Descent Of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 137

The unit quickly returned to normal.

Though Joo Young-gi had not yet regained consciousness, the others acted as if he had never existed.

Kang Jin-ho was no different.

“Jang Jae-hwan.”

“Private Jang Jae-hwan!”

“Clean up.”

“…I was about to, sir.”

“Again.”

“Yes, sir.”

Jang Jae-hwan, looking dejected, grabbed the mop.

“Haa.”

Jang Jae-hwan tossed the mop to the junior soldiers.

“Hey guys, what do we do? Sergeant Kang Jin-ho wants this bunk cleaned again.”

“Private Jang Jae-hwan.”

“What?”

“I think Sergeant Kang Jin-ho might think this is a hotel.”

“…Tell him yourself, go on.”

“I don’t have the guts, sir.”

The investigation into Joo Young-gi concluded hastily, just as Noh Su-bong had predicted.

It was common for cases to be ruled as suicide even when a guardian came forward with various suspicions and protests. It seemed no one was going to investigate Joo Young-gi thoroughly, as he had no one to act as his guardian.

—He’s been transferred to Jae-kyung Hospital.

“Thank you for your work. What about his guardian?”

—He has a father, a grandmother, and a younger sibling, but his father is practically incompetent. He’s an alcoholic… it’s quite severe. His grandmother seems to have been making a living by working as a cleaner, but she was recently hospitalized with pneumonia. They can’t even afford the hospital bills properly.

“What about his sibling?”

—He’s just a middle schooler. He’s too young to fully understand the situation. He heard his brother was hospitalized, but he doesn’t know what to do.

Kang Jin-ho tightened his grip on the phone.

“Is his mother deceased?”

—Yes, she passed away a while ago.

“I see.”

Kang Jin-ho took a deep breath.

“Please, keep a close eye on his progress. And if possible, please provide some support for his grandmother.”

—We’ve already taken care of the hospital bills. It’s difficult to move the child to a facility because the legal issues aren’t resolved yet, but we’ve contacted a social welfare organization for now. If we push a bit, we might be able to have his father declared incompetent and take away his parental rights. It might be a good idea to move him to Sungsim [a social welfare facility] as a temporary measure.

“That sounds like a good idea.”

‘They’re good kids, they’ll get along well.’

“I hope his sibling can see Young-gi soon.”

—He should be able to visit soon. His grandmother doesn’t know that Joo Young-gi is hospitalized yet.

“Is his grandmother doing okay?”

—She can recover with continuous care, but her body is too weak, so it will be difficult for her to continue working.

“I’ll cover all their living expenses.”

—Yes, I understand.

“I’ll call you again.”

—Thank you for your hard work.

Kang Jin-ho hung up the phone and slowly walked outside.

In the afternoon, Kang Jin-ho received a summons for a new visitor.

“Are you Kang Jin-ho?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Nice to meet you. I’m Major Nam Tae-shik from the Defense Security Command [a military intelligence agency].”

“Yes, sir.”

“Have a seat.”

Kang Jin-ho sat where Nam Tae-shik indicated. Only he and Nam Tae-shik were in the unit commander’s office.

“The reason I’m here is to ask for your cooperation regarding the recent incident.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Do you know anything about this incident?”

Kang Jin-ho quietly stared at Nam Tae-shik’s face. Receiving Kang Jin-ho’s gaze, Nam Tae-shik began to explain.

“It seems they’re trying to bury it as a suicide. But I don’t intend to do that. If it was a suicide attempt, there should be a reason. But how can a kid with no apparent reason suddenly attempt suicide? A kid who was determined to get out of here wouldn’t commit suicide.”

“There’s definitely something wrong. Someone must have been bullying him. But everything is coming up too clean. No one is actively digging into it. What do you think? Am I wrong?”

“I don’t know, sir.”

Kang Jin-ho shook his head.

“You don’t know…”

Nam Tae-shik, who had been quietly observing Kang Jin-ho, took out a cigarette from his pocket.

“Do you smoke?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Have one.”

Kang Jin-ho shook his head, but Nam Tae-shik did not retract his hand holding out the cigarette. Kang Jin-ho had no choice but to take the cigarette and put it in his mouth.

Click.

The cigarette was lit, and the end began to burn. Nam Tae-shik also lit a cigarette for himself.

“This is a matter of someone possibly dying.”

“Do you think it’s easy for someone to put a shoelace around their neck? It wasn’t even tied to anything significant. If he had just decided to stretch his legs, he could have lived. Do you know what it means for him not to stretch his legs in that situation?”

Kang Jin-ho slowly exhaled the smoke he had deeply inhaled.

“Just help me a little. I’m different from those rotten people who have come and gone. If just one person has the courage, I can solve this.”

Kang Jin-ho did not respond.

“You were his comrade. Did you hear anything, or see any signs? Think carefully.”

Kang Jin-ho shook his head.

“No, sir.”

“Hey! Kang Jin-ho!”

Nam Tae-shik became agitated.

“A person is dying! And you’re telling me that no one in a unit of two hundred people knew about it? Does that make any sense?”

“I understand what you’re saying, but I really don’t know anything. It would be better to ask the others.”

“Hey! Kang Jin-ho!”

When Kang Jin-ho remained silent and just stared at him, Nam Tae-shik sighed deeply and nodded.

“Get out.”

“Yes, sir.”

As Kang Jin-ho walked out, Nam Tae-shik quietly muttered.

