Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 217

“I asked what you’d like to drink.”

“Ah…”

Lee Hyun-joo gripped her thighs tightly. It wasn’t a big deal, so why was she so flustered?

‘That, that’s understandable!’

The image of Kang Jin-ho in Lee Hyun-joo’s mind wasn’t someone who would say such a thing.

‘Do you want to die?’ or ‘If you don’t hand over that data right now, I’ll cut off your head and use it as a drinking cup’ would be more fitting lines for Kang Jin-ho. Asking so normally about what to drink didn’t suit him.

The gap is too big!

“Aren’t you going to order?”

“…Coffee.”

“What kind of coffee?”

“M-macchiato.”

Lee Hyun-joo cursed herself for ordering a macchiato even at a time like this. She should have just ordered anything, why was she choosing again?

Kang Jin-ho nodded and got up from his seat.

Lee Hyun-joo flinched at the sight of Kang Jin-ho getting up.

“Wh-why?”

Kang Jin-ho looked at Lee Hyun-joo with a slightly blank expression, then frowned.

“I’m going to order.”

“Ah…”

Her face flushed instantly.

As Kang Jin-ho left, looking like he didn’t know why he was acting this way, Lee Hyun-joo covered her face.

‘Calm down.’

She couldn’t understand why she was so restless. The gap Kang Jin-ho showed was a gap, but it felt like she was overreacting and panicking even more.

She jumped up from her seat and ran to the restroom.

Washing her hands with cold water made her feel a bit calmer. After splashing her face with cold water a few times, her flushed face returned to normal.

‘Calm down.’

She looked in the mirror and composed herself.

‘Should I have put on some makeup?’

She thought her face looked too plain.

I knew this would happen….

“What did you know!”

Lee Hyun-joo shouted out loud.

She must be crazy.

Facing Kang Jin-ho, an unpredictable human being, seemed to have driven her half-mad. After taking a few deep breaths to calm herself, she opened the restroom door and came out.

Kang Jin-ho had already received the coffee and was sitting at the table. Lee Hyun-joo bit her lip as she watched him, then walked over and sat down opposite him.

“Here, this is the data you wanted.”

She pushed the pile of documents on one side of the table towards Kang Jin-ho. But Kang Jin-ho didn’t even glance at the documents and said,

“I don’t need that kind of thing.”

“Huh?”

He asked for the data?

“You can’t understand that kind of guy with written documents. What I want to know is how to catch him.”

“…It might sound a bit naive, but I think the Outsider is targeting you. If you just wait, won’t the Outsider come to you?”

Kang Jin-ho leaned back in his chair and stared at Lee Hyun-joo silently.

Lee Hyun-joo, receiving that gaze, lowered her head, not knowing what she had done wrong. She felt like she was being rebuked.

“Maybe. But two people have already been killed. If we leave it alone, who knows how many more victims there will be. If the police can’t catch him, shouldn’t you guys step up and solve it?”

“…That’s usually the case. But these days, our situation isn’t so good either.”

Kang Jin-ho’s eyes narrowed slightly.

His eyes seemed to say, ‘You’re useless,’ making Lee Hyun-joo’s shoulders slump even more.

“If we think a bit more broadly, other people could be harmed because of me, so I can’t just sit idly by. I don’t want to increase the number of victims either. I need to catch that guy as soon as possible. What I’m asking is how to do that.”

“Ah…”

Lee Hyun-joo nodded, understanding Kang Jin-ho’s intention.

At the same time, she felt a very strong sense of incongruity.

He was too normal.

At the very least, she thought he would react with something like, ‘I can’t just let a guy who invaded my territory go. Heh heh,’ but since earlier, Kang Jin-ho’s words and actions had been so normal that she couldn’t adjust.

Wasn’t Kang Jin-ho the one who dragged a person to the underground parking lot and threw them against a pillar from their first meeting?

She was grateful that he was acting normal, but for some reason, she felt uneasy and couldn’t adapt.

‘He’s a real psycho, this guy.’ The term ‘dual personality’ didn’t fully express it.

The problem was that while he could just act like that, she had no idea how to respond to him.

“I’m going crazy, really.”

“Pardon?”

“…Ah, no.”

She must be crazy.

Lee Hyun-joo covered her mouth.

With her mind reeling from embarrassment and absurdity, a determined light appeared in Lee Hyun-joo’s eyes. Since it had come to this, going wild was one way to go.

“Can I ask you a few questions first?”

“As you wish.”

“You’re a Returnee, right?”

Kang Jin-ho neither affirmed nor denied it. But she took it as an affirmation.

“I’ll cooperate in catching the Outsider. It’s beneficial for us too. But please tell me a few things. I don’t want to get caught up in things after the hunt is over.”

Kang Jin-ho slowly nodded.

“You really have no connection with other Returnees or Murim people?”

“Some approached me a few times. That’s all.”

“It seems like you don’t want to get involved with us, is that right?”

“Yes.”

It was as she expected.

She had tried to force someone who didn’t want to be involved, so she deserved to be treated this way.

“Do you know that Murim is targeting you?”

“Murim?”

“Yes. It’s a Chinese martial arts group. Don’t you know?”

“I knew the name Murim, but it’s the first time I’ve heard they’re targeting me.”

“You met them recently, didn’t you? Don’t you remember Jinbao?”

