Chapter 35
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 35
Chapter Title: Devils Are Liars
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Kim Hyun.
He was an ordinary B-rank hunter.
Not to the point where you'd call a B-rank hunter ordinary, but Kim Hyun himself thought he was incredibly average.
And in reality, he was.
For starters, Kim Hyun wasn't a Returnee. He was just an ordinary college student who happened to awaken to mana by chance.
Of course, he'd awakened with enough mana to qualify as B-rank right from the start, but that was it.
'I'm not particularly talented or anything...'
Kim Hyun evaluated his own abilities coolly.
He was a spear-wielding DPS type, but even compared to other B-rank hunters, he didn't stand out. If anything, he felt his skills fell short of his peers.
'I picked the spear because of some wuxia novel in the first place...'
Of course, that's why he trained and worked harder than most, but that didn't turn ordinary into extraordinary.
That's how he'd lived as a hunter for six years.
Six years without a single major injury or incident—just plainly, ordinarily.
'That's why I moved here this time.'
Kim Hyun caught his breath in front of the door to his new apartment in 702.
The bag of rice cakes in his hand felt a little heavy.
'Should I... do the neighborly greeting thing?'
Truth be told, he wasn't thrilled about it.
Kim Hyun wasn't the social type by nature. Even before becoming a hunter, he'd avoided gatherings as much as possible, and after, he only showed up to team bonding events when absolutely necessary.
But his mom had insisted he share the rice cakes.
'Mom went so far as to say...'
Kim Hyun sighed and shook his head.
Then he looked down at the bag in his hand.
His mom had made the rice cakes herself. Even though she wasn't feeling well, she'd done it for her son moving into a new place.
'Yeah, it'd be a waste to let these go to trash.'
Steeling himself, Kim Hyun pressed the doorbell for 701.
Ding-dong!
A moment later, footsteps approached.
And the door opened.
"......"
For a second, Kim Hyun felt like his breath had stopped.
The woman standing there was just too beautiful.
'Holy crap.'
Is she a celebrity? A celebrity lives in this building?
Wow, when someone's that pretty, it really does leave you speechless.
At that moment.
"What is it?"
The woman tilted her head and asked.
Snapping out of it, Kim Hyun hurriedly pulled himself together.
"Ah, hello! I'm K-Kim Hyun! Just moved into 702, so I brought some rice cakes to share. Haha."
He gave an awkward laugh and held up the bag.
His hands were shaking.
Having gone through all-boys middle school, high school, engineering college, and the military, he had basically zero immunity to women. Honestly, cold sweat was pouring down, and he felt like he might drop the bag any second.
'Calm down, calm down! If I do something stupid here, how am I supposed to face the neighbors from now on!'
Desperately steadying himself, Kim Hyun offered the bag.
The woman stared at his face for a moment.
This absolute beauty drilling into him with her gaze.
It might've been a luxury he'd never experienced in his life, but to Kim Hyun, it just felt burdensome.
"Ah. I get it."
The woman nodded and took the rice cakes.
Kim Hyun, who had nearly fumbled the handoff, let out a sigh of relief.
Now that the greeting was done, time to bolt. Staying any longer felt like his heart might explode.
"W-Well then, I'll be going..."
"Wait a sec."
"......!"
Kim Hyun jumped and froze.
The woman was scanning him up and down.
'W-Why...?'
Did he do something wrong? Was he rude?
'No way...'
Weird stories from the internet swirled in his head.
Kim Hyun's mind grew chaotic.
At that moment, the woman smirked.
"I'm Kim Hyun too. That's hilarious."
"Pardon? Oh, r-really? Haha..."
Same name?
'Why would a girl be named Kim Hyun...'
No, wait.
Girls can be named Kim Hyun too.
Kim Hyun quickly discarded his biased thinking.
"Anyway, thanks for the rice cakes. I'll enjoy them."
She flashed a bright smile as she said it.
His heart nearly burst at that smile.
Thankfully, his head was on straight enough not to delude himself into thinking she liked him.
"W-Well then, I really should..."
Kim Hyun practically fled as he turned away.
Only after rushing into his own apartment and slamming the door did he finally exhale deeply.
"Whoa."
After catching his breath for a while, Kim Hyun muttered.
"Got an eyeful of beauty too. Good call sharing the rice cakes."
Mom was right after all.
"Team Leader Lee?"
"Nah. Kim Hyun."
"?"
What was this now?
Chae Seol-ah tilted her head.
Kim Hyun chuckled and tossed a plastic bag her way.
"Eek! W-What's this?"
"Rice cakes."
"Rice cakes?"
"Yeah."
Kim Hyun gave a rough rundown of what had just happened.
About how the neighbor named Kim Hyun had moved next door and come by with housewarming rice cakes.
"Whoa..."
"Funny, right?"
