Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 1709

“Open it.”

The person blocking the door couldn’t hide their bewilderment.

“Director, inside…”

“I know, just open it.”

“But, you were told not to let anyone in…”

“Is this guy serious?”

Bang Jin-hoon’s eyes widened. The guard flinched and lowered his head.

“Who gave that order?”

“…The chief secretary.”

“Since when did the chief secretary of the General Assembly outrank a director? Who’s stopping whom?”

“…I’m sorry.”

Bang Jin-hoon glared at the guard with a flushed face before letting out a deep sigh.

“Look, I know your position is difficult. But do you think I’d let you get hurt? I’ll handle it, so don’t worry and open the door.”

“…Yes.”

The guard stepped aside and opened the door.

Bang Jin-hoon’s lips tightened slightly as he watched the scene.

‘What a mess.’

It was resolved well in the end, but judging by that guy’s attitude, it’s clear he prioritizes Lee Hyun-soo’s orders over his own. And since that guy isn’t directly under Lee Hyun-soo, the overall tendency of the General Assembly must be similar.

In other words, Lee Hyun-soo was slowly starting to exert influence as a de facto second-in-command of the General Assembly, not just in name.

‘This is subtly annoying.’

It wasn’t that he was annoyed that Lee Hyun-soo was being evaluated above him. He had long since discarded such feelings. Even if Lee Hyun-soo was a naturalized mercenary from the Yeongnam Association, the General Assembly had to accept such people to expand further.

Bang Jin-hoon wasn’t that narrow-minded.

What bothered him now was the feeling that the General Assembly’s hierarchy was distorted.

‘I need to sort things out.’

That was important, but it wasn’t the time to worry about such things.

Bang Jin-hoon strode towards the lower floor. Reaching the lowest level, he frowned at the two people loitering in the hallway.

“What are you doing, you bastards?”

“D-Director.”

The two men, startled by Bang Jin-hoon’s appearance, bowed their heads.

“Why are you guys hanging around here when you’re supposed to be guarding the door?”

“Well, that’s…”

The two men exchanged glances, unable to speak.

Then.

“Ah… Aaaaaaaah! Aaaah! Aah!”

A desperate scream, indescribable in words, echoed from inside the room.

Bang Jin-hoon’s eyes narrowed.

“I’m sorry. It was too much to listen to from right in front…”

“Damn it.”

Come to think of it, both men looked pale. One of them had a trembling jaw, clearly terrified.

‘This is…’

They were martial artists.

They must have seen countless deaths. Moreover, there was no way they would assign weak-hearted people to guard a place like this.

‘How horrible must it have been for them to be this terrified?’

Bang Jin-hoon sighed and gestured.

“Get out of here.”

“…Is that alright?”

“If you two are more confident in guarding this place than I am alone, then stay.”

“We’ll go upstairs.”

“Go.”

The two men quickly bowed and ran towards the stairs.

Bang Jin-hoon watched them, sighing deeply, then approached the door with an annoyed expression.

He abruptly threw the door open.

Whoosh.

Bang Jin-hoon’s face contorted.

The thick smell of blood assaulted his nostrils.

“You crazy bastard.”

The scene inside the room came into view. In the blood-soaked room, a person whose wounds were so extensive that it was impossible to tell where they began and ended was gasping for breath. Lee Hyun-soo stood beside him, a short dagger in his hand, tilting his head.

“Say it again.”

“…S-sixth time.”

Though the voice was barely audible, Lee Hyun-soo didn’t even blink.

“I know, I know. It’s the seventh time, not the sixth. That’s why I’m telling you to say it again. I need to check if there’s anything different from what you said before. Say it again. It’s the same this time too. If there’s a different part, you’ll be punished. And even if there’s no added content, you’ll still be punished.”

At the word ‘punishment,’ the blood-soaked figure’s entire body began to convulse.

Bang Jin-hoon, unable to bear the sight, yelled.

“Stop it, you bastard!”

“…Huh?”

Only then did Lee Hyun-soo notice Bang Jin-hoon’s presence, turning his head sharply.

“Oh, my.”

Lee Hyun-soo quickly shoved the dagger into his pocket and stood up with an awkward expression, scratching the back of his head.

“Did you arrive?”

Bang Jin-hoon looked at Lee Hyun-soo with a disgusted expression.

He would have felt better if Lee Hyun-soo had told him to get lost with a murderous look on his face. But now, Lee Hyun-soo was no different from his usual self.

It was as if he had just gotten up from eating a meal to greet someone.

That fact made Bang Jin-hoon feel disgusted.

“What the hell… Is this a torture chamber, you bastard?”

“…I showed you something you shouldn’t have seen. You should have said something before coming in. Then I would have at least cleaned up a bit.”

“Is this the time to talk about cleaning, you crazy bastard?”

Bang Jin-hoon closed his eyes tightly as he saw Wang Yan-hong writhing on the floor.

He was also a martial artist.

People only remembered him opposing Lee Joong-gul as a director, but they didn’t pay attention to what he had done to get to that position.

To overcome Lee Joong-gul’s checks and become the youngest director of the General Assembly, he had done everything imaginable.

Even for Bang Jin-hoon, the scene before him was too disgusting to bear. He wondered what was going on inside Lee Hyun-soo’s head.

It was a fresh reminder.

Why Lee Hyun-soo was called the devil of the Yeongnam Association.

Who was the most vicious and terrible person in this industry before Kang Jin-ho appeared.

