WeTried Translations

Translator: Yasi

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ The Precious Demon King

Chapter 18: Junyong Goes to the Dungeon

Kim Junyong followed the pull and soon found himself in a small neighborhood park.

Wham, wham!

"Keep stomping the bastard until he coughs up the cash."

"Aaaagh!"

As Kim Junyong watched a mugging unfold on Earth–something all too common in Belhaim–he quietly filled his black mana.

"Tch, punk. You should've handed it over earlier."

"Let's go."

After the three thugs left, the student they had beaten sat in a daze, adjusting his glasses. Kim Junyong hopped down in front of the trembling boy.

"Wow, shame, anger, mmm. That's good."

"...!"

As Kim Junyong walked away, smiling with satisfaction after draining every last drop of mana, the student suddenly shouted.

"Why didn't you do anything?!"

"Hm?"

"You're an adult, aren't you?!"

"So?"

"You saw everything from behind that tree! Why didn't you help me?!"

Kim Junyong laughed briefly at the tearful boy yelling at him.

"You didn't ask for help."

"...!"

"Are you stupid?"

"...!"

After absorbing the thick resentment and disbelief, Kim Junyong sat on a nearby park bench. On the basketball court, a group of guys were playing a game.

Thump, thump!

"Hey, block him!"

"Pass! Pass!"

"Damn it, block him!"

"Ugh, stop grabbing me, you bastard!"

Kim Junyong watched with a satisfied look on his face.

"Sports really are great."

A full range of emotions–fighting spirit and competitiveness fit for war, as well as frustration, patience, worry, and anxiety–were all packed into one place. As he accumulated them, his mana core filled up quickly.

"Hey, lady! Clean up your dog's poop!"

"Why are you yelling at me? It was the dog who did it!"

"Isn't that your dog?"

At midday, the park was lively, with all sorts of people engaged in all kinds of conversations. Just an hour of sitting there was enough for Kim Junyong to completely refill his mana.

"Too easy."

Well, his mana capacity was still small, so that helped.

< Kim Junyong >

Class: Arbiter of the Scale

Mana: 312

Skill: Judgment

Of course, the mana displayed in the status window was his order mana core.

"Does this work on humans, too, or just demons?"

Out of curiosity, Kim Junyong activated his skill. Conveniently, a suitable target was playing basketball nearby. It was one of the thugs from earlier.

"Judgment."

Flash.

A golden scale materialized and began weighing the designated student.

< Extortion, habitual assault, public shaming... >

Black orbs poured onto the chaos pan. Unlike with the servant of evil, however, a few white orbs also fell onto the order pan.

< Charity, love for animals, helping neighbors... >

The golden scale teetered for a moment, then tilted toward chaos, the heavier side.

< Shared pain is deemed appropriate. >

The skill consumed white mana when activated and when carrying out the punishment.

"Gaaah!"

"Dumbass, you're flopping now just because your shot missed?"

"Uuurgh."

"Huh? Kyungmin, what's wrong?!"

His friends rushed over to him as he lay on the ground, thrashing and convulsing.

"So it works differently on people."

Against servants of evil, the skill acted as an instant kill. But with humans, who had both good and evil within them, it functioned as true judgment.

If the evil outweighed the good, punishment followed...

"Do you get a reward if the good outweighs the evil?"

He would have to experiment the next time he found a decent person.

More importantly, this was insanely powerful.

"Wow, it's filling up on its own."

The order mana core. The consumed white mana was slowly refilling. With black mana, he had to go out and gather emotions to refill the mana core once it was depleted.

"I guess each has its pros and cons."

Auto recharge, but slow. Manual recharge, but fast.

"All right."

He stood up from the bench and stretched. Now that his black mana was full too, he figured it was time to return.

He opened his phone and tapped on "Owned Base."

Flash.

The field agents of the Special Advisor Support Division were stunned.

"Uh?!"

Teleportation? Was that even possible?

[ Special Advisor Support Division Group Chat ]

Pigeon: The Special Advisor disappeared.

Pigeon: He vanished out of nowhere.

Team Leader Cheon: Does that even make sense?

Pigeon8: The Special Advisor has appeared at the Hansan 2-dong house!

Pigeon8: (Photo)

Cheon Yubeom checked the messages from inside a van and shouted urgently.

