Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 27

While Choi Myung-gil was grinding his teeth, Kang Jin-ho was in class. But strangely, his vision kept blurring.

His eyes were open, but his vision was strangely blurry, and the teacher, who was teaching diligently, appeared to be split into two or three images.

Eventually, Kang Jin-ho’s head slowly dropped.

Thud.

Kim Sung-joo, the teacher who was teaching, stopped his hand. His eyebrows shot up, forming a figure eight.

“This punk…”

Kim Sung-joo’s eyes were fixed on Kang Jin-ho, who was dozing off.

Kim Sung-joo grabbed a piece of chalk.

Then, he threw the chalk forcefully at Kang Jin-ho’s head. The chalk, which didn’t contain any internal energy, flew towards Kang Jin-ho’s head with formidable killing intent.

Thwack!

But at that moment, Kang Jin-ho suddenly opened his eyes wide and caught the flying chalk with lightning speed.

Kang Jin-ho looked back and forth between the chalk caught right in front of his face and Kim Sung-joo.

“Hmm…”

Kim Sung-joo’s face trembled.

“You caught it?”

Kang Jin-ho looked around for a moment before opening his mouth.

“I’m sorry. I dozed off for a moment.”

“Go stand in the hallway!”

“Yes.”

Without a word, Kang Jin-ho got up from his seat and went out into the hallway.

Kang Jin-ho, who had opened the back door and stepped into the hallway, stood there.

“Hmm…”

It was a strange thing.

He wasn’t particularly tired. Even though high school students were known to live with a lack of sleep and exhaustion, it wasn’t the case for Kang Jin-ho, who could relieve all his fatigue with half a day of Qi cultivation [a practice in traditional Chinese medicine involving the flow of vital energy].

He didn’t go to academies like other kids, and he only went to school, so there was no reason for him to accumulate even the slightest bit of fatigue.

Yet, it was a mystery that Kang Jin-ho was dozing off in class. He wasn’t particularly tired, but strangely, he felt sleepy as soon as class started.

Even Kang Jin-ho, who was confident that his mental strength was second to none, found it hard to endure.

‘Even the forced sleep techniques of the Quanzhen Sect [a major school of Taoism] weren’t this effective.’

It was as if a powerful spell that even Kang Jin-ho, who had experienced countless rare techniques, couldn’t resist was cast on him.

‘If I think about it seriously, it’s impossible.’

Even though his body was Kang Jin-ho’s, the spirit inside was that of the Demonic Heavenly Lord.

The Demonic Heavenly Lord couldn’t endure a class and fell asleep?

If the people of the Central Plains [a term referring to the heartland of Chinese civilization] heard this, they would burst out laughing.

Kang Jin-ho placed his hand on his chest. He could feel his heart beating.

He felt it every time this happened. He had experienced the past, but his body had not experienced the Central Plains. His spirit and body were in a strange disharmony.

If this were the Central Plains, that alone would mean that Kang Jin-ho had a huge weakness.

Unifying essence, qi, and spirit was the most basic of martial arts, and those who failed to do so could not advance to the first class.

To be blunt, Kang Jin-ho’s martial prowess was currently at the level of a second-rate martial artist.

‘A second-rate martial artist…’

In the past, it was an unimaginable level.

Even the lowest-ranking members of the Demonic Cult had to be at least first-rate martial artists to be recognized as warriors. Kang Jin-ho was currently not even at the level of a low-ranking warrior.

If he unified his essence, qi, and spirit and devoted himself to martial arts, he was confident that he could reach the pinnacle within a year.

But was there really a need to do so?

Kang Jin-ho shook his head.

Power was necessary even in modern times. But he couldn’t help but be skeptical about whether he needed more martial power than this. Kang Jin-ho knew.

People want to use power if they have it.

And power is always lacking, no matter how much you have.

Even though he had obtained a level of martial power that would be hard to match anywhere in this world, he had quickly come to crave peak-level martial power.

If he obtained peak martial power, could he stop?

Then he would want to move on to the next level.

An endless craving.

If he pursued martial arts beyond this, he would one day become the Demonic Heavenly Lord again.

He didn’t want that.

To remain himself, he needed to be cautious about martial arts.

He was no longer the Demonic Heavenly Lord of the Demonic Cult, but an ordinary student named Kang Jin-ho. There was a different kind of power he could use in modern times.

‘I wonder how it’s going now?’

By now, Chairman Hwang Jung-hoo would be working hard to create the power he would use in modern times.

Kang Jin-ho looked up at the ceiling. He could see the modern-style ceiling, which still felt unfamiliar.

‘Now is the time to walk a little slower.’

Things had been a little twisted because of Choi Young-soo’s incident, but he hadn’t lost the life he had dreamed of yet.

If he eliminated the variables, he would one day be able to live the life he desired.

“Are you being punished?”

At that moment, a voice broke Kang Jin-ho’s reverie.

Kang Jin-ho looked at Han Se-yeon, who was talking to him with a smile in her eyes, and nodded expressionlessly.

“Yes.”

“Why? Did you hit someone again?”

“No.”

“Then why?”

Kang Jin-ho frowned as if he was annoyed. He couldn’t understand why people would hold onto someone and ask about things that weren’t important.

“I dozed off.”

“You dozed off?”

“Yes.”

“Hey, you’re really funny. You’re going to get bad grades if you keep doing that. You did better than me on the last test, but I’m going to win this time, right?”

How does this girl know my grades?

He felt a strange feeling for some reason, but Kang Jin-ho, who didn’t want to continue the conversation about that, answered indifferently.

“Maybe.”

“Huh? Your reaction is weird? Are you not interested in studying anymore?”

