Chapter 385

“Isn’t that right, you peninsula bangzi?”¹

“What the hell are you talking about, you mainland chink bastard?”

A heavy silence fell over the room.

Foreigners like Magic Johnson were using translation magic, but even they couldn’t tell exactly what the original slurs bangzi and chink meant. Team Leader Choi clicked his tongue quietly, while one man’s face hardened like stone.

“What?”

“What, asshole?”

“Say that again, bangzi.”

“Sure. Chink.”

“You fucking—”

“Good. Let’s get this straight. I’m a dog. You’re a chink.”

“……!”

I watched his face twist violently. Just as he was about to shove back his chair and leap to his feet, the woman sitting beside him raised a hand to stop him.

“Enough.”

She was a beautiful woman in her early twenties, with the same crisp, refreshing air as a soft drink. Her calm voice followed.

“I’d appreciate it if you both kept this within reason.”

Within reason…

I studied her for a moment, then shrugged.

“Well, if you’re asking.”

One of her eyebrows arched slightly, as though my answer had surprised her.

“I heard you were quite a handful, but you’re more agreeable than I expected.”

“I have to be. It’s you asking, after all.”

“So you’ve fallen for my feminine wiles? Ah, being beautiful is such a burden.”

She swept back her long hair with practiced nonchalance, drawing a quiet laugh from me.

“Did you just laugh?”

“You’re more entertaining than I expected, Ms. Faye Chen.”

Faye Chen. That was her name.

I couldn’t let her looks and fresh-faced air fool me into thinking she belonged on the cover of a university brochure. She might never have married, but she was well over fifty.

She was also my senior by decades and one of the heroes of the Great Cataclysm.

“So you knew who I was from the start. Hmm. I thought young people these days wouldn’t recognize me.”

She wasn’t wrong. Compared to other S-rank Hunters, Faye Chen rarely appeared in the media.

There were even persistent rumors that she had changed her identity and was living a new life somewhere out of the public eye.

But I had known about her since I was very young.

“My mother’s been a fan of yours for years. You starred in that romance movie that came out about twenty years ago, didn’t you?”

“Oh, my. That was ages ago. Still, it’s nice to meet someone who remembers it.”

“Would it be all right if I asked for your autograph later? I think my mother would be thrilled if I brought one home.”

“Of course. And from now on, just call me Chen. My full name sounds much too formal. If you want to be even friendlier, you can call me big sister.”

“What? What are you talking about? I looked you up online. You’re five years older than my mother.”

“……You really are a handful. Just as I heard.”

But someone else was being a far greater handful.

“You fucking lowlife—!”

His voice boiled with rage. The man we had briefly forgotten during our conversation glared at me.

“How dare a bangzi from a weak little country look down on me? Do you even know who I am?”

“……Wow. That line was fucking awful.”

Faye Chen propped her chin on one hand and looked between us with interest.

“True. I’ve been wondering for a while now. Do you actually know who this young man is?”

Faye Chen wasn’t the only one waiting for my answer.

Everyone was staring at my mouth except Team Leader Choi, who now looked halfway to enlightenment.

The man huffing like a seven-year-old who had lost an argument. Magic Johnson, the Archmage from the United States. Even the young man from the United Kingdom. Their attendants were no exception.

With everyone watching, I nodded.

“I know. Wu Heixing.”

When it came to media exposure, he competed for first or second place even among S-rank Hunters. There was no way I wouldn’t recognize him.

Wu Heixing—the man who had been picking a fight with me and throwing around the word bangzi—stared at me with wide eyes.

“You knew who I was, yet you still dared behave that way?”

“Even a stray dog would know there’s a human piece of shit among the S-rank Hunters.”

“What, what did you say?”

“What? Everyone knows your hobby is getting attention and your specialty is committing crimes, then manipulating the media afterward.”

“……!”

“Come to think of it, didn’t you cause some trouble last year? The only drug my country allows me. You posted a raid photo on your official social media with some bullshit like that, then got caught using actual drugs a month later. Was it marijuana?”

“Mr. Jin Taekyung.”

“Don’t stop me, Team Leader Choi.”

“It wasn’t marijuana.”

“What?”

Team Leader Choi abruptly cut in and calmly corrected the Taekyung Wiki.

“It was cocaine and methamphetamine.”

“Oh, I see. Thank you for clarifying.”

“Think nothing of it. Now that things have gone this far, what is there left that I can’t say?”

Look at that enlightened expression.

Leaving behind Team Leader Choi, who had renounced all worldly attachments and was preparing to ascend to immortality, I flashed Wu Heixing a broad smile and continued.

