Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 47

“Don’t, don’t hurt that child!”Choi Myung-gil shouted, his voice cracking as if he were about to suffocate.

“Your grandfather ended up like that because of you. See? I told you, you shouldn’t have touched me. This is the price.”

Jo Gyu-min bit his lip. Why was Kang Jin-ho here? What was Kang Jin-ho doing here?

Was it to mock the miserable Choi Young-soo and Choi Myung-gil?

That was too cruel.

“How is it?”

“I asked you how it is.”

The fear in Choi Young-soo’s eyes faded.

The emotion that pierced through that fear was none other than anger.

“I’ll, I’ll kill you…”

Kang Jin-ho smiled.

“Is this the worst?”

“No. This isn’t the worst. At least you have family to rely on, and you have time to start over. The hell I experienced was a real hell that can’t even be compared to this messy reality.”

“So?”

“After overcoming that hell, what I got was an opportunity. A new opportunity. Yes, I’m holding onto that opportunity and living. But suddenly, I thought of you.”

“You fell into hell like me. But who will give you a chance? Yes, no one. No one will give you a chance. That’s too unfair. Do you understand what I’m saying?”

Choi Young-soo nodded.

His eyes were already focused.

“Your grandfather has already lost his power. Now, it’s you who’s left. Now is the time for you to rise. Are you ready for that?”

“I’ll kill you!”

Kang Jin-ho smiled.

He reached into his pocket, took out an envelope, and threw it at Choi Young-soo.

“Get up.”

Choi Young-soo looked at Kang Jin-ho. It probably didn’t mean to get up from his seat.

“You’ve paid for your sins. You might feel wronged from your perspective. You might think it’s too much. But that’s how the world is. Someone’s prank can be more painful than death for another. You were the one giving until now, but this time, you’re just on the receiving end.”

“So now, I’ll give you a chance. Get up with the money I gave you. Shake off this mess. And when you’re ready, come find me. I’ll give you a chance. A chance to rise again. And I’ll give you a chance to take my head. Do you understand what I’m saying?”

Choi Young-soo nodded.

Kang Jin-ho stared at him for a moment, then took his hand off Choi Young-soo’s head.

“It will take time. Your body is damaged enough. Take your time. I won’t run away or hide.”

Kang Jin-ho turned around.

“Kang Jin-ho…”

Choi Young-soo called out to Kang Jin-ho.

Kang Jin-ho stopped walking.

“Why me…”

Kang Jin-ho smiled brightly.

But his smile somehow felt eerie.

“I told you, I’m giving you a chance. Whether that chance will help you or lead you to real hell, I don’t know either. Anyway…” Kang Jin-ho’s eyes gleamed.

“The choice is yours. If you’re scared, take the money and hide somewhere. I won’t appear in front of you again.”

Kang Jin-ho slowly walked out.

Jo Gyu-min gripped his trembling right hand with his left.

He was scared.

Jo Gyu-min was afraid of the young man walking in front of him for the first time.

The Kang Jin-ho who had been talking to Choi Young-soo a moment ago was not the high school student Kang Jin-ho he had known.

It was like a different person.

It was as if a completely different person had put on Kang Jin-ho’s shell and was there.

“Let’s go back.”

Kang Jin-ho, looking back at Jo Gyu-min, had already returned to the Kang Jin-ho he was before entering the house.

But Jo Gyu-min was even more scared of that. How many different faces were there inside this person?

The current Kang Jin-ho and the Kang Jin-ho from a moment ago.

Which one was Kang Jin-ho’s true self? Jo Gyu-min nodded, suppressing his trembling voice.

Hwang Jung-hoo looked at Jo Gyu-min with an interested expression.

“So, that happened.”

Jo Gyu-min grabbed his shoulder as if he was shuddering at the thought of that time.

“Those who haven’t seen it wouldn’t understand.”

“I guess so. I thought so too.”

“Did you… know?”

Hwang Jung-hoo nodded.

“Yes.”

“Then why didn’t you tell me?”

There was resentment in Jo Gyu-min’s voice. Normally, Jo Gyu-min wouldn’t dare say such a thing to Hwang Jung-hoo.

But Hwang Jung-hoo understood Jo Gyu-min.

“Would you have understood if I had told you?”

“…I wouldn’t have.”

Jo Gyu-min had no choice but to admit it.

Hadn’t he already said that those who hadn’t seen it with their own eyes could never understand?

“It wasn’t directed at me. I was just watching. But even then, I couldn’t calm my trembling body. Usually, Kang Jin-ho is just a clumsy and sometimes even innocent-looking student. But that time… that wasn’t Kang Jin-ho.”

Hwang Jung-hoo nodded.

“I was also taken aback by the difference at first.”

“Chairman…”

“Speak.”

“He… he is too dangerous.”

A smile appeared on Hwang Jung-hoo’s lips.

“I think that keeping him close will definitely cause a big problem for the Chairman’s well-being. Chairman, you must keep him away!”

“That’s impossible.”

“But…”

“I can’t keep him away. He might keep me away. And that moment will be the moment I die.”

Jo Gyu-min bit his lip.

“I can’t understand at all.”

“What do you mean?”

“Why did he… why did he go to Choi Young-soo and make him come to his senses and give him a chance? Even giving him a large sum of money.”

“A large sum?”

“Recently, 300 million was withdrawn from the Chairman’s account that Kang Jin-ho has access to. It seems that Kang Jin-ho gave that money to Choi Young-soo.”

