Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 775

“What’s gotten into him?”Baek Hyun-jung looked at her son’s room with a slightly puzzled expression.Since returning from China, her son had been a bit down. The reason why Baek Hyun-jung had been nagging him more and trying to spend more time talking with him was largely due to this.But today, her son seemed a little different.He had been humming throughout his shower, and even as he went into his room after showering, he was still humming.‘He rarely does that.’Anyway, since her son seemed to be in a good mood, Baek Hyun-jung’s mood also improved.The door to his room opened, and Kang Jin-ho, dressed and ready, came out.“Are you going somewhere again this morning?”“Yes.”“Are you going to eat before you go?”“I’m planning to.”“Okay. The soup just needs to boil, so sit down for a bit.”“Yes.”As Kang Jin-ho sat at the table, Kang Eun-young opened her door and came out.“Haaah.”Kang Eun-young, who stretched widely, saw Kang Jin-ho sitting at the table and curled up the corners of her mouth.“Oppa, are you going out again?”“Yeah.”“When are you planning to come back today?”“That’s none of your concern.”“Huh?”Kang Jin-ho’s calm retort made Kang Eun-young flinch. She then turned her gaze to Baek Hyun-jung for backup, but Baek Hyun-jung ignored Kang Eun-young’s gaze and headed to the kitchen.‘Oh, this isn’t good?’“More importantly… you, come sit here.”“…Huh?”“Just sit.”Something was wrong.Kang Eun-young, realizing that the situation was turning strange, tried to make a run for it, but there was nowhere for her to escape within the house.“Here.”As Kang Jin-ho pointed to the chair across the table, Kang Eun-young sat down with a face like a cow being led to the slaughterhouse.Kang Eun-young, who had put both legs on the chair and wrapped her arms around her knees, looked up with innocent, teary eyes, but Kang Jin-ho’s steel-like heart cleanly filtered out her tricks.“You’re preparing an album?”“Yes.”“So, you don’t have much of a schedule these days?”“Yes. The event season is over, so I’m resting to recharge.”“Recharge?”Kang Jin-ho tilted his head slightly.“There are times when people need to recharge. I acknowledge that.”“Y-yes, of course.”“But I don’t think that’s the case for you.”Kang Jin-ho narrowed his brows.“Recharging means replenishing what’s been depleted. And further, learning what you lack to move forward is also part of recharging. Since when did lying at home and inhaling snacks become recharging?”“I wasn’t just doing nothing…”“Really?”“…Yes. I was just completely slacking off.”Kang Eun-young confessed with both hands and feet up, and Kang Jin-ho took her circumstances into consideration.“I understand you want to rest. But given the nature of your job, how you spend your twenties is important, right?”“Yes.”“Think back to the mindset you had when you first started down this path. What would that version of you say to the current you?”Kang Eun-young seemed to think for a moment before answering.“You’re a pig who thinks she’s hot stuff just because she got a little famous.”How harsh.I believed our Eun-young was kind and innocent back then….All the remaining illusions about his younger sister shattered and fell to the floor.“Ahem!”Kang Jin-ho cleared his throat and continued.“Anyway, it seems like you’ve rested enough, so start practicing now. You don’t need a song to practice, right?”“Yes, yes. I will.”Kang Eun-young sighed deeply.She had come out to attack, but before she could even try anything, she was hit with a barrage of blows. Kang Eun-young’s heart was in tatters.So, she had no choice but to aim for a counterattack.“Where are you going this morning, Oppa?”“That’s none of your business.”“Come on, I’m your sister…”Kang Jin-ho looked at Kang Eun-young with unwavering eyes and said,“Don’t worry. I’m not going out to goof off like you.”The attempt at a counterattack was easily repelled. Baek Hyun-jung, seeing Kang Eun-young curled up in a corner, brought over the soup with a smile.“Yeah. You were a bit much.”“Mom!”“Let’s be honest, you’re just goofing off too much. I kept my mouth shut because I thought you’d handle it yourself, but you’ve been slacking off too much. Lately, your belly seems to be getting bigger too?”“Oh…”Kang Eun-young covered her belly with both hands.“It’s the law of nature, Mom.”“I like it. It’s much better than seeing my daughter all dried up like a skeleton. But I don’t know if it’s good for you.”“Just say you don’t like it.”At that moment, their father opened the door and walked to the table.“It’s quite lively this morning, isn’t it?”“Did you sleep well?”“Yes, son. It seems like it’s hard to see your face these days?”“I have a lot to do.”“Is that so?”Kang Yu-hwan sat quietly in front of Kang Jin-ho and opened his mouth.“It must be something worthwhile, right?”“Yes.”“Then that’s good enough.”Kang Eun-young’s cheeks puffed up.But she was afraid of what Kang Jin-ho might say if she tried to interrupt here.“It’s good to work hard at anything. Of course, I’m a bit upset because you don’t come to the cafe often, and our sales are down…”“Why is that his fault? It’s because the owner is incompetent!”Her father whispered quietly.“This is why I’m scared, this is why.”Kang Jin-ho could only laugh.“I believe you’re doing everything well. I won’t ask what you’re doing, so work hard.”“Yes, Father.”