Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 142

“Where did that bastard go?”

Waking up, Noh Soo-bong looked to his side and was horrified. Kim Hak-cheol was nowhere to be seen.

Noh Soo-bong shouted at Private Kim Do-hyung, who was folding his blanket.

“Hey, where did that bastard go?”

“…I woke up and he wasn’t there, sir.”

“He’s not there?”

Noh Soo-bong’s face contorted.

“That guy, who’s not even in his right mind, has been missing since morning, and you just let it go?”

As Noh Soo-bong started to get angry, the squad members glanced at each other, subtly turning their heads away.

‘Who cares about that bastard?’

If they had even a little bit of affection for him, they might have looked for him, wondering if something had happened. But there was no way anyone would like a guy like Kim Hak-cheol. He was just another member of the squad.

However, Noh Soo-bong was so protective of Kim Hak-cheol that they couldn’t openly say anything.

“Find him! You bastards!”

Noh Soo-bong yelled, and the squad members rushed out.

“Ugh, seriously. I can’t live with all this noise!”

Corporal Lee Sang-yeop snapped irritably.

“Hey, you should be careful, sir. If Sergeant Noh Soo-bong hears you, it’ll be a disaster, sir.”

Private Kim Do-hyung glanced around, trying to calm Lee Sang-yeop.

“Let’s be honest, why do we have to go looking for that bastard?”

“Isn’t following orders what the military is all about?”

“Shit.”

Lee Sang-yeop was in a foul mood.

They had eyes, so they knew what Noh Soo-bong and Kim Hak-cheol had done to Joo Young-gi. They had also witnessed them dragging him to the boiler room from time to time.

They just couldn’t speak up.

In their squad, Kim Hak-cheol and Noh Soo-bong were the predators, and Joo Young-gi was the prey. If they closed their eyes and ears, that relationship wouldn’t change, but if they foolishly opened their mouths and tried to stop it, the prey might change.

‘This damn military.’

They said it was a microcosm of Korean society, and it was exactly that.

Especially the fact that whistleblowers were the ones who suffered the most was strictly adhered to.

‘It’s all just excuses, though.’

They could find a thousand reasons for their silence. But no matter what excuses they made, they couldn’t deny that they had a certain level of responsibility for what happened to Joo Young-gi.

They had already been given several chances.

When the bullying of Joo Young-gi went too far.

When Joo Young-gi was visibly struggling.

And when the investigation began.

If they had tried to report and stop the situation even once, things wouldn’t have come to this point. But since they didn’t, they were just potential accomplices.

“Do you think he might have deserted, sir?”

“Don’t say such unlucky things. If he tried to kill himself and deserted, the whole unit will be in chaos.”

“There’s nowhere for him to go nearby, sir.”

“Yeah. Did the others not find him either?”

“Yes, sir. No news.”

Lee Sang-yeop looked at his watch with a sullen face. It was almost time for morning roll call, and if Kim Hak-cheol didn’t show up by then, it could be a real problem.

“Ah, he was supposed to be admitted today. If he had just stayed quiet until today, everything would have been fine.”

“He was supposed to be admitted today, sir?”

“Yeah, today.”

Lee Sang-yeop nodded with a displeased expression.

It was rare for someone with a mental illness to be admitted, but even he thought Kim Hak-cheol’s condition was too severe.

“But isn’t it really strange?”

“What is, sir?”

“Well, you know, if someone has nightmares, they can get mentally stressed. I understand that much. But no matter how mentally stressed a person is, is it even possible for their appearance to change like that?”

“It’s really unbelievable, sir.”

Kim Do-hyung shuddered as if he was reminded of Kim Hak-cheol’s appearance.

In just one week, Kim Hak-cheol had changed like a different person. His plump body had become as thin as a skeleton, and recently, even his hair was falling out in clumps.

“How much stress does a person have to be under to become like that?”

“Honestly, I’m a little scared, sir.”

“Scared?”

Kim Do-hyung slowly nodded.

“Watching someone change like that next to me, it makes me feel eerie.”

“Is that scary?”

“Yes, sir. Aren’t you scared, Corporal Lee Sang-yeop?”

“I’m more scared of the military that doesn’t immediately admit someone who’s turning into that.”

“…Now that you mention it, that’s also horror, sir.”

“Tsk.”

Kim Do-hyung shook his head.

“This damn military.”

Thinking that Kim Hak-cheol deserved what he was going through was one thing, but the fact that the military didn’t take immediate action when a soldier showed signs of mental illness was another issue.

Even if someone deserved to be punished, shouldn’t they be treated if they were sick?

“But where did he really go?”

He couldn’t have gone far in that condition. Last night, Kim Hak-cheol had trouble even walking.

“He couldn’t have tried to desert in that condition, and where could he go in this cramped unit?”

“It’s also strange that he went out in the morning, sir. He doesn’t have anything to do, so I don’t know why he went out.”

“He doesn’t have anything to do?”

At that moment, Lee Sang-yeop stopped talking and stood still.

“Hey.”

“Yes, sir?”

“Did you check the bathroom?”

“…It’s morning, so the guys are rushing in and out of the bathroom, sir.”

“No! Did you check all the stalls?”

“I didn’t check there, sir.”

“Shit.”

A bad feeling flashed through his mind. Without another word, Lee Sang-yeop started running towards the bathroom.

“Let’s go together, sir!”

