Descent Of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 11

The next day.

Kang Jin-ho approached Jung In-gyu with a menacing aura.

“W-what’s with you!”

Jung In-gyu flinched and stepped back, startled by his imposing presence.

‘What’s up with this guy?’

Kang Jin-ho stared at Jung In-gyu for a moment before slowly opening his mouth.

“Aren’t you going to the PC cafe [internet cafe] today?”

“I have to go to tutoring.”

Kang Jin-ho was momentarily speechless and hesitated at Jung In-gyu’s quick and clean retort.

“Why?”

“No…”

“Hey, you didn’t stay up all night playing games because you were upset about losing yesterday, did you? That’s so petty.”

Kang Jin-ho’s body froze like a stone.

“Surely, game master Kang Jin-ho wouldn’t do that, right?”

“So, you really lost yesterday? It wasn’t like you were letting me win?”

Cold sweat broke out on Kang Jin-ho’s forehead.

“Fine, don’t go then!”

Kang Jin-ho turned and walked away.

Jung In-gyu, dumbfounded, muttered to Kang Jin-ho’s back.

“What’s really wrong with him…”

Jung In-gyu shook his head, watching Kang Jin-ho express his anger with his back.

‘I need to go to the PC cafe…’

Kang Jin-ho had no way to relieve his frustrated feelings.

Even though he hadn’t played in decades, he thought he’d be able to manage somehow since he had the knack for it, but that wasn’t the case. What he had forgotten needed constant effort to be revived.

And he had put in that effort all night, but there was no way to show it…

Why was he so restless over something so trivial?

“Jin-ho.”

While Kang Jin-ho was unable to calm himself, Lee Tae-ho, who was part of the ‘Four Musketeers’ with Jung In-gyu and Oh Min-jae, called out to him.

“Huh?”

Lee Tae-ho, who had approached Kang Jin-ho, sat on the desk and said,

“We’re going to karaoke, wanna come?”

“Karaoke?”

“Yeah.”

The word ‘karaoke’ brought back a nostalgic feeling for Kang Jin-ho.

Singing.

For Kang Jin-ho, who had suddenly gone to the Murim world [a fictional world often depicted in martial arts novels], nothing from the modern world remained. All that was left for him were the fragments of songs that lingered as vague memories of the past.

When he was tired or lonely, humming the songs that remained in his memory was his only solace.

That was the case in the early days of his life in Murim, but he had forgotten about it as he rose in status later on.

He had also forgotten about his life here, and he didn’t have the time to miss it.

But hearing the word ‘song’ made him feel like the longing he had felt in Murim was coming back to life.

‘Karaoke, huh…’

He wanted to sing after a long time.

“I’ll go.”

Kang Jin-ho nodded, indicating his participation.

Lee Tae-ho gave a subtle smile and put his arm around Kang Jin-ho’s shoulder. When Kang Jin-ho looked at him with a ‘What’s up with this guy?’ expression, Lee Tae-ho whispered softly.

“Se-yeon’s coming too.”

“Se-yeon?”

“Yeah, Se-yeon.”

Kang Jin-ho nodded. Whether she came or not was none of his business. Kang Jin-ho just wanted to sing.

“Okay.”

There was nothing more to say.

After class, the kids gathered. Besides Lee Tae-ho, there wasn’t anyone he particularly remembered. Among them, the person who caught his eye was Han Se-yeon.

What was interesting was that he could immediately recognize Han Se-yeon among the many kids.

Considering that even Jung In-gyu had been puzzled at first, it meant that Han Se-yeon’s face was quite firmly imprinted in Kang Jin-ho’s mind.

It seemed that the old Kang Jin-ho had been interested in her.

“Jin-ho, you’re here too?”

“Yeah.”

Kang Jin-ho nodded lightly at Han Se-yeon’s words.

“I think this is the first time we’re going to karaoke with Jin-ho?”

“I guess so.”

Kang Jin-ho tilted his head as if surprised.

He seemed to have been somewhat interested in Han Se-yeon, but they had never gone to karaoke together?

The old Kang Jin-ho didn’t avoid hanging out with people. If Kang Jin-ho hadn’t gone to karaoke with Han Se-yeon, it was probably because he had avoided her.

‘Was he shy?’

From his personal memories, the old Kang Jin-ho seemed to be quite outgoing, but it seemed he was quite hopeless when it came to relationships with girls.

He chuckled.

“Why are you laughing?”

“Nothing.”

Kang Jin-ho shook his head. Well, the current Kang Jin-ho wasn’t any different. If you asked if he had developed any immunity to women while living in Murim, he would have to say no.

After all, Kang Jin-ho had lived a life filled with training and battles. He hadn’t really experienced women in Murim either.

In the harsh Demonic Cult [a common trope in Murim novels, often a place of evil and power], women were merely a way to relieve stress, and there was no solace to be found within it. The Demonic Cult was too dangerous a place to cross into the realm of emotional connection.

“Let’s go if everyone’s here.”

The kids followed Lee Tae-ho. Soon, they were able to reach the downtown area.

“Hmm…”

Kang Jin-ho was startled by the densely packed buildings and people.

‘It feels out of place.’

Even though it had been a while, he didn’t expect to feel this way.

Hospital buildings and school buildings weren’t small either. Moreover, he had seen the buildings while riding in his mother’s car to school, so he didn’t think he would feel out of place.

But seeing it in person made him wonder if this was really the world he lived in, as so much of it felt strange.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.”

