Descent Of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 227

It didn’t take long for Park Yu-min’s words to prove true.

In fact, there was no need to carefully consider it.

The kids weren’t falling off.

Kang Jin-ho, with one child on each arm, two on his legs, and two on his back, couldn’t help but seriously contemplate whether he had bought a combining robot or if he himself had become one.

The problem was that these parts attached to his limbs had a mind of their own and wouldn’t move as he wished.

It was a failed combination, no matter how you looked at it.

“Did you eat?”

“……Do you want to know what you and my mom have in common?”

“I don’t think I need to hear that.”

Park Yu-min shook his head.

“I bought some toys for the kids. I don’t know what to give the older ones.”

“Don’t do this kind of thing in the future.”

“Hmm…”

At Park Yu-min’s forceful words, Kang Jin-ho nodded silently.

“Don’t try to do anything for the older kids either. I only asked you to stop by for a bit, but if you buy things like this, I’ll feel burdened and won’t let you come.”

Just then, the door burst open.

“What right do you have to stop Jin-ho hyung [older brother or close male friend] from coming!”

Chul-min, who had just become a college student, said with a smirk.

“Hyung, we’re living here as freeloaders now. If we, the bonus lives, try to tell people what to do, we’ll get dumped.”

Park Yu-min, defeated in logic, fidgeted.

“Jin-ho hyung, you can do whatever you want. Yu-min hyung doesn’t have that kind of power anymore.”

“Oh!”

Kang Jin-ho nodded as if he understood, and Park Yu-min’s face turned red.

“Is this a rebellion?”

“……Hey, stop playing the discharged soldier and hurry up and find a place to live. Why are you sticking around here when you have money? The aunties are watching you. They say it’s weird to have a grown man around.”

“You!”

“……I have to leave too. So, hyung, when you leave, can you take me with you?”

“I’d rather not leave than take you with me.”

“Aww!”

As Lee Chul-min whined and tried to go outside, Kang Jin-ho quietly said,

“Can you take these kids off me before you go?”

“……Hyung, I can’t take them off either. Give up. They’ll fall off when they’re hungry.”

“Really?”

Lee Chul-min grinned and whispered in Kang Jin-ho’s ear.

“Clothes or cell phones for the older kids. Or tablets.”

“Got it.”

“Hey, Lee Chul-min! You!”

“Wow, Yu-min hyung is mad. I’m going to run away too!”

Lee Chul-min giggled and ran outside, while Park Yu-min huffed.

“When is that guy going to grow up?”

Kang Jin-ho chuckled.

The lively atmosphere, different from home, seemed to make people feel comfortable. When he first came here, it was hard to adjust to the noisy children, but now it felt so natural.

“Oppa, oppa [term used by younger females to address older males].”

“Hmm…”

Kang Jin-ho tried to pat the head of the child clinging to his right arm, but then he realized that his left arm was also sealed.

“Umm…”

Seeing Kang Jin-ho’s predicament, Park Yu-min chuckled and began to coax the children.

“Okay, okay, Jin-ho is having a hard time. Let’s let go now.”

When the children showed slight resistance, Park Yu-min quietly said,

“If Jin-ho is having a hard time, he won’t come back.”

No sooner had he finished speaking than the children fell off like leaves. Seeing their eyes staring at him from a step back, Kang Jin-ho felt a sense of guilt as if he had done something terribly wrong.

“Oh, they’re coming.”

There was sincerity in his voice.

The children smiled again and ran to Kang Jin-ho. But this time, they didn’t cling to him.

“Okay, okay, let’s play with the toys. Let’s go over there.”

Park Yu-min skillfully controlled the children and pushed them into the playroom.

“Whew…”

Park Yu-min wiped his forehead and said with a smile.

“Why did you buy all this stuff? You could have just come empty-handed.”

“Would they have gone so willingly if I had come empty-handed?”

“Probably not.”

He had to admit it was a wise choice.

“Wasn’t it expensive?”

“No, it wasn’t.”

“……Really?”

Park Yu-min nodded. Kang Jin-ho was great in many ways, but he had a flaw: a lack of a sense of money. He used to be uncomfortable receiving expensive gifts, but lately, he didn’t seem to be that way.

“It looked flashy.”

“I told you it wasn’t.”

At that moment, the door opened and the store manager poked his head in.

“I’ve put all the items in the warehouse. I’ll deliver the rest in a week.”

“Ah, yes. Thank you for your hard work.”

“Yes, then.”

Watching the manager bow and leave, Park Yu-min looked at Kang Jin-ho with a stern face.

“But he was so polite? And it wasn’t expensive?”

“You can’t survive these days without service.”

“Still, isn’t that a bit much?”

“There was a lot of stuff. He gave me a good deal on the leftover stock, so I’m grateful.”

“Does he think we’re fools?”

Kang Jin-ho gathered the toy boxes scattered on the floor into a corner, pretending not to hear.

“Where do we throw out the recyclables?”

‘It was an orphanage.’

The manager, who had thought that the son of a well-off family was buying things for a kindergarten in a wealthy neighborhood, looked at the Sungsim Orphanage with a sense of remorse.

‘That’s how you should spend money.’

He was human, so he felt a sense of hostility towards someone who was spending money like water at a young age, but after learning where the toys were going, he felt remorse.

That money might be pocket change to that person…

Come to think of it, he wondered when he had ever donated even a hundred won from his salary.

“……Should I donate even some beans?”

The manager got into his truck, resolving that next time he came, he wouldn’t just bring toys but also some snacks.

“I’m just going to take them out for a bit.”

“No.”

“It’ll just be for a little while.”

“No.”

“No, I’m saying I’ll take them out…”

“It was a mistake to ask you to come.”

Park Yu-min sighed.

