Chapter 103: New Korean Wave. The Blue House. Hero Party.

I’ve set the date for beating the Demon King to tomorrow.

I’m planning to do a speed run starting then.

So, for now, I’m gathering the guild members to strategize.

“But hey, Saintess, did you know something?”

While waiting for the guild members, the fallen angel Naipir grinned and spoke.

“What is it?”

“Ah, crap. Don’t make the fallen angel talk.”

Why is the Pride of Korea getting mad when I’m the one listening?

Actually, looking at how the Succubus is getting mad, something must be up.

“You guys went viral on YouTube. Not just there, in other places too.”

“Oh, really?”

“Yeah. If you search for ‘Kanora,’ you can find it on Google. Especially in Korea, clips of the Saintess and the Succubus’s banter are all over the place.”

When I searched on YouTube based on what the fallen angel Naipir said, sure enough, there were tons of results.

“Oh, the Pride of Korea?”

“Yeah. There’s even a mashup with that old gangster drama.”

“Oh, I guess that makes sense.”

Honestly, it’s pretty funny.

That stupid Succubus got tricked by the Pride of Korea and ended up doing a courtship dance for the dragon.

The YouTube reactions are hilarious, especially from foreigners.

For example, there’s a Japanese comment complaining that Korea is now spreading some kind of Succubus origin theory, saying Japan also has returnee Succubi.

Is that really something to get mad about?

There’s no reason to be jealous of something like this.

As for the Western reactions, they’re all like, “Korean sexy girl,” with the title “Korean Number One” attached.

What I said about the Pride of Korea became “Korean Number One.”

It’s turned into a whole new Hallyu (Korean Wave).

“Hmmm…”

“Saintess, don’t you feel anything after seeing this?”

The Succubus’s eyes started to tear up.

Honestly, I felt like things had really gone downhill.

The idea that a Succubus could represent the Pride of Korea and be part of the Kanora Church—well, maybe it could claim the title of a religion that can even make Succubi repent, but still.

As a K-Saintess, it feels a bit off that a Succubus is part of this Hallyu.

Still, since the Pride of Korea seems quite upset, I gave a thumbs up.

“You’re awesome, Pride of Korea!”

I decided to console her.

“Don’t mess with me!”

Well, that’s life, isn’t it?

***

South Korea’s Blue House

After the Great Cataclysm, the global order collapsed as a new Cold War emerged between the U.S. and China, leading to significant changes in Korea.

The most notable was the fall of North Korea during the Great Cataclysm, which left South Korea’s leadership in disarray.

Although a new government was formed around the awakened and surviving officials, the damage was immense.

China, once a massive market, also fell, and the U.S. was embroiled in internal conflicts, with Japan’s situation not faring much better.

South Korea’s new government’s foreign policy became clear.

With millions dead and dungeons emerging everywhere, China’s market was no longer accessible.

Despite aligning with the Western world, Korea, like other nations, found itself dealing with domestic dungeon outbreaks.

In the midst of all this, the returnees posed a challenge for the new government.

Not all of them suffered, and many returned after gaining power in their alternate worlds, which caused turmoil in the hunter society when they were supposed to be nurturing new hunters.

Some related departments, acting on civil groups’ opinions, tried to take away benefits from the returnees, leading one group of returnees to form a guild with the intent of wrecking the hunter society.

This news was also reported to the hunter-turned-president, Ha Sang-jae, albeit with a different emphasis.

“Mr. President, what should we do about this?”

Park Chun-seok, who had been serving as Ha Sang-jae’s chief of staff for several years, showed the president a YouTube video of the Pride of Korea, K-Succubus.

Ha Sang-jae smiled warmly.

In the video, a woman, presumably a fellow returnee, plays a once-popular K-pop song on her mobile phone, and the Succubus enthusiastically shakes his body to show off his figure.

The fact that this is supposedly a courtship dance to a dragon is both ridiculous and captivating.

Although Ha Sang-jae, as a man, couldn’t help but be somewhat drawn to it, as a former hunter with a reputation, he merely watched the video like a lighthouse shining over the night sea.

Sigh.

The world is already crazy enough.

Now these returnees, who seem to be out to destroy the hunter society, are spreading a new Korean Wave.

His headache had long since passed the point of annoyance, as he became too exhausted by all the national crises and chaos.

Having spiritually transcended, the president raised a thumbs up.

Outwardly, he no longer even bothered to hide his irritation.

“Hahaha. What’s the harm? Let it be.”

“Pardon?”

“Don’t you think so? After the Great Cataclysm, what’s left of Korea? Southeast Asia, which was crazy about Korean cultural content, is gone, and even K-pop, which was starting to gain traction in the European market, is now wiped out. So what? The Pride of Korea, K-Succubus? Not bad.”

If you think about it, it wasn’t that bad.

With the loss of not only China but also the Southeast Asian market, which had consumed so much soft culture, this could count as a new Hallyu.

Park Chun-seok, the chief of staff, wore a puzzled expression in response to the president’s reaction.

Yes, strictly speaking, it’s not the worst thing.

“But still, doesn’t the word ‘succubus’ carry a lewd image? If a prostitute-like figure becomes the representative of Korea’s Hallyu (Korean Wave), it’ll be bad news for Korea. Having just escaped reliance on export-driven economic models and switched to a mana-stone-based economy, we could end up being labeled a ‘succubus country.’”

