Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 1970

“How is it?”

“How is what?”

“Just, you know, everything?”

At Lee Hyun-joo’s words, Lee Hyun-soo wore a listless expression.

“Hmm?”

“Why?”

Lee Hyun-soo tilted his head as Lee Hyun-joo looked at him with a subtle expression.

“No, it’s just that you don’t seem like the person I knew.”

“…What do you mean?”

“Usually, people pretend to be uninterested, but inside they’re boiling, or they say they’ve lost interest but their minds are full of thoughts.”

That was quite a scathing assessment.

“But today, you really seem to have no thoughts at all. I thought you’d be a little excited.”

“Excited?”

“The work is hard and annoying, but that’s what makes it fun.”

“Isn’t that what you’re really like?” Lee Hyun-soo sighed deeply.

“It’s just that…”

“Yes.”

Lee Hyun-soo hesitated, as if he was pondering something. However, Lee Hyun-joo didn’t urge him and quietly waited for him to speak.

“Do you know what kind of person I despised the most?”

“A show-off?”

“Kind of similar. To be precise, I despise people who overestimate their own abilities.”

“…Overestimate?”

“Yes.”

Lee Hyun-soo slowly nodded.

“The important thing isn’t whether you have abilities or not, but that I hate people who rate themselves higher than their actual abilities. Even if someone is incompetent, if they can see themselves objectively, they’re great, and even if someone has great abilities, if they’re overly confident, it’s an eyesore.”

In the past, Kim Seok-il was that type.

Objectively speaking, Kim Seok-il was an amazing person. He created the Yeongnam Association, which was bigger and stronger than the General Assembly, and he controlled it with an iron fist.

If Kang Jin-ho hadn’t appeared, he might have become a notable figure in the history of the Korean martial arts world. For better or for worse.

“I hated Kim Seok-il so much. Putting aside his personality and cruelty, I didn’t like how he thought so highly of himself compared to his actual abilities.”

“And then?”

“But recently, I’ve come to realize…”

“Yes.”

“That I’m that kind of person.”

Lee Hyun-joo looked at Lee Hyun-soo with a slightly bewildered expression.

Lee Hyun-soo often complained, but the emotion in his voice now was different from his usual grumbling.

“What are you talking about?”

“It’s exactly what I said. That I’m that kind of person. Someone who overestimates themselves compared to their abilities.”

Lee Hyun-soo sighed.

“I’ve always thought that there were limits to what I could do. In the first place, I’m not really a martial artist. I try to overcome that with my brain, but I thought there were limits.”

Lee Hyun-soo smiled bitterly.

“I didn’t realize that was arrogance. Subconsciously, I thought my brain could overcome anything. A nobody like me.”

“…Why are you like this, it’s not like you.”

“Just. I just had that thought. It seems like becoming an adult is the process of realizing how insignificant you are.”

Lee Hyun-soo leaned back in his chair.

“Kids have big dreams. They believe they can do something grand and amazing. But when you become an adult, your dreams become more modest.”

“You become more realistic.”

“Or maybe it’s just that you realize you’re not cut out for it?”

Lee Hyun-soo smiled bitterly.

“In that sense, I became an adult too late. I didn’t know how scary the world was.”

Before meeting Kang Jin-ho, Lee Hyun-soo had never fully unleashed his abilities. He was always someone who had to navigate somewhere between restraint and disregard.

Then, he thought that Kang Jin-ho had believed in him and given him wings to fly.

He felt like he could do anything, like he could solve anything.

But at some point, he realized.

That he was a being who couldn’t have any impact on the battles of those crazy monsters shaking the world.

“Why are you so discouraged about something like that?”

“This time, it wasn’t something that anyone, not just you, could have done anything about.”

“If it was just this time, I wouldn’t say anything.”

“No…”

“And…”

Lee Hyun-soo said firmly.

“My role was to predict and deal with things that no one else could. My role, as someone who can’t even throw a punch.”

Lee Hyun-soo sighed deeply.

“I couldn’t predict it? Okay. Well, I guess that’s possible. Like you said, no one could have done anything about this. But… right now, I don’t even know how to handle this situation.”

It wasn’t a dejected voice.

Just a calm voice.

That’s why it sounded a little sadder.

“Pathetic, right?”

“Seriously, this guy!”

“Wait, wait!”

As Lee Hyun-joo jumped up from her seat, Lee Hyun-soo grabbed her waist as if tackling her.

“What?”

“You, you were going to slap me to wake me up, weren’t you?”

“No way. I’d die if you did.”

“No, just a slap…”

“I’d die! If a tiger slaps a puppy to wake it up, the puppy dies!”

“Why are you comparing yourself to a puppy? You’re not even cute.”

“…My level of power is that low! You must have watched some cartoons, but even if cartoon gag characters don’t die, I would!”

Lee Hyun-soo desperately clung to Lee Hyun-joo, struggling.

Looking at his pathetic state, Lee Hyun-joo made an indescribable expression.

‘Can I really trust this guy?’

Was she thinking something wrong? If her grandfather were alive and saw this, what would he say?

Thinking about that, Lee Hyun-joo’s eyes started to sting.

“Ah, let go!”

“You won’t hit me, right?”

