Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 457

Smoke filled the room.

Kang Jin-ho looked down through the slightly blurred vision caused by the smoke. Watching Lee Myung-hwan frantically running towards his car, he couldn’t help but chuckle.

‘Are you laughing? Are you?’

‘This guy is a real sadist. What did you do to the kids? They’re completely out of it, there’s chaos everywhere.’

‘They’ll be fine soon.’

‘No, that’s not it…’

Bang Jin-hoon clicked his tongue, watching Kang Jin-ho’s nonchalant response. That wasn’t the answer he wanted.

‘What did he do?’

Even if he had openly beaten the kids, he couldn’t have shattered the mental state of those tough young martial artists so quickly. It didn’t seem like he spent more than five minutes on each person, so how could this be possible?

Moreover, when he asked the ones who had lost their minds what had happened, they didn’t give a clear answer. They were just busy running away with terrified eyes.

‘He’s turned the kids into cripples.’ Honestly, he was angry.

No matter how much influence Kang Jin-ho had on the General Assembly, Bang Jin-hoon was still their leader. How could he not be angry when the guys who were supposed to be the pillars of the General Assembly were reduced to this state?

‘Are they really going to be okay?’

His voice hardened without him realizing it.

Kang Jin-ho, noticing that his voice was different from usual, turned his head to look at Bang Jin-hoon.

‘Have I ever lied to you?’

‘…No, you haven’t.’

Come to think of it, he really hadn’t.

He had forced absurd and unbelievable stories into reality, but that was it.

‘They’ll be fine soon. It wasn’t a real experience. It might be more intense right now, but once they realize it wasn’t real, they’ll slowly get better.’

‘…I don’t know what you mean, but as long as they get better, that’s all that matters.’

‘Yes.’

Kang Jin-ho nodded as if there was no need for further explanation. Bang Jin-hoon was left speechless.

Bang Jin-hoon clicked his tongue and looked at Kang Jin-ho. His expressionless face gave no clue as to what he was thinking.

‘Why are you doing this?’

‘Huh?’

Bang Jin-hoon hesitated slightly.

It was clear that something had changed, but it was difficult to put it into words.

‘You said you were going to train the kids, but you haven’t shown this much enthusiasm before. Originally, we were going to weed them out by training them moderately, weren’t we? So why this method all of a sudden?’

He didn’t know what method he used, but shattering the minds of so many people was definitely not an easy task. It was clear that Kang Jin-ho himself had used a lot of energy.

If it was just to narrow down the numbers, there was no need to use this method. He could have just made them run laps or spar to eliminate the unqualified. But Kang Jin-ho had deliberately used a method that consumed a lot of energy and time.

‘Did he get motivated or something?’

But from where?

Then, Kang Jin-ho opened his mouth.

‘I didn’t like things being ambiguous.’

‘Ambiguous?’

Kang Jin-ho nodded.

‘I’ve had a bit of a change of heart recently. I realized I’ve been living too passively. But in the end, I got caught up in all sorts of things and ended up here.’

‘Ah…’

Looking back, Kang Jin-ho wasn’t the type to actively take the initiative in anything.

He got involved with the General Assembly because Lee Joong-gul tried to contact him, and he got involved with Bang Jin-hoon because he clashed with Bang Jin-hoon’s subordinates in the process.

Even the destruction of the Yeongnam Association was because the crazy Kim Seok-il had provoked Kang Jin-ho, who was living peacefully.

‘Come to think of it, that’s true.’

He didn’t know whether to call it bad luck or amazing. It was like the prominent martial artists of Korea had needlessly provoked a man who was living peacefully, and ended up unifying the martial arts world.

‘When I think about it, I realized that I can’t avoid things just by not paying attention to them or trying to avoid them. If that were the case, I wouldn’t have come this far.’

‘That’s for sure.’

The awl in the pocket is bound to stick out [a Korean proverb meaning that a person’s talents or true nature will eventually become apparent].

Besides, Kang Jin-ho had come too far to return to a normal life. Even if he refused, the world wouldn’t leave him alone now.

‘I haven’t found a goal for my life yet. But I’ve realized one thing.’

‘One thing?’

‘Yes.’

Kang Jin-ho nodded calmly and said,

‘If I can’t avoid it anyway, I should move actively. I need to start doing what I’ve been putting off, and I need to break what’s bothering me.’

A slight chill ran down his spine.

He was speaking in a blunt tone, but when this man said something, it never ended with just words. Kang Jin-ho had accomplished things that everyone had only half-believed would happen, as if they were the most natural thing in the world.

Bang Jin-hoon was once again reminded of who the young man in front of him was.

This man was a beast.

He lived with people and had no intention of breaking out of his cage, but if he wanted to, he could break out of that cage at any time and sink his teeth into someone’s neck. A beast like that.

What was restraining this man was not the people around him or the system of society. The only one who could stop Kang Jin-ho was Kang Jin-ho himself.

Bang Jin-hoon tightened the reins that had been slightly loosened.

He was not a beast tamer.

He was just a rabbit who had accidentally fallen into a beast’s cage, but was left alone because the beast was full and looked cute. He was just watching the beast play around, having gotten used to living together.

Once he thought that far, he realized how insane it was to have questioned Kang Jin-ho earlier.

‘I was out of my mind.’

People get cocky when you treat them well, and that was exactly right. Who was he to question that man?

