Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 1491

People go on strike when they can’t take it anymore.

Up until now, Kang Jin-ho thought that people went on strike because their excessive working conditions didn’t match reality. But today, Kang Jin-ho realized that people could just throw away their work simply because they were tired.

Why?

Because Kang Jin-ho was doing just that.

Kang Jin-ho lay sprawled out, staring blankly at his phone. The uncharged phone eventually died. If it were the usual Kang Jin-ho, he would have quickly found a charger and breathed life into that tool of civilization that connected him to the world, but…

‘Too much effort.’

Today, he didn’t feel like doing that even a little bit.

At the same time, Kang Jin-ho was very embarrassed about his current state.

Who was Kang Jin-ho?

He was someone who never skipped training even while fighting endless battles in the harsh Demonic Cult [a fictional martial arts sect]. For him, physical pain and fatigue were no excuse. He had never heard of a martial artist dying from being tired.

But at this moment, Kang Jin-ho had truly let go of everything.

So this feeling is, uh, so…

“I don’t want to go to work.”

Park Yu-min, who was lying next to him, turned her head sharply.

“What?”

“What did you just say?”

Park Yu-min rubbed her eyes and checked Kang Jin-ho’s face again.

Oh my god.

‘I don’t want to go to work,’ or ‘I don’t want to go to school’… these are just common phrases for other people. But hearing those words come out of Kang Jin-ho’s mouth made Park Yu-min feel like a part of the world she knew was collapsing.

“They say you see everything if you live long enough, and now I’m seeing these words come out of Jin-ho’s mouth.”

Park Yu-min looked at Kang Jin-ho with pity.

Rain or shine, even on days when a typhoon was raging, Kang Jin-ho was the one who rode his bicycle alone to school when no one else showed up.

For those words, ‘I don’t want to go to work,’ to come out of the mouth of Kang Jin-ho, who was like a school-attending machine, it was truly lamentable how harsh Korean society must be to break even Kang Jin-ho.

“Are you okay?”

“Park Yu-min.”

“Yeah?”

“I’ve been thinking…”

“About what?”

“It seems like people have aptitudes.”

It would be much easier to fight against a thousand people.

‘I’m sorry, Cheongma [likely a name or title].’

His eyes stung.

Thinking about how Cheongma had been handling all these things while Kang Jin-ho was causing all sorts of chaos, he wanted to offer Cheongma the other side of his aching ribs.

“Jin-ho, this is just my opinion… but I think you’re a bit tired.”

“Huh?”

“People need to rest sometimes, right?”

“…I rest at night.”

“That’s not enough. But I have one question…”

“What is it?”

“Are you supposed to go to work today?”

“Yeah.”

“…It’s Sunday?”

Kang Jin-ho didn’t say anything, and Park Yu-min just looked at him.

“Uh, um…”

Kang Jin-ho scratched his head.

“When did you start going to work on Sundays?”

“Um, when did I start?”

Kang Jin-ho tilted his head.

When, when did it start? That’s…

“Since I first started working until now?”

“…When was the first time you started working?”

“After I was discharged from the military.”

Park Yu-min’s eyes shook.

“Jin-ho… you’re going to die like that.”

It was scary because it didn’t seem like a joke.

Come to think of it, Kang Jin-ho had hardly ever had the concept of a weekend since he was discharged from the military. As soon as he opened his eyes, he went to work, whether it was at the General Assembly or MK, and when he went to work, he either worked or trained.

‘Was it too much?’

Until now, he hadn’t really thought it was too much. Because he wasn’t tired.

“Didn’t you think you should rest a bit?”

“…I didn’t really have anything to do even if I rested. I don’t really have any hobbies, I don’t watch TV, I’m not interested in things like traveling, and I don’t read books either.”

“Th-then what do you do when you rest at home?”

“Usually I meditate, or, um…”

Park Yu-min covered her face with both hands.

What a barren life this was.

“Jin-ho, people need to rest. You’re going to be in real trouble if you keep going like this.”

“I’ve been fine until now.”

“You’re not fine now.”

“Hmm.”

It seemed like that was true.

“From what I see, you’re the type who can’t stand doing nothing and spacing out.”

Oh, that’s right.

“And since you don’t have any hobbies, you can’t endure your days off.”

“Hmm.”

That made sense.

“Jin-ho, how about getting a hobby?”

“Hobby?”

“Yeah.”

Kang Jin-ho scratched the back of his head.

It was easy to say, but it wasn’t like you could just get a hobby just because you wanted one. A hobby that you couldn’t enjoy would just become another form of labor.

“I don’t really enjoy anything.”

“Think about it carefully. There must be something you liked at least a little bit. People usually try to find hobbies in new and grand things. But it’s much better to think about where you usually felt joy.”

“Really?”

Kang Jin-ho narrowed his brow.

“Then, Park Yu-min, do you have a hobby?”

“Of course, I do.”

Park Yu-min said confidently.

“My hobby is cooking.”

Kang Jin-ho’s face instantly soured.

“You can only make curry, right?”

“No, I’m good at cooking. It’s just that the kids keep asking me to make curry, so I make it often.”

Kang Jin-ho quietly nodded.

It seemed that his friend, Park Yu-min, didn’t have any concerns about why the kids kept asking her to make curry all the time.

‘Well, it wouldn’t be bad.’

Hobbies and talents are different.

