Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 104

Park Yu-min looked up at the sky, his expression troubled.

“Well, it’s as you see.”

“What’s the condition?”

“Stage 4 stomach cancer.”

Kang Jin-ho’s face hardened. He didn’t know much about cancer, but he knew a stage 4 diagnosis meant there was little hope.

“Surgery?”

“They said it’s inoperable because the metastasis to the peritoneum [the lining of the abdominal cavity] is too extensive.”

“Then?”

Park Yu-min couldn’t say anything. Kang Jin-ho hadn’t asked expecting an answer. He was just asking if there was nothing they could do but stand by helplessly.

“…There’s no real solution.”

Kang Jin-ho reached into his pocket. He pulled out the cigarettes he had brought just in case, put one in his mouth, and lit it.

“Haa…

I know I should quit, but it’s things like this that make it impossible.”

“If it’s stage 4, it must be quite advanced, right?”

“Yeah.”

“There must have been signs?”

Park Yu-min lowered his head and didn’t say anything. Kang Jin-ho sighed, looking at Park Yu-min.

“I’m sorry.”

“No, it’s my fault.”

“It’s not your fault.”

How could Park Yu-min, who had been living in the dorm, have possibly noticed the head nun’s symptoms? If they had been living together before, there might have been some responsibility, but not now.

It was too harsh to blame Park Yu-min, who had been living in the dorm for a month and only visited the orphanage for less than two days a month, for not knowing the head nun’s condition.

“It seems there were signs, but she doesn’t take care of herself, so she kept putting it off…”

“That’s probably it.”

There was no time.

She had to take care of over twenty children, so there was no time to go to the hospital.

‘I should have paid more attention.’

Instead of just showing up after Park Yu-min left the orphanage and trying to find a man’s job, he should have systematically solved the overload that was falling on the head nun.

It was Kang Jin-ho’s mistake not to think that far.

“What about Se-yeon?”

“Han Se-yeon?”

“Yeah.”

“Se-yeon doesn’t come to the orphanage much these days.”

“I see.”

Kang Jin-ho stared at the distant sky.

‘Stage 4 stomach cancer…

If it has metastasized to the peritoneum, modern medicine can’t do more than delay death. The only choice is whether to prolong life with chemotherapy or give up chemotherapy and try for a peaceful death.’

“Does she know?”

“…Yeah.”

“Did you tell her?”

Park Yu-min nodded silently.

“I couldn’t not tell her.”

“Still…”

“She’s strong. She’s not the type to despair even if she knows her situation. So, I thought it was better to tell her the truth.”

“I guess so.”

Park Yu-min’s choice made sense.

“How are you managing the care?”

“Other nuns from the diocese come to help. I’m too busy taking care of the kids.”

“What about your training?”

“…What’s the point in this situation?”

Kang Jin-ho took a long drag of his cigarette, feeling frustrated. Watching the smoke he exhaled disappear into the sky made his stomach churn even more.

“You must not be sleeping well either.”

“It’s nothing compared to what the head nun is going through.”

“The living have to live.”

“She’s not gone yet!”

Park Yu-min jumped up from his seat and glared at Kang Jin-ho before turning his head away.

“I’m sorry. I know you didn’t mean it that way…”

“No, I messed up.”

Park Yu-min seemed like he wanted to say something more, but he just sat back down.

“Now that I’m directly managing the orphanage, I realize how much the head nun has been suffering. There’s hardly any time to sleep. I’m completely out of it, and even though I’m working so hard, I can’t fill the head nun’s shoes by myself.”

“I thought I’d repay her when I succeeded, but I was wrong. I thought she’d just wait for me to succeed, but I should have done something sooner…”

“Stop it, man.”

Kang Jin-ho cut off Park Yu-min.

“Don’t whine. It won’t change anything.”

“Right.”

Park Yu-min wiped his face and stood up.

“Anyway, that’s how it is. I should go in now. The kids are waiting.”

“…Are you just going to keep looking after the kids like that?”

“Then what else can I do?”

“Never mind.”

Kang Jin-ho tried to say something but then shut his mouth. What words would Park Yu-min be able to hear right now?

“Go in first.”

“Do you have plans?”

“I have somewhere to go.”

Park Yu-min nodded as if he understood, then slowly walked towards the main gate. Kang Jin-ho watched his back for a while before turning around and heading back to the elevator.

Kang Jin-ho took the elevator up to the ward and went back into the head nun’s room.

“Oh my, Jin-ho?”

The head nun, surprised by Kang Jin-ho’s return, looked at him with wide eyes.

“Would you like to go for a walk?”

“Huh?”

Taking a patient outside was no easy task.

Even if moving and seating a person in a wheelchair was manageable, getting permission for a walk with all the dangling IV lines and blankets was difficult.

Amidst the nurses’ nagging, he wanted to give up, but on the other hand, it meant that the head nun’s condition was that bad.

“…It’s warm.”

