WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Chen
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Our Precious Demon King ◈
Chapter 84: You Dare Be Racist?
──────
Breaking news swept across Europe.
[Urgent! France's A-rank Dungeon Vanishes.]
[French President Releases Video of Thanks.]
People were amazed by what they saw.
- The moment I heard a dungeon had appeared, I started packing to stay with my cousin in Britain. Before I'd even finished packing, I heard it had been cleared.
- When did they ask Korea for help? Is our government finally doing some actual work?
- The Korean Special hunter is pretty handsome. He looks like a K-pop idol.
- I'm more interested in the woman beside him. She's practically an idol already!
- But why is our president thanking the Italian president?
- Who knows? Maybe he mixed Italy up with Korea because they're both peninsulas.
Photos and reports of Kim Junyong and Kim Remi, whom Korea had kept carefully hidden until now, flooded the news.
(Photo) The Special hunter beams among the citizens.
(Photo) Hands raised in celebration with the security bureau director!
(Photo) Even a souvenir photo in front of the Eiffel Tower.
Until now, people had only known that Korea's Special hunters existed.
Photos that once took a deliberate search to find were now everywhere.
Kim Remi's beauty drew particular attention.
- I found her social media account! There aren't any posts, but it's definitely hers!
- Whoa, how did you even find that?
- She's currently a third-year student at Hansan High School.
- Yeah. It looks like all her followers are her friends.
The follower count for @↘reme, an account without a single post, began to explode.
[Regional Notice (France)]
[The villain “Shapeshifter” has been eliminated.]
The sudden notice startled everyone.
- What?
- They got Louis? That bastard?
- How did they find him?
- I heard secondhand that a magpie pecked a hole in his head.
- A magpie? Isn't that a bird?
- Yeah.
- Louis was that weak?
French hunters were stunned by the regional notice posted on the hunter forum.
The reason they'd failed to catch him wasn't his strength. His ability to take on someone else's exact appearance had allowed him to slip neatly past every investigation.
Still, weak or not, he was a Grade 3 hunter.
He wasn't someone a bird could take down...
[Breaking News: Special Security Force Thanks Korean Special Hunter for Readily Accepting Request to Eliminate Shapeshifter.]
[A Request from the Special Security Bureau.]
[Korean Special Captures Infamous Villain Who Plagued Paris for Eight Years.]
[Who Is Louis the Shapeshifter?]
The breaking news articles cleared things up.
- So Louis wasn't weak. The bird was just fucking strong.
- It must work for Special. He's got a talking cat that walks around, too.
- He's got a lot of weird pets.
- Apparently, it cooks too.
- Guys, I'm on vacation in Naples, and I think I found that cat.
- What a cheap attempt at trolling. Get lost.
- (Photo) Isn't it this white cat? It's holding a slice of pizza in its hand and eating it.
- ?????
- His family is on vacation in Italy!
- Incredible! I need to thank him for saving Europe. Or at least thank his family.
- Hey, don't cross the line. That's not a good idea. You don't mess with someone's family.
- Should we put up a statue of him?
- Now that's a good idea.
All kinds of stories spread rapidly through social networks. The volume and interest were so great that hundreds of posts per second carried the #Special tag.
Meanwhile, a short video of a brave reporter interviewing Kim Junyong passed a million views in no time.
“Korean Special hunter. Junyong Kim. Thank you for your dedication. If another A-rank dungeon appears in Europe, would you be willing to return?”
Kim Junyong smiled at the reporter's awkward Korean.
“Call me if you're in danger. I'll come.”
“Oh, my God! Are you returning to Korea right away?”
“No, I'll have dinner in Italy before I go.”
“Oh, what a shame. Please give us a chance to repay you too.”
“I'll come again sometime.”
“Europe will always welcome you.”
“Not all of it, apparently.”
“What do you mean?”
“Germany's a bit...”
“May I ask why?”
“Ching-chang-chong?”
“...?”
Before Kim Junyong could say anything more, the Special Security Bureau director rushed in and ended the interview.
Translated into multiple languages and shared far and wide, that single video had an enormous impact.
[Germany's DAX Plunges. Country Classified as Investment Risk.]
[Germans Bewildered.]
All of Europe was in an uproar.
It was no exaggeration to say that everyone in Europe was talking about the Korean Special hunter, Kim Junyong.
And someone was watching all this news.
“...”
Sophie Giro bit her lip as she watched TV.
“...How stupid can people be?”
Were they really praising someone like the Mad Sovereign?
And the woman beside him was carrying the demon sword!
Did any of this make sense?
Anger rose inside Sophie Giro.
She did her best to ignore the fact that its source was jealousy over losing the spotlight.
“They're crazy. This can't go on.”
Someone had to stop this.
That man wasn't a hero.
A villain was pretending to be a hero, so someone had to put an end to it.
There were only a few people left on Earth who could do that brave deed...
'Not me.'
Sophie Giro justified it to herself.
'I'm a supporter.'
She couldn't take the lead in something like this.
She might be ranked first, but that was just an empty title.
Her ranking had only risen because of her many hunts, raids, and the contributions she'd made through them.
In other words, the rankings were really just a list of who had the most mana in the world.
After a moment's thought, she picked up her phone.
[Yo, what an honor. France's lofty Saintess is calling me first.]
“Vikram. How's Logan doing these days?”
[Shit, ask that bastard yourself.]
Sophie Giro smiled inwardly.
'He won't act like Logan or Ryu Jai.'
He was the perfect person to egg on.
