Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 1234

Clang.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I was a bit too quick to speak… Huh?”

Kim Won-hyuk turned his head, looking left and right. He couldn’t sense anyone inside the cafe.

‘A smell of cigarettes?’

Kim Won-hyuk’s face contorted.

How could there be a smell of cigarettes in a cafe? There should be a separate smoking room, but this strong smell of cigarettes?

Kim Won-hyuk frowned as he turned his head to find the source of the cigarette smell.

The circular table in the center was in disarray, not cleaned up. Drinks were left on the table, and a cigarette butt was floating in one of them.

‘What happened here?’

Kim Won-hyuk instinctively knew that something unusual had happened and looked around again. There was definitely no one inside the cafe. Then?

Kim Won-hyuk’s eyes caught sight of the back door.

Kim Won-hyuk, with his senses heightened, hurriedly opened the back door and rushed outside. As soon as he stepped out, his senses picked up that several people were gathered in the alley next door.

Without delay, Kim Won-hyuk ran into the alley, his face twisting in anger.

“Why are you acting up like that? Huh? You should know your place before acting tough.”

Four thugs surrounded Sung Joo-chan. It seemed that the assault had already taken place, as Sung Joo-chan’s lip was split and his face was quite swollen.

“Hey! You bastards!”

Kim Won-hyuk’s eyes went wild as he clenched his fists and approached the thugs.

“What’s that?”

“Oh? You’re clenching your fists?”

Just as Kim Won-hyuk was about to knock them down, Sung Joo-chan shouted.

“Don’t!”

Kim Won-hyuk’s eyes widened at Sung Joo-chan’s firm voice.

“Hey, you idiot. Now…”

“I said don’t!”

Kim Won-hyuk let out a hollow sigh.

Was he not supposed to use his fists even against these human trash?

“You guys are putting on a show. Hey, come here. What do you mean, don’t?”

Slap! Slap!

The thug in front slapped Sung Joo-chan’s cheek. But Sung Joo-chan didn’t resist, just taking the blows.

“You, you son of a bitch! If you lay a hand on me again, I’ll break that hand off.”

“Oh, really?”

Slap!

The thug who had slapped him again smirked and looked at Kim Won-hyuk.

“I did it. What are you going to do now?”

Kim Won-hyuk stared at the thug for a moment, then took out his phone. He dialed 112 [the emergency number in South Korea].

“There’s someone getting beaten up here. Yes. The address is…”

“Aish, you bastard!”

“That damn punk!”

The thugs, annoyed, began to slowly back away.

“You, you bastard, you got lucky. If I catch you next time, you’re dead meat.”

While spewing harsh words, they slowly retreated. Then, they all started running away.

“…Damn it.”

Kim Won-hyuk watched the fleeing thugs, spat on the ground, and approached Sung Joo-chan.

“Are you okay?”

“It’s nothing much.”

“Damn it, your mouth is swollen, you idiot!”

“Do you think it hurts when they hit me? I’ve been through a lot.”

“You moron, not using martial arts doesn’t mean you can’t fight! You just can’t use your inner energy! Even without it, you could take down those trash in three seconds. Why are you getting beaten up like a fool!”

Sung Joo-chan chuckled with his swollen face.

“I guess I am a fool.”

“You idiot!”

“…That’s how it always starts.”

“…Huh?”

Sung Joo-chan touched his swollen lip and said.

“Don’t use inner energy, don’t do this, don’t do that. Eventually, there will be a moment when you want to do something that requires inner energy. It’s better not to start at all.”

“You idiot, but…”

“If I’m going to do it half-heartedly, I wouldn’t have started. It’s nothing much. If it’s something that all self-employed people go through… then I have to go through it too.”

“Hey, you moron. Who gets beaten up without fighting back!”

“…Speak softly. My head is ringing.”

“You’re such a drama queen.”

Sung Joo-chan took out his phone and looked at his face.

“…I’m screwed. How am I supposed to serve customers with this face?”

“Quickly circulate your energy.”

“I said I’m not using martial arts.”

“You idiot, that means don’t use martial arts to fight people, and if you can’t even do this, you would have already discarded all your inner energy!”

“Ah… I guess that’s true.”

Sung Joo-chan sat cross-legged on the spot. This level of external injury could be roughly resolved with about thirty minutes of energy circulation. He couldn’t do anything about the internal issues, but he could fix what was visible.

Kim Won-hyuk gritted his teeth as he watched Sung Joo-chan enter his energy circulation.

‘Those bastards.’

He wanted to chase after them right away and tear them apart. It wasn’t just because Sung Joo-chan was hurt. They were thugs who were causing trouble and assaulting people in broad daylight. If they were left alone, they would do the same thing elsewhere.

But he couldn’t leave Sung Joo-chan while he was circulating his energy.

‘Just let me catch you next time.’

Kim Won-hyuk gritted his teeth.

Even if he got disciplined for using violence against ordinary people, he would make sure those guys paid the price.

* * *

“What a bad start to the morning.”

The men who had run away after hearing that the police were being called lit up cigarettes.

“They won’t chase us this far, right?”

“Have you ever seen the cops in Korea work hard? They’ll just look around the area and give up.”

“What about the CCTV?”

“Do you think they’ll know who we are just by looking at that? Don’t worry about it.”

A subtle excitement passed through them.

Committing illegal acts in a world governed by law and order brought a great thrill. They did as they pleased and lived as they pleased.

They had paid the price a few times, but that minor penalty hadn’t changed their behavior.

