Descent Of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 450

“What on earth is that guy?”

Elena was utterly bewildered.

Her objective was clear.

She needed to approach Kang Jin-ho, the walking time bomb of East Asia, who was living a seemingly normal life, and win his favor.

In a typical interpretation, this mission sounded like a romantic spy thriller, reminiscent of a 007 film. However, the reality she faced was far from glamorous.

She could accept the lack of support from her home country, as the mission hadn’t been officially sanctioned. In spy movies, crises and obstacles were common, serving as catalysts that highlighted the protagonist’s success. They were like the spices that made the dish more flavorful.

It might sound cliché and old-fashioned, but Elena was prepared to sacrifice everything for this mission. She was determined to overcome any hardship with unwavering resolve and an unshakeable spirit.

However, the problem she encountered was completely different from what she had anticipated.

Let’s consider the image of Kang Jin-ho.

The Kang Jin-ho she had envisioned was more akin to a demon king.

He was currently lying low… or rather, not even lying low. It was strange to say that someone who had openly taken control of Korea was lying low.

Whether intentional or not, it was accurate to say that he was strangely out of the spotlight, considering his past actions and their impact.

However, since that description was too lengthy, let’s simply say he was ‘lying low’ for the sake of simplicity. He was a man who, though currently subdued, would soon unleash a storm upon East Asia.

She hadn’t spent enough time with Kang Jin-ho to fully understand him, but even in that short period, she had clearly sensed the inherent cruelty and violence within him.

The presence he had briefly displayed was branded onto Elena’s soul. She didn’t know what the future held, but she would never forget that moment until her dying day. Absolutely.

So, to summarize… Kang Jin-ho was a capable man who had seized control of Korea in an instant, and a devilish figure who was biding his time, concealing his immense cruelty and violence.

“But that’s….”

Elena looked at Kang Jin-ho with hesitant eyes.

Her mission was to approach this demon king-like Kang Jin-ho and somehow gain his favor.

It was all too obvious what those stubborn Round Table [a fictional organization] members were trying to achieve with Kang Jin-ho.

What could she expect from those who masked their lack of thoroughness and creativity with excuses like ‘busy’ and ‘lack of time and manpower’?

They would probably act like the CIA during the Cold War. They would assassinate him first and then claim, ‘If we had left this guy alive, something far worse would have happened, but we eliminated him, so things are resolved to this extent.’

‘Hopeless.’

It was true that the Round Table had been instrumental in maintaining world peace. Whether their methods were effective or not was another matter, but everyone acknowledged their hard work in preserving global stability.

‘But they’re outdated.’

Elena wasn’t dismissing the Round Table.

She acknowledged and respected their authority and efforts. However, she simply believed that there were certain problems that their methods could never solve. This Kang Jin-ho situation was one of them.

Eliminate him?

Of course, that wasn’t a bad option either.

Did she have any affection for Kang Jin-ho that would make her want to protect him? If she could, she would have gladly stepped forward and eliminated Kang Jin-ho herself.

She was also certain that if that man disappeared, the turbulent East Asia would quickly regain stability.

But eliminate?

That guy?

This was the core of the problem.

As the world became more interconnected, the areas that needed monitoring to protect global peace increased. The Round Table, which by its nature had to remain secret, faced manpower shortages. Even when they found personnel, they had to maintain inefficient procedures and systems to preserve secrecy.

Therefore, it was nearly impossible to analyze a person in depth and observe them over time. Even if the person in charge of the mission wrote a detailed report, they wouldn’t even read it properly.

And so, this mess was the result.

Elena had reported that they should never attempt the insane act of assassinating Kang Jin-ho, but the conclusion would be completely different.

‘Wow, it’s so dangerous that we shouldn’t attempt an assassination? Then we have to kill him,’ they would say.

It would be fortunate if it ended there.

The opinions of a mere pawn were not even considered by the Round Table. They viewed the world on a map. They couldn’t be swayed by personal opinions or impressions.

According to the Round Table’s methods, assassins would already be mobilized to eliminate Kang Jin-ho.

‘And then they’ll fail.’

Elena was certain.

The Round Table was underestimating Kang Jin-ho. If she had decided to eliminate Kang Jin-ho, she would have mobilized at least a knight order. But there was no way that the stubborn Round Table would reach that conclusion. They would probably try to kill Kang Jin-ho by sending some assassins.

Then the outcome was obvious.

The moment Kang Jin-ho realized that there were people trying to assassinate him, he would become more cautious and hostile towards the Round Table. In the worst-case scenario, he might abandon his current behavior and go on a rampage like the madman of North Korea.

‘I have to stop it.’

From the beginning, there were only two ways to resolve this situation.

Force or appeasement.

