Chapter 757
Twenty-eight hours.
That was the total time we stayed in Japan.
If we had answered every nonstop interview and press conference request, even twenty-eight days wouldn’t have been enough, let alone twenty-eight hours.
To be honest, at first I had no intention of standing in front of a camera.
Not until I heard one thing Team Leader Choi Minwoo said.
“The survivors need courage and hope.”
That was what changed my mind.
Prime Minister Koizumi, who had been such an attention whore since his youth that people called him crazy, welcomed my decision with both arms raised.
And the first thing that greeted me when I entered the press conference hall was people’s cheers and a storm of flashes.
“Waaaaaaaah!”
Papapapang!
Funny thing.
It hadn’t even been a full month since all this started, but to me, everything felt like it had been a long time.
Standing before reporters of my own will.
And seeing the media treat me favorably like this again.
Of course, separate from that, I hated wasting time.
There was still a problem I hadn’t been able to tell anyone about yet, and even now, somewhere in the world, another blaze was probably rising.
“Let’s wrap this up quickly.”
But the Japanese media, which made up over half the room, was no joke.
In more ways than one.
“Lord Jin! Please become Japan’s shogun! Only you can save this archipelago!”
That was the first reporter to grab a microphone.
Or rather, to shout.
I answered.
“Remove him.”
A Self-Defense Force guard assigned to security at the conference hall seized the reporter by both arms.
The microphone slipped from his hand as he was dragged out, and another Japanese reporter quickly snatched it up.
“Leviathan was feared enough by our Japanese people to be called Susanoo. But Lord Jin Taekyung, you defeated it without much difficulty.”
What the hell is he talking about? It was hard as shit.
But without showing it, I answered calmly.
“It was not an easy battle, but thinking of those who were sacrificed because of Leviathan, I did my utmost.”
“Ahh…”
“I would also like to take this opportunity to offer my deepest condolences to the bereaved families.”
As I bowed my head, moisture welled up in many reporters’ eyes.
One Japanese reporter, wiping the corners of his eyes with his sleeve, continued.
“Thank you for saying that.”
“I merely did what had to be done.”
“Then, if you’ll forgive me, may I ask just one more thing?”
Normally, no.
The rule here was one question per person, and I had no intention of dragging this press conference out.
Still, I nodded at the reporter in front of me, who had just asked a good question.
“Go ahead.”
“Do you know Amaterasu, the sun goddess?”
“What? Which terrace?”
“I ask this seriously. Lord Jin Taekyung, having defeated Susanoo, are you perhaps the reincarnation of the sun goddess Amaterasu?”
“No, for fuck’s sake…”
The waiting Self-Defense Force personnel rushed in, covered the reporter’s mouth, and snatched away the microphone.
Of course, that did not mean the remaining Japanese reporters asked normal questions.
“If you had to pick just three Japanese anime you like… mmph!”
National pride was one thing, but at this point weren’t they just insane bastards?
And after realizing that the time wasted every time one of them got subdued and dragged out was no joke, I decided to break straight through them fast.
“What have you usually thought of Japan?”
“An island. Next.”
“Our Japan has always valued peace and courtesy as a nation—”
“Japanese pirates, the Imjin War, the Jeongyu War, the Japanese occupation, World War II. Next.”
“S-Class Hunter Yamamoto Genji of your home country expressed personal regret. He claims that if he had conducted a joint operation with you, the Leviathan raid would have been far easier. What do you think?”
“Then he should’ve shown up on time. Next.”
“No, wait just a moment, please! Yamamoto-san had circumstances!”
“A reporter… talking back?”
I swept through the press conference hall like Zhao Zilong charging through an army of a hundred thousand.
There were plenty of idiots whose questions barely qualified as questions, but sharp ones came flying in just as often.
Like the ones about Skeleton King rather than me.
And about how the raid succeeded, the Leviathan corpse that vanished with the explosion, and the whereabouts of the two S-Class Magic Crystal Stones provided by the Japanese government.
If Team Leader Choi Minwoo hadn’t already anticipated those questions, I might have stumbled a bit.
“Skel, no, Stone King is an excellent Hunter who also played a decisive role in this raid. I ask for your understanding that he could not attend this press conference due to exhaustion.”
“The raid process is classified, so I cannot disclose it.”
“Unfortunately, the corpse was destroyed. The S-Class Magic Crystal Stones used as bait to lure Leviathan were also lost in that process. I offer my sincere apologies regarding that.”
“Ahh…”
“To think such a thing…”
The corpse of a high-ranking monster was a treasure of enormous value in itself.
The disappearance of Leviathan’s corpse was already a great loss, but the loss of the S-Class Magic Crystal Stones owned by the Japanese government was enough to draw sighs from the reporters.
Of course, if they ever found out that was all a lie, those sighs would turn to fury.
‘That man Team Leader Choi Minwoo could become an actor now.’
I muttered inwardly as I looked at Team Leader Choi Minwoo, who finished speaking without so much as a twitch of his eyebrow.
Leviathan’s corpse? Magic Crystal Stones?
Of course I took all of them.
The safest and most secret place in the world.
My Inventory.
