Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 351

Buzz.

Bang Jin-hoon glanced at his watch.

‘It’s late.’

The time they were delayed because of the Japanese wasn’t actually that long. It took Kang Jin-ho less than ten minutes to deal with all of them.

However, it took longer than expected for Kang Jin-ho, who had been covered in blood, to clean himself up.

Moreover, following Kang Jin-ho’s instructions made them even later.

Even if Bang Jin-hoon had a firm authority within the General Assembly, he couldn’t just call the cleanup crew and say, ‘Those guys aren’t dead yet, so wait until they’re definitely dead before you take care of them.’

If he said that, within a day, everyone in the General Assembly would be saying that Bang Jin-hoon’s character had hit rock bottom.

He absolutely couldn’t let that happen.

In the end, Bang Jin-hoon had to persuade Kang Jin-ho to personally end the lives of those who were dying before he could call the cleanup crew.

As a result, Bang Jin-hoon sighed deeply as he looked at the cleaned-up Kang Jin-ho.

‘That guy isn’t human.’

No matter how much water you pour, it’s practically impossible for a body soaked in blood to become completely clean. But Kang Jin-ho solved all those problems very easily.

He took a 20-liter water bottle, used his Yang Gang energy [a type of internal energy in martial arts] to boil the water until the bottle was flimsy, and then poured it over his head.

Bang Jin-hoon was unsure whether to be amazed that he could boil that much water with Yang Gang energy or that he could pour boiling water over himself and still feel refreshed.

‘So that’s how martial artists make money.’

The cleanup crew, who arrived after Bang Jin-hoon’s call, became noticeably stiff when they saw the corpses. Even though they were professionals who did this kind of work, they couldn’t remain calm after seeing twenty gruesome corpses.

The sight of those guys, who had been cautiously moving around, going ‘Oh, oh’ when they saw Kang Jin-ho pouring boiling water over his head was something else.

If you had put a hat in front of them, it looked like cash would have poured out.

Seeing Kang Jin-ho resolve the situation with unintentional showmanship, Bang Jin-hoon thought that some people could get away with anything.

Watching Kang Jin-ho silently looking out the window, Bang Jin-hoon was slightly troubled.

Should he ask about this?

If Bang Jin-hoon was just a temporary acquaintance of Kang Jin-ho, it wouldn’t be necessary to ask. However, Bang Jin-hoon knew very well that he would inevitably become a partner of some kind with him.

“May I ask you something?”

“Yes. Anything.”

“It might be a slightly unpleasant question.”

“It’s okay.”

Looking at Kang Jin-ho’s calm response, Bang Jin-hoon took a small breath. Then, he opened his mouth.

“Even if they were enemies, was it necessary to treat them so cruelly?”

Kang Jin-ho’s head turned towards Bang Jin-hoon.

“Cruelly?”

“Yes…”

Bang Jin-hoon hesitated slightly. But it was something he had to say eventually.

“Couldn’t you have resolved it a little better? I don’t understand why you had to handle it that way when you could have just ended their lives, even if they were enemies. I could understand if you were giving them pain without killing them, as a way to leave an impression of you on the enemy, but that’s not what you did.”

Once the dam broke, the words poured out like a flood.

“I know that’s your tendency. But… now you’re not fighting alone, are you? That tendency might cause others to feel repulsed.”

When Kang Jin-ho just stared at him without answering, Bang Jin-hoon sighed.

“Of course, I don’t know what to say… to be honest, I feel a bit repulsed. I’ve lived a rough life myself. I’ve killed people. You might say, ‘What’s the difference between killing them nicely or brutally?’ but that’s not how people are. Even when slaughtering cattle, they try to kill them without pain, and these were still people…”

Kang Jin-ho tilted his head.

“Repulsed?”

“Yes.”

“You’re saying that killing enemies cruelly is something that causes repulsion?”

“…Yes?”

Bang Jin-hoon looked back at Kang Jin-ho with a blank face. At that moment, the car seemed to swerve slightly, so Bang Jin-hoon quickly turned the steering wheel.

‘What is this reaction?’

Kang Jin-ho asked with a face that showed he couldn’t understand at all.

“Isn’t killing enemies cruelly or massacring them something that raises the morale of our allies?”

“…Yes?”

Bang Jin-hoon’s eyes twitched.

What era is this guy living in?

“Do you know how outdated that idea is?”

“Outdated?”

“Yes. That’s something from the past.”

Of course, in the past, they would brutally slaughter enemies or drag their corpses around to raise the morale of their allies, but this is the 21st century. In an era where there is a basic agreement on human rights, doing such things would obviously cause morale to plummet.

“I think you need to know that the world has changed.”

Kang Jin-ho looked at Bang Jin-hoon with a subtle expression and then nodded.

“Our thoughts may be different, but since you say so, I will refrain from doing that in front of others.”

Bang Jin-hoon nodded.

‘He’s not completely clueless.’

Then it was worth having a little more conversation.

“…But may I ask you one more thing?”

“Yes.”

“It wasn’t because of raising morale, was it? Because I’m the only one who has seen you defeat others so far.”

“Yes.”

“Then why did you do it? Is it a habit, or…”

Kang Jin-ho seemed to ponder for a moment before answering.

“Well, the answer is a bit ambiguous, because I’ve never really thought that I’ve treated anyone cruelly.”

