Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 36

Hwang Jung-hoo’s voice echoed loudly through the hallway.

Choi Myung-gil and the others were at a loss, their faces pale, unsure of what to do.

Kang Jin-ho sighed.

‘What is this…’

It was a melodramatic scene that made him sigh. To others, it might seem serious, but for Hwang Jung-hoo and Kang Jin-ho, it was a bizarre situation that was both absurd and laughable.

Hwang Jung-hoo ignored the chairman and looked at Kang Jin-ho.

“Why are you out here?”

“I was going home.”

“Going home? It’s barely morning.”

“I got expelled.”

“…Expelled?”

Hwang Jung-hoo slowly turned his head to look at the chairman.

However, it wasn’t Chairman Choi Myung-gil who reacted to his gaze, but the principal.

“Ah, not yet! The decision hasn’t been finalized, and no decision has been made yet!”

“If he did something worthy of expulsion, he should be expelled. How about transferring to our foundation at this opportunity?”

“You have an educational foundation too?”

“Originally, big companies have to have one of those to avoid criticism. We have a school nearby, how about it?”

“I like it here.”

“Is that so?”

Hwang Jung-hoo looked at the principal.

“What’s the reason my grandson is being expelled?”

“W-Well, that’s…”

Hwang Jung-hoo, as if he knew everything from the principal’s reaction, looked at the chairman and said,

“You little bug.”

“C-Chairman…”

“If you’re going to live off a position you’ve built up through dirty means, you should reflect on your life, not use that position to oppress people. I don’t see you as a human being. A prosecution investigation?”

Hwang Jung-hoo looked at Jo Gyu-min.

“Call and cancel it.”

“Yes?”

“This kind of guy doesn’t need to go through a prosecution investigation. Baek Young-gi.”

“Yes, Chairman.”

“Make him a pauper within three days.”

“Understood. However, Chairman…”

“Why?”

“Separately from that, how about letting him receive a prosecution investigation? Judging by what he did, he seems like he should receive criminal punishment.”

“Criminal punishment?”

“Yes.”

“You mean he’ll go to prison?”

“That’s right.”

Choi Myung-gil’s face turned pale.

“Tsk, tsk, tsk.”

Hwang Jung-hoo looked at Baek Young-gi as if he was pathetic.

“Why are you so soft-hearted?”

“Yes?”

“Is prison these days even worthy of being called a prison? It’s warm, the food is good, they even let you exercise! It’s a harsh place for those with money, but for those without money and nowhere to go, there’s no better place than prison. Since we’re going to make him a pauper anyway, why give him a place to live comfortably?”

“My thinking was short-sighted.”

Hwang Jung-hoo clicked his tongue.

“A prison that feeds this kind of guy with taxes is a luxury.”

Kang Jin-ho watched the situation unfold before his eyes and sighed. From Kang Jin-ho’s perspective, Choi Myung-gil was a powerful figure.

In places where no one else was watching, Kang Jin-ho might be stronger, but under the modern system, Kang Jin-ho was weaker than Choi Myung-gil.

From Kang Jin-ho’s perspective, Choi Myung-gil was someone far out of reach, someone he couldn’t even touch.

It wasn’t like this in the Central Plains [a region in ancient China, often used to refer to the heartland of Chinese civilization].

The power Kang Jin-ho had in the Central Plains was only violence, but even the emperor at the pinnacle of power couldn’t carelessly provoke Kang Jin-ho. In the Central Plains, violence took precedence over all power.

But here? It wasn’t like that.

To create such a result, he would have to show the power to contend with a nation’s army.

A bigger problem was that in the process of proving that power, an absurd number of victims would pile up. That was what bound Kang Jin-ho.

But Hwang Jung-hoo brought Choi Myung-gil down to the depths with just a few words.

While violence can resist to some extent even in the face of greater violence, power was too pathetic in the face of greater power.

‘Is it necessary?’

It certainly seemed that power was necessary to live a little easier.

