Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 1585

“It feels a bit awkward to say ‘nice to see you again,’ Chairman.”

Kang Jin-ho nodded lightly as Reggie Mercer approached him.

“It feels awkward to say ‘it’s been a while’ too.”

“Indeed.”

Kang Jin-ho took the hand Reggie Mercer offered.

“It seems your appointment went well.”

“How could it not when you, Chairman, nominated me? I’m just grateful that you saw me in a good light, even though I haven’t shown you my best.”

“It couldn’t have been easy to leave your original division for another, could it?”

Reggie Mercer was originally the commander of the 15th Armored Division.

While it’s not uncommon for division commanders to change posts, it was unusual for an armored division commander to suddenly come to a place like this.

“Of course, it wasn’t easy.”

Reggie Mercer gave a subtle smile.

“Wouldn’t everyone want to engage in something more interesting?”

Kang Jin-ho nodded.

In his judgment, Reggie Mercer was a true soldier. To be precise, he didn’t have the ability to judge what kind of person Reggie Mercer was as a soldier, but he could judge what kind of person Reggie Mercer was as a warrior.

Reggie Mercer was someone who passed Kang Jin-ho’s standards.

“Has everyone arrived?”

“Yes. More than half of the SOBs have arrived.”

“Half?”

“Yes. We excluded those who didn’t particularly want to come to Korea for training and those with poor basic scores. We plan to adjust the dispatch cycle and rotate them depending on the training situation.”

Kang Jin-ho nodded.

‘It’s similar to the Japanese side.’

Although the countries and cultures were different, it seemed that people thought similarly.

Lee Hyun-soo looked around and clicked his tongue.

“They’re really living in tents.”

“It’s not that much more uncomfortable than the barracks over there.”

“Huh?”

“Haha, would you like to take a look?”

Lee Hyun-soo tilted his head and followed Reggie Mercer, who was walking ahead. When Lee Hyun-soo arrived at the area where the military tents were densely packed, his eyes widened.

“Wow, how is it so big?”

It was at least twice the size of the military tents he had imagined. It looked like fifty people could be crammed into this space….

“How many people use this?”

“One squad uses it. Eight people.”

“What?”

Eight people?

If it were the Korean army, they would have crammed fifty people in here, but eight people were using this large tent?

“Wh-what is that?”

Lee Hyun-soo pointed to a large machine attached to the side of the tent.

“It’s a temperature control device.”

“…What is that?”

“Simply put, it’s a heater and air conditioner.”

“A, a heater and cooler? You’re saying there’s something like that attached to a tent?”

Reggie Mercer looked at Lee Hyun-soo with a puzzled expression.

“To receive proper training, you need to get enough rest. So, isn’t it natural to maintain a comfortable state during rest?”

Yes. Of course, it is.

The Korean army should learn that obvious fact.

Kang Jin-ho glanced at Lee Hyun-soo and said,

“The Korean army uses air conditioning too.”

Of course, they do.

But that’s not in a tent.

“It’s just that there aren’t many opportunities to rest in those air-conditioned barracks.”

Either way, it was a sad situation.

“Now, let’s take a look inside.”

Reggie Mercer lifted the tent flap and went inside. Lee Hyun-soo and Kang Jin-ho followed him.

“Wow!”

Floor material that was almost like a carpet, bunk beds, and steel cabinets came into view. The moment he saw the large TV on the table at the end of the tent, a sigh and a gasp escaped his lips at the same time.

“…It’s better than the barracks.”

“Indeed.”

At this moment, even Kang Jin-ho couldn’t help but be impressed.

As expected, America is America.

“We are doing our best to take care of the soldiers. So, they won’t suffer from uncomfortable sleeping conditions and fail to receive proper training.”

Why did he bring us all the way here to show us this….

Lee Hyun-soo looked at Reggie Mercer with a renewed gaze.

‘So, he’s telling us not to worry and just push them hard.’

It seemed like everything in the world revolved around training for him.

Kang Jin-ho nodded.

“What about the trainees?”

“They are assembled in the central parade ground.”

“Isn’t there a separate auditorium or something?”

Reggie Mercer scratched his head.

“We are building one, but it’s not easy to accommodate this many people at once and train them inside. It will probably take another couple of months to complete the construction.”

“Until then, we’ll have to train outdoors. You don’t have to worry too much. First of all, access is prohibited to civilians and even the Korean army around here, and civilian aircraft cannot fly over the area. And we are using jamming signals to deal with satellite photography to a certain extent.”

“…No, I’m not worried about training in the rain and dust.”

Jamming signals, what?

Blocking satellites?

What is he talking about?

Reggie Mercer gave an awkward laugh at Kang Jin-ho’s words.

“You don’t have to worry about that. They are soldiers. They shouldn’t mind such things since they have to fight in bad weather. Chairman, you just focus on training them. I’ll take care of everything else.”

Kang Jin-ho nodded. For now, his attitude was satisfactory.

Of course, Reggie Mercer’s attitude might not represent the trainees’ mindset, but if the commander is mentally sound, the trainees will follow suit.

“Let’s go.”

“Yes!”

Watching Reggie Mercer walk ahead, Lee Hyun-soo whispered softly.

“He’s unique.”

“What do you mean?”

