Illusion Report

I’ve seen similar questions pop up a few times in later VIP Chapters, so I decided to dedicate a Chapter to answering them before we get to the paid content.

If you think it makes sense, then keep reading. That way, you won’t feel like your subscription was a waste. (Of course, if the plot turns out to be bad... there are no refunds.)

The main question is this: Why doesn’t the government get involved with Hunter affairs? Or, to put it another way, why doesn’t the government regulate them?

I’d like to explain this from two perspectives: first, can they? And second, do they want to?

1. Can they?

Paths are completely random, rare, and have incredibly demanding activation conditions.

Whether or not someone discovers they have a Path is purely a matter of luck. The government is completely powerless in this regard.

The government can’t just mobilize its citizens in major cities and have them test things out one by one, like jumping off buildings or running into televisions... The very nature of Paths makes it fundamentally impossible for the government to form a "national team." Paths are intensely personal and cannot be controlled by any external force.

If they can’t form a national team, they can’t enter the Nests. They’re cut off right from the source. And if you don’t know what’s being brought into the Human World, it’s impossible to regulate the circulation of Illusions. (This doesn’t rule out the possibility of an Illusion occasionally falling into government hands.)

So what about organizing or regulating the existing Hunters?

First of all, the world of *Illusion Report* is based on the political environment of the United States. To implement any kind of regulation, you need a whole series of actions: a bill has to be introduced in both houses of Congress, legislation must be passed, Congress has to appropriate funds, a regulatory agency needs to be established, it has to be subject to public oversight...

But 99.9% of the population has no idea that Nests, Illusions, and Hunters even exist.

If you were a member of Congress, how would you explain to your constituents why you voted to pass a proposal that sounds like complete nonsense? Why would you spend a huge sum of taxpayer money on "things that don’t exist"?

How could you ensure your political opponents wouldn’t seize the opportunity to attack you? 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

Of course, you could argue for having a covert agency, like an intelligence service, secretly capture or monitor Hunters. Technically speaking, that is achievable.

But that’s only achievable on the condition that you already know who the Hunters are.

The random nature of discovering a Path means that, as the regulating body, you would never know who might become a Hunter tomorrow. There are no warning signs.

Besides, Hunters aren’t stupid. The moment the government starts doing that, Hunters will surely go deeper underground to protect themselves, and might even use the power of their Illusions to fight back. Where’s the benefit in that? (This touches upon the "do they want to" part, which I’ll get to in section two.)

And from a Hunter’s perspective, after you’ve risked life and limb to obtain an Illusion that you could sell for a high price, what are the chances you’d hand it over to the government, accept an official post, and collect a civil servant’s salary of a few thousand bucks a month?

Furthermore, the Nests are lawless zones. Once you go in, only those who make it out alive know what happened. What if a "national team" went in and never came out?

At the end of the day, the government is made up of people. When over 99% of the population is excluded from the world of Nests and Illusions, it means the government is, too.

2. Do they want to?

The short answer is: no, they don’t.

Let’s assume the government *is* capable of regulating Hunters and Nests. Party A wins an election, takes office, and establishes the Illusion Department. They manage to wipe out nearly all Illusions in private hands, bringing every Illusion under government control.

Then, Party A fails to win reelection, and Party B takes office.

Now that Party A is the opposition party, completely cut off from accessing Illusions, don’t you think they’d feel like they shot themselves in the foot? (This kind of power struggle exists within the parties as well.)

What if an Illusion suddenly emerged that could allow the ruling party to stay in power forever, or condemn the opposition to stay out of power forever? Would Party A be willing to just step back and fade from history?

Besides, the political environment this novel is based on is that of the United States, where the ultimate goal of dark money in politics is still just money.

Would the wealthy donors behind the politicians want them to pass regulatory legislation? Once regulation is in place, their own avenues for acquiring Illusions would become fewer and less convenient. Even if your chosen candidate is willing to open a back door for you, will their political opponents do the same?

As a donor, would you finance a candidate who would raise your taxes after being elected?

If not, then you certainly wouldn’t finance a candidate who would prevent you from buying Illusions after getting elected.

So, would any candidate, even for the sake of campaign contributions, really push for such a thankless and difficult cause?

For a real-world analogy, look at the commercial health insurance industry in the United States. It’s not just profiting from human suffering; it’s practically profiting from killing people. Why are both parties unwilling to touch it, even to win votes? Because the insurance companies are major donors.

So, in summary:

1. The vast majority of people are unaware of the situation.

2. Regulation would be incredibly difficult.

3. Hunters are just in it for the money; you can buy the Illusions they possess if you have the cash.

4. Allowing Hunters to come and go from the Nests is profitable for many, including high-ranking government officials.

5. The consequence of regulating would be losing campaign donations and handing a major advantage to your opponents.

If something has virtually only downsides and difficulties, with no real benefits, would you do it if you were in charge?