Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 1514

Drip.

Drip.

The sound of water droplets falling somewhere was clearly audible.

Jeong Myeong-cheol groaned and forced his eyelids, which felt incredibly heavy, to open.

It was as if heavy weights were placed on his eyes, making it extremely difficult. But he had to open his eyes.

Because he needed to know where he was right now.

Throb!

As consciousness returned, his jaw began to throb.

‘Is the bone okay?’

He couldn’t feel anything below his jaw.

It was absurdly painful for a blow from a wimp who looked like he couldn’t even twist a chicken’s neck.

“Ugh…”

The first thing Jeong Myeong-cheol, who had forced his eyes open, felt was darkness. Even though he should be used to the dark after being unconscious, it was so dark that he couldn’t distinguish anything around him.

The phrase ‘darkness where not a single ray of light penetrates’ couldn’t be more fitting.

‘Where is this?’

Jeong Myeong-cheol desperately turned his head.

But there was nothing he could discern. In the darkness, he could only barely guess that this was indoors from the subtle silhouettes.

“Agh!”

As he tried to move his body, a sharp pain shot through his wrist. Only then did Jeong Myeong-cheol realize that he was tied to a chair. He could feel the ropes tightly wrapped around his body and hands.

Jeong Myeong-cheol’s bloodshot eyes fiercely scanned his surroundings again.

‘What kind of crazy bastards…’

Fear began to creep in.

Good lord.

To assault and kidnap someone in broad daylight and tie them up in this dark place. How could such a thing happen in South Korea?

He thought such things only happened in South American cartels. But to kidnap someone in the middle of Gangnam [a wealthy district in Seoul]? That’s just insane.

‘Okay, calm down.’

Jeong Myeong-cheol took a deep breath.

‘There’s no way they could pull this off without getting caught.’

How many CCTV cameras are there in Gangnam? And if the company found out he was missing, they would have already reported it. The route his car took would be recorded, and soon the tracks of those who kidnapped him would be discovered.

So, all Jeong Myeong-cheol had to do was wait without provoking them.

Then the police would find this place.

“Hoo, hoo!”

Jeong Myeong-cheol took a deep breath. It wasn’t like he had injured his lungs, but he kept getting short of breath.

Why was that?

Something was slowly crawling up from inside him.

He tried not to think about it, but he couldn’t shake off the unease.

‘Will they really find me?’

Jeong Myeong-cheol bit his lip tightly.

Cutting off all contact and disappearing for days was something he often did. In other words, even if he couldn’t be reached for three or four days, no one would think it was strange.

But by some miracle, they would realize he was missing and report it to the police?

Would such a miraculous thing really happen to him?

‘No.’

Jeong Myeong-cheol’s hands began to tremble.

‘Someone must have seen it, someone must have seen me getting beaten and kidnapped.’

They had to have seen it.

They absolutely had to have seen it.

Otherwise, he would be in a truly terrible situation.

‘Who is it?’

Who the hell did this?

No, that’s not it.

What’s important now isn’t who kidnapped him.

Why!

Why did they kidnap him?

Jeong Myeong-cheol’s bloodshot eyes scanned his surroundings.

Money? Is it money?

Or could it be…

‘It’s not for organs, is it?’

No. That can’t be it. If they wanted Jeong Myeong-cheol’s organs, there would be no reason to keep him alive while tied up like this. It absolutely wouldn’t be that.

Then what the hell!

His mind was tightening.

It was by no means easy to endure alone in a place where not a single ray of light penetrated, with an uneasy heart. All sorts of thoughts and anxious expectations tormented Jeong Myeong-cheol.

How much more time had passed?

Just when he had imagined all the worst-case scenarios and his brain was feeling sluggish.

Thud, thud, thud, thud.

Footsteps began to fill the otherwise silent space. Jeong Myeong-cheol, who had been slumped over with his head half-cocked, snapped his head up.

More than the anxiety of someone unknown approaching, he felt a sense of relief. Being alone in this darkness was a torture that Jeong Myeong-cheol had never experienced before.

Creak!

The door opened roughly.

Then, the person who came inside said something that Jeong Myeong-cheol had never imagined.

“What? Who turned off the lights!”

“…I turned them off?”

“Why turn them off? Why?”

“So he could sleep well.”

Jeong Myeong-cheol’s eyes wavered.

‘What the hell are these guys?’ They didn’t even bother to cover their faces. They came in nonchalantly and were giggling among themselves.

But seeing that scene, Jeong Myeong-cheol couldn’t laugh at their foolishness. He had heard what it meant for a criminal to show their face to the victim.

‘Are they going to kill me?’

Him?

What the hell did he do wrong?

Even as Jeong Myeong-cheol trembled in fear, those who had come inside were calmly talking.

“No, man. How can you leave him alone in a place where there’s barely any light? He’ll go crazy.”

“Well, it’s pretty normal over there…”

“How long has it been since you got out of there, and you’re still not over it? Let’s live like people, like people.”

“…I don’t want to hear that from you, Chief.”

“Oh? This guy’s talking back? If you do that, I’ll pack you up and send you back.”

“They won’t take me back! They won’t take me back anymore!”

One of the men who had been bickering glanced at Jeong Myeong-cheol, smirked, and approached him.

“Look at this guy, squinting his eyes. Hey!”

Slap, slap.

The man lightly slapped Jeong Myeong-cheol’s cheeks. It wasn’t a force meant to cause pain, but rather to bring him to his senses.

