Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 585

“I…”

Words didn’t come easily.

I wanted to say no. To say that it wasn’t true, that I fully empathized with the children’s pain.

But…

There was something that bothered me.

It wasn’t the orphanage that was holding him back. It was the Assembly.

‘Father was right.’

His tendencies were clear when looking back at the process of selecting those who would learn demonic arts.

He inflicted pain and pressure. Only those who were prepared to give up their lives were taken.

What about those who didn’t pass the test?

They were abandoned.

To be precise, they weren’t abandoned, they were simply ignored. What they did had nothing to do with Kang Jin-ho.

Perfect survival of the fittest, and the rule of the strong.

That was Kang Jin-ho’s original way of thinking.

‘Where did it all go wrong?’

A stark sense of incongruity began to arise.

Yes, this was Kang Jin-ho. Those who seemed useful to him were trained harshly to the point of risking their lives, and those who were not helpful were erased from his mind.

That was Kang Jin-ho’s basic way of thinking.

Such a person creating a welfare foundation?

Could there be anything more mismatched?

Kang Jin-ho felt a strong premonition.

If he continued to run the welfare foundation without any thought, it would eventually lead to a serious breakdown.

Then what should he do?

He didn’t know.

If he knew the solution, he would have solved it already. Wasn’t he in this situation because he didn’t know the solution?

But Kang Jin-ho knew one thing for sure.

If he couldn’t solve it alone, if the answer wasn’t within him, he could ask.

“What should I do?”

Looking at Kang Jin-ho, who asked seriously, Kang Yu-hwan smiled gently.

“Yes, that’s my son.”

Kang Yu-hwan liked this aspect of Kang Jin-ho.

Kang Jin-ho was exceptional.

This was undeniable. He was his son, but Kang Jin-ho was so outstanding that it was sometimes chilling.

But he was never arrogant.

If he didn’t know something or was lacking, he didn’t hesitate to ask others for help. He was never trapped by the arrogance of thinking he was superior to others.

That was enough.

That’s how a person develops.

“Son, do you know where all these problems stem from?”

“…My personality.”

“No.”

Kang Yu-hwan shook his hand firmly.

“It’s not a personality issue. That’s a misconception. In fact, all these problems are happening because you’re too good.”

“Huh?”

“What was hard for you in the military?” Kang Jin-ho pondered.

“Not really…”

“Right?”

Kang Yu-hwan looked at Kang Jin-ho with a meaningful gaze.

“Most men find military life terrible. They struggle because the tasks assigned exceed their physical capabilities, or because of the internal life… there are many reasons. But you didn’t find any of that difficult.”

“That’s right.”

“Then, can you empathize with those who struggle in the military?”

Kang Jin-ho understood what his father was saying. There was the case of Joo Young-gi, but this was a slightly different point. His father was asking if Kang Jin-ho could empathize with the struggles of ordinary people, not just extreme cases like Joo Young-gi.

Kang Jin-ho had only one answer.

“I don’t think I can.”

“That’s right.”

His father nodded.

“It’s not just the military. It’s the same with university, work… there are many people who struggle. If you can’t empathize with why they struggle, why they suffer, your welfare is just simple pity.”

His father, as if parched, drank a cup of water and continued with a sigh.

“What you’re doing now is simply at the level of ‘I’m going to change the situation because the people I like seem to be struggling, so I’ll just use my money.’ There’s no deep thought.”

“…Then, is it wrong?”

Kang Yu-hwan replied as if he was dumbfounded.

“Of course not, why would it be wrong?”

“Huh?”

Kang Yu-hwan chuckled.

“Your father is someone who thinks hypocrisy is better than evil. Even if someone helps others out of hypocrisy, it’s no different from good for those who receive the help. In any case, the act of helping others is a great thing. But our Jin-ho wouldn’t be satisfied with just that, would he?”

“Yes.”

Kang Jin-ho nodded firmly.

“If you want to create a better foundation, experience more things. And understand why people struggle. And if there’s something you don’t know, study it. University is such a place. If you’re willing, there’s so much to learn. If you’re just trying to get good grades, you won’t learn anything, but if you pursue knowledge within it, countless things will help you.”

Kang Jin-ho nodded quietly.

It was true.

He didn’t know about welfare. The fact that he was trying to do welfare now was just a shallow thought that ‘if there’s a good heart and capital, someone will create a good system and help the children.’

But it shouldn’t be like that.

Wasn’t it the same with martial arts?

If you don’t know the right path and don’t make a proper effort, you won’t progress no matter how much time you spend. Just having the heart and effort won’t produce the best results.

If you truly want to move forward, you must seek knowledge.

“This father will respect whatever choice you make. But I can’t stand to see my son doing something superficially. If you’re going to do it, do it properly. Do you understand?”

“Yes.”

Kang Jin-ho nodded quietly.

Then, Kang Eun-young, who had come out of the bathroom and was sitting down, opened her mouth.

“Then, am I getting a position too?”

“You’ll get in trouble.”

“…Ah, why! I can do well!”

“Just get up properly in the morning.”

“I don’t need to. I do a lot of work in the evening.”

