Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 1991

[Ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!] The world was consumed by laughter. It echoed from TVs in homes, from cell phones in people’s hands, and from billboards on the streets. The same video was playing in every country.

“…What is that sound?”

“Is that person like that terrorist?”

“No, they’re saying he’s fighting that terrorist right now!”

“Wasn’t that something the U.S. took care of? Who is he to step in? And why are they showing this? Did he hack something?”

Most people didn’t grasp the full story from these snippets of conversation. They only understood that someone was confronting the person who had recently threatened the world.

However, some people understood the implications of the current situation.

“…Is the Head of the Assembly fighting the Black King?”

A man watching the video on a large billboard above a central building at a busy intersection checked his cell phone several times.

“…It seems so.”

The person next to him, also looking at his phone, nodded.

“Does that even make sense? What if the Black King launches a missile when he gets there?”

“That can’t happen.”

“Why not? From the Black King’s perspective, the Head of the Assembly is an enemy.”

“He’s an enemy, but not really. The reason he launches those missiles is because the outside world didn’t listen to our demands.”

“That’s right.”

“But what if he launches a missile just because another martial artist approaches before the promised time?”

“Then…”

“Not a single martial artist will survive, and they’ll all be wiped out. A war will break out that will only end when someone dies.”

“Y-you’re right.”

The country that was nuked would go berserk.

And the people of that crazed country would fanatically support it. Even if some thought the process was immoral, they couldn’t deny the possibility that the same thing could happen again.

“Then he’d be breaking his own word about a war for martial artists. It’s a contradiction! Because of him, all the martial artists will die!”

“Besides, what he said is right, isn’t it?”

“What is?”

“We don’t live by all the laws like those outsiders, but because of that, there’s a truth we never break.”

“…The strong are justice.”

“Yeah. That’s all that matters.”

The two men’s gazes turned towards the large screen on the building’s rooftop. The image of Kang Jin-ho on the screen held their attention.

“That’s right.”

He rose to the highest position without a single fight and acted as if he had the support of all martial artists. What bothered them more than Kang Jin-ho’s logic was that very fact.

A throne cannot be taken without bloodshed.

Those who avoid challenges cannot be called kings. The only one who can take the throne and represent the martial artists is

“Only the strongest.”

Martial artists all over the world were watching this scene.

They didn’t know who was right and who was wrong.

But one thing.

They knew for sure who they should follow.

“He did it.”

“…Yeah.”

Lee Myung-hwan looked at the screen and let out a hollow laugh.

‘That Head of the Assembly, he…’

Of course, it wasn’t the first time Kang Jin-ho had appeared on TV. But in the past, it was Kang Jin-ho the human, not Kang Jin-ho the martial artist, who had appeared on TV.

For Lee Myung-hwan, who understood how thoroughly Kang Jin-ho had separated those two concepts, the image of Kang Jin-ho on TV was incredibly unfamiliar.

“…If he’s on TV, everyone who needs to see it has seen it, right?”

“Even those who didn’t see it will watch it again as a video. The whole nation will know.”

“Right?”

Lee Myung-hwan looked at Kang Jin-ho’s face.

A declaration.

Yes, that was a declaration.

But Kang Jin-ho’s expression didn’t look like that of someone making a declaration.

Lee Myung-hwan understood.

How heavy a burden Kang Jin-ho had to bear to stand there, and how much he had to give up.

Kang Jin-ho had given up most of the things he had pursued in order to resolve this situation.

Kang Jin-ho could no longer live an ordinary life.

Having voluntarily taken the position of representative, he would be remembered by everyone. And he would inevitably have to shoulder the heavy task of mediating between the world of martial artists and the ordinary world, which would eventually clash.

And that would probably be…

The life Kang Jin-ho wanted the least.

“…He said he’d give him a chance to fight?”

The Assembly was as quiet as a mouse.

The only sounds were the voices of Kang Jin-ho and the Black King coming from the TVs that were turned on in various places.

‘Everyone knows, right?’

What this broadcast means.

And what Kang Jin-ho is doing for them right now.

‘Head of the Assembly.’

Lee Myung-hwan bit his lip as he looked at Kang Jin-ho’s image on the screen.

The children gathered in the living room of the Seongsim Orphanage stared blankly at the screen showing Kang Jin-ho.

“…Why is hyung [older brother] on TV?”

“Is this screen showing everywhere else too?”

The children of the orphanage opened their mouths, seeing something they couldn’t understand with their common sense.

“…Oppa [older brother].”

“Huh?”

Jo Mi-hye looked at Han Jin-sung with uneasy eyes.

“Did Jin-ho oppa say he’s going to fight that person?”

“…That’s what I heard.”

“Why is oppa doing that?”

They already knew that Kang Jin-ho was not an ordinary person. Even someone who wasn’t very perceptive would know that much just by looking at Kang Jin-ho.

But this was too big of a scale for them to handle.

“Why is Jin-ho oppa fighting someone like that?”

“There must be a reason.”

“No!”

“Jin-ho hyung!”

When Jo Mi-hye’s voice rose, Han Jin-sung cut her off with a firm voice.

