WeTried Translations

Translator: Yasi

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ The Precious Demon King

Chapter 3: Remi

Kim Junyong let out a short laugh. That damn Goddess Belhaim.

"The quests, the levels, and even the relic are just as twisted as she is."

Flash.

As if in response, a golden scale appeared before his eyes.

A balance beam stood with two pans hanging on either side. One pan bore an engraving of a golden turtle, and the other, a dragon with folded wings.

< Bel's Scale measures the weight of good and evil deeds. >

< A daily settlement is made, and compensation is given accordingly. >

"So what."

< ... >

Kim Junyong smirked.

"Unseal my black mana while you're at it."

Upon entering the path of black magic, one gained a chaos mana core. Right now, that core had hardened and wasn't functioning.

< When the order mana core is formed, the chaos mana core will gradually loosen as well. >

"Dual cores? Is that even possible?"

He had never heard of such a theory. In his two hundred years roaming Belhaim, he had never seen anyone wield both black and white mana.

< It is possible because you are the Arbiter of the Scale. >

The relic sounded almost boastful about its usefulness. Kim Junyong chuckled.

"Interesting. White mana, huh..."

Fascinating. Curiosity, impulse, inquiry, observation. Those were what had driven him to become the most powerful black mage. It was worth investigating.

"All right. For now, I'll just draw black mana as needed."

A mana core was literally a pouch that stored mana, the fuel of magic. It worked like a water tank in a purifier.

"It's not like water only exists in purifiers."

Chaos mana. It was extracted from the souls of the dead, or stolen from the negative emotions of the living.

He could already sense the emotions of the police officers waiting outside his hospital room.

Boredom. Annoyance.

There was enough of it. He used just a small fraction of the black mana he had gathered.

Click.

He released the handcuffs and stretched.

"Mmm, now this is civilization."

The stiff hospital mattress was much softer and cleaner than the beds in Belhaim's noble castles.

"Look at this soft fabric."

In Belhaim, a gown like the one he was wearing would cost a fortune.

"Earth really is the best."

He was thoroughly satisfied. Hooray for modern civilization! He would treasure, protect, and enjoy precious Earth for a long time. He wouldn't let it be destroyed.

"Wait, am I the only one who has to be careful?"

He let out a small laugh. Things like world domination? He had no interest in that kind of nonsense.

He had already tried that in Belhaim and experienced firsthand how miserable and horrific the outcome was.

Loneliness. Isolation. To avoid falling into that endless abyss again, his first priority was to adapt to modern life as Earthling Kim Junyong.

< Bel's Scale believes that is a very sound way of thinking. >

"Don't get cocky."

< ...Sulking. >

Kim Junyong laughed and opened the window.

"Wow."

Sparkling stars and an even brighter city nightscape greeted him. He was really back.

"First, second, third...seventh floor."

He counted the floors and nodded. At this height, his transcendent body could easily jump down.

Whoosh.

He jumped without hesitation, knowing the landing would be noisy. He used some of the remaining black mana to muffle the sound.

Tap tap.

After landing on the pavement, he looked out over the street and smiled. The city was more orderly than the imperial capital.

"Earth is welcoming me."

The night air was fresh. Where should he start?

Melting the hardened chaos mana core could wait.

There were plenty of people in the modern world who were always steeped in negative thoughts.

First, it was time to enjoy Earth. Maybe he could brag a little about it to his stiff, stone-faced bodyguard.

"Remi."

No response.

"Hm? Remi. What's going on? Why aren't you coming out?"

The soul link remained intact, yet their physical forms had disappeared for some reason. Remi and his summoned familiars had reverted to spirit form and were sealed inside the void pouch.

"Wow. This is absurd."

Before he could figure out what had happened, he had to gather the mana required to summon Remi.

"Let's get going."

Barefoot and dressed in a hospital gown, Kim Junyong strolled lightly down the street.

