Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 64

“What’s going on?”

Kang Jin-ho visited Dongmyung High after a long time.

Jo Gyu-min, who had never done such a thing before, had called him and asked him to come to the school.

Jo Gyu-min greeted Kang Jin-ho, who entered the chairman’s office, and guided him to a seat.

“Please, sit down.”

Kang Jin-ho sat down.

“But why are you still here?”

“I have some things left to sort out. And the farewells at my next destination haven’t been completed yet.”

“Where are you going?”

“Are you asking the obvious? To Jae Kyung University, of course.”

Kang Jin-ho was speechless at the absurd drive of the Jae Kyung Group.

“Are you perhaps the acting chairman?”

“It’s not good to have that at a university, not a high school. The dean is also elected by vote.”

“That’s a relief then.”

“Well, I’m just thinking of creating a suitable important position. Like the head of the administrative office.”

“I see.”

Kang Jin-ho got to the point.

“What’s the matter?”

Jo Gyu-min looked at Kang Jin-ho with a sullen face.

“It’s not me who has the matter.”

“What are you talking about?”

“You’re the one with the matter, Mr. Kang Jin-ho.”

Kang Jin-ho quietly stared at Jo Gyu-min.

“A guest has come to see you.”

“A guest?”

“Come in.”

The door opened.

And a familiar face slowly walked into the room. Kang Jin-ho smiled as he saw who it was.

A cold face.

Neither the past him nor the recent him had ever worn such an expression.

It showed how much a person could change just by changing their mindset.

Kang Jin-ho leaned back on the sofa.

“You’ve come.”

The man opened his mouth, looking at Kang Jin-ho.

“Did you think I wouldn’t come?”

“It wasn’t like the money was insufficient to live comfortably.”

“…I couldn’t do that.”

Kang Jin-ho looked at the man in front of him.

Choi Young-soo.

The one who had fallen to the depths after messing with him.

And the one who had climbed back up after taking the hand Kang Jin-ho had offered from that abyss. Was it because he had been through so much?

Choi Young-soo’s face was hardened, not befitting his age.

“I came to find you as you said. To get the opportunity you talked about.”

“Opportunity?”

Choi Young-soo spoke with an unwavering expression.

“The opportunity to take your head.”

Kang Jin-ho smiled.

He could feel the killing intent.

Resentment and anger mixed together, stimulating his senses sharply. It felt like a nostalgic return to the past.

“Yeah, we made a promise.”

Kang Jin-ho nodded.

“Are you prepared?”

“..Prepared?”

“Prepared to take my head. It won’t be easy. You’ll have to see a hell worse than any you’ve seen so far for even a slight chance.”

Choi Young-soo nodded.

“I know.”

“I see.”

Kang Jin-ho quietly looked at Choi Young-soo.

His life had been twisted because of Kang Jin-ho. And Kang Jin-ho had to revise his plans because of Choi Young-soo. If they were to argue about who was more wronged, Kang Jin-ho could unhesitatingly raise Choi Young-soo’s hand.

Even if what he and his grandfather had done was excessive, Kang Jin-ho’s retaliation was several times more excessive.

But he didn’t think it was wrong.

That’s how the world is.

The weak are eaten, and the strong eat.

If Kang Jin-ho had been weak, he would have been the one eaten by them. Kang Jin-ho was stronger, so he wasn’t harmed by them.

“I’ll give you a chance.”

“…Don’t forget.”

Kang Jin-ho quietly looked at Choi Young-soo.

“I will destroy you…”

“I see.”

“You’ll regret giving me this chance.”

Kang Jin-ho nodded.

“But you know, Choi Young-soo.”

“Aren’t you afraid of me?”

As soon as he finished speaking, Choi Young-soo’s face hardened.

A face that changed every moment.

Just by that, he could tell how much thought and fear Choi Young-soo was enduring.

“I am…”

Choi Young-soo’s mouth opened heavily.

“I’m afraid of you.”

It was an honest statement.

Kang Jin-ho rated Choi Young-soo highly just for that.

“I’m scared, and I’m afraid. Just standing in front of you makes my legs tremble, and I want to collapse.”

“But you’re going to destroy me?”

“I’m afraid of you. That’s why… that’s why I can destroy you.”

“Hmm?”

“Because I know how scary you are, I’ll be fully prepared. I’ll think about it hundreds of times and revise it thousands of times to set a trap you can never avoid. So… I’ll never forget how afraid and scared I am of you. Because that moment will be my last.”

Kang Jin-ho nodded.

“You know it well.”

Kang Jin-ho opened his mouth.

“Don’t forget. The moment you show that fear, you’re done. I’ll take you in. And I’ll give you a chance. But you have to become my most loyal subordinate to seize that chance. Do you understand?”

“Yes.”

“Yes?”

Choi Young-soo hesitated, then opened his mouth again.

“…I understand.”

Kang Jin-ho smiled.

It was enjoyable to watch a human crawling up from the bottom. Even if what he was aiming for was his own head.

If his head could be taken by that level, he wouldn’t have become the leader of the Demonic Cult [a powerful martial arts sect].

‘Cheongma.’

Looking at Choi Young-soo reminded him of Cheongma. The one who was more loyal to him than anyone else, but who revealed his true colors in the end.

So, it might not be bad to use someone who has hostility from the beginning.

“Acting Chairman.”

“Yes.”

“Create a suitable position for him.”

“…Aren’t you going to keep him by your side?”

“How can I keep him if I don’t know anything? First, teach him the practical work. He doesn’t have time to learn half-heartedly at the university, right?”