“I won’t! Let go!”

Only then did Lee Hyun-soo slowly let go and step back.

Looking at Lee Hyun-soo’s awkward expression, Lee Hyun-joo clicked her tongue.

“You’re such a mess.”

“I, I have to live too!”

Lee Hyun-soo had his own reasons.

Even if Lee Hyun-joo just lightly flicked him, his neck would snap.

A tiger?

He just used a tiger as an analogy, but that woman could probably snap a tiger’s neck. How could he, who could only be unilaterally beaten by even the lowest-ranking martial artist of the General Assembly, possibly handle Lee Hyun-joo, who had received elite training from Lee Joong-gul?

‘Why did I end up dating her?’

If he had met a normal girlfriend, he could have been treated like a strong and cool guy, but why did he have to meet a martial artist and be treated like a weak and pathetic man?

“So, you’re saying you have no dreams, but you’re trying to protect your life?”

“E-even if I have no dreams, I still have to live. Do you die if you have no dreams?”

“Hey, just shut your mouth for a second. You’re so pathetic it makes me sad.”

“…I’m sorry.”

Lee Hyun-soo coughed a few times.

“So…”

“Are you trying to act all serious now? In this atmosphere?”

“…I was just going to continue what I was saying.”

“…Go ahead.”

Lee Hyun-joo looked at him with eyes that could have been looking at a cockroach.

“I… I know I’m pathetic, but can’t you try to comfort me a little?”

“Comfort you about what?”

“My… my human disappointment? The sadness of a man who has realized reality?”

“What are you talking about?”

Lee Hyun-joo looked at Lee Hyun-soo with a sulky expression.

“Other people experience that when they’re young, but you’re experiencing it now, so why should I comfort you? If you think about it the other way, it means you’ve lived a comfortable life, right?”

“…Huh?”

Does it turn out that way?

“It’s not like you’re trying to show off in front of a veteran. Compared to when I gave up fighting, that’s not even a worry, you idiot.”

Lee Hyun-soo, at a loss for words, closed his mouth.

When he thought about it, she was right.

Lee Hyun-joo was someone who trained to become Lee Joong-gul’s successor. Of course, there were other disciples, but Lee Joong-gul probably wanted to pass the General Assembly to his granddaughter if possible.

But in the end, Lee Hyun-joo had to admit that her talent wasn’t enough.

Looking at a mountain you can’t climb is a painful thing.

“If my dream had come true, I would be in Director Bang’s position right now.”

“…Not the Assembly Head’s position?”

“I don’t dream that far. No, I can’t. I have a conscience.”

Realistic, huh?

It’s a dream, so it could be a little unrealistic.

“But now I’m fighting with paperwork, and I’m looking at data every day. So, how do you think I feel?”

“…I don’t know.”

“I’m actually happy.”

Lee Hyun-joo looked at Lee Hyun-soo with serious eyes.

“There will be people in the world who achieve their dreams no matter what, and there will be people who have to give up their dreams in the end. But just because someone has achieved their dream doesn’t necessarily mean they’re happier than someone who hasn’t. That’s a separate issue.”

Lee Hyun-soo stared blankly at Lee Hyun-joo.

“Of course, there are times when I feel frustrated and annoyed. When I’m dealing with ridiculous things, I want to smash everything according to my temper.”

Lee Hyun-joo shrugged.

“But so what? That’s how everyone lives. At least, I don’t think I’m more unhappy than the Assembly Head, who has achieved all of his dreams. If we’re just talking about happiness, I’m probably better off.”

“…That’s true.”

That person is someone who carries all the worries of the world.

Lee Hyun-soo made a hollow expression.

Just because you achieve your dream doesn’t mean you’re happier than someone who hasn’t. That obvious and commonplace statement hit him too hard right now.

“So, stop whining and get to work. There’s too much for you to do at the General Assembly right now.”

“…So, in the end, you’re telling me to work.”

“Then are you going to play?”

“No, well…”

Lee Hyun-joo got up with a sulky expression.

Lee Hyun-joo, who had turned her body towards the door, stopped and turned her head.

“Even though I said all that…”

“Yeah?”

“I believe in you.”

“…In what?”

“That your dream isn’t over yet. Isn’t the one who wins in the end the one who wins everything?”

Lee Hyun-joo smiled brightly.

“If this is the end anyway, then we just have to eat and run at the end. Then we’ll remain the winners forever.”

“Fighting!”

Lee Hyun-joo made a fist and went outside.

Lee Hyun-soo, who was staring blankly at the door where Lee Hyun-joo had left, had a strange smile on his face.

“…Eat and run?”

It was an absurd statement.

But…

“The one who wins in the end is the eternal winner…”

That statement was appealing.

No matter how many times you’ve won, no matter how many times you’ve lost, isn’t the victory taken by the one who wins in the end?

Will he become an adult who accepts reality and finds his place, or will he become a child who can’t accept defeat and cries and throws a tantrum?

“It seems…”

Lee Hyun-soo tilted his head with a strange expression.

“I guess I’m not fully grown yet. It seems that statement is appealing to me.”

Children who can never become adults.

Those who fight their whole lives over childish things like who is stronger and who is more talented.

The world calls such people martial artists.