Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 489

It was piercing.

That seemed to be the most fitting description. Jo Gyu-min’s words were nothing short of piercing.

The moment Kang Jin-ho heard Jo Gyu-min’s words, he couldn’t help but feel as if he had been doused with cold water.

‘What do you want to do?’…

It was a question he couldn’t easily answer.

If it had been a little while ago, he would have answered with a single word.

‘I want to live an ordinary life.’

However, Kang Jin-ho was well aware that this goal had long since crumbled. Recently, his life had simply been flowing by, just as Jo Gyu-min had said.

Someone would stir his life, and he would react to it. And he would defeat them. He would make them pay the price for bothering him. And if someone asked for help, he would help them.

All of this started with a single premise.

External stimuli.

It wasn’t that he was moving, but that someone was making him move.

“Life isn’t that long.”

“…I know.”

Perhaps no one knew the meaning of those words better than Kang Jin-ho. Time flew by in the blink of an eye. It seemed like there was an enormous amount of time that hadn’t come yet, but the time that had passed felt incredibly short. If one were to stand at the end of their life,

all the time that had passed would simply be short.

Hadn’t Kang Jin-ho already experienced that twice?

“Kang Jin-ho.”

Jo Gyu-min called out to Kang Jin-ho with force.

“You have the power to change the world.”

“But I don’t have a purpose.”

Kang Jin-ho couldn’t answer.

There was nothing wrong with what Jo Gyu-min had said.

“I thought that if I waited a little, you would eventually find your own path. But now, I don’t think so. You already have enough conditions. And you’ve gathered many good people around you. You’ve reached a point where there’s nothing you can’t do if you have the will, yet you’re not moving at all.”

Jo Gyu-min said firmly.

“That’s a waste.”

Click.

As if frustrated, Jo Gyu-min took out another cigarette and put it in his mouth. After lighting it, Jo Gyu-min took a deep drag and slowly exhaled.

“That’s why I want to ask you. What the hell do you want to do, Kang Jin-ho?”

Kang Jin-ho couldn’t readily answer.

‘What do I want to do?’

He wanted to live happily.

But now he knew. Wanting to live happily couldn’t be a goal. Happiness was something to be achieved, but he had already accomplished everything he needed to do to achieve happiness. Besides…

‘Am I not happy now?’

The answer was clear.

His life now lacked nothing. Everything that had hindered his happiness had disappeared. The elements he thought he needed for happiness, such as family, friends, and a life not much different from others, had already been achieved.

Then what else did he need to do for happiness?

As if frustrated, Kang Jin-ho quietly put a cigarette in his mouth. As the heavy smoke slowly filled his lungs,

he felt a little more at ease. But Kang Jin-ho knew best that this short pleasure wouldn’t help him find an answer.

“I’m not asking you to find something right away.”

“…Yes.”

“I know. I know you’re also out of it. You have to maintain your life on the surface and live your life behind the scenes, so it must be twice as hard. I heard from Bang Jin-hoon that something happened recently, so it must be tough.”

Jo Gyu-min’s eyes were resolute.

“But you’re the one who has to handle it. If not, you shouldn’t have started in the first place.”

Kang Jin-ho nodded.

It might seem like an unreasonable statement. But Kang Jin-ho understood exactly what Jo Gyu-min meant.

The one mistake he had made was this.

Not being able to endure.

There were countless absurdities in the world. Ordinary people were well aware that they were constantly exposed to absurdity, but… they ignored it. They rationalized it. And they bowed their heads.

Because they couldn’t fight back.

Individuals were utterly powerless in the face of the world’s enormous power. That’s why they accepted it, even though they knew it was absurd.

Kang Jin-ho couldn’t do that.

The beginning was Choi Young-soo.

Looking back now, it was such a small thing.

Was Kang Jin-ho the only one who disliked the fact that Park Yu-min was being bullied by Choi Young-soo?

Did all the classmates, who were considered tacit accomplices, think that Choi Young-soo’s actions were refreshing and unproblematic?

No. That couldn’t be the case.

Most of them chose to remain silent, even though they knew it was an absurd and incomprehensible situation. Because they couldn’t fight back. But Kang Jin-ho himself, while saying he wanted to live an ordinary life like others, ultimately couldn’t endure it.

That’s what being ordinary was like. Those who couldn’t bow their heads where they should couldn’t become ordinary. They would become a sharp stone, a needle in a pocket.

Even if the same thing happened again, Kang Jin-ho wouldn’t be able to bow his head.

Could such a Kang Jin-ho live an ordinary life?

There was only one way.

To break all the injustices and absurdities around him himself. If he couldn’t achieve that, Kang Jin-ho would have no choice but to live a life far from ordinary for the rest of his life.

This was the path Kang Jin-ho had chosen.

