WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Chen
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◈ Our Precious Demon King ◈
Chapter 99: The Difference Between Duty and Devotion
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The Black and White Twin Demons (黑白雙鬼).
They were an unusual pair of twin spirits with two bodies sharing a single soul.
“Did one of them die?”
There was no way to know whether the suicide squad had killed Black Demon or White Demon had come alone in the first place.
Either way, killing this one would wrap up the business trip.
Kim Junyong didn't know how much Korea was squeezing out of China.
Cheon Yubeom would negotiate a good daily fee and squeeze it out of the Bureau.
What mattered to Kim Junyong right now was how many order points clearing this dungeon would earn him.
“Team Leader Lee, Sasaki. You two just watch.”
“Oh, understood.”
“Wh-what?!”
Lee Mina accepted at once, but Sasaki immediately protested.
He had come along to study abroad in the first place.
Even training until his body broke wouldn't be enough, yet he was supposed to stand around relaxing?
That would be a betrayal of the homeland waiting for him.
“Though I serve as a guest commander, work me like an ox! If you order me to charge, big brother, I'll charge with my life on the line!”
“No. Save that for the Demon Realm.”
Karma earned in the Demon Realm couldn't be settled.
Those damn picky Scales.
Apparently, the Demon Realm (metaverse) was an illusory realm, so neither good nor evil karma existed there.
Remi was delighted that she could kill anyone she wanted, but it wasn't a particularly attractive hunting ground for Kim Junyong.
Besides, everyone in his household had already earned the Conqueror title.
The bonuses it gave to mana and physical abilities were considerable. It had pushed Kim Junyong straight up to Grade 1, even though he hadn't hunted all that much.
The Conqueror title was such an incredible buff that it had made Yu Jia a Grade 3 hunter in just a week, though she had put in a fair amount of effort.
Even Ed, who had barely bothered to hunt, had gone up a grade.
‘Retainers can gain experience points too.’
Devils couldn't possess white mana, so their mana values still displayed null as if there were an error. But apparently, they could still accumulate experience points.
That meant the physical ability buffs from their achievements applied as normal.
‘Belheim's power doesn't apply to them, but the power of Earth’s god does.’
It was interesting.
It proved that even devils could receive a god's blessing.
Remi hadn't joined the past week's special training, but her earlier hunting had already made her Grade 1.
In any case, Kim Junyong needed order points right now.
He couldn't share the credit with Lee Mina and Sasaki Yoichi, who were neither his retainers nor Guardian’s Knights.
“Manager Cheon! Go!”
“Yes!”
Paladin Cheon Yubeom.
No, now that he was a Guardian’s Knight, Cheon Yubeom had truly become a character who could do it all.
A tank, a damage dealer, a healer.
He had once been mediocre at all three, without excelling at any of them. Now he was an all-round hunter who excelled at everything, cutting straight through the dungeon.
“Ooh.”
When someone was physically far away, like Ryu Jai or Logan Hayes, their good karma wasn't settled immediately.
But simply because Cheon Yubeom was in the same space, his good karma was being credited directly to Kim Junyong, guardian of the Scales.
“He's good.”
He had the Conqueror title and had been appointed a Guardian’s Knight.
Cheon Yubeom was now effectively blessed by two gods, Earth’s god and Belheim.
At that level, he was probably close to the strongest in the Human Realm.
They walked along the bloody path Cheon Yubeom had cleared.
Beside Kim Junyong, Sasaki Yoichi's hands trembled.
“Grrr.”
“What? What's wrong?”
“I want to fight! Big brother! Please order me to fight!”
“Hah.”
For the sake of this single-minded man's innocent soul, Kim Junyong put an arm around his shoulders and spoke quietly.
“Sasaki.”
“Yes, big brother.”
“Now, look ahead.”
“Urgh.”
“What do you see?”
“My own laziness!”
“You fool!”
“Ugh, please enlighten this ignorant younger brother of yours!”
Kim Junyong spoke in a solemn voice.
“The first step in learning is to watch and do.”
“Ah!”
