Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 16

“……?”

Kang Jin-ho turned his head toward the person who had just entered.

He definitely recognized him.

“Do you remember me?”

“Yes.”

It was definitely Detective Lee Jong-in from the violent crimes unit, who had scolded Kang Jin-ho during the hostage incident in the past.

“What’s going on, Detective Park? Tell me what happened.”

After hearing the whole story, Detective Lee Jong-in nodded and put his arm around Kang Jin-ho’s shoulder.

“Hey, Detective Park. I’m going to take him out for a bit.”

“But the investigation…”

“I’ll handle the investigation. I will.”

“No…”

But Detective Lee Jong-in didn’t listen to Detective Park and took Kang Jin-ho outside.

In a secluded spot, Detective Lee Jong-in said to Kang Jin-ho.

“Do you smoke?”

“No.”

“Don’t lie, just tell me. Do you smoke?”

“One or two.”

“Here…”

Detective Lee Jong-in offered a cigarette. Kang Jin-ho took the cigarette and put it in his mouth. Then, Detective Lee Jong-in lit it for him.

He also put a cigarette in his mouth and lit it.

Lee Jong-in opened his mouth.

“You didn’t do it, right?”

“Yes.”

“Yeah, if you were that kind of guy, you wouldn’t have risked your life doing that. You’ll probably get a citizen’s bravery award soon.”

“I get it. The kid’s grandpa is the chairman of Dongmyung Foundation, right? There are already a lot of rumors about that foundation. That grandpa is also rumored to be a jerk.”

“Yes.”

“So, think of it as being bitten by a mad dog. I’ll try to handle it this time. Got it?”

“Yes.”

Kang Jin-ho took a long drag of his cigarette and exhaled.

He remembered why he used to smoke in the past.

It was because of situations like this.

The cigarette tasted bitter.

Detective Lee Jong-in, who had gone back inside, grabbed Detective Park and said.

“If the investigation is over, just send him home, right? It’s almost sunset.”

“I can’t. The victim has a six-week injury. There’s a lot to do before we can send it to court.”

“Court?”

“Yes.”

“What’s the charge?”

“Assault causing injury.”

“What the hell, are you applying assault causing injury to a kids’ fight? You shouldn’t be doing that.”

“Ah, that’s how it is.”

“So? Which hospital’s diagnosis did you get?”

“The diagnosis is not in yet…”

“Not in yet? What do you mean not in yet, you bastard! How do you know it’s a six-week injury if you don’t have the diagnosis yet?”

“Let the kid go while I’m being nice. Got it?”

“The chief will tear me apart.”

“Just say I sent him!”

“I can’t…”

Lee Jong-in got up from his seat and said to Kang Jin-ho.

“Go on, get going.”

“Ah, don’t worry, just go.”

Kang Yoo-hwan came inside.

“Is it over?”

“Yes, it’s over. Go quickly. You don’t have to come back. It’ll end with a suspension of indictment or a warning.”

“But it’s a six-week injury…”

“If you’re really unlucky, you might get a summary indictment of 500,000 won [approximately $375 USD], but I won’t let that happen, so don’t worry. Even if I have to turn the prosecutor’s office upside down, I’ll make sure it ends with a suspension of indictment.”

Lee Jong-in said to Kang Yoo-hwan.

“Are you his father?”

“Yes.”

“I talked to his mother last time, but it’s my first time meeting you, sir. Thanks to your son, we caught a serial killer without any casualties. If it weren’t for your son, the child who was taken hostage might not have survived. I don’t know what happened this time, but your son doesn’t seem like the kind of person who would do such a thing. So, don’t scold him too much.”

“I will not.”

“You have a proud son. I mean it.”

Kang Yoo-hwan closed his eyes and nodded.

“Let’s go.”

“…Yes.”

Kang Jin-ho went to Kang Yoo-hwan’s car.

“Jin-ho.”

