Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 374

“Did you come?”

“Yes.”

Kang Jin-ho slightly bowed his head as he saw Choi Yeon-ha greeting him with a bright face. Choi Yeon-ha’s face, without makeup, still felt a little unfamiliar.

However…

“I think you chose the wrong profession.”

“Who? Mr. Kang Jin-ho?”

“No. Ms. Choi Yeon-ha.”

“Why? I think my job suits me very well.”

Kang Jin-ho placed the fruit basket he was holding next to the refrigerator and replied.

“Your face looks better without makeup, but you have to wear heavy makeup because of your job.”

“…Ah!”

Choi Yeon-ha turned her head to look out the window. It wasn’t that there was anything to see there, but it was hard for her to look directly at Kang Jin-ho’s face.

‘That guy… he’s a player.’

The way he casually throws out those lines is no ordinary skill. She had already learned from Kang Eun-young that he hadn’t dated many women, but that fact didn’t prove Kang Jin-ho’s innocence.

Perhaps the reason he didn’t have a girlfriend was that the women around him gave up on their own, or that Kang Jin-ho wasn’t interested in women, so he didn’t have any women to talk to.

To say such a thing so shamelessly with that face(?).

Choi Yeon-ha was one of those who knew the power of appearance better than anyone due to her profession, but that face was definitely close to a scam. It was a cheesy and childish line that would give anyone goosebumps, but his face was covering up the line.

‘This makes me look like a total face-obsessed person.’

She could say with certainty that she wasn’t acting this way just because of Kang Jin-ho’s face.

In good conscience, she couldn’t say that she wasn’t looking at his face at all, but she definitely wasn’t acting this way just because of his face.

‘What’s wrong with me? I’m Choi Yeon-ha.’

She was a top actress. So, of course, the actors she worked with were all the most recognized faces in Korea. She encountered handsome actors representing Korea every time she started a new project, so there was no way she would fall for someone just because of their face.

“What are you thinking about?”

“Huh?”

“No, you were frowning and then smiling by yourself…”

“D-Did I do that?”

“Yes.”

“You must have seen wrong. I never did that!”

“…Ah, okay.”

Kang Jin-ho readily nodded. But Choi Yeon-ha’s face was already as red as it could possibly get.

‘This is a disease.’

And it was definitely a serious one.

Her company managers or colleagues who were somewhat close to her would be horrified if they saw her in this state.

Her concept was aloof!

Aloof!

She had abandoned her lifelong composure and was acting all shy like a middle schooler in love for the first time.

Her manager would be crying tears of injustice, and her aloof colleagues would either laugh at her or tell her to get a grip.

“I, I think I’m going a little crazy.”

“Huh?”

“…Ah, is that not it?”

Calm down, Choi Yeon-ha.

You don’t need to become a crazy woman to hide the current situation. The first thing to do is to calm down. First, take a deep breath and…

“Are you okay?”

“Kyaaaaak!”

Choi Yeon-ha grabbed a pillow and threw it at Kang Jin-ho’s face. Kang Jin-ho, who naturally caught the flying pillow, frowned.

“Why are you doing this?”

“D-Don’t suddenly get so close to my face. You startled me.”

“I was wondering if you had a fever.”

“I don’t have a fever! I’m fine!”

“Yes, well…”

This is a disaster.

That face is saying, ‘Is this woman crazy?’ Or maybe, ‘She’s completely lost it.’

If this movie was a romantic comedy, her actions just now would have looked cute, but unfortunately, Kang Jin-ho was too serious of an actor to appear in a romantic comedy.

‘Comedy that doesn’t fit the genre will be ignored by the audience.’

And it will twist the story.

Choi Yeon-ha sighed deeply. What on earth was she doing?

“I’m sorry. I’m a little out of it.”

“No, it’s okay. That’s why I came.”

Choi Yeon-ha sighed as she looked at Kang Jin-ho, who spoke bluntly.

‘Romance, my foot.’

She wasn’t destined for a sweet life from the start. Even if the genre selection was unavoidable, the male actor casting was wrong.

Kang Jin-ho tilted his head and asked as Choi Yeon-ha stared intently at his face.

“Is there something on my face?”

“…No. Did things go well with your business?”

“Yes. Well, I took care of it cleanly.”

“Hmm…”

Choi Yeon-ha nodded.

“Okay. Then go back now.”

“Huh? I just got here.”

“It’s late.”

“You said you were scared of the night, so you told me to come at night.”

“Are you planning to spend the night in a grown woman’s room? There are nurses here too. Are you trying to cause a scandal and cut off my livelihood?”

“That’s not my intention.”

Choi Yeon-ha smiled lightly.

“So, go. It’s a problem if you go home too late. And visiting hours are over here. You can’t stay here unless you’re a guardian.”

Kang Jin-ho quietly nodded.

If that’s the case.

“Then I’ll be going.”

“Yes. You don’t need to come tomorrow. I’m scheduled to be discharged the day after tomorrow.”

“Yes, then.”

Kang Jin-ho waved his hand and went out the door.

Choi Yeon-ha quietly waved her hand towards Kang Jin-ho, and when the door closed, she leaned back on the bed.

‘I think… I’m not in my right mind.’

She had been squealing and having all sorts of delusions just a moment ago when Kang Jin-ho arrived, but now her mood had become strange again.

Perhaps Kang Jin-ho just couldn’t leave someone in danger, and that person just happened to be her. According to Kang Jin-ho, he was here because he felt guilty for putting Choi Yeon-ha in danger.