“Watch without missing a thing. It'll be your turn next.”
“Urgh, I whined like a child without understanding your deeper intentions. I'm deeply ashamed!”
“Everything is a lesson!”
“I'll remember that!”
Kim Junyong took his arm off Sasaki's shoulders.
Sasaki opened his eyes wide, determined to take in everything Cheon Yubeom did.
After they had walked for some time, Sasaki cried out urgently.
“Big brother! My tears won't stop!”
Kim Junyong turned to find his eyes bloodshot and bright red.
Seeing the tears streaming down his face, he barely resisted the urge to smack the back of his head.
“Blink.”
“Ah! As expected of you, big brother!”
“...”
What an idiot.
Should he just kill him and turn him into a retainer?
Material this good really wasn't easy to come by.
‘Come to think of it, I need to turn that beast tamer's soul into a retainer too.’
It was a soul carrying over two thousand years of resentment.
It had potential.
If he made it a retainer and trained it well, it could grow to the level of a demon realm lord.
At the very least, it would become stronger than Ed and Luciel.
And its occupation as a beast tamer made it a perfect fit.
‘I can put it in charge of feeding Malsun.’
He needed to summon Malsun anyway, so he could summon them together the next time he visited the zoo.
As he walked along thinking about one thing and another, they reached the boss's territory.
“Oh, Adviser. Over there!”
Just as the Demon Realm (metaverse) copied Earth's appearance, the dungeon looked the same too.
Thick spiderwebs hung between apartment buildings. In the middle of them, someone dangled in what looked like a cocoon.
“He's still alive!”
“So he wasn't hiding. He got caught.”
That made sense. If he'd been alive and free, he could have left. Why would he have stayed inside the dungeon?
“Manager Cheon.”
“Yes.”
“Bring him here.”
“Yes, sir.”
Cheon Yubeom jumped.
He climbed up the webs strung between two apartment buildings, drew a sword from inside his clothes, and cut the cocoon free. Then he returned carrying it.
Shhk, shhk.
He cut open the tightly wrapped cocoon, revealing an unconscious Yang Minchan.
“Wake him up.”
“Yes.”
Smack, smack!
“Gasp!”
After five slaps, Yang Minchan's eyes flew open.
“Urrrgh!”
Drooling and making a strange noise, he thrust out his sword.
Clang. Whoosh! Crunch!
Lee Mina blocked it, grabbed his shoulder, and slammed him into the ground.
“Urgh!”
“Calm down. We're here to rescue you.”
“Hah, hhh.”
“Breathe slowly.”
“Hoooo, hoooo.”
Yang Minchan, who had been hyperventilating in his panic, took deep breaths.
As he gradually came to his senses, the anxiety and wariness in his eyes eased.
“Please let go. I'm all right now.”
When Lee Mina released him, he sank to the ground.
He looked around before speaking again.
“You're Korean. Thank you.”
The man in front of him was the famous Special.
‘So this is the Mad Sovereign...’
They had never met in Belheim, but something about him felt unsettling. It was almost like an instinctive fear rising within him.
“I-I'll give you a briefing.”
“What briefing?”
“You should hear the results of our exploration and raid before you move...”
Kim Junyong chuckled.
He wasn't interested in how their team had been wiped out or how Yang Minchan had been captured.
Especially when he could see exactly where the boss was.
“Manager Cheon.”
“Yes.”
“Top floor of Building 103.”
“Should I kill it?”
“No. Bring it back alive.”
They knew each other, after all. He should at least say hello.
Whoosh.
Cheon Yubeom vanished.
Boom, booom!
Parts of Building 103 exploded.
Before long, Cheon Yubeom returned carrying a blood-soaked spider.
The upper body looked entirely human, but the lower body was a spider's.
Only one leg remained. Judging by the wounds and the fluid pouring out, Cheon Yubeom seemed to have torn the others off.
Crrrunch.
Just to make sure the creature couldn't escape, Kim Junyong sprouted black tentacles and bound it.
Crrreak.
“Aaaagh!”
