Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 17

The night streets were dazzling.

The neon signs, shining in various colors, glowed exceptionally bright.

“This is nice, isn’t it?” Choi Young-soo smiled, looking at the glittering street.

“What’s got you so excited?” Lee Min-shik, who acted as Choi Young-soo’s right-hand man, asked the elated Choi Young-soo.

“Because I don’t have to go to school tomorrow. I can play all night long.”

“Then what about us?”

“You can go first if you want?”

“No, if we leave while you’re having fun, it’ll ruin the mood.”

“Good that you know.” Choi Young-soo chuckled and stretched his shoulders.

“Ah, I was so pissed off because of that moron, but being out like this makes me feel a bit better.”

“What happened to that bastard? Did he come to school?”

“He’s suspended, so he couldn’t come.”

“Just watch. You think it’ll end with a suspension? You’ll see that little punk’s life get ruined. Just keep watching.” Lee Min-shik tried to please Choi Young-soo.

“No one who messes with Choi Young-soo can get away with it.”

“Damn it, it’s because I was ambushed, but if I wanted to, going head-to-head with that bastard is nothing.”

“That’s right.”

“But that’s not enough to relieve my anger. I’ll show you that little punk begging at my feet within a month.”

“If Choi Young-soo says so, it’ll definitely happen, right?”

“You know me well, you bastard. I’m in a bad mood, let’s go to a club.” Choi Young-soo and his group entered a dark alley.

Going through the main gate might not be bad, but with the recent crackdowns, it was better to go through the back gate. A staff member who had been bribed would open the door.

“Did you call ahead?”

“I did it in advance. I’m a pro at figuring out our Young-soo’s mood. If I send a text, they’ll come running.”

“I live because of you, Min-shik.”

“Hehehe.”

“But where did Hyun-seung go?”

“Huh? He was just here a moment ago? Did he go to pee?”

“Ah, that idiot, really. Where did he go? Call him.” Lee Min-shik took out his phone and called Go Hyun-seung. But all he heard was that the phone was turned off.

“It’s off?”

“Ah, really! He’s ruining my mood again. Did he slip out when we entered the alley?”

“No, I think he came in with us… Where did this bastard suddenly go? Wait a minute. I’ll go check over there.” Lee Min-shik hurriedly ran out of the alley.

“Aish, damn it.” Choi Young-soo took out a cigarette from his pocket and put it in his mouth. Just when he was about to feel better, Go Hyun-seung was making him angry.

“Forget the club, damn it, should I just call some girls and hang out?” He was bored with the girls he knew, but they were convenient. If he called now, there were plenty of girls who would come running.

“Where did that bastard Go Hyun-seung go…” Choi Young-soo looked around. The small alley, surrounded by large buildings, usually didn’t get much light. It was a path they had been using for dozens of times since before they were even high school students.

But… Today, this path felt strangely eerie.

“This is a shitty feeling.” Choi Young-soo sighed deeply and threw his cigarette on the ground. He stomped out the cigarette and took out his phone.

“Ah, seriously.” Choi Young-soo frowned as he called Lee Min-shik.

[The phone is turned off. Please leave a message after the beep…]

“Ah, what is this now!” Annoyed, Choi Young-soo pressed the end button and shoved his phone into his pocket. What was he supposed to do if even the guy who went to look for him had his phone turned off?

“I’m going to kill them all, really.” Choi Young-soo considered going out to look for them, but he stopped, worried that they might miss each other. He put his hands in his pockets and kicked the ground nervously. He kept smelling cigarette smoke, which irritated him. Just in case, he turned around and saw that the cigarette he had stomped out was properly extinguished. But where was this strong cigarette smoke coming from, as if it was right in front of him?

“Ah, what is it?” When he turned his head, a dark shadow appeared in front of him.

“Huh!” Startled, Choi Young-soo jumped back and tripped over a stone, falling to the ground.

Thud!

“Ouch!” Choi Young-soo, who had let out a short scream, raised his head and looked at the black shadow. A dark figure was visible between the long shadows of the buildings. And a red spark appeared in between.

‘A cigarette?’

Step. Step. With the sound of low footsteps, the black figure stepped out of the shadows. Then, a familiar face appeared.

“You… you Kang Jin-ho, you bastard!” Even after saying that, Choi Young-soo looked at the man in front of him several times. It was Kang Jin-ho. No matter how many times he looked, the person in front of him was definitely Kang Jin-ho. But something was strange. He looked exactly like the Kang Jin-ho he knew, but something was different. It was as if a different person with the same face was standing there. He had seen him a few days ago, so why did he feel like this? Was it because it was dark? Or…

Kang Jin-ho slowly exhaled the cigarette smoke he had inhaled deeply.

“Thanks to you…” Kang Jin-ho’s mouth slowly opened.

“I remembered the taste of cigarettes.”

“Thanks to you.” His voice, low and deep, seemed to burrow into Choi Young-soo’s ears. Choi Young-soo shivered as if he was getting chills.

“You, you… did you come looking for me?”

“…”

“You crazy bastard. Don’t you know what happens if you mess with me? You still haven’t come to your senses after getting beaten like that? You’re done for, you bastard!” Choi Young-soo shouted bravely with a trembling voice.

Kang Jin-ho shook his head.

“You’re wrong.”

“What, what is!”

“I don’t not know. Thanks to you, I came to know.”

“…”

“Thanks to you, I realized that I can live a normal life by being myself.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” Kang Jin-ho smiled. In the darkness, his smile pierced Choi Young-soo’s eyes eerily.

