Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 364

“Ugh, I’m tired.”

“You should be tired. One guy got away.”

Joo Young-gi grumbled, watching Park Yu-min groan as he got into the car.

“Seriously, when are you going to stop harping on that?”

“How can I say anything nice when the boss abandons the store and goes off to play?”

“You know he’s not just playing around.”

“Ugh.”

Joo Young-gi irritably released the parking brake and stepped on the gas.

With a vroom, the car lurched forward.

“Go easy on the pedal.”

“Don’t you trust my driving skills?”

“It’s not that I don’t trust your driving, it’s that I don’t trust the car. It’s making a crying sound like it’s sick.”

“…That’s true.”

Even in the dark night, the rearview mirror showed thick exhaust fumes rising.

“Change the car.”

“Leave it. It still runs fine.”

“You’ll have an accident.”

“…What accident?”

Park Yu-min chuckled at Joo Young-gi’s grumbling.

‘He’s just proud.’

He’s not a bad guy.

Considering that he has a lot of affection, he was on the good side. He was the type to take care of the people around him and worry that others might get hurt because of him.

Maybe it was because of his environment, or maybe it was his personality, but he didn’t show it well and acted rough, but he was a deep-hearted guy.

‘The problem is that his affection is only shown to close people…’

Park Yu-min rested his chin on his hand with a serious expression.

‘Come to think of it, everyone’s like that.’ It was nothing new, but Park Yu-min himself had that side to him. Most people tend to be like that, but the people around Kang Jin-ho were particularly like that.

Should they be called collectivists rather than egoists?

They showed infinite trust and affection to those they considered to be within their community, but they were thoroughly indifferent and insensitive to those outside of it.

Whether such people gathered around Kang Jin-ho, or whether they were assimilated because of Kang Jin-ho, was a matter that needed some thought.

“Well, it’s not something to get angry about.”

“I’m not angry.”

“Then?”

“It’s just… not that.”

Park Yu-min quietly looked at Joo Young-gi’s profile as he drove and then opened his mouth.

“Are you sulking?”

Joo Young-gi momentarily jerked the steering wheel.

“Whoaaaaa!”

“Hey! What are you doing! Hey! Ugh!”

The car swayed violently from side to side.

The car began to shake wildly from side to side as it fishtailed.

“What are you doing!”

“Hey! You crazy bastard! You scared me!”

Joo Young-gi, who had yelled, finally stabilized the car and wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.

“Wow, I dodged a bullet. What if there were a lot of cars here?”

“…Please, change the car.”

“It’s not the car’s fault. What do you mean sulking?”

Park Yu-min was sure.

‘This guy is sulking.’

He burst out laughing.

It seemed that he was very upset that Kang Jin-ho, who had clearly gone through something big, had gone into hiding again as soon as he appeared.

“A person should be a little more magnanimous.”

“What are you talking about? My nickname is Joo the Magnanimous.”

“Not Joo the Petty?”

“…Do you want to walk? Or get out?”

“Don’t be so petty, man.”

“I’m telling you, it’s not that!”

Joo Young-gi, who had shouted, huffed and then sighed deeply.

“It’s really not that, man.”

“Huh?”

When Joo Young-gi made an uncharacteristically serious face, Park Yu-min looked at him with a new look.

“It’s not that… I’m worried that that bastard might be doing something dangerous.”

“Dangerous thing?”

“…Yeah, man.”

Park Yu-min looked at Joo Young-gi as if he didn’t understand.

‘He wouldn’t understand even if I told him.’

Joo Young-gi didn’t bother to explain.

From Joo Young-gi’s point of view, Park Yu-min was quite a mysterious being. Even though he grew up as an orphan and had seen a lot of the harsh side of the world, he never suspected that Kang Jin-ho had a dark side.

He had joked that he was a fanatic, but these days, he was starting to think that maybe it was partly true.

Joo Young-gi, who knew that Kang Jin-ho was hiding a completely different side from ordinary people because of the incident in the military, could not trust Kang Jin-ho with the same one-sided faith as Park Yu-min.

It wasn’t that he suspected Kang Jin-ho was a bad guy, but he was worried that Kang Jin-ho might be doing something dangerous in a place they couldn’t see.

“What dangerous thing would Jin-ho do?”

“None.”

“Then why are you worried?”

“…I wonder why.”

Joo Young-gi shook his head.

‘What’s the point of talking?’

If he was going to worry, he could do it alone. There was no need to share his worries with Park Yu-min by talking about it. Worry only grows when you share it.

“I don’t know what you mean, but…”

“Hmm?”

“Even if Jin-ho is doing something dangerous, I don’t think it’s something to worry about?”

“Huh?”

“Jin-ho is very smart, even if he doesn’t look like it.”

“…Doesn’t he look like it?”

“He doesn’t have a face that looks smart.”

“Y-yeah.”

‘This guy has a cold side in strange places.’

“Anyway, Jin-ho is smart and hates being harmed, so even if he does something dangerous, he won’t really be in danger. If that were the case, he wouldn’t do it in the first place.”

“Hmm…”

It made some sense.

Come to think of it, Joo Young-gi didn’t seem to have seen Kang Jin-ho lose out either, whether it was in the military or in society.

