Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 420

Punishment (3)

“What do you think courage is?”

“Huh?”

Choi Yeon-ha asked Kang Jin-ho with a listless face.

“There’s a line in tomorrow’s shoot that says, ‘Be courageous.'”

“Yes.”

“But this… I don’t know if the writer is weird, but it doesn’t seem like something that should be said in this scene. I don’t know what they mean by ‘be courageous.'”

Kang Jin-ho didn’t seem very interested, but Choi Yeon-ha continued to complain.

“This isn’t a scene where someone is doing something, it’s a scene where the person receiving the line’s mother is dying of an incurable disease, and it’s supposed to be a comforting scene.”

“Yes.”

“But ‘be courageous’? Isn’t this a mistake for ‘cheer up’? How can you say ‘be courageous’ when someone’s mother is dying? Where did they get this weird word usage? I should complain to the writer tomorrow.”

Kang Jin-ho listened to Choi Yeon-ha’s words quietly, then brought his Americano to his lips. After savoring the aroma of the coffee, Kang Jin-ho opened his mouth.

“I don’t think it’s necessarily wrong.”

“Kang Jin-ho, you didn’t have good grades, did you?” At that moment, Kang Jin-ho’s brow twitched. To talk about grades to Kang Jin-ho, who had a university free pass [meaning he was admitted without needing to take entrance exams]. He had a principle that it was shameful to talk about his grades and academic background, so he had never mentioned it, but he couldn’t just let this attack go undefended.

“My grades were pretty good.”

“Huh? I don’t think so.”

“…It’s true.”

“Come on, I have a good eye for people, and no matter how I look at you, Kang Jin-ho, you seem like someone who’s not into studying. Just tell me honestly. You don’t even seem to go to college.”

“I’m on a leave of absence.”

“Huh?”

Choi Yeon-ha looked at Kang Jin-ho as if she was surprised.

“You were a college student?”

Kang Jin-ho quietly sighed.

Was it that surprising that he was a college student? Right now, Choi Yeon-ha was reacting as if she had just found out that a max-level worker she met at a construction site was actually a doctoral student.

“Wow, you didn’t look like it.”

“Is that an insult?”

“I don’t know if it’s an insult or a compliment. Usually, good-looking guys don’t go to school much.”

Kang Jin-ho was also wondering if he was being insulted or complimented.

“Which school do you go to?”

“Jae Kyung University.”

“Huh?”

Choi Yeon-ha looked at Kang Jin-ho with a distrustful face, as if she couldn’t believe it, and frowned.

“You can’t lie just because I can’t check.”

“It’s true.”

“Really? True? Real?”

“…Do I have any reason to lie about something like this?”

“No. So… um, this is a bit…”

Choi Yeon-ha scratched her head and said.

“How should I put it? It’s like the shocking feeling of finding out that Jangbi [a famous historical figure known for his military prowess] was actually a top scorer in the national civil service exam?”

“…Do I look like someone who’s bad at studying?”

“Um, um, um…”

“Never mind.”

Kang Jin-ho turned away with a blank face. In fact, what would change even if Choi Yeon-ha thought he was someone who was not into studying?

“Then you don’t read many books, do you?”

“Books?”

“Yes. Books.”

“Not much besides textbooks…”

If there were any books he had read, they would be secret manuals, but whether secret manuals should be called books was a matter to be considered. Moreover, even if they could be called books, they probably wouldn’t fall into the category of ‘books’ that Choi Yeon-ha was talking about now.

“I knew it. That’s why you can’t grasp the context well.”

As Choi Yeon-ha looked satisfied with a full-bellied cat-like face, Kang Jin-ho felt strangely annoyed.

If he just let it go with a ‘I see,’ it would feel like an insult to his intellectual level.

“There are times when that happens.”

“Huh?”

“Usually, people think of courage as moving forward.”

“…Um, yes.”

“But sometimes, enduring is true courage. There are many times when courage is needed not to back down.”

Choi Yeon-ha looked at Kang Jin-ho with complicated eyes.

“The phrase ‘be courageous’ in the face of a parent’s death might be a bit strange linguistically, but it’s not incomprehensible. Courage is also needed to endure the reality and future that cannot be avoided or changed.”

“Ah…”

Kang Jin-ho smiled slightly as he saw Choi Yeon-ha looking like she understood.

“Did that explain it?”

“No. It just made me realize that Kang Jin-ho might actually be a Jae Kyung University student, which is creepy. Wow, this is… unbelievable, really.”

The hand holding the Americano glass tightened.

‘He’s a prestigious university student for a reason.’

At that time, Choi Yeon-ha didn’t understand what it meant to need courage to endure, but the current Choi Yeon-ha understood those words perfectly.

As an actress, she had experienced many things in her life. Sometimes she jumped into a fire, and sometimes she jumped off a building with her body relying on a single thin wire.

Choi Yeon-ha, who had performed those rough scenes that ordinary actresses couldn’t handle, considered herself a courageous person. Of course, it wasn’t just her self-assessment. The staff and fellow actors also called her a courageous person, or at least someone with guts.

However, Choi Yeon-ha realized that what she had thought of as courage until now was not true courage.