“Damn, how did you think of planting foreshadowing like that? This bastard is at least Wu Heishunwon. Purple Raid.”

“What, what did you say?”

“Come to think of it, there was something else. Five years ago, you got caught drugging and sexually assaulting someone at some club called Burning Moon or whatever. How did you get acquitted? Under Chinese law, it wouldn’t have been strange if you’d been executed two or three times over.”

“……!”

“I heard a rumor that you’re the son of one of the Communist Party’s highest-ranking officials. Did you buy your way out with money and power? Look at this clever bastard.”

“Shut your fucking mouth! How dare a lowborn bangzi speak to me like that!”

Wu Heixing’s face turned scarlet as he roared. Someone who had been silently watching the whole affair finally spoke.

“You’re noisy.”

An arrogant voice flowed smoothly through the room.

“Frivolous and vulgar. I hear you are descended from a noble Chinese family. Did your elders neglect to teach you proper etiquette?”

Wu Heixing bit his lip when he recognized the speaker.

“Y-You’re…”

“You’re?”

Beneath neatly styled brown hair, faintly green eyes swept slowly over Wu Heixing, then moved away.

“William.”

At the young man’s summons, the graying middle-aged man standing behind him stepped forward.

His shoes were spotless, and the creases of his suit were sharp enough to cut. He stood tall, surveyed the room, and spoke in a pleasant baritone.

“Everyone, rise and show proper respect to His Highness Prince Felix Alexander Louis, Duke of Cambridge, Earl of Strathearn, Baron Carrickfergus, Knight of the Order of the Garter, and Knight of the Order of the Thistle.”

Duke of Cambridge, Earl of Strathearn… Fuck, why does he have so many titles?

At any rate, Prince Felix added solemnly, “You may all simply call me His Highness Prince Felix.”

“……”

“……”

Look at everyone’s faces. They couldn’t have looked more uncomfortable if they tried.

Of course, the finest expression of all belonged to Wu Heixing, who had just called me lowborn.

Understandable. When it came to social standing, how was he supposed to beat British royalty?

“So, this is……”

“Ah.”

Prince Felix regarded the flustered Wu Heixing and nodded as though something had just occurred to him.

“I see. Are you a stutterer?”

“A-a stutterer?”

“If not, why can’t you speak properly? Did your family neglect to provide you with speech training?”

Long live His Highness the Prince.

I didn’t even need to step in. Having the third person in line to the British throne inject carbonated water straight into my veins made me fizz all the way down to my duodenum.

I was grinning so widely my mouth might split when Prince Felix suddenly turned his gaze on me.

“You there.”

“Hm? Are you talking to me?”

At my question, the middle-aged man behind Prince Felix opened his mouth.

“When His Highness Prince Felix Alexander Louis, Duke of Cambridge, Earl of Strathearn, Baron Carrickfergus, Knight of the Order of the Garter, and Knight of the Order of the Thistle deigns to address you—”

“That will do, William.”

Prince Felix raised a hand, silencing the parrot mid-sentence, then regarded me benevolently.

“I have personally set aside my dignity and intervened because I have always believed that the barriers between social classes must be broken down.”

“……?”

“What does it matter whether one is lowborn or noble? Beneath God, we are all equal. So do not take that man’s words too much to heart.”

What the fuck is this supposed to mean?

I was momentarily speechless. Team Leader Choi leaned over and whispered discreetly.

“I believe he thinks you really are lowborn, Mr. Jin.”

“……!”

Has that prince bastard lost his mind?

As I stared at Prince Felix in disbelief, he slowly rose and extended the back of his hand toward me as though it were the most natural thing in the world.

“Come now.”

“Come now? What is it this time?”

The middle-aged man, who might have been either a secretary or a parrot, smiled with satisfaction.

“Kiss the back of his hand and express your gratitude for the benevolence His Highness Prince Felix Alexander Louis has shown you.”

“……”

Are these people completely insane?

Did these fucking eighteenth-century bastards take a time capsule here or something?

My head reeled. Then Team Leader Choi’s message magic reached my ear.

—No.

I answered through Sound Transmission.

—What do you mean, no?

—Whatever you’re thinking, no. Just smile and let it go. Prince Felix is already famous for being an eccentric.

—Wouldn’t he become even more famous if I broke the back of his hand right now?

—No. Absolutely not!

—Just the back of his hand. Or maybe only one finger.

—I said no!

I hadn’t known that a message spell could convey this much emotion. Team Leader Choi must have been desperate in his own way.

