Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 298

The Great Theft (6)

“They were defeated?”

“Yes.”

“Are you certain?”

“Contact has been lost. After checking with our informants in Korea, we’ve confirmed that Lee Jung-gul is alive and well.”

The man’s eyebrows twitched.

“Is it betrayal?”

“The situation is a bit peculiar.”

“Explain in more detail. We need information to make a judgment. Enough with the riddles, elaborate.”

“Lee Jung-gul is alive, but Bang Jin-hoon has transferred all authority to someone named Sa. Bang Jin-hoon is one of the targets Lee Jung-gul mentioned to us.”

The man showed no reaction even after hearing all of that.

Miyahara quietly closed his mouth and stood still. He knew his master was deep in thought and didn’t want to interrupt.

The sound of birds chirping could be heard from outside the door.

“To summarize… Bang Jin-hoon managed to subdue Lee Jung-gul, and in the process, all of our people were defeated?”

“It’s not certain.”

“What’s the probability?”

“I’d say it’s above 90%.”

“Above 90%…”

The man let out a groan at Miyahara’s words.

‘I can’t understand it.’

Even though it was a request from a small country like Korea, they hadn’t ignored the importance of the task. Even when hunting a rabbit, a lion gives its best [a Japanese proverb meaning to always give your best effort].

Moreover, if this went well, it could be a clue to their long-cherished ambition of advancing into the Korean Peninsula. That’s why they had deployed a considerable number of capable individuals.

But they all failed?

“What’s the probability of Chinese intervention?”

“Extremely low.”

“What about the movements of other groups?”

“We haven’t detected any.”

“Then…”

The man took a light breath and looked directly at Miyahara.

“Based on all the information you have, are you saying that all of our people were defeated by Koreans? So thoroughly that not a single one survived to make contact?”

“Yes.”

Miyahara nodded quietly.

“What’s the reason?”

“It’s because of Lee Jung-gul.”

“Lee Jung-gul…”

“If there had been intervention from another party or if they had lost by a narrow margin, Lee Jung-gul would have contacted us. However, Lee Jung-gul is openly showing himself, yet he hasn’t contacted us at all. That means he was either completely subdued to the point where he couldn’t dare to contact us, or…”

“Or he no longer has a reason to contact us.”

“That’s correct.”

The man let out a groan and touched his teacup.

The losses weren’t small, but they weren’t enough to shake the organization. What bothered him wasn’t the current situation, but the cause that led to it.

“If a large number had fought our people, there would have been a considerable commotion. If someone had secretly eliminated our people, it wouldn’t have been a large group, but a small one.”

Miyahara nodded in agreement.

“A small group, a small group… But does that mean there’s a highly skilled martial artist in Korea who could take on our people with a small group?”

The man shook his head firmly. They had been consistently gathering information about Korea. If there was such a martial artist, they would have known about it by now.

It was common in the martial arts world for someone who had been training in a remote mountain valley to suddenly appear, but there was still a basic level of skill.

“I can’t make heads or tails of it.”

The man groaned again.

But when he thought about it, that country was a place where people who didn’t fit the norm suddenly appeared from time to time.

Wasn’t it common for one or two geniuses to emerge from a low-level environment, achieve results beyond Japan, and elevate the entire industry?

“Can we try to contact Lee Jung-gul?”

“It seems difficult.”

“Difficult…”

The man nodded quietly.

“It wouldn’t be easy. Subduing the peninsula has never been easy in history. We were defeated once, and once we had it in our grasp, we lost it. So it wouldn’t be easy.”

Miyahara also nodded.

They didn’t want to admit it, but the ones who knew their potential best were Japan and China.

The fact that they had survived tenaciously without being subjugated historically, despite being next to that vast continent, proved it.

“But…”

The man’s eyes burned with fighting spirit.

“We can’t give up either.”

The man looked at Miyahara with determined eyes and said,

“Find out the cause of this incident and who eliminated our people.”

“Yes.”

“Don’t move until everything is clear. However, the moment we identify the enemy, prepare for thorough retaliation.”

“I will do so.”

“Good.”

As Miyahara retreated on his knees, the man quietly lifted his teacup.

A small ripple formed on the surface of the tea.

‘I was agitated.’

Even though it wasn’t a big deal, his composure was shaken. It was a sign that he felt unease about this incident.

Advancing into the continent was their long-held desire. They had been waiting for the right time, and now that they had finally seized the opportunity, things were going wrong from the start, so he couldn’t feel good.

‘If that person finds out, they will be furious.’

The thought of reporting the results of the incident made him feel dizzy.

“I don’t know who it is, but I will never let them live.”

The man’s low grumble, filled with anger, drifted away on the wind.

“Son.”

Kang Jin-ho felt a cold chill and shivered.

Baek Hyun-jung was looking at him with cold eyes.

“Oh, Mother?”

Kang Jin-ho had nothing to fear in this world. Neither ghosts nor wild beasts could frighten him.

But if there was one person in this world who was his natural enemy… it was undoubtedly Baek Hyun-jung.

“Aren’t you being too neglectful these days?”

“…Yes?”

“You used to play with your mother often, but these days, it’s hard to even see your face. You get up in the morning, eat, and go out, and you don’t come back until dawn.”

