Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 150

Click.

Kang Jin-ho put a cigarette in his mouth and lit it.

“Am I going to get beaten if I mess up?”

He had watched many of his seniors get rolled up in blankets [a form of hazing]. Kang Jin-ho hadn’t particularly participated, but he wouldn’t take it seriously if someone tried to roll him up.

Looking back, the military was a strange place.

It was more rigid than any other place in Korean society, yet it was also a place where people were bound together by a sense of camaraderie more than anywhere else.

If it weren’t for the fact that time seemed to move so slowly, it could be considered not such a bad place. Especially for Kang Jin-ho, who had gained something from it.

Kang Jin-ho closed his eyes, checking the energy flowing within his body.

‘About thirty percent, huh?’

It seemed he had recovered about thirty percent of the level he had reached in the Murim world [a world of martial arts and cultivation]. It had already been five years since he had returned to this world, and he had only recovered thirty percent.

It was disheartening to think about when he would be able to return to his original level.

It was partly because the level he had reached in Murim was so high, but also because the energy he could gather in this world was not as abundant as in Murim.

Was it a limitation of this world?

If he hadn’t entered this deep mountain valley and had the time to focus on martial arts for nearly two years, reaching this level would have been impossible.

‘Maybe I don’t need to recover everything.’

Certainly, the level of the past Heavenly Demon Lord [a powerful figure in Murim] was excessive in this world.

Excessiveness always invites disaster.

It would be fortunate if he could hide it, but the moment his hidden power was revealed, disaster would come.

Considering that, he had to be cautious about increasing his power further, but…

Suddenly, Kang Jin-ho’s eyes darkened. Them.

They were in this world.

He didn’t know how they would appear.

They hadn’t bothered him much during his military service, but now that he was returning to society, there was a high probability that they would contact him.

Considering his relationship with them, he couldn’t be satisfied with this level of power.

Creak.

The door opened, and Joo Young-gi came out, clutching his back.

“Ugh.”

Kang Jin-ho couldn’t help but laugh at the sight.

‘He got it.’

He must have been thoroughly beaten before coming out.

“Ah, those bastards.”

“You should have been more moderate.”

“What did I even do!”

Joo Young-gi sounded wronged.

Kang Jin-ho hadn’t particularly punished the members of the 1st living quarters. It was certainly a sin for them to have condoned Joo Young-gi’s actions, but it wasn’t a sin big enough for Kang Jin-ho to deal with himself.

It was Joo Young-gi, not Kang Jin-ho, who punished that sin.

Kang Jin-ho had simply moved the officers to appoint Joo Young-gi as the squad leader and subtly gave him power. Backed by the officers and Kang Jin-ho, Joo Young-gi had gone on a rampage.

From Kang Jin-ho’s perspective, it was fortunate that Joo Young-gi had returned without any aftereffects, but from the perspective of the 1st living quarters, it certainly wasn’t fortunate.

“You got what you deserved.”

“Ugh.”

Joo Young-gi shook his head.

“Wow, did you see Lee Sang-yeop? That bastard… his eyes were full of venom.”

“I saw.”

“That jerk, after all I did for him.”

Kang Jin-ho laughed.

Of course, what he considered ‘doing well’ was subjective, and everyone’s thoughts could be different, but from a general perspective, Joo Young-gi should be grateful that Lee Sang-yeop hadn’t beaten him to death.

Perhaps because he had been on the receiving end, he didn’t mentally torment them or make them do excessive work.

He just nagged.

It wasn’t that he wanted to kill them because he hated them, but that he made them want to beat him to death out of frustration, which was Joo Young-gi’s specialty.

“It’s been eventful.”

“Yeah, it’s been eventful.”

“What are you going to do when you get out of society?”

At Joo Young-gi’s question, Kang Jin-ho seemed to ponder for a moment before answering.

“First of all…”

“I have to go back to school.”

Joo Young-gi frowned.

“Why are you making such an obvious thing sound like you’re thinking so hard? It’s nothing special.”

“What about you?”

This time, Joo Young-gi sighed as if he was pondering.

“I’m not sure yet. I didn’t come from school like you…”

“Are you going back to your hometown?”

“Originally, I should have, but Min-gi is in Seoul now, and my grandmother is also in Seoul, so it would be better for me to settle in Seoul rather than going back down, wouldn’t it?”

“That’s right.”

“It seems better for me to get a job in Seoul than for Min-gi to transfer schools. There are so many companies in Seoul, there must be a place for me to work.”

Kang Jin-ho also thought that was right.

Because Jo Gyu-min had already taken care of it, Joo Young-gi’s father was isolated from his family. And to receive Jo Gyu-min’s protection, Joo Young-gi’s younger brother, Joo Min-gi, was in Seongsim Orphanage, and his grandmother was focusing on treatment.

It wouldn’t be a problem for her to live at home, but to fully recover her health, which wasn’t good in many places, she decided to stay in a rehabilitation hospital until Joo Young-gi returned.

So, it was right for Joo Young-gi to adjust to their living area.

“Hey.”

“Yeah?”

“Damn it, pick up your phone.”

“Huh?”

“They say that even the guys who acted like they’d give you their liver in the military don’t contact you after they’re discharged, and you’re so aloof, it’s obvious. If you don’t pick up, I’ll find you and kill you.”

“Ha…”

Kang Jin-ho chuckled.

It was a big deal to express affection like this. He was worried that later, if he got a girlfriend and she didn’t marry him, he would threaten to kill her.

Of course, he wasn’t that crazy.

“Okay.”