“Aiding and abetting is no different from murder. You’re condoning your comrade’s injustice.”

Kang Jin-ho slightly opened the door and quietly said,

“I don’t think so, sir.”

“Huh?”

The door closed, and as Kang Jin-ho walked out, Nam Tae-shik relit his extinguished cigarette.

“Damn it.”

The investigation was closed.

Thanks to the fact that no evidence was found, or rather, no one tried to find any evidence, it was concluded as a suicide attempt due to personal reasons. It was possible that the conclusion might change if Joo Young-gi woke up and testified, but for now, that was the tentative conclusion.

“So, that bastard… is he waking up?”

Noh Su-bong was on the phone, agitated.

“How could you let him be sent to another hospital? What if he wakes up? Do you want to see your son go to jail?”

His tone was anxious, but Noh Su-bong’s face showed no such signs.

“There’s no chance he’ll wake up, right? Ha, I’m uneasy. Is there no way to take care of it? What? What accident? I’m telling you, I didn’t do anything. A crazy bastard suddenly hung himself, what could I do? What do you mean I bullied him?”

Noh Su-bong, thoroughly annoyed, hung up the phone.

“Ah, damn it. Old man.”

‘If they were going to take care of it, they should just do it.’ He was annoyed that they always added a lecture.

“Hey, Kim Hak-cheol.”

“Corporal Kim Hak-cheol!”

“Go take care of that.”

“…Did you say ‘that,’ sir?”

“Ah, damn it. You know, that thing. The notebook.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Burn it.”

“Yes, sir, I understand.”

Kim Hak-cheol, who had been cautiously watching Noh Su-bong’s mood, quickly ran towards the gun emplacement.

‘I guess it’s over now.’

He didn’t know why they had kept Joo Young-gi’s journal until now. They said it was used to create an alibi, but in the end, there was no need to create an alibi.

‘He must have had a plan.’

Noh Su-bong’s mind was definitely sharper than Kim Hak-cheol’s. If he had kept it until now, there must have been a reason.

Kim Hak-cheol, clicking his lighter, reached into the camouflage net.

“Okay, here… huh?”

He was sure he had put it here, but the notebook was nowhere to be seen.

“Where did it go?”

Kim Hak-cheol started waving his hands in panic.

‘This can’t be missing…’

“Are you looking for something?”

Kim Hak-cheol was startled and turned around.

“K-Kang Jin-ho?”

“Are you looking for this?”

Kang Jin-ho was holding a familiar notebook. Kim Hak-cheol was horrified and shouted.

“Hey, hey, you bastard! Why do you have that!”

It was definitely the notebook Joo Young-gi had written in.

Kang Jin-ho, with a blank expression, looked at Kim Hak-cheol and then turned his gaze to the notebook.

“You should have kept something like this safe, sir.”

“You, you bastard…”

Kim Hak-cheol was momentarily unable to respond.

‘What should he do?’

Thinking was Noh Su-bong’s job, not his.

But at that moment, something completely unexpected happened.

Whoosh!

Suddenly, the notebook Kang Jin-ho was holding caught fire and began to burn fiercely.

“Uh… uh?”

Kim Hak-cheol stared blankly at the scene. Kang Jin-ho, shaking off the ashes of the notebook that had turned to ash in an instant, opened his mouth.

“Then.”

Kang Jin-ho walked towards the barracks. Kim Hak-cheol could only stare blankly at the scene.

‘What is that bastard?’

“So, what does that mean?”

“He burned the notebook, sir, Kang Jin-ho did.”

“And then?”

“Then he said to keep important things safe, sir.”

“Ha, damn it.”

Noh Su-bong glared at Kim Hak-cheol, as if annoyed.

Kim Hak-cheol flinched and lowered his head.

“Okay, damn it, anyway, that notebook is gone now, right?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Are you sure?”

“It’s definitely that notebook. It was a private one, so it was easy to tell. Even if we get a new one, we can’t get one that old.”

“Then it’s fine.”

“…But I don’t know what that bastard is thinking.”

“He probably wants a cut, the bastard. We should be glad he didn’t threaten us. We just need to give him some money.”

Noh Su-bong sighed. Things had gotten a bit tangled at the end, but everything was practically resolved. He put a cigarette in his mouth with a rare relaxed expression.

Night fell.

After roll call, Kim Hak-cheol, lying in his bunk, spoke to Noh Su-bong.

“It’s all over now, right, sir?”

“Yeah. Just keep your mouth shut.”

“Is there any chance that bastard will wake up, sir?”

“He’s in a vegetative state. Even if he wakes up, no one will believe him. Do you think I don’t have that much power?”

“…I feel a bit relieved now.”

With those words, Kim Hak-cheol closed his eyes. He had been restless even while sleeping, but now he felt like he could finally get some comfortable sleep.

Kim Hak-cheol, who had fallen asleep, opened his eyes to a strange sensation. It felt like a chill was constantly seeping into his body.

‘It’s cold.’

The boiler guy must not have turned on the boiler properly. Otherwise, how could it be this cold…

“Ugh?”

‘Where is this?’

Kim Hak-cheol, opening his eyes, quickly turned his head at the familiar yet strange sight.

‘The boiler room?’

Why was he here?

Unless he had developed sleepwalking, there was no reason for him to be here.

Kim Hak-cheol, trying to get up, felt a shiver as he realized his body wouldn’t move.

‘Was he having sleep paralysis?’

At that moment, a very low voice reached his ears.