He was also one of the ‘naive’ ones that Choi Jin-young had mentioned recently. Those guys never showed any weakness to Kang Jin-ho. They had already experienced it.

‘So, are you planning to train the kids properly?’

‘Yes.’

Kang Jin-ho put a new cigarette in his mouth, rubbed his fingertips together to light it, and slowly exhaled the smoke he had deeply inhaled.

‘If I hadn’t started, I wouldn’t know, but once I start something, I have to do it right. And…’

‘Yes.’

‘It’s not just this. I’ve decided to abandon the attitude that things will just flow along if I stay still.’

Bang Jin-hoon’s eyes shook slightly.

‘No, wait a minute. This isn’t a small matter…’

He had been taking it lightly because he had spoken as if it were nothing, but when he thought about it, this… it felt like it would have a huge impact. When a leader changes his mindset, it’s like a typhoon for those below him.

And Kang Jin-ho was the undisputed ruler of the Korean martial arts world. If he abandoned his passive attitude and started doing something actively, the Korean martial arts world would be reorganized in an instant. And the repercussions would extend to the exposed world.

‘Then, do you have anything else in mind besides this?’

‘I have one for now.’

‘Can you tell me about it?’

‘It’s nothing much.’

‘Yes.’

‘…I don’t want to get cursed out, so I think I need to go there once.’

‘Huh?’

Bang Jin-hoon stared at Kang Jin-ho with a blank face.

‘Save me.’

Han Eun-sol was experiencing hell.

He had been through many hells, but today’s hell was like no other. The problem was that he didn’t know when this hell would end.

Han Eun-sol turned his head slightly, very, very slightly. He made sure that no one noticed that he had turned his gaze in that direction. But as soon as the witch’s pissed-off face came into view, his head snapped back to its original position in 0.1 seconds.

‘God, please don’t let me get involved.’

That was impossible.

The person who was pissed off right now was his actress, and from now on, he had to take this actress to China.

He had to be with her during the flight, and he had to take care of her even when they were in China.

‘I was out of my mind.’

Why didn’t I foresee this situation?

He was too blinded by success. He should have known that if Choi Yeon-ha went to China, he would naturally have to accompany her.

‘I thought it would be okay.’

Because Choi Yeon-ha had been a bit softer recently.

In the past, she would have thrown a water bottle at him for making a mistake, but now she would just laugh it off. She also hadn’t called him in the middle of the night to throw a fit because she was annoyed by several missed calls.

He hated to admit it, but this woman had become a human being after meeting Kang Jin-ho. Really.

But…

‘Why is she like this today?’

It felt like he was carrying a bomb with the safety pin pulled out on his back. He had been watching her for two years, but he had never seen Choi Yeon-ha this angry.

‘God, please!’

If he made even a small mistake today, the news would report a ‘Choi Yeon-ha return incident’. He absolutely shouldn’t order peanuts, absolutely.

Why was she so angry?

She was the one who said she would go, but it was a bit rude to show up like this on the day of departure, wasn’t it?

The moment he saw her face, he knew that the contract was over, but surprisingly, Choi Yeon-ha waited for departure without saying a word.

Whether that was fortunate or unfortunate, he didn’t know.

At that moment, he heard Choi Yeon-ha muttering.

It was so quiet that he couldn’t hear it well, but Han Eun-sol gathered all his concentration and focused.

‘…But, not a single call? I’m going, and I don’t know when I’ll see him again, and if I go today, it’ll be at least six months… He hasn’t called me once since that day. I know he doesn’t usually call, and he doesn’t usually text… but still, at least when I’m going, a person should at least…’

Her words were jumbled, but he could roughly understand.

‘So, she’s saying that Kang Jin-ho didn’t send her a single text even though she said she was leaving.’

She had a right to be pissed.

Han Eun-sol had experienced all of Choi Yeon-ha’s tantrums and knew very well how much this woman could make things difficult for people, but at this moment, he couldn’t help but sympathize with Choi Yeon-ha.

Yeah, that was a bit much. Yeah.

‘Noona [a respectful term used by a younger male to address an older female], I think we should go in now?’

‘If we wait any longer, we’ll be late. We have to wait inside…’

‘What?’

‘…We have a little more time.’

When Choi Yeon-ha turned her head without saying a word, cold sweat began to form on Han Eun-sol’s forehead.

‘Red alert.’

At this rate, there would be problems even if they arrived in China safely. No, could they even arrive in China safely at this rate? It looked like she would flip over a tray if a flight attendant just made a sound.

‘Should I call him?’

Han Eun-sol, realizing that there was only one person who could resolve this whole situation, was about to make a decision.

‘Huh? There, there!’

Han Eun-sol jumped up from his seat and pointed towards the entrance.

‘What?’

Han Eun-sol turned his head to look at Choi Yeon-ha and pointed behind him. The face that had been contorted with annoyance instantly brightened up.

‘Wow…’

Usually, when you see such a sight, you would say it’s bewitching, but her smiling face was so beautiful that he didn’t think anything of it. In Choi Yeon-ha’s brightly smiling eyes, he could see Kang Jin-ho walking in from the entrance.

Choi Yeon-ha walked out to meet Kang Jin-ho.

Kang Jin-ho, looking slightly awkward, scratched the back of his head, cleared his throat, and looked at Choi Yeon-ha.

Their eyes met, and the two of them stared at each other for a while without saying a word.