Chapter 757

Twenty-eight hours.

That was all the time we spent in Japan.

If we’d answered every request for an interview or press conference, twenty-eight days wouldn’t have been enough.

At first, I hadn’t planned to stand in front of the cameras at all. Then Team Leader Choi said something that changed my mind.

“The survivors need courage and hope.”

Prime Minister Koizumi welcomed my decision with open arms. He’d been such an attention seeker since his youth that people had treated him like a madman.

When I entered the press conference hall, I was greeted by cheers and a barrage of camera flashes.

“Waaaaaaaah!”

Pop-pop-pop-pop!

It was strange. Less than a month had passed since all this began, yet it felt like ages since I’d last stood before reporters of my own free will. Ages since the media had looked on me favorably, too.

That didn’t mean I wanted to waste time. I still had a problem I couldn’t tell anyone about, and somewhere in the world, another fire was probably breaking out even now.

“Let’s make this quick.”

But the Japanese press made up more than half the room, and they weren’t easy to handle. In more ways than one.

“Jin-sama¹! Please become Japan’s shogun²! You’re the only one who can save these islands!”

I answered the first reporter’s question—or rather, his shout.

“Get him out.”

The Self-Defense Forces personnel guarding the hall took him by both arms. As they dragged him away, the microphone dropped from his hand. Another Japanese reporter snatched it up.

“Leviathan was so feared by the people of Japan that we called it Susanoo. Yet Jin Taekyung-sama¹ defeated it without much difficulty.”

What the hell is he talking about? It was fucking hard.

But I didn’t let it show and answered calmly.

“It wasn’t an easy fight, but I did my best while thinking of those who lost their lives to Leviathan.”

“Ah…!”

“I’d also like to offer my heartfelt condolences to their families.”

I bowed my head. Tears glimmered in many of the reporters’ eyes. The Japanese reporter wiped his eyes with his sleeve before continuing.

“Thank you for saying that.”

“I only did what had to be done.”

“I’m sorry, but may I ask one more question?”

Normally, no. The rule was one question per reporter, and I had no intention of letting this drag on. But he’d asked a good question, so I nodded.

“Go ahead.”

“Do you know Amaterasu, the sun goddess?”

“What? Which terrace?”

“I’m asking seriously. Jin Taekyung-sama¹, who defeated Susanoo—are you perhaps the reincarnation of Amaterasu, the sun goddess?”

“No, for fuck’s sake…”

The Self-Defense Forces waiting nearby rushed in, covered the reporter’s mouth, and snatched away his microphone.

Not that the remaining Japanese reporters asked normal questions.

“If you could name just three Japanese anime you like… Mmph!”

Patriotism was one thing, but these people were fucking nuts.

Once I realized how much time it took to restrain each reporter and drag them out, I decided to break through head-on.

“What have you generally thought of Japan?”

“An island. Next.”

“Japan has long been a nation that values peace and courtesy—”

“Wakō pirates, the Imjin War, the second Japanese invasion of Korea, the Japanese colonial period, World War II. Next.”³

“Our S-rank Hunter Yamamoto Genji has expressed some personal regret. He claims the raid on Leviathan would have been far easier if you’d conducted a joint operation with him. What do you think?”

“Then he should’ve shown up on time. Next.”

“No, please wait a moment! Yamamoto-san⁴ had circumstances that prevented him from coming!”

“A reporter… talking back?”

“……!”

I swept through the press conference like Zhao Zilong⁵ through an army of a hundred thousand.

Plenty of idiots asked questions that barely qualified as questions. But there were plenty of sharp ones, too—about the Skeleton King, for instance, rather than me.

They wanted to know how the raid had succeeded, what had happened to Leviathan’s corpse after it vanished in the explosion, and where the two S-rank Magic Gems supplied by the Japanese government had gone.

I might have stumbled if Team Leader Choi hadn’t seen those questions coming.

“Skel—no, Stone-King is an excellent Hunter who played a decisive role in this raid. Please understand that exhaustion prevented him from joining us today.”

“The details of the raid are classified. I can’t disclose them.”

“Unfortunately, the corpse disappeared. The S-rank Magic Gem used as bait to lure Leviathan was also lost in the process. We offer our deepest apologies for this.”

“Ah…”

“What a loss…”

A high-level monster’s corpse was a treasure in its own right. Losing Leviathan’s was bad enough; losing the Japanese government’s S-rank Magic Gems drew sighs from the reporters.

Of course, if they found out it was all a lie, those sighs would turn to fury.

Team Leader Choi could take up acting.

I muttered as I watched him finish speaking without even twitching an eyebrow.

Leviathan’s corpse? The Magic Gems?

Of course we’d taken them all. They were in the safest, most discreet place I knew: my Inventory.

