Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 105

“Hello?”

Cho Kyu-min tensed up at Kang Jin-ho’s voice on the other end of the line.

“Yes!”

A low, subdued voice responded.

It was a completely different voice from the one Cho Kyu-min had heard from Kang Jin-ho this morning.

However, Cho Kyu-min didn’t suspect anything or find it strange. He knew this was Kang Jin-ho’s real voice.

“Understood.”

Cho Kyu-min hung up the phone and jumped up from his seat. Then, he rushed outside and shouted,

“Investigate all the data on the Sungsim Orphanage! Right now!”

The secretary’s office was thrown into a state of emergency.

Brummm.

Cho Kyu-min drove his car towards the hospital where Kang Jin-ho was.

‘Why the sudden interest in an orphanage?’

He didn’t know why he was being asked to do this, but ‘do as you’re told’ was Cho Kyu-min’s job.

Especially since Kang Jin-ho had specifically asked for a thorough investigation, he was gathering all the information he could in a short amount of time.

As Cho Kyu-min neared the hospital, he picked up his phone and called Kang Jin-ho.

“Hello, Mr. Kang Jin-ho? I’m almost there. Where are you?”

– I’m at the main gate.

“Then I’ll head over there. Please wait a moment.”

Cho Kyu-min drove towards the main gate. He spotted Kang Jin-ho standing in front of the gate. He parked nearby, and Kang Jin-ho, recognizing his car, opened the passenger door and got in.

“What brings you to the hospital?”

“Didn’t you do the investigation?”

“Are you here because of the head nun?”

Kang Jin-ho, who had been slightly suspicious, nodded.

“Shall we head towards your place first?”

“I came by bike. Let’s talk somewhere nearby.”

“Yes. Then I’ll take you to a cafe.”

“Is there anywhere quiet?”

The cafe wasn’t particularly noisy, so he must have meant he wanted to talk privately.

“Then, would the car be okay?”

“Yes.”

“Understood.”

Cho Kyu-min drove the car to a secluded spot. It seemed like a good place to talk if he parked in a quiet area.

He found a suitable spot, parked the car, and took out the ashtray from the back seat, placing it in the cup holder.

“Would you like to smoke?”

“Go ahead. I need one too.”

It was a moment where his keen sense, honed from serving Chairman Hwang Jung-hoo for so long, shone.

When Kang Jin-ho didn’t move, Cho Kyu-min took out his own cigarette and offered it. Kang Jin-ho took the cigarette and put it in his mouth. Cho Kyu-min lit it for him and then lit one for himself.

“Why did you suddenly ask me to investigate the orphanage?”

“The head nun is sick.”

“…I see.”

“What happens after the head nun passes away?”

Cho Kyu-min scratched his head.

“Mr. Kang Jin-ho, Sungsim Orphanage is run by Sister Lee Hye-sook, but it’s not affiliated with the Catholic diocese. The nun is personally in charge as the head.”

“Yes.”

“If Sister Lee Hye-sook passes away, Sungsim Orphanage will no longer have a manager. Instead of a new nun being dispatched, it will either be managed by the state or absorbed into another orphanage.”

Kang Jin-ho exhaled a long stream of cigarette smoke.

This was exactly what Park Yu-min had worried about in the past.

“If they are absorbed into another orphanage, what happens to the children?”

“They’ll probably be scattered.”

“That can’t happen.”

Kang Jin-ho’s tone was firm.

The children at Sungsim aren’t just ordinary orphans. They all have some kind of disability. Sungsim Orphanage is a place where children with disabilities, who cannot be cared for in regular orphanages, gather.

“Isn’t there anyone who could take it over and manage it?”

“…It’s difficult.”

Cho Kyu-min spoke the truth.

“It’s not only difficult to find someone to run it, but Sungsim Orphanage is a place that requires a lot of emotional labor. It’s hard enough to hire qualified people for regular orphanages, let alone find someone to handle everything from management to caring for children with disabilities. It’s almost impossible.”

“I see.”

Kang Jin-ho put the cigarette in his mouth.

The answer wasn’t much different from what he had expected.

And confirming that fact made him realize how much the head nun had been struggling all this time.

“This is going to take a long time.”

“It’s not an easy task.”

Kang Jin-ho stubbed out his cigarette in the ashtray.

“What’s the financial situation like?”

“It’s difficult.”

“Hmm…”

“It was somewhat okay when Jae-kyung was providing support in the past, but recently, as the children have gotten older, they’ve been facing financial difficulties.”

“Did the support stop?”

Cho Kyu-min subtly adjusted his glasses.

“Jae-kyung isn’t a charity organization.”

“When Mr. Kang Jin-ho showed interest, and your friend, Mr. Park Yu-min, was affiliated with the orphanage, we considered all those factors and provided support. However, it’s difficult to continue providing support indefinitely when Mr. Park Yu-min is no longer affiliated with the orphanage. Jae-kyung is currently maintaining a tight budget and is trying to minimize expenses. In that situation, it’s hard to keep supporting an unrelated orphanage. Even larger companies than Jae-kyung just install internet lines or throw in a few laptops and then take credit for it in their ads. There were also complaints from shareholders about how much more we should be supporting.”

