Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 1157

The atmosphere shifted.

Even though nothing had changed from yesterday, the air felt heavy, pressing down on them.

Seong Ju-chan swallowed nervously, looking around. The training hall’s atmosphere was so tense that no one dared to speak.

‘This must be what they mean by the calm before the storm.’

‘War, huh?’

The very thought sent shivers down his spine.

For those living on the Korean Peninsula, the word ‘war’ was quite familiar. Wasn’t it the reality for the people of this country to live with the constant possibility of war breaking out at any moment?

But conversely, because the word ‘war’ was so common, it was also true that they didn’t really grasp its reality.

But now, it was war.

Hearing that a full-scale war could break out as early as tomorrow, the reality slowly began to sink in.

“Is it really going to be war?” Kim Won-hyeok asked, his face tense as he turned to him.

“…The Director said so.”

“War…”

Seong Ju-chan muttered, his face slightly blank.

They were martial artists. Martial artists were inherently a group accustomed to fighting. But in reality, for Seong Ju-chan, the words ‘fight’ or ‘war’ were quite unfamiliar.

It was true that the Assembly had a long-standing conflict with the Yeongnam Association, but they had never engaged in a war where they killed each other. At most, it was a war of nerves, or small localized battles when they clashed on missions.

Especially for martial artists like Seong Ju-chan and Kim Won-hyeok, who didn’t particularly stand out, they weren’t assigned tasks that would lead to conflicts with other martial artists. They had only ever done missions that involved dealing with relatively easy ordinary people.

‘Real combat…’

His heart pounded.

Of course, it wasn’t that he had no experience fighting martial artists. But this was different.

Even those who had sparred countless times while learning boxing would tense up so much that they couldn’t perform even half of their skills when they went into a match. And that was even when they weren’t fighting for their lives.

But Seong Ju-chan now had to be thrown into a battlefield where they would kill and be killed. Just the thought of having an enemy in front of him made his heart race.

“Damn it, those Jap bastards.”

His resentment turned towards Japan.

“The more I think about it, the more pissed off I get. Those damn bastards. If they had any conscience at all, would they dare to set foot on Korean soil again?”

“When have those bastards ever had a conscience? They’re the kind of bastards who don’t even apologize.”

“We should kill them all.”

Seong Ju-chan gritted his teeth.

In fact, Seong Ju-chan didn’t have any particular ill feelings towards Japan normally.

But now that he was in a situation where he had to fight Japan directly, the ill feelings he didn’t have before were growing rapidly.

“We won’t lose, right?”

“Are you talking nonsense?” Kim Won-hyeok’s face showed annoyance.

These were the kind of words that should never be said before a war. Words that would undermine morale.

“But it’s true, isn’t it? Not too long ago, how could we have dared to wage war against Japan?”

“It’s not ‘not too long ago’ anymore, you idiot.”

“That’s true, but…”

Seong Ju-chan knew it too.

The Assembly of a year ago was incomparable to the Assembly of today. The Assembly had become that much stronger and more developed.

But people’s perceptions don’t change that easily.

For most of the time they had lived as martial artists, they had never even considered the possibility of going up against Japan. Instead, they had only heard about how strong the martial artists of Japan and China were.

They had never once thought about going to war with Japan or China.

How could they even think about war when they were no match for them?

“We won once before, though.”

“What did we do then? We just clapped here.”

“Hey, you bastard. Were the people who went out from the Assembly back then mercenaries? They were all Assembly people, weren’t they? If they can do it, why can’t we?”

“It’s easier said than done.”

Seong Ju-chan grumbled without realizing it.

The Assembly had already fought a war with China once, and also with Japan.

They had even gone on an expedition to Europe.

There had been three conflicts in that short period of time. Of course, this was excluding the wars that had taken place within Korea.

‘When you think about it, they’ve been causing a lot of trouble.’

The problem was that even though they had always won those wars, ordinary martial artists like Seong Ju-chan had not been involved in those victories.

Just because a professional team’s first string is on a winning streak doesn’t mean the second string is doing well too. It’s not uncommon for a strong team in the first league to be the weakest in the second league.

It was fine to have the hope that one day he might become a member of that first league’s strong team, but it was foolish to act like it was his own achievement and puff out his chest when he hadn’t accomplished anything himself.

Moreover, objectively speaking, Seong Ju-chan was someone who couldn’t even make it into the Assembly’s second string, let alone the third. If he had to be placed somewhere, he would be in the position of a trainee who paid tuition to receive training.

But this was like being told to play in a game tomorrow.

Seong Ju-chan glanced around.

Although there were many people gathered in the training hall, there weren’t many who were focused on training.

Some were gathered in groups of three or five, talking seriously about something.

Some were checking their bodies without saying a word.

And some were sitting in a corner, lost in thought.

They all had their own worries.

“Ha, you gloomy bastard.”

Kim Won-hyeok looked at Seong Ju-chan with a displeased expression.

“You were so happy when the Assembly was doing well, what happened?”

“…Did I know it would turn out like this?”

“Did you think you could enjoy the benefits without any obligations?”