Mr. Kim Sung-joo called him.

“Yes.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll do everything I can to make sure you don’t get suspended.”

“It’s okay.”

“If this goes on your record, you’ll have problems going to school. How can I just watch this dirty situation! I will…”

Kang Jin-ho shook his head.

“No. If you do that, you’ll get hurt. So, just leave it alone.”

Kim Sung-joo sighed.

His young student was being unfairly treated by the power of money and authority, and there was nothing he could do.

“I’m sorry.”

“No, I’m the one who’s grateful.”

Kang Yoo-hwan also bowed his head to Mr. Kim Sung-joo.

“Thank you so much for your concern.”

“What did I do? What did I…”

Kim Sung-joo muttered in a self-deprecating voice. He felt like he wanted to scream.

“Then.”

Kang Yoo-hwan put Kang Jin-ho in the car and headed home.

When Kang Jin-ho entered the house, his mother and Kang Eun-young ran to him.

“Are you okay?”

“What did they say at the station?”

Kang Yoo-hwan stopped them.

“Let him rest for a bit.”

“No, but still!”

“Dad, we’re just curious!”

“I said leave him alone!”

Kang Yoo-hwan’s voice grew louder, and his mother and sister flinched and closed their mouths.

“I’ll go in and rest first.”

“Okay, go ahead.”

Kang Jin-ho went into his room and lay down on the bed. The room was dark because the light was not on.

Kang Jin-ho closed his eyes.

He was now putting all his energy into suppressing his impulses.

He had to endure it.

If he couldn’t endure it here, Kang Jin-ho might end up killing the chairman and Choi Young-soo.

‘This is a different world.’

Kang Jin-ho gritted his teeth.

It wasn’t a world where everything could be solved by killing.

The reason he came back here was because he didn’t want that.

Kang Jin-ho pressed his blood point [a pressure point used in martial arts].

The longer he stayed awake, the greater the impulse would become, and if the suppressed Cheokcheon Demon Lord [a powerful, evil entity] within him were to awaken, something irreversible would happen.

He had to sleep quietly now.

“What? Fired?”

The next morning, Kang Yoo-hwan, who was getting ready for work, shouted while holding his phone.

“Why am I being fired all of a sudden when I was fine until yesterday?”

A low voice was heard from the other end of the phone.

[You ran a red light again yesterday.]

“Then what am I supposed to do when my kid had an accident at school! I was in a hurry, and when did I run a red light again!”

[And there were complaints about your taxi. Not just one or two.]

“You didn’t say anything about that until now!”

[Then what’s the point of saying it beforehand! We’ll just cut you off if we see that it’s not working out. Anyway, you’re fired. You don’t have to come to work.]

“Manager! This is unfair dismissal! I won’t stand still!”

[Do whatever you want if you want to sue. And do you think I’m happy about this? Just understand that I had no choice.]

The call ended.

Kang Yoo-hwan stared at the phone with a stiff face before roughly shoving it into his pocket.

“…Honey, what does this mean?”

“I’ll go find out what’s going on, so wait here.”

“No, but still…”

Kang Jin-ho, who had heard Kang Yoo-hwan’s phone conversation from inside the room, gritted his teeth.

He could tell instinctively.

That chairman had done something. Otherwise, this kind of thing couldn’t have happened overnight.

It was a familiar method.

Slowly tightening the noose and enjoying the other person’s pain.

It was a method he had seen a lot in the past.

Orthodox sects and eunuchs enjoyed this method.

In the end, they would leave a tiny bit of hope and enjoy watching them cling to it before taking even that hope away.

It might not be the same.

Things were different then and now.

But even so, Kang Jin-ho had to feel the voice calling him.

– You’ve endured a lot, haven’t you?

Kang Jin-ho closed his eyes at the voice of the Cheokcheon Demon Lord calling him.

He had grown to the point where he could call Kang Jin-ho.