“He’s not someone who would do something without a reason.”

“There must be a reason why he has to do it. And there must be a reason why he has to do it himself.”

Tears welled up in Jo Mi-hye’s eyes.

She couldn’t understand what was going on at all.

“Who is Jin-ho hyung fighting?”

The children who heard their conversation tilted their heads and asked.

“Well, that’s…”

“Then he’s a bad guy.”

“Huh?”

“Jin-ho hyung always punishes bad guys.”

Han Jin-sung’s hand gripped his thigh.

Han Jin-sung, who was desperately trying to calm his trembling lips, nodded with a smiling face. Han Jin-sung reached out and stroked the child’s head.

“Of course. Jin-ho hyung will punish the bad guy and come back.”

“Right?”

“Yeah. So don’t worry.”

“Okay.”

Han Jin-sung’s hand gently patted Jo Mi-hye’s shoulder this time.

“So… just believe and wait.”

“That hyung always causes trouble. He even went to jail before. Compared to that, this is nothing.”

Han Jin-sung’s hand, which was holding Jo Mi-hye’s shoulder, tightened.

“Just wait. Then, like always, he’ll come back with a sulky face, looking all upset. And then he’ll sit in that corner and be all gloomy.”

Han Jin-sung smiled.

“Like he always does.”

“…I should buy some snacks.”

“Yeah, you should.”

Han Jin-sung turned his head and looked at Kang Jin-ho.

‘Hyung.’

You will, right?

Definitely.

You have to.

“That crazy bastard, really.” Joo Young-gi gritted his teeth.

“Does he think he’s some kind of dragon with bones of steel? What the hell is he trying to do, that crazy bastard!”

Joo Young-gi pulled out his cell phone, but Park Yoo-min stopped him.

“What are you trying to do?”

“I have to call him and yell at him! Did that bastard get shot in the head? Where the hell is he going? What if he dies?”

“I knew that bastard wasn’t in his right mind when he went crazy, but this is too much! Let me go! Maybe if I curse him out, he’ll come to his senses!”

“Don’t do it, Young-gi.”

“What do you mean, don’t do it, you bastard! Jin-ho is going to die!”

“It’s Jin-ho.”

At that one word, Joo Young-gi’s face fell.

“…Jin-ho isn’t someone who doesn’t think. There must be a reason why he has to do this. And once he thinks he has to do something, he’s not someone who will change his mind no matter what you say.”

“Hey, man…”

“Jin-ho must be very confused right now. Let’s not burden him any more.”

“You bastard, we’re friends! If not at a time like this, then…”

“Because we’re friends.”

Park Yoo-min nodded slightly with a firm face.

“Because we’re friends, we don’t interfere. Because we’re friends.”

A long sigh escaped from Joo Young-gi’s mouth.

“Hey, Yoo-min. You’re going to turn into a Buddhist monk at this rate. You understand and endure everything…”

“What can I do? This is just my nature.”

“That bastard should be hung upside down in Gwanghwamun [a major landmark in Seoul] and stoned to death. That bad bastard, that…”

Joo Young-gi kept cursing, but the emotion in his eyes was not anger, but pity and anxiety.

“He should have at least talked to us… That heartless bastard.”

His friend was about to do something ridiculous, and there was nothing he could do.

The fact that staying still was the only way to help was making Joo Young-gi unbearable.

If it was a situation where he could help by risking his life, Joo Young-gi would have rushed to Kang Jin-ho without hesitation.

Because Kang Jin-ho had saved not only his life, but also the lives of him and his family.

“He’ll be okay.”

Even so, the reason he couldn’t say anything more was because of Park Yoo-min.

Joo Young-gi knew how much Park Yoo-min cared about Kang Jin-ho. And since Park Yoo-min was trying so hard to remain calm, he couldn’t complain.

“He just didn’t want to worry us. And he knows that if he told us, we would only try to stop him.”

“If he knows, he shouldn’t do it, that crazy bastard!”

“It’s something he has to do.”

Park Yoo-min smiled faintly as he looked at Kang Jin-ho on the screen.

“We have to understand. That’s what friends are for. Someone who can understand you no matter what you do.”

Park Yoo-min looked at Kang Jin-ho with unwavering eyes.

‘Right, Jin-ho?’

The first person to understand was Kang Jin-ho.

The wrong he had done to Kang Jin-ho was unforgivable. Park Yoo-min had not yet forgotten his mistake.

Even so, Kang Jin-ho reached out to him as if nothing had happened, and he understood what he had done.

Park Yoo-min would never forget the moment he first sat on the back of the bicycle that Kang Jin-ho was riding. He had felt to the bone that a person’s life could be saved just by someone understanding them.

“This time, it’s my turn to understand and wait for Jin-ho.”

“Yoo-min…”

‘Right, Jin-ho?’

Park Yoo-min clenched his fist and looked at Kang Jin-ho.

The head nun had said before.

That a person can gain the strength to live even if there is only one person who believes in them. Park Yoo-min realized through Kang Jin-ho that those words were not wrong.

So this time…

He will believe.

That his friend will return safely.

Definitely.

Yes, definitely.