WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Chen
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Our Precious Demon King ◈
Chapter 73: A Difference in Value
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“D-delicious!”
Kim Junyong watched Sasaki Yoichi eagerly making lettuce wraps and eating them.
“Hahaha! Kobe beef is so expensive that I rarely get to buy it myself either.”
“……”
Apparently, this guy wasn't treated very well in Japan.
“Ah! Please don't look at me with such pity. A civil servant's pay may be low, but the work is rewarding.”
“I didn't say anything.”
“Hahaha! The money I spend comes from taxes in the end, doesn't it? The nation's finances will be stronger if I start by being frugal myself.”
“……”
That thought had never once crossed Kim Junyong's mind.
A hunter who worried about the national treasury.
‘What an unusual guy.’
The strong patriotism radiating from Sasaki Yoichi made his soul even clearer. That pure patriotism seemed to be the source of his clear soul.
‘Ah, I want to corrupt him.’
To resist that devilish temptation, Junyong hurried to send Sasaki away.
“Take the leftovers home.”
“Gasp! Your kindness reaches the heavens, Big Brother!”
“……”
All he had done was repackage the gift Sasaki himself had brought, yet the guy was overjoyed. It tugged at Junyong's heart a little.
[Sasaki, take this too.]
[Ah, Big Sister! You didn't have to give me so much!]
[It's too much for our family. Good food should be shared.]
[I, Sasaki Yoichi, am deeply moved!]
[Come visit us often.]
[Jihun! Thank you for saying that!]
[Aw, don't mention it.]
Yu Jia's mouth fell open.
When had her younger brother and mother studied Japanese?
Their pronunciation was practically native!
“Meow! Would you like to learn too, young lady?”
“Huh? What?”
Ed held out a hand, and Yu Jia took it without thinking.
Flash.
“Huh?”
A whole new language flooded into her head!
[Hahaha! Jihun, just say the word. I can buy it for you every day.]
[That'll clog your arteries.]
[Ah, Big Sister! Spoken like a true doctor.]
[Big Sister?]
[If you're Big Brother's older sister, you're my big sister too. Hahaha!]
Yu Jia was stunned. She could clearly hear the Japanese and understand it without the slightest difficulty.
“Wha? Mm!”
She clapped a hand over her mouth at the sound that escaped her.
For a moment, she felt certain that if she spoke Japanese, it would come out fluently.
‘How is this possible?’
Did this make any sense?
Was this something like the devil's contract her uncle had mentioned?
‘This is ridiculous!’
She had simply “acquired” Japanese.
Rather than feeling happy, she felt bewildered and cheated.
If “knowledge” could be gained this easily, why had she studied so hard?
It was unfair and absurd.
It felt as though all the effort she had put into her life so far had been denied.
“Huh? Jia, where are you going?”
“Leave her be.”
Watching that vivid display of emotion, Kim Junyong stopped his sister.
“She must be upset that we started eating without her.”
Those feelings ran so deep.
“Next time, let's wait and eat together.”
“S-sure.”
Kim Jangmi glanced at Sasaki, then whispered into Kim Junyong's ear.
“Sasaki seems like a decent person.”
“Yeah, he's a good guy. But how can you tell after knowing him for a day?”
He could see souls, but she couldn't.
“Didn't you see everyone rush off after seeing the tickets in your hand? At least Sasaki doesn't seem to be hanging around you to gather information.”
“Hmm. Is this really something worth gathering information about?”
Kim Junyong twirled a ticket in his hand.
He had two tickets left, but Earth's god would give him more if he asked.
Of course, this wasn't Earth's god's power.
‘Belheim's goddess's power is stored in these.’
Earth's god had the power to create space and time.
Blessing individuals and opening status windows were powers belonging to Belheim.
Earth's god could only use a limited amount of Belheim's power.
Ten million returnees, and the G7.
What happened when they died?
Earth's god recovered “Bel's blessing” and gave it to an Earthling. That was how acquired awakening worked.
Earth's god wanted to use the G7's power too, but they weren't going to die. That had been a source of constant worry.
