Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 439

“First of all, I think I should thank you for gathering here.”

Kang Jin-ho cleared his throat quietly.

‘This doesn’t suit me at all.’

Standing in front of people and saying something was something Kang Jin-ho rarely did. Even when he led the elite of the Demonic Cult, which was several times larger than this, he didn’t need to give a speech.

His job was to give orders, and it was Cheongma’s role to deliver those orders.

But times had changed, and what people wanted had changed. Kang Jin-ho understood that he had to change as well.

“There.”

At Kang Jin-ho’s pointing, Lee Myung-hwan was startled and stood up from his seat.

“Yes? Are you… are you talking to me?”

“We’ve met before, right?”

“Yes! I escorted you when I went to the Yeongnam Assembly before!”

Kang Jin-ho smiled gently.

“It’s a relief that there are some familiar faces. I was about to get a little nervous talking in front of people.”

Lee Myung-hwan couldn’t understand how to take this joke.

‘Nervous?’

That guy?

That’s too much of a joke.

How could that guy be nervous?

Nervousness is something that happens when you meet people of equal standing. If an ordinary person were to speak in front of a hundred ordinary people, their legs would tremble, but they wouldn’t be nervous in front of a hundred kindergarteners.

“I heard that Head Bang Jin-hoon gathered you all. But…”

Kang Jin-ho scratched his head.

“I don’t know what he said to gather you here.”

“…Pardon?”

“What did you hear that made you come here?”

Lee Myung-hwan, who had been listening to Kang Jin-ho blankly, belatedly realized that the question was directed at him and was startled, stammering.

“Th-that’s…”

Lee Myung-hwan, flustered for a moment, couldn’t answer properly and stuttered, but Kang Jin-ho didn’t rush him and waited quietly for an answer. Seeing Kang Jin-ho’s relaxed expression, Lee Myung-hwan calmed himself, cleared his throat, and answered.

“Kang Jin-ho… I don’t know if I can call you that, but I’ll call you that since I don’t know your exact position. I came here because I heard that Kang Jin-ho would give us training, and that we could become stronger if we learned.”

Kang Jin-ho nodded slowly.

“So, you came here believing that?”

“Yes.”

Lee Myung-hwan said with conviction.

“Because I already saw it, that day.”

No further explanation was needed. What bound those gathered here most strongly was the memory of the day Kang Jin-ho swept through the Yeongnam Assembly. [Yeongnam Assembly: A regional martial arts organization.]

There was no need for an explanation or plan on how he would make them stronger. Kang Jin-ho had already proven himself. And in a way that couldn’t be more certain. Asking him for a plan was presumptuous.

That answer alone was certain.

“Then, are you willing to learn from me?”

“Of course. It’s something I’ve been hoping for. I really want to do it.”

Kang Jin-ho slightly curled up the corners of his mouth.

Lee Myung-hwan felt his heart drop at that smile. That smile clearly contained ridicule.

“Even if you die while learning?”

Kang Jin-ho’s tone changed.

And it was then that Lee Myung-hwan felt like his memory and reality were finally aligning. Kang Jin-ho, who had seemed a bit clumsy until just now, had changed into the Kang Jin-ho from that day in his memory.

He didn’t know what had changed. He wouldn’t feel this way just because his expression had changed.

He couldn’t explain it, but his instincts were telling him. That Kang Jin-ho now was definitely different from the Kang Jin-ho from just a moment ago.

“Answer me.”

What did he ask?

He was completely out of it.

For Lee Myung-hwan, facing and talking to that Kang Jin-ho one-on-one was an unbearable pressure. Even though Kang Jin-ho wasn’t showing any hostility.

Only then did Lee Myung-hwan realize how amazing those who fought Kang Jin-ho that day without running away were. He couldn’t understand how the Yeongnam Assembly was far ahead of the General Assembly in terms of overall power, but at this moment, he understood. He had no choice but to understand.

If Lee Myung-hwan had been in that situation, he would have run away without looking back. Just the fact that they had stood in front of Kang Jin-ho and held a sword against him for a moment meant that they deserved to be recognized.

“What are you doing?”

“Ah…”

Lee Myung-hwan snapped back to his senses and stammered.

“Could you… could you ask me again?”

“I asked if you’re okay with dying while learning.”

“That’s…”

Lee Myung-hwan couldn’t find the words to answer for a moment.

What was he supposed to say to such a question?

No one wants to die. So, of course, he should say that dying is not okay. But in this atmosphere, in front of that person, how could he say that?

Fortunately, it seemed that Kang Jin-ho didn’t want Lee Myung-hwan’s answer.

“You’ve lived comfortably.”

Kang Jin-ho scanned the people filling the grand hall. Those who were in the direction of Kang Jin-ho’s gaze all slightly lowered their heads, avoiding his eyes. It was not easy to have the courage to look him directly in the eye.

“Everything requires a price.”

Kang Jin-ho said in a low voice.

“If you learn moderately, you’ll become moderately strong. There’s no way you can become strong with that kind of thinking. The reason you’re weak isn’t because the martial arts you’ve learned are weak. It’s because you haven’t been fierce enough.”

He wanted to deny it.

Among them, there were those who had devoted their youth to martial arts, reducing their sleeping and resting time to the point where they felt they couldn’t work any harder.

While other peers were enjoying the world, they had walked only one path: martial arts.

And yet, he said they weren’t fierce enough. How could they be any fiercer than this?

“I’ll make you stronger.”

Kang Jin-ho said with a bitter smile.

