Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 442

Even though the night was deep, many people still couldn’t leave the general meeting. Bang Jin-hoon clicked his tongue quietly, looking at the brightly lit auditorium.

“You really have a bad personality.”

“Did something happen?”

“Hah, seriously.”

Bang Jin-hoon glared at Kang Jin-ho, who answered calmly. Kang Jin-ho smiled faintly and slightly averted his gaze from Bang Jin-hoon.

“Are you really going to kill them?”

“Maybe.”

“Aren’t you just threatening them?”

“That’s also a maybe.”

Bang Jin-hoon narrowed his brows.

“Even if it was a joke, those guys won’t take it as a joke. What if they get scared and no one agrees to do it? From the start, Mr. Kang Jin-ho doesn’t know how he’s perceived by others. That’s the problem.”

“Perceived?”

“Yes, perceived. The Kang Jin-ho I see and the Kang Jin-ho those guys see are different. In their eyes, Mr. Kang Jin-ho probably looks like a three-headed, six-armed monster.”

“Then that’s fine.”

“Huh?”

Kang Jin-ho didn’t answer and just wore a bitter smile.

If they saw him as Bang Jin-hoon described, it was fine. In the past, when he was in the Demonic Cult, he wasn’t called a monster, but a manifestation of Asura [a powerful, wrathful demigod in Hindu and Buddhist mythology].

Kang Jin-ho was so ruthless that he became an object of fear in that Demonic Cult, which was already notorious for its cruelty and was both condemned and feared by the world.

Looking back, he was desperate to survive in that Central Plains [a term often used to refer to the heartland of ancient China in martial arts novels] where he had no one to rely on. Naturally, he had to become cruel. From the perspective of Kang Jin-ho, who was a modern person, everyone there was irrational and barbaric.

How could one maintain their sanity in a world where people’s arms were cut off for stealing, and human meat was sold openly on the streets?

That place was a world where people were not treated as people. It was impossible to live in a world without human rights as one would in modern times.

‘It’s all just a futile excuse, though.’ Kang Jin-ho wore a bitter smile. Yes, it was just an excuse.

It wouldn’t have been impossible to maintain the dignity of a modern person and survive there.

If one had the courage not to fear death and the integrity to value their own dignity more than life itself.

But Kang Jin-ho didn’t have that kind of fortitude.

In the end, the only path he could take was to become more cruel than them.

“What are you thinking so deeply about?”

“It’s nothing.”

Kang Jin-ho took out a cigarette, put it in his mouth, and lit it. Thinking about the past made his chest feel tight.

“I’m worried that too many kids are dropping out.”

“It’s fine.”

“Still, isn’t it a problem if too many people are dropping out? At least, we should try to persuade the talented ones…”

Kang Jin-ho, after exhaling a deep puff of smoke, slowly opened his mouth.

“Talent?”

A hollow laugh escaped him.

“Yes. It’s better to teach the smart ones than those who don’t seem to get it no matter how much you teach them…”

“No.”

Kang Jin-ho shook his head.

“Talent isn’t important. What’s important is will.”

“Will?”

“Yes.”

As Kang Jin-ho flicked his ashes out the window, Bang Jin-hoon quietly approached and placed an ashtray on the windowsill.

“Have some manners.”

“…Sorry.”

Kang Jin-ho, with an awkward expression, put out his ash in the ashtray and continued.

“I’m not going to deny the importance of talent. The saying that effort comes first in the world is just something people say to make themselves feel better. In most cases, talent comes before anything else.”

“That’s what I’m saying.”

“But…”

Kang Jin-ho looked at Bang Jin-hoon and asked.

“Isn’t the talent of everyone gathered here already verified to a certain extent?”

Bang Jin-hoon closed his mouth tightly.

It wasn’t wrong.

When martial artists accept disciples, they always check if they have talent in martial arts first.

The General Assembly was a place where people who had already been filtered and had their talents verified came in after being somewhat complete.

“There is such a thing as overwhelming talent in the world. People who seem to be blessed by the gods. People who see different things even when learning the same thing, and who find something higher within the same experience. Yes, they exist.”

They existed in the Central Plains too.

Those who were called geniuses.

Those who were called different from the start and were the owners of amazing talents who received the full expectations of their respective sects. There couldn’t be just one or two of them in that vast Central Plains.

And they all died at the hands of Kang Jin-ho.

“But once you go beyond a certain level, talent is just an advantage that shortens time. After that, something else takes over.”

“Are you talking about effort?”

“No.”

Kang Jin-ho shook his head firmly.

“It’s will.”

“Will?”

“Yes. In other words, it’s a goal.”

“Hmm…”

Bang Jin-hoon shook his head as if he didn’t understand. How was that different from effort?

Kang Jin-ho smiled quietly and elaborated for Bang Jin-hoon.

“Ordinary people say that effort is important. They say that constant effort can even overcome the difference between reality and talent. That’s half true, but half wrong.”

“Half true? This person doesn’t know what hell is.”

“…Because I’ve actually experienced it.”

“You’re saying you can overcome the difference in talent with effort?”

Kang Jin-ho nodded.

“Yes, it’s possible.”

“Honestly, that’s just something people say to make themselves feel better…”

“Because they don’t know what effort is.”

“Huh?”

