WeTried Translations

Translator: Yasi

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ The Precious Demon King

Chapter 22: The Secret Thrill of Superiority

The police were dispatched to Osong Station. Agents from the Daejeon branch of the Hunter Management Bureau also joined them at the scene.

"Oh? We've found it."

There was no need to search. A headless corpse lay sprawled right in front of the station.

"Ugh."

"Blegh."

The officers photographed the scene, took fingerprints, and searched the belongings.

"Yes, Deputy Bureau Director. We found the body. We should be able to identify it soon. Huh? Not important?"

[ The most important thing is to secure and shut down all the CCTV cameras around Osong Station. ]

"Ah, yes. Understood."

The Hunter Management Bureau agent hung up and approached the on-site police officer.

"Got anything?"

"Yes. Name is Shin Yunho, 29 years old, address in Cheonan."

Luckily, his wallet still had his ID.

"But Hunter, is this really the Osong Station Necromancer?"

"All signs point to it. More importantly, where's the body?"

"Huh? Why the body..."

"The Special Investigation Unit will take custody."

In a society overrun by criminals, the Special Investigation Unit held more authority than the National Police Agency.

"Ah, yes. Of course. But..."

"Yes? Speak."

"Both of the suspect's eyes are missing."

"...The Special Investigation Unit will look into that."

"Ah, yes. Cooperation is key."

The neatly decapitated body was zipped into a body bag and loaded into a Hunter Management Bureau vehicle for transport to headquarters.

* * *

Vroom.

On the road to Seoul, Lee Mina drove cautiously, stealing glances to the side.

Coo-coo-coo.

She shuddered at the sight of the pigeon perched on Kim Junyong's shoulder.

"Th-That pigeon...can it talk?"

"Oh, this one? Its sense of self is too weak to speak."

"Aha. So it's just a pigeon."

"It's still a demon."

"..."

She regretted asking. It was even more chilling. The memory of it savoring an eyeball was still fresh.

"Maybe I should make a few more."

"M-More?"

"You can never have too many sentries."

"Is 'Sentry' its name?"

"No, it's just too much trouble to name them all. They're all sentries."

They were the most basic and useful familiars employed by a black mage. They could be rats, bugs, or even ordinary crows.

They served as the black mage's eyes and ears, and sometimes as messengers.

"There seem to be a lot of gnats around the house. Might as well wipe them out while I'm at it."

"Eep!"

The Special Advisor Support Division surveillance agents shivered at the thought of pigeons pecking out their eyes.

"Ah, you knew?"

"Why wouldn't I?"

Kim Junyong smiled nonchalantly.

"The Hunter Management Bureau is still probing me, aren't they?"

His casual question made Lee Mina break into a cold sweat.

"Time to pick a side."

"W-What do you mean?"

"You said you were on my team."

Right now, Kim Junyong was still in his welcome-back period. This was the time to let minor things slide.

"Will you be prey, or the hunting dog?"

"...I'll handle it immediately."

This absolutely needed to be reported. It might be time to pull all field surveillance agents.

As Lee Mina's face stiffened, Kim Junyong chuckled.

"Why so serious? It's just a transaction."

"Haha, r-right."

"Give and take. That makes us neighbors."

"Yes, understood."

She would relay those words exactly as they were said.

It's a transaction.

Lee Mina's heart pounded with overwhelming emotion. Had they misunderstood him all along?

We were just overthinking it.

The Mad Monarch wasn't a crazed killer. Wasn't he being perfectly reasonable?

Kim Junyong smiled with satisfaction. His eyes were full of contentment as he gazed at the golden orb he had received earlier.

< Divine Fragment >

Even as he rolled it back and forth in his hand, he could feel Belhaim's power lingering within it.

An orb that holds divine power.

As expected, the divine relic held value far beyond expectations.

The scale gave me one before God Earth did.

God Earth said he would share his divine power with Kim Junyong if he helped him. As he felt the strange, profound power radiating from the golden orb, he couldn't help but chuckle.

