WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Chen
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Our Precious Demon King ◈
Chapter 38: The Star of the Party
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“All right, have a good day.”
“Yes.”
Holding the envelope, Junyong tilted his head.
“Hm? Daesan Guild?”
“Huh? It's from the Daesan Guild?”
Lee Mina sounded startled.
“Why?”
“W-well, it's nothing!”
When Kim Junyong seemed not to recognize the name, she quickly swallowed her words.
Did the Adviser not remember?
“Oh? It's an invitation.”
Kim Junyong glanced at the invitation, then back at the news on TV.
“Nice. A free lunch.”
“...!”
Cheon Yubeom and Lee Mina trembled at his words.
“Y-you're going?”
“They sent an invitation, didn't they? That means they want me there.”
“D-do you really have to go, Adviser?”
“I'll just have a look around. They said the Asian hunters were getting together.”
They were screwed.
Did the Adviser know what that consortium was really about?
“I-I'll drive you.”
“Sure.”
“Yes, sir. I'll get the car ready.”
Cheon Yubeom hurried after Lee Mina as she headed outside.
“Deputy Chief Lee! What are you thinking, taking him there?”
“Can you stop him?”
“No.”
“Then it's better if I go with him. Imagine him going with just Remi.”
“Gasp.”
“Hurry up and report this!”
“R-right.”
While Lee Mina went to get the car, Kim Junyong looked at Remi.
“Want to come?”
“Are we killing everyone?”
Why did Remi love turning other people's parties into bloodbaths so much?
“No, we're just going to look around. Have something to eat.”
Kim Junyong's voice was full of excitement.
“Not interested.”
“Then help out with the restaurant.”
“Tsk.”
“Hehe.”
He left Remi behind and went outside.
People were still eating in the yard. They looked at Kim Junyong curiously.
“Huh? I feel like I've seen that guy somewhere.”
“Where would you have seen him?”
“Isn't he a celebrity?”
“He looks a bit too ordinary for that.”
The Yeouido incident had happened just three days ago, but the hero's face was already fading from people's memories.
In modern society, with information pouring in like a flood, people forgot things this quickly.
“Please get in.”
“All right, let's go! Go, go!”
“Is Remi not coming?”
“Remi said no. It's no fun with Remi around anyway.”
Seeing how excited Kim Junyong looked, Lee Mina asked in puzzlement.
“A-are you that happy?”
“Hehe, it'll be fun. I'm looking forward to it.”
“...?”
He was looking forward to the Asian Hunter Alliance?
“What kind of trap have they prepared?”
“...?”
Had she heard him wrong?
“Sorry?”
“Ah, even that dull little swallow brought me a gourd seed. How thoughtful.”
“...!”
Lee Mina flinched as though lightning had struck her.
‘He remembers everything!’
Kim Junyong remembered his trouble with Kang Hyeonsik, the Daesan Guild's executive director, perfectly well. He was full of excitement at the thought of whatever revenge Daesan had prepared.
‘We're screwed.’
She had to tell someone right away.
But even if she did...
What could anyone do?
Vrooom.
Lee Mina drove off with a troubled expression. Left behind, Cheon Yubeom hurriedly called to report.
Riiing. Click.
“Deputy Director! We have a problem. The Adviser is on his way to the Daesan Hotel.”
[What?]
“He received an invitation to the Asian Hunter Alliance consortium and happily went off.”
[Those lunatics at Daesan sent him an invitation?]
“Yes. In any case, please keep him from meeting Hunter Ryu Jai as much as possible.”
[Where are you now, Team Leader Cheon?]
“I'm at the restaurant.”
“Meow! Are you going to let my food get cold, meow?”
“Ah, coming!”
[...]
“Anyway, I'll join them once we're done serving.”
[...Understood.]
“Here we are, table three. Your appetizers!”
While Cheon Yubeom served the customers, the car carrying Kim Junyong slowly made its way toward the Daesan Hotel.
The Daesan Hotel's convention hall.
“Oh, Nakamura! It's been a while.”
“Oh, Wang Chen!”
“Say hello. This is my third wife.”
“Oh, nice to meet you.”
The banquet hall bustled with Asian hunters who had caught flights throughout the night and morning.
The Daesan Group had already finished preparing for the consortium. All they had needed was Ryu Jai's approval.
Once she gave the go-ahead, word of the consortium had gone out the previous night to the guilds already in on the plan.
