Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 1636

Move (5)

“I’m home.”

“You’re back?”

“Yes.”

“Dinner?”

“Not yet. Is there any rice?”

“We were just about to eat. Come on over.”

“Okay. Let me change first.”

Kang Jin-ho went into his room, took off his outdoor clothes, and shoved them into the closet. After changing into light workout clothes, he opened the door and walked to the dining table.

“Oppa, you’re home early today?”

“You seemed busy lately.”

Kang Jin-ho shrugged.

“I just seemed busy, I wasn’t that busy.”

“Really?”

Kang Jin-ho narrowed his eyes and asked Kang Eun-young.

“You’re the one who seems busy these days, aren’t you?”

“Huh? Uh-huh? Huh?”

“You’re going out often.”

“Ah….”

Kang Eun-young answered nonchalantly.

“No… it’s just that the new album is almost ready, so there are a lot of things to do.”

‘Look at this?’

She’s lying so casually without changing her expression, but Kang Jin-ho could feel Kang Eun-young’s body temperature rising.

“Hmm.”

“Why?”

“No. It’s nothing.”

Kang Jin-ho smiled wryly and picked up his spoon.

“Where’s Father?”

The bowl is there, but the person is missing.

“He just went in to take a call.”

“At this hour?”

“The factory is still running, you know. It seems your father takes calls and solves problems if there are any. Didn’t you know that while you were using him?”

“……I wasn’t using him.”

“Okay.”

Baek Hyun-jung chuckled softly.

“I wasn’t trying to scold you. I actually think it’s a good thing. Lately, your father seems like he’s living. Before this job, what was it? That… manner, manner…”

“Manners maketh man?”

“What are you talking about?”

Kang Eun-young giggled and said.

“Mannerism, mannerism.”

“Right. He was stuck in that mannerism, just going through the motions every day, but these days he’s talking loudly on the phone… Anyway, it’s good to see.”

“Isn’t it just that he has more work?”

“People need work. It’s a source of energy. Isn’t that right, Eun-young?”

“……Why are you doing this to me, Mom?”

“No, just because.”

Baek Hyun-jung smiled gently.

“Eat your food.”

“Yes.”

Kang Jin-ho picked up his spoon and started eating.

Soon after, Kang Yu-hwan opened the door and walked out.

“Is something wrong?”

“No, no. It’s nothing. There was a problem with the coffee beans I ordered.”

“Did you make a mistake in the order?”

“The order was correct, but it seems the wrong items were delivered. These things happen sometimes. As long as we deal with it quickly, there won’t be any problems.”

“That’s a relief.”

Kang Yu-hwan grinned.

“Hey, you brat. You think it’s resolved this quickly because I handled it? If it wasn’t for me, it would have taken a few more days.”

“I’m always living with a grateful heart.”

“That’s not enough!”

“……Should I carry a picture of you around?”

“What nonsense are you talking about?”

Kang Yu-hwan stretched out his hand towards Kang Jin-ho.

“Huh?”

“Money.”

Kang Jin-ho’s eyes twitched slightly.

“If a person works this hard, you should give them a bonus or a cash gift! How can anyone work with enthusiasm if they’re working their butt off but not getting paid properly?”

“……I am paying you a salary.”

“Who can live on that?” Kang Yu-hwan clicked his tongue.

“How can a father live so poorly when his son is rich?”

“You told me not to touch the money in my account and save it…”

“That was then, you brat! Back then, you were a student without a job, but now you’re the chairman of a company that almost everyone has heard of. How can things be the same?”

“If you use people, you have to pay them fairly!”

“……I’ll transfer the money.”

“That’s right!”

Kang Yu-hwan’s rebellion was a success.

But he couldn’t just let it go like this.

“Should I transfer it to Mother’s account?”

“……Huh?”

Kang Yu-hwan looked back and forth between Kang Jin-ho and Baek Hyun-jung with a flustered expression.

“W-why that?”

“Isn’t that where your salary went? The bonus should go to the same account.”

“Y-yes, but… usually, cash gifts are in cash…”

Baek Hyun-jung smiled gently.

“Our Jin-ho is very good at business. It must go into my account.”

“Yes.”

Kang Jin-ho smiled brightly.

Then, Kang Yu-hwan tapped his soup bowl with his spoon, looking gloomy.

“They say raising children is useless.”

Kang Yu-hwan looked dejected, and Baek Hyun-jung patted him on the back.

“It’s okay, it’s okay. Just use it.”

“Really?”

“Oh my, I’d rather not get the money than see that gloomy face for a month.”

“Who said I was gloomy?”

Kang Jin-ho smiled as he watched his parents bickering.

A normal dinner.

A normal day.

But today, that normalcy seeped into Kang Jin-ho’s heart.

‘This was it.’

Kang Jin-ho closed his eyes slightly.

The scene he had longed for so much when he lived as the Demonic Heavenly Lord in the Central Plains [a vast, ancient region in China] must have been like this.

He had obtained what he had longed for.

It had become so natural that he had momentarily forgotten its preciousness….

‘Getting more isn’t everything.’

He needs to know what he has now and be grateful for it.

Ten years ago, if he had asked the Demonic Heavenly Lord what he needed besides his family, what would his answer have been?

Nothing.

Nothing….

Yes, he would have said he needed nothing.

Kang Jin-ho smiled.

“Jin-ho.”

“Yes?”

“Is something wrong?”

“No, nothing’s wrong.”

Baek Hyun-jung narrowed her eyes slightly.

“You seem strange today. You keep smiling for no reason.”

“He must have had something good happen with his sister.”

“I don’t think it’s that.”