He heard Wang Yan-hong muttering something in Chinese. He couldn’t understand what he was saying, but he could make out the meaning of ‘I’m sorry’ that came up from time to time.

“…He’s asking to be saved.”

“Ah, no. That guy is now, well…”

Lee Hyun-soo made an embarrassed expression.

“He’s saying he’ll tell me everything, so please stop killing him?”

Bang Jin-hoon opened his mouth as if to say something, but in the end, he just sighed.

“Just do it moderately.”

Bang Jin-hoon looked straight at Lee Hyun-soo and said,

“I don’t want to interfere with your methods. And I can’t say I’ve lived a clean life either. But damn it, there’s a limit to everything.”

“They were the ones who crossed the line first.”

“So, what’s the difference if you become the same as them?”

Bang Jin-hoon’s face flushed slightly. But he shook his head.

“Is there anything more to extract?”

“I’m checking. Accuracy is important for information.”

“…Does he look like he’s in his right mind? It seems like he doesn’t even know what he’s saying?”

“That’s why it can be more accurate.”

Bang Jin-hoon took out a cigarette. He rarely took out a cigarette himself, but now he was craving one so badly that he couldn’t resist.

“Here.”

“I’m okay…”

“Smoke it, you bastard!”

“Yes, I will.”

Lee Hyun-soo took the cigarette Bang Jin-hoon offered and put it in his mouth. Bang Jin-hoon personally lit Lee Hyun-soo’s cigarette.

As Lee Hyun-soo slowly began to inhale, Bang Jin-hoon said with a pitiful expression.

“Frankly, what does it matter to me what happens to that guy? But damn it, at least do it where there are no eyes watching. What the higher-ups do, the lower ones learn from. Why do you have to do this when the kids are clearly outside?”

“…This isn’t the time to worry about such things.”

“Just do it moderately.”

Bang Jin-hoon scratched his head.

“I know. I know that what I’m saying sounds like a bunch of comfortable nonsense to you. If we clash with the Changwang bastards and lose, we’ll all die. So, what does it matter what means or methods we use?”

“But what are you going to do after surviving like that? Are you going to say, ‘I survived like an animal, so now I’ll live like a beast’? Sometimes the means negate the results.”

Bang Jin-hoon leaned against the wall and laughed hollowly.

“I can’t believe I’m saying this to someone else. Usually, others would try to stop me.”

“That’s what getting older is like.”

“Don’t talk nonsense. It’s because you’re several times crazier than me.”

Bang Jin-hoon pointed his chin at Wang Yan-hong.

“Stop it and either treat him or kill him.”

“…There’s still a bit left.”

“I said, do one or the other.”

Bang Jin-hoon glared at Lee Hyun-soo with a slightly heated face.

Then, Lee Hyun-soo nodded more readily than expected.

“Alright. Then I’ll treat him.”

“…You’re not going to kill him?”

“That guy is asking to be killed. So, I shouldn’t kill him. Who would benefit from that?”

Bang Jin-hoon looked at Lee Hyun-soo with an expression that said, ‘What kind of guy is this?’ But Lee Hyun-soo remained calm even under Bang Jin-hoon’s gaze.

“Lee Hyun-soo.”

“Yes?”

“…Don’t go too extreme. There’s no point if you become a monster to catch a monster. I’ve seen so many guys who became monsters like that.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

Bang Jin-hoon shook his head at the too-simple answer.

‘It’s like casting pearls before swine.’

The answer is good, you bastard.

But what he’s saying probably isn’t registering in Lee Hyun-soo’s head at all.

“Clean up. I said it.”

“Don’t worry. Do you think I would go against your words?”

“Haa…”

Bang Jin-hoon shook his head.

He briefly considered sending Lee Hyun-soo out and cleaning up himself, but in the end, he took the first step.

“Come to my office when you come up.”

“After I take a shower.”

“Do as you please.”

As Bang Jin-hoon left the room, Lee Hyun-soo took a deep drag of the cigarette in his mouth and looked at Wang Yan-hong.

“That’s why I like martial artists.”

Lee Hyun-soo smiled.

“A normal person would have died a hundred times over, but you’re still alive and kicking. Right?”

Lee Hyun-soo went right in front of Wang Yan-hong and squatted down.

“Director is right. I made a mistake. I almost killed you.”

He tapped Wang Yan-hong’s cheek with his finger.

“Don’t worry. I’ll treat you. After the treatment, when you come back to your senses, let’s start again. That will be the eighth time, so remember it well.”

Wang Yan-hong’s body began to tremble.

Tears mixed with blood flowed down his face, which was completely soaked in blood.

In the time that felt longer than two thousand years, he had learned one thing for sure. Changwang’s abilities might be a hundred times greater than Lee Hyun-soo’s.

But no matter how powerful Changwang was, he could never be more cruel than this devil.

“Then get your treatment. Don’t worry. The General Assembly’s medical staff is very skilled. They’ll fix you up nicely.”

Lee Hyun-soo smiled brightly and stood up.

“I won’t charge you for the laundry, so don’t worry. I’m a clean person in this regard…”

Splash.

Stepping into a puddle of blood on the floor, Lee Hyun-soo left the room. With a blank face, Lee Hyun-soo raised his hand and wiped the blood from his face.

‘Don’t become a monster?’

That’s a funny thing to say. A really funny thing to say.

“That’s something you should have said at least a year ago, Director.”

It’s too late.

It’s way too late.

Lee Hyun-soo wiped his face again, nervously.