Talent refers to something you’re good at, but a hobby refers to something you enjoy. If you can enjoy the process, what does it matter if the result is disastrous?

And Park Yu-min’s attitude of confidently saying that her hobby was cooking was also a great inspiration to Kang Jin-ho.

“Something I enjoyed…”

Fighting?

Ah, that wouldn’t work.

Not only was there no one to fight, but if Kang Jin-ho started fighting to relieve stress, everyone at the General Assembly would surely go through hell.

A hobby shouldn’t harm others.

Then…

Kang Jin-ho tilted his head.

‘Good, good…’

He had hardly ever felt the emotion of joy while doing something. Of course, it wasn’t that life was boring, but that he hadn’t found any joy in the areas that could be considered hobbies.

Basically, the parts where Kang Jin-ho felt joy mostly came from his relationships with people.

What he enjoyed alone was…

“Huh?”

Kang Jin-ho’s eyes widened.

It wasn’t exactly a clear joy, but there was something that made him feel refreshed.

“Bicycle.”

“Oh, that’s right. Jin-ho, you used to ride your bicycle everywhere. You drive a car these days, though.”

“I did.”

Kang Jin-ho slowly nodded.

Come to think of it, he had thought about getting a new bicycle several times before.

The feeling of riding a bicycle was definitely different from the feeling of driving a car.

It was clear that a car was a much easier and more convenient way to enjoy speed, but a bicycle had a sense of unity in that you were generating the speed with your own power, and there was a refreshing feeling of directly feeling the wind.

‘Come to think of it, I think I ordered a new bicycle from Lee Hyun-soo before?’

Where was it? Did he say he was bringing it directly from Italy?

“Let’s go, Jin-ho.”

“Huh? Where to?”

“We have to go ride a bicycle.”

Kang Jin-ho stared blankly at Park Yu-min.

“You’re not tired because your body is tired anyway.”

“…That’s right.”

Park Yu-min, who now had such a high level of understanding of Kang Jin-ho that she could diagnose his condition just by looking at his expression, was now able to do so.

“Then let’s go quickly. Wouldn’t it be refreshing to ride a bicycle lightly around Seoul?”

The words ‘lightly ride a bicycle around Seoul’ were clearly wrong, but neither Park Yu-min, who was saying it, nor Kang Jin-ho, who was listening, could find anything wrong with it.

Because it was something that fell into the category of ‘really lightly’ for Kang Jin-ho.

“Let’s go. I’ll change my clothes… no. Let’s just go as we are. It’s exercise anyway.”

“Huh?”

Kang Jin-ho was led outside by Park Yu-min’s hand.

“Please give me the sturdiest one.”

“All the bicycles here are sturdy.”

“No. I mean, not just sturdy, but really sturdy.”

“…Really sturdy?” The owner’s brow furrowed. The meaning of the words ‘really sturdy’ was not clear. One meaning was a bicycle with a frame that was so strong that it could withstand any impact.

And the other meaning was a product that was well-made and had no minor defects.

‘Looking at them…’

The owner glanced at Park Yu-min and Kang Jin-ho’s attire and guessed the meaning.

‘They don’t look like they have a lot of money, so they must mean they want something that will last a long time without any minor defects. The sturdiest product here costs over ten million won, and they don’t look like the type of people who would spend that much money on a bicycle.’

The owner smiled after finishing his calculations.

“If you’re looking for such a product, this way is good. These product lines are all sturdy.”

“Jin-ho, how is it?”

Kang Jin-ho tilted his head slightly.

“I can’t tell just by looking at it.”

“Can I roll it a little?”

“Well, as long as you don’t ride it too aggressively, you can try it out. You can try it over there.”

“That’s what he said, Jin-ho.”

Kang Jin-ho nodded and picked out the thickest and sturdiest-looking bicycle and pulled it to the side.

‘Lightly, lightly.’

He was told not to ride it aggressively, so very lightly.

Kang Jin-ho got on the bicycle and put his feet on the pedals. Then, he very lightly pressed down on the pedals.

Snap.

Kang Jin-ho looked down with a blank expression.

The neatly broken pedal was rolling on the floor.

“…Please give me a sturdy one.”

“Th-that can’t be?”

The owner’s eyes widened.

‘Is it a defective product?’

That must be it.

Otherwise, how could the pedal break when it was rolled so lightly?

“Hahaha, I’m sorry. Sometimes, very, veeery rarely, a defective pedal comes out like this. Here, this one. Try this one!”

The owner quickly took out a new bicycle and handed it to Kang Jin-ho.

Kang Jin-ho got on the new bicycle with a slightly disgruntled face.

Then…

Snap.

The owner’s eyes began to tremble.

“I think you’re having a hard time understanding… please give me a sturdy one, a sturdy one.”

“Th-that can’t be?”

The flustered owner turned his head sharply.

‘What a disgrace.’

At this point, he didn’t care about the price. He went to the back, picked up a racing bicycle, and placed it in front of Kang Jin-ho.

“Here, this is the sturdiest one in our store…”

Snap!

Kang Jin-ho sighed and got off the bicycle.

“Let’s go, Yu-min. This place won’t work.”

“What’s with all these bicycles being so weak? It’s really hard to ride a bicycle.”

“I need to call Lee Hyun-soo.”

The owner, left alone, stared blankly at the two people leaving the store, grumbling.

“Y-you have to pay for the pedals. Sir? S-sir?”