Even Kang Jin-ho himself had treated Hwang Jung-hoo to resolve his current dire situation.

After pondering, Kang Jin-ho eventually shook his head.

Wealth brings convenience, but power brings pleasure. He needed convenience, but he didn’t need pleasure. The convenience gained through power was obtained by sacrificing the time or situations of others. Kang Jin-ho didn’t want that.

All he wanted was peace.

“C-Chairman, I was wrong!” Choi Myung-gil grabbed Hwang Jung-hoo’s pant leg and clung to him.

The fact that students were watching or his own dignity had already disappeared from his mind.

The Hwang Jung-hoo he knew was a man who would achieve whatever he set his mind to, no matter what it took.

“Let go.”

Naturally, Hwang Jung-hoo coldly pushed Choi Myung-gil away.

“And those who sided with that man and spouted nonsense are too disgusting to live as teachers. As a human, you could do that. But teachers shouldn’t be like that, right?” The faces of the student affairs director and the principal turned pale.

Jo Gyu-min gave them a slight look and then bowed to Hwang Jung-hoo.

“We will take action.”

“Hmm…”

Hwang Jung-hoo nodded as if satisfied and smiled at Kang Jin-ho.

“It’s noisy here. Shall we go to the car and talk?”

“Sure.”

Kang Jin-ho readily nodded. As he walked behind Hwang Jung-hoo, Kang Jin-ho looked back.

The sight of Choi Myung-gil, miserably collapsed on the floor and sobbing, caught his eye.

‘How pathetic.’

Rather than being ugly, he looked pathetic. A man who had committed all sorts of dirty deeds to build up his power had lost it, so what was left for him now?

“What are you trying to do?” Kang Jin-ho said in a stiff voice as he got into the car.

Hwang Jung-hoo smiled.

“You’re quite handsome when I see you in the daytime.”

“Let’s get to the point.”

“Men without a sense of humor aren’t popular.”

Kang Jin-ho stared blankly at Hwang Jung-hoo.

Then, Hwang Jung-hoo burst into a hearty laugh.

“I just came because I was looking into the situation and you seemed to be in trouble, and also to gain some points.”

“You did a background check on me?”

“Isn’t that obvious?” Hwang Jung-hoo said, as if he was the one who was dumbfounded.

“From your perspective, I’m just someone you visit once a month for treatment, but from my perspective, you’re my only lifeline. If something happens to you and I can’t get treatment, I’m as good as dead. How could I just sit idly by and wait for you to come?”

“It’s not with bad intentions. It’s to provide convenience related to your life and to protect you.”

“Protect?”

“It’s not that I doubt your abilities. You’ve shown abilities that no one can believe, and you’re someone who enters my heavily guarded hospital room as if it’s your own home. But the world isn’t that easy. No matter how great your abilities are, there are times when you can’t do anything if you get swept away by the waves of the world. You’ve already experienced it, haven’t you?”

Kang Jin-ho nodded.

Even in this situation, Kang Jin-ho was helpless.

All he could do was wait for everyone’s eyes to disappear and then retaliate against Chairman Choi Myung-gil.

But that wasn’t enough.

Taking revenge after the fact wouldn’t undo the damage he had suffered.

“So, I had to do this.”

“Hmm…”

Kang Jin-ho leaned back in his car seat.

It wasn’t a method he liked.

First of all, he hadn’t been consulted, and his position hadn’t been considered.

But he had to admit that he had avoided the worst-case scenario thanks to it.

If Hwang Jung-hoo hadn’t acted quickly, it would have taken him a considerable amount of time to recover from the situation.

“I’ll say thank you for now.”

“Your tone has become quite gentle.”

Kang Jin-ho, who had been casually speaking in informal language, was now using formal language.

“Because it’s daytime.”

“Hmm?”

It was a strange thing to say.

But Hwang Jung-hoo somehow felt like he understood what he meant.

The current Kang Jin-ho didn’t seem to have become gentle, but rather seemed like a different person from the Kang Jin-ho he had seen before.

