Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 228

The shopping trip that Jo Gyu-min traded for his movie went off without a hitch, thankfully. Instead of making the entire staff work overtime, he only requested the extension for the electronics and clothing sections.

They were all smiles as they greeted the children, since they were getting a decent bonus for the extra work. Thanks to that, Kang Jin-ho and his group were able to shop comfortably in the empty department store.

After dropping the kids off at their place and driving home, Kang Jin-ho smiled faintly.

‘It was a good thing we went later.’

Since quite a few of the kids weren’t feeling well, they wouldn’t have been able to shop properly in a department store full of other customers.

He didn’t know the department store’s closing time, so they ended up going late, but it turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Seeing the happy faces of the children made him feel a bit better.

‘I should visit more often.’

He realized something new today.

It wasn’t just Kang Jin-ho helping the children. Kang Jin-ho was also finding comfort in being with them.

‘Maybe…’

Kang Jin-ho looked at the road with a calm gaze.

The head nun had asked Kang Jin-ho to become someone who could reach out to the weak.

Until now, Kang Jin-ho had thought that meant he had to sacrifice himself to help others with his strength. But now, looking back, he had a different thought.

She wasn’t the type of person who would tell others to sacrifice themselves, even if she had to sacrifice herself. So, maybe the reason she told him to reach out to the weak wasn’t for their sake, but for his own?

“……I’m overthinking it.”

Kang Jin-ho chuckled.

Contemplating or meditating on a single topic was something that suited the high monks of Shaolin [a famous Buddhist monastery known for martial arts], not Kang Jin-ho.

“Go with the flow.”

His direction was firm, but he wouldn’t rush. If he went with the flow, he would naturally end up where he was supposed to be.

Kang Jin-ho stepped on the accelerator, a rare relaxed expression on his face.

“Big bro!”

As soon as he got home, Kang Eun-young came running out to greet him.

“Aren’t you busy? You’ve been home a lot lately?”

“It’s not like I didn’t want to come home. I’ve just been so busy that I’ve been sleeping at the dorm more often.”

“Really?”

Kang Jin-ho quietly studied Kang Eun-young’s expression.

There was a slight sheen of sweat on Kang Eun-young’s forehead.

“Hmm.”

“I’ll come home early from now on.”

“Okay.”

Kang Jin-ho tapped Kang Eun-young’s head.

Kang Eun-young, realizing that Kang Jin-ho was in a good mood today, grabbed his arm and started to whine.

“Big bro! Big bro!”

“What?”

“I have something I want to talk to you about!”

“Huh?”

“It’s a serious matter, so please talk to me after you shower. Okay?”

“……Alright.”

Kang Jin-ho, wondering what she was going to say this time, chuckled and headed to the bathroom.

After a quick shower, he came out to find Kang Eun-young waiting with coffee already made.

“Why? Tell me.”

Kang Eun-young glanced at Kang Jin-ho. He seemed to be in a good mood. It didn’t seem like Kang Jin-ho had been in such a good mood recently.

She had already developed the skill to gauge her brother’s mood just by looking at his subtle expressions.

‘I have to strike while the iron is hot.’

Kang Eun-young decided to go straight to the point.

“Oppa, can you please meet Choi Yeon-ha?”

“……Huh?”

Kang Jin-ho’s eyes widened slightly at the unexpected words. He had expected her to ask to go somewhere, to extend her curfew, or to ask for something expensive, but what was this all about?

* * *

“Aaaaaaaargh!”

Clang!

The phone he threw shattered the window and flew outside.

“Aaaaargh! Aaaaargh!”

Lee Sung-hwi screamed like a wounded beast.

“Kang Jin-ho, you son of a bitch!”

His rage was so intense that the nurse outside the door couldn’t bring herself to enter the room.

The only consolation was that it was a private room, so he wasn’t disturbing other patients.

“You son of a bitch! I’m going to tear you apart! I swear! Aaaaaaaargh!”

Lee Sung-hwi was half out of his mind.

How could he not be?

The diagnosis was that his right arm, which Kang Jin-ho had broken, would have a permanent disability. He had charged at the doctor as if he would kill him, but that didn’t change anything.

At first, he tried to think differently.

His body was different from ordinary people. The body of a martial artist who could use internal energy had a recovery power that was incomparable to ordinary people. So, he thought that maybe he could recover from injuries that ordinary people couldn’t.

But as time passed, the feeling in his right arm did not return.

“Aaaaaaaargh!”

Even if he couldn’t use his right arm, he could still live as a martial artist. But on the other hand, as a martial artist, his right arm was essential for his growth.

Now, no matter how much he trained, it would be difficult for him to compete with those who had two healthy arms.

“Ha… damn it.”

Lee Sung-hwi, exhausted from screaming, leaned back on the bed and rubbed his face.

How did it come to this?

He had only done what Lee Hyun-joo had asked him to do.

“……That bitch.”

He was filled with hatred not only for Kang Jin-ho but also for Lee Hyun-joo. After he collapsed, Lee Hyun-joo had taken him to the hospital. But since then, she had only shown her face once.

“She made me like this, you bitch!”

He would kill them.

He would kill both Kang Jin-ho and Lee Hyun-joo.

But…

Lee Sung-hwi’s body trembled.

Could he do it?

The image of Kang Jin-ho’s expressionless face as he broke his arm and stomped on his shoulder was still vivid in his mind.

No matter how much Lee Sung-hwi trained and became stronger, he didn’t think he could ever face Kang Jin-ho. While Lee Sung-hwi was getting stronger, Kang Jin-ho wouldn’t be sitting idle.

And even if Lee Sung-hwi became stronger, he doubted he could ever reach Kang Jin-ho’s current level.

