The Precious Demon King - Chapter 21

WeTried Translations

Translator: Yasi

◈ The Precious Demon King

Chapter 21: Summary Judgment

Vroom.

Lee Mina drove toward Osong Station. Along the way, she took it upon herself to give an unprompted briefing.

"Osong Station used to be a KTX stop, but because of that guy, it became a pass-through station. Actually, the people who used to go there disappeared entirely."

The Osong Station Necromancer. This villain kept his identity hidden while terrorizing train passengers.

Despite the severity of the damage he caused, he remained uncaught because he committed all his crimes using only summons.

"Since his identity still hasn't been revealed, there are a lot of rumors. Some people even praise him, saying he did them a favor by getting Osong Station shut down."

There were also groundless rumors that a politician was backing him or that he was actually a well-known hunter.

Osong Station had taken on an eerie atmosphere. Other than YouTubers chasing views or doing courage tests, ordinary people have stopped going entirely.

"What a clown."

Kim Junyong found it amusing.

"Is it really that hard to track him?"

"It's a limitation of our investigative capacity. We don't have that many scanners, and we can't scan everyone individually to catch unregistered hunters."

"What a crude method. Why not backtrace the summons?"

"Huh? You can do that?"

"Ugh, button spammers."

What was the point of just using skills? They didn't even understand mana or its structure.

"So how is Special Advisor going to investigate?"

"Do I have to explain everything to you?"

"Ack!"

Lee Mina sucked in a sharp breath. She had almost crossed the line. It was ambiguous.

He really just seems like a regular guy.

Without the biased lens of "Mad Monarch," Kim Junyong didn't seem difficult at all.

So, without realizing it, she kept letting her guard down. As the tension eased, she found herself treating him more casually. Watching the visibly tense Lee Mina, Kim Junyong gave a quiet smirk.

"Kidding. Just kidding."

"Hahaha."

It was like sitting next to Kim Jong-un and cracking jokes while his finger hovered over the nuclear button.

As they chatted, they arrived at Osong Station.

"All right, better find him quickly."

Kim Junyong stretched and looked at the setting sun. He might as well rack up 1,000 order points before the day ended.

As they entered the station, the undead were already waiting on the stairs.

"Shall I cut them down?"

"Hold on."

Their goal wasn't to wipe out the undead occupying Osong Station. Kim Junyong extended a hand.

Fwoosh.

Black tendrils rose from the floor and wrapped around the undead.

"Graaagh."

He placed a hand on the head of the thing letting out a dull, generic scream.

"Let's see. Where is the rat hiding?"

Observing with his mana vision, he spotted a thread linking the undead to its summoner.

"Not far."

He had already locked down the location.

"Take care of the rest."

Slash!

Remi's blade danced with possessed precision. The skeletons crumbled without resistance.

"Wow, stingy with the points."

Even after killing six undead, he only received one order point. Clearly, the scale rewarded more points for salvation than for eradicating evil.

"As expected, I really do need to catch the necromancer."

The Osong Station Necromancer was a menace to society. Catching him should be worth more order points.

Flash.

Kim Junyong summoned a demon that served as the eyes and ears of black mages.

The black mass scanned for the bird species most like itself.

Whoosh.

It darted through the air and collided with a curious pigeon. Carrion crows were common in Belhaim, but pigeons were abundant here.

After finishing its modeling, the demon pigeon flew back.

"Coo-coo."

"Chase."

No detailed orders were needed. All summoned demons shared a sliver of consciousness with Kim Junyong. If the demon pigeon flew to where the tendril-bound undead was connected, the Osong Station Necromancer would be there.

"Remi. Go after it and bring him back."

"Yes."

Remi's figure blurred in front of their eyes, then vanished.

"Are we following too?"

"She'll be back soon."

Lee Mina waited, unsure of what to expect. She didn't forget to report the situation and share information in the Special Advisor Support Division group chat whenever she had a spare moment.

"Oh, Special Advisor, the furniture delivery arrived."

"Really?"

"Yes, Ed wants to change the interior design too. What should we do?"

"Dungeon management is the dungeon keeper's job. Let him."

"Yes."

Tap, tap.

She relayed Kim Junyong's response to the group.

Deputy Director Lee: At Osong Station now. Hunting the necromancer. We should have him soon.

Team Leader Cheon: Huh? Is that true? Just the two of you?

Lee Mina winced at that message.

"Special Advisor."

"Hm, what?"

"Y-You're not going to kill him immediately, right?"

"Check the points."

He had carefully brought his order points up to 1,000, so there was no need to raise his chaos points by giving excessive punishment.

Flash.

Soon, Remi landed as if she had plunged down from the sky. In her hand was a limp man.

Thud.

He appeared to be unconscious, and his left arm had already been severed, blood pouring down from below his shoulder.

"Ah!"

Lee Mina was surprised. Was it really this easy?

"Let's take a look."

Kim Junyong touched the unconscious man's head and smiled.