The Kang Jin-ho he had seen first, who had no humanity at all.

And the second Kang Jin-ho, who had shown a bit of vulnerability.

And the current Kang Jin-ho.

Which one was the real Kang Jin-ho?

Hwang Jung-hoo thought it was the first one.

The Kang Jin-ho from that time wasn’t someone who could be fabricated.

Hwang Jung-hoo had seen many people, having gone through all sorts of hardships.

There were people who were too great for him to handle, and there were those who were so great that he couldn’t help but admire them.

But there was no one who gave off such a bizarre feeling as Kang Jin-ho when they first met.

“Who exactly are you?”

“It seems you’ve become curious now that the situation has improved.”

“How can I not be curious? A young man, still a high school student, has strange abilities and even made the bold decision to treat me. If I were a human, how could I not be curious?” Hwang Jung-hoo laughed lightly.

“If I believed in religion, I would have thought I had witnessed a miracle. I might even be praying to have met the Messiah by now.”

“It’s fortunate that you don’t have a religion.”

Kang Jin-ho said, looking at Hwang Jung-hoo.

“You might be curious, but please just pretend you don’t know.”

“Do I have to?”

“I’m asking you to.”

Hwang Jung-hoo nodded.

Not having excessive curiosity about the other party was also a virtue of a merchant.

“And from now on, please speak casually.”

“Is it okay for me to do that?”

“Hmm…”

Lee Ji-hyuk looked at Hwang Jung-hoo for a moment and nodded.

It seemed that even if he combined his life in this world and his life in the Central Plains, he was probably younger than Hwang Jung-hoo.

“You can do that.”

“Then I understand. I’ll just tell you what I came here for this time.”

“What is it?”

Hwang Jung-hoo took out a bankbook from his pocket.

“It’s the money we promised.”

Kang Jin-ho took the bankbook.

“Check it.”

“It should be right.”

“There’s something to check.”

When Hwang Jung-hoo urged him, Kang Jin-ho opened the bankbook.

“Hmm…”

The bankbook was in Hwang Jung-hoo’s name, not Kang Jin-ho’s.

But that wasn’t the problem.

‘Let’s see, one, two, three zeros…’

Kang Jin-ho’s face stiffened.

“The amount is wrong.”

“You mean the money is wrong? That can’t be?”

Kang Jin-ho handed the bankbook to Hwang Jung-hoo.

“I clearly asked for one sheet, didn’t I?”

Hwang Jung-hoo nodded with a ‘that’s what I thought’ look on his face.

He had prepared one sheet because he had asked for one sheet, but he had also thought that the amount was too small.

He had thought that he was just naive, but it seemed that the one sheet he was talking about and the one sheet Hwang Jung-hoo had understood were different things.

“…It seems I misunderstood. I apologize. I’ll prepare the money as soon as possible. How much do you need?”

The bankbook that Hwang Jung-hoo had handed over contained 10 billion won.

‘Then is it 1 trillion won?’

It wasn’t money that he couldn’t prepare. But there were many things he had to do to prepare that money.

But Kang Jin-ho’s answer shattered Hwang Jung-hoo’s expectations.

“One hundred million won.”

“Hmm?”

Hwang Jung-hoo frowned.

Did he hear wrong?

“Did you just say… one hundred million won?”

“Yes.”

“It’s not that I heard wrong, you really said one hundred million won?”

“What’s wrong with that?”

“Is Hwang Jung-hoo’s life worth only one hundred million won?”

“…”

“So, is it a lot of money?”

“…Yes.”

Hwang Jung-hoo looked at Kang Jin-ho with a strange look.

If the money had been less, it would have been understandable, but there weren’t many people who would refuse if they received more money.

Especially if it was a large sum of 10 billion won.

But this young man, despite his young age,

was showing a detached attitude towards money.

Hwang Jung-hoo burst into a hearty laugh and then slid the bankbook that had been handed to him back.

“Take it.”