Then Kim Junyong had appeared with Bel's sacred relic, providing another source of Belheim's blessings.
In any case, one returnee had to die to make one ticket, and the supply was almost endless.
‘They're probably dying even now.’
Hunters had high-risk jobs, and villains could die at any time without it being a surprise.
“Sasaki.”
“Yes, Big Brother.”
“Want this?”
“Gasp! You're giving me something that wonderful?”
Apparently, he did.
Junyong chuckled at Sasaki's sparkling eyes.
To Kim Junyong, this ticket was worth no more than a discount coupon for a Chinese restaurant. If he needed more, he could just ask Earth's god.
“Here, take this.”
“Ah!”
Sasaki Yoichi was deeply moved.
‘He's only given these to his family! Does that mean he accepts me as family too?’
This wasn't just a golden card.
“Big Brother! My loyalty belongs to my country, but my brotherly affection for you comes immediately after!”
“……All right.”
Honestly.
Even his flattery was honest.
Kim Junyong had grown a little fond of this clear soul.
‘If we get closer...’
Perhaps his urge to destroy it would fade too.
* * *
A Korean who had returned twenty years after the last official returnee.
Someone who knew Belheim's history after the Demon King's death.
A new G-rank.
They needed to learn about him.
Intelligence agents from all over the world gathered in Hansan 2-dong.
Several countries weren't satisfied with merely sending agents. They formed special teams and set up camp in Hansan 2-dong.
[American Crazy Hot Dog]
The burger shop with the straightforward name had been open for a week. With the recent surge in foot traffic, it had another impressive line today.
“Oh my God! Jimmy! What took you so long?”
“Manager, this is urgent.”
“I don't need excuses! Hurry up, get changed, and go to the kitchen!”
“……Aren't we past closing time?”
“Ha! We still have customers and ingredients, and you want to close?”
“……”
Jimmy decided that the manager, who was far too enthusiastic about this role-playing, needed a reminder of reality.
“Manager! Get a grip.”
“You get a grip, you little punk! Put on an apron!”
Jimmy wrapped an arm around the manager's neck as if putting them in a headlock and whispered.
“There's new information on the Special One.”
“Hmm?”
America loved codenames, and it referred to him as the “Special One.”
The face of Hendrick Kuma, manager and leader of the Special One Surveillance Team, grew serious.
“Randy! Watch the register!”
“Yes, sir.”
After pulling an employee out of the already busy kitchen, the manager headed with Jimmy to the staff break room, which served as their operations center.
“Damn it! It's been crazy since this morning. Josh being this good is a problem too!”
“……Why don't we shorten our business hours?”
“It would look suspicious! Look at those Chinese bastards across the street! They're lit up all night.”
The lamb skewer restaurant across the street stayed open until five in the morning.
“Damn it. We picked the wrong kind of business.”
It would look a little strange for a takeout hot dog shop to stay open until dawn.
Naturally, the information you heard during the day differed from what you heard at night. Seeing the lamb skewer restaurant stay open all night made Kuma envious.
“So, what's the information?”
“The Special One has an artifact that allows acquired awakening.”
“Hmm? Is that true?”
“Yes. It's a ticket shaped like a golden card. It appears to be single-use, and according to what we've learned, he has two left.”
“Is the information reliable?”
Kuma knew Jimmy was thorough, but the news was so enormous that the question had to be asked.
Hunters were superhuman.
Dangerous job or not, awakening was a blessing that “evolved” an ordinary human into someone with supernatural powers.
“I've even fact-checked that his niece and nephew, Yu and Yu, and Sister Kim have become hunters.”
“Hmm.”
Some people had chosen to actively research awakening rather than rely entirely on luck and wait for it to happen someday. Most of that research was funded by the wealthy.
“All those awakening researchers will be out of a job.”
Buying a ticket would be better than investing money in research.
There were plenty of wealthy buyers, but only two tickets.
Hendrick Kuma licked their lips, even though it wasn't their money.
‘He used something that precious on his family...’