* * *

Kang Dusik and Detective Kim arrived at hospital room 701. The police officers standing guard at the door snapped to attention.

"Sir!"

"At ease. Is there anything unusual?"

"No, sir."

Creak.

Kang Dusik opened the door and froze.

"What the hell?"

Gone. Kim Junyong, who should have been handcuffed to the bed, had disappeared.

"Whoa! Squad Leader! The guy cut his handcuffs and took off!"

Detective Kim rushed over and picked up the handcuffs, which had been cut open. The cut was rough and messy, like a weld mark.

"Damn it."

He leaned out the open window.

Could he have jumped from here? The seventh floor?

"Didn't he test negative for awakening?"

"I've said it a dozen times. His status window hasn't been opened yet. For now, he's just a civilian."

"Bullshit. Civilian, my ass."

Kang Dusik slammed his fist on the windowsill in frustration.

"What now, Squad Leader?"

As if Kang Dusik had any brilliant ideas. His head felt like it was about to explode.

"Contact Section Chief Lee from the Special Investigation Unit. Tell her that the guy who fell from the sky has just escaped."

"Yes, sir."

The entire investigation suddenly felt adrift. But Kang Dusik's gut told him something.

Kim Junyong.

Fifteen years on the force had honed his instincts. That guy was hiding something.

A regular civilian? Not a chance. Yet the tests showed that he wasn't awakened.

If he were innocent, he could have cleared his name. But he ran.

Highly suspicious.

Vroom.

The car carrying the two detectives sped off, heading back to the National Police Agency.

* * *

A man wearing a hospital gown walked down the street, smiling brightly.

"Wow, it's been two hundred years and nothing has changed much."

He had been worried. Two hundred years. He thought that Earth might have advanced so much that it would feel unfamiliar, but it hadn't.

Cars still ran on roads, not in the sky, and people still kept real dogs, not robotic ones.

"Woof! Woof! Grrrr!"

"Oh dear, what's gotten into him? I'm so sorry."

"Heh, what a cute mutt."

"L-Let's go, Jawami!"

As the woman quickly dragged the dog away, Kim Junyong smiled. He absorbed the mutt's wariness, tension, and anxiety, as well as the owner's fluster, embarrassment, and irritation.

Crackle.

"Seriously, how long is this going to take?"

They say that dust builds a mountain, but this was too little dust.

No wonder black mages resorted to abducting innocents just to instill terror.

There was a reason a black mage would appear in a peaceful village, sow fear, and establish a presence before vanishing without a trace.

That was a black mage's typical method of collecting mana.

Not all emotions were equal. Fear, pain, and despair yielded purer black mana.

"At this pace, it'll take forever."

He needed stronger energy. Thicker, stickier negative emotions...Maybe he should torture someone?

< Bel's Scale has detected an improper thought. >

"Yeah, yeah. It's a habit, just a habit."

Kim Junyong didn't plan to kill just anyone. If he started killing one or two people for the sake of convenience, it would quickly escalate to hundreds, even tens of thousands. Resentment was like a snowball–it never stopped growing once it started rolling.

"I'll just collect slowly."

There was no need to rush. As he followed the scent of more primal emotions, he soon found himself in an entertainment district packed with bars and karaoke rooms.

"Oh wow. This place is a gold mine."

He strolled along the sidewalk, grinning from ear to ear. He was barefoot, wearing a hospital gown, and his hair was unkempt.

People scrambled to get out of his way.

"Earthlings sure are polite."

In Belhaim, someone would have slammed into his shoulder and picked a fight. He would have been lucky to avoid being dragged into a back alley, beaten, and robbed.

"Huh?"

He heard something. His sharp ears began to sort through the urban noise. Cars, drunkards, cats, and a girl's scream.

Kyaaaah!

"Oh!"

That was it. A scream! Something was happening.

He couldn't help but get excited.

"Hehehe."

