Descent Of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 1586

“It’s here!”

“Oh!”

Analysts swarmed in front of the monitors, all at once.

“Transmission complete?”

“It just came in!”

“Good, now we can get to work.”

Wayne Russell stared at the screen, his eyes gleaming with excitement.

“I don’t know why this is so old-fashioned. Having to wait for the video to come through.”

“They say live feeds aren’t possible for security reasons. You have to consider that it’s a video from the other side of the world. They also said we can’t use satellites because of the risk of hacking. We’re using a dedicated hotline.”

“Inconvenient, very inconvenient.”

An analyst clicked his tongue as he watched the graphs populate the screen.

“It feels like 20 years ago. Waiting for the transmission, feeling all excited, it’s like being back in high school.”

“Back then, it would have been photos.”

“Probably bikinis.”

“Shut up, you idiots. What I received was a thesis.”

Wayne Russell chuckled, then fidgeted with his mouse, a hint of anxiety in his movements.

‘The Eastern Demon King’s training method, huh…’

Wayne Russell’s lips curled into a slight smile.

This was truly invaluable information. No other country in the world would be able to obtain such classified data.

Since the United States had decided to train elite warriors, they had been trying to acquire the training methods of influential figures through numerous channels. However, they had barely managed to get their hands on any effective training regimens.

All they had obtained were basic training routines or methods that were not very effective.

Rather than relying on such things, they decided to establish their own training method, incorporating scientific principles to create the Special Operations Brigade (SOB).

And now, they were receiving the Demon King’s training method.

‘He’s at least one of the top five strongest in the world.’

And it was safe to say that he was the best in the world at teaching and leading others. After all, this man had transformed Korea, once just a buffer zone in East Asia, into the center of global attention in just a few years.

Wayne Russell stared at the screen, his heart pounding, and double-clicked the transmitted video.

The video began to play on the main screen in the center.

Everyone watched the screen, feeling like they should grab some popcorn.

However, the analysts’ faces began to sour as they watched the video unfold.

“…What is this?”

“Is the video messed up?”

“…Is there something else?”

The videos being transmitted in succession changed and played one after another. But ultimately, the content remained the same.

“I-is this the Demon King’s training method?”

“Are you kidding me?”

Wayne Russell stared blankly at the screen. He saw a soldier, half-blinded by sweat and saliva, being kicked and sent flying by Kang Jin-ho.

Kang Jin-ho approached the fallen soldier, grabbed him by the collar, and began dragging him away. Kang Jin-ho arrived at a corner of the parade ground that could be called a track and pushed the soldier into the group of people running.

“Just running?”

“No. You can’t call that simple. They’re running at world-record speeds continuously.”

“But still, it’s just running.”

“I don’t think the people running feel that way?”

The analysts could see it too.

The runners looked half out of their minds.

It was like the faces of people finishing the last day of a 1,000km march.

Thud, thud.

Some of the runners couldn’t take it anymore and collapsed on the ground, but those who were following behind just indifferently jumped over them and kept running.

Then, those who had been waiting on the side jumped in and dragged the fallen ones out.

“Last one standing?”

“I don’t know. What are they doing? This is just plain bullying.”

“Can you get stronger like that? It looks like they’ll just hurt themselves.”

“Damn it, is that guy trying to ruin our soldiers?”

The reaction was overwhelmingly negative.

Wayne Russell frowned as he watched the scene.

‘That’s a natural reaction.’

It wasn’t like the United States didn’t have its own version of the ‘grit’ mentality. In the past, during the Wild West era, the saying that ‘the brave can dodge bullets’ was naturally accepted in the United States.

However, that ‘grit’ mentality was thoroughly refuted as society and science developed.

Basically, everything follows laws. Sports training used to focus on how much intense training one could endure, but decades ago, it shifted to balancing training and recovery.

But now, they were seeing a relic of the old days, so how could they view it positively?

“Crazy! Stop that right now!”

“Calm down. We don’t have the authority to do that.”

“Authority? Are you going to say we don’t have authority even after the soldiers are all ruined?”

Wayne Russell scratched his head.

“Let’s wait and see for now. I’ll try to use the upper channels to give feedback.”

Wayne sighed and left the analysis room.

‘This is troublesome.’

Reggie Mercer pressed his temples.

[Make them stop immediately.]

“Even if you say that, there’s nothing I can do. In the first place, I only have command authority, and we gave them full authority over the training, didn’t we? I can’t say anything unless there are casualties, no matter what kind of training they do.”

[Are you saying that after seeing that old-fashioned, ghostly training method?]

“Old-fashioned ghost?”

Reggie chuckled.

“Is that something you should say, coming from the side that was crushed by that old-fashioned ghost? That’s just ridiculous.”

There was no reply from the other end of the line.

They had nothing to say.

