Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 127

It was impossible to pinpoint where things had gone wrong.

Kang Jin-ho felt as if the helplessness creeping up from the floor was dragging him into a deep swamp.

The bed beneath him felt soft, swallowing him whole.

Helplessness.

It was a very familiar feeling, one he never wanted to experience again.

His life had always been a struggle against what was given to him.

From the moment he lost his family, fate had never smiled upon him, not even for a moment.

It had always taken things away and tormented him.

When he lived in the modern world, he couldn’t resist that fate. He had simply been beaten and run away.

The same was true in the Murim world [a world of martial arts].

He, who had been crushed by life, resisted fate as he learned martial arts.

He pushed back when pressed down, and fought back when struck.

‘But I failed.’

His last memories in the Murim were not pleasant either.

The sight of those he had believed to be his comrades and those he had thought to be his enemies all turning against him was still vivid in his mind.

He had never given his heart to them, but he had believed that he could at least trust them to have his back. That too, was Kang Jin-ho’s delusion.

All of that changed when he returned here.

Peace had found its way into Kang Jin-ho’s life, which had always been a fight to avoid being robbed of something.

Life here was at least peaceful, and he didn’t have to struggle to avoid losing something.

Until now, that is.

It might be something others couldn’t understand, but to Kang Jin-ho, this felt like a signal flare that his peace was over and that fate was once again beginning to take something from him.

‘No.’

That couldn’t be.

He would not be robbed of anything anymore.

‘My head is a mess.’

Kang Jin-ho got up. He didn’t sleep much to begin with, so he knew it would be difficult to fall asleep on a day like today. If he could sleep, he might be able to escape the distracting thoughts that were plaguing his mind, but what he couldn’t do, he couldn’t do.

His father was overjoyed to see Kang Jin-ho when he opened the door and came out to the living room.

“Son, you’re back from leave and you don’t even look for your old man!”

“I’m sorry.”

Kang Jin-ho bowed his head, which only made Kang Ji-hwan panic.

“Hey, don’t be so stiff.”

Kang Jin-ho gave Kang Ji-hwan a light smile.

“I had some things to take care of.”

“In the military?”

“No.”

“Is everything okay inside?”

“Yes. Don’t worry.”

“Okay. That’s a relief.”

“I’m going out for a bit.”

Kang Ji-hwan frowned.

“Do you have plans?”

“No. I just feel a bit stuffy, so I’m going out.”

“Hmm, okay. Don’t be too late.”

“Yes.”

Kang Jin-ho bowed his head slightly again and went out the front door.

“Hmm.”

Kang Ji-hwan also let out a heavy groan.

After hearing Baek Hyun-jung’s words, he wondered if he was worrying for no reason, but after seeing Kang Jin-ho’s expression, he understood why Baek Hyun-jung was worried.

His son didn’t show much change in expression usually.

He often had a blank expression, so it was even more noticeable that his expression was not good today.

“I hope nothing is wrong.”

Kang Ji-hwan stared at the front door where Kang Jin-ho had gone out for a while.

Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh.

Kang Jin-ho, riding his bike, Goldie, pedaled recklessly down the street.

The wind rushed into his lungs, making him feel a bit refreshed and as if something was opening up inside him.

But the people on the street were caught off guard.

“What, what is that?”

“Isn’t that a bicycle?”

“No way, it’s a motorcycle. What kind of bicycle goes that fast?”

“Let’s follow it.”

“Are you crazy? You’ll get into an accident if you follow that.”

“Are there still biker gangs these days?”

When he braked and turned the bike, the wheels skidded on the asphalt, leaving skid marks.

The tires were badly worn, but Kang Jin-ho didn’t notice it right now.

“Hoo.”

After pedaling aimlessly for a while, he had arrived at a familiar place.

“Ah…”

He thought he had been pedaling without thinking, but it seemed he had found his way to a familiar path. Kang Jin-ho gripped the handlebars tightly as he looked at the orphanage building in front of him.

The light streaming from the windows was cold.

‘That’s right.’

It wasn’t Kang Jin-ho who was having a hard time right now.

The children at the orphanage and Park Yu-min, who had suddenly lost someone like a parent, must be having a much harder time than he was.

Kang Jin-ho bit his lip.

‘I’m not strong, Sister Director.’

What made her think he was strong?

He couldn’t even handle the slightest wave, being tossed this way and that.

What he needed to do now was not to get lost in his own world and feel hopeless, but to support those who were faltering.

Kang Jin-ho parked Goldie in a corner and headed towards the entrance.

He grabbed the doorknob, but couldn’t bring himself to open the door. After leaning his head against the door for a moment, Kang Jin-ho slowly opened it and went inside.

‘It’s quiet.’

The orphanage felt unusually quiet, unlike usual.

That made him feel even stranger.

Without the usual boisterous sounds of the children, it felt like this wasn’t the orphanage he knew, but somewhere else.

Sighing, Kang Jin-ho took off his shoes and went inside, walking carefully to the living room without making a sound.

“Oh? You’re here?”

“Yeah.”

Park Yu-min, who was wiping the floor, looked up and saw Kang Jin-ho.

“Did you forget we have a doorbell? Ring it next time.”

“Okay.”

Kang Jin-ho, having been scolded, glanced around.

“Where is everyone?”

“…What time do you think it is? The little ones are asleep, and the older ones haven’t come back yet. They’ll all be here soon. Just a moment.”

Park Yu-min jumped up and raised her voice towards one of the rooms.

“Jin-ho’s here.”

