Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 224

To a place where he himself could not doubt himself.

‘Jin-ho…’

‘Didn’t you say a little while ago that you would reach out to the weak? I think I replied that you were always like that, but I think I need to correct myself a bit?’

Park Yu-min was sweating as he watched Kang Jin-ho, who was holding the mouse with burning eyes.

In Park Yu-min’s opinion, his friend was good at everything. Whether it was sports or academics, Kang Jin-ho was a superman who was good at everything.

But unfortunately….

It seemed that being good at everything didn’t always lead to good results.

Defeat.

Kang Jin-ho trembled as he looked at the words on the screen.

‘Why?’

‘…’

‘Why am I losing?’

‘…’

‘Explain.’

‘No, even if you ask me to explain…’

Park Yu-min sighed as he looked at Kang Jin-ho, who was looking at him with an expression that he couldn’t understand at all.

‘Jin-ho, this is a team game.’

‘Hmm, I know.’

‘Then you have to help your teammates. You can’t win just by getting stronger alone.’

‘Why?’

Kang Jin-ho tilted his head.

‘Isn’t it about winning by becoming the strongest and killing everyone?’

That’s right.

Yes, that’s right, but….

‘No matter how strong you get, if the enemies are all stronger than your allies, you can’t beat five of them alone, can you?’

‘…Can’t I just get strong enough to beat five of them alone?’

He’s hopeless.

This guy is hopeless.

In soccer, he’s the type who would dribble straight to the goal as soon as he gets the ball, and in baseball, he’s the type who would prefer to win 1-0 by pitching a complete game and hitting a home run in the 9th inning.

But….

‘Come to think of it, he’s always been like that?’

Park Yu-min’s eyes twitched.

Come to think of it, whether it was dodgeball or baseball, Kang Jin-ho always won by running wild on his own. This wasn’t a problem with his perception of the game, but perhaps it was something that required a change in his outlook on life.

‘J, Jin-ho… Let’s, let’s think about it carefully.’

‘Huh?’

‘Look, your teammates are weak, right?’

‘Hmm….’

‘You have to help the weak ones.’

Kang Jin-ho’s eyes wavered. He looked confused.

At that moment, Park Yu-min landed a decisive blow.

‘Look, this is like democracy. No matter how much you carry alone, if your allies are all ruined in a team game, there’s no answer.’

‘Hmm…’

‘A while ago, your ally was in danger of dying, but you were calmly farming next to him. You can’t do that. You have to save him.’

‘Ummm…’

Kang Jin-ho tilted his head with an expression that seemed like he understood but didn’t, then asked back.

‘But…’

‘Huh?’

‘Isn’t the ultimate goal of the game to win?’

‘That’s right.’

‘Then isn’t it helping if I get stronger and win?’

‘…How are you going to beat five of them alone?’

‘I just need to get strong enough to beat five of them.’

For some reason, Park Yu-min felt like he had glimpsed the secret of Kang Jin-ho’s strength. If a person lived with this kind of mindset, they couldn’t help but become strong.

But….

‘The game is ruined.’

The chat window was filled with terrible curses.

– Wow, I haven’t seen our top laner’s face once from the start to the end of the game. Has anyone seen our top laner?

– Didn’t you see him appearing in the enemy inhibitor? It’s like a highway.

– The output is amazing, but there’s no steering wheel. He can only go straight, only straight.

After that, there were unspeakable jokes pouring out.

‘I understand.’

But there was something he couldn’t understand.

‘Why is he already Diamond [a high rank in the game]?’

It was shocking and terrifying that he was winning games with his insane physical abilities and ghost-like kill-catching ability, even though he was playing with this kind of mindset.

‘Then now…’

‘Huh?’

‘Let’s play together.’

‘…Okay.’

Park Yu-min grabbed the mouse with trembling hands.

‘We’ve lost three in a row, if we can’t win even together, it’s going to be a disaster.’

That day, Park Yu-min regained his sense of his prime after a long time.

* * *

‘I’ll try to set up a meeting.’

Choi Yeon-ha’s eyes widened at Kang Eun-young’s words.

‘Until recently, you said it wasn’t possible?’

‘It’s okay now. It seems like my brother’s situation has improved. He’s almost back to normal now.’

‘Hmm…’

Choi Yeon-ha scratched her cheek.

‘But is Kang Jin-ho’s personality really that bad? If he’s so bad-tempered that you can’t even talk to him when he’s in a bad mood, then he must have a really bad personality.’

‘It’s not really fair to say he has a bad personality…’

Kang Eun-young, who was struggling to explain, couldn’t find a suitable example and rambled on.

‘Usually, he’s so bland that he’s almost emotionless, but sometimes, when something like this happens, he gets a little scary. I’d say it happens once every few years? But I know because I’m family, and usually, people don’t know.’

‘Really?’

Then it seems like he doesn’t have a bad personality.

Come to think of it, if he had a bad personality, he wouldn’t have been able to endure the last shoot. It was such a stressful job, but he finished the shoot without any complaints.

‘Anyway, I understand.’

‘But it’s better not to have high expectations.’

‘Huh?’

‘I won’t.’

Choi Yeon-ha narrowed her eyes.

In the past, she would have thought that the younger sister, who was so infatuated with her brother, was just being spiteful, but now it was different.

Kang Eun-young was a brother complex, but she was also someone who evaluated her brother quite coldly and accurately.

‘Why do you think so?’

Choi Yeon-ha’s competitive spirit was ignited.

