Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 1159

Night falls quickly in the mountains.

The General Assembly was instantly shrouded in darkness.

And Bang Jin-hoon’s eyes, gazing out at the darkened window, were a little subdued.

Due to the nature of martial artists, they don’t require much lighting, so the General Assembly hardly used any. Rather, they needed to be careful about light leaking out from the darkened mountains.

It wasn’t something he usually found strange, but today, the dark view outside the window felt a little unsettling.

‘Hmm.’

It wasn’t a pleasant feeling.

Quite a few people had already visited his office.

What was bringing Bang Jin-hoon down wasn’t the fact that he was hearing people say they couldn’t share their fate with the General Assembly. It wasn’t even the number of people.

Knock knock.

Bang Jin-hoon turned his head at the sound of knocking.

‘What time is it?’

9:01 PM.

Probably the last one coming in now.

“Come in.”

Even though he said to come in, the door didn’t open easily. Bang Jin-hoon was usually impatient, but this time, he waited silently for the door to open.

Creak.

And soon, the door opened.

The person who came in couldn’t make eye contact with Bang Jin-hoon and was looking down with their head bowed.

Seeing this, Bang Jin-hoon sighed.

This was what frustrated him. Everyone who had come into this room today had been like this.

Even criminals who committed murder would curse at the cameras or the court, so what had they done to look so guilty?

“Is this the last one? Is there anyone else behind you?”

“…There’s no one behind me.”

“Okay. Come here and sit down.”

“Yes.”

The man approached and sat across from Bang Jin-hoon’s desk. Watching him, Bang Jin-hoon slightly pushed up his glasses.

As a martial artist, he didn’t have any reason to have bad eyesight, and he didn’t need to wear glasses, but when he had to deal with unfamiliar paperwork, wearing glasses made him feel more at ease.

“What’s your name?”

“Seong Ju-chan.”

“Oh, okay. Seong Ju-chan.”

Bang Jin-hoon typed on the keyboard to search.

“Ha, it’s so convenient these days. Back in the day, you’d have to search through the register until your eyes popped out to do something like this.”

“Okay, Seong Ju-chan. Have you made up your mind?”

Seong Ju-chan bowed his head silently. Seeing this, Bang Jin-hoon frowned. Looking at his bowed head and slumped shoulders made his blood boil. But Bang Jin-hoon just kept his mouth shut.

“Um…”

After a long silence, Seong Ju-chan raised his head.

“Are there people who came this far and then just went back?”

“Yeah, there are.”

Bang Jin-hoon shrugged.

“There are guys who cry and sob and apologize, and there are guys who come and say a few words and then decide it’s not for them and leave. People are all different, aren’t they?”

“…I guess so.”

“Why? Are you going back?”

Bang Jin-hoon stared at Seong Ju-chan for a moment, then leaned back in his chair. Then, he opened a drawer and took out a cigarette.

“Do you smoke?”

“Huh?”

“I’m asking if you smoke.”

“Ah, a little…”

“Here, have one.”

“Ah, no, thank you.”

“Then I’ll just smoke alone?”

Bang Jin-hoon chuckled, watching Seong Ju-chan hesitate.

“So, take it when I offer it. Here.”

Seong Ju-chan hesitated, then took the cigarette that Bang Jin-hoon offered. Bang Jin-hoon lit the cigarette for him, and he turned his head and slowly exhaled the smoke.

Click.

Bang Jin-hoon lit his own cigarette and took a deep drag.

“Director, do you smoke?”

“I don’t usually.”

Bang Jin-hoon chuckled.

“These days, you have to be careful even when you smoke. If I go home after smoking, I get nagged at… Ugh.”

Bang Jin-hoon shook his head.

“So I try not to smoke if I can help it, but sometimes you just need one. Like today. Right?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

Seong Ju-chan bowed his head again. Bang Jin-hoon’s words sounded like he was stressed because of people like Seong Ju-chan who were quitting and leaving. And that was probably true.

“Raise your head, man. Why do you keep bowing your head like that?”

“…I’m sorry.”

“Sorry my ass.”

Bang Jin-hoon took a deep drag of his cigarette.

“Is the General Assembly your parents or something? To you, the General Assembly is a company. There’s no reason to be sorry for quitting a company. If it doesn’t suit you, you leave. It’s not like we’re in the 80s, what’s the big deal?”

“Don’t act like you’ve committed a crime, man.”

“Yes.”

Bang Jin-hoon watched the cigarette smoke slowly dissipate into the air.

“Are you frustrated?”

“…Yes.”

“Well, I guess you would be.”

Bang Jin-hoon chuckled.

Even though he had been harsh, it wasn’t like he didn’t understand Seong Ju-chan’s feelings. It wasn’t to the same extent as Bang Jin-hoon’s feelings for the General Assembly, but Seong Ju-chan probably thought that living as a member of the General Assembly was his life.

It wouldn’t be easy to change the direction of that life overnight.

“Seong Ju-chan.”

“Yes.”

“Don’t think of it as quitting. Think of it as finding a new opportunity.”

“Do you know what kind of martial artists are the most miserable?”

“I don’t know.”

“Guys like you who quit? Guys who get eliminated?”

“No.”

Bang Jin-hoon stubbed out his cigarette in the ashtray.

