Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 1697

“Like it?”

“Mmmph…”

Lee Hyun-soo’s gaze drifted towards the sea.

The sea viewed from the shore and the sea viewed from a ship evoked distinctly different feelings. The emotional impact of the sea from the shore paled in comparison to the sea from a ship.

‘Is it because my feet aren’t on solid ground?’ he wondered.

Of course, the deck of a ship was still ground, albeit a shaky one.

“Your reaction is lukewarm? You travel abroad often, so are you disappointed that it’s just Jeju Island?”

“I travel abroad often?”

“You’ve been a lot, haven’t you?”

“…Come to think of it, I guess I have.”

It’s just that none of it was for leisure.

“Europe, America, Japan, China, Mongolia… Does Mongolia even count as going somewhere?”

Regardless, the fact remained that he had stepped foot inside those borders.

If you only counted the countries he’d visited in a short period, it was almost at the level of a seasoned traveler.

“Aren’t you kind of an expert?”

“…I didn’t even get to see any tourist spots. And out of all those places, the only one I came back from without seeing blood was America.”

It was almost comical to say he hadn’t seen blood there.

“If going out to relax, not for work, is called traveling, then this is my first time traveling too.”

“You’ve never been anywhere in the country either?”

“Nope.”

Lee Hyun-joo narrowed her brows.

Come to think of it, Lee Hyun-joo felt like she didn’t really know much about Lee Hyun-soo.

What did she mean?

Of course, Lee Hyun-joo knew Lee Hyun-soo well. Even if you searched the whole world, there was probably no one who knew Lee Hyun-soo better than Lee Hyun-joo…

‘No, can I even beat Chairman Kang in that?’

That was a bit debatable.

Anyway, if you excluded Kang Jin-ho, Lee Hyun-joo was one of the people who knew Lee Hyun-soo the best.

But the Lee Hyun-soo that Lee Hyun-joo knew started from his position as the second-in-command of the Yeongnam Assembly. She didn’t know anything about what kind of life Lee Hyun-soo had lived before that.

“Oppa.”

“Huh?”

“I was a little hesitant to ask, but… do you not have any family?”

“Nope.”

Lee Hyun-joo looked slightly embarrassed at the very calm answer.

“Did they pass away?”

“No. I’m an orphan.”

“Huh?”

Lee Hyun-joo blinked. This was the first time she’d heard this.

“…Sorry.”

“Why?”

“Um… it seems like a sensitive topic.”

Lee Hyun-soo looked like he didn’t understand, which slightly flustered Lee Hyun-joo.

‘This doesn’t seem like acting…’

There was usually a subtle sense of incongruity in people who were pretending to be calm. But right now, Lee Hyun-soo didn’t have any of that incongruity.

“No, you said you’re an orphan, right?”

“So what?”

Lee Hyun-soo shrugged.

“Everyone lives differently anyway. Does having or not having parents make that big of a difference? In the end, everyone disappears anyway.”

“Well, of course, not receiving financial support when I was young and having to earn money myself was a problem, but, well, it’s not like it was ever that hard to earn money.”

“Don’t you resent it?”

“Resent? I’m incredibly grateful.”

Lee Hyun-soo tapped his head.

“It’s much better to be thrown into society with a smart brain than to be born a fool in a good family. I should be grateful that I’m living well thanks to the brain my parents gave me. Well, it’s because I’m good, though.”

“…Oppa.”

“Huh?”

“You know you’re really annoying, right?”

“Haha, you’re joking.”

‘I’m serious, you jerk,’ she thought.

Lee Hyun-joo looked at Lee Hyun-soo with complicated feelings. Should she see him as a commendable boyfriend who was succeeding despite his unfortunate family history, or as a person who could be annoying even with that unfortunate family history?

‘Anyway, he’s not a normal human.’

He was her boyfriend, but Lee Hyun-soo was definitely a unique character even within the entire Assembly.

“Oppa, you really won’t die easily. You’ve been cursed so much, you have to live a long life.”

“At this point, I’m practically immortal.”

“…Crazy.”

Lee Hyun-joo shook her head.

‘Is it really okay for me to be dating someone like this?’

From the clear blue sky, it felt like the two-faced sky was looking at her and cursing her. Telling her to break up immediately.

‘Grandfather, I’m sorry.’

But what could she do? She liked him.

Lee Hyun-joo shook her head, thinking that her taste was really problematic. There was a time when she wondered why she had come to like such a hopeless person, but now she had come to a rough conclusion.

There’s no reason why people like each other.

It was a very insincere conclusion, but she couldn’t come to any other conclusion.

“Oppa.”

“Huh?”

“Never mind.”

Lee Hyun-joo smiled brightly.

Lee Hyun-soo, who was facing the sea breeze with an expression that said, ‘Why am I going to Jeju Island right now?’ looked incredibly cute.

“Ugh, why are there so many people? Even on a weekday, if there are this many people, what are we supposed to do on the weekend? It’s not even peak season, how can there be so many people traveling in Korea? Ugh, this is why there’s a problem. I’m working myself to death at the company all day, and other people are out here having fun. And then they say the economy is bad…”

‘Please just shut up,’ she thought.

Lee Hyun-joo closed her eyes tightly.

The favorability she had gained on the ship was plummeting without end. If someone who traded stocks saw such a drastic fluctuation in a favorability graph, they would be horrified and jump out of their seat.

