WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Chen
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◈ Our Precious Demon King ◈
Chapter 64: Dungeon Intrusion
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At the B-97 Dungeon in Busan.
The raid team from Full Course, the guild with exclusive raid rights to this dungeon, was waiting outside.
"Come on, how long are we gonna wait?"
"Tsk. They said they're looking for backup."
"Yeah, but when? Bro, at this rate, Busan's gonna go up in flames."
"What do you want us to do?"
"Go in ourselves!"
"How are we supposed to finish a raid in four hours and forty minutes?"
"We've got four Grade 1s! Why couldn't we?"
"Seunggu's right. Our guild won the raid rights. We ought to take responsibility."
"Big bro, seeing how the Bureau's been stalling, I think they've given up on Busan."
"Instead of waiting for backup that isn't coming, let's get in there now while we still have time!"
As the team members leaned toward making an attempt before they wasted their last chance, Full Course's guild leader, Kim Sangjung, finally made his decision.
"Fine, let's go! We've gotta do it anyway! Fuck, the worst that can happen is we die!"
"Let's get in there!"
As the Full Course members cheered, a Hunter Association employee voiced concern.
"Wait! Please give us a little more time."
"How much more? We're already cutting it close."
"The Bureau will soon decide who to send as backup. If you could just wait a little longer..."
"You've been saying that for over twenty minutes! Whatever. We're going in!"
"That's right. We've got our pride. Who needs help?"
"Let's finish this quick and get some soup and rice!"
The twenty Full Course members took out their phones, photographed the dungeon, and vanished at the same time.
"Ha. We're screwed."
Section Chief Yang Seungmin of the Hunter Management Bureau's Busan Branch pressed a hand to their forehead.
Their confidence and sense of responsibility were admirable, but their actual combat strength barely met the requirements.
Worse, less than half of the B-97 Dungeon had been explored, making the raid a serious risk.
'Twelve hours to be safe. Seven even if they really push it.'
That was Yang Seungmin's estimate of how long Full Course would need.
To finish within four hours and forty minutes, they would have to overextend themselves. Injuries were inevitable.
"Damn it. Rookie, request more ambulances. Taejong Guild has a healer, right? See if you can get them over here right away too."
"Yes, Chief."
Just then, someone new appeared in front of the dungeon with a pop.
"Oh, aren't you the special adviser?"
"Yeah, that's me. You know me? We've never met."
Yang Seungmin's face instantly stiffened.
'I'm fucked.'
Without thinking, they'd acted as though they recognized someone they had never met.
'I should've pretended I didn't know him.'
There were special guidelines for dealing with the special adviser.
The first rule for protecting his quiet little life.
Yang Seungmin had broken the rule of showing no interest and pretending not to recognize him.
But they hadn't become a section chief for nothing.
Years of smooth-talking experience supplied a natural excuse.
"Oh, it's a pleasure to meet you. Headquarters called to let us know. I'm Section Chief Yang Seungmin from the Busan Branch."
"Oh, really? Then you've heard everything. I'm going into this dungeon."
"Oh dear. Full Course is raiding that one right now."
"What?"
Had Choi Hyunju not told them?
What was he supposed to do, then?
Kim Junyong raised his phone and took a picture of the dungeon with the camera app.
<Dungeon Information>
Dungeon of Yondru, the Knight of Destruction.
B-rank, 4 hours 37 minutes
[Raid in Progress][Kim Sangjung and 19 others]
[Entry is unavailable.]
"Wow, it really won't let me."
"Yes, unfortunately... Full Course couldn't wait any longer and went in. They seem to have been worried that if they delayed any further, they wouldn't have time to attempt the raid at all."
"What? Are you giving me grief for being late?"
"Gasp! Absolutely not!"
As Yang Seungmin hastily bowed low, Kim Junyong opened the Dungeon Forum. It was his only way to communicate with Earth's god without entering the Demon Realm.
[Kim Junyong - If I can't enter dungeons already being raided, I'm going on strike.]
[Kim Junyong - Busy?]
[Kim Junyong - Asleep?]
[Admin - Aaaah! Big bro! I've just lifted the restrictions on your account.]
[Kim Junyong - OK]
It seemed they wouldn't lose contact completely during this update or whatever it was.
"I'm sorry you came all this way for nothing. Would you like to wait at a nearby hotel for now?"
"No, it's fine. It'll work now."
"Pardon?"
Instead of explaining, Kim Junyong raised his phone again and photographed the dungeon.
[Would you like to enter?]
The message denying him entry had changed.
Fwoosh.
Yang Seungmin gasped as Kim Junyong vanished.
"Gasp!"
A hurried check of the dungeon information showed that "Kim Sangjung and 19 others" had changed to "Kim Junyong and 20 others."
"Unbelievable!"
This was no time to stand around in shock.
The special adviser has appeared in front of the B-97 Dungeon
Can enter a dungeon already being raided
Just entered the dungeon
Only after sending the report did Yang Seungmin finally begin to calm down.
"Ha. My heart's still pounding."
Meeting the special adviser, whom they'd only heard about, was surprising enough. But then something that defied common sense had happened right before their eyes.
Barging into a dungeon mid-raid.
Didn't this mean the Adviser could join any dungeon raid already in progress?
"Phew. I could use some coffee..."
Just as Yang Seungmin tried to catch a breath, the dungeon suddenly began to shrink.
"Huh?"
It had only been seven minutes and thirty-nine seconds since the Adviser entered.
"Th-this is insane!"