And this was also Kang Jin-ho’s voice. Because he was the Cheokcheon Demon Lord, and the Cheokcheon Demon Lord was him.

He was now overwhelmed with the urge to destroy everything.

‘What went wrong?’

Kang Jin-ho stared blankly at the ceiling.

A day later, his mother received a notice of termination from the cleaning company she worked for.

The next day, Kang Eun-young, who was attending Dongmyung Girls’ Middle School, cried and made a fuss, saying that her teacher was suddenly bullying her.

And the day after that, the landlord of the house they lived in suddenly said he would raise the rent.

Kang Jin-ho, who was suspended from school and not going, had to feel the heavy atmosphere at home as he listened to all of this.

One by one each day.

The chairman’s clutches were slowly tightening around Kang Jin-ho.

Darkness fell over the sky…

Kang Jin-ho got up from his seat.

He opened the door and went outside.

It was their three-room home that they had moved into with difficulty, thinking that Kang Jin-ho and Kang Eun-young needed their own rooms as they grew up. His father was sitting on the floor, drinking alone.

“Where are you going?”

“I’m just going out for a bit.”

“Okay.”

As Kang Jin-ho put on his shoes and opened the door, Kang Yoo-hwan called him.

“Jin-ho.”

“Yes?”

“I’m sorry.”

“Why are you sorry, Dad?”

“You didn’t do anything wrong.”

“If I were a father, I should be praising you. You did well, my son. Don’t worry. But I don’t have the power or ability to say that you did well for what you did well. I… I’m sorry, my son…”

Kang Jin-ho’s hand, which was holding the doorknob, tightened.

“…Don’t say that.”

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry…”

Kang Jin-ho closed the door and went outside.

When he turned his head after leaving the house, he could see the shantytown climbing up a steep slope.

Kang Jin-ho went up the shantytown.

When he reached the highest point, the sky with the large moon seemed to be within reach.

‘What went wrong?’

He just wanted to live a normal life.

He wanted to live a normal life, laughing and chatting like everyone else. But now, that life was moving further away.

What went wrong?

Was it because he couldn’t hold back?

If Kang Jin-ho hadn’t touched Choi Young-soo at that moment, would he be living a normal life now?

Was it because he trusted others?

Did he believe that even if he touched Choi Young-soo, others would tell the truth as they saw it?

Or was it because he was foolishly standing by and watching the situation?

Should he have dealt with the impending threat more quickly?

Bang!

Kang Jin-ho’s fist slammed into the ground.

Kang Jin-ho smiled.

He knew.

None of that was the cause. There was only one cause.

‘It’s no different here either.’

He was mistaken to believe that this place would be different just because swords weren’t flying around and there weren’t things threatening lives.

This was also a place where people lived.

Nowhere was different.

The only thing needed for people to live like people in a place where people lived was one thing.

Power.

Kang Jin-ho accepted what he had been trying to ignore.

Both in the martial world and in the modern world, it was survival of the fittest.

The strong enjoyed everything, and the weak became prey and entertainment.

No matter how good you lived, if the strong decided to, it was nothing for that life to go wrong.

That was the truth of this world.

Kang Jin-ho realized.

No, he had known from the beginning what he had done wrong.

“I wanted to live a normal life.”

If you want something, you shouldn’t just wish for it.

If there’s something you want, you have to move to achieve it.

That was the truth of life.

He wanted to live a normal life?

Then he had to work to live a normal life.

The only thing Kang Jin-ho had felt in a short period of time was one thing.

“You need power to live a normal life.”

Kang Jin-ho smiled.

His white teeth shone eerily like those of a beast hunting for prey.

“I wanted to live a normal life. But…”

Kang Jin-ho said as if spitting out the words while looking at the sky.

“You guys are the ones who touched me.”

Kang Jin-ho closed his eyes.

The being that had been residing deep within his consciousness was slowly approaching Kang Jin-ho.