Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 272

“Go ahead and speak.”

Jo Gyu-min didn’t speak right away but put a cigarette in his mouth. Then, with the unlit cigarette still in his mouth, he stared silently out the car window.

If he was going to nag, Kang Jin-ho was willing to listen.

Like family or a friend.

Jo Gyu-min was already someone who Kang Jin-ho could meet without considering the pros and cons. If Kang Jin-ho had to pick someone he cherished, Jo Gyu-min would be in the same category as a friend.

So, he could listen to any harsh words.

Because those harsh words would stem from worry and affection for Kang Jin-ho.

“I’m not sure if it’s appropriate for me to say this.”

“Yes.”

“Are you enjoying yourself?”

Kang Jin-ho’s face hardened at the unexpected question.

“Enjoying myself…”

He should say no.

This wasn’t about enjoyment but about punishing those who tried to twist his life.

But unlike what he thought, the answer didn’t come easily.

‘Am I enjoying it?’

The fact that he couldn’t say ‘no’ definitively weighed heavily on Kang Jin-ho’s heart.

Yes, he was enjoying it.

Frankly, Kang Jin-ho felt a sense of liberation when dealing with them. The liberation of releasing what he had been suppressing was just another way of saying he was enjoying it.

“Maybe.”

“That’s disappointing.”

Jo Gyu-min spoke in a truly disappointed tone and then lit his cigarette.

Kang Jin-ho couldn’t argue with that. Who could accept the idea of someone finding pleasure in killing and harming others?

It wasn’t something that could be excused by saying that’s how the world of martial arts is. From an outsider’s perspective, Kang Jin-ho was no different from a psychopathic killer who found pleasure in killing people. No, he was different from psychopaths. Unlike them, who were emotionless, Kang Jin-ho was genuinely feeling joy in the process.

A pleasure killer.

That was another name this era would give to Kang Jin-ho.

He had no intention of making excuses that he had no choice. But he also had no intention of stopping, even though he knew it was wrong.

‘There’s no room for excuses.’

A person who can’t stop even though they know they’re wrong can be called a victim. But a person who has no intention of stopping even though they know they’re wrong is an evildoer.

Kang Jin-ho was just an evildoer.

Jo Gyu-min’s words were making him realize that fact deeply.

Just as he was trying to figure out what to say, Jo Gyu-min opened his mouth. But what came out of Jo Gyu-min’s mouth was completely different from what Kang Jin-ho had expected.

“Are you having fun without me?”

“Huh?”

The question came out without hesitation.

What was he talking about?

“I don’t know if it’s just me, but I thought you and I were partners. Not just a relationship where I handle tasks, but a relationship where we can talk, consult, and discuss things with each other.”

“…I thought so too.”

“It doesn’t seem like it.”

Jo Gyu-min turned his head and looked directly at Kang Jin-ho.

“The world you show me isn’t your whole world, and I know that. I’ve already stepped halfway into that world.”

“Yes.”

“But if you proceed with things like this, leaving me out, I’m going to feel left out.”

He couldn’t think of what to say.

He had thought that there would come a time when he would have to talk to Jo Gyu-min about this, but he didn’t expect this kind of conversation to happen now.

“This world…”

“Is not a place for someone like me to step into?”

Jo Gyu-min tapped his cigarette ash into the ashtray and took a deep drag. Then, he slowly exhaled the smoke.

“The Chairman said the same thing. To step out of that world and live in the world that’s visible. To pretend that world doesn’t exist.”

Jo Gyu-min gave a bitter smile.

“If a husband goes out every morning to work as a driver, and the wife pretends not to know and doesn’t care, can that really be called a proper couple?”

“A couple…”

“Of course, you and I aren’t a couple. But that’s what relationships are like. How long can a relationship last if you ignore the other person’s other side and only care about the side that’s visible?”

Jo Gyu-min didn’t wait for an answer.

“I have no intention of treating you with such a superficial relationship.”

Kang Jin-ho quietly clenched his fist.

It was a strange thing to say.

And strangely, it was a statement that shook him a little.

“The Chairman might be right. If an ordinary person like me steps into that world, I might not have enough necks [meaning, I might not survive]. I’ve already experienced it, and I know how dangerous it is. But, Kang Jin-ho.”

“Yes.”

“I’m someone who watches your back, not just someone who works for Jae-kyung. I started at Jae-kyung, but if I had to choose between Jae-kyung and you right now, which one do you think I would choose?”

At his firm statement, Kang Jin-ho couldn’t help but sigh.

“It would be me.”

“Yes, you know. It’s you, Kang Jin-ho.”

Jo Gyu-min’s face was filled with resentment.

“But for someone like that to leave me out of the loop and even enjoy it, isn’t it natural for me to be angry and annoyed?”

“…I’m sorry.”

He felt like he was being scolded.

How long had it been since he had been scolded like this? It seemed like it was the first time since Park Yu-min had cursed him out so badly that he cried.

It was strange.

He thought he was old enough now and had adapted to the world, but he kept getting scolded.

“I’ll take this opportunity to say this. If you’re going to leave me out, leave me out completely. I don’t want to be a scarecrow. If you’re going to take me with you, I’ll risk my life. But if you’re going to ask me to manage only half of it… I can’t do that.”

