WeTried Translations

Translator: Yasi

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ The Precious Demon King

Chapter 63: Equivalent Exchange

Kim Junyong returned to his base, where Kim Sangsu greeted him.

"Hello!"

"Hm? Sangsu, isn't it?"

"Yes! Since the team leader and deputy team leader are away, I came again."

"Oh?"

"If there's anything you would like me to do, please tell me!"

"All right, then help Ed later."

"Ah–yes."

Although Kim Sangsu had been dispatched to quickly attend to Kim Junyong after his exit from the Demon Realm, it seemed he would end up being the dishwashing shuttle.

"Well then, which dungeon should I connect?"

Kim Junyong took out a golden ticket.

[ Belhaim Dungeon Link Ticket ]

Flash.

As he used the ticket, it connected to Black Mage Kim Junyong's consciousness. However, because the dimensions were different, he sensed several disconnected spaces.

There were nine dungeons belonging to Kim Junyong in Belhaim. He had to choose one of them.

Some held summoning mediums, and some were laboratories. Some were merely used for storage, others for stowing valuables like equipment. Some were just small shelters dug at strategic points.

Should I summon the undead army? Hm, should I connect the treasure storehouse?

Anyway, if he obtained more tickets, he could connect all the dungeons. Since this was the first dungeon, though, he wanted to connect the most useful one.

I can't go there myself and can only take things out.

Kim Junyong thought for a moment, then finally made a decision.

I guess it should be the tribute storehouse.

Of the Mad Monarch's nine dungeons, it was the only one whose location was known to the public.

It wasn't far from the imperial palace, so the empire, kingdoms, and various others came there to offer tribute. As friendship fees for peace, their tributes would surely still be piling up neatly in the storehouse.

They're probably still giving offerings even now.

Aside from the palace, the tributes voluntarily offered by the Mad Monarch's followers were considerable.

Flash.

Kim Junyong connected the deactivated dungeon.

Now it's three.

He examined the spaces that had settled in his consciousness. He sensed three of them: Earth's dungeon, Belhaim's tribute dungeon, and the void pouch.

The tribute dungeon had both an aboveground and an underground structure. Offerings placed on the aboveground altar were automatically transferred into the dungeon below.

The dungeon keeper there...was Gram, right?

When he looked over the dungeon, he saw that Gram was still managing it.

The food storehouse was still packed with all sorts of grain sacks, along with various fruits and meats. There were also accessories and handicrafts. Weapons and armor, seemingly offered by blacksmiths, were present as well.

"Faithful, even without a master."

Gram was still managing the dungeon neatly.

"...But the stock doesn't seem to have grown much."

Kim Junyong frowned. Should he call Gram to ask about it? No, there was no need.

Earth and Belhaim existed in different spacetimes. Twenty days on Earth equaled two hundred in Belhaim.

From their perspective, enough time had passed that it wouldn't be strange to think the Mad Monarch had disappeared. Moreover, hadn't he slain the Demon King and vanished?

In Belhaim, humans were undoubtedly rallying their forces quickly around the emperor again.

"Remi. You'll have to meet with the emperor."

"Shall I cut him down?"

"No. There's no one who obeys as well as he does."

It wasn't as if Kim Junyong were about to show himself in Belhaim right now; setting up a new emperor would only weaken control.

The current emperor was well aware of the fear and danger posed by the Mad Monarch. All Kim Junyong needed to do was remind him that he was still alive and well.

"Just scare him a bit."

If the friendship fee was neglected, he only had to let them know they weren't friends.

"Shall I cut down a few of them?"

"No more than five."

"Tch."

Kim Junyong placed a restriction out of concern. Without it, a large-scale massacre in the imperial palace might ensue.

"Oh, and bring back a void pouch too. There's only one in the tribute storehouse."

"Sure."

He needed two of them to give as gifts to Cheon Yubeom and Lee Mina.

"I'll go now."

"Right. While you're there, think of it as taking a leisurely vacation."

"Then...shall I cut down five more?"

"...Fine."

Five or ten, whatever. With Kim Junyong's permission, Remi grinned.

"Well then, I'll see you later."

Flash.

Remi vanished. Then, he distinctly felt her presence in the tribute storehouse.

Seeing the pale-faced man, Kim Junyong smirked.

So there are two avatars.

His hypothesis was correct. Time in Belhaim ran ten times faster than on Earth. Their spacetimes were different, meaning their dimensions were different as well.

Since only souls could cross, the first thing his familiars did upon being summoned to Earth was to recreate their vessels.

On Earth, Remi was a high school girl. In Belhaim, he was a cold, harsh man.

She had one soul, but in the two worlds, she came to have two avatars.

Could it really be only demons?

Earthlings must have been under the same mechanism.

When ten million Earthlings were summoned to Belhaim, only their souls must have gone.

Their avatars must have been created there by Belhaim.

They were special beings called "Heroes," who could see status windows. It was like creating a player character in an online game.

The souls of those whose bodies died there crossed back to Earth and reinhabited their original bodies. They became today's hunters.

"Hmm. Then where's my avatar?"

Kim Junyong hadn't crossed with just his soul. He had flown through the cosmos, crossing spacetime in the very body that had undergone countless evolutions in Belhaim. If that was the case, then the body of the twenty-year-old Kim Junyong who had lived on Earth should still exist...

I'll have to ask God about it later.

If anyone knew the answer, it would likely be him.

"Huh, where has Remi gone now?"

Kim Sangsu courageously asked. Remi–whose very presence was a benefit to every man–where had she gone?

"Oh, Belhaim."

"What? W-What?!"

"What? Why are you so surprised?"

"Y-You can go to Belhaim?"

