Chapter 42
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: True Detective
Chapter: 42
Chapter Title: 41. Let's Become a Villain!
-----------------------------------------------------------------
World Hunter Alliance
The Korean branch of the World Hunter Alliance in Busan had gathered representatives from hunter organizations around the globe due to the incident involving the Gluttony Sin.
At the time, Park Jun-hyuk had grown stronger through the fragment's power, and the demonic energy he emitted was no joke.
It was on par with the demonic energy from at least an A-rank monster, and the matter had been reported to the World Hunter Alliance through the association.
After the catastrophe of Azidahaka that triggered the Great Cataclysm, and considering they'd barely defeated monsters capable of laying the world to waste just a few years ago, the hunters had every reason to be on edge about this.
"A Korean named Park Jun-hyuk heard a voice from the Gluttony Sin and obtained a fragment, which made him stronger."
"The fact that he was emitting demonic energy means he's undoubtedly turning into a monster. What the hell is this 'Sin' anyway?"
"A few years back, we barely took down monsters like the Yellow Dragon that could devastate the world. If this Sin is dangerous, we need to track it down."
"If Park Jun-hyuk briefly reached A-rank monster levels, leaving it unchecked could mean facing S-rank or higher. Since he got a fragment, the main body of the Sin is probably estimated at S- to SS-rank."
It was a simple calculation, but the fragments extracted from Park Jun-hyuk's heart had been incredibly small.
The usual way to turn people into monsters was embedding a monster core, but that required a special ability as well.
Even then, no one could create A-rank or higher monsters.
Wasn't the Sin—the source of those fragments—proof that it was far stronger?
Meanwhile, Japan, which had suffered from the "Chaos Oni" in the past, was fidgeting anxiously at the thought of an oni-level threat emerging from Korea and spilling over into their territory.
After all, the Yellow Dragon had appeared in China, so they figured Korea couldn't possibly be spared.
As a result, Japan's hunter representative, Maeda Hiroshi, glared at Korea's representative, Lee Cheol-su, over this Sin business.
"What the hell is Korea doing to cause shit like this?"
Lee Cheol-su, an A-rank hunter representing Korea, was already exhausted from his wife nagging him nonstop about having a kid lately. Hiroshi's provocation pushed him over the edge.
"You wanna talk, coming from the folks who raised goblins near Fukushima?"
"You mocking us right now? Countless Japanese died because of those goblins. How dare you laugh at a neighboring country's pain?"
"Then fuck off. Mocking us when the Sin showed up here is fine, huh?"
Who started picking fights first anyway? It wasn't even clear if the Sin originated in Korea or drifted in from elsewhere.
There was no way they could just let Japan's bullshit slide.
"Everyone knows you Korean bastards are scheming behind the scenes. You've got Yoo Jin-seok too. Bet you're doing human experiments to breed whatever this Sin thing is, bulking up your power."
"Ever heard of Unit 731?"
The room fell silent the moment Lee Cheol-su said that.
The other countries' hunters sensed a storm brewing.
Bang!
"Still stuck in the past, you damn Joseon bastard!"
Hiroshi exploded first.
"Listen here, you little Jap prick!"
Things escalated to the point where they were drawing weapons on each other.
Eventually, the European representatives tried to intervene between Cheol-su and Hiroshi, but the two wouldn't listen.
A European hunter rep, seeing the meeting going down the drain, called out to China's rep, Tao, who was sitting quietly with his eyes closed.
"What the hell is this? What's China's hunter rep doing? Stop them if you're all East Asian hunters!"
"Goryeo bitches and Little Japan fighting? That's just how it always is. Those kids grow up scrapping."
Tao's remark, spat out like he was above it all, drew plenty of attention from Cheol-su and Hiroshi.
"This fucking copycat chink who rips off our culture."
"Little Japan? Says the China that cleansed its own people after the Yellow Dragon?"
"Hmph! The Middle Kingdom is the center of the world, and we proudly subdued the Yellow Dragon!"
Tao puffed out his chest proudly, but Lee Cheol-su and Maeda Hiroshi just found it repulsive.
"Oh yeah? Then why does mighty China, with all that population, have fewer S-ranks than Korea?"
"If it weren't for our Shinohara family in Japan, you think those named monsters on your turf would've been caught?"
"You damn vassal states!"
In the end, Tao jumped up, offended on behalf of the Middle Kingdom, turning the meeting room into a brawl pit for East Asia's three hunter powers.
"Quiet down. It's one of the Sins, right? Gluttony Sin. That means there could be others."
"Ah."
Only when America's hunter rep, Alex, stepped in did the room finally settle.
Lee Cheol-su, Maeda Hiroshi, Tao, and the rest returned to their seats.
"The Gluttony Sin might've just scattered fragments in Korea, or the real thing might exist there, but we can't assume all Seven Deadly Sins are in Korea. They could be in Japan, China, Europe too. It's like the Four Heavenly Kings all over again."
The Four Heavenly Kings referred to the evil dragon Azidahaka, the traitor Lancelot, the Yellow Dragon, and the Chaos Oni.
Azidahaka vanished around the time of the Great Cataclysm when hunter society was forming, but it roamed Europe and Asia back then. The Yellow Dragon operated from China to Russia. Britain's Lancelot wrecked Europe, and only the Chaos Oni was taken down by the Shinohara family in Japan.
"Could be Azidahaka's doing? Hunters just slapped the Four Heavenly Kings label on them anyway. Azidahaka's on another level. It wasn't even subjugated, so who knows."