"Yeah. Black mage."

Low-level, but a black mage nonetheless.

< May Bel's Scale judge this evil. >

Kim Junyong smirked. The scale, which had always held him back, was now nagging him.

"Judgment."

Flash.

Soon, a continuous list of the target's evil deeds appeared.

< Murder, arson, rape, illegal occupation, parricide... >

The scale shuddered at the long list of crimes.

< Unredeemable! Punishment is death. >

Flash.

White mana steadily drained out to carry out the judgment. The order mana core was completely emptied.

Kim Junyong doubted that the necromancer was a rookie. Despite exhausting all his white mana, he couldn't execute him instantly.

"Aaaagh!"

Instead, the terrible pain brought him back to consciousness. Black tendrils reached out and grabbed him, preventing his escape.

"Aaaah! Let go, you bastard!"

"A chatterbox, aren't you."

< Bel's Scale recommend gathering a crowd to carry out a burning at the stake as a lesson. >

Kim Junyong held back a smug smile at the scale's trembling voice.

"It's hard to tell who the villain is here."

If he hadn't run out of white mana, he would have decapitated the guy on the spot. It was regrettable.

"Pigeon."

Kim Junyong looked at the newly summoned pigeon.

"Here's a gift."

"Coo."

The pigeon hopped up and pecked the necromancer in the eye.

"Aaaah, shit! What the hell? Fine! I'm the Osong Station Necromancer! I surrender! I'm surrendering! Aaaah!"

He thrashed around, but the tendrils held firm. The pigeon yanked the eyeball free.

"Aaaah! Fuck! Help me! Call the police! Please, call the police!"

Kim Junyong wanted to continue torturing the necromancer, who still didn't understand the situation. Unfortunately, the sun was about to set.

"Remi. Finish it."

Slash!

The necromancer's neck was cleanly severed, and his head fell.

< Bel's Scale laments the quiet, merciful execution. It would have been more just to give many people the chance to witness the trial and learn a lesson. >

Classic Belhaim justice.

As the judgment ended, white orbs piled onto the order pan. The pan was already tilted to its limit and overflowed with orbs.

< Bel's Scale cannot maintain balance. >

< Arbiter, please determine the direction of the scale's growth. >

< Strengthen Scale Beam >

< Enlarge Scale Pan >

< Acquire Divinity >

"Hm?"

Acquire Divinity? What was that?

While Kim Junyong was lost in thought, Lee Mina covered her mouth, worried that she might scream.

She couldn't utter a single word. She had witnessed many horrific scenes during her time in the special forces.

But she simply couldn't get used to seeing Kim Junyong smile genuinely at a man whose eyeball was being eaten. She finally fully understood why the deputy bureau director was so cautious and fearful.

* * *

G-rank hunter Ryu Jai canceled her schedule, turning the A-2 dungeon in Daejeon into a national emergency.

All media outlets, both terrestrial and broadcast, were abuzz about it. From traditional news sites to YouTube, all media outlets were talking about Daejeon.

A reporter sent to Daejeon interviewed local citizens and showed footage of empty shelves at stores selling essential goods. The reporter also showed deserted streets and highways packed with evacuees.

As citizens' anxiety peaked and before protests demanding action could erupt, a safety alert was suddenly issued.

[ The Daejeon A-2 dungeon has been conquered. As of this time, the dungeon break alert for Daejeon has been lifted. Citizens may rest assured. ]

– ???

– Did everyone get that text?

– Whoa, the dungeon was right by my house. It's really gone.

– Breaking news just came out. It's legit.

– What the hell happened?

– Did Ryu Jai secretly show up?

– What's going on? No details are being released.

The breaking news simply reported that the A-2 dungeon had been conquered, offering no further details.

People waited for more information from the government or broadcasters, but for some reason, there was only silence.

– No way, I checked all the G7 Instagrams, and no one's come to South Korea.

– Maybe they visited secretly?

– Could it have been Hunter Choi Hyunju?

– Why isn't there an official statement from the Hunter Management Bureau?

As time went by with no detailed information released, public interest reached a boiling point.

The situation was further aggravated by the nonstop sensationalism the previous day regarding the potential damage and repercussions of a dungeon erupting in Daejeon.

As usual, unverified information was initially spread through anonymous online communities. More accurate details were later released on the hunters' Demon Realm Forum.

– Who conquered the A-rank dungeon in South Korea?

– Not the G7. Their schedule got all messed up because of the time-shortening.

– Wasn't it Choi Hyunju?

– No way. The dungeon disappeared shortly after Choi Hyunju arrived. Another team conquered it before that.

– Daesan Guild?

– Lim Dongsu was hospitalized with enteritis.

– Who the hell is it then? Lol.

– I know.

– Don't troll.

– That guy up there is acting all knowing. Most people in the industry probably know.

– ?? Am I the only one who doesn't know?

– Seems like the Hunter Management Bureau recently contacted a hunter on par with the G7.