“What did you do wrong?” One step. Kang Jin-ho slowly approached Choi Young-soo.

“Wh-what, you bastard! What did I do wrong!” Choi Young-soo managed to get up, staggering. His hand, clenched into a fist and held out in front of him, was shaking strangely.

‘Why is it shaking like this?’ It was a strange sensation. A sensation he had never felt in his life was coursing through his body, making his heart race.

“Don’t you know?” As Kang Jin-ho approached, Choi Young-soo clenched his fist. ‘I was ambushed back then… If we fought properly, I could have won.’ No matter what anyone said, he was Choi Young-soo.

“Ugh!” Choi Young-soo screamed and punched Kang Jin-ho in the face.

Thwack! With a dull sound, Choi Young-soo’s fist hit Kang Jin-ho’s face squarely. Choi Young-soo was about to cheer. See! It’s not that I’m weak. I was just caught off guard back then. But instead of cheering, he had to scream.

“Aaaah!” Choi Young-soo grabbed his hand and rolled on the ground. The fist that had hit the face hurt like hell, as if he had punched concrete.

“Ah… ah, damn it! Ah…” Choi Young-soo cursed and groaned, holding his fist.

Kang Jin-ho slowly approached and crouched in front of Choi Young-soo, who was lying on the ground.

“Think about it.”

“You think I’ll let this go easily! I!” As he shouted, Kang Jin-ho grabbed Choi Young-soo’s face.

“Ugh…”

“Don’t make me say it twice.”

“…” Kang Jin-ho’s eyes were gleaming like those of a beast in front of its prey. In front of that chilling gaze, Choi Young-soo had to feel an irrational emotion, as if his own throat would be torn out at any moment. Fear. Fear was consuming Choi Young-soo.

‘Wh-what the hell is this bastard?’ The Kang Jin-ho in his past memories and the Kang Jin-ho he had seen a few days ago were definitely different. The difference was also significant. But the current Kang Jin-ho and the Kang Jin-ho from a few days ago were just completely different people. And in a bad way. The Kang Jin-ho in front of him didn’t seem human. A human… A human can’t be like this. How could there be a person in the world who could make your whole body tremble just by looking at their eyes?

“Don’t you know?” Crack! “Ugh…” Choi Young-soo tried to scream at the pain in his right hand, but strangely, no sound came out of his mouth. His body was not moving as he wanted. A fear greater than pain was driving him crazy. ‘Is this a dream? What is this?’ His right arm hurt so much that he felt like he was going to die. But why couldn’t he scream? No matter how hard he tried to scream, only his throat hurt, and not even a mosquito’s buzz came out of his mouth. That was so terrifying.

“Now, think again.”

“…” Choi Young-soo tried to say something, but his mouth wouldn’t open.

“Don’t you know?” Crack! This time it was his left hand. Choi Young-soo’s eyes were bloodshot, and his body was shaking as if he had a fever. But this time too, no sound came out of Choi Young-soo’s mouth. His mouth was wide open and trembling, but Choi Young-soo couldn’t make a sound.

“Think. If you can’t figure it out, it won’t end.” Choi Young-soo desperately racked his brain. He had to answer. He had to answer.

“Tell me.” Choi Young-soo desperately moved his lips. But what could he say when his pressure points were suppressed?

“I can’t hear you.” Crack! This time it was his right leg. Choi Young-soo’s arms shot up into the air. The indescribable pain was driving him crazy. He thrashed around as if he had fallen into water. Kang Jin-ho looked at Choi Young-soo and whispered softly.

“Do you want to talk?” Choi Young-soo desperately nodded his head. His face was already covered in tears and snot.

“Shall we stop?” Choi Young-soo’s head nodded violently as if it would break.

“Did you stop when Park Yoo-min told you to stop?”

“…”

“Don’t worry. I’ll only do as much as you did. Look back at what you did. Then you’ll know what I’m going to do.” Kang Jin-ho smiled.

“Speak.”

“…”

“I can’t hear you!” Crack! Choi Young-soo trembled on the ground. But even while looking at Choi Young-soo like that, Kang Jin-ho slowly opened his mouth.

“Tell me.”

“…”

“What?” Crack! Choi Young-soo wanted to bite his tongue. It seemed like it would be more comfortable to die than to suffer like this. But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t put any strength into the area around his mouth.

“You don’t know, do you?” Choi Young-soo pleaded with Kang Jin-ho. Even if he couldn’t hear the words, even if his body wouldn’t move… Kang Jin-ho could understand what Choi Young-soo was saying just by looking at his eyes.

“Okay, let’s stop playing around. Tell me.” Kang Jin-ho released Choi Young-soo’s pressure points. Choi Young-soo trembled and reached out to Kang Jin-ho.

“S-save… me…”

“I don’t plan to kill you. That’s too simple. So tell me, what did you do wrong?”

“…I, I did wrong…” Kang Jin-ho shook his head.

“That’s not the answer I want.”

“P-please…”

“Listen carefully.”

“…”

“It was your mistake to mess with me.” Choi Young-soo nodded vigorously.

“But it’s okay. I was going to endure what I could endure. Even if you messed with me, I was going to try to understand because this isn’t the world I used to live in.” Choi Young-soo nodded. He couldn’t understand what he was saying, but he felt like he had to.

“But you did something you shouldn’t have done.” Kang Jin-ho’s eyes grew colder as he glared at Choi Young-soo.