‘Actually, being a movie actor is a job that people admire. There are many people who want to live surrounded by fans. It’s a bit awkward for me to say this, but there aren’t many jobs that make as much money as working as a movie actor or celebrity, right?’

‘That’s right.’

‘And even if he’s indifferent to himself, he must know that he has a face that can work as a movie actor, right?’

‘I don’t think he knows.’

‘Let’s not do this, okay?’

Choi Yeon-ha chuckled.

‘Do you think it’s true when male actors say they don’t know they’re handsome? They’re just talking nonsense to avoid looking annoying. When they go home, they live in front of the mirror. There are male actors who use several times more cosmetics than I do. They even have their own personal cosmetic refrigerators. Everyone’s eyes are the same, why wouldn’t they know they’re handsome?’

‘He really doesn’t know.’

The propositions of ‘everyone is like that’ and ‘Kang Eun-young knows her brother well and doesn’t lie unless she has to’ were clashing.

‘Really?’

‘To be precise, it’s not that he doesn’t know he’s handsome, but that he’s not interested in it. He’s someone who didn’t even know who you were. You could say he doesn’t care about people’s appearances. You could even call it acquired facial recognition disorder.’

‘Wow…’

So there really is such a person.

Choi Yeon-ha was increasingly fascinated by the person named Kang Jin-ho.

Having spent ten years in the entertainment industry, where people live with a thick layer of pretense on their faces, she couldn’t help but be fascinated by the character of Kang Jin-ho. He was a person from a completely different world than her.

‘He has no interest in the entertainment industry at all. If it weren’t for me, he wouldn’t have gotten involved.’

‘Still…’

‘First of all, my brother doesn’t like attracting people’s attention. Fans? If he had them, he’d be annoyed to death. He hates it when people come to the cafe to see him.’

‘Ah…’

‘So, he didn’t want to work at the cafe before, but after missing a few days of work last time, the number of people decreased drastically, so he’s been going to work more often these days. The hype died down, so the number of people decreased a bit.’

From Choi Yeon-ha’s point of view, who believed that everyone had a desire to be noticed, it was an incomprehensible mindset.

‘If he becomes an actor, he’ll think differently. Putting aside the attention, he’ll make a lot of money. He doesn’t know how much money you can make these days if you become a Hallyu star [Korean Wave star]. With Kang Jin-ho’s face, he’ll be popular in China and Japan. No, he might be even more popular there?’

‘Money?’

Choi Yeon-ha, who didn’t miss the slight hint of mockery in Kang Eun-young’s voice, hardened her face.

‘Even if you earn money until you die, you won’t earn even half of the money that’s in my brother’s bank account right now.’

Choi Yeon-ha was speechless.

Was Kang Eun-young saying that knowing how much she earned?

‘She must know.’

This little girl is cunning. She must have already figured out everything about that.

‘I think I earn a decent amount, but from my brother’s point of view, it’s just pocket money.’

‘…I don’t know how much to believe.’

Considering the income of a top idol, there wouldn’t be many people in Korea who could call that pocket money.

‘The bigger problem is… my brother is someone who doesn’t need money.’

‘Huh?’

‘He has that much money, but all he spends it on is buying cigarettes and going to PC cafes sometimes [internet cafes]. He eats at home, and he only wears clothes that his mom buys for him! I’ve never seen him go on a date.’

‘Isn’t that… a bum?’

‘Halfway…’

But that’s the lifestyle of a bum who doesn’t have money?

Kang Eun-young chuckled as she looked at Choi Yeon-ha’s confused face.

‘You’ve probably never seen a type like my brother before. It’s not common to see a type like my brother. Most of all, he has absolutely no interest in the entertainment industry. He’s someone who didn’t even know who you were.’

‘What?’

‘He didn’t know who you were. He found out for the first time when he came to the set this time.’

Choi Yeon-ha’s mouth slowly opened. Her eyes were twitching as if she had taken a mental blow.

How could he not know her?

She was carefully choosing her projects to transition into a character actress, and she was also refraining from commercials to reduce her image consumption, so she wasn’t as exposed as before, but just three years ago, there was a time when she was on TV all the time.

There was also a time when she was ranked number one in the public opinion poll for favorite actresses for three years.

She was practically a national actress.

But he doesn’t know her?

Is he a spy?

‘He doesn’t watch TV either.’

‘Ah!’

‘If you want my brother to remember you, you need to be in the current affairs section, not the entertainment section.’

‘…I’ll pass.’

‘Anyway, I’ll talk to him, but please don’t have high expectations. He’ll probably refuse anyway.’

Choi Yeon-ha’s face hardened.

‘This is a matter of pride.’

‘Hey, Se-ah.’

‘Yes?’

‘Instead of that, can you tell your brother that I want to meet him?’

‘He’ll be annoyed and won’t see you?’

‘…Just tell him. No! Just try to set up a meeting for me. Then I’ll take care of it.’

‘It’s not going to be easy…’

Kang Eun-young looked like she was thinking about it, then nodded.

‘It won’t be easy, but I think it’s possible if I try.’

‘Thank you.’

‘Just with words?’

‘…Huh?’

Kang Eun-young smiled.

‘Now that all the conditions are met, we need to make a deal.’

‘A deal?’

‘Yes, a deal. If I set up a meeting for you to meet my brother, what will you do for me?’

Looking at Kang Eun-young, who was speaking with her eyes wide open, Choi Yeon-ha thought that perhaps Kang Jin-ho wasn’t the only one with a unique character.