Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 1798

Memories with some people linger in the songs you heard together, while memories with others permeate the conversations you shared.

But Kang Jin-ho’s memories of the head nun remained right here, in this place.

A person who never lost her smile, even while caring for screaming, crying children.

A person who taught Kang Jin-ho that physical strength wasn’t everything.

That’s why he missed her.

That’s why he was cautious.

“It’s a bit strange, isn’t it?”

“Huh?”

Park Yu-min scratched the back of his head and said,

“Actually, the head nun is a nun, right?”

“…So what?”

“If you want to see a nun, you should go to a church.”

Kang Jin-ho blinked.

“You’re right…”

The obvious fact felt strangely new because they didn’t see the head nun merely as a religious figure.

“So, coming here and doing this feels a bit strange, I guess…”

Kang Jin-ho shook his head at Park Yu-min’s words.

“No, it’s not.”

“Huh?”

“The nun wouldn’t want that either.”

Hearing that, Park Yu-min slightly turned his head to look at the living room.

“…Yeah. She wouldn’t.”

Despite being someone who served God, the head nun never forced religion on the children. As such, this place should be where she welcomes them.

“I was a bit thoughtless.”

“Now you realize that?”

“No.”

Park Yu-min shook his head.

“We should have brought the kids too. They would have liked it.”

Kang Jin-ho smiled wryly at those words.

“Yeah, you’re right. I’d deserve to be scolded.”

Just as they missed the head nun, the children would miss her too. Park Yu-min and Kang Jin-ho had become adults when they parted with her, but the other children had to forcibly separate when they still needed parents.

Park Yu-min shrugged.

“Hey, Jin-ho.”

“Yeah?”

“I’m saying this now…”

Park Yu-min paused slightly before opening his mouth.

“Even though the nun was here, I didn’t miss this place that much.”

Kang Jin-ho glanced at Park Yu-min.

What was he trying to say?

“The kids are probably the same. If they really missed this place, they would have come here a few times by now. But they all seem to have forgotten about it.”

“That’s true…”

Park Yu-min’s voice trembled slightly.

“We were happy because the nun was there. We all took care of each other. We say that, but… we all know that’s not really the case.”

“The kids are much happier now than they were before.”

Park Yu-min turned his head to look at Kang Jin-ho.

“So, thank you, Jin-ho. It’s all thanks to you.”

“You’re talking nonsense.”

“No, I’m not. Well, it’s not like I’m saying you’re better than the head nun.”

Kang Jin-ho thought that Park Yu-min’s personality seemed to have become a bit strange.

“The nun was our parent back then, and the only place we could rely on. It wasn’t that it was hard even with the nun, but that we could endure it because the nun was there.”

Park Yu-min sighed.

“When I was young, I always thought while looking at the nun. Ah, I should become a person like that. Someone who doesn’t discriminate against anyone, just gives and is endlessly dependable, I should become that kind of person.”

Kang Jin-ho nodded silently.

Anyone who grew up watching her would have no choice but to think that way.

“But it’s really hard.”

Park Yu-min smiled bitterly.

“I realized it after growing up and entering society. How amazing the nun was. It’s not that I’m getting closer little by little, but rather, the more I go, the further I feel.”

“You’re doing well.”

“I try to think that way too, but…”

Park Yu-min scratched the back of his head.

“I don’t know. How could she live like that? Jin-ho, I still don’t know. Even I, who grew up with the kids, can’t do that…”

“That’s why she’s admirable.”

Kang Jin-ho smiled faintly.

Admiration….

A word that didn’t suit Kang Jin-ho at all. But there was no other way to express his feelings for the head nun.

“Even if I had been there, it wouldn’t be the same as it is now if the head nun hadn’t been there.”

“…That’s probably true.”

Kang Jin-ho back then was very different from the Kang Jin-ho of his past life, but if he hadn’t met the head nun, could Kang Jin-ho have changed as he is now?

‘Probably not.’

Come to think of it, everything started here.

Meeting Park Yu-min, meeting the children, meeting the nun….

Kang Jin-ho was able to have a heart that thought of others. If that hadn’t happened, Kang Jin-ho might still be clinging to his family, living a bleak life with nothing left.

Park Yu-min and the children, and the head nun, changed his life.

Just like Kang Jin-ho changed the Assembly.

Perhaps life is like this, changing drastically due to something insignificant.

“I thought I was the one who would carry on the head nun’s legacy.”

“Huh?”

“But at some point, I realized that it wasn’t me, but you who was doing the work the head nun used to do? Seriously, that Kang Jin-ho.”

“…Your personality has gotten a lot worse.”

Was it because he was always playing games where he killed characters? Something was different from before….

“But it’s not that strange. You were always that kind of guy.”

“Huh? Me?”

Park Yu-min nodded simply.

“When you helped me, there was no reason either.”

“So, I’ve been thinking lately. Ah, there are people who can help others without a reason. If someone like me wants to be like that, I need to put in more effort.”

“No, you don’t.”

Kang Jin-ho shook his head.

“It’s different from the nun. I just did what I could do.”