As she thought that, a wave of depression washed over her. Her mood would suddenly get better and then suddenly get worse again. Objectively speaking, she was definitely not in a good state.

‘This is a big problem.’

Choi Yeon-ha hugged her knees.

Could she act again in this state?

Acting, where controlling emotions was the most important thing.

Choi Yeon-ha turned her head to look out the window.

The darkness filling the window felt like a monster rushing towards her. Choi Yeon-ha, clutching the blanket tightly, buried her face between her knees.

‘Get a grip.’

What she was afraid of wasn’t that she was strange. She understood that it didn’t make sense that she was okay even after experiencing such an incident.

What Choi Yeon-ha was really afraid of was how long this strange fear and uncontrollable emotional fluctuations would last. She was about to be discharged soon, but there was no sign of improvement.

She was afraid that she might not be able to act anymore. She was afraid that she might not be able to live a normal life.

And…

‘I don’t want to go home.’

She felt lonely and desolate even here, and Choi Yeon-ha was afraid of having to live alone again in that big house.

The night was too long and dark.

Choi Yeon-ha pressed the bell next to her.

After a little while, a nurse opened the door and came inside.

“Patient, did you call?”

“Yes, nurse. I’m sorry, but could I get some sleeping pills?”

“Sleeping pills?”

The nurse hesitated, looking troubled.

“I don’t think we can give you additional medication.”

“I’m too anxious, and I can’t sleep.”

“Then, could you wait a little? I’ll contact the doctor in charge.”

“Yes. Please.”

Choi Yeon-ha let out a low sigh as she watched the nurse bow her head and go outside.

Click.

Kang Jin-ho quietly lit a cigarette.

‘I was careless.’

There is an order to everything. But when a person falls into anger and loses their reason, they tend to forget the order. Kang Jin-ho had to admit that he had not made a normal judgment due to anger.

Revenge was not the priority.

Revenge is just a way to release emotions. The only thing gained through revenge is pleasure. So, the first thing he should have done was not revenge, but to look after the safety and well-being of the people around him.

Kang Jin-ho slowly exhaled cigarette smoke and waited for the darkness to deepen.

In the descending darkness, his eyes were shining like stars.

‘Shall we begin?’

As the night grew late, Kang Jin-ho got up from the bench.

Kang Jin-ho, who had put out the cigarette in his mouth in the ashtray, turned his head and looked at the tall hospital building.

“Hmm…”

Black smoke-like substance began to flow out of his body, and soon it enveloped his body and dyed it black. Kang Jin-ho, who had completely merged with the darkness, approached the hospital building silently.

‘It’s not exactly a pleasant feeling every time I do this.’

Shadow Stealth was something he had to learn as a basic skill. Kang Jin-ho was a fugitive who was chased by the entire Murim [martial arts world]. No matter how strong he was, he couldn’t fight everyone who came at him, so he inevitably had to learn how to hide himself.

They say everything you learn has its use, and who would have thought that he would use what he learned back then in this world like this.

Come to think of it, it felt like he was using it more usefully in this world than back then.

Of course, he had to endure the feeling of being a night visitor.

Kang Jin-ho, who had secretly approached the outer wall, deployed Wall-Climbing Skill and climbed the building. Kang Jin-ho was lightly climbing the smooth outer wall as if he had applied some kind of adhesive.

‘Should I buy a red spandex suit?’

Kang Jin-ho, who had reached the top floor in an instant, looked around.

‘Where is it?’

It wasn’t easy to find the window leading to Choi Yeon-ha’s hospital room. After peeking at this window and that window for a long time, Kang Jin-ho finally found the window leading to Choi Yeon-ha’s hospital room.

When he peeked his head in, he could see Choi Yeon-ha sleeping quietly.

‘She’s asleep.’

Then things will be a little easier.

Kang Jin-ho reached out to the locking device in the middle of the window.

‘Carefully.’

Kang Jin-ho placed his finger on the outside of the window and quietly pushed in his inner energy. As he slightly lowered his finger, the locking device clicked and broke, and the window opened.

Kang Jin-ho carefully opened the window without making a sound and frowned.

‘It’s narrow…’

He had expected it, but the window was smaller than he thought. Perhaps because it was the top floor, or perhaps because this hospital was originally like that, it seemed that even a child wouldn’t be able to pass through this window.

Crack, crack.

At that moment, the sound of bones breaking was heard, and Kang Jin-ho’s body began to shrink. Kang Jin-ho, who had become a limp body like an octopus, entered through the window and began to reorganize his body after landing on the floor.

‘Using Bone Shrinking Skill always leaves me with a dirty feeling.’

The feeling of his body shrinking and then growing back at will gave him an indescribable unpleasantness.

Kang Jin-ho, who had successfully infiltrated from the outside to the hospital room on the top floor in an instant, quietly looked at Choi Yeon-ha, who was sleeping with low breaths.

Removing the turbid energy that had penetrated the brain was one of Kang Jin-ho’s specialties. He couldn’t be sure that this method would completely cure Choi Yeon-ha, but…

‘It will still help.’

Kang Jin-ho, who had made up his mind, quietly approached Choi Yeon-ha. Just as he was about to reach out and touch Choi Yeon-ha’s acupoint.

“Ah…”

Choi Yeon-ha, who he thought was asleep, suddenly opened her eyes.