WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Chen
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Our Precious Demon King ◈
Chapter 65: Who Do Heroes Exist For?
──────
I'd only glanced at the dungeon information before coming in, so I didn't even know the name of this boss.
"How dare you challenge me alone?"
"Yeah, sure."
Whirrr.
"Graaagh!"
Leaving the devil behind with a broken neck and some very ordinary last words, I picked up my phone.
"Wow, there are still this many left?"
There were about twenty C-rank dungeons remaining.
I was starting to get hungry.
Had I ever worked this hard since returning to Earth? A look at the time showed it was already lunchtime.
Jun Dragon Kitchen would have opened for business by now, too.
"I'm getting hungry."
How many dungeons had I cleared already?
"Well, let's stop after the C-ranks."
Kim Junyong sent a message.
- Make lunch fit for a Belheim noble for a change. Tell Gram and take whatever ingredients you need.
Kim Ed - I'll prepare the finest meal, meow!
"Hmm."
His mouth was already watering.
Was it like how people craved Korean food whenever they traveled abroad, only to miss the food they'd enjoyed on their trip once they came home?
No, Kim Junyong had spent his first twenty years as a native Korean, but he'd lived in Belheim for two hundred years.
In terms of what his palate was used to, Belheim's dishes were practically his home cooking. Earth's food offered the special flavors of a trip abroad.
In any case, he sent a mental message to Gram, the dungeon keeper in charge of the tribute storehouse.
He gave Ed unlimited access to the ingredient storehouse.
With even the ingredients coming from Belheim, he would be able to enjoy a perfect Belheim meal.
"Let's hurry up and finish!"
Was this how office workers felt as they worked hard while waiting for lunch? With renewed energy, Kim Junyong headed off to deal with the remaining dungeons.
* * *
Taiwan.
Here was another country in danger because of the shortened time limits.
It had once been home to the best hunter in East Asia, but no longer.
R-rank.
That still made her an elite hunter in the world's top one thousand. But considering that she had been a G-rank hunter ranked fifth in the world until very recently, her sharp decline could only be called a fall from grace.
It was like having a top sports star whose performance dropped after an injury during a match.
Naturally, people tended to curse whoever had caused the injury, and Taiwan had spent its time tearing into Kim Junyong and Korea.
The press fueled the anger, and with the government remaining silent, anti-Korean sentiment spread like wildfire.
Choi Hyunju had good reason to take care that this news never reached Kim Junyong. She feared this ignorant uproar might anger him and awaken the "Mad Sovereign" sleeping within.
They gleefully criticized Korea, Daesan Group, and the special adviser. Korea did not publish a single line of those foreign reports.
Some online communities did repost foreign articles, but news from Taiwan was deleted as soon as it appeared.
Nothing happened between the country throwing one-sided punches and the country keeping its eyes and ears firmly shut.
Then the time limits suddenly shortened...
Taiwan now faced an unprecedented crisis.
The reason was simple. It had lost the "wild card" it had always found so useful in a crisis.
That wild card, now an ordinary card, was still shut away at home.
The media, once flooded with anti-Korean articles, filled its breaking news with reports on domestic dungeons after disaster struck.
[Newly formed Rising Dragon Guild begins clearing Taichung B-151 dungeon.]
[Wu Feilong, master of the new Rising Dragon Guild, expresses confidence. "Citizens need not worry. Rising Dragon will protect Taichung."]
[Top free agent Lin Hongyu, still unaffiliated, works with Taiwan's government to step up efforts to clear dungeons nearing a break.]
[Elites from the disbanded Ryu Jai Crew shine in their respective guilds.]
A hero's downfall was little more than gossip, but the appearance of new heroes gave the public hope.
- Wow, looking at it now, all the elites were in the Ryu Jai Crew.
- It was basically a group with every ranker in Taiwan.
- Thinking back, that was a ridiculous amount of power.
- No wonder the Ryu Jai Crew kept doing so well.
- Honestly, this is how things should be. They shouldn't have been working under Ryu Jai. They were talented enough to lead teams of their own.
- Things are finally working properly. Now they can pass on their experience. We lost Ryu Jai, but this could end up making Taiwan's hunters stronger overall.
Meanwhile, the dungeons whose deadlines had been shortened were cleared one after another.
Lin Hongyu and Wu Feilong had led the efforts to overcome this crisis.
They gave interviews with rather grim expressions.
"We need to prepare for the day an A-rank dungeon appears in Taiwan."
"Taiwan's current forces can't handle one."
"We need to improve relations with neighboring countries to make up for the absence of our hero."
When the hunters who had done so much during the crisis took the lead in saying this, public anger eased.
- They're not wrong. If an A-rank dungeon appeared right now, we'd have no answer.
- Yeah, that's true. If we're talking about someone in East Asia who can handle A-rank dungeons from now on...
The Taiwanese public slowly came to its senses.
It was as if they had woken from a trance.
Articles speaking negatively about Korea, Daesan Group, and the special adviser became noticeably fewer.
But it was as though the fire had spread elsewhere. Another topic began to burn.
Ryu Jai was still in seclusion.
And with Taiwan in crisis, people began asking who should be held responsible.
[Ryu Jai remains in seclusion. The silence of the fallen empress.]
[Lin Hongyu and Wu Feilong take on B-rank dungeons. Ryu Jai nowhere to be seen.]
[Taiwan's guardian deities are now a duo, not a trio.]
[Wasted taxpayer money: Are the benefits and pension she receives justified?]
[She should receive treatment appropriate to an R-rank.]
The press slowly began attacking her.
Some outlets that had sold their souls for clicks criticized her directly.
[One person's choice sinks Taiwan.]