“To a degree you can’t even imagine.”

His heart was pounding.

Even while being unilaterally criticized, Kang Jin-ho’s words were shaking their hearts.

“But!”

Kang Jin-ho held up one finger.

“Half of you will die.”

“I’m not joking. I’m not someone who enjoys jokes. Half, exactly half, will die. And if you overcome that 50% chance…”

Kang Jin-ho paused slightly. Everyone’s gaze was completely focused on Kang Jin-ho.

“You won’t just become stronger, I’ll make you see a completely different world. I’ll make it happen.”

Silence.

An excessively strange silence dominated the hall. No one could even breathe.

“I don’t know any tricks. Shortcuts to get stronger quickly? There’s no such thing. The martial arts I know are honest. You get stronger as much as you suffer, you get stronger as much as you shed blood. It would be stranger if someone who has been through hell wasn’t strong. What I can show you isn’t a soft training, but hell.”

Someone could be heard swallowing.

“I’m not forcing you. There’s no need to force you. Those who don’t follow of their own will are bound to die, absolutely. So, I can’t force you. Because those who survive but aren’t even at full strength will only waste time.”

Kang Jin-ho lowered his raised hand.

“What I need isn’t someone who wants to receive training. It’s someone who wants to become stronger, someone who wants to become stronger by any means, someone who is ready to go through any hell with a smile if it means they can become stronger.”

Kang Jin-ho looked back at everyone again.

As if asking if they had that kind of resolve.

“Only those who are ready should come. That’s all for today. I’ll accept applicants again exactly one day from now.”

Was it because he said that they would be given a day’s grace?

The tension that had been as taut as a string, ready to snap at any moment, that had dominated the hall, loosened slightly.

And Kang Jin-ho drove a nail into that loose air.

“One thing I’ll tell you in advance…”

The corners of Kang Jin-ho’s mouth curled up.

“It’s better not to apply if you think what I’m saying is just boasting or exaggeration. Because then you’ll really die a dog’s death.”

Kang Jin-ho, smiling with his teeth showing, was chillingly terrifying.

“Who would come!”

Bang Jin-hoon, who had left the hall and returned to the head’s office, shouted with a face that looked like he was about to go crazy.

“No! Is that an invitation? It’s a threat! How is that different from saying, ‘If you come to learn, I’ll kill you all’?”

Bang Jin-hoon yelled, but Kang Jin-ho calmly sipped his coffee.

“Sometimes, instant coffee is not bad.”

“Don’t change the subject!”

Bang Jin-hoon really felt like he was going crazy.

Even if he coaxed and persuaded the kids, it was still a question of whether they would learn, but if he said that, who would try to learn martial arts from Kang Jin-ho?

Even Bang Jin-hoon himself would hesitate if he was told to risk his life instead of getting stronger.

“Not everyone lives risking their lives like you, Mr. Kang Jin-ho. You need to know that.”

“I know.”

Kang Jin-ho said calmly.

“Then why did you do that?”

“I know that not everyone is like that, but I don’t need those who aren’t.”

Bang Jin-hoon closed his mouth.

“What do you want from me?”

“Pardon?”

“Do you want me to drag in all sorts of riffraff, train them, and then clap because the overall power has increased?”

Bang Jin-hoon trembled slightly at Kang Jin-ho’s cynical words. The current Kang Jin-ho was not the usual Kang Jin-ho. His switch was flipped. That meant that the current Kang Jin-ho was not just being optimistic about this situation.

‘He’s serious, this guy.’

This guy was really planning to carry out what he had said. He was planning to push the kids into hell and only pick out the survivors to train further.

It was too extreme a method to apply in modern times.

“There’s no need for the whole group to get stronger.”

“…Why is that?”

“You must have felt it this time, right?”

“Yes?”

Kang Jin-ho put down the paper cup he was holding.

“Times have changed. You must have felt how much work it takes to fight once? You can’t fight like that. It’s meaningless to say you have tens of thousands and I have thousands. Because the entire force will never clash with each other.”

Bang Jin-hoon’s face hardened.

He hadn’t thought of it that way.

“What’s needed is a really strong minority. If you can concentrate the power on a minority, activities become several times easier.”

He could say that because he had already experienced it.

There were over 100,000 Demonic Cult members in the Ten Thousand Mountains, but the only cult members Kang Jin-ho actually led were a small number, including Ma Yeom. And that Ma Yeom gave the martial world to Kang Jin-ho. [Demonic Cult: A powerful martial arts sect.]

If there is a small elite group that is truly strong, numbers become meaningless. Because this isn’t a fight between ordinary people.

“…I understand what you’re saying. Yes, I understand!”

Bang Jin-hoon said with a stiff face.

“So, will the kids do it? If there are no applicants in the first place, it’s useless, isn’t it? You said that there’s no point in drafting them.”

“Those who will do it will come.”

“Why are you so sure?”

“In any era, in any force…”

“Yes?”

Kang Jin-ho smiled brightly.

“There are always bound to be crazy people.”

Bang Jin-hoon shook his head.

That was someone who was saying that sincerely. Those words were sincere.

‘Is this the right thing to do?’

He even wished that no one would apply so that this whole thing would fizzle out.

But that wouldn’t happen.

Now Bang Jin-hoon also knew.

What that person said would come true, almost without fail.

Bang Jin-hoon let out a low sigh and looked at Kang Jin-ho drinking coffee from a paper cup.

“Can I have another cup?”

“Make it yourself.”

That was the most resistance Bang Jin-hoon could muster.