Translator: WH Editor: Sasha
“Haihhh.”
The witch sighed anxiously.
“Don’t just blurt stuff out recklessly. Most mistakes can be covered for but if you really go all out talking nonsense, even I can’t restrain the media.”
“There’s no one as gentle as me. You know me right. I’m the prophet, okay? I know what the most exemplary answer is.”
“…Can I really believe you?”
“Ayyyy, of course.”
I took over the microphone from the Witch. The Witch seemed worried about me up till the last moment when she passed me the microphone, but it was really fine. I had a [Secret Method].
“Ah. Ah ah.”
I warmed up my voice gently. My voice resonated through the square through the speaker.
“Hello, everyone. I am a Hunter who received the nickname, Death King. Nice to meet you.”
Snap! Snap!
The flashes formed a striking wave. I wasn’t very flustered. Was yesterday’s experience of being surrounded by a crowd a form of immunization against this? I was more relaxed than I thought and received the ‘baptism’ of flashes head-on.
“Your name is… John Evans-nim?”
“Yes. That’s right.”
The young reporter looked straight at me. Eyes burning with the spirit of a journalist. He had a heated gaze that looked as if he wouldn’t miss any move I made and that he would surely reveal who I really was.
It was quite an uncomfortable gaze.
“Well.”
Meeting a gaze like that.
There was only one idea that came to my mind.
“In my opinion, it’s a voice of concern that comes from my shortfalls.”
Learn from your lessons.
[T/N: 반면교사 (反面敎師) is a Korean idiom that basically means something that allows one to learn a lesson from a mistake, or a direct translation could be ‘One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.’ ]
Let’s just not become someone like Flame Emperor!
“Huh?”
The reporter gripped the microphone with one hand and batted his eyes. He probably didn’t expect me to react in this kind of way. Meanwhile, recalling in my head the weasel-like mug of the Flame Emperor, I said.
[T/N: weasel in this context refers to someone who is deceitful and cunning.]
“I’ll repeat it. In my opinion, it’s all a voice of concern that comes from my shortfalls.”
My secret move was very simple.
‘No matter what, all I have to do is say it the other way round of how the Flame Emperor would!’
Did I look like I would have some kind of great knack for interviews?
I was different from the Witch. I didn’t have a talent at captivating the crowd with speeches. No talent, no skills, no experience.
But, there was just one thing.
I had the knowledge that others didn’t.
The world’s most impudent Hunter’s interviews!
‘If I did the exact opposite of what Flame Emperor did, even if I was bad at it, it’d still be decent.’
I was a big fan of the Flame Emperor for nearly a decade. Thanks to that, the inside of my head was no different than a library. A library where the atrocities and the absurd remarks of Flame Emperor were recorded.
What if it wasn’t me who was holding to the microphone now, but Flame Emperor?
He would have said this.
[It’s because of my greatness that we could clear through the 20th floor, you little bastards.]
[I worked to the bones to clear the tower, y’know? So what’d you expect me to do? The items and experiences I got there would naturally be mine. Hey, trash reporter. If I don’t fu-, if I don’t take it for myself, then who should I give it to? Huh?]
[Your father?]
I didn’t just made that up on the spot right now.
In fact, he really was like that!
‘That was why before I returned in time, the Witch would turn pale whenever there was a press conference…’
It was the so-called [Your father] case.
So naturally, the press conference had a brilliant outburst. The swearing sounds of the reporters were broadcasted live, and by the time the Witch rushed to the conference, it was already too late.
It was literally a major catastrophe.
The live broadcast was stopped in a hurry, but the disaster was not over.
As Yoo Soo-ha counterfire’d the reporters, the mother of all curses and all kinds of curses that exist in the world were thrown at him, and the scene that unfolded was broadcasted by individual streamers just as it was.
‘His nickname wasn’t “The Plague” for no reason.’
Rumour had it that the Witch had been bedridden for a week after that day.
Perhaps due to the [Your father] incident, the Witch learned what kind of existence the Hunter Yoo Soo-ha was. Was it not because of this incident that the top guilds distanced themselves from Yoo Soo-ha?
‘In the past, the Flame Emperor thoroughly screwed up this press conference.’
In other words.
‘I just have to say the exact opposite of what the Plague said.’
Do the exact opposite of the worst, and it’d be the best!
I grabbed the microphone as I recalled Yoo Soo-ha’s absurd remarks.
[It’s because of my greatness that we could clear through the 20th floor. You little bastards.]