“What?”

“I thought I was being restrained.”

“…That’s what you think?”

Kang Jin-ho chuckled as he looked at the speechless Bang Jin-hoon.

‘If he had lived in that era, it would have been chaos.’

What would the reaction be if they knew that Kang Jin-ho was a martial artist who, while active in the Central Plains [a historical region in China] in the past, was considered aggressive but not cruel?

“If there’s no great benefit to being seen as cruel, I’ll try to restrain myself more, but you know, people have their tendencies. It’s hard to change that much.”

“Tendencies?”

“Rather than tendencies… what should I say?”

Kang Jin-ho sighed and then said,

“As I said before, if I couldn’t have dealt with them, I would be dead by now.”

“That’s true, but…”

“If you’re going to take someone else’s life, you can’t complain about what happens to you when you fail. I’m just letting them know that fact.”

Bang Jin-hoon felt a chill and closed his mouth.

This was something that wouldn’t change no matter what Bang Jin-hoon said. It was just Kang Jin-ho’s nature.

‘It’s not exactly wrong either.’

In fact, it was ridiculous to try to kill someone while hoping that they would kill you nicely.

“I won’t say anything more about this issue. However… I would appreciate it if you could be a little more careful when there are eyes around. People are not rational beings. There will be people who will feel repulsed just by the way you handle your enemies aggressively.”

“Yes. I’ll keep that in mind.”

It wasn’t just Bang Jin-hoon’s imagination that Kang Jin-ho’s answer sounded perfunctory.

‘I might as well be talking to a wall.’

Bang Jin-hoon sighed and stepped hard on the accelerator.

“Seriously, what are you trying to do, keeping people here until this hour without letting them go back to their dorms?”

“How would I know?”

Complaints began to leak from the mouths of those who had received a ‘no leaving work’ declaration from Bang Jin-hoon.

In fact, the General Assembly was not a place that particularly restricted its members. It wasn’t like they had anything to do together.

For the members, the purpose of the General Assembly was to provide a place where they could train in peace in exchange for membership fees, and to resolve issues when they got involved with the outside world.

The second task was so important, and the leaders of the General Assembly were martial artists representing Korea, so they still held a position of representation. Even when they were ‘off work,’ all they had to do was visit the headquarters once every few days to clock in and train.

But today, everyone who had come to work was told to wait until Bang Jin-hoon arrived before leaving.

So, it was inevitable that they would be dissatisfied.

“What’s the reason for this?”

“Isn’t it because of the Yeongnam Association? Those bastards are completely crazy these days, aren’t they?”

“…The Yeongnam Association.”

The atmosphere began to cool down as soon as the name ‘Yeongnam Association’ was mentioned.

“Why are they doing this?”

“Why would you need a reason for crazy bastards doing crazy things? They’re just crazy.”

The one who answered indifferently was Gong Young-gil.

“More than that, whatever the Yeongnam Association does, that’s something the higher-ups should deal with. So why did they tell us to stay?”

“How would I know?”

Lee Myung-hwan sighed as he listened to the annoyed answer. He kept asking because he was frustrated at being held up until late without knowing the reason.

“I just heard that…”

“Huh?”

“They’re bringing someone with them?”

“Someone?”

“Yeah, they said it’s a very important person.”

“An important person?”

Lee Myung-hwan tilted his head.

‘What kind of amazing person are they bringing that they have to hold us up like this?’

The Bang Jin-hoon he knew was someone who would never hold people up for something like this. He valued practicality and didn’t like formalities.

For such a person to make an exception and introduce someone…

“Is he bringing his own son?”

“…The Assembly Head isn’t married.”

“Just because he’s not married doesn’t mean he doesn’t have a child. They say he was a playboy when he was young. It wouldn’t be strange if he had a child, would it?”

“Is that so?”

Gong Young-gil closed his mouth for a moment, as if he thought there was some truth to it, and then said,

“He’s not that kind of person.”

“…That’s why I’m annoyed. Then who the hell is coming, that’s what I’m saying.”

Lee Myung-hwan whispered softly.

“There’s a rumor that Kang Jin-ho is coming.”

“What?”

Lee Myung-hwan’s eyes widened at the mention of Kang Jin-ho.

“So, is that true?”

“I don’t know. But there’s a rumor that the person the Assembly Head is bringing is Kang Jin-ho.”

“Damn, is that for real?”

Lee Myung-hwan looked around in a flustered manner.

Kang Jin-ho.

It was a name that had been spreading among them secretly for some time. It was said that a young man named Kang Jin-ho had suppressed the serious conflict between the former Assembly Head and the current Assembly Head and unified the General Assembly.

At first, they laughed it off as a ridiculous rumor, but as the story kept coming up, they couldn’t ignore it. Especially since the name was also coming from the Assembly Head’s side.

‘What kind of person is Kang Jin-ho?’ and ‘Is the rumor that’s spreading now true?’ were the hottest topics in the General Assembly these days.

“No, but if that rumor is true…”

“Wait a minute!”

Gong Young-gil interrupted Lee Myung-hwan and pointed out the window.

“He’s coming.”

Lee Myung-hwan swallowed hard as he watched the Assembly Head’s car, with its headlights on, enter from the main gate.

‘What kind of guy is he?’

Lee Myung-hwan’s body began to tense up.