WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Chen
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Our Precious Demon King ◈
Chapter 76: Monument to Conquest
──────
Pop!
“Wooooow!”
Yu Jihun's eyes went wide on his first visit to the Demon Realm.
He looked like a child visiting an amusement park for the first time, and Kim Junyong couldn't help chuckling.
“Hey, nephew.”
“Yes, Uncle!”
“Ready?”
“Of course!”
“Ready for what?”
“Huh? Uh, exploring?”
Kim Junyong let out an exasperated sigh at his nephew's clueless answer.
“You really are... Ugh.”
“Haha.”
His uncle's reaction wasn't very encouraging. Yu Jihun shrank back a little and gave a weak laugh.
“Let's see. Going barehanded would be a bit much.”
Asking an ordinary eighth grader to beat a monster to death with his bare hands would be setting the difficulty too high.
“Use this.”
“Whoa.”
Yu Jihun's hands trembled as he accepted the long, sharp dagger. The only knife he'd ever held was a fruit knife.
Knives had purposes, and a fruit knife was only meant for peeling fruit.
Thinking about the purpose of this sharp blade made him tense up. This dagger existed to take lives.
“So, are you ready now?”
“...”
Yu Jihun swallowed hard.
By ready, his uncle must mean mentally prepared to kill one of the minions of evil.
He couldn't keep looking like an idiot.
'Yu Jihun! You've been waiting for this day!'
He'd become a hunter, something he'd always dreamed of.
He couldn't act like a moron in front of the greatest hunter on Earth.
'I can do this! No, I have to!'
Seeing his nephew put on a fairly determined expression, Kim Junyong gave Ed a look.
“Bring one over.”
“Meow!”
Ed raced off, pitter-patter, then came fleeing back, pitter-patter.
Roooaar!
A monster bigger than a cow was charging toward them.
Its overwhelming presence made Yu Jihun freeze.
“Uh?”
Reality was far too different from what he'd imagined, and his little spark of courage was swallowed by a great wave of fear.
“Eeeek!”
As his nephew fell on his backside, Kim Junyong bound the monster with black tentacles.
Grrrr, graaaah!
“Ugh, that breath.”
He moved a tentacle to clamp its jaws shut.
Hufffff, hufffff!
Like a muzzled dog, the creature expressed its mood through furious snorts instead.
“Hey, nephew.”
“Huh? Y-yes!”
“Try standing up.”
“M-my legs won't...”
“Ugh.”
This kid really had no talent for this.
Now he understood why Earth's god was so careful about choosing people for acquired awakening. Without Kim Junyong's awakening ticket, Yu Jihun could have lived his whole life without ever awakening as a hunter.
“Here, the back of its neck. Just stab it here.”
“W-wait a second. My legs...”
“Ugh.”
If the boy weren't his nephew, he would have just left him behind.
As Kim Junyong shook his head, Ed hurried to step in.
“Meow, it's the young master's first time. He must be very nervous.”
“So you never worked toward becoming a hunter? You just fanboyed over them?”
“W-well...”
Maybe his uncle's harsh assessment was right.
Yu Jihun had only vaguely wished he could become a hunter. He'd never made any effort or prepared for it.
'I wasn't ready.'
He'd become a hunter thanks to his uncle and had only planned on getting carried by him. But now he realized he wasn't even ready to be carried.
Tears welled up in frustration.
He was pathetic.
He was powerless, unable to do a thing.
And he hated how he was still afraid of the monster in front of him.
“Ughhh, I'm sorry.”
Whatever Yu Jihun thought of himself, though, the person carrying him was far too capable.
“Well, everyone's like that at first.”
Kim Junyong took out his phone and blamed someone who had nothing to do with it.
[Kim Junyong - Hey, what's with my nephew's class being Student? Student, seriously?]
[Admin - But he is a student.]
[Kim Junyong - -_-. Should I just blow up Earth?]
[Admin - Big Bro! What is it you wish of me?]