The door burst open, and the children rushed out.

“Hyung, you’re here?”

“Oppa, you came?”

Even the children who had difficulty speaking came to Kang Jin-ho, grabbing his arms and clinging to him.

“…Yeah.”

Kang Jin-ho was taken aback by the usual warm welcome, but the children greeted him as if nothing was wrong.

“Are you on leave?”

“Yeah.”

“Heh.”

“When did you get out again? Can you keep going on leave like that? You’re a paper soldier! When are you going to defend the country?”

“It’s okay. Oppa is handsome, so the ugly ones can defend it instead.”

“Hey, that’s unfair to the ugly ones, what are you talking about?”

“Sorry. I didn’t think about you.”

“Hey!”

Kang Jin-ho was honestly flustered.

He had thought the orphanage would be like a funeral home, but surprisingly, the children were not much different from usual.

It was to the point where Kang Jin-ho, who had been feeling depressed, seemed strange.

“Have you eaten?”

“Uh, yeah.”

“You haven’t, have you?”

“…I feel like I’m always getting a meal here whenever I come. Can’t I just not eat?”

The answer came from elsewhere.

“Why aren’t you eating, Hyung?”

“Look at how much weight our oppa has lost.”

“Ugh.”

Sung-eun, who was deaf and had to read lips, flapped her arms as if she was angry.

Kang Jin-ho had no choice but to surrender to her reaction, which seemed genuinely angry.

“Just eat.”

And that was a mistake, as it was revealed not long after.

“…Yu-min.”

“Yeah?”

“I’m not really picky about food, but…”

“Yeah.”

“…Why again?”

“Well… the people who prepare the kids’ meals have all gone home. They’ll be back tomorrow morning.”

“No, I know that, but…”

Kang Jin-ho sighed as he looked at the food in front of him.

“There are some side dishes in the fridge, but the people who make the kids’ meals are here, so it’s not right for us to take their side dishes.”

He understood that much.

It wasn’t that he wanted to eat good food.

“Is there any ramen?”

“Why are you looking for ramen when I gave you rice?”

Kang Jin-ho sighed as he looked at the curry in front of him.

This guy must have been an Indian in his past life. Otherwise, he must have a turmeric obsession.

“It’s my masterpiece that I made this afternoon. It’s different from last time. It’s delicious.”

When Kang Jin-ho slightly raised his head, the children who met his eyes shook their heads with cold faces.

‘It’s not good.’

It was quite a feat to make curry taste bad. Wasn’t curry a dish that was harder to fail at than ramen? But how on earth was Park Yu-min’s tongue so messed up that she could fail at making curry?

‘No, it’s not a failure.’

Judging by how confident she was in the taste, it wasn’t her cooking skills that were the problem, but her tongue.

Kang Jin-ho closed his eyes as he took a spoonful of curry and put it in his mouth.

Even Kang Jin-ho, who had eaten military food without much complaint, found this curry difficult to swallow.

“Delicious, right?”

“Park Yu-min.”

“Yeah?”

“You fed this to the kids before, didn’t you?”

“That’s right.”

“That’s child abuse.”

“Huh?”

“I’m going to sue you.”

“…Huh?”

After forcing down a bowl of curry and greeting the high school students who had returned from school, Kang Jin-ho went outside with Park Yu-min. There was a night teacher left at the orphanage, so there was no need for Park Yu-min to stay.

“Let’s leave it here.”

“Why?”

“We’re going to have a drink, so it’s not good to take the bike.”

“Why?”

Park Yu-min stared at Kang Jin-ho and said,

“Don’t you know? It’s drunk driving if you ride a bike after drinking.”

“Really?”

“This guy, he’s going to get into big trouble.”

Kang Jin-ho tilted his head. He thought it was a joke, but looking at Park Yu-min’s expression, it didn’t seem like a joke.

“Legally?”

“Yeah. It’s drunk driving legally too.”

“…I didn’t know.”

He had a license, but he had no idea about that. Kang Jin-ho was disappointed, but he left Goldie behind and walked to the downtown area on foot.

“Should we take a car?”

“It’s okay. Why are you like this?”

He tried not to show it, but it seemed that Park Yu-min had noticed why Kang Jin-ho had tried to ride his bike.

“You worry about everything.”

Park Yu-min had a bad leg, so walking around would inevitably draw the eyes of others. And Kang Jin-ho was bothered by that.

Because he knew how it felt.

Having experienced being disabled and receiving the gaze of others, Kang Jin-ho understood how cold and frightening that gaze was.

“We can go there.”

They went into a quiet-looking bar, ordered soju, and then there was nothing to say.

To be precise, it wasn’t that there was nothing to say, but that he didn’t know where to start.

“Thanks for coming out. It wasn’t a call to ask you to come out.”

The Park Yu-min who had been crying on the phone was gone. In that short time, Park Yu-min had completely returned to her usual self. And Kang Jin-ho couldn’t understand that fact at all.

She had just returned from hearing that someone like a parent had no hope. But how could she be so calm?

It wasn’t just Park Yu-min.

The orphanage also seemed no different from usual.

The world hadn’t changed at all, but Kang Jin-ho felt strange, as if he was the only one acting up.

“The kids are surprisingly calm.”

That word ‘kids’ included Park Yu-min as well.

He couldn’t ask directly how she could be so calm, so he said it indirectly.

Park Yu-min quietly looked at Kang Jin-ho.

When Kang Jin-ho, who didn’t understand the meaning in her gaze, was puzzled, Park Yu-min slowly opened her mouth.