“Let’s eat.”Kang Jin-ho picked up his spoon.It felt like it had been a long time since he had eaten a comfortable meal.The feeling of accelerating as much as he stepped on the gas pedal.It had also been quite a while since he had felt this sensation. Hadn’t he been taking the joy he felt when he first drove his ‘Boong Boong’ for granted recently?‘People become dull.’Things that were once considered precious become taken for granted at some point. That’s why it’s difficult for people to maintain their initial enthusiasm.If you keep eating delicious food, you get tired of it, and if you keep doing enjoyable things, you get bored. No matter how firm your goals and direction are, constantly reminding yourself of that fact and steadily moving forward is bound to be difficult.That’s why it’s necessary to have a process of refocusing from time to time.Kang Jin-ho engraved that fact in his heart and stepped on the accelerator.Booooooom!The moment the engine sound increased! “Ah, shoot…”Kang Jin-ho quietly took his foot off the accelerator.It was very important to prioritize the speed limit. Didn’t his mother go ballistic when a speeding ticket flew home because he had stepped on it without thinking?She had threatened to sell that car to a toy store if he sped again without thinking.Of course, all of that was because of a parent’s deep concern that their child might get into an accident while speeding in the car….‘A toy store….’If Boong Boong could hear that, it would shed tears of blood. To sell this car, which an Italian artisan had painstakingly made, to a toy store. Well, it does look like a toy, though.Kang Jin-ho carefully drove his car, adhering to the speed limit, and entered the mountain leading to the General Assembly.Booooom.Boong Boong didn’t head straight to the General Assembly but turned onto a side road. After going a little further into the mountain, he saw compacted earth and steel walls blocking it. Kang Jin-ho stopped at the entrance and got out of the car.As he walked a little further inside, site manager Park Sang-cheol, who had spotted him, rushed over.“You’ve arrived!”Kang Jin-ho narrowed his brows slightly.‘He’s spouting nonsense again.’Whatever Jo Gyu-min had done, Park Sang-cheol’s attitude towards Kang Jin-ho was completely different from before.“Are there any problems?”“No, there are no problems! Everything is progressing smoothly according to the plan.”“What about manpower? Do you need more?”“No.”Park Sang-cheol shook his head.“It’s not just about having a lot of people. If there are too many, it’s hard to manage, and the work paths overlap. We’re doing the work with the most optimal distribution of manpower, so please trust us!”He liked the words ‘please trust us.’“Are they doing their jobs well?”“Yes. Everyone is very strong. Not only are they strong, but there are also many people who have learned skills, so we have enough skilled workers.”Kang Jin-ho nodded.China was more of a construction boom than Korea. Even though they were specialists in cleanup, such jobs weren’t always available, and they often ended up working in the labor market. The skills they had honed there were being put to use here.However…“What’s the estimated completion date?”“We’re working day and night, but it will still take about half a year.”“Half a year?”“Yes.”Kang Jin-ho scratched his eye and said,“Can’t you speed it up?”Park Sang-cheol sighed.“This is already the fastest we can do it. There are too many units. If it were a thousand-unit high-rise apartment, it wouldn’t take this long, but we can’t build high on this land.”“I see.”“And it’s not like it’s over once people move in. If that many people live here, it’s already a village. Just fixing the roads and laying the water pipes is a big job…”Kang Jin-ho nodded.“I guess so.”“Thank you for understanding.”“I understand, but that doesn’t mean we can keep using this manpower here. We’ll probably need to find other manpower within a month or two.”“If you give us that much time, we can replace the manpower.”“Yes, then.”Kang Jin-ho turned his body, looking at the miners carrying materials.‘It’s a waste of high-level manpower to use them here.’There was no more hesitation. If his strength was lacking, then others had to grow as much as he was lacking. And the miners were the ones who had to play the most important role in the growth he envisioned.Kang Jin-ho, who got back into Boong Boong and headed to the General Assembly, was thinking fast.‘There isn’t much time.’They had bought time by making an agreement, but that agreement was just a piece of paper. Kang Jin-ho knew very well how many agreements had been ignored out of necessity.What they had to trust was not the period and signature written on the agreement, but power.If their power was strong, those guys wouldn’t dare to invade this place.‘It can’t be like this.’It wasn’t enough for him to just go ahead and have the right people follow him. Now, Kang Jin-ho had to learn how to forcibly drag along those who were falling behind.It was unfortunate for the miners that they had to be the test subjects for that learning.Kang Jin-ho, who had various thoughts in his head, parked his car in the General Assembly’s yard and went up to the building. Kang Jin-ho, who had gone up to the Assembly Head’s office, stopped in his tracks.‘What is it?’It felt like something was bustling. It was common for the Assembly Head’s office to be bustling recently, but today, there seemed to be even more people.Kang Jin-ho, who opened the door without hesitation and looked inside, curled up the corners of his mouth.“You’ve arrived?”“Yes! I’ve arrived, Assembly Head.”Lee Myung-hwan and the others were smiling at him.