“I’ll try to say something. But don’t get your hopes up. This isn’t something I pushed for. You know what will happen if the people who pushed for this change their minds in just one day.”

[Ugh.]

Reggie Mercer chuckled.

“And in my opinion, don’t think of that as just an old-fashioned ghost. Their understanding of warriors is incomparably higher than ours. And the Kang Jin-ho I’ve seen is not someone who simply repeats the ghosts of the past.”

[Hmm.]

“Leave it be. If it gets too much, I’ll try to stop it.”

[I’ll leave it to you for now. Please talk to the corps commander as well.]

“Yes.”

Reggie Mercer hung up the phone and clicked his tongue.

“Useless.”

It wasn’t that he didn’t understand their worries. But wasn’t this how it was supposed to be?

Breaking away from the existing method and adopting a new one was always like this. There was bound to be resistance.

Whether they could overcome that resistance or not would determine whether they could move forward.

Reggie Mercer tossed his phone down and got up from his seat. Then, he walked out, pulling back the cloth that covered the tent entrance.

The chaotic scene of the parade ground came into his view.

“Ugh…”

It was bad.

Reggie Mercer remembered the soldiers who had been lined up here just a little while ago.

They were so strong and impressive that his 15th Division, which he had built into a powerful force, looked like children. He had felt proud to be appointed as the commander of this dispatched division.

But now…

“C-Commander… Commander.”

“Save… Save me…”

“We’re going to die. We’re going to die like this.”

Reggie Mercer smiled gently.

“Do I look like I have any power?”

“Run.”

The light disappeared from the soldiers’ eyes. Reggie Mercer turned his body slightly. In fact, there was nothing he could really do. What did he know about warrior training methods that he could say to Kang Jin-ho?

He saw Kang Jin-ho walking around the middle of the parade ground as if he were taking a stroll.

And…

“Would you like a cup?”

He also saw Lee Hyun-soo, who had brought a portable chair to one end of the parade ground and was pouring coffee from a thermos.

‘Why is this guy so annoying?’

He wasn’t doing anything that great, so why did he feel like he wanted to smack him in the back of the head?

“I’m fine.”

“It’s delicious.”

“…Then one cup.”

Lee Hyun-soo grinned and poured coffee into a paper cup, handing it to Reggie Mercer.

Reggie took the coffee, took a sip, and stood next to Lee Hyun-soo.

“Can I ask you one thing?”

“Ask me anything.”

“…Do you train like this in the Assembly [a military organization] too?”

Lee Hyun-soo chuckled.

“Oh, come on. We don’t train like this in the Assembly.”

“Right?”

“Our guys all finish this kind of thing before they even join the Assembly. The condition of the guys here is so bad that we have no choice but to go back to the basics.”

Reggie Mercer’s eyes widened.

“W-what? Basics?”

This?

Lee Hyun-soo took a sip of his coffee and chuckled.

“They’re lucky.”

“Huh?”

“To receive basic training from the Lord [referring to Kang Jin-ho]. They’re getting a privilege that no one in the Assembly has ever received. I don’t know if I should say they’re amazing.”

Reggie Mercer stared blankly at the parade ground.

A privilege?

That’s a privilege?

They all looked like they were about to die.

“But this is too old-fashioned…”

“Hey, watch your words. The Lord will glare at you if he hears that. Even a normal person would have a heart attack if he just gets in a bad mood.”

“You seem to be mistaken, but don’t think that Eastern training methods are unconditionally old-fashioned. Of course, there are still old-fashioned, unscientific training methods. But just like you guys are developing, we are too.
We eliminate training that isn’t rational.”

“Then you’re saying that’s a rational training method?”

“It’s very rational. Even sports players do light running before training or to build up their stamina, right?”

“Light?”

“Yes. Light.”

Lee Hyun-soo glanced at the people running around the parade ground.

“Scientific training methods? They’re good. But that science is basically made for the general public. Isn’t that right?”

“So you don’t give any weight?”

“Weight? They have this much stamina, so we should give them several times more intense training than the average person? Don’t be ridiculous. You don’t understand what warriors are. Those bastards will be out playing soccer the next day even if their arms and legs are broken.”

“Training that doesn’t take into account the recovery power of warriors is just stretching for them. They’ve been collecting data while doing that stretching for over ten years. To be honest, the data you’ve collected is all garbage.”

Reggie Mercer’s face hardened at Lee Hyun-soo’s harsh words.

“Hmm, was I a bit harsh?”

“No. It’s not like I collected it.”

Lee Hyun-soo turned his head slightly and looked at Reggie Mercer.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.”

Lee Hyun-soo turned his head back.

It seemed like this guy was a bit strange too.

He chuckled as he looked at the SOBs running in circles, leaning back in his chair.

“They must have been expecting it.”

That they had found a quick way to get stronger.

But the truth of the world is simple. Nothing is gained without a price, and there is no shortcut.