Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 211

That voice was eerie.

For the first time in her life, Lee Hyun-joo felt she understood what the word ‘eerie’ truly meant.

It wasn’t just about being creepy. It was the kind of eerie you’d feel when a demon breathed hot air on your ear, its cold, sticky tongue tickling your skin.

And Lee Hyun-joo was feeling that ‘eerie’ right now.

What should a mouse do when it sees the eyes of a snake in the dark? Especially if it’s so close that there’s no chance of escape?

There’s nothing it can do.

It can only cover its mouth, lower its body, and pray that the predator’s gaze doesn’t fall on it. That was exactly Lee Hyun-joo’s situation.

Lee Hyun-joo understood her situation perfectly, yet she couldn’t comprehend it.

She was crushed by the overwhelming presence of the person in front of her. Her body had escaped her control.

But she couldn’t understand it.

She was the granddaughter of the Assembly Chairman. Not only did she hold that position, but through her own efforts, she had gained a position that couldn’t be ignored within the Assembly. [The Assembly likely refers to a powerful political or martial arts organization.]

As such, she had seen countless people. Since she belonged to the Assembly, she had met and spoken with countless martial artists representing Korea. Sometimes, she had even competed with them.

Yet, Lee Hyun-joo, who was so accustomed to their presence, was feeling fear towards this young man who seemed younger than her?

It was impossible.

Her shrinking body and her reason, which told her not to be afraid, fought each other. But the fight ended quickly. The moment she saw Kang Jin-ho’s two eyes glowing red through the cigarette smoke, her reason was also screaming the same thing.

Run away.

Do not antagonize the person in front of you.

Kang Jin-ho slowly opened his mouth.

“Did you say you wanted to talk?”

It was a simple question.

But Lee Hyun-joo could tell from his tone that Kang Jin-ho was not pleased with something.

In the darkness, Kang Jin-ho’s hand slowly reached out. A hand surrounded by pitch-black darkness slowly approached Lee Hyun-joo’s face.

Lee Hyun-joo couldn’t resist, even as she watched the hand slowly approaching.

Kang Jin-ho’s hand stopped right in front of Lee Hyun-joo’s head.

“I warned you once.”

“Not to get involved with me.”

Lee Hyun-joo’s back began to get wet with sweat.

“Didn’t you hear me? What I said.”

The hand that had stopped moved again, slowly grabbing her neck. Kang Jin-ho grabbed Lee Hyun-joo’s neck, pulled her towards him, and made eye contact.

“Did you think I’d be happy if you gave me information? Or that I’d become friendly with you?”

“That’s not it…”

“I didn’t say you could speak.”

Only then did Lee Hyun-joo realize.

This guy was crazy.

She shouldn’t have approached him so lightly. He was like a bomb, a being that even if the Assembly used all its resources to approach him carefully, they still wouldn’t know what would happen.

She should have first considered why Muryeon [Likely a name of a group or organization] was targeting him, and why Yeongnam Association [Likely a regional martial arts association] was trying to keep him in check, even going as far as releasing a serial killer.

“I’ve said it every time, don’t approach me. But it seems you didn’t understand me. Did it sound like a request or a recommendation?”

A low chuckle slowly echoed through the underground parking lot.

Listening to the laughter piercing her ears, Lee Hyun-joo tried to open her mouth. If she stayed like this, she had a chilling feeling that this man would snap her neck at any moment, and it was driving her crazy.

‘He’s insane.’

It was different from an affair.

It was different from a demon who had completely lost his mind and was only focused on slaughter and instinct. This guy was sane, but crazy.

“I, I…”

At that moment, Kang Jin-ho tightened his grip on her neck and slammed her into a parking lot pillar.

Thud!

A huge vibration, as if the entire building was shaking, occurred, and dust scattered everywhere.

Kang Jin-ho approached Lee Hyun-joo, who was writhing in pain, and opened his mouth.

“Did I say you could open your mouth?”

Tears welled up in Lee Hyun-joo’s eyes.

She couldn’t understand what Kang Jin-ho was saying, nor could she understand why she had to suffer like this here.

Of course, it wasn’t that she didn’t have the thought of using Kang Jin-ho. If she gave him information and released a bait, he would become friendly to the Assembly, and then he would inevitably become hostile to the Yeongnam Association.

If he was strong, it was a good thing, and even if he wasn’t, he was still valuable enough to use.

If Kang Jin-ho had noticed her intentions, he might be upset. But she hadn’t done anything yet. How could she accept that she had to pay for a crime she hadn’t committed?

“I said I didn’t want to get involved, but you keep bothering me. And now, this has happened. So I want to ask you something.”

In the darkness…

Kang Jin-ho’s white teeth were revealed.

Tears streamed down Lee Hyun-joo’s face. She couldn’t bear the fear that was rushing in, as if those teeth would bite her at any moment.

“Do you really want me to go to your world? Do you really want that?”

Kang Jin-ho chuckled and whispered softly in her ear.

“Can you handle it?”

“…What’s going on now?”

Jo Gyu-min sighed when he heard that Kang Jin-ho was involved in a murder case.

Jo Gyu-min stepped hard on the accelerator and put a cigarette in his mouth.