“The more I think about it, the more pissed off I get. Should we go back tonight?”

“We beat him enough.”

“No, that bastard was grinning even while getting hit. It’s annoying.”

“Enough. If we mess with them again, we might not get out this time.”

“If you guys aren’t going, I’ll go alone. I’ll make sure they can’t do business…”

That’s when it happened.

Thud!

Someone bumped into their shoulder while passing by.

The person who had bumped into them, slightly smaller in stature, fell to the ground.

“…What the hell!”

The person who had bumped into them stared blankly at the fallen thug, then walked into the next alley.

“Hey, is that guy crazy!”

“Hey, catch him! Catch that guy!”

The men who had run into the alley saw the person who had already gone quite deep and their eyes flared up.

“He’s running away! Catch him now!”

“This alley is blocked, isn’t it?”

“I know, so just catch that guy!”

Four men rushed into the alley. They followed him deeper and found a man standing with his back against the wall.

“Hoo!”

The thugs, panting, cracked their necks and approached the man.

“Hey, you little punk. If you bump into someone, you should apologize. How can a guy from the Land of Courtesy [a common nickname for Korea] be so rude? Huh?”

“I’ll teach you what courtesy is…”

At that moment, the man raised something he was holding in his hand.

A paper bag.

A large paper bag filled with something.

“…What is it? A gift?”

“Ha, this guy. He’s making us look like thugs. Do you think we’re trying to steal your money?”

Then, the man slowly raised his other hand and grabbed the bottom of the paper bag.

Then, he boldly tore the bottom of the paper bag.

Whoosh!

The bottom of the paper bag burst open, and something spilled onto the ground.

“What, what is it?”

“Coffee beans?”

What had spilled on the ground was none other than coffee beans.

“No way, is he crazy? Why did he spill that?”

After confirming that all the beans in the paper bag had spilled, the man crumpled the bag and threw it on the ground. Then, he gestured with his chin at the beans spilled on the ground.

“Pick them up.”

“Pick up every single one.”

The thugs looked at the man with bewildered eyes.

He looked to be in his early twenties?

His body was slender, and he didn’t look particularly impressive. But what gave him the guts to pick a fight with them?

“Hey, are you crazy?”

One of the thugs strode forward and grabbed the man by the collar.

“This bastard really wants to die. It looks like you’ve watched too many movies, you…”

Thump.

The man’s hand grabbed the face of the thug who had grabbed his collar.

“Guh…”

Then, he slowly lifted him up.

The others watched the scene with dumbfounded eyes.

The man who was grabbed weighed over 100kg. But this man was lifting him up with one hand. And without any sign of strain.

What was happening in front of them was logically impossible.

“Aaaah!”

The man whose face was grabbed trembled. He desperately tried to grab the hand that was holding his face and pull it away, but the hand was as unyielding as a giant machine. Rather, the more he struggled, the tighter it squeezed.

“Aaaaaaaah!”

Just as he felt the crisis that his head was about to explode!

Thud.

The hand that was holding his face released, and his body rolled to the ground.

The man. Kang Jin-ho, stared at the scene for a moment before opening his mouth.

“Pick them up.”

The thugs instinctively understood that they had messed with the wrong person.

“Think about what will happen if even one bean is missing. I’m warning you…”

Kang Jin-ho bared his teeth.

“If I were you, I’d start picking them up right now.”

Among those who were bewildered and didn’t know what to do, the man whose face had been grabbed knelt on the ground and started picking up the beans.

“…Hey, what are you doing, you bastard?”

“Pick them up now, you idiots! If you don’t want to die!”

Saliva dripped from his mouth.

Those who hadn’t been grabbed by that hand wouldn’t be able to imagine it. That wasn’t a human. A human couldn’t handle another human like that. As someone who was used to violence and power, he could sense how much power this slender man was packed with.

If they crossed him, they would really die.

That sense of crisis made him kneel on the ground.

The others, watching the situation, slowly knelt on the ground and started picking up the beans. Kang Jin-ho, watching the scene, opened his mouth with cold eyes.

“You seem quite confident in your strength…”

Step, step.

Kang Jin-ho walked forward.

Kang Jin-ho stopped in front of the area where the beans were clustered and kicked them. The beans scattered all over the alley.

“The moment even one bean is missing, I’ll show you what your so-called strength is. I’ll give you ten minutes. Pick them up.”

A chill ran down their spines.

Everyone felt it, that his words were not empty threats.

Hurried and busy hands began to sweep the ground. The hands, busier than ever, picked up the beans that had spilled on the ground.

“There, over there! You bastards!”

“Pick them up quickly! What are you doing!”

“You son of a bitch! Pick them up now!”

Kang Jin-ho narrowed his eyes as he watched the men crawling on the ground to find the beans.

Ten minutes passed.

“We, we picked them all up.”

The men, standing stiffly in front of Kang Jin-ho, put the beans they had picked up into the bag, sweating profusely.

“Is that so?”

Kang Jin-ho stared at the beans for a moment, then moved his foot. He moved a stone in the corner of the alley, and a bean that had been behind it appeared.

Kang Jin-ho, staring at the bean, curled up the corners of his mouth and turned around.

“It seems like you didn’t understand what I said.”

“Ah, no, it’s not that…”

“It’s okay.”

Kang Jin-ho smiled brightly.

“You’ll understand now.”

Kang Jin-ho smiled and approached the thugs.

The thugs’ faces turned pale as they watched Kang Jin-ho approach.