Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 1870

Flippity-flap! Flippity-flap!

The old manuals flipped over roughly.

“M-Master, those are ancient texts! National treasures!”

The manuals, some easily hundreds of years old, were being flipped through like practice sheets. The old paper couldn’t possibly withstand it. Chun Tae-hoon, seeing the old paper tear and crumble, cried out in alarm.

However, Bang Jin-hoon didn’t care whether the manuals tore or not.

“National treasure, my ass. Is everything old a national treasure?”

Bang Jin-hoon threw the crumbled manual at Chun Tae-hoon.

“Type this up!”

“T-Type it up?”

“What is this, so hard to read? Get it all typed up so we can see it on a computer.”

“B-But… these are such old texts, there are a lot of characters that aren’t used anymore.”

“So?”

“It can’t be typed up?”

Bang Jin-hoon smiled and looked at Chun Tae-hoon.

“Tae-hoon.”

“Yes?”

“Then buy a tablet and draw it.”

“You should think when someone tells you to do something, why do you just try to do as you’re told?”

‘No…’

‘Is it like I didn’t know that?’

“If you were to write all of that by hand, it would take more than a month.”

“Is this guy really an idiot? Buy several tablets and get the kids to do it. Do you think you’re the only one in the world?”

“Anyway, these guys are so dense.” Bang Jin-hoon shook his head and looked at the manuals again with shining eyes. Normally, he would have nagged a few more times, but Bang Jin-hoon didn’t have the energy for that right now.

Flippity-flap! Flippity-flap!

The manuals started flipping again with gusto.

‘This isn’t it.’

It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t what he wanted.

“Um…”

“What?”

“Can I say something? I feel like I’m interrupting.”

“It’s okay, go ahead.”

Bang Jin-hoon answered without turning his head, and Chun Tae-hoon hesitantly opened his mouth.

“Is it okay to read so fast? Master always said that manuals aren’t just about the words, but how well you understand the true meaning within…”

“Hey.”

Bang Jin-hoon frowned.

“Do you think I don’t know what’s in here?”

“……Yes?”

“I’ve already seen all of this. I’ve seen it several times. I know the content without even looking.”

“Then why are you checking it?”

“People make mistakes. What I think I know might not actually be what I know. So, to avoid making a mistake, I have to check and double-check.”

Chun Tae-hoon looked at Bang Jin-hoon with admiration.

‘He’s really not what he looks like.’

Honestly, looking at Bang Jin-hoon’s appearance, it’s hard to imagine that he’s meticulous. But in reality, Bang Jin-hoon was a very detailed person, unlike his appearance.

“So, have you got the framework down?”

“This framework is a framework, but…”

“Yes.”

“It’s like a fish bone.”

“It should be strong and straight like a spine, but it’s thin and flimsy… It feels like I could just chew it up with the bone…”

“Then it’s a failure.”

“You idiot, that’s why I’m making such a fuss to reinforce it! Just you wait! I’ll make it into a dinosaur bone!”

‘Master.’

‘Dinosaurs are extinct.’

‘They barely survived and became chicken, and now you’re talking about dinosaur bones…’

But whatever the metaphor, Bang Jin-hoon’s eyes were filled with a passion that hadn’t been there before as he looked at the manuals.

‘Direction is so important for a person.’

When he was looking at manuals for himself, he had the face of a student being dragged to a cram school, but now he looks like a hardcore gamer looking at a game guide.

“Don’t just stand there, bring me the stuff over there!”

“Yes, Master!”

As Chun Tae-hoon ran off, Bang Jin-hoon stopped flipping through the manuals and started copying a passage onto another piece of paper.

“Take this…”

‘There is nothing new under the sun.’

“Creation isn’t that great. Those who are called masters weren’t born creating martial arts. They were all disciples of someone. Creation is about fully mastering what you have and opening a path to go one step further.”

‘That’s right.’

Sometimes, Kang Jin-ho says things that cut to the core.

When you hear it, you wonder why he’s saying such things, but after time passes, it’s always something you need to hear.

For Bang Jin-hoon now, Kang Jin-ho’s words were a signpost and a golden rule.

He is a strong martial artist in his own right.

But if you look back at the history of the Korean peninsula, there would have been many martial artists stronger than him. What they left behind were these manuals.

They might seem crude, or they might be outdated by the times, but within these martial arts, their levels of mastery are clearly contained.

Bang Jin-hoon is not someone with outstanding power like Bator, nor has he honed himself for a long time like Jang Min. Nor can he become a genius like Wiggins, who pioneers a different path from others.

Then what he can do is simply inherit it.

人、스 、人、人•스

— —1 9

“

~

~ —1 •

The pen moved quickly across the paper.

‘It’s funny to think about finding something new.’

He has what he has learned and mastered so far. Instead of foolishly looking up at the distant sky, if he looks steadily at his feet, the direction he should go is already set.

What he needs to do now is draw a map.

Based on what has been passed down, he will draw a map, contemplate, and explore to pave the way.

Scribble.

Scribble, scribble.

Chun Tae-hoon, who had brought a pile of manuals, was about to put them down next to Bang Jin-hoon, but he flinched and stepped back slightly.