Kang Jin-ho’s face twitched. There was no room for excuses.

“Eun-young is also busy and doesn’t come home often, and your father is out from morning till night because of the cafe… It’s a bit lonely being alone in this big house.”

Kang Jin-ho glanced sideways.

‘The house is indeed big.’

If you were in this house all day, you might feel like you were left all alone.

Kang Jin-ho wouldn’t feel that way, but since other people said they felt that way, wouldn’t his mother feel the same?

Kang Jin-ho lowered his head slightly.

‘What was my resolution when I returned to this world?’

To live an ordinary life?

To live happily?

All of that had one premise.

That was ‘with family’.

“I haven’t had much of an appetite lately, and I can’t sleep. I’m worried I might be getting depressed.”

Cold sweat dripped from Kang Jin-ho’s forehead.

“Mother, just a moment.”

“Huh?”

Kang Jin-ho went into his room and took out his phone.

[Hello?]

“It’s me.”

[Yes, Jin-ho. What’s wrong?]

“I can’t go out today.”

[Huh? Why?]

“It’s a state of emergency. Take care of the store.”

[Huh? Hello? Jin-ho? Jin-ho?]

Kang Jin-ho hung up the phone cleanly and called again with a stern face.

[Oppa! What’s the matter, calling me? It feels like it’s been five years?]

“Where are you?”

[Huh? I’m done with filming and preparing for an event. I have a few places to go today.]

“Cancel everything and come home.”

[What? Cancel? Oppa, are you crazy? Do you think this is a child’s play? Do you know how big the penalty is for canceling an event and how much my image will drop? Even if you’re my oppa, I won’t do it this time! Even if you pull out all my hair, I’m not going! I’ll sue you, you violent oppa!]

“Mother is feeling depressed.”

[I’m going! Wait right there!]

Kang Jin-ho looked at the abruptly ended call and nodded with satisfaction.

‘Excellent.’

There was a result of the early education that family comes first since childhood. Now they move on their own.

Kang Jin-ho, who had finished preparing, rolled up his sleeves and went outside.

“Mother!”

“Yes?”

Baek Hyun-jung was flustered by Kang Jin-ho’s serious expression as he came out.

Wasn’t her son’s reaction too serious?

“What should we do first?”

Kang Jin-ho had already entered a complete battle mode.

“Kyaa!”

Kang Eun-young, who had rushed in through the front door, covered her eyes with both hands as soon as she saw the entrance. It wasn’t that she had seen something she shouldn’t have, but that an intense light was pouring out when she opened the door, making it impossible to open her eyes.

“Wow, what is this?”

Kang Eun-young stared at the entrance with shocked eyes.

The tiles of the entrance were shining dazzlingly. The phrase ‘it looks new’ didn’t apply here. What new tile made in a factory could emit such a glow?

“No, I thought you installed a mirror on the floor.”

Kang Eun-young sighed, thinking that she had worn a skirt for a while.

“That darn neat freak!”

She wondered what this guy had been doing until she arrived, and it turned out he had been cleaning. What did her mother’s depression have to do with cleaning?

Kang Eun-young, who had stepped on the sparkling tiles with her dirty shoes without hesitation, quickly took off her shoes and rushed inside.

“Madam Baekkkkkkk!”

When she went inside, her mother was sitting on the sofa. Kang Eun-young jumped directly into Baek Hyun-jung’s arms.

“Aww! Our Madam Baek, were you lonely?”

“Get off!”

“Aww, your daughter is here.”

Baek Hyun-jung, as if disgusted by her daughter rubbing her cheek against her, flinched but didn’t push her away forcefully, as if she didn’t dislike it.

“That’s enough. Do I have to tell you to understand? You guys are said to be sharp outside, but you only understand when someone gives you a hint.”

“I was too busy. Were you upset?”

“Yes, you’re busy. You’re so busy that I don’t even get to see my children’s faces. If I had known this would happen, I wouldn’t have raised you so well.”

“Hehe, Mom, calm down.”

Kang Eun-young yelled as she saw Kang Jin-ho coming out of the bathroom wearing rubber gloves.

“You! Mom is lonely, and all you’re doing is cleaning!”

“Leave him be. Your brother has no flexibility. It seems like that’s the best he can do.”

“That’s why Mom is lonely!”

Kang Jin-ho, who was being attacked from both sides, became a shrinking violet and stuck to the wall.

“Mom, Mom. Since it’s come to this, let’s have fun today. Mom, what do you want to do?”

“I don’t want to do anything.”

“Hey, it’s not that Mom wants to do something, but that we want to play with Mom. Right, Oppa?”

“Y-yes, that’s right.”

Kang Jin-ho nodded desperately.

In his third life, the biggest thing he had learned wasn’t cleaning skills or studying, but reading the room. And his ability to read the room was now desperately screaming.

‘Shut up and nod!’

Baek Hyun-jung, who had observed Kang Jin-ho and Kang Eun-young’s reactions, slightly opened her eyes and spoke.

“Then shall we go shopping?”

“Driver Kang!”

“Yes!”

“Get the car ready!”

“Yes!”

Baek Hyun-jung burst into laughter as she watched Kang Jin-ho run out in a hurry.