“Don’t not answer the phone, seriously. I know where you live and your school. I’ll show you what a real mess is.”

“…I said okay.”

Honestly, this threat was a bit scary.

He was worried about what his mother would say if she saw Joo Young-gi causing a ruckus.

—Jin-ho, did you make friends with a gangster in the military?

He had to prevent that situation at all costs.

“And Jin-ho.”

“Yeah.”

“I wanted to ask you something…”

“Yeah.”

Joo Young-gi stared at Kang Jin-ho. His lips moved as if he was about to say something, but in the end, he didn’t open them.

“Never mind. It’s nothing.”

“You’re so bland.”

“There’s no point in wasting time asking since you’re obviously not going to answer. Ah, I’m going in. It seems like those guys are at least buying some frozen food, I’ll get hit again if I stay out here. I’m going in.”

“Okay.”

Kang Jin-ho smiled faintly as he watched Joo Young-gi’s back.

He already knew what Joo Young-gi was going to say. It was probably about Kim Hak-cheol and Noh Su-bong.

He hadn’t said anything to Joo Young-gi. And Joo Young-gi hadn’t asked anything either. But it seemed like Joo Young-gi already had an idea.

Perhaps Joo Young-gi was the person who knew Kang Jin-ho the best in the entire battery.

“Is it discharge time now?”

His military life hadn’t been particularly difficult or deeply moving, but the idea of discharge strangely made his heart flutter.

As Kang Jin-ho was calmly thinking about his discharge, he had to greet an unexpected visitor.

“Mister.”

“Yeah?”

“They want you to come to the battalion commander’s office?”

Kang Jin-ho got up from his seat.

He didn’t know why they were calling him, but if they were calling him, there must be a reason, so he would just go.

Kang Jin-ho arrived at the battalion commander’s office and knocked on the door.

“Come in.”

At the voice coming from inside, Kang Jin-ho opened the door and went inside.

Kang Jin-ho tilted his head when he saw the person inside.

He remembered the person. But he wasn’t someone he had any particular reason to meet.

“Sir!”

Kang Jin-ho saluted, and the person inside nodded.

“You can go out.”

“Yes, sir.”

The battalion commander nodded to the person sitting on the sofa and went outside.

As the door closed, the person who was sitting looked at Kang Jin-ho with a subtle expression.

“Please, sit down.”

‘Honorifics?’

Kang Jin-ho’s eyebrows twitched.

It was strange that this person had come to see him, but it was even stranger that he was using honorifics with him.

Even though his discharge was only a day away, he was still a sergeant, and the person sitting in front of him was a major.

“Is it unexpected?”

“A little bit.”

“I see.”

“I didn’t think I would see you again, Major Nam Tae-sik.”

The person sitting was Major Nam Tae-sik.

He was the one who had called Kang Jin-ho separately when Joo Young-gi’s incident had occurred and asked him to talk about Joo Young-gi.

His face, as he pleaded that there was no way that no one was at fault when such a terrible incident had occurred, was still vivid in Kang Jin-ho’s mind.

At least, he was the only one among those Kang Jin-ho had observed who had sincerely tried to reveal the truth.

So, he had a relatively good impression of him.

“What brings you here?”

“I don’t think this is a suitable place to talk.”

Nam Tae-sik got up from his seat.

“Shall we go out for a bit?”

Kang Jin-ho frowned at Nam Tae-sik’s incomprehensible behavior. But he didn’t particularly refuse his suggestion.

If the person in front of him was the same person he had seen before, there must be a reason for his current actions.

If so, he would just follow along for now. It wasn’t Kang Jin-ho’s style to question things just because he had a few doubts.

When they went outside, a Rexton [a type of SUV] that Nam Tae-sik had driven was parked at the entrance. Nam Tae-sik called the battalion commander and had a conversation, and then the battalion commander nodded to Kang Jin-ho.

“Let’s go.”

“Yes, sir.”

Kang Jin-ho got into the Rexton without a word.

Then, Nam Tae-sik immediately drove the car and took Kang Jin-ho out of the battery.

Nam Tae-sik stopped the car not far from the battery, but in a secluded place.

Nam Tae-sik took out a cigarette from his pocket and offered it to Kang Jin-ho.

Kang Jin-ho quietly took the cigarette and put it in his mouth.

Click.

Nam Tae-sik lit the cigarette in Kang Jin-ho’s mouth and slowly opened his mouth.

“I heard you’re being discharged now.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Then what are you planning to do in the future?”

Kang Jin-ho didn’t answer, just quietly took a drag of his cigarette and slowly exhaled the smoke.

“It seems like you’ll have a lot to do when you go out into society.”

Kang Jin-ho frowned slightly and opened his mouth.

“Before that, I would like to ask why you are asking me such things and why you have been using honorifics since earlier. Such honorifics are not appropriate between a soldier and an officer.”

Nam Tae-sik gave a subtle smile.

“But it’s only natural.”

Kang Jin-ho momentarily thought of the name Hwang Jung-hoo. Since he was about to be discharged, was he going to be treated socially because he was related to Hwang Jung-hoo?

If that was the case, he couldn’t help but be disappointed.

But…

Nam Tae-sik’s next words completely shattered Kang Jin-ho’s thoughts.

An answer he had never imagined came out of Nam Tae-sik’s mouth.

“If we only consider the years you’ve lived, Mr. Kang Jin-ho, you are more than qualified to receive honorifics. Don’t you think so, returnee?”

Kang Jin-ho’s eyes turned to Nam Tae-sik’s smiling face.