There was a hint of annoyance in his hand as he stubbed out the cigarette.

“The truly miserable ones are the ones who miss their chance to quit.”

“Chance?”

“Yeah. People who couldn’t quit when they could. You might think that if you quit now, you’ll be the most pathetic person in the world, but no way. Being able to quit at your age is a blessing. Do you know what happens when people over forty or fifty realize they can’t keep up with others anymore? They rot alive.”

“I’m a martial artist too, but this martial arts thing? It’s a pain in the ass. Hey, normal people know what they’re going to be around thirty. That’s when the fight ends. People who will keep fighting and people who will conform to the world are divided. If you don’t think you can keep fighting in this world, you can at least find another path.”

“Yes.”

Seong Ju-chan nodded quietly. He seemed to understand what he meant.

“But martial artists aren’t like that. Martial arts is such a pain in the ass that people keep getting stronger even when they’re forty or fifty. So they can’t let go of hope. And once they realize their level, it’s already too late.”

“Even if we live to a hundred, what can a person who has only learned martial arts for fifty years do? Other fifty-year-olds have gained social experience or learned something. At the very least, they have a skill, but not martial artists. People who leave the track at fifty only know how to beat people up and kill them.”

Bang Jin-hoon took out a cigarette with a bitter look on his face.

Then he lit it again. After taking a long drag of his second cigarette, Bang Jin-hoon shook his head and exhaled the smoke.

“So don’t think of leaving here as a failure. There will probably be a lot of guys who regret not quitting this crap like you in about thirty years.”

Seong Ju-chan looked at Bang Jin-hoon quietly and moved his lips.

“…Director.”

“What?”

“Then why didn’t you tell us that beforehand?”

“If I did?”

“…Huh?”

“What would change if I did?”

Bang Jin-hoon chuckled.

“You’re only pretending to listen to me now because you’re in this situation. If I had said this a week ago, would you have listened? Ah, you would have listened to the words, but you would have thought it was something that had nothing to do with you. Right?”

Seong Ju-chan shut his mouth.

Bang Jin-hoon was definitely right. Even until yesterday, Seong Ju-chan couldn’t have imagined that he would be having these thoughts.

“Seong Ju-chan.”

“Yes, Director.”

“I told you not to bow your head.”

Seong Ju-chan gritted his teeth and raised his head. Seeing the determination in his eyes, Bang Jin-hoon nodded as if he was pleased.

“You think you’re a coward right now because you can’t do what everyone else is doing?”

“…Yes.”

“That’s half right.”

“But half of it is wrong.”

Bang Jin-hoon slowly shook his head.

“It takes courage to get on a moving train. But it also takes courage to jump off a moving train. How do you get courage? It’s simple. You just have to go to war and fight. If there are guys running at you trying to kill you, do you think you won’t fight? Hey, even people who can’t kill an ant will stab a knife into someone’s neck on the battlefield.”

Bang Jin-hoon sighed deeply. He knew it too.

If they forced the people who were hesitating now to go to the battlefield, they would all do their part to some extent. If their mentality was so bad that they would be a hindrance, they wouldn’t have lasted this long in the General Assembly.

Training them like that was also a way.

But Bang Jin-hoon didn’t want to do that.

“This isn’t me filtering you guys out. I’m not doing this to leave only the useful ones.”

Bang Jin-hoon tilted his head back and looked at the ceiling.

“Let’s say we’re a normal company. Do you think there wouldn’t have been anyone quitting until now?”

Seong Ju-chan couldn’t help but think.

This question didn’t have an easy answer. But regardless, the answer was already there.

“…There would have been.”

“Right?”

Bang Jin-hoon chuckled.

“Hey, if this was just a normal company, I might not have stayed here until now. I would have quit when that bastard Lee Jung-geol was being a pain in the ass. But it’s not like that. Everyone is here as if their feet are tied.”

Bang Jin-hoon snorted.

“So, let’s sort things out. If this opportunity didn’t come, you wouldn’t even think about quitting. So, while you guys can still go a different path, while you can still start something new, that’s the time to do it. Do you understand what I mean?”

Seong Ju-chan nodded without answering.

It was strange.

They were talking calmly, but strangely, his throat kept tightening. So much so that it was hard to speak.

“Seong Ju-chan.”

“Yes, Director.”

“You’ve worked hard.”

“There will be separate training on what to do after leaving the General Assembly. So don’t have any lingering regrets and go.”

“Director, I…”

“Hey.”

“…Yes?”

“Your life is your decision. Don’t worry about what others think, you bastard. If you weren’t worried about how others see you or the situation I’m in, would you even be hesitating?”

Bang Jin-hoon urged him in a sharp voice.

“…I don’t think I would have.”

“See, man.”

Bang Jin-hoon chuckled.

“Don’t have any regrets. Like I said, it takes courage to quit when you can.”

“…Yes.”

“Go. I’ll take care of things. As soon as you leave the General Assembly, don’t look back and go home. You’ll be contacted separately. And you can’t use martial arts starting today.”

“…Yes.”

“Okay.”

Bang Jin-hoon nodded as he watched Seong Ju-chan get up. Seong Ju-chan looked back several times, but eventually opened the door and went outside.

Listening to the sound of the door closing, Bang Jin-hoon sighed deeply.