Though the argument sounded plausible, the fact that the president himself had to worry about this due to the insubordination of the Hunter Management Bureau was a problem in itself.

“Hmm, does it even matter? Look, some foreigners genuinely call us ‘Korea Number One.’ And if you check the Japanese comments, they seem jealous, right? Perhaps the pride of Korea, the saintess, and the returnees’ abilities have something to do with it. Moreover, if you look at other comments, it seems like the Kanora religion is spreading globally. This issue is already out of our hands. This is all because of the idiot Hunter Management Bureau and those arrogant Hunters showing off their strength.”

Currently, Korea is still considered one of the great powers maintaining national integrity, but the number of Hunters who could truly represent the country was sorely lacking.

More precisely, there weren’t enough properly educated Hunters who could represent the country.

There were plenty of strong individuals, but if these were sent to collaborate with other nations’ Hunters, it would only lead to international embarrassment.

There was no choice.

Given the domestic situation, the academy system designed to professionally educate and raise Hunters was just starting to produce a new generation.

Unlike the earlier days of the Great Cataclysm, when there were only a few Hunters, now any average person could awaken, leading to this chaos.

Other countries were fortunate to see mostly intellectuals awaken, but Korea wasn’t as lucky.

During the Great Cataclysm, most of the country’s intellectuals were killed, and many educational facilities were destroyed.

In that sense, using those powerful returnees might not be such a bad idea.

At least they have the intelligence to fight against the absurd reality they face.

While the new generation of Hunters is still being educated, it wouldn’t be a bad idea for the returnees to temporarily support the country until then.

The ignorant, brute-force Hunters could be pushed aside for now.

Moreover…

“And, speaking of which.”

“Yes?”

“It’s not like we only have succubi. Doesn’t Korea have a disproportionately high number of returnees? That Kanora religion or whatever—make contact with them.”

One of Korea’s advantages was its large number of returnees, compared to other countries where there might only be one or two.

In Korea, the number of returnees was in the thousands.

While not all were exceptionally powerful, the fact that other nations had almost none meant that even a few in Korea were significant.

“The guild master is Ice Queen Lee Si-yeon, but the real leader is said to be a saintess named Karina.”

“Of course. The saintess Karina even swayed the Ice Queen herself. Make contact with her. We need to establish some rapport.”

“Yes Sir.”

‘Right, let’s push forward with this.’

Surprisingly, the Kanora Guild, along with Korea’s pride, the K-succubus, was starting to gain the president’s favor.

The succubus had truly become Korea’s pride.

“Ugh, I can’t stand this anymore. I don’t want to keep rising. I hate being Korea’s pride.”

And that night, the succubus had a nightmare.

***

Red Dragon Luxury Hotel

After her disastrous reunion with her mother, Erin returned to the hotel and cried for a long time.

Because of this, the hero and Maria, who were watching over her, barely had time to meet the saintess before fleeing to the hotel.

“Are you okay, Erin?”

“Thanks, Maria. I’m feeling a little better now.”

Thanks to the comforting mage, Erin was able to calm down somewhat.

In hindsight, she realized she might have overreacted.

After all, wasn’t it still her mother?

Her mother must have had a hard time adapting to this world, too.

“Sure, it was a shock, but she’s still your mother.”

“Yes, that’s true.”

“Yeah. I had no idea that the priestess of the Great Forest was your mother, Erin. That’s pretty surprising.”

The hero was trying to offer some comfort, but to Erin, his words sounded more like….

“Wow, such a great person hurled nasty insults at her own daughter in a game!”

It made her a little angry, but she soon regained her composure.

“She is a remarkable figure, but I didn’t expect her to change like that.”

People say hardship changes you, but Erin never imagined her mother would turn into such a strange entity, with memories of a previous life mixed in.

“Think about it. Even in our world, there’s plenty of talk about past lives, reincarnation, and possession. It’s simple to explain it as your mother remembering her past life.”

That’s all it was.

“I know. I’m feeling better now.”

“And the Demon King has returned. So, we must join forces with the saintess and defeat him again.”

The hero’s party was gathering once more.

“It’s all that damned saintess’s fault. This wouldn’t have happened if she hadn’t insisted on using a mace instead of the holy sword just because she wanted to go home.”

Erin subtly vented her frustration toward the saintess.

And she wasn’t wrong.

Though they only learned afterward that the holy sword was necessary to defeat the Demon King, the saintess had carelessly smashed the Demon King’s skull, leading to his troublesome resurrection.

“You mentioned the Tower of Destruction, right?”

That’s what they had heard.

“Yes, according to our research.”

“Then we should head there. The saintess will likely move soon, and it’s best to move together.”

The saintess was a responsible woman.

Since the Demon King had revived due to her mistake, she would surely try to defeat him again.

And knowing her hatred of losing, she’d rise to the challenge of fighting the Demon King once more.

Maria and Erin, both well-acquainted with the saintess, shared this sentiment.

“I think so, too.”

“Same here.”

Right now, the priority was to defeat the damned Demon King.

Erin’s issues with her mother could wait until afterward.