Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 584

“Did you sleep well?”

“Yes.”

As soon as Kang Jin-ho came out, he looked at the dining table. Seeing the table full of food from the morning, he couldn’t help but sigh.

“Did you prepare all of this?”

“It’s nothing much.”

“Mother.”

“Yes?”

Kang Jin-ho looked at Baek Hyun-jung and said firmly,

“We’re not kids anymore. We can prepare our own meals, so please don’t do this anymore.”

“What are you talking about? Your mother wants to do this for you. This is what your mother does.”

“You don’t prepare Father’s meals.”

“Does that man not have hands or feet?”

Kang Jin-ho turned his head with trembling eyes. His father’s body, sitting on the sofa, was shrinking.

‘I must not become like that.’

He loved his mother.

Most children only realize how precious their parents are after losing them. Only when they can no longer see their parents do they realize that their parents gave them so much strength just by being there.

Because it’s something you can’t know unless you’ve lost it, everyone regrets it only after losing it.

But Kang Jin-ho had already experienced the absence of his parents. And he had also experienced a time when he believed he would never see them again.

Thanks to that, even though his parents were alive and well, he was feeling infinite affection for them.

Even so…

‘I must never marry a woman like my mother.’

Looking at his father’s pathetic shoulders, a sense of fear washed over him.

“Let’s eat quickly.”

“Yes.”

Kang Jin-ho sat at the table, picked up his spoon, and began to eat.

But, as expected of the Kang family, the quiet mealtime soon became noisy.

“Uwaaaah! Mom! Why didn’t you wake me up!”

“…I wonder who will take her.”

“What! I’m very popular, you know?”

Seeing Kang Eun-young, with her disheveled hair, running into the bathroom, he couldn’t help but sigh. Just by looking at Kang Eun-young, he could guess how his mother had lived in the past.

Does that mean that when Kang Eun-young gets married and becomes a mother, she will become like Baek Hyun-jung?

Kang Jin-ho felt the undeniable power of genetics and looked at his father.

“Huh? Why?”

“It’s nothing.”

No, it wasn’t nothing.

No matter how he looked at it, he and his father had very different styles. Even if he got married, the chances of him becoming like that were not high.

“Jin-ho.”

“Yes, Father.”

“Are your preparations for returning to school going well?”

“…There’s still a lot of time left, so I haven’t really thought about it.”

“Time flies quickly.”

“Yes.”

Kang Jin-ho dipped his spoon into his soup bowl.

‘Returning to school…’

His father was right. Now was the moment to make a decision. He had gone to university with the thought of enjoying a life he hadn’t been able to before, but for Kang Jin-ho now, university was not a place that held any particular meaning.

What good would a university degree do for him?

Kang Jin-ho faced the fact that this was a problem he could no longer avoid.

“Actually, I have something to tell you about that.”

“Huh?”

Kang Jin-ho opened his mouth, seeing Kang Yu-hwan looking slightly flustered.

“Hmm.”

After hearing the explanation, Kang Yu-hwan scratched his head.

“So, you’re actually preparing that welfare foundation you mentioned before?”

“Yes.”

“A foundation…”

Kang Yu-hwan tried his best to maintain a calm demeanor, but he couldn’t hide his bewilderment. It felt like he couldn’t form his words properly because he had suddenly heard such a big story.

“It’s too sudden. It would have been nice if you had told me while you were preparing…”

“I’m sorry.”

“Well, it’s not something to be sorry about. It’s your business, so you can keep it to yourself.”

Kang Yu-hwan, having sorted out his thoughts, looked at Kang Jin-ho and opened his mouth.

“But Jin-ho.”

“Yes, Father.”

“The fact that you brought this up at this timing means that this story is related to university, right?”

“Yes.”

“Alright, let’s hear it. What are you planning to do?”

Kang Jin-ho took a slight deep breath. It was definitely a bit of a burden to bring up as a son.

“I’m wondering if I really need to go to university.”

Kang Yu-hwan listened to Kang Jin-ho’s words without any particular response.

“I know there are things I can learn at university. But it doesn’t seem like what I need to do now is related to what I would learn at university. So, I’m wondering if I really need to go back to school and waste my time.”

“Hmm…”

Kang Yu-hwan nodded quietly.

“You still need to graduate from university.”

Baek Hyun-jung said as if there was nothing to think about.

“If it were a mediocre university, I wouldn’t say this. But is the university you’re attending an ordinary university? It doesn’t seem right to quit such a prestigious university because of other things. That degree will help you in some way.”

“Yes, Mother.”

Kang Jin-ho thought his mother’s words were right. But listening to those words was a separate issue.

“I think it will be helpful. But I’ll be wasting too much time for that small benefit.”

“Jin-ho.”

“If I focus on the foundation’s work during that time, I think I can do more.”

“Still…”

“Honey.”

Kang Yu-hwan subtly dissuaded Baek Hyun-jung, who couldn’t let go of her attachment.

