Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 23

Kang Jin-ho leaned back in his chair.

A fixer wouldn’t take too long and could earn a decent amount of money.

But…

Kang Jin-ho couldn’t help but worry.

‘Fixer.’

The name sounded good.

And it seemed like a good idea.

But Kang Jin-ho knew human nature well.

If it were something that could be resolved openly and with the help of public authority, there would be no reason to seek out a fixer.

In the end, a fixer was just a fancy name for someone who could do dirty work without hesitation, using illegal and underhanded methods as weapons.

Of course…

It wasn’t that Kang Jin-ho was averse to such things.

Kang Jin-ho was someone who wouldn’t hesitate to kill if necessary, whether it was illegal or underhanded. For him, breaking laws made by humans was not even a matter of conscience.

But what was troubling was the resentment that would inevitably follow from being a fixer.

It wouldn’t matter if the resentment was directed at him, but if his family were to be targeted while he was away, the problem would be serious.

What would be the point of starting something to live well with his family if it ended up threatening their lives?

Kang Jin-ho had seen similar cases a few times in the past.

All sorts of things happened in the martial world.

Making money shouldn’t threaten his family. If such a thing were to happen, even in the slightest, Kang Jin-ho would never forgive himself.

‘This won’t work either.’

Frustrated, Kang Jin-ho went up to the rooftop. He took out a cigarette from his pocket and put it in his mouth.

Once he started smoking, he found himself doing it more often.

It would be a problem if he got caught, but since Kang Jin-ho could sense movement within a 30-meter radius even while sleeping, there was no way he would be caught smoking by others.

“Haa…”

Kang Jin-ho exhaled a deep puff of smoke.

The world was full of more troublesome things than he had thought.

After returning to the modern world, which he had only longed for in the Central Plains [a fictional, often lawless, region in martial arts stories], he realized it wasn’t much different from the Central Plains.

The intensity of savagery and violence was incomparable, but a stronger stench of malice was flowing from the gaps in the layers of the system.

‘I didn’t have these worries at first…’

When he first returned to the modern world, he was just happy to be back.

Even now, compared to the Central Plains, this place was much more comfortable and better. That fact hadn’t changed.

But compared to when he first returned to the modern world, his expectations and admiration had diminished a lot.

Perhaps the time he spent in the hospital was when Kang Jin-ho viewed the modern world most favorably.

‘The hospital…’

Kang Jin-ho’s eyes flickered slightly.

The first time.

And the hospital.

Kang Jin-ho took a long drag from the cigarette in his mouth.

‘What about that?’

Kang Jin-ho stubbed out the cigarette and blew on his clothes to get rid of the smell of smoke.

Then, he hurried back into his room.

As he entered his room and searched on the computer, Kang Jin-ho’s eyes lit up slightly.

He had found a way.

Something only he could do.

He had just found something that no one else in the world could do, something only he could do.

A deep smile spread across Kang Jin-ho’s face as he looked at the monitor.

* * *

S Hospital.

The top floor, VVIP suite.

A hospital room that cost 3 million won per day, over 50 pyeong [approximately 1,800 square feet] in size.

In the corner of that room, an old man lay on a bed.

“Chairman, how are you doing today?”

The caregiver, who was taking care of the old man, spoke kindly, but the old man’s eyes were blank and unfocused, showing no movement.

“Chairman, if you keep doing that, your health will get worse.”

Only then did the old man’s eyes move slightly.

But that was all.

Barely moving his lips and slightly opening and closing his eyes was all the old man could do. Even that was difficult, making it hard to communicate with him.

“Then, please get some rest.”

The caregiver turned off the lights in the room and lay down on the auxiliary bed prepared on the other side.

The old man stared silently at the darkened ceiling of the room.

An old man with a terminal illness, with not much time left to live.

A person who would receive sympathy from anyone.

But if anyone knew who he was, they wouldn’t dare to pity him.

If they knew that the person lying here was Hwang Jung-hoo, no one would dare to call him pitiful. Absolutely not!

Hwang Jung-hoo.

A giant who started from nothing as a war orphan and lived through the modern history of South Korea.

The Jaekyung Group, which he founded, started without any capital and is now proudly one of the top 5 groups in South Korea.

There were many groups that were valued higher than the Jaekyung Group, but there was no businessman who was valued higher than Hwang Jung-hoo. While others took over the unclaimed land after the war with their capital, Hwang Jung-hoo was a self-made man who started a small shop with money he earned by working hard and turned it into a world-renowned group.

But even the giant of the business world couldn’t avoid aging, and he couldn’t escape illness.

“……”

Even when he opened his mouth, no words came out. Even when his eyes were open, he couldn’t see properly.

Darkness.

The world he lived in was darkness.

When he first got sick, he thought he would get up and leave soon.

But the doctors who observed his progress all shook their heads.

And the way he was treated gradually changed.

When he was first brought to the hospital, the people who had been guarding his room, as if it would burst, began to leave one by one.

The sons who had the right to inherit stayed until the end, hoping for the best, but even that lasted only two months.

They had to manage the company.