Fine. He’s a British prince. I can’t do anything about that.

I was swallowing my anger when—

“Hey, Lord Fuck.”²

What now?

I looked warily at Magic Johnson, who had suddenly approached me.

I had never expected much from Wu Heixing, who was famous for his anti-Korean sentiment and all kinds of trouble. But the joy of seeing S-rank Hunters I had only watched on television in person was gradually running out.

“……No, please. Don’t call me Lord Fuck. Use my name. Would you like it if I called you Dickson instead of Johnson?”

“Hmm. Now that you put it that way, I see your point. Jin, then?”

“That’s much better. But why?”

“It’s nothing special. I was just wondering—are you really not planning to kiss the prince’s hand?”

That sounds pretty special to me.

I was dumbfounded and immediately asked back.

“Of course not. What is this, the Middle Ages? Would you want to do it if you were me, Johnson?”

“I would.”

“What?”

Enlightenment struck me like a flash of lightning.

I had completely forgotten. Magic Johnson was an American national hero—and a national gay icon.

Time magazine’s choice for “the world’s most influential LGBT person” was making a serious suggestion to me.

“So I was thinking I might express my gratitude to the prince in your place, Jin.”

“……”

He really knows how to dress it up.

But unlike Magic Johnson, Prince Felix quietly withdrew the back of his hand.

“Beneath God, we are all equal. Such antiquated customs ought to disappear. Magic Johnson, I shall accept your kind offer another time.”

“……”

Is that really something the same bastard who held his hand out to me a minute ago should be saying?

Faye Chen, who had been listening, muttered as though she found it absurd.

“My, he’s shameless. He may be one step above Wu Heixing, even if he hasn’t actually committed any crimes.”

“He’s still better than Wu Heixing. That guy should’ve been executed if the law had been followed.”

“That’s true.”

The arrival of one heavyweight after another had reduced Wu Heixing to a cowering nobody, but sparks flew from his eyes.

“Y-you—you fucking bangzi!”

“Stop going on about bangzi already. Even the national anthem gets tiring by the second verse. The same goes for me going easy on you.”

“……You’re going easy on me? Someone like you?”

He sounded genuinely unable to comprehend the idea, so I nodded.

“Yeah. I’m sure of it now.”

I had a rough idea of Wu Heixing’s level, but he had no idea what kind of person I was.

A fight began with sizing up your opponent. This one was over before it even started.

“So stop picking fights and back off while I’m still asking nicely. Let’s just focus on our own jobs.”

“You’re merely an A-rank Hunter, yet you’ve grown arrogant because Chairman Comrade favors you! You don’t even know how high the sky is—!”

“Ah.”

So that was why he had started this bullshit the moment we met.

The reason was so obvious and childish that a derisive laugh escaped me.

“Damn. You’re way too fucking old for this to be cute.”

“……!”

“What are you going to do? You wanted all the Chairman’s attention and expectations for yourself, but some Korean guy came along and stole them.”

“You…”

Realizing I had seen straight through him, Wu Heixing flushed with shame and rage.

By now, everyone in the room was watching us. He must have felt every contemptuous gaze boring into him.

And when people like him found themselves in a situation like this…

They always crossed the line.

My prediction proved correct.

His fingertips slid almost imperceptibly toward his sword hilt.

Broad-minded Chairman Xiao Yang had not asked anyone present to disarm, offering his trust instead. But that consideration was about to become poison to Wu Heixing.

Draw it. Don’t hesitate.

No matter how reckless I seemed, I still observed the bare minimum of propriety.

Until now, I had held back only because I had come to help China at the Chairman’s request. If Wu Heixing drew his weapon, I would finally have an excuse to fuck him up within reason.

That’s it. More. Keep going.

As though I were controlling him, Wu Heixing’s hand crept closer to the sword hilt.

Just as his fingers were about to close around it—

Step. Step.

Several sets of footsteps echoed down the corridor beyond the silent underground bunker.

Wu Heixing’s hand froze at almost the exact moment the tightly shut door opened.

The instant I saw the man who entered alongside Minister of National Defense Wei Fenghu, Wu Heixing vanished completely from my mind.

“I’m rather late. Have I kept everyone waiting?”

He had bold, sharply defined features that looked as though they had been painted with a brush, and a powerful build that even his clothes couldn’t conceal.

He looked like a middle-aged man barely into his forties, but beneath that skin lurked an old tiger and a cunning snake.

Lee Jungryong.

Our eyes met, and a deep smile spread across Lee Jungryong’s lips.