Descent Of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 1872

“The atmosphere is…”

Lee Hyun-soo glanced around.

“It’s strange.”

“Indeed.”

Kang Jin-ho and Lee Hyun-soo were sitting on a bench in front of the main building. Lee Hyun-soo, holding a coffee in one hand and looking around, scratched his cheek with interest.

“It’s like… should I say it’s chaotic, or that there’s a strange sense of excitement… ?”

“Probably both.”

Kang Jin-ho took a sip of his coffee and opened his mouth.

“The rumor that Director Bang is creating a new martial art has already spread like wildfire.”

“…There’s definitely a blabbermouth among us.”

Chun Tae-hoon wouldn’t have kept his mouth shut, so it’s safe to assume that everyone who needs to know already does.

Perhaps that’s why.

Expectation was evident on the faces of those passing by. Lee Hyun-soo could see it clearly.

“Nothing has even come out yet.”

It was amazing that just the fact that Bang Jin-hoon had started creating a new martial art could make people have such visible expectations.

“Because they’ve already seen the effect.”

“That’s true, but…”

Kang Jin-ho chuckled.

“This is a realm that neither you nor I can understand.”

“…Excuse me?”

“You’re too weak to understand, and I’m too strong to understand.”

“The result is the same, but the process is a bit infuriating, isn’t it? Are you bragging right now?”

Kang Jin-ho sighed deeply.

He couldn’t say anything in front of this guy.

“You basically don’t have the will to become stronger.”

“That’s true.”

If the only way to climb higher was through martial prowess, perhaps Lee Hyun-soo would be in the same position as them. But Lee Hyun-soo chose a different path, and he doesn’t have any particular attachment to martial prowess now.

But….

‘If I had chosen martial prowess, it might have been a little different.’

Thinking about it, it’s true.

For the ordinary martial artists of the General Assembly, who are not learning demonic arts or training under Bator or Wiggins, the martial art that Bang Jin-hoon is creating is the only way for them to become stronger.

“Are the existing Korean martial arts that crude?”

“Hmm?”

“Isn’t that the case? Director Bang isn’t the greatest master in Korean history.”

“That’s right.”

Kang Jin-ho didn’t know all the masters who had existed on the Korean peninsula, but even so, there was no way that Bang Jin-hoon was the first to break through the wall.

“But that means that before Director Bang, no one created a rising martial art that those guys could learn.”

Kang Jin-ho sighed deeply.

In terms of common sense, Kang Jin-ho couldn’t even keep up with Lee Hyun-soo. But as a counter-reaction, Lee Hyun-soo’s understanding of martial arts was too low.

‘It’s amazing.’

It was strange that a guy who boasted expert-level knowledge in almost every field was a complete novice when it came to martial arts, the most important thing in the martial world he was a part of.

Perhaps his mind, knowing that he couldn’t achieve anything through martial arts, was pushing away his interest.

“There are plenty of rising martial arts.”

“Yes?”

“There are more than you think. Much more than you think.”

Kang Jin-ho chuckled and continued.

“It’s the same in China. The rising martial arts that people talk about are not everything. There are martial arts passed down through one-person lineages and martial arts that have been forgotten and disappeared… There are countless rising martial arts.”

“Then why don’t they learn them?”

“Do you know why one-person lineages are one-person lineages?”

“Well… isn’t it to prevent leaks and to secretly pass them down?”

“There’s no way.”

Kang Jin-ho chuckled.

“Those who study put more effort into passing on their knowledge and nurturing their disciples than they do into improving their own knowledge. Isn’t that why we call those who succeed in that great people?”

“That’s right.”

“Martial artists are no different. Usually, they all want to increase the number of their disciples. The reason why they only take one disciple is very simple. It’s because they can’t take more than that.”

“Ah…”

Lee Hyun-soo nodded as if he understood.

“One of the common misconceptions is that high-level martial arts are difficult and low-level martial arts are easy. That’s only half true. It’s true that martial arts become more difficult as you go higher, but it doesn’t mean that low-level martial arts are easy.”

“You’re saying that even martial arts that produce the same power can have different levels of difficulty.”

“That’s right.”

Kang Jin-ho looked at the members passing by.

“The biggest problem with Korean martial arts is that most of the martial arts that are passed down have been developed to be suitable for a small number of people. They are difficult, each with unique characteristics, and obscure.”

Lee Hyun-soo nodded.

‘It’s inevitable.’

Korea, or rather, Joseon [the last dynasty of Korea], was a country where the oppression of martial artists was extreme. It was said that all the martial arts schools that had maintained their lineage until then went into hiding in the mountains during the Joseon Dynasty.

It wouldn’t have been easy to find, feed, raise, and teach martial arts to disciples in those deep mountains.

So, it was inevitable that they would be divided into smaller and smaller groups.

“Even if you study the same thing, if you study separately for ten years, schools will diverge. If they have developed separately for hundreds of years, it would be even more difficult to find similarities later.”

“That’s right.”

That’s why there are no rising techniques that the General Assembly’s martial artists can learn. It’s not that they don’t exist, but that they are not available. They have all developed in strange directions to perfectly pass them on to a select few.

Narrow-minded if narrow-minded, bizarre if bizarre.

“Director Bang organized that.”

“Then the basic training from last time…”

“Yes. He re-established the system there.”