The sudden explosion of magical power while Leviathan’s corpse was being transferred to the aircraft carrier had been the Skeleton King’s work. I’d used the opening to stuff everything into my Inventory. The Maritime Self-Defense Force sailors had watched it all vanish before their eyes and stood there in a daze.

I do feel a little bad…

But what else was I supposed to do? Leviathan’s corpse was mine to begin with, and I’d just have to consider the Japanese government’s S-rank Magic Gems a long-term loan.

Even the finest sword in the world becomes nothing more than a kitchen knife in a cook’s hands. This was a time when I had to move like this, even if it meant selling my conscience.

…Cataclysm.

If I was going to solve that Quest—one question mark after another, weighing on my mind—I had to.

Even during the Great Cataclysm, Leviathan had been a monster of tremendous significance. Decades after the war’s end, it still was.

Disasters large and small were unfolding across the world, yet its death drew every eye to Japan. It also etched the name of a young hero whose star had begun to fade into everyone’s minds once more.

[Grand Mage Magic Johnson: “I’m a mage, but Jin is magic itself.”]

[Prince Felix: “His nobility lies not in the blood flowing through his veins, but in his very being.”]

[S-rank Hunter Faye Chen, speaking to reporters after suppressing a Monster Wave in downtown Hong Kong: “Free Hong Kong, Great Jin.”]

[He has returned.]

[The star of Asia who never lost his light despite countless condemnations. No—the star of the world.]

[A life-or-death struggle at sea. Hope triumphs over calamity.]

[The world’s worst terrorist twisted a hero’s goodwill into evil. A public gripped by fear lost its judgment.]

[Head of North America’s largest media association finally speaks amid mounting criticism: “We have always reported only the facts. The claim that we targeted Jin Taekyung is nothing more than a malicious rumor.”]

The world’s major news outlets were the first to change their stance.

Journalists who had remained neutral from the start, or had supported Jin Taekyung, paid Leviathan’s death all the respect they could. Those who had already joined forces with Odin Guild couldn’t change course so easily.

The fickle public had reversed its opinion overnight, and that was cause for caution. Michael Silbert, however, was more than a cause for caution. He was someone to fear.

But while those journalists fretted, the public was slowly waking from the media’s incitement and its fear of terrorism.

“Simon. Why are you still in the office? Weren’t you supposed to cover the anti–Jin Taekyung protest in the square today?”

“Uh, it was canceled.”

“What?”

“Most of the participants dropped out. They were expecting thirty thousand, but once the number fell below five hundred, everyone dispersed.”

“How does a protest that big fall apart so easily… Damn it. Fine. What about the organizer? The guy who acted like he was about to drop a bomb on Korea. Daniel, was it?”

“Oh, Daisuke?”

“Yeah, him. Tell him we’ll give him extensive coverage, so he needs to gather some people right away—”

The news director stopped badgering Simon and frowned.

“Wait. Who’s Daisuke? We’re talking about Daniel.”

“Yes. Daniel Daisuke. That’s the organizer’s full name.”

“……Don’t tell me.”

“I regret being the one to say it, Boss, but it’s exactly what you think.”

The reporter let out a put-upon sigh and explained everything to his superior point by point.

First, as the name Daisuke suggested, the protest organizer was of Japanese descent.

Second, Japanese and Koreans disliking one another was as natural as universal gravitation. That was why Daniel Daisuke had taken the lead in organizing the protest.

Third. Jin Taekyung had saved Japan, and Daniel Daisuke was a devoted son, and his mother was a Japanese woman from Tokyo.

“He’s the hero who saved his mother’s hometown. That’s basically what happened.”

It was a clean, no-frills explanation made entirely of facts. The news director, who had listened in silence, answered with one word.

“Fuck.”

His head throbbed. The protest’s cancellation wasn’t their fault, but would the “anonymous sponsor” who had promised a massive investment in return for a little biased coverage see it that way?

Damn it. Management’s going to raise hell.

As he sighed with a complicated expression, his eyes fell on the television screen playing silently in the background.

[Breaking News: Magical-power readings surge in Berlin. Monster Wave likely.]

[German government issues a Class 2 disaster warning.]

[German Prime Minister Markus makes an emergency announcement. A formal request for assistance has been sent to Korea.]

Another Monster Wave.

The news director shook his head, then turned to Simon, who was still watching him for a reaction.

“What are you waiting for? Why aren’t you rushing to Berlin right now?”

“Mr. Jin Taekyung. The German government has requested assistance.”

I answered Team Leader Choi without hesitation.

“I’ll go.”

The battle had left me exhausted, and the Broken Body debuff was still active. But this was what I had to do.

“I’ll get ready right away.”

And just as I rose from my seat, Team Leader Choi’s voice pierced my ears.

“At the same time… we also requested assistance from Michael Silbert.”

I slowly turned around.