Kang Jin-ho chuckled and picked up his spoon. He had to finish his meal, but the topic his father had thrown out would likely make him ponder for quite a while.

Boooooooom.

The car sped down the road.

Kang Jin-ho frowned as he pressed the accelerator.

‘Empathy…’

This was quite a difficult topic.

There was always a difficulty he felt. The disconnect between Kang Jin-ho as a martial artist living in the underworld, or more precisely, as a demon, and Kang Jin-ho in the outside world.

It wasn’t just a disconnect in terms of the situation.

In the outside world, Kang Jin-ho was concerned with providing a good environment and education for children without parents and children with disabilities to enrich their lives, but the moment he entered the Assembly, he intimidated perfectly healthy martial artists and made them tremble with fear.

They were talented individuals who would be considered excellent anywhere else, but he was selecting them like chicks, taking only the better ones.

Which side was Kang Jin-ho’s true intention?

Before hearing Kang Yu-hwan’s words, he hadn’t thought this was strange. If so, Kang Yu-hwan’s words must be correct.

‘Cheap pity…’

It was something he had rushed into without deep thought, just because he wanted to do it.

So that’s why.

When Jo Gyu-min and Hwang Jung-hoo had repeatedly told him how huge this was, Kang Jin-ho hadn’t empathized with their words at all. He had just thought, ‘Oh, it must cost more money.’

It was shallow.

Too shallow.

Kang Jin-ho frowned.

The past could not be undone. Dwelling on the past was not constructive. What was important was how to move forward from now on.

‘Running a foundation or leading the Assembly is no different.’

Kang Jin-ho had changed.

He believed that he had changed himself, and that he had to change. Then, wasn’t it also a problem to lead the Assembly in the same way as the former Heavenly Demon Lord?

He wasn’t the same as before, so how could he operate it the same way as before?

“Hmm…”

With deep contemplation, Kang Jin-ho pressed the accelerator harder.

Someone burst through the door and rushed inside.

“Hey! The car’s here!”

“Whoa.”

As soon as they heard the car had arrived, those who had been resting stood up and began to gather their energy.

Lee Myung-hwan was one of them.

Extreme tension began to settle on Lee Myung-hwan and his peers’ faces.

The arrival of the car meant only one thing.

Kang Jin-ho’s beloved car had arrived.

That was the only car they cared about.

“S-shouldn’t we go to the Lord’s chamber first?”

“No. We still have to prepare. If we’re caught resting right after he arrives, we’ll lose our heads.”

“I guess so.”

Lee Myung-hwan felt a strangeness.

While learning demonic arts, most of them had become more ferocious and sharp than before.

That was a nice way to put it, but to explain it more simply, their personalities had become terrible. They used to be neighborhood thugs, but now they were at the level of neighborhood madmen.

But strangely, they were several times more obedient when dealing with Kang Jin-ho than before.

It was like a hunting dog that would foam at the mouth and go crazy when seeing people on the street, but the moment it saw its owner, it would roll over and whine.

‘It must be because of this.’

It could be felt.

Kang Jin-ho was approaching.

From afar, a clear and powerful demonic energy was slowly approaching them.

It was terrifying.

Lee Myung-hwan clenched his teeth without realizing it.

Perhaps it was a characteristic of demonic arts, but the deeper they delved into the demonic arts, the better they could sense each other’s demonic energy.

The problem was that Kang Jin-ho’s demonic energy was felt several dozen times more clearly than before.

It was like this feeling.

Behind that fog, there was a demon that could stop your heart just by looking at it, and as your level increased, the fog between you and the demon was gradually clearing.

The more they learned demonic arts, the more they were confronting the vivid image of the demon.

“Hoo…”

Lee Myung-hwan took a quick deep breath.

It could be felt that Kang Jin-ho had reached the door. It would be less nerve-wracking to meet the King of Hell.

Squeak.

The door opened.

Then, Kang Jin-ho with a blank face entered.

‘I’m going to die, really.’

As Kang Jin-ho came right in front of them, it was felt even more vividly. If their demonic energy was like a bonfire lit in front of their house, Kang Jin-ho’s demonic energy was like an erupting volcano. It felt like a crimson flame, reeking of blood, was surging as if it would burn the world.

If they could, they wanted to prostrate themselves on the floor right now and beg for their lives. If that was how they could escape this fear.

“Hmm.”

Kang Jin-ho quietly looked around at everyone.

A suffocating tension and fear dominated everyone. The deeper their demonic arts became and the stronger their abilities became, the more Kang Jin-ho’s control was increasing vertically.

“I… there’s something I want to ask.”

Lee Myung-hwan raised his head.

“Huh?”

Lee Myung-hwan, who looked at Kang Jin-ho’s face, tilted his head.

The Kang Jin-ho in front of him was making a subtle expression that he had never seen before.

“Is there anything uncomfortable or anything like that in your daily lives? I want to help.”

The moment they saw Kang Jin-ho forcing the corners of his mouth up as he asked, their fear increased tenfold. Ironically, the good intentions that came after much deliberation were filling the hall with terror.