“I just thought it was normal during the battle, but since earlier, that person has been guiding us directly without any aides.”

“So?”

“He’s a division commander, you know?”

At that moment, Kang Jin-ho’s mind glitched.

The division commander he had experienced in the military and the division commander walking in front of him right now didn’t match up.

“They say that in the US military, division commanders eat with soldiers and joke around, and it seems that’s true.”

“Surely… that’s just an urban legend.”

“No, I heard it’s really like that.”

Kang Jin-ho looked at Reggie Mercer’s back with a renewed gaze.

‘Is it a cultural difference?’

He couldn’t say for sure since he hadn’t experienced it, but what was certain was that the most easygoing division commander he had ever encountered was walking in front of him right now.

“Ah, and Chairman.”

“Hmm?”

“I have a personal request, but could you possibly send someone to explain the general concept of martial arts?”

“For the soldiers’ training?”

“No. I need to learn it.”

“…Huh?”

Reggie Mercer slowed his pace slightly and stood next to Kang Jin-ho. Then, he continued speaking casually.

“I’m the commander leading the SOBs, but if I don’t understand martial arts, I can’t create effective strategies to utilize them. Right now, it’s nominally a training unit, but when a real battle breaks out, it’s a unit that will be immediately deployed….”

“Hmm, I understand what you mean.”

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

‘I chose well.’

He knew exactly what he needed to do. If there was someone like this, it would make things easier for Kang Jin-ho.

“Is it possible?”

“It’s not that difficult. I happen to have the right person.”

Lee Hyun-soo peeked his head out.

“Director Bang?”

“…He’s not good enough in English.”

“Ah, that’s a fatal flaw.”

Lee Hyun-soo clicked his tongue.

English was one thing, but their martial arts were different from general Eastern martial arts. It would be better to send someone who was well-versed in Western martial arts.

Then….

“We’ll have to get Master to come.”

“That’s right.”

There was no one but Wiggins.

“Wiggins doesn’t have to come every time. The Chevaliers [Knights] can come in rotation.”

“I was wondering how to use them since I heard that Commander Vincent and Deputy Commander Mathieu have been bored lately… This is perfect.”

“Shouldn’t they be in charge of the additional members coming from the Round Table?”

“They don’t have anything to do while the coordination is ongoing. It wouldn’t be bad to send them here as instructors. Of course, if they are willing to do so.”

Kang Jin-ho nodded.

It wasn’t a bad idea. They must have been itching to do something since they were only living at the General Assembly.

While they were talking, the large parade ground came into view.

“Oh.”

Lee Hyun-soo’s eyes widened slightly.

The large parade ground was filled with soldiers in military uniforms. The sight of an enormous number of soldiers lined up in perfect formation was a spectacle in itself.

Even Lee Hyun-soo felt slightly overwhelmed by the energy.

“Good.”

The corners of Kang Jin-ho’s mouth curled up.

It seemed that the effect of crushing them directly in Nevada was working. Moreover, they must have heard that Kang Jin-ho had destroyed the 15th Armored Division, so they would evaluate Kang Jin-ho even more highly.

‘They are also warriors.’

There was room to consider whether their essence was that of soldiers or warriors, but if they had even a little bit of the warrior’s attribute, they would naturally have the desire to become stronger.

That desire was clearly felt now.

“Unit! Attention!”

At Reggie Mercer’s command, the soldiers who had been standing motionless straightened their backs even more.

“Salute the instructor!”

The soldiers’ hands rose in unison and touched their foreheads. Kang Jin-ho chuckled at the sight.

“I’m not a soldier, so I’d like you to skip this in the future.”

“I will keep that in mind.”

Kang Jin-ho walked up to the podium and looked at the lined-up soldiers before opening his mouth.

“You’ve worked hard to come all the way here. It must have been a difficult decision.”

The soldiers’ gazes all turned to Kang Jin-ho at his fluent English.

“The only way to repay your efforts is to make you stronger.”

Kang Jin-ho’s gaze shifted slightly backward.

Lee Hyun-soo was also looking in the same direction as Kang Jin-ho.

Several cameras could be seen behind him. There were probably cameras placed all around.

The intention was to analyze how Kang Jin-ho was training them.

The corners of Kang Jin-ho’s mouth curled up slightly.

‘If you could understand just by watching, I wouldn’t be going through all this trouble.’

Kang Jin-ho cleared his throat and continued.

“There’s no need for unnecessary words. Let’s get straight into training.”

“Yes!”

A loud voice erupted, and Kang Jin-ho nodded.

“Let’s keep it simple. Shall we start with your physical fitness?”

Kang Jin-ho pointed to one spot.

“Start from there. Let’s start with 100 laps around the parade ground.”

A hint of disappointment appeared in the soldiers’ eyes.

‘Are they underestimating us too much?’

‘100 laps? How is that going to be training?’

For those who had come all the way to the distant land of the East with the sole desire to become stronger, this level of training felt like flat beer. That was until one more sentence was added.

“First place gets a pass.”

“Second place and onwards, another 100 laps.”

“Run.”

While everyone was dumbfounded, a few who grasped the situation let out a scream and started running towards the starting point. Then, those who were quick-witted quickly followed them.

Kang Jin-ho tilted his head a couple of times as he watched the scene.

“Korean-style training is the best.”

They would soon find out.