WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Chen
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Our Precious Demon King ◈
Chapter 97: Kim Remi, Business Trip Specialist!
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Even the students' noise and fuss had a time limit.
Da-da, da-da-da, da-da, da-da-da ~
The bell rang, and everyone returned to their classrooms.
Rattle.
The teacher opened the door, walked in, and glanced toward Remi and Jia before clearing their throat.
“All right, quiet down!”
“Teach, we were already quiet.”
“Y-you little brat!”
Their beauty could make even a teacher with twenty years of experience stumble over words.
There was a reason the teachers said it was hard to concentrate on teaching in this classroom.
But their homeroom teacher couldn't afford to get distracted too.
“A-as you all know, Yu Jia has awakened as a hunter.”
“Woooo!”
“Quiet! Quiet!”
The teacher tapped the desk a few times to get everyone's attention, then continued.
“Don't put too much pressure on her. Treat her as you normally would so she can finish the rest of her school life on a good note.”
“Yes, Teach!”
The homeroom teacher also passed on the request received that morning.
“And please make an effort to help Kim Remi settle into school life.”
“Yes!”
The response was even louder this time.
“All right, open your books.”
Their homeroom teacher taught the first period. Even as the students studied, they kept stealing glances at Remi.
Sitting in the very back, Remi was whispering to Yu Jia.
“Jia.”
“Yeah?”
“Can't you keep your killing intent under control?”
“Huh?”
“Only amateurs let it spill out everywhere like that.”
“Oh.”
Having said her piece, Kim Remi simply stared blankly out the window. Yu Jia practiced hard at holding in her killing intent.
The uneventful lesson soon ended. During the break, the students all watched for a chance to approach.
There were always a few brave ones among them. A boy from another class walked over confidently.
Hong Ujin.
Apparently, he was a male idol trainee at SL Entertainment, with his debut coming up soon.
Handsome, tall, and a trainee to boot.
He was already someone the other students admired, practically a school celebrity.
Without asking, he turned around the chair in front of Remi, sat down, and smiled.
“……”
Remi stared at him.
Was he volunteering to become Hansan High School's first murder victim?
“Hey, how about a follow-back?”
“You want me to hit you?”
“Ahahaha! You're really funny.”
“……?”
What was funny?
Should she kill him?
Wouldn't Master accept this much provocation as grounds for self-defense?
“Is that sword real?”
Just as she thought. He'd come looking for death.
“Is that a challenge?”
“Please follow me back.”
“……”
She glanced at the phone he held out.
“You have so many followers. Why don't you post anything?”
“……”
Remi quietly weighed her options.
Did this much provocation count as self-defense or not?
‘It wasn't a crime in Belheim.’
Approaching her when she didn't want him to?
Speaking to her without permission?
Smiling mockingly right in her face?
She could behead someone for any of those without being guilty of a crime.
Even Master's restraints against murder hadn't stopped her.
‘What about on Earth?’
This fussy planet had rather unreasonable rules.
Killing a person was a crime, no matter the reason?
A healthy society needed people who deserved to die to actually die.
“Jia.”
“Yes, Remi?”
“I wouldn't be guilty if I beat him up now, right?”
“I'll handle it.”
How she envied Jia, who had no restraints.
“Hong Ujin.”
“Yeah, Jia?”
“Cut the crap and get lost.”
“I will if you follow me back.”
“You're seriously going to die. Just go.”
“Come on, I said I'd go if you followed me back.”
Yu Jia scowled.
Did this bastard not understand how serious this was?
“Do you want a beating?”
“Hey, if you get violent, I'm reporting you right away.”
“Don't you want to make your debut?”
“Come on, why couldn't I debut? I'd be the victim.”
“You have to be alive to debut.”
“……?”
Yu Jia released the killing intent she'd spent the entire lesson practicing how to contain.
“Do you want to die?”
“Gah!”
Hong Ujin fell backward in shock.