“Give me a definite answer.”

Looking at Jo Gyu-min’s blazing face, he could tell that this wasn’t just a half-joking statement.

Indeed, if Kang Jin-ho were in Jo Gyu-min’s position, he wouldn’t be happy either.

“However…”

Kang Jin-ho quietly opened his mouth.

“It’s dangerous.”

“I know.”

“What I’m doing might actually be a loss for Jae-kyung.”

“Let’s quit then. Just make sure to pay my salary. You’re rich, aren’t you?”

“…It’s not a continuous thing. It could be that we go back to living without anything happening.”

“I’ll get paid while doing nothing. Thank you.”

Kang Jin-ho frowned and glared at Jo Gyu-min.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

Jo Gyu-min answered as if there was no need to think about it and added.

“Chairman Hwang Jung-hoo lit a fire in me. He said that it’s better for ordinary people like us to pretend not to know and close our eyes and ears. No, I have no intention of doing that. I’m going to live a real life until I die.”

“Even if the result of that real life isn’t good?”

“Why are you like this, Kang Jin-ho?”

Jo Gyu-min chuckled.

“The world I want to live in isn’t a dangerous world, but the world where you’re breathing. I want to be in the same place, breathing the same air. Even if it’s poison that destroys my lungs.”

“I’m a Jae-kyung man. And the order Jae-kyung gave me was to assist you. It’s been several years already. Now, I’m working at Jae-kyung not because Jae-kyung ordered me to, but because you want me to.”

Kang Jin-ho quietly nodded, and Jo Gyu-min drove the final nail.

“If you’ve made someone’s life like this, take responsibility. Don’t tell me to cut ties with you now and go back to my ordinary life. Would I even be able to live with that boredom?”

Jo Gyu-min chuckled, and Kang Jin-ho burst out laughing as well.

“You’ll regret it.”

“That’s why we’re human, because we rush into things even when we know it.”

“That’s true.”

Kang Jin-ho quietly looked at Jo Gyu-min.

There were many reasons and visions, but Kang Jin-ho knew what Jo Gyu-min really wanted to say.

It was simply because he liked Kang Jin-ho.

He didn’t want to be left behind, so he was willing to enter this world with him.

Time had created a friendship between them, and that friendship had now gone beyond a business relationship.

“I understand.”

“You promised.”

“…So, I just shouldn’t hide things from now on?”

“Yes. That’s good enough for now.”

Jo Gyu-min grinned and grabbed the steering wheel again.

‘I don’t know if this is the right thing to do.’

He was fully aware of the risks. Perhaps this conversation they just had might drastically change Jo Gyu-min’s life.

Even if he continued to live as he was, Jo Gyu-min was already on a successful path. At a young age, he had become the head of the secretary’s office at Jae-kyung, a large corporation. He was earning more than three times the salary of his peers at Jae-kyung, and his future career path was also smooth.

Within Jae-kyung, there were even rumors that Hwang Jung-hoo had already marked Jo Gyu-min as his successor.

Jo Gyu-min had laughed heartily at that, but to outsiders who didn’t know the situation, it meant that Jo Gyu-min was on an exceptionally fast track to success.

Even if he continued to live as he was, a successful life was guaranteed.

But…

‘So what?’

What was so great about a successful life?

A life that turned away from the truth and only chased success was not Jo Gyu-min’s style. Even if a knife was at his throat tomorrow, he wanted to live a life that was vividly alive.

For Jo Gyu-min, Kang Jin-ho was vitality.

He changed his life from black and white to color. If he could move with Kang Jin-ho, he could live a life that was a hundred times more interesting than a life that turned a blind eye.

That was enough.

He could live a joyful life following someone he liked, so what more could he ask for? Jo Gyu-min unconsciously hummed and stepped hard on the accelerator.

“If I ever get kicked out of Jae-kyung, you have to take me in.”

“…I don’t need a secretary.”

“Let me sweep your father’s store yard.”

“I’ll think about it.”

Turning his head away from Jo Gyu-min, who was throwing out pointless jokes, Kang Jin-ho stared at the long neon lights outside the car window.

‘This is a strange feeling.’

Recently, he kept feeling like something was going wrong. His impulses kept increasing, and he wondered if he was living too much while suppressing himself, and he questioned what the meaning of this life was.

But now, that doubt was disappearing as if it had been washed away.

‘It wasn’t in vain.’

He had gained people who liked him and were willing to walk a dangerous path for him.

Compared to his life in the Central Plains [a reference to a historical setting in Chinese martial arts novels], where everyone turned their backs on him at the very end?

‘Even if I die tomorrow, this life is more successful.’

Kang Jin-ho couldn’t stop the corners of his mouth from curling up.

He didn’t know how long it had been.

It wasn’t a sneer or a condescending smile, but a genuine smile that came from his heart.

“Please take care of me.”

“Don’t mention it.”

At Jo Gyu-min’s voice, which answered with a gentle smile, Kang Jin-ho quietly closed his eyes.

But he couldn’t control the corners of his mouth from curling up, no matter how hard he tried.