"Deputy Director Lee! Turn the car around. We're going to Hansan 2-dong."

"Huh? What about the park?"

"He teleported."

"Wait, what?"

Lee Mina looked bewildered.

"The Special Advisor has a skill like that too?"

"Apparently, he does."

Ring–

"Oh! It's the deputy bureau director."

Cheon Yubeom cleared his throat and answered the call.

"Reporting in. This is Team Leader Cheon Yubeom."

[ Team Leader Cheon. Of everyone, you've dealt with the Special Advisor the most, so let me ask you this. ]

"Yes, go ahead."

[ What do you think he would say if we asked for his help conquering the A-2 dungeon in Daejeon? ]

"...I'm not sure."

[ ... ]

"Did something happen with the A-rank dungeon in Daejeon?"

[ The dispatch of Ryu Jai was canceled. ]

"Excuse me?"

[ Maybe...no, never mind. Carry on, Team Leader. ]

"Yes."

He hung up.

"What did she say?"

"The Daejeon dungeon operation was canceled."

"Daejeon? Where?"

"There's that A-rank one."

"What?"

An A-rank dungeon erupting. It would be catastrophic just to imagine.

"No, how could they cancel it?!"

"Beats me."

"Wait, so why did they call?"

"She asked if we could ask the Special Advisor."

"...I don't think he'll agree to it."

"Right?"

Even bringing it up felt risky, regardless of whether he would agree.

"Maybe if we asked his sister..."

"Don't even think about it. Have you forgotten the rules?"

"Ack, sorry."

Touching Kim Junyong's family was strictly forbidden. Even attempting to curry favor could offend the Mad Monarch. The risk was too high.

"Hahh...Daejeon is going to be destroyed."

"..."

How could they possibly stop an A-rank dungeon break? Only modern, heavy weapons could contain it.

In three days, Daejeon would be engulfed in flames.

"I guess we won't get to eat that famous Seongsin-dang bread anymore."

"I know."

"Hm?"

"What?"

Lee Mina and Cheon Yubeom locked eyes.

"Deputy Director Lee, turn the car around!"

"Yes! Wait, no! A round trip will take too long!"

"Oh, right! We'll have it sent over. Just get us to Hansan 2-dong!"

"Got it!"

Cheon Yubeom started making calls.

* * *

Flash.

The scenery shifted in an instant, and Kim Junyong arrived at the dungeon. He smiled with satisfaction.

"Convenient."

The gods must have it easy. How much easier would life be if he could use divine power freely?

Maybe if God Earth ever shared some with him, he could establish a base at his sister's house, too.

As he thought aimlessly, he looked around and noticed an empty space.

"Oh! It's all cleaned up."

All the chairs, tables, and restaurant equipment that had cluttered the second floor were gone. The interior was the same, but there wasn't a speck of dust. He liked how neat it was.

"Ed!"

"Nyaa!"

A response could be heard from the first floor. The cat rushed up and gave a polite bow.

"Nyaa, welcome back, Master."

"Is everything cleaned up?"

"I'm still cleaning the first floor."

"Really? What about the trash?"

"I threw it outside."

"Hm? You didn't just dump it like that, did you?"

Would the dungeon keeper of cultural citizen Kim Junyong really violate public sanitation laws by illegally dumping trash? Kim Junyong stepped onto the terrace and saw a truck loading the trash.

"Did you call them?"

"Nyaa? They seem to be local vagrants. It looks like they're taking it for firewood."

"..."

It was too much to expect a demon chef from the Demon Realm to understand Earth's customs.

When Kim Junyong saw the disguised trash collectors, he shouted.

"Hey! Call Team Leader Cheon!"

"Ack! Understood!"

As they scrambled in confusion, he added.

"Take the rest of the trash too."

"Ah, yes!"

He smiled wryly while watching them scurry around. After watching for a bit, he headed to the first floor.

All the furniture was gone except for one table and four chairs. The kitchen, however, still had all its equipment–just cleaned.

"Why didn't you clear the kitchen?"

"Nyaa? B-Because how else would I cook for Master?"

Well, that was true. Or wait...

"You're confident in your cooking, right?"

"Heh! I, Edmond de la Fleur, pride myself on being Belhaim's finest chef, nya!"

"Hmm."