Kang Jin-ho nodded.

Strictly speaking, Jae-kyung and Sungsim Orphanage had no relationship. If it was about donations and social contributions, it was something to be praised, not something to be criticized for not doing.

“Even if we were to continue support, the question remains of how long we would continue it. If it’s until all the children currently at the orphanage grow up, that would require consistent support for at least fifteen years…”

Cho Kyu-min sighed and continued.

“It’s not like Sungsim isn’t taking in new children either.”

Kang Jin-ho nodded silently.

“Morally, it’s right to continue providing support, but a company isn’t a place that operates according to one person’s wishes.”

“I understand.”

No further explanation was needed.

“More importantly… I’d like to find a reliable hospital.”

“A hospital?”

“Yes. Somewhere that can handle cancer patients, the best place possible.”

“In that case, wouldn’t it be better to transfer to Jae-kyung Hospital? Compared to going to a mediocre hospital, you’d receive incomparably more benefits. You’d definitely get VIP treatment as a start.”

“Isn’t there a specialized cancer hospital?”

Cho Kyu-min sighed.

“Stage 4 stomach cancer is a stage that is impossible to overcome with modern medicine. The only way to attempt treatment is through clinical trials of new drugs that haven’t had their side effects confirmed yet. But even if we pull some strings to get into such a place, the chances of being cured are low, and the chances of suffering are high.”

“I see.”

Kang Jin-ho wasn’t really expecting much in that regard.

“I understand that part. So, for now, please just look into hospitals.”

“Yes. I’ll check that quickly and contact you. There should be a foundation hospital not too far from here.”

“Okay.”

“Is there anything else you need?”

“I need someone to look after the orphanage.”

“As I mentioned earlier…”

“No. Not to run it, but someone to take care of the kids right now. Yu-min is looking after them alone, and it seems like the people who were there before all left when the head nun collapsed.”

“Hmm, we should be able to find someone who can work shifts for a salary.”

“Please prioritize that. I’ll cover the salary, so just find the people.”

“Understood.”

Cho Kyu-min handed Kang Jin-ho a USB drive containing the data.

“Here are the data you asked for. I didn’t think it would be particularly useful, but I brought it anyway.”

“Thank you.”

Kang Jin-ho bowed his head slightly and got out of the car.

“Then.”

“Yes. Please contact me.”

As Cho Kyu-min drove away, Kang Jin-ho sighed and slowly walked towards where he had left his bike, Goldie.

Whirr, whirr, whirr!

Kang Jin-ho’s mind was a mess as he rode Goldie.

‘Why do I feel so suffocated?’

It was supposed to be a pleasant day off, but from the first day, he felt uneasy. Kang Jin-ho pedaled harder to shake off the stuffy feeling. The cool breeze made him feel a little better.

“Aaaah! What is that!”

People were in a state of panic as they saw the bicycle that had overtaken their car, which was going 60 km/h.

“I, I need to check the dashcam. What on earth was that?”

Kang Jin-ho had terrified many people, but ironically, because his bicycle was moving so fast, he had no idea what was happening behind him.

After speeding for a while, Kang Jin-ho slowed down as he approached his house and began to pedal slowly.

‘I can’t solve this alone.’

Kang Jin-ho frowned.

If it was something he could solve with force, he would have already done it, but there were too many things in the world that couldn’t be solved with force.

‘I’m powerless.’

Kang Jin-ho arrived home and put Goldie in the garage. He felt weak as he walked out.

The sun was setting in the west.

The sunset looked the same here as it did in the Central Plains, but here, he didn’t possess even a tenth of the power he had in the Central Plains.

It wasn’t just a matter of physical strength.

His position in the Central Plains was incomparable to here. Kang Jin-ho was someone who could shake the world with a single word. But here, he felt utterly powerless.

‘I can’t do anything alone.’

When he thought about it, the problems he had solved so far wouldn’t have been possible without the backing of Jae-kyung.

He might be able to vent his personal anger through violence, but it was impossible for him to exert social pressure to bring someone down.

And Kang Jin-ho had a premonition that the number of things he could solve with violence alone would gradually decrease as time went on. The more highly organized a society is, the more limited the things an individual can solve with their own power.

Kang Jin-ho didn’t go inside but stared blankly into the distance.

His goal was to live an ordinary life.

But now he could see it clearly.

Living an ordinary life meant simply enduring the rain that fell. It meant bowing to unfair pressure, not resisting fate, and accepting the blood that flowed as a given trial. That was what it meant to live an ordinary life.

But could Kang Jin-ho accept such things?

Even if powerful forces like the state or corporations oppressed his family, could he bow his head and submit in order to live an ordinary life?

‘I’m thinking too conveniently.’

Is it human nature to crave power when you have to bow down even a little, while saying you want to live an ordinary life? Or is it because Kang Jin-ho is inherently a person who pursues hegemony [leadership or dominance]?

He couldn’t find the answer now, but Kang Jin-ho knew one thing for sure.

‘This can’t go on.’

A decision that would bring about a huge change for him and the world was beginning right here, right now.