Jo Gyu-min was pointing that out now.

‘I’m tired.’

It was something he already knew, but realizing it again made him feel exhausted. Similar things would continue to happen in the future. Those who disliked him would try to eliminate him, and those who didn’t like him would try to scheme against him.

Then Kang Jin-ho would have to keep pushing them away, eliminating them, and trampling them.

Until when?

Kang Jin-ho, who had unexpectedly heard a question that pierced through his life, let out a low sigh.

He had been feeling that his fatigue had been increasing recently. China was keeping him in check, and Japan and Europe were trying to eliminate him. At this rate, it would eventually collapse. The life he was barely maintaining now would suddenly crumble at some point.

“There’s only one thing you need to do right now.”

“…One thing?”

“Yes. To move.”

“You’re frozen like a stone statue right now. To be precise, it’s like you think you’re standing alone on an ice platform. You’re anxious that if you move too aggressively, this ice platform will break and everyone around you will fall.”

Was that so?

He didn’t particularly want to agree. But he couldn’t deny that there was some truth to it.

“That’s the problem.”

“But that’s the truth.”

Kang Jin-ho’s tone slightly rose.

“The lives of the people around me are half-maintained by my existence. But are you telling me to live without caring about them?”

“Yes.”

Jo Gyu-min answered cleanly.

Kang Jin-ho was left speechless.

“Kang Jin-ho, be a little selfish.”

Jo Gyu-min looked at Kang Jin-ho with pity.

“Stop thinking that you’re carrying the whole world on your shoulders. Everyone’s like that. It seems like it won’t work without me, but even if you disappear, the world won’t change that much. Of course, there will be some burden. But that burden is something they should have been handling in the first place. You don’t need to carry their burdens for them as if it’s natural.”

Jo Gyu-min loosened his tie as if he was thirsty.

“Can I say something?”

“…It seems like you already are?” Although the answer was slightly sarcastic, Jo Gyu-min cleanly ignored Kang Jin-ho’s reaction.

“When I asked you what your purpose was, can I tell you what you were thinking?”

“…Yes?”

“A life where everyone can go in a good direction. You were thinking about the position you should take in that life.”

Kang Jin-ho closed his mouth.

Jo Gyu-min was right. The moment the word ‘purpose’ came up, Kang Jin-ho had been thinking about how he could make everyone happier.

“Let me tell you something interesting. Do you remember what I asked you at the beginning?”

Of course, he remembered.

Kang Jin-ho’s memory was extraordinary. There was no way he wouldn’t remember those words.

But Kang Jin-ho couldn’t bring himself to say those words.

He had realized it himself.

The contradiction.

“I asked, ‘What do you want to do?’ What I asked was what you wanted to do. There’s no ‘us’ in that. It’s about you. Do you really think that living for everyone is living for yourself?”

“…I’ve never thought about it deeply.”

“Kang Jin-ho.”

Jo Gyu-min sighed deeply.

How should he evaluate this man?

To him, Kang Jin-ho was an enigmatic person. He was a superman who couldn’t fail, yet he was also a kind person who didn’t forget to care for others.

But recently, Jo Gyu-min had also noticed this strange sense of incongruity.

Kang Jin-ho didn’t want anything.

He didn’t desire anything.

The source of his entire life was focused on the happiness of those around him. There was no way his own happiness could exist in such a life.

“I’ll give you homework.”

“Think about what you really wanted to do. Don’t think about others. I told you, what do you want to do? The reason I said I would follow you wasn’t because you could lead me to normalcy. It was because I wanted to help you with whatever you did. But at this rate, it seems like you’re trying to make me happy. Although that’s not the case yet, let me say something as if that were the case.

Kang Jin-ho…”

Jo Gyu-min took a deep breath.

“Don’t look down on people.”

“I’m someone who can live without your help. And everyone around you can stand on their own. Are you a saint? No one wants your natural sacrifice. Can’t you feel it when you look at the kids? Now it’s becoming a burden for them.”

“I…”

“I’m not a mosquito trying to suck your abilities, nor did I say I would work with you because I wanted to be cared for by you. What I want is to achieve what you want to achieve together. I don’t want to ride in a carriage that you pull, I want to pull it with you.”

Jo Gyu-min threw the cigarette he was holding onto the ground.

“I want to be your friend and colleague, not your follower. I’m making that clear here.”

Kang Jin-ho quietly nodded.

Jo Gyu-min’s words were tearing at his heart.

“Think about it, Kang Jin-ho. What do you really want to do? Find it. Then everyone will be by your side. But if you can’t find it, there will come a day when everyone will feel burdened by you. I’m sorry for being presumptuous.”

Jo Gyu-min bowed his head and turned away.

Kang Jin-ho couldn’t bring himself to stop Jo Gyu-min as he walked away, and stood there for a long time.