Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 1781

Vroom, vroom.

A sports car sped down the road as dawn broke.

Kang Jin-ho turned up the music. He rarely listened to music in the car, but today, for some strange reason, he felt like blasting it.

Kang Jin-ho rolled a cigarette between his fingers, placed it in his mouth, and lit it. He reflexively slammed on the accelerator, and the car’s wheels spun fiercely, picking up speed.

“Eek.”

Kang Jin-ho, realizing he had exceeded 150 km/h, quickly reduced his speed.

He chuckled bitterly and took a deep drag of his cigarette.

‘Something isn’t settling down…’

He couldn’t understand why he felt this way.

He had often experienced a sense of elation or emptiness after a war, but the emotion he was feeling now was different from those.

It was hard to pinpoint exactly what emotion it was, but it was certainly unfamiliar to Kang Jin-ho.

It was like a tickling sensation from his toes, yet also a refreshing feeling inside.

‘Is it some kind of demonic possession?’

Kang Jin-ho checked his condition and shook his head. Other than feeling strange, there were no other problems. He even considered the possibility that the Demon King might have cast some kind of spell on him before he died, but his body was perfect except for some lingering effects of his injuries.

“Hmm.”

Kang Jin-ho leaned back leisurely in his seat.

He was just a little emotionally charged, but there wasn’t anything particularly wrong. Rather, it was a problem that he was pathologically trying to maintain his composure.

If he felt strange, he should just let it be.

Kang Jin-ho, having shaken off the distracting thoughts in his head, reflexively tried to step on the accelerator, but then he took his foot off the pedal.

‘I need to be careful.’

He had a feeling that he might cause an accident.

People are strange beings. Or perhaps, parents are strange beings.

Wouldn’t it be natural for parents to feel sorry for their only son, who goes out at the crack of dawn and comes back late at night after working?

It doesn’t really matter how great a job he does outside or how much money he makes.

Rather, wouldn’t parents want their child to take care of their health first, even if they didn’t make a lot of money or do great things?

Yet, the reason why they can’t help but say it’s strange is…

It’s only been three days since they watched their pitiful son rolling around aimlessly on the sofa, but for some strange reason, they were getting worked up.

“Jin-ho.”

“Yes?”

“…Aren’t you going to work?”

Kang Jin-ho chuckled and waved his hand.

“There’s nothing for me to do even if I go now.”

“…Still, going to work isn’t like that.”

“I’ll just be a hindrance if I go.”

Baek Hyun-jung’s face trembled slightly.

What he said wasn’t wrong. Kang Jin-ho wasn’t the type to lie about such things. Wasn’t he the type who sometimes made people feel embarrassed because he was too honest?

So, it should be considered the truth…

‘Why does my heart feel so uneasy when I hear the truth?’

It was strange.

Baek Hyun-jung calmly composed herself.

‘Right. He must be exhausted.’

To be honest, Kang Jin-ho hadn’t taken a proper vacation since he came back from the military. He had been working without a single day off at an age when others wanted to play.

Thanks to that, he had earned a fortune that others couldn’t even dream of, but in return, he had sacrificed his vibrant twenties, which should have been the most energetic time of his life.

As a parent, she wanted him to enjoy life a little more rather than being obsessed with such early success.

‘Right. He needs to rest.’

Baek Hyun-jung looked at Kang Jin-ho, who was lying on the sofa, with warm eyes.

However…

That warm gaze didn’t last long.

“…Is he not working?”

“Why are you asking me? You work at the same company.”

Kang Yu-hwan looked at Kang Jin-ho, who was lying on the sofa and munching on snacks, with a disgruntled expression.

‘Is it just my imagination?’

He seemed to have gained a little weight?

Kang Yu-hwan opened his mouth with a strange look.

“…I guess siblings are siblings, seeing how they do the same things.”

“Dad! I don’t do that these days!”

“That’s right.”

Kang Eun-young, who had finished her break and returned to her activities, had regained her celebrity form. It seemed that her popularity hadn’t completely died down, as she was still busy with schedules from morning till night.

Of course, she wasn’t being dragged around by a tight schedule from early morning to late at night like before, but that was because there weren’t as many places looking for her, and she didn’t need to push herself that hard anymore.

In other words…

“…I thought one useless person had disappeared from the house, but now he’s become the useless one. It’s like some kind of law of conservation of useless people.”

“It’s only been a week, though.”

“They say that when a person does something they never used to do, it means they’re about to die, but he’s…”

“Honey.”

“Huh?”

Baek Hyun-jung smiled brightly.

“You’d better watch your mouth if you don’t want to die.”

“Why is someone else’s son criticizing my son?”

Kang Yu-hwan coughed loudly.

‘No, seriously…’

Kang Yu-hwan turned his gaze to Kang Jin-ho.

‘Has my son ever laid down on the sofa like that before?’

Of course, the sofa was for the whole family, but for Kang Jin-ho, the sofa was something he would sit upright on and occasionally lean back on.

It wasn’t a place where he would lie down and scatter snack crumbs like he was doing now.

In a way, it was a very natural sight, but it was so strange to see a guy who had lived his whole life not doing natural things now acting so naturally.

“Jin-ho.”

“Yes?”

“Aren’t you going to work?”

Kang Jin-ho shrugged his shoulders.

“I took a vacation.”

“…Vacation? It’s not even vacation season.”