“Are you going to leave them alone?”
[Who? The Mad Sovereign? The demon sword?]
“Both.”
[Why should I care? I'm not interested in saving the world.]
Though she privately agreed with him, Sophie Giro voiced her concern.
“There's an A-rank dungeon in Texas.”
[I'll handle that. What about you? You're not planning to meet him, are you?]
“Are you crazy? I'm not ending up like Logan or Ryu Jai.”
She didn't know why it had happened.
What kind of skill had he used on them...?
All she knew was that G-rank hunters were a terrible match for the Mad Sovereign.
'It's best not to run into him.'
[Why did you call?]
“Why is America so quiet?”
[Heh heh. I'm already in close talks with the government.]
The corners of Sophie Giro's mouth slowly lifted.
'Vikram's plotting something.'
Considering his personality, there was only one thing to say here.
“You're number one now.”
[Are you bragging about your ranking?]
“I'm a supporter. In practice, you're the strongest human alive.”
[Heh heh heh.]
He didn't deny it.
“Just be careful not to end up like Logan and Ryu Jai.”
[I'm not a fucking idiot.]
“Right. Make good use of America. Korea's a small country.”
[I'll handle it. Do you keep in touch with Okoye?]
“No.”
[Heh heh. Watch yourself. Don't run into him and get your head cut off.]
“You watch yourself.”
After hanging up, Sophie Giro felt irritation rising inside her.
The world was worshipping a villain.
When it had a hero like me.
“Everyone's lost their minds.”
She didn't like it.
But she couldn't go outside.
If she stepped through that door...
“I won't fall victim to his dark tricks.”
Sticking your head in front of a gun wasn't brave. It was stupid.
Clever Sophie Giro locked her mansion up even more tightly and kept contact with the outside world to a minimum.
With interest in the “Special hunter” soaring across Europe, she chose to stay quiet so no one would needlessly link her to him.
* * *
Vikram hung up and let out a short laugh.
“Cunning bitch.”
They called her a Saintess, but she was more cunning than any snake or scorpion.
A cowardly bitch who refused to take even the slightest risk.
She hated losing anything herself, yet took other people's goodwill for granted and used it freely.
Typical of people these days.
“She's scared stiff. Heh heh.”
Ranked first?
An empty title.
The moment the Mad Sovereign appeared in France, she'd pulled her head in like a turtle. The fact that the lofty Saintess had called him first was funny enough.
“Well, I'll play the hero even without you egging me on, bitch.”
The Mad Sovereign.
People were being fooled by that violent, selfish man.
All Vikram had to do was show the public what he really was.
That walking time bomb would explode on his own with the slightest provocation.
Then the public would realize.
Oh my, we thought he was a hero, but he was a villain!
That wicked Mad Sovereign!
And then they'd come looking.
For me, the man who'd become his rival.
'I just need to lay the groundwork quietly.'
He'd start with a passing mention.
He couldn't afford to be the one who set the man off.
He needed posts that seemed vague now, but would draw fresh attention once the Mad Sovereign went berserk.
@S. P. man
Solving problems the wrong way will only lead to disaster in the end. Tomorrow, I will enter the A-rank dungeon in Texas.
Humanity must solve its own problems.
- Vikram! We believe in you!
- You're America's hero now!
He smiled faintly at the stream of responses that appeared as soon as he uploaded the post.
His follower count had risen too.
“Heh heh heh.”
He could see all the hope and attention once directed at Logan shifting to him.
Tap-tap-tap-tap.
[If we keep firing nukes to stop aliens, the radiation will eventually...]
“Hmm, is that too obvious?”
Vikram felt his heart turn cold.
That had been close.
He'd nearly gotten carried away and provoked the man.
What he wanted was a rivalry, not an actual fight.
He couldn't let WWE turn into UFC.
He quickly deleted the text and left a generic post instead.
@S. P. man
I'll protect America.
“Heh heh.”
He put down his phone and looked outside.
His suite offered a clear view of New York's Central Park.
“Not bad.”
First, he'd have to make sure tomorrow's Texas expedition went well.
* * *
Kim Junyong and Kim Remi returned to Italy.
“Oh, Junyong! Good work!”
“Huh? Why are you here?”
“You've been working hard, so we came to meet you.”
His family and Lorenzo were waiting in front of the dungeon.
It was the dungeon closest to Naples, at the same coordinates Kim Junyong had used when coming from Korea.
“We're preparing the finest dinner for you.”
Lorenzo was all smiles.
While Special One and Two were away, he'd taken Junyong's family to the best pizza restaurant in Naples. Over a long conversation, he'd learned something astonishing.
'It's just a vacation, with no hidden agenda at all!'
He'd never imagined that.
Or was it stranger to think Junyong had brought his family along on a dangerous operation?
In any case, Italy had ended up paying for the clearing of an A-rank dungeon in France. Surprisingly, neither the director of the Supernatural Abilities Bureau nor the Italian president minded.
They saw it as an opportunity instead.
'Leave the best impression you can! You could even become friends! Japan gained an enormous amount with that strategy!'
Those were Lorenzo's new orders.
He was no longer uneasy about Kim Junyong's return.
“I'll take you there right away.”
He led the Special family to the restaurant waiting for them.
It was a three-Michelin-star restaurant, and the family would be its only guests that day.
“Meow, I can't wait!”
A dinner with Italy's future at stake began.
Footnotes:
WWE features staged professional wrestling, while UFC holds competitive mixed martial arts fights. Vikram wants a rivalry for show, not a real fight.
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