[Ryu Jai's needless visit to Korea brings huge losses to the nation.]
[The height of irresponsibility: How will she make up for the hole in Taiwan's security?]
The media's attacks on Ryu Jai were little more than an outlet for anger.
As she continued to remain silent, the press gradually began crossing the line.
* * *
After returning from Korea, Ryu Jai had stopped all activities, both at home and abroad, and kept quiet.
That was what the public had heard, and it was also true. She had been living quietly at home.
The reactions she had been waiting for slowly began pouring in.
'Curse me. Condemn me.'
From hero to traitor.
The press had started with a few cautious jabs. When Ryu Jai showed no reaction, they went further and further, until public opinion turned against her as well.
As the media began criticizing Ryu Jai, the people around her kept their distance.
There had been no contact from the crew since it disbanded.
The people she had thought were friends hadn't made a single call to comfort her.
All five of her lovers denied their relationships with her, and her family only talked about money.
Celebrities unfollowed her social media accounts one after another, as if she were something filthy.
Watching it all, Ryu Jai smiled.
'God is washing away my past mistakes.'
She felt utterly alone.
Yet her heart was calmer and more peaceful than ever.
No, she even felt the comfort of finally being where she belonged.
This was washing away the hollow fame she had built up through her lazy, arrogant past.
As the press raced to curse her, she smiled instead.
The public's praise had nearly sent her to the devil's side.
Now, their condemnation would lead her to the apostle of God.
'It's time to prove myself.'
Taiwan had already abandoned her, but it would all be for nothing if he refused to accept her.
It was time to prove her worth.
Ryu Jai ended her long seclusion and headed for an F-rank dungeon.
She had changed her weapons, too.
A large shield that covered her body, and a one-handed sword.
With no teammates left beside her, she intended to walk the path of a lone warrior.
One step at a time.
The Taiwanese press reacted with shock when she began with F-rank dungeons, then continued to mock her.
She closed her eyes and shut her ears.
In the darkness, she could see only the face of God.
This was repentance,
so that a wandering Warrior of the Divine Tree
might become a Guardian's Knight.
* * *
Kim Junyong's house.
He took the property registration documents and looked at Choi Hyunju.
"Whoa, why are you giving me so many?"
"I-it's only fair compensation."
He smiled at this timid woman, who still showed fear and even awe in his presence.
"What about my sister? Is she moving?"
"Oh! That's something you should ask her yourself, Adviser..."
"Oh, right."
After Choi Hyunju left, Kim Jangmi came by that evening with Yu Jihun.
"Uncle! You promised to make me pasta!"
"Oh, that's right!"
"Honestly! Just eat what you're given."
"Aw, Mom."
"I need to talk to your uncle, so go play with Ed until your sister gets here."
"Oh, okay."
Moving was an important matter for everyone in the family.
Even Yu Jia, who was busy in her final year of high school, had skipped her private academy classes today.
She was on her way in a taxi.
"So they gave you all these houses?"
"Yeah."
"...You really must be doing important work for the country."
"Hehe."
"Where's Remi?"
"Away on business."
"Oh, is she?"
Kim Jangmi glanced around the upstairs living quarters.
Nothing much had changed.
'It doesn't exactly feel like a newlywed home.'
Not that she planned to meddle in the love life of her forty-year-old younger brother.
'They say living together would be better for Junyong's mental health.'
She would have to discuss it properly with her daughter when she arrived, but for now, Kim Jangmi didn't think it was a bad idea.
She was still worried about her brother, who had suddenly moved out on his own.
'If we have separate houses, the kids won't feel as uncomfortable, either.'
He had moved out in the first place out of concern that suddenly living with their uncle might affect the children's studies.
'And the Bureau says they'll help the kids get to school...'
In fact, she knew the Bureau was guarding them from a distance.
As the family of someone doing such important work, this was an inconvenience they ought to bear.
"Mom."
"Oh, Jia, you're here?"
"Hey, niece. Long time no see."
"Hello, Uncle."
"Jihun, you come over here, too. Let's have a family meeting."
Soon, the whole family was sitting together.
"The Bureau thinks it'd be better in several ways for us to live with your uncle, and I agree."
"I'm all for it!"
"I'm fine with it, too."
"Jia, are you really okay with this?"
"Yes, well..."
Yu Jia nodded, her cheeks turning a little red.
She had asked her school friends about the special adviser.
Without telling them they were related, of course.
Listening to her friends speak so passionately, as if his achievements were their own, she had realized something.
Her uncle really was amazing.
"Are you sure you're okay with it?"
"Yes. If anything, it'll be nice. They said they'd help us get to school, too..."
The Bureau would take more intensive care of them.
The family living with Kim Junyong would attract even more attention.
Their security would switch to close protection, and the guards would drive them to and from school.
An ordinary high school senior was suddenly going to have a whole string of attendants, as if she'd become a member of a wealthy business family.
She wasn't childish enough to brag about it, but Yu Jia didn't think it was particularly good or bad.
Kim Junyong, whom her friends were so proud of, was her uncle. If the country needed him, a little inconvenience or attention didn't seem like much.
'Who am I to object...?'
Her younger brother, Yu Jihun, seemed even more pleased.
With no father around, he had been the happiest about their uncle's presence.
"All right, then it's settled. This is the house I like best."
It was one house away from Jun Dragon Kitchen, but it had been built just two years ago. The owner had put great care into building a home to live in for the rest of their life, only to sell it and move out after receiving an offer they couldn't refuse.
"Mom! Let's go see it."
Yu Jihun urged them on excitedly, and the whole family headed over to the house.
Join our discord at https://dsc.gg/wetried