Bang Jin-hoon’s face, as he quickly moved his pen, was relaxed. It was the expression of being in a state of selflessness, which could only be seen when he was completely immersed in martial arts.

In times like this, you should never interrupt him.

Chun Tae-hoon quietly placed the manuals next to Bang Jin-hoon and quietly backed away.

‘Master.’

He didn’t know if this was really going to work, but seeing Bang Jin-hoon so engrossed, he wanted to support him in any way he could.

‘You can do it.’

Chun Tae-hoon nodded with a determined face.

Time passed.

One day, then another. Two days, three days, four days.

Almost ten days had passed since he started his seclusion, but Bang Jin-hoon had not once gotten up from his seat, repeating the same task.

“How much longer will it take?”

“Hmm.”

Jang Min, looking at the conference room, stroked his chin.

“They say that those who have attained enlightenment can create a divine art in a single day.”

“And some say that some have forgotten to eat and sleep for nearly thirty years to create a single martial art.”

“…So it depends on the person.”

“That’s right.”

Jang Min shrugged.

“I didn’t think this would be so meaningful… but now that I see it, there are definitely similarities. Whether it’s overcoming one’s own limits or creating a more advanced martial art that’s different from the existing ones, the essence might be almost the same.”

The fact that no one can help, and you have to overcome it on your own.

The fact that you have to deny and redefine what you have had so far.

There were definitely similarities in many ways.

“But if that’s the case, doesn’t that mean we don’t know how much longer it will take?”

“It won’t take that long.”

Jang Min said as if declaring it.

“Director Bang is a realistic person. Those with high aspirations tend to aim for areas they can’t dare to step into, while those who see reality are content with just one step.”

“Ah!”

“However…”

Jang Min let out a low groan.

“Director Bang wouldn’t create a martial art for himself.”

“……Yes?”

“If he creates a martial art that others in the General Assembly can learn, it will have nothing to do with his own satisfaction. It will be a matter of practicality, not satisfaction.”

Lee Hyun-soo tilted his head as if he couldn’t understand.

But Jang Min didn’t try to explain it to Lee Hyun-soo. This was something that was hard to explain in words.

‘That’s the kind of guy he is.’

The only person here who understands Bang Jin-hoon’s heart is Jang Min. If he had to create a martial art, he would have tried to create a martial art that his followers could learn someday, not one for himself.

It’s a feeling that only those who carry and lead people can empathize with.

“It’s a strange thing.”

“Yes?”

“I have mastered the martial arts of the cult for hundreds of years. It’s a bit much to say it myself, but there have been no more than five people who have reached the pinnacle of extreme demon arts in the history of the Demonic Cult. I am one of those people who can proudly be counted among them.”

“Including the Cult Leader?” Jang Min distorted his face and glared at Lee Hyun-soo.

“Don’t you dare compare the Demonic Lord to the likes of me! He is not at the level of extreme demon arts, but at the level of divine demon arts!”

“…I didn’t compare him.”

Lee Hyun-soo turned his gaze away with a disgusted look.

‘No…’

‘I just wanted to praise him a little since he broke through the wall, but why is he reacting like this?’

It seems that Jang Min’s fanaticism hasn’t been cured even after breaking through the wall.

“Anyway.”

Jang Min took a breath and continued.

“Even so, I can’t even think about creating demonic arts. There must be people weaker than me who have created demonic arts, but I have no idea how to create something different from what I have learned.”

Jang Min shook his head.

“Perhaps the talent for creating martial arts and the talent for learning martial arts are separate things.”

Lee Hyun-soo nodded quietly.

That was what Lee Hyun-soo had been thinking as well.

“Then will it work?”

“I don’t know.”

Jang Min looked at the window and opened his mouth.

“But one thing is certain.”

“What is it?”

“So far, the Demonic Lord has always tried to shoulder the impossible himself, but he has never asked his followers to do something impossible.”

“Ah…”

Lee Hyun-soo nodded with a blank face.

That was definitely true.

Kang Jin-ho’s demands on his followers were seemingly harsh, but so far, there was almost no one who had failed to achieve them. It seemed difficult, but not impossible. That was the level that Kang Jin-ho wanted from them.

“If the Demonic Lord said it would work, it will definitely work.”

“However…”

“Yes?”

“I hope Director Bang knows that too.”

Jang Min, looking at the conference room with a slightly pitiful look, turned his body.

“Let’s go.”

“Yes, Elder.”

“We don’t know how much longer it will take. If we are obsessed with that, nothing will work. Are the things you were trying to do being handled properly?”

“It’s a bit delayed because Chun Tae-hoon is missing.”

“Move. The Demonic Lord will consider all the things we can’t do as his own burden. If you want to lighten the burden on his shoulders even a little, there is no time for this.”

“Yes, Elder.”

Lee Hyun-soo clenched his fist slightly as he looked at Jang Min’s back as he walked away.

‘It’s definitely different from before.’

Perhaps because of the confidence of breaking through the wall, the directors of the General Assembly had a firmness and composure that they didn’t have before.

They were clearly different from the time when they were desperate and anxious after being defeated by Baek Yeon-hong.

So…

Lee Hyun-soo turned his head and looked at the place where Bang Jin-hoon was.

‘I believe that Director Bang will make it.’

An unfounded belief.

But that’s why it was an even more solid belief.