Following the script prepared in advance, everyone had arrived at the Daesan Hotel around morning. By lunchtime, enough hunters had gathered to fill the banquet hall.
Beyond the crowded hall, the leaders of Daesan, Tianluo, and Hardbank, who had organized the consortium, gathered in a private VIP room.
“Have you heard from your governments?”
“Tianluo has already been contacted by the Party. I believe we can expect a favorable outcome from negotiations.”
“The Japanese government has also offered its own compromise through unofficial channels.”
“Hmm.”
“Still nothing from Korea?”
“No, we haven't heard anything yet.”
“Well, surely they'll contact you by tonight at the latest?”
“Of course. If they wait until tomorrow, the Asian Hunter Alliance really will be established.”
“Hmm.”
The Asian Hunter Alliance was a bluff.
It was a rebellion by private companies against their governments, a form of protest.
Don't pull our leashes too tight.
We can leave our countries behind and form an international alliance!
The threat only worked because Ryu Jai had joined them.
Even governments found it difficult to ignore or criticize her.
Such was the standing of a national-authority-class hunter.
In the end, guilds could never stand above nations.
Both the guilds gathered here and their governments knew that.
China and Japan were already dangling carrots to keep their guilds from leaving the fold, but Korea remained completely silent.
“Hmm. Daesan needs to get some results soon too.”
“Haha, I'm sure they'll contact us shortly.”
“At this rate, won't Daesan end up being the only one joining the alliance?”
“Surely not.”
“...Hahaha. You take your jokes too far.”
President Kang Changseong was burning up inside.
What if Tianluo and Hardbank, who had already begun negotiating with the Chinese and Japanese governments, pulled out, while Korea continued to ignore Daesan?
‘Then we'll really look like traitors.’
Ryu Jai had long advocated the creation of an international hunter alliance. She had no reason to refuse.
They could call it an international organization all they liked, but in reality, it would cement an Asian power structure with “Taiwan,” where Ryu Jai lived, at its head.
‘This is all that bastard's fault.’
The one who had taken his son's arm.
The newly awakened G-rank hunter who enjoyed government protection.
With the arrival of a new hunter capable of handling A-rank devils and A-rank dungeons, disasters they had previously been helpless against, Ryu Jai had become less important.
Just then, the chief of staff standing at one side of the meeting room received a report from a subordinate. With a grave expression, he approached President Kang Changseong and whispered in his ear.
“Hunter Kim Junyong has arrived in the banquet hall.”
“What?”
What? He actually came?
Kang Changseong quickly hid his alarm and quietly excused himself.
“I'll have to step out for a moment.”
“Hoho, of course. Your government has finally contacted you.”
They congratulated him, assuming the long-awaited call had arrived.
Kang Changseong left with an awkward smile.
He questioned the chief of staff, who hurried after him.
“Where is he now?”
“Eating in the banquet hall.”
“Ha, fuck. Why did he come?”
“Didn't we send him an invitation?”
“You think I sent that because I actually wanted him to come?”
“My apologies.”
He had only agreed to it to secure Ryu Jai's participation.
‘I'm not sure whether he'll come, but I'll send an invitation.’
‘Good. That will be enough.’
Ryu Jai hadn't seemed to expect much either.
In reality, the chances of Kim Junyong appearing at the consortium had been low.
He was a special adviser to the Bureau.
A government-friendly hunter, so to speak.
“Which Bureau hunters came?”
“He came with Hunter Lee Mina.”
“That Grade 5 hunter?”
“Yes, sir.”
Kang Changseong's face twisted into a deep frown.
“Is he here as a messenger for the government?”
“That's possible.”
“Good grief.”
This was unexpected.
He hadn't invited Kim Junyong because he wanted him there, so he hadn't prepared for this. Someone else had wanted him.
“Where's Ryu Jai?”
“In her suite.”
“Hmm. Don't tell her yet.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Go and ask him yourself. Find out whether he's here as a government messenger.”
“Yes, understood.”
* * *
“You'll need an invitation to enter.”
“Here.”
“Yes, confirmed.”
Kim Junyong handed over the invitation and entered the convention hall with Lee Mina.
“Wow, quite a crowd.”
“Ugh, we really came here.”
“Hehe, did they gather all these people just to kill me? I'm a little touched.”
He'd heard Daesan was a huge corporation, but preparing something this grand was quite an effort.
“Why would they kill you, Adviser?”
“Then why else would they all be here?”
“For the Asian Hunter Alliance.”
“Pfft.”