If things went well, he might gather enough energy to summon Remi in one shot.

Tap tap.

He rushed toward the sound. He passed through the entertainment district and entered an ordinary alleyway lined with multi-family homes.

Something was happening in the far corner of a piloti-style parking lot.

"Mmmph, mmph!"

"Hey! Hold still!"

The girl's mouth was taped shut. The guy had come prepared. If Kim Junyong had arrived a moment later, he might not have found them.

The neighborhood was built on a slope, so crouching in the upper garage gave him a clear view of the scene below.

"Stop squirming, bitch! Do you really want to die?"

The rapist pulled out a knife. The victim, a high school girl in uniform, was frozen with fear.

Pure emotion.

Terror. Dread. Of all the negative emotions, these provided the strongest energy.

Kim Junyong drew out that thick, raw fear and converted it into mana. The black mana surged, dense and massive.

Just a little more. If he could just gather a little more...

Resignation, shame, humiliation.

Still short.

Surprise, hope, longing, desperation.

Huh? A thread of positive energy slipped in between the cracks of all that darkness. Kim Junyong blinked.

His eyes met the schoolgirl's. Reading the desperate wish in her gaze, he gave a small shrug and a smirk.

"Well, I've gathered enough anyway."

"Huh?! Who the hell are you?!"

The rapist snapped his head around and saw Kim Junyong sitting on the wall.

"Oh, don't mind me."

"Who the hell is this bastard?!"

Kim Junyong's appearance was anything but normal. A hospital gown? Barefoot? Hair that looked unwashed for days? He looked like he had just escaped from a mental hospital.

"What, you insane?"

"No, I'm Junyong."

"Fuck, you're really pissing me off."

Kim Junyong laughed at the pot calling the kettle black.

"Yes, that's it. Get even angrier."

He greedily drank in the rapist's rage, frustration, and spiraling fury.

Like victims, villains were rich with negative emotions.

This might be enough for a proper demon summon.

"Hey! Get down here!"

Since he was called, he would go.

"Huh? F-Fuck off, will you?"

"But you told me to come down."

"Don't come any closer!"

The rapist wrapped his forearm around the girl's neck from behind and raised his knife threateningly.

"I'll stab her, I swear!"

"Then do it."

The rapist was unsettled by Kim Junyong's calm voice. He wasn't the only one reacting, either.

< Bel's Scale believes it is wrong to ignore evil. >

"Hehe, just wait."

There were few targets better suited for torment than villains. Kim Junyong funneled all the mana he had gathered into a single spell.

"Demon Summon."

Now, my guardian knight Remi. Our soul pact is intact. Why don't you answer me?

Crackle.

A black mass appeared in midair, like a glob of oil. It quivered and rippled.

"What are you doing? Manifest already."

Wriggle, wriggle.

The summoned demon's soul couldn't find a form. To rebuild its body, it needed a sample to copy.

It scanned its surroundings, searching for a human from Earth, not Belhaim. Nearby, it found a man and a woman.

As the blob moved toward the man, he panicked and shoved the girl forward on instinct.

"Ack!"

She stumbled and touched the black mass.

Crackle.

The black mass immediately began to take on a human form.

Zzt.

Its checkered school uniform skirt, blouse, and sneakers were identical to those of the hostage.

The only differences were her long hair flowing down to her waist and a face so stunning it hardly seemed human.

If it weren't for the demon sword in her hand, no one would have guessed that this long-haired schoolgirl was Remi.

"...Remi?"

"..."

"..."

"...Shall I cut them?"

"Y-Yeah."

Kim Junyong nodded reluctantly at the voice that sounded vaguely angry. Since he was already facing a villain, he wanted to confirm something, so he summoned Remi instead of confronting the rapist directly.

Slash!

The rapist's head flew into the air.

So, what will happen now?

Would the deeds committed by his servant also be weighed by Bel's Scale?

Answer me, Bel's Scale.

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