Moreover, the air was terribly polluted, and the flashing signs on both sides were enough to mesmerize people. And the sounds of songs and the noisy voices coming from everywhere…

“Is this hell?”

“Huh?”

“It’s nothing.”

Kang Jin-ho shook his head.

He had lived in Murim, where there weren’t many artificial landscapes, so this level of discomfort was only natural. Wouldn’t someone who had lived in the mountains feel this way if they were dropped in the middle of a city after decades?

“Haa…”

Kang Jin-ho took a deep breath. The people passing by, filling the space all around him, kept entering his personal space and irritating him.

The distance between people was too close here. People brushed shoulders and didn’t seem to mind.

‘Am I an outsider?’

Even there, he was a person from another world, but even after returning here, he felt like he was living in a different world.

Kang Jin-ho felt a bitter sense of awkwardness.

“We’re here!”

Kang Jin-ho followed the kids who were leading the way and entered the karaoke building. Once inside the room, Kang Jin-ho finally felt a little relieved and sank into the soft sofa.

“He looks exhausted already?”

Everyone laughed at Se-yeon’s words.

Kang Jin-ho, regardless, leaned his head back on the sofa and stared blankly at the ceiling.

‘It’s not easy.’

He knew he would get used to it eventually, but it wasn’t easy at all.

He knew that time would solve it. The problem was whether Kang Jin-ho could endure until then.

“Okay, who wants to go first?”

Soon, drinks were brought into the room, the lights were turned off, and the kids started singing.

The booming sound bothered Kang Jin-ho’s ears, but it was bearable.

Sometimes, the high-pitched screams of tone-deaf singers made him frown, but wasn’t that part of the fun of karaoke?

“Jin-ho, aren’t you going to sing?”

“Later.”

Kang Jin-ho followed Tae-ho out to the restroom. He was a bit nervous, which was why he needed to pee.

While Kang Jin-ho was urinating, Tae-ho called out to him.

“Jin-ho.”

“What?”

“Wanna have a smoke?”

Tae-ho pulled out a cigarette from his pocket.

‘A cigarette, huh…’

Come to think of it, he used to smoke one or two to relieve stress back in high school.

And even after the accident, he always smoked, even if he didn’t eat. He had nowhere to relieve the stress of being paralyzed from the waist down.

‘It’s not good for my health, but… I’m curious.’

Why did he smoke so much of this stuff?

“Give it here.”

Kang Jin-ho took a cigarette and lit it.

And then…

“Cough! Cough! Achoo! Ugh! Ugh!”

“What the hell… Why are you suddenly like this!”

“Ugh! Ugh!”

“Hey!”

Kang Jin-ho, who had barely calmed down, looked at Lee Tae-ho with bloodshot eyes and said,

“…You should quit that.”

“Are you crazy?”

“Ugh…”

Kang Jin-ho was about to throw away the cigarette as if he didn’t want to see it, but he seemed to have some lingering attachment and took another puff.

Maybe it was because he was used to it, but this time it was somewhat tolerable.

But soon, his head started to spin.

“I’m dizzy?”

“That’s the taste of it!”

“I don’t remember it being like this…”

“What are you talking about?”

“It’s nothing.”

Kang Jin-ho roughly stubbed out the cigarette and left the restroom. The thick cigarette smoke made him want to get out of the restroom quickly.

Why did he smoke so much of this stuff back then?

It was something he couldn’t understand at all.

“Why are you like that? Like you’re smoking for the first time.”

“I know, right.”

Kang Jin-ho gave a wry smile and went back into the room.

The kids were singing in the room.

Han Se-yeon was singing a lively idol song. Both boys and girls were dancing and creating a lively atmosphere.

It was an interesting sight.

They had come to have fun, but something felt a little unnatural. It was more like they were pretending to have a lot of fun rather than actually being excited.

‘Are they trying to impress her?’

Since Han Se-yeon had a strong presence in school, it seemed that many kids were trying to get on her good side.

It was something that happened everywhere people lived.

In the past, similar things happened in the Demonic Cult because of Yu-ma.

Yu-ma, despite being a demon, was unusually interested in painting. He believed he was a great artist, and sometimes he would show his paintings to others.

Every time, people would praise Yu-ma’s paintings to the point of exhaustion, and thanks to that, Yu-ma thought he was really good at painting.

That was until Kang Jin-ho saw the painting and boldly said, ‘I could draw better than that with my feet.’

That kind of thing was happening here now.

“Wow, you’re better than the singer!”

“I heard you got scouted by an agency! They want you to be an idol, right?”

“You’re way better than Super Girls right now!”

Han Se-yeon smiled at the kids’ compliments.

“Don’t say such nonsense. It’s embarrassing.”

“I’m serious.”

Kang Jin-ho couldn’t help but chuckle.

No matter how bad someone is rumored to be in the professional world, they can’t be compared to an amateur. The professionals who have debuted now are the ones who have been selected from countless people with talent and dreams.

Of course, it was true that there were some who didn’t meet the standards, but Han Se-yeon wasn’t that outstanding to be considered better than them.

“Jin-ho, aren’t you going to sing?”

Han Se-yeon called out to Kang Jin-ho, trying to change the subject.

“I will.”

“Hurry up. You haven’t sung yet.”

“Okay.”

Kang Jin-ho picked up the songbook and looked for a song.

“Hmm…”

He saw the song he used to sing whenever he was lonely.

“Press ‘Going Home’.”

“Let’s see, the number is…”

Tae-ho entered the song for Kang Jin-ho. As the intro played, Kang Jin-ho took a deep breath and picked up the microphone.