"By the way, Special Advisor. What's that shiny thing?"

"Oh, this?"

Grinning as if he had been waiting for someone to ask, Kim Junyong proudly showed it off.

"This is divine power. Don't you feel the boundless energy?"

"Uh, what?"

As Lee Mina glanced at it, the car swerved slightly.

"Hey, eyes on the road."

"Ack, yes!"

"Hehehe."

Kim Junyong held the orb, examining it from all angles, even nibbling and licking it.

"Hehehe."

To think this was an essence containing divine power. The more he looked at it, the more astonished he became. He never imagined that something like this could exist in material form.

"So, where to now?"

"Rest stop."

"Huh?"

"We skipped it on the way down."

"...?"

"I haven't been on the expressway in two hundred years. I have to stop at a rest area."

If not for that, he would have already teleported to the dungeon with bread in hand.

"Ah!"

Right. Their Special Advisor had returned after two hundred years. He was eager to enjoy life's little pleasures again. A sort of bucket list.

"I'll pull in at the rest stop just ahead."

"Okay."

They devoured sausages and fried fish cake sticks, grabbed walnut pastries and potatoes, and returned to the car.

"Wow, even the potatoes taste different."

"Is it that good?"

"Try returning after two hundred years. Everything on Earth tastes amazing."

"Haha."

Earth potatoes might not differ much from those in Belhaim, but nostalgia made all the difference.

Before long, they arrived in Seoul. Kim Junyong grabbed the bread from the trunk and went to his sister's house.

"Junyong, you're back? Oh my, what's all this?"

"Famous bread from Daejeon."

"Seongsin-dang?"

"Oh, Noona know it too."

"What else is there in Daejeon besides Seongsin-dang? Have you eaten yet?"

"I ate a little at a rest stop."

"Then I won't need to cook dinner."

"Hm?"

Had his sister's love for him already cooled? Should he pretend to be sick to get more attention?

"Let's just have cake for dinner."

"Uh, okay."

Was he already getting the unemployed treatment?

"Why did you go to Daejeon anyway?"

"Ah, to conquer a dungeon."

"Oh! You're already working?"

"Yeah, it wasn't hard at all."

"I see."

Kim Jangmi's reaction was lukewarm. He had saved a city in crisis. The scale even gave him over 1,000 order points for it. How could she not know?

"Isn't it in the news?"

"News?"

Kim Jangmi sat down on the couch with a piece of bread in her mouth. She flipped through the TV channels, but all she found were variety shows.

"The news isn't on until 9."

"Oh, okay."

This felt kind of disappointing.

He had contributed to world peace and no one noticed. He had hoped to show off in front of his family, but that didn't work out.

Was this how Superman felt after saving the world? Maybe Batman and Spider-Man felt this way too–quietly taking down evil while no one noticed.

What kind of treatment was this? The need for recognition was creeping in!

Beep-beep-beep–

The door unlocked, and Yu Jihun burst in, panting.

"Mooom! Is Uncle here?"

"Jihun, you're back."

"Hey, nephew."

"Ah, hello. You're here."

"Why were you looking for me?"

"Oh, there's something I wanted to ask."

"What?"

"Uncle, do you happen to know the A-2 dungeon in Daejeon?"

"Of course. I just took care of it."

"Whoa, no way! For real, Uncle? No wonder! Wow, chills!"

Yu Jihun's excitement caught Kim Jangmi's attention.

"What are you talking about?"

"Oh, you know the chaos that happened this morning?"

"This morning? There wasn't even a safety alert."

"No, the alerts only went to Daejeon."

Feeling frustrated, Yu Jihun explained at length to Kim Jangmi.

"Anyway, everyone was just stuck waiting around when someone suddenly swooped in and took care of it. That's when I immediately thought of Uncle."

"Oh my! No wonder. Didn't Choi Hyunju personally come and respectfully recruit your uncle?"

