Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 394

Yoon Hye-mi was slumped over her desk.

‘What do I do? I’m so embarrassed, I could die.’

This was not something a person should do.

If Park Yu-min hadn’t begged her so desperately, Yoon Hye-mi would never have done something so mortifying.

Recalling the numerous gazes that had been on her just moments ago, she felt like jumping out the window right now.

‘What is this! What is this!’

What on earth were those people up to?

If they were going to scheme, they should at least do it well. This wasn’t some 70s movie… It was appalling that they thought such old-fashioned ideas would still work.

What was truly sad was that she was the heroine of that cheesy 80s movie-like scenario.

Until she got into Kang Jin-ho’s car, she had been excited, but as they got closer to the school, she realized something was wrong.

In movies, there are extras who react as intended, but in reality, you have to face raw, unfiltered reactions. The realization made her legs tremble.

‘I should have stopped it somehow, even at the last minute…’

It was a mistake not to tell Kang Jin-ho, who had a serious expression, ‘Oppa, I don’t think this is right.’ [Oppa is a Korean term used by females to refer to an older brother or a close older male friend.]

While she hesitated, the car stopped in front of the school gate, and she got out before Kang Jin-ho could even grab her.

The result was this mess.

‘I can hear them, I can hear them.’

She could hear whispers behind her. She couldn’t make out exactly what they were saying, but her back sensor was accurately detecting the sharp gazes of the other kids on her.

‘I really feel like I’m going to die.’

There was only one way out of this.

Yoon Hye-mi, who had never even considered it when she cried silently in her room every night because of Lee Mi-young, came up with the extreme solution of ‘transferring schools.’ She vowed that as soon as she returned to the orphanage today, she would beg and plead with Park Yu-min, even if it meant running away to a school far away.

That would be a hundred times better than dying of embarrassment.

As she was pondering how to persuade Park Yu-min, she felt a hand pressing down on her back.

“…Huh?”

Yoon Hye-mi looked up with a frightened expression.

‘Min Aran?’

Her heart sank.

She wasn’t stupid enough not to know what it meant that Min Aran, who did all of Lee Mi-young’s errands, had come.

“Mi-young wants to see you.”

“…Me?”

“Well, who else would it be?”

“Okay, I’ll go.”

Yoon Hye-mi got up from her seat like a condemned prisoner being led to the slaughterhouse. Her large eyes looked like they were about to fill with tears.

She was truly grateful for their kindness. So grateful, but at this moment, she resented Kang Jin-ho and Park Yu-min so much.

She trudged towards Lee Mi-young, who was sitting in the back.

Lee Mi-young, sitting with her legs crossed and arms folded, looked like an executioner.

Lee Mi-young seemed to be in a particularly bad mood today. Since she had caused an incident on such a day, it was obvious what she would face today.

Tears kept threatening to spill, but Yoon Hye-mi forcefully suppressed them. The moment she showed tears in front of Lee Mi-young, she would say, ‘Anyone would think I’m bullying you?’ and then she would face torment that was incomparable to anything she had experienced before.

Yoon Hye-mi stood awkwardly, like a condemned prisoner stretching out her neck to the executioner.

“Mi-young, you called for me…”

“Yeah.”

Lee Mi-young answered briefly and then looked up at Yoon Hye-mi.

Yoon Hye-mi’s heart began to race like crazy.

“Who?”

“Huh?”

“Who was the person you came with today?”

“Ah…”

Here it comes.

Yoon Hye-mi closed her eyes tightly and opened her mouth. It was better to be honest and get it over with quickly.

“He’s, he’s an oppa who often comes to the orphanage.”

“Oppa?”

“Yeah… He’s a friend of an oppa at the orphanage, and he’s been coming often since high school. He still comes often these days.”

“You must be close? He even gave you a ride to school? Are you dating?”

“Ah, no, how could I? Not someone like me.”

“Then?”

“…It’s just that the oppa was stopping by there in the morning on his way to school, so he said he’d give me a ride since it was on his way.”

“Is that so?”

“Yeah…”

Lee Mi-young, still with an icy expression, looked at Yoon Hye-mi and asked.

“What does he do?”

“Just a college student?”

“Which school?”

“I think he goes to Jae-kyung University…”

Lee Mi-young swept her bangs back and then laughed as if she couldn’t believe it.

“He goes to Jae-kyung University? Jae-kyung University?”

“Yeah.”

“So… that guy is from Jae-kyung, is that right? That rich guy who drives a sports car goes to Jae-kyung?”

“…Yeah.”

“You’re not lying?”

“No, why would I lie about something like this?”

Lee Mi-young rested her elbow on the desk and propped her chin up.

“Right?”

Yoon Hye-mi nodded frantically.

“Y-yes, that’s right. There’s no reason for me to lie about that.”

“Hmm, right. It’s probably not a lie.”

Just when she was wondering why she was asking all this, Lee Mi-young spoke again.

“He comes to the orphanage often?”

“Yeah. About once a week?”

“I see, okay.”

Lee Mi-young seemed to be thinking something over and then nodded.

“Okay, you can go.”

“Huh?”

“I said, go.”

“Ah, okay.”

Yoon Hye-mi kept glancing back as she turned around.

‘Is it over?’

Normally, Lee Mi-young would have thrown out a snide remark, and then the kids who were waiting for Lee Mi-young’s cue would have showered her with all sorts of jeers.

Their pattern was to never directly attack someone but to subtly crush them with words that made them feel worthless.

