The Precious Demon King - Chapter 8

WeTried Translations

Translator: Yasi

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ The Precious Demon King

Chapter 8: Success After Divorce

Kim Junyong was reunited with his family.

"Wow. Are those your daughter and son?"

"Yes. The older one is a high school senior, and the younger one is in eighth grade."

"Ah, hello. I'm Yu Jia."

"Hello. I'm Yu Jihun."

Having a new uncle appear out of nowhere felt incredibly awkward. And he looked like he was barely in his twenties...

"And that person...?"

"Oh, she's my familiar."

"Huh?"

Seeing Kim Jangmi's startled reaction, Kim Junyong grinned.

"I thought we would see you often, so I brought her along. Say hi."

"I'm Remi."

"Ah, yes..."

"Remi, go inside."

Whoosh.

Remi vanished without a word, and the entire Kim Jangmi family looked on in astonishment once more.

"A-Anyway, come in."

Kim Junyong entered his sister's house. They sat across from each other on the living room floor, and Kim Jangmi held his hand tightly.

"How? How did this happen?"

"Ah, that."

Kim Junyong confidently told her everything.

He told her how he had fallen from the sky upon returning. He told her how he had wandered the streets, killed a rapist, and saved a high school girl. He told her how he had escaped the Hunter Management Bureau.

By the time he finished, Kim Jangmi and her children were slack-jawed.

"Th-That's insane..."

Yu Jia quickly pulled out her phone and searched the news.

[ (Breaking News) Signs of Terror Activity at the Special Investigation Unit Headquarters. ]

"This is crazy! It's all true."

"Wow, Uncle. You're awesome."

"What do you mean, 'awesome,' you lunatic."

Yu Jia's face was full of confusion.

"What are we supposed to do? Are we all going to get arrested?"

"Come on, nephew. I explained everything clearly. They won't go that far."

"No!"

Yu Jia stared speechlessly at the man she wasn't sure whether to call uncle or disaster incarnate.

More than his smirking face, it was her mother's worried expression that tugged at her heart.

"Mom."

"Yeah?"

"Can we talk?"

"Not now. Later. You two, go to your rooms."

"Why? We're family too!"

"Be quiet and go inside!"

The siblings were sent to their rooms, but they kept their attention on the living room. Yu Jia asked her brother, who had his ear pressed against the door.

"Can you hear anything?"

"Not really."

"Ugh, there's a criminal in our house."

"Criminal? He's a hunter. Technically, he did a good thing. He killed a rapist."

"How is that any different?"

"Jeez, Noona. If soldiers kill people during a war, is that murder? No–it's considered a war achievement."

"..."

Her brother wasn't entirely wrong either.

"And he's our uncle."

"We just met him today and you're calling him uncle?"

Just then, a loud voice came from the living room.

[ You two be quiet! ]

Startled, Yu Jihun pouted.

"See, you got us in trouble."

"You?! You just called your sister 'you'?"

"Whatever. Just hush."

While the siblings bickered, the serious conversation continued in the living room.

"So, what are your plans now?"

"What else? I just got back. I'm going to rest."

The problem at hand seemed serious, but Kim Jangmi nodded anyway.

Twenty years had passed since the Day of Beginning. Returnees, demons, and villains were all part of daily life now. Though she wasn't as obsessed as her son, who idolized that world, she knew enough.

Her brother was a returnee. Not just any returnee–he had survived for two hundred years and had just returned. He was like a soldier finally home from the front lines. Resting was the right call. At least, after sorting out the current mess...

"How about Noona?"

"Hm?"

"How have you been?"

Kim Junyong changed the subject. He would rather hear about Kim Jangmi's life over the past twenty years than dwell on his own dark, gloomy, and horrific past two hundred years.

"I got married, had children, and lived a normal life. Our parents passed away about five years after you disappeared."

"I see."

"...You seem calm."

"It's been two hundred years. I didn't have any expectations. Just seeing Noona again is a huge gift."

"Junyong..."

Kim Jangmi's eyes welled with tears.

"What about your husband?"

"We divorced."

"Hmm."

The conversation hit a lull. So there was no head of household.

"Don't worry. You've got me."

"Hm?"

"From now on, I'll take care of Noona's family."

"Junyong."

"What?"

"I'm a doctor."

"...?"

Not all doctors make tons of money, right? It was a demanding job, too.

"Don't your superiors give you a hard time? You don't have to endure that."

"I'm the director."

"Huh?"

"It's my clinic."

"..."

She was the director of a private clinic?

"Junyong, this isn't the time to worry about money."

As Kim Jangmi chatted quietly with Kim Junyong about the past, a sense of calm returned. Along with it came the courage to face reality again.

"Do you really think the Hunter Management Bureau will leave you alone?"

"They will."

"Why are you so sure?"

"Because if they don't, I won't either."

"..."

Her brother was really living recklessly. Kim Jangmi sighed inwardly at his lack of planning.

"First, go wash up. I'll make you some food."

"Hehe, okay."

Kim Junyong hurried to the bathroom.

"Ah, this is civilization."

Belhaim's magical civilization wasn't bad, but he had always missed Earth's scientific civilization.

"Ahh, shampoo!"

That refreshing, earth-ruining delight.

As he scrubbed off layers of old grime, Yu Jia and Yu Jihun crept out.

"Mom, food? This late?"

"Go to bed."

"Who can sleep? What if the police show up?"

"..."

That was exactly it. Kim Jangmi was anxious, too.

She wanted to at least feed him a warm meal before anything else happened. Of course, as her brother said, the best outcome would be if nothing happened. But the world rarely worked that way.

"I'll handle it, so just go to bed!"

"Tch."

"Jihun, you can sleep in the master bedroom."

"Okay."