A sweet, clear voice cried out as the black tentacles tightened.
The spiderlike lower body was hideous, but the upper half was quite beautiful.
“Wow, White Demon, you're a woman?”
“Urgh, how are you on this treacherous planet?”
“It's my home.”
“Grrr, so you came from this wretched planet.”
Every devil had nothing but praise for Earth’s god.
The metaverse certainly seemed to have given them a great deal of humiliation and frustration.
Kim Junyong studied White Demon with curious eyes.
“Where's Black Demon?”
“None of your business.”
“Tell me, and I'll give you a painless death.”
“Hmph. Kill me however you like.”
Look at her, acting so brave.
Kim Junyong chuckled and asked another question to satisfy his remaining curiosity.
“Do devils get to choose their species when they revive? Or is it random?”
The Black and White Twin Demons hadn't been half-human, half-spider devils.
They had belonged to a humanoid species that walked on two legs, so White Demon's current half-human, half-beast appearance was unusual.
“I'm not obliged to tell you.”
“Wow, so your appearance can change when you revive?”
“You don't even know that?”
“Why are you so prickly?”
“Could you smile with your sworn enemy standing right in front of you?”
Kim Junyong grinned.
“Well, if you don't want to answer, off you go.”
“Hmph. Kill me already!”
These devils.
They were so reckless, brave, and careless with their lives because they would revive in the Demon Realm even if they died. If they only had one life, they would treasure it too.
“Judgment.”
Flash.
As the golden scales appeared, White Demon's eyes widened.
“Ah! W-wait! No!”
Whoooosh.
Bathed in golden light, White Demon let out a piercing scream.
“Aaaaaah! I-I'll tell you! Please, don't annihilate me!”
Whoooosh.
The reason devils hated gods so deeply and tried to kill them by eating away at their planets was that only the gods' power could completely annihilate a devil.
‘It's ironic that the gods can't wield that one power themselves.’
According to Earth’s god, gods were designers and humans were executors.
A designer couldn't directly interfere with an executor's work.
That was why hunters had to step forward.
It was also why Belheim had summoned heroes.
The laws of the world prevented direct intervention.
The Divine Warriors should have been actively annihilating devils. Instead, they had spent all this time holed up on Earth, playing king. How frustrated must Earth’s god have been?
“Oh, I haven't checked what happens when Manager Cheon kills one.”
He suspected that would annihilate them too.
“I've gained a skill called Judgment as well.”
“Really? Use that when you kill devils from now on.”
“Understood!”
Flash, flash.
With the boss defeated, the dungeon began to shrink.
“Less than I expected.”
He'd heard China had a huge population...
Shouldn't saving more people earn him more points?
‘A few rounds of praise should get me around a hundred points.’
Kim Junyong had come to rather enjoy giving speeches.
Flash.
The dungeon vanished, and the scenery changed.
[Oh! You cleared it so quickly! Truly impressive.]
“He says your quick clear was impressive.”
Kim Junyong looked at the interpreter translating Third Bureau Director Wang Weijie's words.
Then he looked at the soldiers lined up and the citizens visible in the distance.
They were all cheering and waving Chinese and Korean flags, but...
“These bastards are only grateful in words.”
Looking around, he saw that everyone nearby was a soldier.
He examined their emotions one by one.
Admiration, wariness, anger, hostility, irritation, boredom.
“What the hell?”
Was this any way to treat the hero who had saved their city?
Anyone would think they'd been dragged here against their will.
“Oh!”
Equivalent exchange affected emotions too.
The Chinese people thought it was only natural for Kim Junyong to clear the dungeon. After all, the two governments had already made a deal.
“Now that's a side effect I didn't see coming.”
The order points he could earn through praise, admiration, and gratitude were inversely related to the material rewards he received for clearing a dungeon.
He understood, but it still left a sour taste.
[We've prepared a banquet.]
“We've prepared a banquet.”
“Forget it.”
“Pardon? Oh!”
His mood soured, and Kim Junyong lost his appetite.
He didn't want to stay any longer in a country that took his rescue work for granted.
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