‘That was a demon…’

Humans usually couldn’t do that. Even Lee Sung-hwi, who had beaten countless people, couldn’t crush a person’s bones so casually.

‘How many battlefields has he crossed?’

He knew that he was a returnee [a person who has been reincarnated or has traveled back in time].

But not all returnees were strong. Just living a few more lives didn’t guarantee a person’s strength.

But Kang Jin-ho was a true powerhouse, incomparable to any mediocre returnee.

“……What am I supposed to do, damn it.”

He wanted revenge. But there was no way. Even a healthy Lee Sung-hwi couldn’t face Kang Jin-ho, so what could Lee Sung-hwi, who couldn’t move one arm properly, do against Kang Jin-ho?

“Aaaaaaaargh!”

Unable to contain his frustration, Lee Sung-hwi screamed again.

“How noisy.”

The door burst open, and a stranger… no, a familiar person walked into the room.

Lee Sung-hwi’s eyes widened.

Why was that person coming in here now?

Lee Sung-hwi instinctively backed away.

“Stay down. You know that if I wanted to, you wouldn’t be able to escape right now, right?”

Lee Sung-hwi relaxed his body.

What that person said was true. If that person wanted to, Lee Sung-hwi wouldn’t even be able to resist.

“What brings you here?”

“Should I say I came to laugh at your miserable state?”

“……Laugh all you want.”

“Tsk tsk.”

The man clicked his tongue.

“For a disciple of the Clan Leader to be so weak. That’s why you can’t properly nurture talent with your methods. I told you to come over to my side before, didn’t I?”

“Heh heh…”

Lee Sung-hwi chuckled softly.

“Why would I give up my position as the Clan Leader’s disciple to become your subordinate?”

“Of course, you don’t have to. But I think you might feel differently now?”

“……”

Lee Sung-hwi’s face contorted.

“Are you mocking me right now?”

“Mocking? Don’t get the wrong idea, Lee Sung-hwi. I don’t know if you pride yourself on being talented, but you’re not a big enough deal for me to bother with, are you?”

Lee Sung-hwi gritted his teeth.

But he couldn’t argue. That was because, to the person in front of him, he was nothing more than a nobody.

To the man who was the head of the Yeongnam Association, which boasted the strongest power in Korea, surpassing the Clan, Lee Sung-hwi was nothing more than a speck of dust.

Kim Seok-il, the head of the Yeongnam Association, smiled at Lee Sung-hwi.

“Don’t you want revenge?”

“You want revenge, but you don’t have the power, right?”

Lee Sung-hwi gritted his teeth.

“It’s the same on our side. We also lost a valuable asset, but we don’t have a way to retaliate properly. Seoul isn’t our territory, so there’s a limit to how openly we can move. So, I’m saying, how about we join hands?”

“Are you out of your mind? I’m the disciple of the Clan Leader!”

“Are you still?”

Lee Sung-hwi shut his mouth.

“Think about it. You’ve lost your arm, so you’ll be pushed out of the Clan Leader’s interest. You’re not his only disciple. And Lee Hyun-joo always hated you anyway. You’re destined to be used and then abandoned.”

Crunch.

The sound of Lee Sung-hwi grinding his teeth was chilling.

“What value do I have that you would want to join hands with me?”

“You have value. You’re strong enough, and you can move around this area freely.”

“Even though I’m a cripple?”

“That can be fixed.”

Modern medicine couldn’t fix it, and neither could a martial artist’s natural healing power, so how could he fix his body?

“I’ll give you power, and you’ll do what I tell you to do. I think it’s a really good deal, don’t you?”

Lee Sung-hwi’s eyes wavered.

If he was saying all that, it meant that he really had a way to heal him and make him stronger…

‘There’s no reason not to believe him.’

In fact, Lee Sung-hwi was already a person who had lost his value. There was no reason for someone like Kim Seok-il to come all the way here just to deceive him.

“How are you going to heal me?”

“It’s simple.”

Thud.

A book fell onto Lee Sung-hwi’s bed.

A book without a cover. The scent of an old book wafted into his nose. And mixed with that scent was a faint smell of blood, the smell of dried, old blood.

“Could it be?”

Kim Seok-il smiled.

“Isn’t it a good deal?”

“……You son of a bitch, are you telling me to learn demonic arts?”

“Is there any other way to recover your body?”

“What do you take me for!”

Kim Seok-il didn’t answer. He just looked at Lee Sung-hwi with a calm gaze, as if he was amused.

It was Lee Sung-hwi who couldn’t stand the silence.

“I, I can’t learn demonic arts!”

Kim Seok-il opened his mouth.

“I won’t force you. But in your current state, you’ll never be able to defeat Kang Jin-ho or get your revenge.”

Lee Sung-hwi’s fingertips trembled.

“I won’t force you anymore. But you’ll end up learning it anyway. You know the reason why, right?”

Lee Sung-hwi looked at Kim Seok-il with a slightly horrified expression.

How much did that man know?

“Then, I’ll be on my way. The rest of the book is with me, so call me if you’re interested. Here, this is my business card.”

Kim Seok-il threw a business card at Lee Sung-hwi, turned around, and walked out. Before closing the door, he spoke softly without turning his head.

“It didn’t even take you thirty minutes to arrive after receiving the call at the cafe that day. Isn’t that strange? Why were you wandering around this place? Huh? Hehehe.”

Thud.

The door closed.

Lee Sung-hwi stared at the door with a pale face, then looked at the secret manual with a determined expression.

‘I can’t run away anymore anyway.’

Now that Kim Seok-il had figured everything out, he would never be able to escape Kim Seok-il’s grasp.

Then, there was only one way left.

Lee Sung-hwi reached out and grabbed the secret manual.

“Kang Jin-ho…”

Suppressed hatred flowed from Lee Sung-hwi’s mouth.