"Mom, seriously, this isn't a small thing. It's a really huge deal, I'm telling you."

Yu Jihun thumped his chest passionately as he described his uncle's greatness.

"It was an A-rank dungeon! The dungeon's rank depends on the boss's rank, you know? He actually took down an A-rank demon!"

"Oh my, my little brother is amazing."

"No, he's more than amazing! World level! You know G7, right?"

"The heroes?"

Even Kim Jangmi had heard of them. The final remnants of humanity, who returned ten years after the Day of Beginning. The Final Seven Heroes. They defeated the demon king and returned. Known as Guardians (G-rank), they were the shining light of the hunter world.

"Uncle might be at that level! No, he might be even stronger!"

"Huh?"

Kim Jangmi couldn't immediately piece things together.

My little brother is that strong?

It was like realizing your karaoke-loving sibling was actually a Billboard-topping star.

"Everyone's going wild trying to figure out who did it! The Korean government just said it was conquered, but they didn't say who did it! That's making things worse! It's blowing up!"

"Oh my! What's going on?"

Kim Junyong grinned.

"It was nothing."

Right. A man needs his pride. His nephew was a gem. Adorable.

"I think the Hunter Management Bureau is trying to hide Uncle's identity. Because of that, conspiracy theories are running wild right now. The Demon Realm Forum must be going crazy too."

"Demon Realm Forum?"

"You know, that hunter app."

Even while talking, Yu Jihun subtly looked expectant. Adorable kid.

Kim Junyong opened the app and logged into the Demon Realm Forum.

Ding–

Just as he was about to check the community, the notification bell lit up.

"Uncle, you got a message."

"Hm?"

He opened the message and found that it was unimportant.

[ Admin: Ahh! I knew Hyuuungnim would pull through. ]

"Whoa! Uncle, you know the admin?!"

"Hm? Of course."

Just the tone was enough to guess who it was.

"Awesome!"

Yu Jihun's mouth dropped open.

"What's so surprising?"

"W-Well, it's the admin!"

"Is it that shocking?"

"Y-Yes, it is! The admin never sends direct messages! This is my first time seeing it! They only post announcements!"

"Really?"

Tap, tap.

While Kim Junyong started typing a reply, Yu Jihun craned his neck like a curious turtle.

"Jihun, go wash up and have some bread or something. Your uncle just finished something big and needs to rest."

"Aww."

The disappointed Yu Jihun was dragged off by his mother while Kim Junyong finished writing.

[ Kim Junyong: Doesn't messaging like this drain your resources? ]

[ Admin: Whoa! Hyungnim's first glorious direct message! ]

[ Admin: Yeah, it uses some, but not much! ]

This guy. So even messaging cost him energy. There was no telling which dungeon might be breached next.

[ Admin: Hehe, it's not a problem anymore. If a dungeon blows up, you'll just handle it, right, Hyuuungnim? ]

"Drinking the kimchi soup already."

Kim Junyong chuckled. But the Demon Realm Forum was weirdly addictive.

Public opinion in the community was heating up.

– Has South Korea been hiding a G-rank hunter?

– Sounds like pure bait.

– South Korea, land of propaganda and lies.

– Who is it really?

– No ID yet on the Osong Station Necromancer.

– So, who took down the villain?

– Actually, it was me.

– Wait, was I caught? I was in Daejeon yesterday.

The world forum occasionally brought up the A-2 dungeon, while the regional forum mixed discussions about the Daejeon dungeon and the Osong Station Necromancer.

Haha, I was behind both.

He did it all, but people went crazy without knowing who he was. Theories, accusations, imposters, and conspiracies ran rampant.

This feels weird.

Was this why Superman and Batman wore masks? Was this why people bothered with secret relationships? Could it be that the real mastermind hid because of this? As it turned out, they were all perverts.

"Hehehe."

The dopamine from that secret thrill of superiority was incredible. Kim Junyong lingered in the forums for quite a while.

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