"Not me. Only Remi. Well, Ed too."

Only familiars could go back and forth. More precisely, only their souls could.

Remi, with her two avatars, had no problem since only her soul moved. Edmond, however, had no body in Belhaim to house his soul. The first thing he would have to do as soon as he arrived was model a demon body for himself.

Kim Junyong couldn't go himself for now, but his familiars could travel freely.

I need to report this.

This was top-class intel. Feeling like he was finally doing proper work for the first time in a while, Kim Sangsu's heart pounded with excitement. Following Cheon Yubeom's example, he logged into the Special Advisor Support Division group chat to write a message. Just then, his phone rang.

"Huh?"

Before he knew it, he had pressed the call button and hurriedly answered.

"Ah, yes. Yes, I'm with him now. What? Ah, yes."

"What? Who is it?"

"Oh, it's Deputy Bureau Director Choi Hyunju."

"Give it here."

"Yes."

Kim Junyong took the call.

"Talk."

[ Hhh, ahh, huuhh. ]

"...?"

This woman again.

"If you have nothing to say, should I hang up?"

[ Hahh, no. I-I-I called to ask for a favor. ]

"So it's a deal."

[ Hahh–yes! ]

For some reason, Choi Hyunju was more delighted by the word "deal" than by "favor."

"What is it?"

[ The conquest time for Busan's B-97 Dungeon is far too short. ]

"Ah!"

Kim Junyong's brow furrowed. That God Earth bastard. He put on a show with waves and dolphins for no reason. Just how much resource did he waste?

Since the dungeon time-shortening phenomenon was surely occurring worldwide, the resources poured into constructing that temporary space must have been considerable.

"Got it. But B-rank?"

[ Yes, that's right. We have five hours before a dungeon break occurs. ]

"...?"

Kim Junyong tilted his head.

"Isn't that enough time?"

[ Even in the case of dungeons that have been sufficiently explored, it usually takes up to ten hours to conquer. ]

"..."

Tch, really, these Earthlings. How on earth have they been hunting demons until now? All they needed to do was take down the boss.

"Well, okay. I'll handle the Busan dungeon."

[ Hahh, thank you. As compensation for this deal... ]

Kim Junyong cut her off.

"Forget it. I get paid a salary, I should at least earn my keep."

[ Huh? No, that's not it. I really want to compensate you. ]

"Hmm."

Kim Junyong frowned. A deal is founded on the principle of equivalent exchange.

To Kim Junyong, a dungeon like the one in Busan was no more than a stroll in the park.

With teleportation, there was no burden of travel time, and if it was a B-rank dungeon, he could just go in, kill, and come back.

He didn't expect excessive rewards for such minimal effort.

Most people sought much for little, but that was only when luck favored them.

In the end, balance applied to everything. Free luck only circled back as misfortune later on.

The "Lucky Stone" was precious because it ignored that balance and applied luck.

In any case, Kim Junyong didn't want his luck being spent on such trivial matters. All he wished for was a reward exactly equal to his effort.

[ We would like to purchase the house next to Special Advisor's residence and have your sister's family move in. ]

"Hm?"

Kim Junyong's heart pounded at the unexpected proposal. He felt strangely excited.

The face of his cute nephew, who he had just seen, came vividly back to mind.

"My sister would move in?"

[ We would ask Special Advisor about it first. ]

"Hmm."

Not bad. After all, the closer his family was, the better.

Well, he did have a Base Expansion Ticket. But even without it, the house next door would, in fact, still be within Kim Junyong's safety zone...

"All right. But it would feel wrong to just accept it for free...I'll take care of a few extra dungeons."

[ Ah, yes. Understood. ]

Kim Sangsu politely took the phone back from Kim Junyong and asked.

"Should I get the car ready?"

"What car."

For dungeon travel, a phone was sufficient. If he took a car, when would he ever get anything done?

"Ah, I shouldn't have sent Remi off."

Should he call her back? No–that would only make her angry.

"I'll just have to do it myself."

Unintentionally, it seemed he had ended up cleaning up the mess caused by God Earth. He was wasting energy on pointless things like waves and beaches. So of course the dungeon time-shortening happened.

That bastard must have given me teleportation for this very reason.

Anyway, he was a sly bastard. Still, since it was exactly the ability Kim Junyong needed, he couldn't really hate the guy. As he said himself, the design was brilliant.

Now then, shall we get through this crisis? Hm, scale? If I don't step in, it seems like a lot of people will die, huh?

< ...No damage has been sustained yet, but people are trembling in fear. To save them is the Arbiter's rightful duty. >

Kim Junyong grinned as he opened the dungeon map. He selected the highest-ranked dungeon among South Korea's many and pressed it. The location didn't matter anyway.

"Three B-ranks."

It was time to earn points and finally level up again.

Flash.

Kim Junyong disappeared in an instant.

"Hahh."

Kim Sangsu hurried to report in the Special Advisor Support Division group chat. As an ordinary civilian, he still wasn't able to assist the Special Advisor the way Cheon Yubeom and Lee Mina could. For some reason, their absence felt all the heavier.

"Nyaa, what are you doing just stupidly fiddling with your phone, nya?"

"Huh?"

"Come down and help get the restaurant ready, nya."

"Ah, yes!"

It was nearly lunchtime. Whether or not the world was in chaos, those who had been standing in line since dawn remained in the alley, unwilling to waste their spots.

Even if the world were to end tomorrow, these unlucky customers would rather post on SNS than plant a tree–and for them, delicious food had to be prepared once again today.

"Nyaa, it's a really lucky day, nya."

The demon Edmond de La Fleur. It was a lucky day that made him long for his hometown–the hell of the Demon Realm.

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