But…

‘Why did it end so easily?’

She wasn’t someone who would end it like this?

And even if Lee Mi-young backed down like this, the other kids would never leave her alone.

Sure enough.

There were kids blocking her path as she returned to her seat.

“Hey, Yoon Hye-mi.”

“Huh? Uh, huh?”

“You were quite the sight today, weren’t you?”

“…Sorry.”

“I thought I was watching a movie. How does it feel to get out of a car like that? Do you feel all high and mighty?”

Yoon Hye-mi didn’t answer and lowered her head.

“Wow, look at her? Does she think I’m not even worth talking to?”

“How would someone who’s never ridden in one know? If you’re so upset, you should ride in one too, right?”

“Right? That’s what you mean, right?”

Just as she was about to bite her lip, thinking that this was just the beginning, a sharp voice came from behind her.

“Is the classroom your playground?”

“M-Mi-young…”

“Is it fun to pick a fight over something so trivial? Do you have to be so low-class? Everyone in the class knows she doesn’t have money. Do you want to say that she rode in that car because she was trying to show off?”

“Ah, no, it’s not like that…”

“Wouldn’t it be nice if you thought before you spoke? The sound of your empty heads is so loud, it’s really annoying.”

“…Sorry.”

The kids who were trying to tear Yoon Hye-mi apart were startled by Lee Mi-young’s sharp tone and backed away.

Then, Yoon Hye-mi turned to look at Lee Mi-young with wide eyes.

“What are you looking at?”

“Ah, no…”

“Hey.”

“Yes?”

“Come see me during break later.”

“Do you hate it?”

“No, no. I don’t hate it.”

“Then it’s fine.”

Lee Mi-young cut her off coldly, and Yoon Hye-mi sat awkwardly at her seat, staring blankly at her desk.

‘Could it be?’

No way.

Does this work?

Yoon Hye-mi covered her face with a bewildered expression.

“Hello?”

“[Mr. Kang Jin-ho, where are you?]”

“I’m taking Mi-hye back to the orphanage now. I’m going to pick up Ji-soo.”

“[Yes, thank you for your hard work. How is it?]”

“…I feel like I’m going to die?”

“[I hope you gave them at least one refreshing smile as I ordered?]”

“[Come on, if you’re so uncooperative, it won’t help the kids.]”

Kang Jin-ho shook his head.

This guy… he’s enjoying this. His voice is full of laughter right now.

“Is this method really helpful?”

“[Why do you think it wouldn’t be helpful?]”

“It’s too, how should I say it, a bit…”

“[Old and classic?]”

“You could say that.”

Actually, he wanted to ask, ‘Is it okay for me to do this with my face?’ but he couldn’t bring himself to say it after having experienced it once before. Jo Gyu-min might start cursing.

“[Being old means it’s been used a lot since ancient times. Classics are eternal. It wouldn’t have been used since ancient times if it wasn’t effective, right?]”

“…You have a point.”

Words always sound good, words.

This guy definitely chose the wrong career path. He should have gone to the sales department instead of joining Jae-kyung’s secretary’s office. Then he would have sold non-existent oil fields and dug canals in the Daedong River.

“But can we really solve it with this method?”

Kang Jin-ho was confident that he could solve the male problem. If he could just make the kids’ bodies as strong as high school dropouts, they wouldn’t dare to bully or hit anyone.

But he had no idea how to deal with the female student problem.

Of course, Kang Jin-ho was an advocate for gender equality. The concept of ‘moderation’ didn’t exist in his mind just because they were girls. After all, the Central Plains was a place where men and women alike were blasted with energy. [Central Plains is a reference to a historical region in China, often used in martial arts and fantasy contexts to denote a place of great power and conflict.]

However, he was aware that their tendencies were different. It couldn’t be solved with simple physical enhancement.

“[You shouldn’t think this will solve everything. However, it will help.]”

“Is that all I should be satisfied with?”

“[No. Mr. Kang Jin-ho, you’ve just started. Now you need to build on that and build a castle.]”

“Who?”

“[Well, of course…]”

It sounded like Jo Gyu-min was laughing on the other end of the phone.

“[Isn’t it me? I have to turn the stream that Mr. Kang Jin-ho opened into a flood.]”

Kang Jin-ho couldn’t help but chuckle.

He had faith if this guy stepped up. He didn’t know when it had happened, but Kang Jin-ho realized that he had absolute faith in Jo Gyu-min.

“What are you going to do?”

“[Since Mr. Kang Jin-ho did what he does best, now I have to do what I do best.]”

“Huh? What’s that?”

“[Try to guess.]”

What Jo Gyu-min was best at…

He was such a versatile person that nothing immediately came to mind. But if he had to pick the one thing that Kang Jin-ho acknowledged the most…

“Using your head?”

“[No.]”

Kang Jin-ho pictured Jo Gyu-min smirking in his head. Then, along with that smirk, Jo Gyu-min’s laughter-filled voice echoed in the car through the speaker.

“[Borrowing the tiger’s might (孤假虎威).]” [Borrowing the tiger’s might (孤假虎威) is a Chinese idiom that means to use the power of someone else to intimidate others.]

“Huh?”

Borrowing the tiger’s might?

“[That’s what I’m best at in the world. Don’t worry. I’ll make sure to use them all properly.]”

Kang Jin-ho let out a hollow laugh.

When villainy reaches this level, it becomes cool. Kang Jin-ho smiled and replied without realizing it.

“I look forward to it.”