“Hic.”
He was so frightened that he started hiccuping.
He couldn't even think about getting up. Sprawled on the floor, he could only stare into Yu Jia's eyes.
He felt as if he'd die the moment he looked away.
Like a cornered mouse unable to look away from a snake.
All he could do was tremble, watching the fangs that could strike at any moment.
“Hey, leave while I'm letting you.”
“Haaah!”
The killing intent crushing his body vanished in an instant.
Hong Ujin gasped for the breath he'd been holding and felt his wet pants.
“Th-this is insane.”
I actually pissed myself!
He hurriedly looked around. A few classmates already had their phones pointed at him.
“Aaaaah!”
This couldn't be happening!
He scrambled away.
Watching him run straight out of the classroom, Kim Remi stroked her chin.
Master's niece.
Yu Jia's talent surprised her all over again.
To control and use her killing intent this well after such a short practice.
She was containing her energy far more neatly than before.
‘She might be worth training.’
It was a shame she used a bow instead of a sword, though.
“Want to come to Bangkok later?”
“Really? I can come too?”
Yu Jia had heard the whole story yesterday.
A B-rank dungeon in Bangkok.
Having only experienced the Demon Realm, she wanted to try a dungeon too.
Remi shrugged as she looked at Jia's sparkling eyes.
“He'll probably let you.”
“Oh! I wish school would hurry up and end.”
Yu Jia couldn't care less about studying now.
This anticipation. This excitement!
The thrill of a battlefield where life and death hung in the balance.
“Heh.”
Kim Remi chuckled at the delight that was so typical of a beginner.
Another school day was passing without any real trouble.
The small society of a school was surprisingly dull.
In a place where all anyone did was study, study, study, even a small incident quickly became the talk of the school.
Even someone confessing to someone else was big news here. Naturally, word of aspiring idol Hong Ujin wetting himself in a classroom spread in no time.
They couldn't find him, since he'd gone home early, but as the rumors went around, Remi and Jia became the center of attention again.
“Wow, look at this. Jia really became a hunter.”
“Don't you need a license to be listed here?”
“She must've gotten it last week.”
Hunters, people with supernatural powers, were admired by students, especially the boys.
They'd found Yu Jia's name on the Hunter Management Bureau's registry and were making a huge fuss.
“Wow. She was doing evening study sessions with us just the other day, and now she's a hunter.”
“I'm so jealous.”
“My friend's a Grade 3 hunter!”
In most guilds, a Grade 3 hunter could be a team leader.
Considering that Department Head Cheon Yubeom had been Grade 3 until recently, it was an incredible achievement.
She'd only become a hunter a week ago.
Just how many monsters had she hunted to return as a Grade 3 hunter?
“Lady Remi's on here too!”
“Wow, she's Grade 1.”
“That's fucking awesome.”
Anyone could check the identities of officially registered hunters on the Hunter Management Bureau's website.
When Cheon Yubeom had made the guild official, Kim Remi had been registered too.
Grade 1 Kim Remi (Affiliation: Jun Dragon Kitchen)
“That guild name is cool as hell.”
“Jun Dragon Kitchen.”
“Sounds like a restaurant.”
“Maybe it means they're going to cook every devil out there?”
“I'm so jealous.”
“Man, I should've made friends with Jia ages ago.”
Kim Remi and Yu Jia were the subject of gossip all day, but no one else approached them first.
Only a few of Jia's old friends barely managed to come over and talk.
‘I guess I can't live an ordinary life anymore.’
Yu Jia had no regrets about how her situation had changed in just a week. Her identity as a hunter was growing stronger. These days, her excitement about her new choice outweighed any regret over the life she'd given up.
The long, long school day finally ended, and the two went home.
Flash, flash.
Returning home with a single tap on a phone was familiar to them now!
“Uncle!”
“Yeah?”
Ever since awakening as a hunter, she'd felt much closer to her mother's brother.