The children were sent off, and a hearty meal began to take shape.

"Ooh, soybean paste stew."

"Hold on, I'll get rice."

Kim Jangmi, who had been stirring the bulgogi, hurriedly scooped some rice.

"Eat up."

"What about Noona?"

"I already ate."

"Really? Thanks for the meal."

Slurp.

"Ahh, amazing!"

This was the taste. In Belhaim, he had lived with power greater than an emperor's. Though he had eaten all kinds of delicacies there, the taste of home was special as expected.

"..."

Watching Kim Junyong devour the food, Kim Jangmi's heart ached.

What am I supposed to do?

How hard must it have been? Traveling abroad could be rough enough, but he had been conscripted into a war against demons in another world.

She had heard that the last returnees came back ten years ago.

He was left behind. Everyone else evacuated, but my brother...he wandered that hellish battlefield for another ten–no, a hundred more years.

How could he be okay after that? She looked at him with deep pity.

"Eat slowly."

"Wow, I haven't had home-cooked food in two hundred years."

"...I'll give you more rice, give me your bowl."

Holding back tears, she took the empty bowl and quickly filled it again.

"Hehe, it feels good to be home."

"If only our parents could see you..."

"Yeah."

Kim Junyong answered, but his face didn't look particularly sad. Kim Jangmi looked at Kim Junyong with pity, seeing how the battlefield had worn him down and eroded his emotions.

He definitely has PTSD.

Hadn't he just returned from an extremely stressful situation? Maybe the trouble with the Hunter Management Bureau stemmed from that too.

After a heartfelt reunion, the two talked for a long while. It wasn't until 3 a.m. that they finally went to their rooms.

Kim Junyong slept in Yu Jihun's room.

"My nephew..."

It felt strange. Maybe it was the blood tie? He wasn't even his child, yet something warm stirred in his heart. Was this affection?

"Hehe."

Cute little guy. He felt happy.

It was a warmth he had never known in Belhaim. Though he had wielded absolute power there, he could say with certainty that this place was better.

"Still no sign of the Hunter Management Bureau or the police. I guess they understood."

There was still no news from the Hunter Management Bureau or the police.

South Korea had just avoided collapse. Kim Junyong felt reassured that South Korea, which he had yet to fully enjoy, was still intact. He had nearly destroyed it.

"Time to sleep."

He lay on the soft bed. But the peace didn't last long.

"Hmm?"

< Bel's Scale begins intermediate settlement. >

Huh? What was this? Was he still dreaming? Had the sun already set? That couldn't be. He got up and drew back the curtains, seeing that dawn was just breaking.

< Bel's Scale is heavily tilted. >

< Bel's Scale is intervening to restore balance. >

< "Reflection" is placed on the Scale of Order. >

< "Shared Pain" is placed on the Scale of Order. >

< "Shared Emotion" is placed on the Scale of Order. >

"Ugh."

Suddenly wracked with pain, Kim Junyong trembled. Waves of fear and hesitation crashed over him.

He immediately began to observe himself.

What is this...

Black mage Kim Junyong. His beginning was as Test Subject #1. This kind of agony and despair was all too familiar.

With an apathetic expression, he looked at the golden scale. If the orb bearing a yin-yang mark broke on the order side, the smaller orbs–Violent Teacher, Threat, and so on–would break too.

It's fine if I don't order Remi directly and just leave her be, but...

He couldn't lift the restriction on Remi just to avoid a little pain. He didn't want Earth destroyed at her hands.

Buzz.

Soon, the pain vanished. He got up and found himself drenched in sweat.

"This isn't something to take lightly."

< ... >

He had been affected, but not harmed.

The scale still tilted toward chaos. Three black orbs were stacked.

"Hey, didn't you say it settled once a day? What's this intermediate settlement?"

< When the imbalance is severe, intervention occurs early. >

"Seriously."

He shook out his wet hair. The scale settled daily deeds.

Are good deeds rewarded and evil deeds punished?

Daily settlement at sunset. Intermediate ones at sunrise? Either way, it was hopeless to continue sleeping.

"Well, I'm up."

He had barely slept for a few hours. It was early, but he had no choice but to get up and go outside.

"Junyong, you're up?"

"Hmm?"

Kim Jangmi and Yu Jihun were eating breakfast at the table.

"Where's the oldest?"

"She already left for school."

"Huh?"

The sun had just risen. Why did she leave for school so early?

"Quick. Come eat."

Still a bit dazed, Kim Junyong sat down and found Yu Jihun already eating breakfast in his school uniform. He chuckled softly as he watched his sister scoop rice.

"Did something good happen?"

"Yeah. Jihun knows a lot about hunters."

Yu Jihun explained the reason.

"Since no one has come to arrest Uncle, you were probably flagged as high-risk by the Hunter Management Bureau. There used to be a returnee support program."

"What's that?"

"It's a program that helps returnees adjust to society since many of them end up becoming villains."

"Ah."

"They're probably just observing for now. If you avoid causing trouble and show that you're adapting well, the Hunter Management Bureau will probably give you a positive evaluation."

Kim Jangmi seemed relieved just knowing that Kim Junyong wouldn't be taken away.

"I'm so sorry. It was so sudden that I couldn't adjust my schedule. You'll have to be alone until I get off work."

"Hm? It's fine. I'll look around outside."

"I'll be back soon. Let's go somewhere together around 6 later."

"Well, okay."

Kim Jangmi handed him a credit card.

"Buy whatever you need. Get a phone, too."

"Okay."

Kim Jangmi pushed aside her deep regret and worry and left first to go to work.

Yu Jihun picked at his food and looked at Kim Junyong with sparkling eyes.

"Uncle, did you really live for two hundred years?"

"That's right."