As they came down to the first floor and entered the garden, the head nun smiled gently.

‘She shouldn’t catch a cold.’

Although the weather was warm, Kang Jin-ho subtly emitted his energy to warm the surrounding air, just in case she might feel a chill.

“How’s your military life going?”

“It’s fine.”

“I heard it’s tough.”

“It’s just complaining.”

The head nun chuckled lightly.

“You’re the only one who talks about the military like that, Jin-ho. And you’re the only one who can get away with saying that.”

The sunlight fell on her white hair.

Having only ever seen her wearing a headscarf, seeing her in a patient gown made him feel like she was just like everyone else.

A small body.

How hard must it have been for that small body to support so many children?

“Yu-min is taking good care of the kids, right?”

“I’m worried. It must be hard for him.”

“He’ll do well.”

“I guess so?”

Kang Jin-ho nodded without answering.

“I’m still worried. He can’t keep doing that, Yu-min has his own life. It’s good that he’s good with the kids, but he needs to find his own life soon.”

Kang Jin-ho couldn’t say anything in front of the head nun, who was saying what he wanted to say.

“Jin-ho.”

“Yes.”

“Yu-min relied on you a lot. Did you know that?”

“Yes.”

Kang Jin-ho’s curt reply might have seemed cold, but the head nun smiled gently, as if she knew his heart, and reached out to caress the back of Kang Jin-ho’s hand holding the wheelchair handle.

“Yu-min became much brighter after meeting you. He was always a quiet child, but one day he started talking about what happened at school when he came back.”

The head nun’s face became wistful as she recalled that time.

“After that, it was Jin-ho, Jin-ho, whenever something happened. He talked about you so much that I got tired of it. So, maybe that’s why, even though I hadn’t seen you many times, you felt so familiar and comfortable.”

Kang Jin-ho couldn’t say anything. He felt a strange ache.

He turned his head to look at the distant sky, which was just incredibly clear. Without any consideration.

“Now that I’m gone, Yu-min will have no one to rely on. So, please help Yu-min.”

“Don’t worry.”

“Just be his friend. Then Yu-min won’t feel like he’s all alone.”

“…Yes.”

Kang Jin-ho bit his lip, feeling the warmth from her fingertips.

He subtly sent his energy to check the head nun’s body and felt a strong, toxic energy filling her chest and abdomen.

He was not a god.

Even if he could find a different method than modern medicine, it was limited to a specific area.

If he could heal everyone with martial arts, he would have become a doctor, not a warrior. Perhaps those like the eccentric doctors or medicine immortals of the Central Plains [a historical region in China] in the past might have a way. But Kang Jin-ho’s knowledge of medicine was only at an ordinary level.

And now, Kang Jin-ho found it hard to bear that fact.

“I hope everyone will grow up strong even after I’m gone.”

“…You have to overcome this.”

The head nun slowly shook her head at Kang Jin-ho’s words.

“Life and death are in His hands.”

“…”

“It seems that I have done everything I was meant to do in this life. It’s a shame, but that’s all there is to it. When will it not be a shame? Life always leaves regrets, and there is never a perfect time. So, you just have to accept it.”

Her expression was calm as she spoke. She wasn’t trying to put on a show.

What should he say?

Kang Jin-ho couldn’t find the right words to express the feeling he was getting from her. She just seemed a little at peace, a little pitiful.

She was just natural.

“Everyone still needs you, head nun.”

“Yes, that may be so. But everyone becomes alone someday. Do you know that?”

“…Yes.”

“Being alone is lonely and hard. It’s incredibly lonely and sad. But if children can’t leave their nest, they will never form new relationships. Sooner or later, they have to leave.”

Would it have been different?

When he thought he was left alone after losing his family.

When he thought the world had abandoned him.

If he had taken the initiative to find a new world…

Maybe he wouldn’t have lived like that. But it was too late.

“So, let’s be calm.”

“…Yes.”

“We should go in now. The nurses will be worried.”

“Okay.”

Kang Jin-ho slowly pushed the wheelchair towards the ward. The thin nape of her neck, visible in front of the wheelchair, kept catching his eye.

Kang Jin-ho finally returned to the ward, laid the head nun down, and bowed his head.

“I’ll come again.”

“Jin-ho.”

“Yes?”

The head nun looked at him with a gentle smile.

“Be strong.”

“…Yes.”

Kang Jin-ho turned and left the ward, his face stiff.

‘This can’t be right.’

He knew that what the head nun said was right. There might be no way to reject the life that was given to him.

But this wasn’t right.

How many people live shamelessly after committing countless sins, and why does someone like her have to leave so early?

Kang Jin-ho couldn’t accept that fact.

He couldn’t accept that the end of someone who had lived sacrificing herself for others was so miserable. At least a few more years…

Crack.

Kang Jin-ho clenched his fist and looked back with cold eyes.

‘I’ll find a way.’

With a firm resolve, Kang Jin-ho quickly left the hospital.