“Three hundred million… It’s a sum that’s hard to tell whether it’s big or small. If it was given away, it’s small compared to what he has, but if it was given to Choi Young-soo, it’s a huge amount of money.”

“I don’t know why he did that.”

Hwang Jung-hoo smiled.

“You tend to think about everything too complicatedly.”

“Yes?”

“It’s just as he said. He gave Choi Young-soo a chance.”

“In reality, the damage Kang Jin-ho suffered because of Choi Young-soo was insignificant. There were times when he was almost harmed, but he mostly overcame them. Rather, it was because of that that Choi Young-soo and his family were ruined.”

“Yes.”

“And if he lived like that for a year as a consequence, wouldn’t he think he had paid for his sins?”

“Isn’t it something that could have just been left alone?”

“There are people in the world who are very precise with their calculations. Those people don’t forget favors, and they never forget grudges. But they also don’t like to take excessive revenge compared to the grudge.”

“That’s a difficult type.”

Hwang Jung-hoo shook his head.

“No. It’s a scary type. That’s because if those people are harmed by someone, they will try to repay that grudge by any means. They are the kind of people you should never turn into enemies.”

“I think I understand.”

“Kang Jin-ho is simply trying to let go of everything because he thinks Choi Young-soo has paid for his sins. The chance is just a whim.”

“A whim, you say? That it’s just a simple whim.”

Hwang Jung-hoo pointed at Jo Gyu-min.

“You know, don’t you?”

“……”

Jo Gyu-min was originally someone who received orders from Hwang Jung-hoo’s eldest son, Hwang Min-jae.

After Hwang Jung-hoo ousted his sons, including Hwang Min-jae, he purged all those who could be called their henchmen.

Jo Gyu-min and Kim Seung-hwan were among those who survived. In particular, Jo Gyu-min was under the orders of Chairman Hwang Jung-hoo.

“Do you think I called you because I really had no one else to use?”

“…No.”

Even though he was lying in bed, Hwang Jung-hoo was still Hwang Jung-hoo. If he had wanted to, there would have been countless people who would have come crawling to his feet.

But instead, Hwang Jung-hoo persuaded Jo Gyu-min.

“That’s what a whim is. People sometimes act on a whim. And those who stand above others act on whims that others cannot understand. They act according to their mood.”

Hwang Jung-hoo’s words contained more than just that meaning.

That meant that Kang Jin-ho was also someone who stood above others.

Kang Jin-ho, a mere high school student?

Did Hwang Jung-hoo recognize Kang Jin-ho to that extent?

“Keep watching.”

“……”

“He is a dangerous person. I know that too. But at this age, you tend to develop an eye for people.”

“But the danger is too great. The most unsettling thing is that his actions don’t match his age at all. I can’t tell what’s inside him.”

“Do you believe in miracles?”

“Yes? Miracles?”

“I believe in them.”

“There are things in the world that cannot be explained by common sense or science. We call them miracles.”

“Yes…”

“But has science stopped developing?”

“No.”

“If something that is now treated as superstition or a miracle because it cannot be explained by science can be explained by advanced science in the future, what should we call that?”

“That’s a difficult question.”

“That’s why I don’t blindly believe in science. It’s good if it can be explained by science, but I don’t reject it just because it’s impossible. Kang Jin-ho is such an existence. I can’t explain it, but there’s no need to reject it. Unlike you, I don’t have much time left to live. Because I have no fear, I can see things objectively.”

“…Yes.”

“Keep watching. See how far he will go, and how much he will help the Jae Kyung Group.”

Jo Gyu-min quietly looked at Hwang Jung-hoo.

Kang Jin-ho was an incomprehensible existence, but Hwang Jung-hoo, who was trying to use that Kang Jin-ho, was also no ordinary person.

‘Am I perhaps caught between monsters?’

Only then did Jo Gyu-min realize what Hwang Jung-hoo meant by the important mission.

The place where he stood was perhaps the most important position in the Jae Kyung Group.

Jo Gyu-min sighed softly.

* * *

Time passed quickly.

And before they knew it, the day of the college entrance exam was approaching.

Kang Jin-ho glanced at the books in front of him. He had finished all the courses from the first grade of elementary school to the third grade of high school.

And he had already gone through all the reference books for the college entrance exam once.

What he was doing was simply the process of accumulating knowledge.

It was different from application.

Kang Jin-ho studied with a focus on accumulation rather than application of knowledge. He had already experienced that you need to know something to be able to apply it.

Kang Jin-ho looked at the calendar.

D-2

Now, there were only two days left until the college entrance exam.

Kang Jin-ho finally finished all the preparations two days before the exam.

“That was close.”

Kang Jin-ho wiped his forehead.

If he had hurried a little more, he might have been able to finish with more time to spare. But Kang Jin-ho controlled his time and chose to finish everything at the prepared time.

Studying was important, but life was more important.

“You’ve seen it all?”

“Hmm…”

Park Yu-min looked at Kang Jin-ho with an admiring face.

“You really finished it right on time?”

“Perfectly.”

“You have a weird personality. Usually, people live with a little more leeway.”

“Are you going to take the college entrance exam?”

“I have to take the college entrance exam. I’ve been going to school all this time. I’ll take it even if it’s just because it’s a waste not to. There’s no competition that day either.”

“Okay.”

Kang Jin-ho got up from his seat and went outside.