Descent Of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 385

Park Yu-min trusted Kang Jin-ho implicitly.

‘Kang Jin-ho might not be right in every aspect, but if my opinion differs from his, Kang Jin-ho is usually correct. And that’s not just for me, but for others too,’ was Park Yu-min’s firm belief.

Joo Young-gi would mock Park Yu-min, calling him a Kang Jin-ho cultist, but regardless, Park Yu-min never wavered in his trust and faith in Kang Jin-ho.

However, recently, he’d felt that his friend sometimes needed a brake.

“Jin-ho…”

“Two more laps.”

“Jin-ho?”

“How little do you guys exercise normally that you’re panting like this? You need to run a bit more.”

“…No, Jin-ho. Just listen to me for a second…”

“Huh?”

Kang Jin-ho looked back at Park Yu-min with a puzzled expression.

“Why?”

“…Just calm down, Jin-ho. The kids are going to die.”

“Why?”

Why indeed!

Couldn’t he see the kids foaming at the mouth?

“Okay, just a moment, Jin-ho. I understand your point, I get it… but these kids have never really exercised properly before. So, shouldn’t we start a bit easier? They’ve already done over fifty laps.”

“We did other things in between, though?”

“Still, it’s fifty laps. The kids are going to die!”

Kang Jin-ho tilted his head.

“They won’t die, though?”

Of course, they wouldn’t die, they wouldn’t!

Park Yu-min wiped the sweat from his forehead and looked back at the kids. While Park Yu-min was covering for Kang Jin-ho, the kids were all lying on the ground, just gasping for breath.

‘Wow, this is crazy.’

Han Jin-sung realized that the saying ‘seeing stars’ wasn’t just an expression. He could actually see the ceiling as yellow right now.

‘Why am I even doing this?’

It was incomprehensible.

It wasn’t like he was trying to become a national athlete, and he’d already passed what he thought was his limit a long time ago. If a gym teacher at school had made him do this, he would have gone back to the classroom, packed his bag, and returned to the orphanage by now.

But strangely, when Kang Jin-ho spoke, he couldn’t bring himself to say no. All sorts of curses were flying around in his head, but his body was obediently following along.

‘I’m crazy, I’m crazy.’

Han Jin-sung couldn’t understand why he was so willingly following along. It was as if Kang Jin-ho had hypnotized him, making him follow his words.

‘Did I take some kind of drug?’

He was so out of breath and his body was trembling so much that it was hard to even think straight.

“Are you tired?”

If he could have answered, he would have said, ‘Does it look like I’m having fun?’ but right now, he didn’t even have the energy to reply.

“The world is a pretty simple place,” Kang Jin-ho said casually, whether they were listening or not.

“People are born equal. If you’re lacking compared to others, it’s because you haven’t put in the effort. Those who are at the top are there because they worked hard while you were playing. So, you need to work hard.”

“Th…”

Han Jin-sung gritted his teeth.

He wasn’t here to listen to such obvious nonsense. He knew that well enough…

“…That’s all bullshit.”

“Huh?”

Han Jin-sung stared at Kang Jin-ho with wide eyes.

“People are born with different abilities, and even if they put in the same effort, the results are different. And even with the same abilities and skills, the results can vary depending on where they were born and their environment. There are limits to what you can overcome with effort.”

What was he even saying?

“Reality is reality. It doesn’t change just because you deny it. Don’t hold onto useless hopes, and look at reality straight on. Effort doesn’t change everything.”

Kang Jin-ho had already felt that fact to his bones.

“People who say you need to work harder when reality is tough are either scammers or people who were born with talent. Those who have experienced results from their efforts tend to dismiss others’ lack of results as a lack of effort. But that’s not the truth.”

Han Jin-sung had never seen Kang Jin-ho talk so much.

“Then what should we do?”

Han Jin-sung asked with difficulty, and Kang Jin-ho answered calmly.

“You have to work hard.”

“…Ah, what the hell!”

Han Jin-sung, annoyed, cursed without realizing it, but Kang Jin-ho didn’t even care.

“That’s all you have to do.”

Kang Jin-ho said nonchalantly.

“I’ll create the direction and the effect. You just have to not give up. Effort is like fuel. If the engine is broken, no matter how much fuel you put in, the car won’t move forward. I’ll fix the engine and turn the steering wheel, so you just have to make sure the fuel doesn’t run out.”

‘That’s the hardest part!’

“Jin-ho, the kids are going to die. Let’s take a break.”

Kang Jin-ho looked displeased, but he couldn’t just ignore Park Yu-min when he was pleading like this.

“We haven’t done much…”

“Please!”

“Alright. Let’s take a break. Drink some water.”

Park Yu-min limped over to the kids with water.

“Are you guys okay?”

“Hyung, I think I’m going to die.”

“Why is that hyung like that?”

“…I know, right?”