No, perhaps he had used it on his family precisely because it was precious.
It wasn't as though the Special One needed money.
“What are the chances they'll go on the market?”
“A lot of companies are already contacting the Korean government directly.”
“The lobbyists will be having a field day.”
Bang! Bang!
[Get out here before I plug your asses with sausages!]
Kuma and Jimmy stood at their colleague's angry shout.
“Let's get out there for now.”
“Yes.”
Jimmy headed to the kitchen. Kuma deftly wrapped a hot dog, then drizzled sauce over it with a flourish.
Then, with a warm smile, the manager handed it to a customer who had been waiting a long time.
“Here's your Crazy Hot Dog.”
“Oh! Gamsahamnida.”
Hmm. Judging by that pronunciation, this customer was probably an intelligence agent sent by some country too.
Even now, half the people waiting in line for a single hot dog were probably foreign agents.
‘The Chinese have caught on too.’
The lamb skewer restaurant across the street was bustling. They seemed to have obtained information about the awakening tickets as well.
The Chinese had always taken their own well-being, eternal youth, and long life very seriously.
Once they got involved, the price of the tickets would...
“Yes, here's your Crazy Hot Dog!”
No matter how frantically they sold hot dogs, the line never grew shorter.
Hansan 2-dong's declining restaurant alley was beginning to enjoy a second boom. Foreigners had suddenly started gathering there through word of mouth, earning it the nickname “the second Itaewon.”
* * *
Japan's Superhuman Awakening Agency.
The urgent call from the prime minister brought Director Kuroda Yunosuke sharply to attention.
“A-awakening tickets?”
[That's right. This information was obtained urgently and in secret.]
The prime minister was currently in Korea.
Having arrived that day, returning without even spending a night would make it look as though Japan's leader had been thrown out after signing a humiliating agreement. The visit had therefore been scheduled for three days and two nights.
The information had come from a politician friendly to Japan, so the source was reliable.
[Is there no way for Japan to get its hands on this?]
“……It's impossible.”
[I thought as much.]
Prime Minister Mishima's disappointment came through the phone.
“The Korean government wouldn't agree even if we offered Tsushima. No, they've already made it clear that we must negotiate with him individually.”
The Korean government treated its own hunters like foreign diplomats. They were within its territory, yet it treated them as separate entities.
Anyone who wanted the special adviser's help had to negotiate with him directly rather than ask Korea.
‘What could we offer to obtain the tickets?’
Could anything they offered even compete?
Wealthy Americans and Chinese would be rushing in like mad.
‘We should give up on this.’
It was out of reach.
‘At least we know the tickets exist now.’
As long as awakening tickets existed, there had to be a way to obtain them somewhere.
Only the special adviser knew how for now, but perhaps one day, plenty of tickets would circulate on the market.
Kuroda Yunosuke was taking comfort in these hopeful, positive thoughts when Sasaki returned.
“Sasaki Yoichi, reporting my safe return from the mission!”
“Ha! Seeing you makes all my worries disappear! Why didn't you go straight home and rest?”
“Ha! How could I do that without reporting my return?”
Kuroda Yunosuke smiled. That was just like Sasaki, a stubborn man who lived by the rules.
“That's the man I know! So, Sasaki, what did you do when you went back after clearing the dungeon?”
“I ate Kobe beef!”
“Excellent work!”
“It was delicious!”
“Wonderful! Japan's next prime minister should be someone like you!”
Sasaki Yoichi's nostrils flared at Kuroda Yunosuke's encouraging words.
“Anything else to report?”
“Nothing!”
“Good! Go home and get some rest!”
“Sasaki Yoichi, following the director's orders!”
As Sasaki marched away, he seemed to remember something and began rummaging through his pockets.
“I received a gift.”
Now this was something to show off.
‘Heh heh. A gift from Big Brother.’
“I got something even cooler than a special Pokémon card.”
“Hmm? A Pokémon card?”
Two cards came out of his pocket, shining with golden light.
Footnotes:
Itaewon is a Seoul district known for its international community and restaurants.
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