Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 1415

“Going to America?”

“Yes.”

“Why America?”

“Yumin has the finals this time…”

Kang Jin-ho felt a strange sensation even as he explained.

‘No, is going to America such a strange thing?’

Most people go to America several times in their lives, but Kang Jin-ho found himself making excuses and repeating the same words every time he brought it up.

What had he done wrong in his life?

Baek Hyun-jung narrowed her brow.

“Is it something you absolutely have to go for?”

“…Huh?”

Baek Hyun-jung sighed deeply.

“You got arrested after going abroad last time. Now, just the mention of going overseas makes my heart race.”

“That was China…”

“America or China, it’s all the same when it comes to taking a plane.”

At this rate, she might even ban him from going to Jeju Island.

Kang Jin-ho chuckled wryly and said,

“It’ll be fine this time. It’s not just me going; the kids from the orphanage and people from the company are going too.”

“…Is that so?”

“China had poor security, so there were bound to be problems, but nothing like that will happen in America.”

“What are you talking about? I heard Americans carry guns. What if you get shot?”

Chinese people also carried guns. I even got hit by a missile.

…It’s better not to mention that, right?

If Kang Jin-ho told Baek Hyun-jung everything that had happened to him, she would tie him up with an iron chain and lock him in a room. It wasn’t that Baek Hyun-jung was strange; any parent with a child would react the same way.

“Go and come back safely.”

“Honey!”

Baek Hyun-jung’s eyes flashed, and Kang Yu-hwan slightly narrowed his brow.

“It’s not like it’s anything else; he’s going to support his friend. Of course, he should go!”

“No, but the kid…”

“Don’t you understand what I’m saying? He’s going to support his friend, his friend!”

“Huh?”

Baek Hyun-jung tilted her head, not understanding Kang Yu-hwan’s words.

“You need to know what kind of son you have.”

Ah… Loyalty? Jin-ho is definitely a loyal guy, but…

“With that face and that personality, he hasn’t had a single friend other than Yumin for over twenty years, from school until now!”

It felt like someone had just stabbed me in the chest.

Kang Jin-ho groaned in unspeakable pain.

“A man should at least have one friend he can drink and talk with when things get tough.”

“You have company people. You’re always with them.”

“It’s different from that! It’s a friend, a friend! You can leave a company, and you can break up with a girlfriend. But a friend is for life. Lately, it seems like you’ve been doing this and that, and you’ve become distant from Yumin.”

“Ah, no. We’re not distant…”

“What if he ends up falling out with Yumin and becomes a friendless kid? Will you take responsibility for that?”

“W-Well, that’s a bit…”

Baek Hyun-jung and Kang Yu-hwan simultaneously looked at Kang Jin-ho with strange expressions.

Kang Jin-ho found their gaze very uncomfortable.

You shouldn’t look at people like that. Especially not your parents.

“You’ve thought it through well. Go and come back safely.”

“…I didn’t want this kind of atmosphere.”

“Well, Yumin has taken care of our Jin-ho a lot since he was young.”

Park Yumin?

Me?

It felt like I was witnessing a historical distortion.

Unable to bear the injustice, Kang Jin-ho said something he didn’t need to say.

“It’s not that Park Yumin took care of me, it’s that I…”

“It’s the same thing.”

“Huh?”

Kang Yu-hwan chuckled.

“Now that you have company people and Choi Yeon-ha, you can do whatever you want, but what would you have done in school if it weren’t for Yumin? You didn’t have any friends.”

It was so true that I couldn’t even think of a rebuttal.

Thinking about it that way, Park Yumin seemed very precious…

No, that’s not it.

Baek Hyun-jung nodded as if she understood.

“Okay, go and come back safely. Yumin has done so much for our Jin-ho… You have to go. You have to go and support him. Aside from that, I really hope Yumin succeeds and lives well.”

It was heartwarming, but it felt like something strange was mixed in with the warmth.

Anyway, I got permission.

“I’m going too! To America!”

A tackle that was incomparable to anything before came fiercely from right behind me.

Kang Jin-ho looked at Kang Eun-young, who had suddenly appeared, with a disgruntled expression.

“…Why you again?”

“Because I want to go! Take me too! If you’re going to support Yumin oppa [older brother], you can take me too.”

“The company people are going.”

Even if the company people weren’t going, I wouldn’t want to take Kang Eun-young with me.

When she was young, she was quite pretty and cute.

Now, her looks have improved so much that she gets called pretty countless times when she goes out, but why does she seem more pathetic as time goes on?

Siblings are an incomprehensible relationship.

“Oppa [older brother] is always going to China and America to play, but we’ve never been abroad. What’s the point of making money and succeeding? You don’t even send Mom and me on a trip!”

“Eun-young, what about Dad?”

“Dad has to open the store.”

Kang Yu-hwan was truly realizing the saying that raising a daughter is useless.

“Next time, I’ll take you next time.”

“Really?”

“…Really.”

Baek Hyun-jung caught those words.

“That’s right, Jin-ho. We should go on a family trip sometime. Your dad has never taken Mom overseas in his entire life. It’s my wish to go abroad at least once thanks to my son.”

“W-We went to Jeju Island.”

“You go there as much as you want.”

And so, Kang Jin-ho promised that he would definitely go on a family trip next time, and only then was he able to get permission and return to his room.

