Descent Of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 388

“Did you say they can’t be reached?” Saito Genryu’s face began to contort.

“…Yes, that’s correct.”

“Can’t be reached? What does that mean? Are you saying they were all taken out without even having a chance to contact us? Do you think that’s even possible?”

“I, too, find it hard to believe, but it is definitely what happened.”

“Do you think I’m here to listen to such obvious statements?”

Oizumi Shunsuke trembled at the anger directed towards him.

‘Damn it.’

Being the one to deliver a report is a thankless position. Sometimes, you can’t skip even reports that are bound to provoke anger.

Even from the perspective of the one giving the report, he understood why Saito was angry, so he couldn’t even feel any resentment.

“The others are fine. That’s understandable. But what about Sakatsuki? Are you saying even Sakatsuki has gone missing?”

“…Yes, that’s correct.”

Saito Genryu stared at Oizumi with a dumbfounded look, then let out a hollow laugh.

“Sakatsuki was taken out?”

“It’s not confirmed that he was taken out, but…”

Saito Genryu’s face changed drastically from before. If his face had been filled with bewilderment until now, now it was clearly showing a look of caution.

“I see. So, Sakatsuki was taken out…”

Saito slowly reached out and grabbed the handle of his beloved sword. As the smooth texture of the leather was felt by his fingertips, his agitated body seemed to calm down a bit.

“So that’s what happened, huh.”

Saito calmed his mind and fell into thought.

This was not something to get agitated about.

The events before this were in the realm of agitation, but Sakatsuki being taken out was not agitation but a threat.

‘Someone who shouldn’t have been taken out was taken out.’

It was understandable if the others were taken out. They were combatants, after all. They could sometimes get caught up in unexpected battles.

But Sakatsuki was not a combatant. He was an informant that Saito had dispatched to prepare for any possible situation. Moreover, he was an informant with power exceeding that of most combatants, and he had mastered extreme ninjutsu. Sakatsuki was the most fitting person for the name ‘ninja’.

For Sakatsuki to be taken out meant that there was someone in the Korean peninsula with the ability to notice and track down a person who was keeping their distance and monitoring, and then kill them. No matter who it was.

‘This is no ordinary matter.’

For a long time, the Korean peninsula had been like a wasteland of martial arts. But if a powerful martial artist were to appear in the Korean peninsula and unite their forces, a significant variable would emerge.

One might wonder what they could do by gathering martial artists, but simply uniting the divided martial artists of the Korean peninsula was significant enough.

That would become a voice, and a power.

Then, the role of the Korean peninsula as a buffer zone between China and Japan would effectively come to an end.

‘It might not flow that drastically in such a short time, but…’

It was a delicate situation.

Depending on how the situation in the Korean peninsula changed, the situation in East Asia would be greatly altered. To exaggerate a bit, the Korean peninsula was becoming the key to moving East Asia.

“That’s why I said we should have conquered the peninsula long ago.”

They were so caught up in power struggles that they let the biggest prey grow so large. This was a painful mistake.

“Is the cause of this that Kang Jin-ho guy?”

“We cannot know that for sure.”

“Cannot know, cannot know. All I hear is ‘cannot know’. Then what can you know?”

Even though he knew the words weren’t blaming him, Oizumi couldn’t help but bow deeply.

It wasn’t his fault.

But it was his fault.

He hadn’t made a mistake, but he was incompetent. And incompetence was a sin. Saying that it was okay because they had done their best was just self-consolation for the incompetent.

“We will use the remaining personnel and deploy new ones to gather information.”

“Hurry.”

“Yes.”

“And…”

Saito held Oizumi back and quietly closed his mouth. Oizumi also did not urge him and waited for his command with his head bowed.

“I will persuade the higher-ups. You must thoroughly monitor that Kang Jin-ho guy. Thoroughly!”

“Yes.”

“It doesn’t have to be just our people. Seek cooperation from all organizations that have ties to Korea. You can use my name. Now is not the time to check each other. Until we clearly understand the situation on the peninsula, all conflicts must cease.”

“I will convey your orders.”

“Good.”

As Oizumi backed out of the room, Saito let out a heavy sigh.

‘This is serious.’

This was not the time to be doing this.

Saito immediately got up from his seat. Perhaps the responsibility for all of this lay with him. If he had pushed for the conquest of the peninsula more strongly, instead of just conveying opinions and complaining, the situation might not have reached this point.

With a stern face, Saito strode out. He had to come up with a solution before it was too late.

‘Kang Jin-ho, Kang Jin-ho…’

Everything was going wrong since he appeared.

“It’s unfair!”

“It’s unjust!”

“This is gender discrimination!”

The men’s mouths were sticking out a mile.

It was inevitable.

They had barely endured Kang Jin-ho’s abuse disguised as training and returned home, only to find the women laughing and smiling with radiant faces.

Something felt strangely awkward, and then they noticed that everyone’s hairstyles had changed, and their faces were glowing as if they had done something amazing.