Whether Bang Jin-hoon was bewildered or not, Kang Jin-ho slowly inhaled his cigarette.

He was realizing how precious this one puff of cigarette, which recently felt like nothing, was.

“The statement that you should make an effort is actually a meaningless claim. Effort exists to achieve a goal. There’s nothing more futile than effort without direction.”

“Hmm…”

“The wording is wrong. It’s not ‘make an effort.’ You need a firm goal that you can bet your life on. If you have the will to achieve that goal, you’ll naturally make the effort. But usually, people just say to make an effort first. To achieve a goal, even if it’s vague, they say to make an effort.”

Bang Jin-hoon shook his head as if he didn’t understand at all. And Kang Jin-ho didn’t particularly want to convince Bang Jin-hoon.

This might be a concept that those who haven’t experienced it can’t understand.

‘Being desperate is scary.’

Kang Jin-ho was the same.

To him, who had left his master and ventured into the martial world alone, the world was like a hungry demon. To him, who hadn’t completely escaped the common sense of a modern person, the world was like hell, and people were like the gatekeepers of hell.

When he came to his senses, the whole world was rushing to kill him.

Effort?

That’s a joke.

All Kang Jin-ho could do at that time was to create the extremely ordinary goal of ‘survival’ and focus on it. He did everything he could to survive. What others called effort was natural for Kang Jin-ho.

Think about it.

Can the series of actions of someone who is dragged to a battlefield, sharpening their sword and thrusting it into someone’s neck to survive, be called effort?

Even if arrows are stuck in their body and their limbs are cut off, no one gives up on moving to survive because it’s hard.

In the face of a fierce life dedicated to a goal, the word ‘effort’ is just too romantic.

“If you can have that, you’ll become strong. If not, it’s impossible.”

“Honestly, I don’t really understand.”

It was impossible for Bang Jin-hoon to understand everything Kang Jin-ho said.

“When you fought Lee Joong-geol, you reduced your sleep, grew your power, taught the kids, and trained yourself.”

“Of course.”

“Would you call that effort?”

Hearing those words, he seemed to vaguely understand what Kang Jin-ho was saying.

Effort had the meaning of doing something that didn’t have to be done.

Now, Kang Jin-ho wanted the young people of the General Assembly to devote themselves to martial arts as if it were something they had to do.

“You’re trying to create a milestone.”

“Something like that.”

“…It won’t be easy.”

Bang Jin-hoon was a bit skeptical.

‘The times have changed too much.’

He seemed to know what Kang Jin-ho was talking about.

Yes, there were people in the past who risked everything to become strong, just like Kang Jin-ho was saying. But not now.

In modern times, you can get more than enough benefits with just a little bit of force. And there was plenty of pleasure to be gained from those benefits.

In this environment, why would you have to become so strong?

“The spirit of a martial artist is a good term, but honestly, I think it’s a bit anachronistic.”

“That’s probably true. But… I’ve never really wanted that either. I don’t have that myself.”

“Huh?”

Bang Jin-hoon looked at Kang Jin-ho with eyes that showed he didn’t understand at all.

Then what was the driving force?

“The spirit of a martial artist is a grand term. In fact, I don’t think the essence of a martial artist is that.”

“Then what is it?”

“Let me ask you the other way around. What do you think is the essence of a martial artist, Chief Bang?”

“It’s the union with nature through martial arts. Or the will to reach a higher place.”

Kang Jin-ho curled up the corners of his mouth.

Bang Jin-hoon’s face turned a little red as he realized that the meaning of that smile was ridicule.

“Isn’t it?”

“That’s grand. Of course, it sounds cool if you say it like that, but honestly, I don’t think martial arts is like that.”

“Then…”

Bang Jin-hoon opened his mouth with anticipation. Kang Jin-ho, whom he knew, was the strongest martial artist he had ever met. From the past until now, there was no one stronger than Kang Jin-ho among the martial artists of the Korean Peninsula that he had seen.

His view of martial arts would surely be helpful to Bang Jin-hoon as well.

“What do you think is the essence of martial arts, Mr. Kang Jin-ho?”

Click.

Kang Jin-ho stubbed out his cigarette and put a new one in his mouth and lit it.

“Hoo…”

Kang Jin-ho, after exhaling a deep puff of smoke, smiled and said.

“It might be a bit blunt, but I think it’s like that. The martial arts I learned and the martial arts I thought about were like that.”

“So, what is it?”

Kang Jin-ho nodded and opened his mouth in a serious tone.

“I will never lose to that bastard.”

Bang Jin-hoon’s face went blank.

“Ah, of course, my view of martial arts is a bit different. This is the overall view. If we go into more detail…”

“…Yes.”

“‘I will definitely kill that bastard’ would be more accurate.”

Kang Jin-ho said with the most serious face in the world.

“There’s no need for other reasons. Beat them up, kill them, and prove that I’m the strongest. If you’re going to talk about union with nature or training, you should go to a temple, why would you learn martial arts? Martial arts fundamentally exist to beat up other people.”

Bang Jin-hoon smiled faintly and nodded.

He was hopeless.

This guy was hopeless.

‘Kids, just give up.’

If you train under this guy, even normal guys will be ruined. Bang Jin-hoon looked at the lights outside the window with an uneasy gaze.