Park Yu-min sighed deeply as he watched the kids drink water. It was the first day, and he knew they had to build up the kids’ stamina, so he expected it to be somewhat tough, but this was something else.

“Jin-ho wouldn’t make you guys do this without a reason. So, let’s just try to endure a little more.”

“I know, but…”

Han Jin-sung sighed deeply.

“Hyung, I can try to endure it, but the kids… I’m this tired, so how much more tired must they be? And we’re going to keep doing this? The kids will get sick before they get healthy.”

“I’ll talk to him.”

Park Yu-min, looking determined, walked towards Kang Jin-ho as he watched the kids sharing water.

Park Yu-min approached Kang Jin-ho and opened his mouth with a serious expression.

“Jin-ho.”

“Yeah?”

“Shouldn’t we lower the intensity a bit? The kids are having a really hard time.”

Kang Jin-ho asked, puzzled.

“Isn’t it not exercise if it’s not hard?”

“…Oh? I guess so?”

That was a good point. It really was a good point.

“Still, there’s a limit to how hard it should be. Jin-sung is about to die from exhaustion, so how much harder must it be for the kids?”

“It’s okay.”

Kang Jin-ho waved his hand with a nonchalant expression.

“I’ve thought it all through. This much is fine.”

“The kids aren’t you, though.”

“That’s why I’m doing it this much,” Kang Jin-ho said firmly.

“It’s easy to do it. It’s easy to make it comfortable. I can adjust the intensity to match the kids like you said, and eventually get them to the level I want. But that would take two years, and can you tell them to endure being ignored for those two years?”

Park Yu-min closed his mouth.

He couldn’t do that.

He had already been bullied before. Park Yu-min knew how intense bullying could become the moment someone was seen as prey.

It hadn’t reached that level yet, but that’s how bullying was. If it started, it would only get worse, not better.

That meant that the kids here might repeat what Park Yu-min had experienced in the past.

‘They need to become tougher…’

Thinking that way, it was right to get them out of the current situation, even if it meant they had to suffer. But seeing the kids panting in front of him, he couldn’t calm down.

“Are you worried that the kids are having a hard time?”

“…Yeah.”

“If you’re worried about them having a hard time, you shouldn’t stop them. If running here is too hard, you can just tell them to endure it. But that’s not the case, so you can’t stop them.”

“Physical pain can be recovered with rest, and it gets better after sleeping. But emotional pain isn’t like that, is it?”

Park Yu-min had no choice but to nod.

“That’s right.”

“Then just leave it to me for now. If it really seems like it’s not working out later, then stop me. But it’s not that time yet. I’m watching the situation and adjusting accordingly.”

‘Is that so?’

Park Yu-min quietly reflected.

They had already run around the court at least fifty times, and in between, they had done squats, push-ups… It felt like he was making them exercise to the point of death.

Regardless of what Park Yu-min thought, Kang Jin-ho was still dissatisfied.

‘They’re too weak.’

The human body had grown incomparably compared to the past. Back when he was in the Central Plains [a historical region in China], it was hard to find someone over 150kg.

Even though the guys here looked weak, if they were brought to the Central Plains of the past, they would be considered physical monsters and giants.

But that was just their appearance.

Compared to the athletic ability of the strong men of the past who couldn’t even eat properly, these guys were like empty shells.

‘Of course, not all of them.’

As science and systematic exercise developed, the areas that humans had explored were increasing day by day. Could anyone in the past have imagined an ordinary person running 100m in under 10 seconds?

He knew this was the right path, so he was training them in a modern way, but Kang Jin-ho still felt a sense of regret.

‘If I trained them in the Demonic Cult style [a fictional martial arts style often depicted in Chinese fantasy novels] for just a month, they could take down a school by themselves.’

Though a third of them would die in the process.

Pushing aside the lingering regrets in his mind, Kang Jin-ho opened his mouth.

“If you’ve all rested, let’s get up.”

The kids slowly started to get up from their spots.

‘Hmm…’

After just a short rest, a rebellious look had already settled in their eyes. This was why he shouldn’t give them time to think and just keep pushing them. There was a way to get rid of that rebellious spirit by pushing them even harder, but Kang Jin-ho wasn’t trying to create subordinates right now.

So, he had to give them a carrot.

“You don’t know why you’re doing this, do you?”

“…No.”

“You probably think that doing this won’t change much, right?”

“Honestly, yes.”

Han Jin-sung answered as the representative, and Kang Jin-ho nodded.

“I like that you’re honest. Then I need to show you why you have to do it.”

Kang Jin-ho went to the corner and started rummaging through the storage room.

After rummaging through the storage room for a while, Kang Jin-ho came out with a long hockey stick.

“Huh?”

Kang Jin-ho swung the hockey stick slowly a couple of times in the air, then grabbed it with both hands and swung it down with a whoosh.

Seeing the hockey stick cutting through the air with a chilling sound, they couldn’t help but gulp.