Compared to the men who had returned looking like death, the women were too radiant. The men, having learned the whole situation, began a strategy meeting.

“…What do we do?”

“I don’t know…”

“This is too unfair. It’s so unfair that I can’t stand it.”

“Hyung, Jong-soo is sleeping.”

“Huh?”

The children, exhausted, began to fall asleep here and there. Han Jin-sung was shocked and began to wake the children up.

“Wash up! You guys! You have to wash up before you sleep! You can’t fall asleep like this!”

Han Jin-sung, forcing the children who were falling asleep to wake up and pushing them into the bathroom, let out a deep sigh.

Even Han Jin-sung, the oldest among them, was this tired, so how much more tired would the younger children be?

‘Will this be effective?’

He was just doing it because Kang Jin-ho was telling him to, but he wasn’t sure if this would actually be effective. Even if it was effective, how much time would it take to see the results?

Han Jin-sung’s face darkened slightly.

It wasn’t that he didn’t trust Kang Jin-ho. But he felt that it would take too long for them to reach the level that Kang Jin-ho wanted.

And during that time, they would just have to endure those terrible moments.

‘Will the kids be okay?’

Being ostracized is nothing special.

It’s just realizing that they don’t treat you as an equal. Normal children have parents, so even if their self-esteem is hurt, they have someone to rely on, but the children here had no one to comfort them when they were hurt.

The new director and Park Yu-min were working hard, but…

Han Jin-sung chuckled.

‘How could that be easy?’

He knew best how difficult it was to take care of children who were already damaged. It was unreasonable to expect more than that.

“Hoo…”

Han Jin-sung, letting out a deep sigh, got up from his seat.

“Where are you going?”

“I’m going to get some air. It’s hot.”

“Okay, hyung. I’ll wash the kids and put them to bed.”

“Okay. You’re going to have a hard time.”

As he walked outside, the cold night air filled his lungs. Han Jin-sung sat on a bench in front of the orphanage and quietly looked up at the sky.

‘It’s dark.’

They say that if you go to the mountains, the sky is full of stars, but Han Jin-sung had never seen such a sky. He had never left Seoul.

“Even the sky is suffocating.”

“Is it?”

Han Jin-sung jumped up at the voice behind him. Kang Jin-ho, with a cigarette in his mouth, was walking towards him.

“Oh, hyung…”

“I quite like it, though.”

“What do you mean?”

Kang Jin-ho gestured towards the sky with his chin.

“The sky.”

“You like the pitch-black sky?”

“Hmm, is it strange?”

“It’s not that it’s strange, but…”

Han Jin-sung chuckled.

“No, it is strange. It’s strange. I don’t know why you would like a pitch-black sky.”

Kang Jin-ho smiled and sat next to Han Jin-sung.

“Is it strange?”

“Yes. It’s a bit strange. Usually, people like skies with lots of stars, the kind that look like they’re about to pour down.”

“Yes, usually people like those kinds of skies. But… is being different strange?”

Han Jin-sung couldn’t answer easily.

Strangely, those words felt like they were piercing right through him.

Is being different strange? Being different…

Kang Jin-ho continued without waiting for Han Jin-sung’s answer.

“You’ll come to think about it as you live.”

“Yes?”

“Things that you take for granted now can be perceived in the opposite way after some time.”

“…Yes.”

“When that perception changes, people follow the changed perception as if their previous thoughts were all lies. The funny thing is, those who thought that way before are ostracized when the world changes, but then they become the center of the trend.”

Kang Jin-ho quietly looked at Han Jin-sung and said,

“Is being different wrong?”

“I don’t know.”

Han Jin-sung quietly said.

“I don’t know if it’s wrong, hyung. But one thing I know is… being different is really hard.”

Kang Jin-ho didn’t say anything.

He knew that this wasn’t the time for comfort.

‘It must be hard.’

What made Kang Jin-ho the most difficult in the Central Plains was living among people who were the same but had completely different ways of thinking.

It was like feeling like he had been dropped into the world alone.

They were clearly living together in the same place, but that feeling of being isolated was something that no one who hadn’t experienced it could ever understand.

Compared to Kang Jin-ho at that time, the worries that Han Jin-sung had now might be trivial. But the pain of the person involved was not something that anyone could easily talk about.

“But still, you know.”

“What?”

“There are people who worry with you.”

Han Jin-sung turned around without realizing it. Han Jin-sung, looking at the orphanage with half the lights turned off, quietly nodded.

“I guess so.”

“I’ll worry with you too, so don’t worry too much. I’ll solve it.”

Han Jin-sung jumped up from his seat and shrugged at Kang Jin-ho.

“Don’t push yourself too hard either, hyung. You’re not Superman.”

“…Okay.”

“Then.”

As Han Jin-sung turned and went inside, Kang Jin-ho took out a new cigarette and put it in his mouth.

‘Superman, huh…’