Kang Jin-ho pondered.

Not interested in studying?

Come to think of it, he was quite good at studying during his school days.

He was planning to go to a prestigious university. If it hadn’t been for the car accident that had shattered his family, he would have become a university student.

‘Studying…’

He didn’t feel the need for it. In the past, it was the only way, so he poured everything into studying, but it wasn’t the case now. There were plenty of ways to live a socially and economically affluent life without studying.

But he couldn’t just let go of it completely.

If his grades dropped too much, his parents would worry, and there would be problems at school. He didn’t want that.

“I am interested.”

“So you’re dozing off and playing around?”

“The person I saw at the karaoke was not you, it seems.”

“I study at all other times?” Kang Jin-ho looked back at his life.

It didn’t seem like he had ever made time to study. He had looked at the textbooks a bit, but that was only during class. Considering his identity, he needed to spend a little more time studying.

“I’ll do it now.”

“So you haven’t been doing it until now?”

“Yes.”

“And you got better grades than me?”

“Maybe.”

Han Se-yeon’s face turned pouty.

“I’m going to watch how well you do. The mock exam is next week.”

“Whatever.”

At that moment, the door burst open, and Kim Sung-joo came out.

“You!”

“Yes.”

“I told you to stand in the hallway, not to flirt around!”

“I wasn’t the one who started the conversation.”

“But you were the one who answered, weren’t you?”

“That’s right.”

“Then why are you so confident!” Kang Jin-ho tilted his head.

He had answered when someone spoke to him, so was that wrong?

“Ugh, never mind! You, come in!”

“Yes.”

Kang Jin-ho went back into the classroom. Han Se-yeon, with a ‘Oh, it’s hot’ face, bowed to Kim Sung-joo and scurried away.

“These kids these days…”

Kim Sung-joo felt a sense of injustice.

“Let’s go to the PC cafe [internet cafe].”

The moment had come.

At Jung In-gyu’s words, Kang Jin-ho’s heart began to boil.

Finally! Finally, this day had come!

‘I’ve been waiting.’

He hadn’t been able to pay attention to it because he was busy dealing with Choi Young-soo, but as things around him began to stabilize, the time had finally come to repay the humiliation he had suffered.

How much effort had he put in for this day?

Since that day, he had been playing games on the computer whenever he had time. When he lay down to sleep, the game screen would flicker in front of his eyes.

“Let’s go.”

Kang Jin-ho said with a bitter smile.

“Oh? You look confident.”

“Of course.”

“Don’t be so weak like last time?”

“Don’t worry about it.”

Kang Jin-ho’s face was burning with fighting spirit. He couldn’t live with losing, whether it was a game or anything else. If he hadn’t done it, he wouldn’t have known, but once he started, he had to win no matter what.

How much had he been boiling with anger while enduring and tolerating the humiliating time that had ended in defeat? Now was the time to resolve that humiliation and finish everything with victory.

“What about the others?”

“Tae-ho and Min-jae are coming, of course. How can we play a game without them?”

Kang Jin-ho nodded.

“Let’s go.”

As Kang Jin-ho got up from his seat, Jung In-gyu followed him, whistling.

“You look confident.”

“Insignificant things.”

“Wow! This guy is full of confidence.”

At that moment, Kang Jin-ho noticed a kid packing his bag.

Park Yu-min was putting his textbooks in his bag and limping as he put the bag on his back.

“Park Yu-min.”

“Huh?”

When Kang Jin-ho called him, Park Yu-min was slightly surprised and raised his head.

Kang Jin-ho looked at Park Yu-min quietly before opening his mouth.

“Do you know how to play Galaxy?”

“Galaxy? Yeah, a little.”

A little?

Kang Jin-ho looked at Park Yu-min quietly and then gestured with his chin.

“Let’s go.”

“Let’s go?”

“Let’s go play games.”

It was Jung In-gyu who was surprised by Kang Jin-ho’s words.

Jung In-gyu was startled and shouted at Kang Jin-ho.

“Are you going with him?”

“Is it not okay?”

“No, it’s not that it’s not okay, but the team won’t match?”

“Call one more person.”

“Who?”

“Call someone yourself. Don’t you have any friends?”

Jung In-gyu sighed deeply and looked around.

“If you suddenly tell me to call someone…”

“Ah, no, Jin-ho. I don’t have to go.”

“You don’t want to?”

“…”

“You don’t have to go if you don’t want to. I’m not going to force you.”

Park Yu-min hesitated, but he didn’t say he didn’t want to go.

Kang Jin-ho looked at Park Yu-min and smiled.

“Let’s go.”

Park Yu-min seemed to hesitate for a moment, but then nodded.

Jung In-gyu, who had been watching the scene, looked like he was about to cry.

“Hey, if we go with him, it’ll take too long and we’ll lose all the seats.”

“I’ll take him on my bike.”

“No…”

“Just match the team.”

Jung In-gyu clicked his tongue.

‘Ah, why is he like this?’

Park Yu-min was the one who had tricked Kang Jin-ho with a lie just a while ago. What was the reason for calling such a guy and going to the PC cafe together?

He was too nice. Did he have no sense? Really.

He wanted to say no, but it was difficult to say no to Kang Jin-ho these days.

“Okay.”

Jung In-gyu pouted and grabbed some kids who were leaving school and asked them, and then brought a kid who seemed suitable.

“I matched the team.”

Jung In-gyu still looked a little dissatisfied, but Kang Jin-ho was too excited to read even that expression.

How long had he been waiting for this day!

“Let’s go.”

Kang Jin-ho’s voice was loud.

Today!

Is the day to restore his fallen honor.