There had been a wild rumor that he'd cleared an A-rank dungeon in five minutes, but Yang Seungmin had assumed it was exaggerated, as such stories usually were.
The section chief quickly reported to headquarters.
* * *
Whup-whup-whup-whup.
The helicopter carrying Choi Hyunju took off.
She had no time to waste if she was going to reach Jeonju and enter the dungeon with the team waiting there.
Ringgg.
She checked her phone. It was the leader of Baekje Love, the guild waiting in Jeonju.
"Hello, Choi Hyunju speaking."
[Deputy Director! We've just cleared the dungeon!]
"...?"
Ah, she couldn't hear properly over the helicopter.
She put on her noise-canceling earphones and asked again.
"I didn't catch that."
[We've cleared the dungeon. Thanks to the Bureau's help, we made it through the crisis.]
"What do you mean?"
[Pardon? Didn't the Bureau send him?]
"Send who?"
[What? The special adviser.]
"What? The Adviser went to the Jeonju dungeon? Where is he now?"
[He vanished right away, so I'm not sure...]
"...All right, understood."
After hanging up, Choi Hyunju immediately called the head of Dungeon Management at headquarters.
"What's going on? Didn't the Adviser go to Busan?"
[That's correct. He cleared the Busan dungeon, then went straight on to finish Jeonju and Paju.]
"Wow. He didn't have to go this far..."
Choi Hyunju steadied the emotion welling up inside her.
Taking care of Busan would have been enough, yet he was helping them this much.
[Oh? A dungeon clearance report just came in. Apparently, the Adviser stole the boss kill in Gwangju's C-876 Dungeon and vanished.]
"Hmm?"
[Ah, there are more reports. In C-772 and C-612, someone suddenly appeared during normal raids, killed the bosses, and cleared the dungeons. Those two seem to have been the special adviser's work too.]
"...All right, understood."
Choi Hyunju told the pilot to turn the helicopter around.
On the way back to headquarters, another five C-rank dungeons were cleared.
"So you're saying the Adviser has cleared every B-rank dungeon, and now he's clearing the C-ranks one after another?"
"That's right. At a frightening pace."
"..."
She hadn't asked for this much help...
In any case, Choi Hyunju quickly gave her orders.
"Put all C-rank dungeon raids on hold. Reassign everyone to D-rank dungeons and below."
"Yes, Deputy Director."
A wild card.
It had to be used sparingly, but its effect was undeniable.
"Keep monitoring the situation and call me if anything unusual happens. I'm going to see the Director."
"Yes, understood."
SR-ranker Choi Hyunju.
Without her even needing to step in, South Korea's dungeons rapidly vanished, starting with the most dangerous.
'I need to hurry up with those house purchases.'
There was no reason to drag it out.
She intended to handle it today.
She needed to buy the two neighboring houses she'd had her eye on.
One for Kim Jangmi, and one for the Adviser.
His current home had all but turned into a restaurant.
'There are too many jackals swarming around.'
According to information from the National Intelligence Service, practically every country had sent agents.
There were so many foreign spies that they were reviving Hansan 2-dong's dead shopping district.
The resulting increase in outside visitors was another problem.
It had become far too difficult to protect all of them from the Adviser.
'If at all possible, we need to separate the Adviser's home from the restaurant.'
At first, she'd thought it was just something on his bucket list.
She'd expected him to run it like an ordinary restaurant, but that hadn't been the case.
Jun Dragon Kitchen.
The restaurant named after the Adviser had become famous in an instant.
Free food!
And incredible flavor!
What more did anyone need?
It had become a hot spot overnight. In a hyperconnected society, the intensely focused attention called a trend had caught fire across social media.
Half the customers lining up before dawn were agents sent from overseas. The other half were passionate foodies.
'They should start realizing soon that it isn't actually free.'
They would be in serious trouble if they treated the claim that they paid with "luck" as a mere promotional slogan. The Bureau had sent in a large number of employees when the restaurant first opened and discovered the "luck payment" faster than anyone else.
By now, the foreign agents would be starting to catch on too.
In any case, the best solution was to separate the restaurant from the Adviser's living space entirely and prevent contact with random outsiders.
"Director, I'm going ahead with the Hansan 2-dong house purchases we discussed."
"Ah, that."
Park Taejun had an odd look on his face.
Feeling uneasy, Choi Hyunju asked, "Don't tell me it got rejected?"
"Hmm."
"Seriously? Did they say it would cost too much?"
Park Taejun grinned and handed her some documents.
"Someone from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport just stopped by."
"...?"
"These are the property registry certificates. The purchases are already complete."
"What?"
Choi Hyunju hurriedly looked through them. Five houses adjoining Kim Junyong's home, plus three across the street.
Registry certificates for eight properties in total.
Every one of them belonged to Kim Junyong.
"But how did you already..."
"Well, you see."
Smiling, Park Taejun began recounting his heroic deeds.
"When the President heard the report, he was ready to buy all of Hansan 2-dong for him. I had a hard time talking him out of it. I barely managed to keep it to eight properties."
"..."
"When it comes to the Adviser, the President gets everything moving at lightning speed. You have no idea how hard I had to work to stop him from designating the place a special zone."
"Wow."
"Anyway, just leave the administrative work to me."
Choi Hyunju felt a renewed confidence in Park Taejun.
Perhaps he noticed the look in her eyes. He shrugged.
"Our deputy director just needs to keep doing a good job managing villains and dungeons. Hahaha."
Park Taejun's laughter continued to ring through the office of the director of South Korea's Hunter Management Bureau for quite some time.
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