“That doesn’t make sense.”

“Honey!”

“Think about it. You would value the director of a welfare foundation more than a graduate of the College of Economics, right?”

“W-well, that’s true.”

“Then who would understand telling you to postpone a bigger task to get something smaller? That’s just greed.”

“Let’s not hope that our child will graduate from a prestigious university and make us proud. Whether he graduates from university or not, it’s Jin-ho’s choice, but he shouldn’t choose university to show off to someone. We’re not in that kind of era anymore.”

“You’re right.”

Kang Jin-ho smiled lightly.

His mother, who was usually like a tiger, clearly respected his father’s opinion in these situations.

“But Jin-ho.”

“Yes, Father.”

“You shouldn’t think so lightly about quitting university.”

“It’s not a decision I made lightly.”

“You did think lightly about it.”

“…No.”

Kang Yu-hwan clicked his tongue.

“The part you didn’t think lightly about is how we would accept this. You probably thought that the fact that you’re quitting university itself wasn’t that important, right?”

Kang Jin-ho closed his mouth.

Even though he was his father, Kang Yu-hwan sometimes looked into Kang Jin-ho’s heart like a diviner.

“That’s what I’m worried about. You think too lightly about university. Maybe you’re the one who sees university the easiest among us. For you, university is just a kind of spec [a qualification or credential].”

“Isn’t it?”

“Other people can think that way. But you shouldn’t.”

Kang Jin-ho couldn’t understand Kang Yu-hwan’s words.

What made him different from other people?

“Because you’re someone who’s trying to run a welfare foundation.”

“…I don’t quite understand what you mean.”

“It’s not difficult. What’s the reason you’re trying to establish a welfare foundation?”

“To help people in need…”

“No.”

Kang Yu-hwan cut off Kang Jin-ho’s words.

“The reason you’re trying to establish a welfare foundation is because you saw the children in need at the orphanage with your own two eyes.”

Kang Jin-ho had no choice but to agree.

What if he hadn’t met Park Yu-min?

Perhaps Kang Jin-ho would have never visited an orphanage in his life, and he wouldn’t have had the desire to create a foundation like he did now. Although it was a bit sudden, Kang Yu-hwan’s words accurately pierced the core.

“That’s what experience is. People learn from books, videos, and by listening to others. But the knowledge learned that way enriches the mind but doesn’t move the heart. But you saw the reality of the orphanage with your own eyes. That’s why your heart was moved. Do you understand what I mean, son?”

“Yes.”

He agreed with his father’s words.

But what did that have to do with this?

“But what does that have to do with this?”

“Of course it does, you rascal!”

His father thumped his chest as if he was frustrated.

“Is the welfare you’re talking about just raising kids and sending them out when they become adults? These days, parents even take care of their married children. What did you say? You said you wanted to make sure they live as well as ordinary kids, if not better. Then, of course, you have to give them the power to be independent even after they become adults.”

“…You’re right.”

“But if you don’t know about university life and life after university, how will you know what hardships those children will face?”

At that moment, Kang Jin-ho was speechless.

He had entered a prestigious university and wasn’t a stupid person. And he had some experience. But even so, Kang Jin-ho couldn’t shake the feeling that he was stupid compared to the people around him.

The people around him effortlessly pointed out things he had never even thought about.

“It’s not that you absolutely have to go to university. But it’s hard for things you haven’t experienced yourself to become living knowledge. What your father is worried about is…”

Kang Yu-hwan sighed deeply and said,

“Son.”

“Yes?”

“Even I think my son is really amazing.”

“Why are you suddenly saying that?”

“Parents should be happy when their children are outstanding. But honestly, I’m also a bit worried. Since high school, you’ve never been behind anyone. No matter what anyone asked you to do, you did it so easily.”

Kang Jin-ho quietly waited for Kang Yu-hwan’s next words.

“That’s a good thing. But if you weren’t my son and were a stranger, I wouldn’t want to work with you.”

“…Yes?”

Kang Jin-ho looked at Kang Yu-hwan with a bewildered face.

“Especially if you were doing the kind of work you’re doing now, I would never trust you. Because you probably think that most things can be overcome with individual effort. Since you did it, you’d think others can do it too. If someone is struggling, instead of empathizing with their struggle, you’d think it’s because they didn’t try hard enough. Because you could do anything if you tried.”

It felt like a knife was being twisted in his gut.

Words he had never expected.

And those words were coming from the person he least expected.

Kang Yu-hwan continued, looking at Kang Jin-ho with slightly cold eyes.

“If you really want to help someone, you need to learn how to empathize with the pain of others. You need to let go of the idea that everyone in the world can do anything if they try hard enough. Otherwise, you’ll just be a nouveau riche [a person who has recently become rich] who’s throwing money around for your own satisfaction. Do you understand what I mean?”

Kang Jin-ho’s face flushed red.

It was an expression he had never shown since returning to this world.