Lee Mina's face turned bright red as the Adviser once again treated her like an idiot.
“That's a smokescreen.”
“A smokescreen?”
“Look. According to my big data, an excuse like a party doesn't matter.”
“...?”
Where had that big data come from?
“They're all pretty capable, aren't they? You look like the weakest person here, Deputy Chief Lee. Hmm.”
Looking around, she spotted plenty of faces she recognized here and there.
There were R-rank hunters, even SR-rank hunters. The place was full of hunters who were at least Grade 1.
Lee Mina shrank back, feeling needlessly intimidated.
“Come on, I'll train you soon too. Stand up straight for now.”
Kim Junyong picked up two glasses of wine and handed one to Lee Mina. They made a toast before she quite knew what was happening, and he grinned.
“I bet there are at least ten assassins hiding here. Maybe they're all assassins.”
“Don't you think that's a bit of a leap?”
“Come on, this is all from experience. Experience.”
“Experience?”
“Young noblemen don't do things on this scale. But princes will bring in about this many people.”
“...!”
“Daesan's a big deal in Korea, right? If they're avenging their son, this is about the right scale. I say ten at the very least. No, twenty!”
“...”
What kind of life had the Mad Sovereign lived in Belheim?
Lee Mina struggled to find a response to Kim Junyong's self-centered thinking.
Surely a major corporation like Daesan wouldn't go this far for personal revenge... but she couldn't be certain.
‘Is the Adviser right?’
“Oh, this is good. Try some.”
The Adviser, who claimed to be under threat of assassination, was calmly enjoying the party. He looked so relaxed and used to it that Lee Mina suddenly felt her tension drain away.
“Haah... Whatever happens, happens. Mm, this really is good.”
It seemed to be some kind of stewed fruit. What was it?
Half resigned to her fate, Lee Mina downed her wine in one go.
Just then, Kim Junyong grinned.
“Oh, is it starting?”
She turned sharply and saw a middle-aged man in a suit approaching.
She had never met him, but she knew who he was.
He was the chief of staff at Daesan Electronics, a familiar face in the media.
“He's a civilian.”
“Does being a hunter matter when it comes to assassination? It's the intent that counts. Right, Scales?”
<...>
The Scales had been quiet lately, since there hadn't been any trouble to get into. Just wait a little longer.
I'll show you a feast of self-defense soon.
This was what made teaching young noblemen a lesson so much fun. They kept coming back at you on a bigger scale.
“Thank you for accepting our invitation.”
“Hm?”
The man, who had approached so confidently, bowed his head.
“Have you perhaps come to convey the government's position?”
“The government? Oh!”
Kim Junyong gave a short laugh and asked inwardly.
“Isn't that an insult, Scales?”
<No intent to insult is apparent.>
“He's asking if I'm someone else's fucking dog. How is that not an insult?”
“Pardon?”
Kim Junyong smirked at the chief of staff, who had interrupted his conversation with the Scales.
“What?”
“...!”
The chief of staff was flustered.
Was this how a conversation with a normal person went?
What was going on?
‘He's out of his mind.’
Something was wrong.
This was his first time meeting Special Adviser Kim Junyong.
Perhaps the man was even more reckless than the information they had gathered suggested.
“Where's Kang Hyeonsik?”
“...!”
The chief of staff was deeply shocked.
Had he accepted the invitation to go after the young master?
While the chief of staff stood at a loss, a stir spread through the banquet hall.
“It's Ryu Jai.”
“Oh, a Guardian!”
“Wow, I've never seen her this close before.”
A celebrity among celebrities.
A true warrior of the hunter world.
The hunters stirred at Ryu Jai's arrival.
She was walking straight toward Kim Junyong.
“Oh, this one's got some skill.”
Interest appeared on Kim Junyong's face as he sensed the aura Ryu Jai gave off. At that level, she was a step above Choi Hyunju, the strongest hunter he had met so far.
“Deputy Chief Lee. What's her ranking?”
“R-R-Ryu Jai! That's Ryu Jai!”
“Hm? That's her?”
Kim Junyong frowned at Ryu Jai.
Had Daesan hired Ryu Jai to avenge their son?
“Are you Kim Junyong?”
“Yep, I'm Junyong.”
“As I thought... That energy feels familiar.”
“Hm?”
<...The scales sense Belheim's power.>
Footnotes:
The swallow and gourd seed refer to the Korean folktale Heungbu and Nolbu, in which swallows bring gourd seeds whose fruits contain rewards or punishments.
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