“It’s no use pretending, man. Everyone here is like a ghost. And man, do you know who’s standing in front of you right now? He’s a torture expert!”

“Who’s a torture expert, who! Stop making up these weird stories!”

“Huh? Isn’t that what you learn when you’re there?”

“Don’t drag a sacred national institution into this!”

“That’s what the NIS [National Intelligence Service] is like.”

“The NIS was abolished over ten years ago! And I’m a former employee, a former one!”

Jeong Myeong-cheol was completely out of it.

A torture expert?

The NIS?

Just hearing those words sent chills down his spine.

Jeong Myeong-cheol swallowed hard, thinking that the place he had been taken to might be more terrifying than he had imagined.

His parched lips cracked, and his throat felt like it was tearing apart.

“W-water… some water…”

“Ah, water?”

The man turned his head.

“Did you bring water?”

“…Me?”

“Yeah. Looks like you didn’t. Then…”

The man smiled.

“Let’s see how humanitarian you are. Will you get water for a guy who hasn’t had a drop of water all day, or will you just tell him to endure it?”

“Endure it, you bastard!”

“…This guy is worse than me.” The man.

Lee Hyun-soo chuckled and took out a water bottle from his pocket and opened the cap.

Then, he slowly poured it into Jeong Myeong-cheol’s mouth.

“Drink slowly. You’ll be in trouble if you choke on the water.”

Jeong Myeong-cheol, who had drunk the water Lee Hyun-soo gave him, coughed loudly. Lee Hyun-soo smiled at the sight.

“You drink well.”

Jeong Myeong-cheol, who had quenched his thirst, looked at Lee Hyun-soo with trembling eyes.

“W-who, who are you people?”

“Oh, you’re not using informal language? Looks like you’ve got a grasp of the situation?”

Lee Hyun-soo chuckled.

“I thought you’d start cursing and going wild, but I guess those with money have good survival skills.”

Lee Hyun-soo grabbed Jeong Myeong-cheol’s cheek and pulled it.

It was a playful action, but there was no way Jeong Myeong-cheol could laugh.

“What do you think?”

Lee Hyun-soo turned to Lee Jong-wook behind him.

“What do you mean?”

“Doesn’t this guy look innocent?”

Lee Jong-wook smirked.

“That’s how interrogations usually go.”

Even the worst villains, the moment they enter the NIS interrogation room, put on innocent eyes and look like they’re about to die from injustice. It’s to the point where anyone would think the NIS is persecuting innocent people.

A villain who has determined that resistance is impossible will desperately pretend to be innocent, even deceiving themselves.

A criminal playing a psychological game with a detective?

A villain maintaining their dignity even after being captured by a secret agency?

‘That’s in the movies.’

Reality is several times more cruel than the movies.

Jeong Myeong-cheol opened his mouth with a voice that couldn’t shake off the fear.

“W-why did you bring me here? Is it money? If you want money, I’ll give you whatever you want. So please let me go. If I get out of here, I will never report you.”

“Calm down, Mr. Jeong Myeong-cheol.”

Lee Hyun-soo smiled.

“If we wanted money, we would have kidnapped a conglomerate chairman, not you, who doesn’t even have much cash in your account. And from what I see, your chairman doesn’t seem like the type to spend money to save you?”

“T-that’s…”

Jeong Myeong-cheol nodded without realizing it.

Demand a ransom?

‘There’s no way he’d pay.’

The chairman of Taekwang Group, his grandfather, is a man who values money more than people. Compared to money, blood ties would mean nothing to him.

If he judged that he could make more money than the ransom he would pay, he would gladly pay it, but the chairman doesn’t value him that highly.

“And it’s not like we’re short on money.”

Lee Hyun-soo smiled and squatted in front of him. Then, he tapped Jeong Myeong-cheol’s shoulder.

“Do you understand?”

“…Yes?”

“We’re not people who care about money. We’re people who would live quietly in a corner if you didn’t bother us. Most of the people here aim for a simple life. People who would live in the mountains, eating grass…”

Lee Hyun-soo’s voice gradually became rougher.

“But people always have to bother us. People who are trying to live quietly. Do you understand what I mean?”

Whether Jeong Myeong-cheol understood or not, Lee Hyun-soo continued to speak.

“So, we have no choice but to do this. If we tell a bastard who looks down on people and keeps bothering us not to do it, they’ll just look down on us more. We have no choice but to cut off their hands, you see? Yeah?”

Jeong Myeong-cheol’s eyes wavered.

His body trembled.

His instincts were telling him that these words were not just simple threats.

“W-what did I do…”

“Ah…”

At that moment, Lee Hyun-soo jumped up from his seat.

“Shut your mouth, the chairman is coming.”

“Yes?”

Jeong Myeong-cheol soon understood the meaning of those words.

Thud, thud.

Heavy footsteps could be heard from the hallway leading out of the door. Jeong Myeong-cheol swallowed hard without realizing it.

From the tense faces of the two men standing in front of him, he could tell that a real big shot was coming.

Perhaps the person coming now would decide his fate.

Thinking that, Jeong Myeong-cheol’s body tensed up.

And….

Thud.

With a heavy thud, a person came inside.

“..Huh?”

And seeing that face, Jeong Myeong-cheol opened his mouth without realizing it.

“Y-you!”

There was no way he wouldn’t know.

It was a face he had seen countless times in recent commercials.

“K-Kang Jin-ho…”

Jeong Myeong-cheol’s deflated voice echoed through the basement.