He couldn’t shake off his restless feelings.

What was bothering him wasn’t that something had happened around Kang Jin-ho.

The moment he heard the news that Kang Jin-ho was involved in a murder case, the thought that came to Jo Gyu-min’s mind wasn’t ‘How did he get caught up in such a thing?’ but ‘He did it.’

The thought that soon relieved his suspicion wasn’t ‘Kang Jin-ho wouldn’t do such a thing’ but ‘There’s no way that person would handle things so carelessly.’

The fact that his first thought was that if Kang Jin-ho had committed murder, he wouldn’t have left any traces for the police to catch him was what was bothering Jo Gyu-min.

In his mind, Kang Jin-ho had already become someone who would commit murder without hesitation if necessary.

‘And that’s also true.’ He had seen it in China, so it was hard to deny.

This incident was just his unconscious perception of Kang Jin-ho surfacing.

In Jo Gyu-min’s mind, Kang Jin-ho was a good person.

He had power but didn’t try to wield it recklessly, and he didn’t approach those around him authoritatively. If someone needed his help, he would try to help, even if he wasn’t proactive, and he wouldn’t try to secure his position by trampling on others.

Jo Gyu-min, who had experienced several times how much a person with power could be swayed by that power, knew well enough how simple Kang Jin-ho was.

But…

Jo Gyu-min knew one more thing.

Another side of Kang Jin-ho.

He was a good person and a gentle person, but there was a monster living inside him.

It was like the feeling that even if a beast would never bite you, if you lingered around it, an accident would happen someday.

‘It’s embarrassing to even compare him to a lion.’

Compared to the monster dormant inside Kang Jin-ho, a lion was more like a cute cat. A baby cat, at that.

“It shouldn’t be a big deal…”

Recently, it felt like incidents kept happening around Kang Jin-ho. Before he was discharged from the military, there weren’t many accidents, but after his discharge, accidents suddenly started happening.

And he couldn’t shake the thought that Kang Jin-ho was the cause of these incidents.

Kang Jin-ho was different from other people.

It felt like a beast that had been isolated in a limited place like school and the military had been released into society. And these incidents were happening because of the ripple effect.

“Hoo…”

As he was almost at the cafe, Jo Gyu-min stubbed out the cigarette he had been holding in the ashtray.

“Where to park… Huh?”

Jo Gyu-min’s gaze turned to one side as he was looking for a place to park in front of the cafe.

A man and a woman were walking from the side. One was Kang Jin-ho, and the other was someone Jo Gyu-min had never seen before.

The woman’s face was beautiful.

A modernized hanbok [Traditional Korean dress] that looked antique caught his eye, and her braided hair made him wonder if she was cosplaying somewhere.

But the woman’s face was so charming that it blew away all the awkwardness at once.

But Jo Gyu-min’s gaze wasn’t fixed on the woman right now. No, he couldn’t.

Jo Gyu-min’s gaze was fixed on Kang Jin-ho’s face.

‘Damn it.’

It was an expression he hadn’t seen many times.

But every time he saw that expression, something happened, almost without fail. The years he had spent with Kang Jin-ho and his insight were telling him that.

Someone had just lit a bomb.

Jo Gyu-min bit his lip and parked the car, then opened the car door. The car was parked awkwardly, half over the parking line, but he didn’t have the time to get back in the car and move it.

As he carefully approached, Kang Jin-ho looked up at him.

His spine was chilling.

No, it wasn’t chilling, it was more like electricity was running up from the bottom of his spine. Just looking at Kang Jin-ho, who had the eyes of a beast, made it hard to breathe.

If he was like this, how would others feel?

“You’re here?”

Kang Jin-ho, having confirmed that it was Jo Gyu-min, relaxed his expression. Only then could Jo Gyu-min release the tension he had been holding.

Two feelings coexisted.

The fear that he should not forget how scary this man was, and the pride that Kang Jin-ho thought of him so closely that he would smile even when he was so angry.

The feeling that he had stepped inside the line that Kang Jin-ho had drawn to the world made him feel like there was nothing to fear in the world.

“Who is this?”

Once his mind was at ease, he noticed the woman next to him.

“Um…”

Kang Jin-ho turned his head and looked at Lee Hyun-joo without saying anything.

‘It’s impossible.’

Looking at Lee Hyun-joo, who was frozen stiff as if she had seen a ghost, he thought that it was almost impossible to hear anything from her mouth. She seemed to have had a one-on-one with Kang Jin-ho, who had turned into a monster, and it would be hard to stay sane after going through that.

“It might take a little while to explain…”

“Then I’ll wait a bit.”

Kang Jin-ho shook his head at Jo Gyu-min’s words.

“It’s not something I need to hide from Director Jo. Let’s go inside.”

At this moment, Jo Gyu-min felt something like an absolute premonition.

The absolute premonition that the moment he joined the conversation inside, the world he had known until now would collapse.

Maybe it would be wise to turn back now. Kang Jin-ho and he lived in different worlds.

But…

“Yes. Let’s go inside.”

Jo Gyu-min smiled and walked inside.

Even if the world he was about to see was hell, it wouldn’t be a bad deal if he could stand by this man’s side.