“Can I go with Remi too?”
“Hmm. Sure, go ahead.”
“Yes! Thank you!”
Delighted by Kim Junyong's easy permission, Yu Jia bounced up and down.
“You're that happy?”
“Yes! It'll be my first dungeon!”
Kim Junyong chuckled.
They said that when people first learned to play pool, they saw a pool table even when they lay down to sleep. Was Yu Jia thinking about hunting monsters no matter what she did?
“Go before my sister gets here.”
“Okay!”
The two excitedly formed a party. Kim Junyong opened his phone and sent them off to the Bangkok dungeon.
Flash, flash.
“Meow! Is it really all right to send Lady Remi off like that, meow?”
“Jia will look after her.”
“The young lady is reliable, but...”
“Aren't you getting ready to open? What about the luck stones?”
“Meow! Manager Cheon is doing an excellent job. We're preparing a groundbreaking system, meow.”
“Huh? What system?”
“A reservation lottery, meow!”
Ed proudly held out his phone.
He'd squeezed the Bureau's developers dry to create a dedicated restaurant reservation app for Jun Dragon Kitchen.
“What's so special about it?”
“Hehe. The luckiest people will win the meal tickets, meow.”
“Oh!”
It was a chance to taste Ed's cooking.
Only lucky people would win. Naturally, that meant they could take highly concentrated “luck” from the winners.
A worldwide lottery would yield more luck than a first-come, first-served line.
“That's clever.”
“Meow, it's almost finished.”
“Luciel.”
“Yes, Master.”
“Help Ed run the restaurant.”
“As you command.”
“Meow.”
Ed spoke in a thoroughly excited voice.
“Luciel, I'll give you the special honor of serving the food, meow.”
“It would be an honor, Chef.”
“Ahem.”
It looked like they were playing house, but securing luck stones was important.
Equivalent exchange mattered deeply to Kim Junyong.
Everything in the world had a balance.
That was a fundamental truth.
Only luck could slip past it.
Kim Junyong hated freebies because he was wary of using up his “good luck” on such small things, only to have “bad luck” strike at a crucial moment later.
Since he could take other people's luck and make it his own, luck stones were undoubtedly a precious resource that made his life easier.
Somehow, his retainers had ended up being the busiest ones.
“I guess I'll have to travel with the others.”
Cheon Yubeom, Lee Mina, and Sasaki Yoichi.
It looked like those three would be his travel companions.
“Sasaki.”
“Yes, big bro!”
Sasaki Yoichi came running.
The sight of his pure soul reminded Kim Junyong of a soul he'd taken in recently.
‘A soul full of deep resentment.’
It belonged to someone who'd died all the way back in the Roman era. Their resentment was so strong that their soul had remained intact until now.
He couldn't be certain, but even if Sasaki died right this moment, this guy would probably wander the world as a ghost for another two thousand years.
If he pulled out this delicious soul and made a retainer from it, what a splendid creature it would become.
“Ugh.”
What a ridiculous thought.
It's not like I'm the Demon King. I'm human.
“Big bro, there was something a little strange about the way you just looked at me.”
“Never mind. When's Manager Cheon coming?”
“I have no idea!”
This bastard.
So fucking confident about it.
“Team Leader Lee!”
“Yeees!”
She came hurrying down from the rooftop.
“When's Manager Cheon coming?”
“Oh! I'll call him.”
Cheon Yubeom was now the manager overseeing Jun Dragon Kitchen.
Not that its members amounted to more than Kim Junyong, the devils, and his niece Yu Jia.
“Oh, he'll be here soon. And China's sent an official request.”
“Really?”
Kim Junyong grinned.
“China has a whole lot of people, doesn't it?”
“Y-yes?”
Wow. How many more order points could I get if all those people praised me?
His heart pounded with anticipation.
Footnotes:
“Follow-back” uses Korean social-media slang that Remi mishears as a request for a beating.
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