"What an incredible coincidence."
Chae Seol-ah nodded.
"To dare impersonate the Demon Lord's name—deserves to die a thousand deaths."
Batori muttered with a dissatisfied look.
Chae Seol-ah shot her an incredulous glance.
"Impersonate? It's legitimately that person's name."
"Exactly. If they knew their place, they'd have changed it themselves, no?"
"......?"
Chae Seol-ah, baffled by Batori's logic, suddenly remembered something and tilted her head again.
"By the way, Kim Hyun."
"Yeah?"
"I don't know much about it, but don't demons have true names?"
Chae Seol-ah looked puzzled, glancing between Batori and Kim Hyun.
"And if those get out, it's a big problem, right?"
"Ah, I see what you're getting at."
Kim Hyun nodded and asked.
"You're wondering why Batori and I flaunt our names around?"
"Yes."
"Simple."
Kim Hyun pointed his thumb at himself.
"First off, I'm a demon, but not a demon. So no true name or anything."
"Huh?"
Chae Seol-ah looked flustered at that.
Wait, she's admitting she's a demon herself?
"I am a demon, sure. But I'm a bit lacking in the purebred department."
"Pure... bred?"
"Yeah. I'm not born and bred in Hell."
"Ah."
That made sense.
Kim Hyun was Earth-born.
"I rolled around in Hell for 10,000 years and became demon enough, but at my core, I'm human."
"So true names don't apply to you."
"Right. Just look at that other Kim Hyun from earlier."
Kim Hyun shrugged.
"Humans have duplicate names all the time. But demon true names are unique—no duplicates possible."
"So it doesn't matter for you."
"Not only that, but with all the duplicates, 'Kim Hyun' could refer to anyone. No restrictions for me."
"I see..."
Chae Seol-ah, looking like she'd gotten it, turned to Batori.
"What about Batori then?"
Kim Hyun shrugged at the question.
"Batori isn't her true name."
"Ah... like an alias?"
Batori yelped in protest.
"An alias?! My name is Batori, given to me by the Demon Lord!"
Kim Hyun shook his head like, that again?
"Sure, sure. Let's say she had a different name originally."
"Kim Hyun named you, Batori?"
Chae Seol-ah's eyes went wide.
"Well, yeah."
"It did feel off somehow."
Chae Seol-ah gave Batori a strange look.
"Batori—like that Batori. Bathory Erzsebet."
Bathory Erzsebet.
The 16th-century European countess who inspired vampire legends, her name popping up in all sorts of fiction as a vampire motif.
In other words, an Earth name.
"It didn't seem like Hell just happened to have a similar name."
"Yeah, well. I named her."
"Got it. But why Batori?"
Chae Seol-ah tilted her head.
"Is Batori a vampire or something?"
"Bingo."
"Eek."
Chae Seol-ah flinched and stared at Batori.
"By classification, Batori's a vampire."
Batori looked sullen at that.
"Demon Lord, I've begged you not to use those barbaric classifications..."
Kim Hyun shrugged.
"If not a vampire, what do you call using blood to dominate and make familiars?"
"I don't suck blood."
"You weaponize it instead."
"......"
Listening to Kim Hyun and Batori's exchange, Chae Seol-ah muttered with a subtle expression.
"Sounds like you just named her that because the abilities are similar..."
Kim Hyun cleared his throat.
"Anyway. Bottom line, our names are fine. Okay?"
"Yes."
Nodding, Chae Seol-ah suddenly had another question.
"So, does that mean you have zero traditional demon constraints, Kim Hyun?"
"We'd have to define 'traditional demon' first."
"Y'know, the famous stuff. Like valuing contracts and sticking to them religiously..."
"You think I'd honor a contract?"
"No...?"
"Then why ask if you know?"
"B-Because I'm curious!"
Chae Seol-ah mumbled shyly, her face a bit red.
"A-And I don't think that's something to brag about..."
"Who cares? Who even makes those contracts?"
Kim Hyun snorted and stroked his chin.
"The demons in my Hell didn't put much stock in contracts. They had some binding effect, sure, but not absolute law. That's probably why—they were all cheats and liars."
"I-I see. Very demonic."
"I struggled a ton at first... but that's all in the past."
"......"
"Hm."
Kim Hyun pondered for a moment, then grinned.
"It's no big deal for you either."
"Huh?"
"This training you're doing. It'll hurt now, but it'll build you up later."
"Y-Yes."
Chae Seol-ah nodded reluctantly.
Seeing that, Kim Hyun smiled warmly.
"So, wanna head to Gangwon Province right now and hunt some monsters?"
"Pardon?"
Chae Seol-ah's face went pale.
"W-We have two days left. It's our holiday."
"What did I say earlier?"
Kim Hyun flashed a perfectly demonic grin.
"You think I'd honor a contract?"
"Ah."