The company wasn’t doing well.

There were many excuses, but the result was the same.

One by one, they stopped showing up, and eventually, everyone stopped visiting.

After a year, Hwang Jung-hoo was left abandoned in a luxurious hospital room that no one visited.

There was only one person who visited him.

It was Director Baek Young-gi, Hwang Jung-hoo’s confidant, who had been almost demoted.

When he was in office, Director Baek Young-gi was known to be kind and diligent, but he was not given a high position because he was considered less capable.

But after he collapsed, all those whom he had highly valued abandoned Hwang Jung-hoo, and only Director Baek Young-gi stayed by his side.

Director Baek Young-gi visited Hwang Jung-hoo once a week and told him about what had been happening at the company.

Whether Hwang Jung-hoo was listening or not, he reported the company’s affairs to Hwang Jung-hoo with all his heart.

And yesterday, Hwang Jung-hoo heard shocking news.

His sons were fighting over the vacant chairman position.

Even though Hwang Jung-hoo wasn’t dead yet, they were legally looking for ways to inherit his assets, and there were rumors that the living were having a hard time because the person who should have died hadn’t died yet.

His eldest son even came to the hospital and told the attending physician that his father was suffering too much and that they should let him go.

And the filial son, who was worried about his father, left without even visiting the room.

Director Baek Young-gi held Hwang Jung-hoo’s hand and wept as he said those words.

But Hwang Jung-hoo couldn’t cry. No tears came out.

What could he do?

All he could do was look at the darkness-covered ceiling and reminisce about the past.

In the past, he was full of energy and eager for everything.

His subordinates all trusted and followed him, and his children respected him.

One look from him made people bow their heads, and one word from him turned the world upside down.

But…

All of that was meaningless.

He was so focused on looking ahead that he didn’t see what was beneath his feet, and he was so busy suppressing people that he didn’t see who they were.

In the end, he was left with nothing.

‘I…’

Hwang Jung-hoo fell into thought, staring at the darkness.

‘Did I live well?’

It was a life of great splendor.

His life was even made into a drama with a different name, and it spread to the world through television.

His every word became an aphorism and an example to the world, and the company he founded was supporting South Korea.

Even so…

Hwang Jung-hoo couldn’t say that his life was okay.

Because all that was left at the end was a miserable reality with no one to stay by his side.

‘For what?’

What was he so desperately living for?

Why did he live without taking care of himself?

Once you die, it’s all over.

Hwang Jung-hoo closed his eyes.

If he were to be reborn…

If he were given another chance…

He wouldn’t live so foolishly.

He would never live and die like a fool.

Hwang Jung-hoo slowly opened his eyes.

Then, a blurry figure appeared before his eyes.

“……”

Hwang Jung-hoo was surprised and moved his lips.

But Hwang Jung-hoo’s excitement soon subsided. His eyes were rather resigned.

It wasn’t strange to see such things now. It was just regrettable that all that was left was regret, but it was time to accept it.

That his short life was over.

Then, a small whisper came from the figure in front of him.

“Do I look like a grim reaper?”

“……”

Hwang Jung-hoo regained his senses and looked at the figure in front of him again.

It wasn’t a grim reaper.

The person in front of him was definitely a human.

How could a stranger have gotten in here?

The security of S Hospital’s VVIP suite was known to be impenetrable. You had to go through three doors to get inside, and on top of that, his sons had even placed guards in front of the room.

But how could a stranger be inside?

“……”

The man in black slowly opened his mouth.

“I have something to ask.”

Without waiting for Hwang Jung-hoo’s answer, the man continued.

“Isn’t it too unfair to die like this?”

Hwang Jung-hoo couldn’t answer. But if he could, he would have nodded his head like crazy.

There was too much left.

It wasn’t about having things left to enjoy.

There were too many things left that he hadn’t properly finished.

If he died like this, Hwang Jung-hoo would never be able to close his eyes peacefully.

“Let’s make a deal.”

Hwang Jung-hoo stared at the man in front of him.

He wasn’t a grim reaper.

But he was definitely something like a devil.

Otherwise, there would be no reason for him to reach out to him, who was dying, and offer a deal.

“You set the conditions. I’ll show you what I can do.”

But this devil didn’t seem to know how to make a deal.

How could a devil be so bad at making a deal?

If Hwang Jung-hoo were healthy, he would have told him to go back and learn how to make a deal. But now, Hwang Jung-hoo could only watch what the devil was doing.

“It’s only for half a day. For half a day, you’ll experience what I can do for you. I’ll come back tomorrow. Until then, you’ll have to think about what you can do for me.”

Hwang Jung-hoo asked with his eyes.

What are you planning to do?

Even though it was an incomprehensible question, the man seemed to understand the look in his eyes and smiled faintly as he slowly placed his hand on Hwang Jung-hoo’s lower abdomen.

“I’ll let you dream.”

Hwang Jung-hoo lost consciousness as he suddenly felt a churning sensation in his stomach.

The man looked at the unconscious Hwang Jung-hoo and slowly walked out of the room.

The man was, of course, Kang Jin-ho.