‘I’m drained.’

Kang Jin-ho chuckled.

Still, he was relieved that they had given him permission. In the past, he would have wondered why he needed permission for something like this, but now, Kang Yu-hwan and Baek Hyun-jung were sensitive to everything that happened to Kang Jin-ho.

It hadn’t been long since he had been released from the detention center.

How many people experience their child going in and out of a detention center in their lives? Still, he was relieved that they were quickly regaining their stability.

Kang Jin-ho sat on the edge of the bed and narrowed his brow.

“I’ll understand this once. However, let me say this in advance…”

Kang Jin-ho said in a slightly lowered voice.

“If you enter my house without permission again, I’ll break your head.”

“Please forgive me.”

The Blood Demon, who had appeared from the darkness, bowed his head. Kang Jin-ho looked at the Blood Demon with a very uncomfortable expression.

Other places didn’t matter.

But not this place.

For Kang Jin-ho, this house was where his family lived, and it was the last line of defense that he had to protect no matter what.

The thought of that dark figure stepping into such a place with muddy feet made him feel murderous.

The Blood Demon, sensing Kang Jin-ho’s mood, bowed his head even deeper.

“I am sorry. My subordinates are still lacking.”

“It’s fine.”

Kang Jin-ho waved his hand.

If it had been intentional, he wouldn’t have let it go, but this was something he really didn’t know about.

“What’s the matter?”

“I received a message from China. First of all, those who were monitoring the Lord’s house have all withdrawn. And additionally, all monitoring through CCTV and satellites will be stopped.”

Kang Jin-ho quietly nodded.

“…But did they really use satellites to monitor people?”

“It’s common. You can assume that international criminals and those with high risk are all under satellite surveillance.”

Kang Jin-ho looked bewildered.

He had heard similar things, but he thought it was just a bluff. He never imagined they would actually use satellites to monitor a single person.

It was hard to tell if the scale was too big or too small.

“However, there is one thing you should know.”

“What?”

“It’s only China that has stopped monitoring. We don’t know what other countries are doing.”

“…You might as well say that each of the Three Kings has a satellite.”

“They are strangely conservative, so they show a sense of rejection towards science and technology. That’s why some people are frustrated to death.”

It must be guys like Chai Ke-chang. Kang Jin-ho sighed.

Anyway, the fact that China has stopped monitoring is good news. This was something that Kang Jin-ho couldn’t do anything about. No matter how strong he was, there was no way he could deal with a camera filming from outside the atmosphere.

Only someone like Superman could do something about that. Kang Jin-ho hadn’t reached that level yet.

“And this.”

The Blood Demon took out a stack of documents from his chest and handed them to Kang Jin-ho.

“This is a list of those who helped China monitor the Lord through CCTV. It will probably be useful in negotiating with the government.”

“Give it to Lee Hyun-soo.”

“…To Director Lee?” The Blood Demon tilted his head.

“Lord, no, Demon Lord.”

The title changed.

Until now, it was official business, but from now on, it was a personal matter.

“I don’t understand why the Demon Lord trusts him and keeps him by your side. He may be capable, but there are plenty of capable people among the Murim [martial arts world]. If you wish, I can recommend someone to you.”

“It’s okay.”

“But…”

“Blood Demon.”

Kang Jin-ho cut off the Blood Demon’s words in a low voice.

“How different do you think you and Lee Hyun-soo look in my eyes?”

The Blood Demon lowered his head.

It wasn’t wrong.

From Kang Jin-ho’s perspective, there was no difference in the power of the Blood Demon and Lee Hyun-soo. People don’t compare the fighting power of an ant and a mayfly. They just crush them with their fingers.

“Lee Hyun-soo has abilities you don’t know about. Don’t be so nosy.”

“Yes. I will reconsider.”

“And…”

“Yes.”

“If you want to live among people, abandon the old way of judging everything by force. That’s why the Demonic Cult and the Blood Cult are outdated.”

“I will keep that in mind.”

Kang Jin-ho stared at the Blood Demon.

Strangely, looking at the Blood Demon reminded him of himself when he first returned to this world. Back then, Kang Jin-ho also struggled to adapt to the world.

Of course, it wasn’t easy now either.

“Try to adapt. People must also know how to adapt to the world. Even if you have devoted yourselves to the cult, if you don’t make an effort to change yourselves, you will eventually become obsolete.”

“Yes, Demon Lord.”

“Go.”

“Just in case, I have set up the cult’s magic around the house. If there is an intruder, I will be the first to know.”

Kang Jin-ho curled up the corners of his mouth.

“Good work.”

“It was nothing.”

The Blood Demon smiled like a child.

Then, he slowly disappeared into the darkness.

‘It feels like I’m raising a kid.’

He had the ability, but he had too many rough edges to adapt to society. It would take a long time to smooth out those rough edges.

Time would take care of that.

Kang Jin-ho flopped onto the bed.

‘America…’

Going to a new place was exciting, but Kang Jin-ho was more worried than excited.

‘Hopefully, nothing will happen this time.’

It was just like going on a tour.

Until now, going abroad was always an extension of work. But this time, it really had nothing to do with work, so he felt strange.

“If something really happens this time, I’m never going abroad again.”

It was a promise that might not be kept.