Baek Hyun-jung said, sounding slightly worried.

“If something’s wrong, you have to tell us. We might not be of much help, but just talking about it can solve some things.”

Kang Jin-ho smiled and nodded.

“Yes. Really, nothing’s wrong. If something happens, I’ll definitely tell you.”

“Okay, okay.”

The meal didn’t last long.

They chatted, laughed occasionally, and sometimes grumbled.

A perfectly ordinary dinner.

It was a place so ordinary that it was poignant.

“I’ll get up first.”

“Okay.”

Kang Jin-ho put his bowl and spoon in the sink and went into his room. Then, Baek Hyun-jung narrowed her eyes and said.

“I think something’s wrong?”

“Right?”

Kang Yu-hwan also looked uneasy, as if something was bothering him.

“He does talk. Anyway, his personality is twisted. Who raised him like that?”

“Are you insulting my child?”

“……He’s my child too.”

“You’re being loud.”

“Yes.”

Kang Yu-hwan shut his mouth, and Baek Hyun-jung looked at the door Kang Jin-ho had entered with worried eyes.

Kang Jin-ho entered his room and lay down on the bed.

Then, he closed his eyes quietly.

‘Normalcy, huh….’

Never before had this normalcy seeped into his fingertips as much as it did today.

An everyday life he had once longed for so much.

Living normally.

Something he had longed for but thought he would never achieve.

But now he seemed to understand.

The normalcy he had longed for was already ingrained in his life.

Talking, laughing, looking at each other.

Such ordinary things.

Kang Jin-ho slowly opened his eyes.

‘What I have to do.’

It’s to protect it.

This ordinary life, and those who create this ordinary life.

Not just his family.

He has to protect everyone else too.

Kang Jin-ho stared at the ceiling for a moment before opening his mouth.

“Jeokcheon.”

Then, the image of a spirited man wearing a dark red robe appeared in his eyes.

— You seem weary.

“Not really.”

This isn’t something to discuss as being difficult.

Rather than weariness….

— Are you afraid?

“Yes.”

Kang Jin-ho nodded readily. There was no need to deny it, and no reason to reject it. If his heart said so, he just had to acknowledge it.

— Afraid, huh….

Jeokcheon curled up the corners of his lips.

— You’ve become stronger, Kang Jin-ho.

Jeokcheon looked at him with a cold, hardened face.

— I do not know fear.

‘I did not know fear. That’s why I was weak, and that’s why I was alone.’

His voice penetrated Kang Jin-ho’s ears.

— You have become stronger.

The Demonic Heavenly Lord smiled.

It wasn’t the usual twisted smile. It was a bright smile, similar to the one Kang Jin-ho was making now.

— You no longer need me.

“I don’t know.”

Kang Jin-ho said in a low voice.

“I still don’t know. To me, you are a symbol of absolute strength. The thought that I might have to become like you to protect everything I have always torments me.”

— Even though you’ve become so strong?

“To gain something, you have to give up something.”

Upon hearing those words, the Demonic Heavenly Lord wore a subtle smile.

— You can’t live without losing anything.

“I know.”

He knew it all too well.

That he couldn’t avoid losing something.

— Do not forget the weight of what you have lost. That is enough.

“Okay.”

— And….

The Demonic Heavenly Lord descended from the void. He slowly walked towards the window and looked at the night sky, which had no stars.

— It’s beautiful.

“You missed it.”

— Yes. I missed it, that sky.

Kang Jin-ho stared at Jeokcheon with slightly dazed eyes.

It was strange.

The Demonic Heavenly Lord was just an illusion he had created.

But now, he was looking at the back of the Demonic Heavenly Lord.

The back of the Demonic Heavenly Lord that he had never seen with his own eyes.

The first time he saw the back of the Demonic Heavenly Lord, it was….

Strong.

And pitiful.

It was both incredibly dignified and sorrowful.

‘I lived with this kind of back.’

There was someone who had endured life there.

Someone who had lived desperately, relying solely on his own strength.

Kang Jin-ho’s eyes turned slightly red.

— It’s a sight I could look at forever without getting tired of it. Yes, I wanted to see this. This….

“You….”

— But Kang Jin-ho, remember. The sky you saw in the Central Plains wasn’t that terrible either. It was also beautiful.

— Humans live with wounds. And they become stronger because of those wounds. The memories of the Central Plains might be terrible memories you want to erase, but they are also part of your life.

“I know.”

— So remember.

The Demonic Heavenly Lord smiled at Kang Jin-ho.

— I was not in vain.

Kang Jin-ho clenched his fist.

After being unable to speak for a long time, Kang Jin-ho bit his lip slightly and nodded.

“Yes, you were not in vain. You, and I.”

Kang Jin-ho saw it.

The face of the Demonic Heavenly Lord, who had always sneered at him with a cold face, was softening like that of a child.

The image of the Demonic Heavenly Lord, who was smiling brightly, gradually faded.

— Actually, Kang Jin-ho.

— I didn’t want to become strong.

— I just needed a bit of warmth.

“Yeah.”

‘I know.’

You are me, and I am you.

The image of the Demonic Heavenly Lord completely disappeared.

And a soft voice echoed in Kang Jin-ho’s ears, who had closed his eyes, like a hallucination.

— It was fun.

Kang Jin-ho covered his face with his hands.

Yes.

It was fun.

He couldn’t say it was happy, but there must have been joy even in that hellish life.

Even that twisted life must be fully embraced by the current Kang Jin-ho. He would not turn away, but accept it, not reject it, but understand it.

Kang Jin-ho, who had completely parted ways with his long second life, smiled warmly.