Kim Do-hyung also ran after Lee Sang-yeop.

‘It can’t be.’

Lee Sang-yeop, who had rushed into the bathroom, started knocking on the closed stall doors.

Without delay, the rank and name came from inside. Lee Sang-yeop quickly passed the stalls where people answered, and then stopped at one point.

Knock! Knock!

There was no answer.

The door at the very end was tightly closed, but no matter how much he knocked, there was no response.

“Haa…”

With a bad feeling, Lee Sang-yeop shuddered and grabbed the top of the bathroom door.

“Hey, I’m going up.”

“…Yes, sir.”

Kim Do-hyung also seemed to have sensed something and grabbed Lee Sang-yeop’s leg.

With a short shout, Lee Sang-yeop hung from the top of the bathroom. Lee Sang-yeop, who had pushed his head into the stall, soon saw a figure standing in the corner.

Lee Sang-yeop, who found a long string hanging over the limp body, immediately screamed.

“Bring people here! Now!”

“Yes, sir?”

“Hurry up and bring people, you bastard!”

Lee Sang-yeop, his face pale, kicked the door several times after getting down.

“Uwaaaaaaa!”

Kim Do-yeop, who had sensed the situation, also started ramming the door with his shoulder.

Bang! Bang!

After ramming it several times with his shoulder, the door finally started to twist. Lee Sang-yeop kicked the door almost flying and rushed inside.

“Private Kim Hak-cheol!”

Lee Sang-yeop grabbed Kim Hak-cheol’s body hanging on the wall and lifted him up.

Kim Do-hyung, who found the shoelace around his neck, turned and ran out of the bathroom, shouting at the top of his lungs.

“Mediccc!”

One of the interesting things about humans is that they can’t ignore the misfortune or accidents of others.

Noh Soo-bong was well aware of this human trait.

“How much longer for the ambulance!”

“Th, they’re on their way, sir.”

“Tell them to hurry! Unless you want to see someone die!”

Kim Hak-cheol, lying on the ground with white foam in his mouth, the medic sweating profusely while performing CPR, and the people who couldn’t leave the scene even though they were of no help.

Noh Soo-bong was watching the scene as if he were watching a movie.

Was he calm?

No.

It was because he couldn’t grasp the reality of the situation.

Why was Kim Hak-cheol lying there?

He hanged himself?

Why?

Noh Soo-bong’s back was soaked with sweat.

‘What the hell is going on?’

When Joo Young-gi hanged himself, he was also flustered, but he wasn’t scared. He thought the situation was under his control.

And even after that, the situation didn’t escape his control. The investigation had started, but he was able to get out of it and live leisurely as if it were natural.

The first sign of trouble was when Kim Hak-cheol started having strange dreams. And now, the situation was out of his control, like a runaway train.

“Move!”

The military doctors who jumped out of the ambulance rushed inside with stretchers.

The scene of Kim Hak-cheol being put on a stretcher and rushed into the ambulance was vivid in his eyes.

The soldiers followed the ambulance in a rush.

Noh Soo-bong was also in the crowd.

‘What the hell is happening?’

It didn’t feel real.

It was as if all of this was a dream.

Even as the ambulance started with a siren, Noh Soo-bong was just staring blankly at the scene.

What brought Noh Soo-bong back to reality from watching the ambulance disappear was a very small voice that he heard in his ear.

“Now it’s your turn.”

The voice was very low.

It was so low that at first, it didn’t sound like a human voice.

It took a moment to understand what the voice meant.

Noh Soo-bong, with goosebumps all over his body, turned around and looked behind him.

“Wh, who is it!”

The soldiers looked at him with questioning eyes.

“Which bastard was it! You shits!”

“What are you talking about, sir?”

“Wh, who just talked to me?”

“…No one said anything, sir.”

“D, didn’t you hear it? I clearly heard it. Are you guys messing with me? Huh? You bastards! Do I look like a joke to you?”

There was madness in Noh Soo-bong’s voice. Those who thought Noh Soo-bong’s actions were unusual frowned and started to move away from him.

“I’m asking who it was, you bastards!”

Noh Soo-bong, left alone in front of the entrance, rubbed his face with his trembling hands, his face pale.

‘N, no, it can’t be.’

It must be a hallucination caused by the shock of Kim Hak-cheol’s suicide attempt. No one else heard it except him, right?

It had to be.

Noh Soo-bong desperately tried to convince himself.

‘Someone said they were going to drag him away and torture him.’

That was what the crazy Kim Hak-cheol kept saying.

When night came, when he fell asleep…

‘He’ would come.

“Shit! That doesn’t make any sense!”

He knew that it was impossible. Kim Hak-cheol was just feeling excessive guilt about what happened to Joo Young-gi, and that’s why he was hallucinating.

In the end, he couldn’t overcome the pressure, went insane, and eventually hanged himself.

If he thought that way, everything was clear.

But…

What was this unhideable anxiety?

Noh Soo-bong took out a cigarette from his pack with trembling hands. But because his hands were shaking so badly, he couldn’t hold it properly and dropped it on the floor.

Noh Soo-bong silently stared at the cigarette that had fallen on the floor.

“I don’t know who it is, but…”

Noh Soo-bong roughly rubbed the cigarette on the floor with his foot.

“I’ll make them pay the price.”

Noh Soo-bong walked into the barracks with a hardened face.