If it was clear that the Round Table would fail with force, then Elena had to use appeasement. That was her duty to her country and her service to the Round Table. And above all, it was the path to world peace.

That’s what she believed.

Until she actually followed and monitored Kang Jin-ho.

So, how should she explain it….

Of course! Of course!

She didn’t expect Kang Jin-ho to live in reality as he had shown her. There was a huge discrepancy between the Kang Jin-ho she had seen initially and the Kang Jin-ho she had seen later.

It wasn’t difficult to deduce that Kang Jin-ho would live while thoroughly concealing his true nature.

“But there’s a limit to that.”

Elena quietly gritted her teeth. It had been three days since she started tracking Kang Jin-ho.

The image of Kang Jin-ho that she had witnessed during those three days could only be described as shocking.

Where was it shocking?

Well….

‘First of all… he doesn’t do anything.’

So, that guy was like a behind-the-scenes power player. On the surface, it seemed like he didn’t do anything, but in reality, he was the ruler who was manipulating the martial arts world of Korea as he pleased.

That in itself wasn’t surprising. The Three Kings of China and the Round Table of Europe were also such figures. It sounded like something from a third-rate movie, but reality always surpassed fiction.

However….

‘No, what does he even do!’

The Round Table was so busy that they were going crazy.

The knights of the Round Table had to control each country and manage other countries that were not under the Round Table’s control. The workload was truly overwhelming. There was even a joke that knights died from overwork, not from missions.

Although Korea was a small country, managing it was by no means an easy task. But Kang Jin-ho really… really didn’t do anything.

His daily routine was very simple.

He would wake up early in the morning and sit blankly on the bed, whether he was meditating or not, and then eat breakfast. After that, he would put on some training clothes and go for a walk around the neighborhood for about an hour, and then drive to an orphanage quite far away.

At the orphanage, he would do chores or play with the children (who seemed a bit annoyed), and then in the afternoon, he would go to the pizza place that he used to run.

At the pizza place, he would chat with the people who were extremely busy, and then leave the store, unable to withstand their glares. Then, he would meet up with a friend named Park Yu-min and go to a PC cafe [internet cafe] to play games until dawn before going home.

When he got home, he would avoid his mother’s glares, wash up, and go to his room to sleep.

There were subtle differences from day to day, but for the past three days, he had not deviated from this pattern. The conclusion that Elena, who had followed Kang Jin-ho’s daily routine for three days, had reached was very simple.

“A bum.”

Or a loafer. The neighborhood slacker.

If she hadn’t known that he was ‘that’ Kang Jin-ho, his day would have been no different from that of a neighborhood bum. Even when he went home, he had nothing to do, and he was even scolded by his mother for going out and playing and going to the PC cafe until late at night.

‘Oh my god, scolded….’

The sight of the core of the storm that had plunged the Korean martial arts world into fear and put China and Japan on edge, running away to his room after being scolded by his mother, was a rare sight that she would never see again in her life.

She had never been so grateful for the telephoto lens that she had bought with great effort for this mission.

Well, of course, that could be the case.

Maybe that guy was so meticulous that he was perfectly disguising his daily life. Maybe he was a truly terrifying guy who disguised himself even in his daily life, just in case other people saw him.

But….

“Oh my, you pushed this all the way here. You must be tired?”

“No, I’m not.”

“I don’t have anything to give you right now. Ah, this. Have this.”

“It’s okay.”

“I don’t feel comfortable. Please take this. Okay?”

“Yes. Then I will take it.”

Elena’s face began to tremble.

In her eyes, she could see Kang Jin-ho receiving a yogurt drink from an old woman with a bent back.

‘That crazy bastard!’

It was good when he drove off in his sports car. When she saw the sports car moving quickly through the traffic, she thought that something was going to happen today.

She cheered when the sports car suddenly braked and parked on the side of the road. Even when Kang Jin-ho got out of the sports car in a hurry.

But the moment she saw what the guy who had made such a fuss had done, Elena’s legs gave way.

Kang Jin-ho, who had run quickly, began to push an old woman’s handcart that was struggling to climb a slope. Kang Jin-ho, who had practically snatched the handcart, stopped the cart as if he didn’t like something, and then, after putting the old woman on the cart, pulled the cart as if he was walking on flat ground.

Even though the old woman kept saying that she was okay, he only let go of the cart after reaching the top of the slope.

Elena opened her mouth blankly as she watched Kang Jin-ho, who was walking down the slope, slurping on a yogurt drink.

The time bomb of East Asia.

The demon king who would plunge the world into chaos.

The result of observing the human Kang Jin-ho, who received such diverse evaluations, for three days was very simple.

“……Is he, a good guy?”

Elena unconsciously grabbed her head.

That can’t be.