“I know, you idiot!” Seong Ju-chan snapped.

He knew that everything Kim Won-hyeok was saying was right. If he had a brain, he would know. But humans weren’t animals that only moved with their brains. There were plenty of things that his heart wouldn’t follow even if his brain knew.

“The higher-ups…”

That’s when it happened.

“Hey, check your phones! We’re supposed to gather at the central plaza!” someone shouted loudly. Seong Ju-chan and Kim Won-hyeok reflexively checked their phones. A notice had been sent through the messenger app created by the Assembly.

“Who is it?”

“It looks like Director Bang?”

Director Bang Jin-hoon.

He was a figure with a deep meaning for Seong Ju-chan and Kim Won-hyeok.

The Bang Jin-hoon they remembered from their time in the Assembly was a rebellious figure who fought against Lee Jung-geol. Of course, Bang Jin-hoon had his own reasons, but they didn’t look favorably on him for trying to shake up the Assembly’s system.

Perhaps it was because Seong Ju-chan and Kim Won-hyeok’s factions were pro-Lee Jung-geol. After all, stories tend to circulate among those with similar tendencies.

But that Bang Jin-hoon had remained with the Assembly until the end and had now become a representative of the Assembly.

While Kang Jin-ho and the other directors adopted an elitist approach, focusing on nurturing promising talents into full-fledged members, Bang Jin-hoon had dedicated himself to teaching and leading the general members of the Assembly.

Perhaps for most of the Assembly members, Bang Jin-hoon had more influence than Kang Jin-ho. It was inevitable that a person who appeared on the screen every time and taught martial arts would feel more familiar and approachable than Kang Jin-ho, who looked down from a distant place.

Of course, that didn’t mean they were denying Kang Jin-ho’s authority.

“Let’s go.”

“Yeah, we should.”

Seong Ju-chan got up from his seat and trudged towards the central plaza. Others around him were also heading to the central plaza without delay.

‘This app is really well-made.’

Since this app was created, the need to gather and disseminate information to people had disappeared. The speed had also increased significantly.

But the thought that they might not be able to use this app soon made Seong Ju-chan sigh softly.

“It looks like everyone’s here?” Seong Ju-chan glanced around.

The plaza was packed with people. It was impossible to count the exact number of people, but judging by the fact that no one had joined since a little while ago, it seemed like everyone who was coming had arrived.

In any case, it was impossible for all members to gather without exception just because a notice was posted. Those who couldn’t participate would have to hear about it later.

‘Even though this many people have gathered, it’s not noisy.’

Seong Ju-chan took a deep breath without realizing it.

When this many people gather, even small noises can combine to create a large sound. But even though thousands of people had gathered here, the plaza was eerily quiet.

It clearly showed how tense everyone gathered here was.

“He’s coming out.”

“Ah!” Seong Ju-chan quickly turned his head.

The door of the central building opened, and Bang Jin-hoon walked out slowly.

As soon as he came outside, Bang Jin-hoon scanned the gathered people and nodded.

“It seems like most of you are here.”

His voice, filled with internal energy, was clearly audible to everyone in the plaza, even without a microphone.

“You’ve all heard the news, right?”

“Yes!”

“It seems like the Japanese bastards are going to start a war.”

There was no response.

Bang Jin-hoon frowned slightly, as if he didn’t like that attitude.

“This is different from the wars of the past. The wars the Assembly has experienced so far were just localized battles. But this time, it’s a full-scale war. Those bastards are now invading our land to take it from us. If we can’t stop them, the Assembly will collapse, and the Korean martial arts world will become Japan’s.”

“This is different from an expedition. We are in a position to defend against their attacks. So, we won’t be picking a few people like before. All of you will be deployed to the battlefield. From now on, you will have to face those bastards directly.”

His fingertips trembled.

He had already heard about the situation, but hearing those words directly from Bang Jin-hoon was different. It meant they were becoming official combatants.

War was really going to happen.

The more he thought about it, the more he couldn’t calm down. He had never thought of himself as weak, but just the fact that war was breaking out made his legs tremble.

“Maybe…”

Bang Jin-hoon opened his mouth with a subtle tone.

“Quite a few of you will die.”

Was it okay to say such a thing?

Before the question could be resolved, Bang Jin-hoon continued.

“It’s true that we’ve trained hard, and it’s true that we’ve improved a lot. But it’s also true that the Japanese bastards have always been stronger than us. And now… well, to be honest, those bastards are probably stronger than you. They’re not sending over any riffraff, after all.”

The sound of dry swallowing could be heard here and there.

But Seong Ju-chan didn’t take his eyes off Bang Jin-hoon. There must be a reason why Bang Jin-hoon was saying such things.

“So, I’m telling you this in advance.”

Bang Jin-hoon paused and looked around at everyone. Thousands of eyes were focused on him. Looking at those eyes, Bang Jin-hoon opened his mouth.

“Among you…”

In a slightly heavy voice.

“Those of you who want to quit the Assembly and leave, speak up now. I will allow you to quit right now without any penalty.”

“…Huh?” Seong Ju-chan’s eyes widened.

What was he talking about?