“This is why I said I didn’t want to come. I don’t know why Chairman Kang is making people suffer by sending them to places like this. What’s so special about healing? If you lie down on the sofa at home, turn on Netflix, and drink coffee, that’s a vacation…”

“Excuse me, Lee Hyun-soo.”

“Yes?”

“If you keep going, you might get your tongue cut off, so calm down.”

“…Yes.”

Lee Hyun-soo obediently shut his mouth.

It was unfortunate for him, but Lee Hyun-joo was someone who had both the power and the will to carry out what she had just said.

“That’s how travel destinations are. It’s tiring when there are a lot of people, but it’s disappointing when there aren’t any. Do you understand?”

“Have you traveled a lot?”

“No. This is my first time?”

Lee Hyun-soo frowned and looked at her, and Lee Hyun-joo shrugged.

“What kind of travel is this? I should be training more during this time. If my grandfather heard this, he would be furious in the afterlife.”

“He can’t hear you in hell.”

“You wanna die?!”

Lee Hyun-joo kicked Lee Hyun-soo’s butt.

It was just a light kick, but Lee Hyun-soo felt like his pelvis was separating from his spine and grabbed the car.

‘I should never get into a marital fight.’

No, before that, he should rethink getting married…

“I can hear your brain working?”

“No, I wasn’t thinking anything. I’m an idiot.”

“Before I make you a real idiot, start driving?”

“Yes!”

Lee Hyun-soo smiled wryly and got into the car.

“But this car, it feels a bit uncomfortable…”

“You couldn’t buy this even if you sold yourself! It’s something Chairman Kang gave… Hmm. I thought it was a bit cramped too.”

As the hand wearing the couple ring slightly curled into a ‘fist’, Lee Hyun-soo became rapidly docile. If you got hit by that ringed fist, your skull would be punctured.

If you didn’t have a plan to forcibly lower your intracranial pressure, it was wise to shut your mouth.

“You’re starting to get cocky these days, Director Lee. You may have a high position, but this is an uncharted territory. In a place where the best fighter is the boss, your position is a bit high.”

“…You’re with MK, aren’t you?”

“I could be, or I could not be. If I quit, from that moment on, I’m part of the Assembly.”

“…I understand, I will serve you.”

Throughout Korea, there might be female martial artists stronger than Lee Hyun-joo, but there were no martial artists who had both violence and power like Lee Hyun-joo.

So, he had to be obedient.

“Ugh, seriously. If it wasn’t for the help I received, I would have dragged you to the basement three times already.”

“Right. I helped you a lot. I took care of you a lot. Serve me well.”

“Do you even know what you helped with?”

“In many ways?”

“…Let’s go. Before I beat you in many ways.”

“Yes!”

Lee Hyun-joo burst out laughing as she watched Lee Hyun-soo slowly step on the accelerator.

‘Anyway, his brain is brilliant, but he’s clueless in strange areas.’

It was a clear fact that her own efforts were the most important factor in Lee Hyun-joo overcoming her background and rising to this position.

But besides that, there were two people who helped her the most.

One was Kang Jin-ho, who used Lee Hyun-joo without suspicion.

And the other was Lee Hyun-soo.

‘This guy probably doesn’t know how much he helped me.’

Of course, it’s not like Lee Hyun-soo particularly cared about Lee Hyun-joo. Lee Hyun-soo wasn’t that kind of person. He was the kind of person who would use a cockroach if it was useful, and kick away even a saint if they were useless.

But Lee Hyun-soo’s existence alone acted as a shield for those who were classified as part of the former Lee Jung-geol faction.

Those who survived even after antagonizing Kang Jin-ho.

Originally, they should have all been purged or pushed to the sidelines, but since Lee Hyun-soo, the second-in-command of the Yeongnam Assembly, was standing firmly at the center of the Assembly, even those who were dissatisfied couldn’t dare to speak up.

Whenever the question of whether it was okay to let Lee Jung-geol’s remnants run rampant came up, the single phrase ‘Then what about Director Lee?’ would resolve the situation.

It was truly a legendary shield, a living human shield.

If Lee Hyun-soo hadn’t existed, Lee Hyun-joo would never have been given such importance. Even if Kang Jin-ho didn’t have such prejudices, the board of directors, led by Bang Jin-hoon, and the Assembly’s staff would have done everything they could to bury her.

“Director.”

“Huh?”

“Thank you.”

“…Huh?”

Lee Hyun-soo turned to Lee Hyun-joo with eyes full of anxiety. Lee Hyun-joo shook her head as she saw the expression on his face that said, ‘Damn it, what did I do wrong again?’

‘Something’s wrong, this is.’

It seemed like she needed to re-examine the relationship between him and her from the ground up.

‘First, I need to stop saying I’ll beat him up if I don’t like something.’

If she kept doing this, he might actually get scared and run away. Of course, she wouldn’t let him go so easily if he ran away, but this wasn’t ancient Mongolia, and she couldn’t just kidnap someone who ran away and force them into marriage.

“Oppa.”

“Huh?”

“Let’s just relax and not think about anything for now.”

“…Okay.”

“When we play, we play hard, when we rest, we rest hard, and when we work, we work hard. That’s how you recharge. So, don’t think about anything else during this trip. Got it?”

For once, Lee Hyun-soo obediently nodded.

“Don’t worry. I really came here to relax too.”

Lee Hyun-joo sighed in relief at Lee Hyun-soo’s words.

But neither she nor Lee Hyun-soo understood. Most people in the world always want to rest, but resting is not something you can decide on your own. It was a typical misconception of those who had never properly rested before.