“I know the public opinion is in an uproar because of me. But it’s overrated. Without the help of Black Dragon Witch and Sword Saint here, I would’ve never been able to clear up till the 20th floor alone.”
[I worked my bones off to clear the tower, y’know?]
“Of course, I am proud to say that I gave it my all. Aiming at zero sacrifices, we really put in all of our efforts, to the point of grinding our bones. But, I don’t think this can be considered as our ‘sacrifice’. It’s what we should do as human beings. As a Hunter, this was the right thing to do. More than anything…I did it because it’s something I like to do.”
[The items and experiences I got there would naturally be mine. Hey, trash reporter. If I don’t fu-, if I don’t take it for myself, then who should I give it to? Huh?]
“But, just cause of that, I don’t have the intention of claiming my rights. That is why I entrusted the rights of the 10th floor to the 19th floor to the guild masters. I only said that I wanted the 20th floor to myself… No. The 20th floor is a kind of [Green Belt] area. On the 20th floor, the residents of the tower who originally resided there will live there. I will be happy with just the administrator role.”
[Your father?]
“Reporter Evan-nim. That is all.”
“…….”
“Do you still have any other questions.”
The young man who was burning with the spirit of a journalist stuttered.
“Noth-… Nothing else.”
Good.
From here, I worked my brain even faster.
If it was the Flame Emperor, what would he have responded with when he heard the reporter’s words?
[Okay. If you don’t have anything else to say, then fuck off, you American pig bastard.]
It was a scene that I could obviously imagine happening.
In addition to this, he would’ve showed-off his bulky middle finger.
‘Let’s see. If I wanted to say the exact opposite line of this….’
I opened my mouth.
“Thank you. Ahh. If you have any other questions, I’ll answer it for a while, everyone.”
There was a moment of silence that swept through the plaza.
Though it was really just a moment of silence.
“Here here! I’m from Hwanmun Newspaper!”
“Please take our question, Death King-nim! I’m from Only Tower Daily!”
“We came from the Tower of Babel Broadcasting System!”
“Death King-nim!”
The reporters raised their hands in unison. As soon as they sensed that I was an easy-going person, they rushed to make an article.
This scene felt like baby ducks who were diligently swaying their beaks towards the mother bird.
‘Wow.’
I was inwardly impressed as I watched the press corps.
‘… The learning from your lessons strategy was insane.’
As expected of the Plague. A psychopath that was shittier than anyone else in this world.
He was always the man who would become my compass in a bad sense.
Even now, the compass clearly told me how to react.
[What? Hwanmun Newspaper? I’ll never do an interview with you guys, There’s nothing but old baffoons there. Even when I flip open the newspaper, it gives off a geezer smell. Hey, if you’re gonna call yourself a reporter, at least shower.]
Again, I recalled the words of Flame Emperor and said,
“…Then, starting from the reporter of Hwanmun Newspaper.”
The effect was magnificent.
The conference ended on a good note. It was literally a great success. Questions and answers popped up from everywhere for over an hour, but I didn’t make a common slip of the tongue.
In actual fact, it wasn’t easy to end the conference on a good note. The reporters shot vague questions at me to somehow extract even one line of extra information so they could put it in their articles. In the end, the Witch took over my microphone and said a simple thankful greeting.
“Everyone! I understand your desire of wanting to know more about our new hero. Unfortunately, there is little time left.” The Witch pointed at the sky with her finger.
[00:05:27]
Before we knew it, the clock of light was close to 00:00:00.
There were only 5 minutes left until the new stage opened!
There was no better excuse than this to be used to end the press conference.
“We will end our night’s rest here, and concentrate on clearing the tower again today. Please watch over us with your great interest and warm support. This time too, we will do our best to achieve the goal of zero casualties.”
“Ahhhhhhh….”
There were regrettable bellows popping out from here and there.
As I wondered if the press conference would end just like this, a brave figure raised his hand.
“Black, Black Dragon Witch! One last question please!”
“Yes. With this one question, the conference will really end here.”
“Black Dragon Witch and Death King! What is the relationship between the two of you?!”
At that moment, people’s eyes shined.
Pure interest. Slight mischief.
Since the dawn of history, the one thing that humans have been most curious about was the story of love. The reporters probably wanted to match up the Witch and me in that kind of way.
“Hmmmm…”
The Witch thought for a while, then glanced back at me.
Should I say it was something like a mischievous prank?
There was a faint playfulness in the Witch’s eyes.
“The relationship between the two of us… That’s right.”
The Witch slowly opened her lips.
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