Only then did Lee Hyun-soo understand what Bang Jin-hoon had done. Lee Hyun-soo, who had not learned the martial art directly and had a poor understanding of martial arts, could not feel it.

“Director Bang has done something incredibly amazing. Even if it’s not a rising martial art, he has compiled and systematized the scattered martial arts.”

“That’s right. It’s not as easy as it sounds.”

Could Kang Jin-ho have done it alone?

Well, he didn’t know.

Of course, Kang Jin-ho helped Bang Jin-hoon create the martial art at that time, but ‘helping’ and ‘leading’ are completely different concepts.

Even if you are only an 8-kyu [a low rank in the game of Go] in Go, you can give advice while watching a professional play.

But Bang Jin-hoon accomplished that difficult task. That was why Kang Jin-ho had expectations for Bang Jin-hoon.

“But the difference between basic training and rising martial arts will be extreme.”

“That’s right. That’s why we can’t guarantee success.”

Kang Jin-ho turned his head and looked at the conference room where Bang Jin-hoon was.

“But…”

“Yes?”

“Director Bang is not the same Director Bang as before. He has seen and experienced more since then, so even in terms of skill alone, the Bang Jin-hoon of that time and the Bang Jin-hoon of now cannot be compared.”

“Hmm, definitely.”

“So, we just have to wait now.”

Lee Hyun-soo looked at the members with a fresh perspective.

‘That’s what it meant.’

He could understand what the expectation in their eyes meant. If they made the wrong choice even once among the scattered martial arts and learned that it didn’t suit them, they couldn’t expect any further development.

That’s why everyone was looking forward to the new martial art that Bang Jin-hoon would create. Everyone knew what kind of martial art Bang Jin-hoon would create.

‘Living up to that expectation wouldn’t be easy.’

He was in a realm he couldn’t reach.

Bang Jin-hoon was standing alone in that realm.

His skin was extremely rough.

His body, which had not been properly hydrated, was becoming rougher day by day.

But….

Bang Jin-hoon’s eyes were even more determined than when he first entered this conference room.

“How is it?”

Chun Tae-hoon asked cautiously.

One should not speak carelessly to a martial artist who is trying to attain enlightenment. That was an unwritten rule for martial artists, even before reaching the wall [a metaphor for a breakthrough in martial arts].

Even though he knew that what Bang Jin-hoon was challenging was different from ordinary enlightenment, realization, or the wall, he couldn’t help but be cautious.

“Almost… it seems almost done.”

Bang Jin-hoon looked at the secret manual in his hand.

No. This couldn’t be called a secret manual.

Just as a perfectly drawn dragon cannot become a dragon if its eyes are not drawn last, if he could not add his final enlightenment to the paper on which the operation of this martial art was written, it would be nothing more than a piece of paper.

Bang Jin-hoon’s eyes chased the air.

‘What is it?’

Ascension doesn’t simply mean high.

If low-level martial arts guarantee that you will become stronger simply by training your body and repeating the training, then rising martial arts must go beyond that and present a milestone.

It must be a true rising martial art that allows you to train not only your body but also your will and mind.

But….

‘Where should I go?’

He was standing in a field.

An endless field with no mountains in sight, like the Mongolian steppe.

The field was so free that he could move his feet anywhere and go anywhere.

He could go towards the rising sun, or he could go towards the setting sun.

He could go north to escape the cold, or he could go south to chase the warmth.

No. It wasn’t just that.

The directions in which a human can take a step are truly infinite.

He had to put a point on the direction he thought of among those infinite possibilities. But no matter how much he pondered, he couldn’t figure out which way was the right way to go.

Koan [a paradoxical anecdote or riddle used in Zen Buddhism to demonstrate the inadequacy of logical reasoning].

Yes, this was a koan.

A koan is about finding something that doesn’t exist. Isn’t that what a clue is in the first place?

It wasn’t difficult to put a dot.

But when he thought that the fate of at least thousands of General Assembly members and even the future of the General Assembly might depend on that one dot, he couldn’t bring himself to do it.

‘Is this right?’

Bang Jin-hoon looked at the book in his hand with suspicious eyes.

Was this right?

He thought that all he had to do was put a dot, but was it actually wrong from the beginning? Maybe the martial art he was creating now would become the seed that would destroy the General Assembly?

Was it even possible for him, at his level, to create a martial art that would lead others to ascension?

Wouldn’t it be better to return everything to square one and follow the ways of the ancients?

Who was he?

What was so great about him?

“Master!”

“Huh?”

Bang Jin-hoon flinched and turned his head.

“…You need to come to your senses, Master.”

At Chun Tae-hoon’s words, Bang Jin-hoon turned his head. His face was reflected in the mirror in the distance. His skin was rough, and his eyes were bloodshot, making him look terrible.

“…Is this a demonic obstacle?”

He had lost himself for a moment.

To be able to go anywhere meant that he couldn’t go anywhere. He was lost now.

“Master.”

Bang Jin-hoon turned his head and looked at Chun Tae-hoon.

“Do as you wish.”

“…What are you talking about?”

“No one will blame you, Master. If you send us to hell, everyone will walk into hell, saying that it can’t be helped.”

“The one who leads the General Assembly is the Assembly Head, but the one we believe in is you, Master. Don’t forget that.”

Bang Jin-hoon chuckled.

“…You’re such a suck-up, you little brat.”

“I mean it.”