Taking a risk in the face of the possibility of death is not courage. True courage is not compromising in the face of the harm that will come to you, while being fully aware of it.

And now, Choi Yeon-ha was standing at the test of true courage.

This was not a movie set, and no one was watching. It was only a matter of whether she could be honest with herself. Even if she ran away from here, no one in the world would blame her.

But Choi Yeon-ha knew.

Even if no one in the world blamed her, she couldn’t deceive her own heart. If she ran away, leaving this little child who was relying on her alone, Choi Yeon-ha would never be able to trust herself again for the rest of her life.

Now was the time when the courage not to back down that Kang Jin-ho had spoken of was needed.

Cold sweat was flowing, and her heart was pounding.

Just facing the monster approaching her made her legs weak and her teeth chatter, making a clacking sound. But unlike her body, Choi Yeon-ha’s eyes were not shaking at all.

It was scary.

Of course, it was scary. How many people wouldn’t be scared in front of someone like that?

But courage is not about not being afraid. True courage is not backing down even when you are afraid. Choi Yeon-ha reminded herself of that fact and put strength into her legs.

No matter what happens, she would not back down.

That was Choi Yeon-ha’s resolution.

“You seem to be trembling?”

The monster chuckled.

“Humans, you know, most of them think and talk before they act.”

“It’s not hard to meet courageous people. If you walk down the street, more than half of them think they are more courageous than others. It’s just that they don’t have the opportunity, but if they were given the chance, they would always think they could prove their courage.”

The monster smiled wryly.

“I’ve met a lot of those kinds of people. Due to the nature of the place I lived, most of them were full of bravado. They all acted like they were something special.

Do you know how to remove the bravado from those guys?”

The monster, who had come right in front of her, leaned his head close to Choi Yeon-ha’s ear and whispered softly.

“By giving them pain.”

“Very slowly, without ever rushing.”

Choi Yeon-ha bit her lip tightly.

“Usually, I start with the fingers. I break them one by one from the tips, and then I pull out the fingernails at the end. After pulling out the fingernails from the fingers where all the bones are broken, I step on the fingers that have become limp from the broken bones.”

The monster chuckled and said.

“Usually, just this much is enough to make most guys cry and beg, saying ‘Please save me.’ ‘I was wrong.'”

The monster slowly reached out and grabbed Choi Yeon-ha’s trembling hand.

“The tough ones would endure until all five fingers were crushed. But the weak ones would cry and beg before even one finger was broken, pleading to play with someone else instead of them. I wonder how you’ll be?”

Choi Yeon-ha quietly raised her head and met the monster’s eyes.

Pfft.

An uncontrollable chuckle escaped from Choi Yeon-ha’s lips as she looked at the monster.

“Why are you laughing?”

“Because you’re pathetic.”

“What?”

Choi Yeon-ha looked at the monster with eyes full of contempt and said.

“You said you wanted to teach Kang Jin-ho that other people are also human, but you just like to torment people.”

“Huh?”

“That’s why you’re inferior to Kang Jin-ho.”

Choi Yeon-ha sneered.

“At least he doesn’t justify his actions. But you keep trying to attach a justification. A justification that others can never understand. Should I tell you?”

Choi Yeon-ha openly mocked the monster.

“You’re just a psycho. You’re just a crazy lunatic. The things you’re saying are just made up, and you’re just pathetic and low, so you can only live like that.”

Whether he was flustered or angry, Choi Yeon-ha raised her middle finger at the monster, who was just staring at her silently.

“Do whatever you want, you moron. I’m never going to whine.”

“I’ll make you regret those words.”

“No, you won’t.”

The monster’s head suddenly shot upwards.

At that moment, as if the ceiling was being pierced, Kang Jin-ho fell between the monster and Choi Yeon-ha.

“Eek!”

The monster, who had discovered Kang Jin-ho, tried to tear off Choi Yeon-ha’s arm in an instant, but Kang Jin-ho was a little faster.

Kang Jin-ho, who had fallen down with terrifying speed, stepped on the monster’s elbow that was holding Choi Yeon-ha’s arm.

Crack!

“Kuh!”

With a chilling sound, the monster’s arm twisted in a strange direction. As the monster grabbed his arm and stepped back, Kang Jin-ho stood in front of Choi Yeon-ha and Oh Min-ji and opened his mouth.

“You’ve done it now.”

“Kang Jin-ho…”

Kang Jin-ho looked at the monster and quietly opened his mouth.

“Do you know me?”

“…”

Blood vessels began to bulge in the monster’s eyes.

His life had been twisted because of Kang Jin-ho. His life had changed 180 degrees the day he met Kang Jin-ho. But despite it being only a short time ago, Kang Jin-ho didn’t even remember that day.

“Eee…”

Just as the monster was about to scream, Kang Jin-ho opened his mouth.

“You don’t need to know.”

Thud!

Kang Jin-ho, who had blown the monster out of the bathroom with one blow, spat out the words.

“I don’t listen to the words of a guy who’s about to die.”

With murderous intent dripping from his eyes, Kang Jin-ho headed towards the monster with heavy steps.