Kim Junyong stroked his chin.

"Great. Let's open a restaurant."

"Nyaa?! A r-restaurant?"

"It's already a restaurant. We'll just change the sign."

"B-But I cleared all the tables..."

Tap, tap.

Kim Junyong tapped the lone remaining table.

"We've got this one."

"That's Master's personal table."

"Just make do."

"B-But, to run a one-table restaurant..."

Seeing Edmond's flustered expression, Kim Junyong chuckled.

"Are you rebelling?"

"I-I'll do my best, nya!"

"Make the upstairs into a house."

"Nyaa!"

The cat demon stood upright and saluted. That was more like it. A dungeon keeper should follow orders without complaint.

Ring–

A call came through from an unknown number.

"This persistent guy is something else. Yeah, it's me."

[ Yes, I heard you called for me. ]

"I found a house. Do you want to come see it?"

[ Huh?! Is-Is that an invitation? I'm on my way. ]

Cheon Yubeom, who had been worrying about how to approach Kim Junyong, accepted in a heartbeat.

"Great. Come quickly."

Perfect timing.

"Ed."

"Nyaa!"

"When they arrive, tell them to buy whatever is needed."

The process of shopping for individual items was a pain. It would be better to give dungeon keeper Edmond an errand runner who was well-versed in Earth affairs.

"Understood, nya."

Not long after, Cheon Yubeom and Lee Mina arrived.

"Hm? What's with the toilet paper?"

"W-Well, it's a housewarming gift."

"Why toilet paper, though?"

"Um, well..."

Lee Mina stepped in, pushing aside the flustered Cheon Yubeom.

"In Korea, people bring toilet paper when they visit a new home. It symbolizes a smooth life, like unrolling a roll of tissue."

"Ah, right. Come in."

Kim Junyong let them inside.

"Have a seat."

"Ah, yes."

They gathered around the lone table.

Cheon Yubeom casually read the mood and then spoke.

"A new team was created specifically for Special Advisor. Because of that, I've been promoted to team leader. So thank you."

"Really? That's great."

"Haha, and thank you for inviting us."

"Don't mention it. I called you because I needed something."

"Hahaha."

Cheon Yubeom set down the tissue pack and signaled Lee Mina, who placed a shopping bag and a cake box on the table.

"This, this is really delicious, so we bought it for you to try."

"Oh! Ed."

"Nyaa!"

"Cut the cake for us."

"Nyaa! Got it."

Cheon Yubeom and Lee Mina stared slack-jawed as the cat carried the cake box into the kitchen.

"..."

"Ah, he's a demon. Don't mind him."

"...?"

How could they ignore that? While their brains shut down briefly, Kim Junyong opened the bag of bread and took a bite.

Their hope and desperation were palpable.

"It's delicious."

Yes! It worked!

Cheon Yubeom nudged Lee Mina, who smiled and chimed in.

"Haha, the bread at this bakery is really delicious."

"Is that so? Seongsin-dang? I've heard of it."

Kim Junyong examined the bag.

"Haha, it's a famous bakery in Daejeon. Though we might not get to eat it anymore."

"Really? That's too bad."

Their anxiety grew at Kim Junyong's indifferent reaction.

"Y-Yes."

"I know."

Lee Mina's mood sank. Seeing their disappointment, sense of crisis, hesitation, burden, and anxiety, Kim Junyong chuckled quietly.

"What is it? Huh?"

Like his nephew Yu Jihun, these guys were easy to read.

"Huh?"

"What do you want to say?"

His words made Cheon Yubeom's eyes widen.

What should I do?

He stood up instinctively, then dropped to his knees with a thud.

"Please help us just once."

As he bowed deeply, Lee Mina quickly knelt beside him and lowered her head.

Kim Junyong gave a short laugh. Begging wasn't charity. The thirsty had to dig the well themselves. But...

"What can you offer?"

"Huh?"

"I'm a black mage, not a god. You don't pray–you make a deal."

Maybe gods granted things for free, but black mages definitely only dealt in trades.

"W-What do we need to do?"

"Decorate this place as Ed instructs. As you can see, it's empty."

"Oh! Understood!"

Black mages didn't care who they made deals with. He felt uncomfortable making someone work for free, but it worked out well.

He decided to go around the dungeon and then come back.

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