[Kim Junyong - Can't you change it? From what I've seen, he's not cut out to be a melee damage dealer. Isn't there something that lets him fight monsters from a nice, safe distance?]
[Admin - There is, Big Bro. Would you like a buffer or a mage?]
“Hey, nephew. Do you want to be a mage or a buffer?”
“Pardon?”
“Let's change your class.”
“...?”
Yu Jihun's eyes went round.
Was that even possible?
“Come on, hurry up.”
“A-a mage!”
Tap-tap-tap.
Kim Junyong quickly sent a message.
[Kim Junyong - Make him a mage.]
[Admin - What kind would you like?]
[Kim Junyong - -_-, do you seriously want me to wreck everything?]
[Admin - No, Big Bro, it's just that there are so many different kinds of mages.]
[Kim Junyong - Just give him the easiest, strongest one.]
[Admin - Yes, Big Bro. I'll change it right away. Haha. But once he's officially awakened, it can't be changed. At that point, he'd have to die and be born again.]
[Kim Junyong - OK]
[Admin - It's done.]
Kim Junyong slipped his phone into his pocket and looked at Yu Jihun.
“Did it change?”
“Yes! It did! I'm a Spirit Mage!”
That Earth's god.
He certainly got things done properly.
Spirit Mage was one hell of a sweet class.
It was a mage class that fought indirectly, making it a good way to protect an eighth grader's fragile, immature mind.
“Huh? Uncle, I can't use my skill because I don't have any mana.”
“Of course you can't.”
Whatever his class, the condition for officially awakening was to kill one of the minions of evil.
Among the ten million returnees, countless heroes had failed to do even that and been sent back on their very first day.
“Hold this again.”
“Huh?”
He put the dagger in the boy's hand and closed his own hand over it.
Then he dragged his nephew, whose legs were still too weak to stand, over to the monster and stabbed it in the back of the neck.
Shunk, shunk, shunk.
“Eeeeek!”
His uncle's strength was dragging him along, but the feeling of piercing flesh traveled straight up the blade to Yu Jihun.
Splaaash.
Covered in the monster's blood, the tender sixteen-year-old's mind shattered.
“Ughhh!”
“Wow, this thing really won't die.”
Was this dungeon's rank a little high?
The monster proved stubbornly hard to kill, then coughed up experience points to match.
“Wow, that was a good one.”
Kim Junyong massaged the cheeks of his blood-soaked, panicking nephew.
Smaaack, smack!
“Hey, nephew. Snap out of it. Hey, Jihun.”
“Eeeeek!”
Smaaaack!
At this rate, those cheekbones were going to cave in.
Then Ed stepped in.
“Meow, Master, let me try.”
Passing on energy was a chef's ability to begin with!
Pop!
As the cat's front paw touched Yu Jihun, his terrified face quickly grew calm again.
“Hah, hah.”
He was still agitated, but he'd regained his senses.
“You got some mana, right?”
“Y-yes! T-twenty-seven.”
“Wow, it gave you a fair bit of credit for contributing. Try your skill.”
“Spirit Contract!”
Pop!
Spirits soon appeared, one for each of the four elements.
'There's no way Jihun's elemental affinity is that good... Earth's god must've thrown in a little extra.'
As Kim Junyong watched, Yu Jihun thought for a moment, then chose the water spirit and formed a contract.
“Wash me.”
Splaaash.
The monster's blood soaking his hair and body quickly washed away. As the metallic smell of blood faded a little, Yu Jihun's color visibly improved.
“Tsk. My nephew really doesn't have a talent for this.”
“...No.”
Kim Junyong nodded at his quick agreement.
“At least you're quick to recognize your limits.”
“...”
What wonderful praise.
Still, if he knew his limits, he was less likely to get himself killed over some pointless show of courage.
Looking out for yourself wasn't a bad thing.
“Want to look around some more before we leave?”
“N-no. I-I'd like to go home now.”
“Sure, then.”
Kim Junyong didn't blame his nephew for being weak.
A hunter.
His nephew had far too little talent to hunt monsters and devils, just as the name suggested.
