The national TV station aired Julian’s interview at 8 p.m. Because of the prior publicity—which had included plenty of hype—many citizens of Drakoria were extremely curious.
By 8 p.m., everyone who had free time was gathered in front of their televisions. For many, this was the first time in a year or even several years that they had turned their TVs on.
The host was the station’s top star anchor, a graceful middle-aged woman.
On screen, Julian and the host sat facing each other. Perched on Julian’s head was Celebi, curiously looking around while holding a tiny microphone.
Host: "Champion Julian—is it alright to call you that?"
Originally, "Champion Walker" referred to John, but now it could also mean Julian. To distinguish between the two, some online users had taken to calling him "Champion Julian."
"Sure."
Before Julian could answer, Celebi on his head responded for him.
The host, of course, couldn’t understand what it said and looked at Julian curiously.
Julian nodded and said, "You can call me that—just don’t call me King Julian."
That piqued the host’s interest. She asked, "Why not? 'King Julian' is the nickname your fans gave you. There are even King Julian fan clubs all over the country."
"It feels a bit pretentious, and I don’t really deserve that title yet."
King Julian—no matter where you put that title in, it seemed to be for someone incredibly powerful. Julian felt he was still a bit short of that level.
Sure, he was impressive—but there were six Champions in Drakoria alone, and worldwide there were nearly fifty.
King Julian should mean someone one-of-a-kind, standing above all others, dominating across all ages… Cough, cough—getting off topic.
"Champion Julian is really quite humble."
The host smiled, looking at Julian with growing admiration.
"I’d say so."
Julian nodded. He had always considered himself humble. Even after becoming a Champion, he never felt the need to show off—mainly because there was no occasion for it.
Hall Family: 'You wiped out our entire family—isn’t that showing off enough?'
Host: "Champion Julian, according to my research, before becoming a trainer, you were very low-key in school and had few friends in elementary and middle school. Why was that?"
Julian: "They were too childish. I just couldn’t really connect with them."
After all, he was an adult soul who had transmigrated into this world, so it was natural that he couldn’t relate to children. As a result, Julian was somewhat isolated back then.
But he was perfectly fine with it—in fact, he even enjoyed the solitude.
Some of Julian's elementary and middle school classmates were stunned when they heard his response. It turned out that Julian didn't play with them because he found them childish, not because he looked down on their family backgrounds.
'Childish?'
Thinking back to their behavior in elementary school—well, yeah, it was pretty childish.
But by middle school they felt they had matured a lot. 'Back then I’d already started liking pretty female classmates. That counts as being mature, right?'
Host: "Champion Julian, as the youngest Champion in Drakoria’s history, do you have any advice or experience to share with aspiring trainers?"
'Experience? What experience? Wasn’t it just me cruising through life like I had cheat codes on?'
But then Julian thought about it more carefully—he actually did have some experience.
His expression suddenly turned serious.
The host felt a surge of excitement. Was Julian about to share some valuable insights? She wondered whether the station would even air it uncut.
Holding the microphone, Julian said with utmost solemnity:
"Women will only slow you down on your path to becoming a Champion. Remember this: 'With no women in your heart, your blade moves with divine speed.' Of course, for female trainers, it works the other way too—men will slow you down just the same."
Host: 'I even had my pen and notebook ready, and this is what you give me?!'
"Champion Julian… that’s certainly a unique perspective."
As she spoke, her expression turned slightly peculiar. Who would have thought Julian would say something like this?
And this was coming from someone born into an aristocratic family. Many young heirs of such families—without commenting on their morals—started engaging in "dual activities" at a very young age.
But surprisingly, Julian’s words resonated with many trainers.
Trainer A: "Damn, Champion Julian’s seemingly absurd words actually make so much sense to me!"
Trainer B: "Right? I got a girlfriend, but I was so worried she’d cheat on me while I was exploring in secret realms that I barely went to any secret realm this past year. My progress has been so slow!"
Trainer C: "So… did you manage to keep her faithful?"
Trainer B: "Nope, she still cheated on me."
Trainer D: "I don’t have a girlfriend. I spend most of my time in the wild or in secret realms. It’s dangerous, but the rewards are great. I’ve already surpassed most of my peers."
Trainer E: "No more of this! I’m going to become an Elite—the Champion is right. I’m breaking up with my girlfriend right now!"
Trainer F: "Same, I’m in."
Trainer G: "Count me in too."
Julian had no idea that his response had triggered a "breakup wave" not just in Drakoria but all around the world.
Was what Julian said actually correct? Well… the more you thought about it, the more it seemed to make sense. But then if you thought about it again, it started sounding completely ridiculous.
The reason many people believed Julian’s words was simply because of the immense prestige he carried.
A 22-year-old Champion—how could you not take his words seriously?
The key thing was—that there was a twisted logic to his words that somehow made sense.
The host quickly changed the subject: "Champion Julian, many netizens are curious about how you met Celebi."
"I helped it solve a problem, and then this little guy just stubbornly latched onto me."
No sooner had he finished speaking than Celebi, perched on his head, expressed its displeasure. It began tugging at his hair and chattering into its tiny microphone in a language the host couldn’t understand.
The host looked at Julian for an explanation.
With a completely straight face, Julian said, "It says everything I said is correct."
Host: 'Do you think I’m blind?'
Celebi was clearly angry—there was no way it was agreeing with him. He was obviously just making stuff up.
To calm it down, Julian called out Gengar from his shadow. He then reached into its belly like using Chidori and pulled out a fried chicken drumstick, handing it to Celebi.
"Gen…"
Gengar even put on a "pained" expression and then licked Julian once for good measure.
Seeing Julian suddenly paralyzed, the host panicked: 'Oh no, this is going to be a broadcast disaster!!'
The crew rushed over to administer first aid, but just as they approached, the paralyzed Julian tremblingly pulled a Cheri Berry from his pocket, ate it, and right before their eyes, cured his paralysis.
Crew: 'Humans can cure their own paralysis? And why do you even have a Cheri Berry in your pocket?!'
"You knew I was going to be on TV! So you did this on purpose!"
Julian yanked Gengar back just as it tried to retreat into his shadow. He grabbed its face with both hands and stretched it fiercely to the sides.
Host: "Aahhh! It’s going to break! You’re going to pull its face apart!"
*****
Upto 30 chapters ahead on patreon :-
/ReduxMagister