“I haven’t gone for years, so it’ll be okay.”

Kang Yu-hwan looked at Kang Jin-ho with a very disgruntled expression.

Of course, he could take a vacation whenever he wanted. It was his company, after all.

“Then, aren’t you meeting up with your friends?”

“They’re busy.”

Kang Yu-hwan’s eyes began to twitch.

“Then, at least meet up with Choi Yeon-ha. You’re resting for a while.”

“I met her yesterday.”

“…Oh, really?”

“Yes.”

He was getting annoyed.

Kang Yu-hwan’s face contorted.

“No! When a young man rests, he should go out and play! Or go on a trip! Is it humanly possible to lie on the sofa at home for a week? Is it humanly possible?”

If it had been the Kang Jin-ho of the past, the moment he heard those words, he would have straightened up and apologized, or he would have explained his logic. At least, that’s what Kang Yu-hwan thought.

But unfortunately, the current Kang Jin-ho was not the Kang Jin-ho of the past.

“I’m tired, because I’m tired.”

Kang Jin-ho lay on his side and put a cushion under his head.

“Th-that…”

Kang Yu-hwan was dumbfounded and opened his mouth wide.

‘Why has my son become like that?’

No, no.

Is it because he’s been through so much?

“Honey, honey.”

Kang Yu-hwan urgently called for Baek Hyun-jung.

“What is it?”

“Is that what they call burnout syndrome on TV these days? The thing where people suddenly lose their motivation and stop working.”

“…Burn what?”

“Burnout! Burnout!”

“Why is this man suddenly yelling?”

Kang Yu-hwan flinched and shrank back.

“No, I’m just worried.”

“Leave him alone. He’s still Jin-ho, how long will it last?”

“Oh…”

“If he’s been running around like a pre-paid wild boar, he deserves to rest. What’s the treatment for that burnout thing?”

“They say it’s resting.”

Baek Hyun-jung looked at Kang Yu-hwan with a sulky face.

“…You mean, let him rest.”

“If you know, stop nagging and leave him alone. It looks good.”

Even as she said that, Baek Hyun-jung kept glancing at Kang Jin-ho, who was lying down.

“It’s a bit awkward since he’s doing something he never used to do.”

“Right?”

Then, Kang Eun-young chuckled.

“It’s a bit strange to say he’s doing something he never used to do. He used to be like that before, Oppa [older brother].”

“Huh?”

“Before the car accident, he was almost a human wreck. He didn’t study, he didn’t exercise, he didn’t have many friends, and when he came home, he would just roll around like that or play on the computer all day.”

“Come to think of it, it wasn’t that long ago, was it?”

“…It feels like a very long time ago.”

“Even if a person changes, their roots don’t go anywhere.”

If he had heard these words just a few days ago, he would have snorted. But now, for some strange reason, he couldn’t laugh it off.

Kang Jin-ho’s appearance, stuck to the sofa, was too natural.

‘That tracksuit…’

Usually, when he wore a stretched-out tracksuit, it looked relaxed, but today, that tracksuit looked incredibly shabby. He wanted to take it off and throw it away right away.

“…Anyway, he’ll be fine.”

“Right.”

Somehow, the family’s uneasy gazes were pouring down, but Kang Jin-ho was completely unconcerned even as he received those gazes.

“But why isn’t that man coming to work? Where did he go?”

“They say he’s at home?”

“Today?”

“Yes.”

“What has he been doing all this time?”

“They say he’s been at home the whole time?”

Bang Jin-hoon looked at Lee Hyun-soo with a blank expression.

“For ten days?”

“Yes.”

“Without coming to work even once?”

“Yes.”

Bang Jin-hoon’s head tilted strangely.

“That’s strange. He’s not the type to do that. And he hasn’t contacted us at all?”

“He did call once.”

“What did he say?”

Lee Hyun-soo shrugged his shoulders and opened his mouth.

“He told me to prepare a compensation plan for the families of the soldiers who died this time and report it. And to also prepare a separate compensation plan for those who were severely injured and disabled and those who can no longer participate in the General Assembly [a governing body].”

“And then?”

“That’s all.”

Bang Jin-hoon’s eyes twitched.

“No, has that man lost his mind because the war is over? How can he not come to work even once in ten days?”

If it had been the old Kang Jin-ho, he would have rushed to the General Assembly as soon as his injuries healed and would have been nagging everyone.

He would have been sitting in a big chair, smoking a cigarette, and giving all sorts of orders with a chin gesture…

“Is he injured somewhere? Is he deliberately not coming to work to hide it?”

“…He’s not that meticulous.”

“…Right, right. That’s definitely true.”

Bang Jin-hoon shook his head at this incomprehensible news.

“I don’t know. Anyway, is it okay? With the Guild Leader not here?”

“Since there’s no one to nag, the work is progressing quickly. I wish he would rest for another week.”

This guy is definitely not normal either.

“Anyway, you, don’t do things your way just because the Guild Leader isn’t here, and report properly as you proceed. Got it?”

“He doesn’t answer the phone well.”

“Then go find him, you bastard! You’re acting like a child.”

Bang Jin-hoon sighed as he looked at Lee Hyun-soo, who couldn’t hide his dissatisfied expression.

‘I don’t know.’

For that Kang Jin-ho to not come to work for ten days.

Bang Jin-hoon shook his head in the face of this incomprehensible situation.