The sudden Magical Power explosion that occurred while Leviathan’s corpse was being transferred onto the aircraft carrier had been Skeleton King’s handiwork, and in that gap, I had quickly stuffed everything into my Inventory.
And the sailors of the Maritime Self-Defense Force stood there dumbfounded after realizing everything had vanished right before their eyes.
‘I feel a little bad about it, but…’
Well, what could I do.
Leviathan’s corpse was mine to begin with, and as for the S-Class Magic Crystal Stones the Japanese government handed over, they’d just have to consider them a long-term loan.
Even the finest famous sword is nothing more than a kitchen knife in a cook’s hand.
Right now, this was the time to move like this even if it meant selling my conscience.
‘…Cataclysm.’
Even if it was only to resolve that question-filled quest, one so full of unknowns it weighed heavily on my mind.
Back during the Great Cataclysm, and even now, decades after the war had ended, the symbolism and weight carried by the monster called Leviathan was enormous.
Enough that even while large and small disasters were breaking out all over the world, all eyes were still fixed on Japan.
And enough to carve the name of the fading young hero into everyone’s minds once again.
[Archmage Magic Johnson: “I may be a mage, but Jin is magic itself.”]
[Prince Felix: “The nobility he possesses does not lie in the blood running through his veins, but in his very existence.”]
[S-Class Hunter Pai Chen, after suppressing a Monster Wave in downtown Hong Kong, tells reporters: “Free Hong Kong, Great Jin.”]
[He has returned.]
[The star of Asia who did not lose his light despite countless accusations. No, the star of the world.]
[A desperate life-and-death struggle at sea. Hope defeats calamity.]
[The world’s worst terrorist, who twisted a hero’s goodwill into malice. A public that had lost its judgment in fear.]
[Chairman of North America’s largest media association finally speaks amid harsh criticism. “We always reported only facts. Claims that we targeted Jin Taekyung are nothing more than malicious rumors.”]
The media outlets representing countries all over the world were the first to change their posture.
Journalists who had remained neutral from the start, or had supported Jin Taekyung, paid the greatest tribute they could to Leviathan’s death.
But those who had already joined hands with the Odin Guild could not change their line so easily.
The public opinion that had been overturned in an instant by the fickle masses was certainly something to be wary of, but Michael Silbert was someone who went beyond caution and became an object of fear.
Yet unlike their anxious hearts, the public was slowly waking from the media’s incitement and the fear of terrorism.
“Simon. Why are you still at the office? Weren’t you supposed to cover the anti-Jin Taekyung protest at the square today?”
“Uh, the protest got canceled.”
“What?”
“Most of the participants pulled out. The expected turnout was thirty thousand, but once there weren’t even five hundred left, it naturally disbanded.”
“No, how does a protest that large fall apart that easily… damn it. Fine. Then what about the protest organizer? You know, the guy who was acting like he was ready to throw a bomb into Korea this instant. Daniel, was it?”
“Ah, Daisuke?”
“Yeah, that bastard. Tell him we’ll give him massive coverage, so he should gather people right now—”
The news director, who had been hounding the reporter, suddenly frowned.
“Wait. Who the hell is Daisuke? We were talking about Daniel.”
“Yes, Daniel. Daniel Daisuke. That’s the full name of the organizer.”
“…Don’t tell me.”
“I regret having to say this myself, but yes, it’s exactly what you think, boss.”
The reporter, letting out a deliberate sigh, explained it point by point to his superior.
First.
As the name Daisuke suggests, the organizer of this protest is of Japanese descent.
Second.
Japanese people and Koreans hating each other is almost as natural a law as gravity. That was also why Daniel Daisuke had taken the lead in organizing the protest.
Third.
Jin Taekyung saved Japan, and Daniel Daisuke’s mother, whom he adored dearly, was Japanese and from Tokyo.
“So, he’s basically the hero who saved his mother’s hometown. Something like that.”
At the clean, no-frills explanation made entirely of facts, the silent news director answered with a single word.
“Fuck.”
His head throbbed.
Even if the cancellation of the protest wasn’t their fault, would the ‘anonymous sponsor’ who had promised enormous investment on the strength of a little biased reporting think the same?
‘Damn it. Management’s going to lose their shit.’
And as he sighed with a complicated expression, the muted TV screen playing nearby caught his eye.
– [Breaking News] Berlin Magical Power levels spike sharply. Monster Wave likely.
– German government issues Level 2 disaster alert.
– German Chancellor Markus makes emergency statement. Officially requests support from Korea.
Another Monster Wave.
The news director shook his head.
Then he spoke to the reporter, who was only watching him nervously.
“What are you doing? Get your ass to Berlin right now.”
“Mr. Jin Taekyung. The German government has requested support.”
At Team Leader Choi Minwoo’s words, I answered without hesitation.
“I’ll go.”
The fatigue from the battle had not yet left me, and the debuff of [Ravaged Body] was still there, but that was what I had to do.
“I’ll make preparations immediately.”
And the moment I rose from my seat.
Team Leader Choi Minwoo’s voice dug into my ear.
“At the same time… support has also been requested from Michael Silbert.”
I slowly turned around.