He had little courage or grit, and little drive to improve.
Kim Junyong didn't expect much progress, even with more experience.
His nephew seemed to realize it too and was clearly disappointed in himself. But that wasn't something Kim Junyong could help him with.
Nor should he.
Pop!
When they returned to Earth, Remi and Yu Jia were already home.
“Hm? Where have you been?”
“The Demon Realm.”
“What? With Jihun?”
“Yeah.”
Amid her surprise, Yu Jia showed envy and curiosity.
“Why? Do you want to go too?”
“What? N-no. Why would I go somewhere so dangerous?”
“Really?”
Curiosity, a desire for a challenge, competitiveness, obsession.
Her words and feelings didn't match.
Perhaps his niece was the one with more talent for being a hunter.
Her restless desire to pick up a bow again was quite strong.
“Did you come straight home after school?”
“Yes, of course.”
“What about your cram schools?”
“I quit them all. What's the point?”
“Uh, hmm.”
“It's not your fault, Uncle. Reality just hit me, that's all.”
Yu Jia comforted her uncle.
He was a hero fighting to save Earth. As a member of his family, she felt bad grumbling at him for no reason.
Family meant pretending to be all right, even when you weren't.
“I'll just make some memories during what's left of the second semester and graduate.”
At Yu Jia's cheerful words, he almost asked how school had gone, but stopped himself.
She'd gone with Kim Remi. There was no way it had been ordinary.
Fortunately, it seemed Remi hadn't killed anyone or used violence.
“What time was the baseball game again?”
“If we stop by Mom's hospital and pick her up, we'll get there right on time.”
“Great! Let's go!”
Today was the day they were going to watch a baseball game in person.
Clearing a large number of dungeons had made Kim Junyong's dark mana core grow considerably. On top of that, he'd used up all his remaining mana earlier making watchers.
“How many people did you say would be watching at this stadium?”
“A little over twenty thousand!”
“Oho.”
The negative energy given off by twenty thousand people...
Now that was something to look forward to.
“Adviser! The vehicle is ready.”
“All right.”
The Kim Junyong family set off in a van driven by Kim Sangsu, a former military driver.
Their destination for the day was Jamsil Stadium, with a stop to pick up his older sister along the way.
* * *
Rrrrrumble.
Demolition was in full swing in the residential neighborhood of Hansan 2-dong.
The residents were stunned to see buildings collapse in the blink of an eye and their neighborhood turn into a construction site filled with heavy machinery.
“Goodness, what's going on here?”
“Oh, I asked someone in charge earlier. They said they found a cultural relic.”
“Huh? Out of nowhere?”
“They said it's some kind of excavation site.”
“Oh, no wonder. I thought there were far too many workers.”
It didn't look like an ordinary construction site.
They were demolishing buildings in one spot while already pouring a thin concrete base in another.
So much was happening at once, with such an excessive amount of resources, that it was hard to believe it had all happened within a few hours.
All that labor cost money. What construction company would throw in so much without considering its profit margin?
“An archaeological dig, huh.”
Of course. They were throwing money around like this because it was government money.
As the residents wandered around watching, foreigners were also busy looking around and taking pictures.
“Why are those folks taking pictures of a construction site when there are perfectly good tourist attractions?”
“Oh, leave them be, Mr. Kim. Aren't all these foreigners keeping the shops in business and driving up land prices?”
“Ah, true. Let's be nice to them when we see them around.”
“That's right. Especially that old Mrs. Jeong. Someone keep her in line. Don't let her file another noise complaint. She'll bring down our property values.”
“Exactly! The shopping street needs to thrive for our land prices to rise!”
Just as the residents gathered for their neighborhood's big event suddenly found common ground, a natural disaster struck.
Rrrrrrumble.
Something like a black hole appeared in the sky above the construction site. A long object shot out of it, fell straight down, and embedded itself in the ground.
A giant stone monument had appeared out of nowhere.
Donnng!
Then a world message, something that had only appeared a handful of times before, sounded its alert.
Join our discord at https://dsc.gg/wetried