"It's true we have no leads on the Sins outside Korea right now."
All they knew was that the 'Sins' existed. And only one had surfaced.
"How about each country's hunter reps go out and investigate Gates and villains for Sin clues?"
"Yeah, that sounds best."
The meeting ended without any leads on the Sins.
And through it, the existence of the Sins became known worldwide.
"Uh, Mr. Lee Cheol-su."
"Yes, Alex."
"That White Flame Sword Princess, Yoo Eun-ha. Know anything about her?"
"Ah, well."
Lee Cheol-su recalled a recent chat with his wife, Kim Young-hee.
—Sob sob sob. That bitch Yoo Eun-ha.
—Why?
—Wahh. She eye-raped my whole body and stole my Mythic-grade weapon.
—No way.
—For real. She's a lesbian.
He hadn't seen it himself; it was just his wife's word, probably exaggerated.
Besides, Yoo Eun-ha was a famous cadet in Korea now. He couldn't badmouth her.
"Uh, yeah. She's incredibly talented. Mm. All the top Korean guilds are already eyeing her."
"Ho ho, a girl like that would get along great with my daughter Rosemary. Could be good friends."
Alex had no idea at the time he'd handed the fish market over to the cat.
In the Songdo penthouse, having thoroughly conquered the great fortress named Reina, I stretched contentedly.
Good thing I'd ripped it out by the root. Dragging her to bed and laying her flat took some guts even for me now.
Reina, coming to her senses, stared at her reflection in the mirror and freaked out.
"Wh-what? My tongue. My eyes! And there's a tattoo on my lower belly!"
"Why?"
"Why?! This is—hic!"
"You look prettier like that."
She kept whining, so I pressed down teasingly on her yin tattoo, and her hips twitched a bit.
This wasn't just any tattoo. It was a mark saying she was mine. She could proudly show it off anywhere.
"Th-thank you. No, I mean. Doesn't this look like a snake?"
"It's a dragon."
"No, like a snake."
"Dragon."
Who the hell compares me to some lowly snake?
I felt wronged. I was the proud evil dragon, after all.
"Yes, dragon. But anyway, what are we gonna do about this?"
"Kissing feels better with it, right? Here."
She had no choice but to overlap her lips and experience the split tongue's perks firsthand.
The sensation of two tongues intertwining more intensely than usual was far more passionate and desperate than a normal kiss.
"Haa. Haa. Leaving that aside."
"With some effort, you can merge the tongue back into one."
I demonstrated the perfect technique to fuse the split tongue. Reina grimaced at first, then mimicked it successfully.
"Anyway, where the hell are we?"
"Black God Cult headquarters."
"Pardon?"
"The penthouse where I, the leader of the Black God Cult, reside."
Her face went blank for a while, like a pigeon that got smacked.
"You're with the Black God Cult!? And the leader? Then Kim Jae-su's infiltration too? Wait, no, that doesn't add up."
"I came to raid the Black God Cult and ended up as leader by accident?"
In truth, I'd beaten them down and taken over, but no need to worry her.
"No, what does that even."
"Someone's gotta control these guys."
She already knew I was Azidahaka.
I had justification. The Black God Cult worshiped Azidahaka and dreamed of its revival.
That's how the world saw them, and since Reina knew I was Azidahaka, she'd understand.
"The Black God Cult gets exterminated on sight. You know that, right?"
"Don't worry. We're revamping the image from now on."
From a mere crazy cult to a warlord faction integrating quarantine zone villains and abandoned civilians.
"Revamp or whatever, isn't this like declaring you're reviving the Black God Cult your brother crushed?"
"Ugh, such a pain."
Maybe change the Black God Cult's name while at it?
The cult would get wiped out, sure. But the other villains... well, villains could be killed without issue anyway; they just lacked a banner.
Hadn't I wiped out the Black Dragon Guild myself?
"No, seriously, we could all die like this? Yoo Eun-ha. Right now, even."
"Mm. Reina. Listen up."
I clearly explained to her what I planned to achieve using the Black God Cult.
Of course, no spoilers about the future. Just that I'd unify the quarantine zone and subjugate other villains with it.
She stomped her feet anxiously, then sighed.
"The intent's good, but who knows if it'll work. Plus, Yoo Eun-ha, you're Korea's golden cadet everyone expects great things from. Getting caught as a villain is game over!"
"If I get caught. So I just won't."
"Rebellion succeeds and it's a revolution. Fails and you're the world's most hated bastard."
"Fine. But without outside support, survival's tough, right?"
The quarantine zone was completely cut off from the city. No supplies from outside, and Songdo wouldn't last.
But I had Cheonsan Group behind me.
"Cheonsan Group will handle supplies."
"You're really going all-in, huh?"
She gulped, caught off guard.
She was so cute I smirked and hugged her gently from behind.
"So. Will you follow me?"
"You confident we won't get caught?"
"Yeah."
"But fighting villains or whatever means our identities could leak."
A long tail gets grabbed. Risk was always there.
"I'll figure that out."
"Haa. Fine."
I'd drag her along anyway if she refused.
But right now, something more important.
I eyed Reina's body up and down, flaunting her female allure.
"More importantly."
"Yes?"
"Seeing this slutty body makes my lower belly throb. Can't just leave it like this, right?"
What a bitch, really pissing off a girl.
"No, after all that, again."
"Dragons have overflowing lust."
From morning, I pounced on Reina, who was showing off her yin tattoo and proclaiming herself my bitch.
Every time she climaxed, clinging with that split tongue was adorable.