Kang Jin-ho, who had been holed up in the orphanage since morning, didn’t leave even though he had nothing to do. He played with the kids, and when they lost interest in him, he would kill time on his phone, then play with them again. Kang Jin-ho repeated this several times and didn’t leave the house until dinner time.

And when the kids who had gone to school all came back, he revealed his true colors.

“Let’s go to the department store.”

He had given toys to the younger kids, so he intended to give gifts to the older ones as well. But Park Yu-min blocked him at the source.

“Hey! Are these kids beggars? Why do you keep trying to buy them things?”

“I can buy them things.”

“Don’t try to solve everything with money…”

Park Yu-min, who was about to say that he should put in some effort instead of money, closed his mouth.

If he said that, Kang Jin-ho might build a playground tower in the front yard.

That guy would do it if he set his mind to it.

“It’s not that I’m trying to solve everything with money, it’s just that it’s something good to have, so I’m trying to give it to them.”

“Anyway, no.”

Kang Jin-ho glanced down.

The children, sitting on the floor, were watching Park Yu-min, not daring to step forward.

‘It would feel like taking something away after giving it.’

He wouldn’t have said anything if he hadn’t brought it up, but now that he had, he had to do it. Kang Jin-ho made up his mind.

“Even if it’s you, you can’t stop me this time.”

“Even if it’s you, you can’t break through me this time.”

Kang Jin-ho and Park Yu-min’s gazes locked in the air. The two, who had maintained a peaceful united front since the day they first met, were now facing each other for the first time.

“Then there’s no choice.”

“Huh?”

Park Yu-min looked at Kang Jin-ho with a puzzled expression.

He wasn’t the type to give up so easily.

“It’s a match.”

“……A match?”

“The loser has no say. The winner takes all.”

“……What’s the event?”

Park Yu-min wasn’t foolish.

Accepting a match was something to do after knowing the event. No matter how good Kang Jin-ho was, there were plenty of events he could win.

Like Galaxy Craft, or rock-paper-scissors.

“That game we played yesterday.”

Bbrrr.

Park Yu-min’s body trembled.

“……Let’s do it.”

This was a matter of pride. He was a Challenger now. He was in the top 50 in Korea. If he focused on one character, excluding the time he spent on his smurf account, he could definitely be in the top 10.

But now, a Diamond tier was challenging him to a match.

“What’s the format?”

“Mid lane 1v1.”

The two looked at each other and nodded. This was a match for men’s pride.

“Turn on two computers in the guys’ room.”

“Yes, sir!”

The boys, sensing the battle of men, rushed into the room and set up the computers.

“Heh heh. Kang Jin-ho, you’re not going to back out after losing, are you?”

“Don’t cry.”

“You can’t beat me in a game.”

“I said don’t cry.”

Sparks flew from the two’s eyes.

Park Yu-min vowed to crush Kang Jin-ho, who had dared to challenge him so arrogantly.

‘But this is a bit…’

Of course, Kang Jin-ho’s tier was Diamond. But the fact that that tier was the result of only charging forward without any tactics or strategy was a bit of a burden.

‘It’s a 1v1, not a team game, right?’

The image of Kang Jin-ho, who had been landing on the enemy laner with the ferocity of a beast, made him feel a little nervous.

“Hyung, it’s all done.”

“Everyone, come out. To ensure a fair match, anyone who gives advice from behind will be excluded. And don’t watch either. It’s distracting.”

“Okay.”

Kang Jin-ho and Park Yu-min glared at each other as if they were going to kill each other and went into the room, closing the door.

A quiet silence descended on the living room.

“Did it start?”

“I don’t know. Don’t even go near the door. It’ll cause trouble.”

“Okay.”

About thirty minutes after the two went in…

Bang!

The door was roughly opened, and Kang Jin-ho came out. He had played the game so hard that sweat was dripping from his forehead.

Seeing Kang Jin-ho’s stiff face, the children guessed the outcome of the match and sighed softly.

“Kids.”

“……Yes, hyung.”

“Call a taxi. Enough for everyone.”

At the same time, a huge cheer erupted as if they had won the Premier League!

Kang Jin-ho said in a heavy voice.

“We’re going to the department store.”

Like Yi Seong-gye, who had decided to turn back his army at Wihwa Island [a historical event in Korean history], Kang Jin-ho’s face was grim.

As the children screamed and began to gather their clothes, Kang Jin-ho glanced back and said in a low voice.

“You did well. Rest well.”

Park Yu-min, who was slumped on the chair with a dazed look, muttered in a voice full of sorrow.

“……That crazy bastard.”

The man who didn’t lose in the match even though he lost in the game slowly walked away from the door.

* * *

Jo Gyu-min was leaving work early for the first time in a while.

“Now that the start-up issues are almost resolved…”

The interior construction was already almost finished. Jo Gyu-min, feeling that the things he had to worry about had decreased significantly, whistled.

“Should I go see a movie today?”

Jo Gyu-min smiled as he looked at the free movie ticket in his hand. The expiration date was today, and he happened to be leaving work early today. Watching a movie alone was a special experience. It wasn’t because he didn’t have a woman to watch it with.

At that moment, Jo Gyu-min’s phone started ringing.

“Huh?”

Jo Gyu-min’s face hardened subtly when he saw the name Kang Jin-ho on the screen.

“……It’s not work, is it?”

God, please…

“Hello?”

Jo Gyu-min answered the phone with a smile on his face.

“Yes?”

Jo Gyu-min’s face changed to that of Kim Gu, who had lost his country [a famous Korean independence activist].

“The department store is closing?” Of course it’s closing, it’s that time, you idiot!

“Y-you want to extend it? Ah, that’s a bit difficult… Yes? You came with the Sungsim kids?”

Jo Gyu-min chuckled and looked at the movie ticket.