Kang Jin-ho’s face hardened slightly.

“Murim…”

Shivers.

Lee Hyun-joo shuddered.

The moment Kang Jin-ho mentioned Murim, his eyes momentarily turned the same as yesterday.

‘It’s not like a dual personality.’

That was Kang Jin-ho, and this is also Kang Jin-ho. His personality wasn’t clearly divided like a dual personality. Strictly speaking, it wasn’t a dual personality but a form of hypocrisy.

He was living with a beast in his heart while showing only a human face to others.

It was chilling.

How meticulous would he have to be to hide himself so thoroughly?

Although a subtle misunderstanding was occurring, there was no way to correct the evaluation made in someone else’s mind. Not even for Kang Jin-ho.

“Wu Yuan, huh…”

The image of Wu Yuan flashed through Kang Jin-ho’s mind.

He had definitely mentioned Murim.

But even though he hadn’t killed Wu Yuan, the fact that they sent a hitman all the way to Korea to kill him didn’t make sense even by Kang Jin-ho’s standards.

The more they emphasized justice, the stronger that aspect was, but even compared to the past Murim where repaying blood with blood was commonplace, it was an excessive measure.

‘I’ll find out soon enough.’

Just as Kang Jin-ho was thinking that he should focus on this matter for now, Lee Hyun-joo opened her mouth.

“And we think that the reason Yeongnam Association is targeting you is because of Murim’s instigation.”

“Serial killings and Murim…”

Hwang Jung-hoo covered his head as if he had a headache.

“There’s never a peaceful day.”

It hadn’t been long since Kang Jin-ho was discharged, but it felt like every kind of accident was happening in the meantime.

Considering that Kang Jin-ho wasn’t the type of person who actively caused trouble, it was almost as if he was a magnet for incidents.

“Well, things are somewhat settled…”

Cho Kyu-min, who was reporting, also sighed.

Fortunately, he had been consistently reporting, so Hwang Jung-hoo had smoothly accepted the existence of Murim, making it easier to explain. Hwang Jung-hoo also seemed to have known about their existence from before.

“So, what is Kang Jin-ho going to do?”

“He says he’ll catch them.”

“The killer?”

“Yes.”

Hwang Jung-hoo silently lit a cigarette.

He had thought that Kang Jin-ho would act that way, but hearing it directly made him feel a bit complicated.

“What does he think the police are for?”

“…From what I’ve seen, ordinary police won’t be able to handle them.”

They would be lucky if they didn’t get beaten to death.

He could understand why the government and the martial world were inviolable in martial arts novels. If they were told to catch those kinds of people, they wouldn’t have enough lives even if they had ten. Even if they were given a pistol, Cho Kyu-min would throw it away and run.

“Hmm, well, there’s no point in talking to him. I don’t know why I met that guy in my old age and am suffering like this.”

Although he said that, Hwang Jung-hoo’s face clearly showed that he was enjoying it.

‘He’s rejuvenated.’

Aside from the fact that he had regained his health because of Kang Jin-ho, Hwang Jung-hoo had been as energetic as before he got sick. His hair had also become much darker.

People around him were suspecting that he was getting stem cell treatments.

“So, Kang Jin-ho has decided to focus on that, then.”

“Yes. That’s why I wanted to discuss it with you.”

“Discuss?”

“Yes.”

Cho Kyu-min nodded heavily.

“Actually, recently, Kang Jin-ho has been getting involved with that side more often. I’m trying to maintain balance, but I’m also confused. I’m wondering how far I should align myself with Kang Jin-ho.”

“…You’re worrying about useless things.”

“Pardon?”

Cho Kyu-min’s face went blank.

“They say that when you get old, you worry a lot, but it seems like you’re the one who’s getting old, not me. You’re finding useless things to worry about. Do those Murim guys not use money or live in society?”

“That wouldn’t be the case.”

Hwang Jung-hoo clicked his tongue.

“The fact that so many people are living without being known means that they also pretend to be ordinary in their daily lives. If so, we just need to protect Kang Jin-ho’s daytime.”

“…Daytime.”

Hwang Jung-hoo nodded.

“We couldn’t control Kang Jin-ho’s nighttime from the start. There’s no point in realizing that again now.”

Cho Kyu-min nodded as if he understood.

“So, you don’t need to worry about that side.”

“I understand what you mean.”

Cho Kyu-min could understand Hwang Jung-hoo’s words. After all, even if he worried, Kang Jin-ho and the world of Murim were not areas he could understand. It meant that he should focus on the world that was visible on the surface.

It was more of a consideration to ease Cho Kyu-min’s confusion than an order.

‘I’m being trusted.’

The point was that it was for Cho Kyu-min, not for Kang Jin-ho. Before he knew it, Hwang Jung-hoo was worrying about Cho Kyu-min as well as Kang Jin-ho.

A surge of overwhelming emotion washed over him.

“So, it seems like things aren’t progressing because you’re worrying about such useless things. How is the startup issue going? It seems like there hasn’t been a report for about two days. You’re doing your work while playing, right?”

“…I’m sorry.”

It seemed like he was mistaken.

“Is there nothing to report?”

“I’ll finalize it as quickly as possible and report it.”

“You’re getting paid to eat and play around! Huh?”

Cho Kyu-min looked at the ceiling with a gloomy face.

Forget about worrying.