Joo Young-gi, who noticed that his mood wasn’t improving, came to a different conclusion.

“I guess that’s not the problem.”

“Then?”

“Whether it’s a dangerous thing or whatever, I don’t like that he’s doing something without me.”

“To be honest, I feel the same way.”

“I think I’ll have to catch that bastard when he comes back this time and have a serious talk.”

“About what?”

“I don’t know what he’s doing, but if we’re friends, we should do everything together and know everything together. Seeing him sneak off and do something on his own makes my stomach churn.”

“…You’re amazing.”

“Why?”

Park Yu-min grinned.

“I had similar thoughts, but I never thought of telling Jin-ho that. Isn’t this almost in the realm of obsession? It’s something a girlfriend would say to her boyfriend?”

“The loyalty of men transcends even love, you bastard.”

“…I respect you.”

Park Yu-min smiled slightly as he watched Joo Young-gi chuckle.

‘He seems to be feeling a little better.’

Park Yu-min turned his head and looked out the window. The dim moonlight was particularly beautiful today.

‘Everything’s okay, right?’

Joo Young-gi might think that he has no thoughts, but Park Yu-min was not unaware of Kang Jin-ho’s dark side.

If a friend doesn’t want to talk about it, he doesn’t ask.

It’s not that their relationship will change if they know. Friendship doesn’t come from knowing everything about each other.

For Park Yu-min, friendship was about respecting each other as they are.

But…

Sometimes he was worried.

‘Is he okay?’

Park Yu-min looked at the moon and asked Kang Jin-ho.

The same moon would be in the sky where Kang Jin-ho was.

“…That’s creepy, seriously.”

Bang Jin-hoon grabbed the wall.

His hand, full of force, dug into the concrete wall. With a little more force, the concrete he was holding was torn off.

“Hmm…”

Bang Jin-hoon threw the torn concrete to the floor and looked ahead with trembling eyes.

‘How am I supposed to explain this?’

When Kang Jin-ho first explained this plan, he thought Kang Jin-ho was crazy. Even if he wasn’t crazy, it was something that could never be done unless he was in a mental state close to it.

He approved this plan not only because he was in a position where he couldn’t stop Kang Jin-ho, but also because he thought that Kang Jin-ho would eventually ask for help, and that he was strong enough to hold out until then.

But now, Bang Jin-hoon had to admit that all his thoughts were wrong.

Kang Jin-ho was not just strong enough to hold out, but he was single-handedly turning the Yeongnam Assembly upside down.

Swoosh!

The sound of blood spurting was eerily heard.

‘Damn it.’

The situation in front of him was so terrible that even though he knew that Kang Jin-ho was an ally and the Yeongnam Assembly was the enemy, Kang Jin-ho looked like a demon.

Because of the deep-rooted conflict between the Yeongnam Assembly and the General Assembly, Bang Jin-hoon could have applauded even if the Yeongnam Assembly building was bombed and those guys were all killed, but right now, he couldn’t help but sympathize with the Yeongnam Assembly.

Kang Jin-ho was literally going berserk.

He was swinging the swords in both hands without rest, cutting down those who charged at him, those who ran away, those who knelt and begged, and those who had lost their will to fight.

Those who tried to run away were cut in the back, and those who tried to fight back were cut in half and rolled on the floor.

‘If you’re going to kill them, at least kill them nicely.’

If there was someone who would ask what difference it makes how a person is killed, he would want to drag them to this place right now and show them how Kang Jin-ho was cutting people down.

If you think of someone being cut by a sword, you might only think of a long red wound on the person’s body, like in a movie, and the person falling down while spitting blood, but if you showed them what he was seeing now, they would throw up everything they had eaten three days ago.

Kang Jin-ho was cutting people like he was cutting fruit with a paring knife.

The blood fountains that soared into the sky had soaked the floor so much that puddles of blood were forming in places, and the floor was stained black with blood.

“He’s crazy.”

Bang Jin-hoon grabbed his thigh with his trembling hand.

He was crazy.

This was not something a human being would do.

But on the other hand…

Bang Jin-hoon had to try his best to suppress his agitated heart. The scene he was seeing now was not just a cruel scene.

A human.

A martial artist.

A single martial artist was driving the Yeongnam Assembly, which was no exaggeration to say was half of South Korea’s power, all by himself.

It was a sight he had never imagined possible, even in his dreams.

When he first learned martial arts, before he knew the world and how cruel it was, that was the image of his future self that he had drawn.

A martial artist who would never back down no matter how many people attacked him.

And the strength to overcome numbers and enforce everything with his own power.

If you were a martial artist, you couldn’t help but feel your heart pounding at this sight.

‘My blood is boiling.’

Bang Jin-hoon clenched his fist tightly.

Kang Jin-ho was showing such a sight, and it felt pathetic that he had to watch the guys running away from here.

“Damn it!”

Just as he was about to jump to the floor, a hand grabbed his shoulder.

“What is it?”

When he turned his head, Jo Gyu-min was shaking his head.

“Why?”

“Wait.”

“…Yes?”

Jo Gyu-min looked at the battlefield with calm eyes and quietly opened his mouth.

“He looks like he’s going wild, but he’s not that kind of person. Wait. It’ll be over soon.”