“The nun also did what she could do. It’s just that her ‘can do’ standard is a bit broader than others.”

“The nun was that kind of person. A person who didn’t hesitate to do what she could. A person who would go and take care of people first if she had even a little bit of energy.”

Kang Jin-ho closed his eyes.

“She’s truly amazing. No matter how hard I try to imitate her, I can’t even come close.”

Park Yu-min sighed deeply.

“I was able to live this much because the nun was there. And the children in the orphanage now can live relatively happily because you’re there.”

The moment Kang Jin-ho was about to say something,

Park Yu-min cut him off.

“So, I’m going to try hard too.”

“On the day I die, I want to hear at least one person say that they were happy because Park Yu-min was there. I can’t even come close to the nun, but I’ll do my best in my own way.”

Park Yu-min turned to Kang Jin-ho and smiled brightly.

“Am I being a bit presumptuous?”

Kang Jin-ho couldn’t say anything.

That smile looked so cool.

Kang Jin-ho quietly opened his mouth.

“Everyone is probably like that.”

“Huh?”

“Jin-sung too, Mi-hye too, and the other kids too. They’re all trying to help others somehow.”

Jo Mi-hye was taking care of the orphanage’s household affairs on her own. Even things that she didn’t have to do because there were childcare teachers.

Han Jin-sung was trying hard to go to a good school and become a childcare teacher.

The other children were the same.

The seeds that the head nun had sown were growing green even at this moment.

“No matter how much money I spend, I can make the kids comfortable, but I can’t make them grow up right.”

“That’s not my job, I guess.”

A person he could never catch up to, no matter how hard he tried.

Some people call Kang Jin-ho an incredibly strong person. But for Kang Jin-ho, strength wasn’t like that.

Strength as a person.

In that strength, Kang Jin-ho could never catch up to the head nun.

“Yeah… I can’t catch up. I’m still far behind.”

Kang Jin-ho, who seemed to be thinking about something, slowly nodded.

“…It was good to come.”

“Huh?”

“…It was good.”

Kang Jin-ho closed his eyes slightly.

Coming here reminded him of what he had been thinking about. Things he had forgotten and postponed because of the ongoing war were now….

‘How foolish.’

These weren’t things he should have forgotten.

‘Fighting and killing… that’s not everything.’

It was here.

The things he really shouldn’t have let go of were here.

Kang Jin-ho as Kang Jin-ho.

Not as a warrior, but as a person, Kang Jin-ho was right here.

Kang Jin-ho smiled.

“…Shall we clean up a bit?”

Park Yu-min scratched his cheek.

“Strangely, I want to leave it as it is. It would be nice if it was clean, but… I guess you could say I’d feel a bit sad?”

“Me too.”

It felt like it would break the peace.

Kang Jin-ho quietly looked inside the orphanage before turning his body.

“Let’s go.”

“Huh? Already?”

“It’s enough.”

That person wouldn’t want him to waste time here like this. The world was still busy, and there were definitely things Kang Jin-ho had to do.

Looking back on memories was good, but he shouldn’t get caught up in sentimentality.

Those who don’t move their hands are just bystanders.

“I have a lot more to do.”

Kang Jin-ho smiled.

He should visit the other orphanages too. And he should start the things he was originally planning to do as soon as possible.

An undeniable fact.

He had disturbed the world.

Because of that, people who shouldn’t have died had died, and many people had suffered.

But….

Even so, there was no reason to stop and whine. He could achieve more from now on than what he had done.

It wasn’t about waiting until there was something he could do.

‘First.’

That’s what she had said.

“Can you become someone who can reach out your hand first?”

Every time he thought of those words, Kang Jin-ho’s answer was always different.

But….

But now, he felt like he could answer confidently.

‘Yes, head nun.’

I will become that. I will do that.

Kang Jin-ho, who was about to close his eyes and move forward, suddenly turned his head back.

Then, with trembling eyes, he stared blankly inside the orphanage.

“Jin-ho?”

“…No.”

Kang Jin-ho, who had been staring blankly at the orphanage, slowly shook his head.

“No, it’s nothing.”

Kang Jin-ho tapped Park Yu-min’s shoulder once and left the orphanage without a word.

– Thank you.

It must be a hallucination.

Dead people can’t talk.

But….

But still….

The warm sunlight poured down on Kang Jin-ho as he opened the door.

“I’m going to be busy.”

“Huh?”

A handsome smile settled on Kang Jin-ho’s lips.

“I thought there was nowhere to go.”

“There was a ridiculous mountain.”

“…What are you talking about?”

“It’s nothing. Let’s go.”

Kang Jin-ho climbed onto the fence and reached out his hand to Park Yu-min.

Park Yu-min chuckled and took Kang Jin-ho’s hand.

Perhaps a rougher and more difficult path.

But that’s why it might be a meaningful path.

‘It doesn’t have to be grand.’

Just….

It’s enough to become someone who can reach out their hand first.

Kang Jin-ho, who was holding Park Yu-min’s hand tightly, pulled him up with all his strength.