefully opened the door to the Director’s office. Do Hyuk was sitting in his chair with a grave expression.

Rudolph who stood beside Do Hyuk was part of a foreign PMC that they had recently hired. Chul Min briefly examined him before approaching Do Hyuk, and opened his mouth.

“Director. We have to give up the items of mass destruction. The S-rank Hunter, Kang Sung Joon has begun his attack.”

“I refuse. We don’t have any reason to give them up.”

“Director! Can you not hear me? I said that Kang Sung Joon has begun his attack on our guild house!” Chul Min said, raising his voice. This was the first time he had expressed his opinion so strongly and appealed to Do Hyuk. Chul Min belatedly realized this fact, and looked directly at Do Hyuk with a bitter expression.

“If we give up the items of mass destruction, Kang Sung Joon said he will halt his attack. If we give up the items of mass destruction now, we can save our guild members.”

“The items of mass destruction are in the Group’s custody. Even if you search the guild house all day, you won’t be able to find them.”

“Director!”

“As long as we have the items of mass destruction, we can rebuild the guild. Don’t make such a great fuss.”

“I’m saying that people are dying right now!” Chul Min yelled with an uneasy expression. Do Hyuk was like this yesterday too, hence Chul Min realized that his words wouldn’t get through to him.

“We can just remake the Executive Branch, and PMCs that we’ve hired are nothing more than mercenaries.”

“Even so, you can’t justify sacrificing all of them!”

Chul Min quickly raised his sword, glowing with aura. Rudolph raised his shield and sword in order to protect Do Hyuk, and stood in front of Chul Min.

“Did you just draw your weapon in front of me?”

“Give up the items of mass destruction immediately! If you don’t..!”

“What are you going to do if I don’t?”

“Ahh!”

Chul Min swung his sword, and Rudolph raised his shield. The aura shield and sword’s aura clashed, and shards of mana bounced off.

Rudolph was able to land a blow at the end of their fierce battle.

“Ugh!” Chul Min briefly cried out. Justice didn’t always win; that was only in fairy tales. Unfortunately, Rudolph was stronger than Chul Min.

Since Chul Min was wounded, Rudolph thought he had attained victory, so he went on the offensive. Chul Min couldn’t endure for very long, receiving a deep cut on his neck, and collapsed.

“How dirty.”

Even as he was dying, he crawled over to Do Hyuk. Do Hyuk took a handgun out from his suit, and pulled the trigger.

Bang.

A gunshot rang out, and the bullet pierced through Chul Min’s head. Do Hyuk looked at Rudolph and opened his mouth.

“Is it possible to use the items of mass destruction?”

“It’s not possible to use the SS-rank item because it doesn’t have enough mana*, but it seems like it’ll be possible to use the S-rank one.” (*The SS-rank item is probably like the master key. It probably has to replenish the built-in mana, effectively having a “cooldown” period.)

“Let’s go to the secret vault.”

Do Hyuk had definitely gone insane.