“That’s right.”

Choi Young-soo answered in a stiff voice.

“Go out.”

“Then.”

Choi Young-soo bowed deeply and went outside.

Kang Jin-ho quietly watched the scene.

Jo Gyu-min opened his mouth.

“Why are you doing this?”

“What do you mean?”

“Why are you doing this? You know he has hostility towards you, Mr. Kang Jin-ho, so why are you keeping him by your side?”

“Because he won’t even have a chance if he’s not by my side.”

“What does that…”

Kang Jin-ho answered nonchalantly.

“For now, it’s convenient because I have a well-behaved errand boy. That’s all for now.”

Jo Gyu-min quietly looked at Kang Jin-ho.

He felt goosebumps.

Was the person in front of him the same Kang Jin-ho he had been talking to until recently?

His tone hadn’t changed.

His actions weren’t different either.

Yet, Jo Gyu-min felt like he was looking at a stranger.

It was as if the feeling he had felt at Choi Young-soo’s house before was coming back to life.

‘I can’t understand it.’

Kang Jin-ho had wanted an ordinary life.

To live an ordinary life, he had distanced himself from wealth and fame and had been careful to hide himself.

From Jo Gyu-min’s perspective, it was a life that seemed more like a monk’s.

But…

What was Kang Jin-ho now?

He was willingly putting himself in danger and trying to keep someone who was aiming for him by his side.

Wasn’t it too strange?

He spoke of peace.

No, he himself seemed to genuinely desire a peaceful life.

Yet, he was doing these things without hesitation.

Which side was his true intention?

‘Could it be…’

Perhaps…

Wasn’t Kang Jin-ho secretly wishing for it?

Like a war addict who speaks of peace but longs for a battlefield where blood splatters, wasn’t the nature deep within Kang Jin-ho feeling bored with this peaceful life?

‘That’s too much of a thought.’

It was a thought that couldn’t be concluded, and there was no evidence.

Yet, Jo Gyu-min couldn’t shake off the suspicion.

If that was true…

‘Making this man the successor could bring about the destruction of the Jae Kyung Group.’ This was not a matter that could be resolved at his level.

He needed to report it.

* * *

“What happened?” The preparations for the sports festival were in full swing. Kang Jin-ho and Park Yu-min were on the futsal field, watching their classmates practice.

Since it was a group activity, the atmosphere was such that those who practiced did so, and the others didn’t just play around.

Kang Jin-ho pondered how to answer Park Yu-min’s question.

“Did something happen?”

“No, suddenly the kids are all over me, asking what your identity is?”

“I see.”

Kang Jin-ho nodded.

Well, it wasn’t like he hadn’t expected this.

He had tried to hide it because he had expected it, and he had tried not to show it because he had expected it.

But that didn’t mean he wanted to criticize those who were reacting that way.

No matter what anyone said, it was a natural phenomenon.

Rather, compared to the power and authority that force and power had in the past in the Central Plains [ancient China] and the people who were subservient to it, the people of the modern era felt rather innocent.

‘Or maybe they have strong self-esteem.’

Either way, this result was something that could be predicted.

The problem was that there was quite a difference between predicting it and experiencing it.

‘It’s uncomfortable.’

Much more excessive gazes were pouring down on him than before. Enduring that was quite a burden for Kang Jin-ho as well.

‘It’s funny.’

What if it was Kang Jin-ho from the time he first returned to the modern era?

He wouldn’t have cared about such gazes at all.

‘Have I changed?’

Kang Jin-ho himself was feeling it. He was changing rapidly compared to when he first returned to the modern era.

He had regained the composure to make jokes, and he was talking more, though not as much as in the past.

He was adapting to the modern era. He had also gained the wisdom to solve things in other ways than with force, which he would have done in the past, and he had gained the gentleness to laugh off those who showed hostility towards him.

Kang Jin-ho closed his eyes slightly.

The life he had wanted.

It was coming true. Even so…

—Are you enjoying it?

A voice was heard.

The voice of the monster sleeping within him had begun to be heard frequently recently.

-Are you really enjoying it?

What was it asking?

Why was it asking?

The answer was obvious.

The answer was only one.

He was enjoying it. Now was several times, no, several tens of times more enjoyable and comfortable than in the past.

Even so…

—Are you enjoying it?

“What are you thinking about?”

Kang Jin-ho opened his eyes at Park Yu-min’s voice calling him.

“No, nothing.”

Kang Jin-ho shook off his thoughts.

It seemed that he was having too many random thoughts because he had become too comfortable.

“But it seems like the girls see you very favorably, but the guys don’t?”

“Hmm.”

Come to think of it, there were some gazes that felt a bit hostile.

From the beginning, there were people who acknowledged the difference and gave up, while there were others who couldn’t acknowledge the difference and were uncomfortable with the attention he was getting.

Especially since those who had entered Jae Kyung University, which was said to be a prestigious university, had a considerable amount of pride in themselves. Kang Jin-ho’s existence was touching that pride.

‘If I stay quiet, they’ll forget about it.’

The good thing about the modern era was that the topic of conversation changed quickly. In the past, something that would have been talked about for years would become a thing of the past in just a month or two here.

Just like how the rumors about his relationship with Chairman Hwang Jung-hoo, which had initially flared up so much in high school, had faded away after a while.

‘The rain shower will pass.’

Kang Jin-ho decided to spend his time without any particular incidents for now.

But as it always is with worldly affairs, things don’t always go as planned.