Descent Of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 640

Leaving loose ends was not an option.

Kang Jin-ho knew this all too well. His master had always told him:

“Leaving loose ends out of compassion is like leaving a knife at your back. You might be able to block one knife aimed at your back. You might even be able to block a couple. But what if those knives become ten, a hundred, a thousand…? Could you really block them all? If you try not to leave loose ends, the world will criticize you. And there will be those who try to kill you. But remember this. It’s better to face a thousand knives in front of you than a hundred knives at your back.”

These words were now etched deep in his bones.

But it hadn’t always been this way.

For Kang Jin-ho, who had lived in modern times, killing someone was not an easy thing to do. At first, he had let people go countless times. He had even spared those who had tried to kill him for no reason.

The consequences of that were left squarely on Kang Jin-ho’s back.

In the past, the Chinese way of thinking was something Kang Jin-ho couldn’t understand.

They didn’t care whether they were right or wrong. If someone had harmed them or made them angry, they considered that person their enemy, regardless of the cause.

And they considered it natural, even encouraged, to take revenge on that enemy.

These were the people of the Central Plains [a historical region in China, often associated with martial arts and traditional values], who packaged it under the name of ‘righteousness’.

It was common for those he had spared to poison his water. He had subdued and released someone who had massacred civilians, only to be ambushed by them while he slept a few days later. He had knocked down someone who had started a fight, only to have their friends come in droves to try and kill him.

After experiencing countless such incidents, he came to a conclusion.

His master was right.

Leaving loose ends was like gnawing away at your own life. At least, in that world.

It was difficult at first.

Killing someone, that is.

After his first kill, he couldn’t eat properly for over a week. He couldn’t sleep properly either. He had faced death several times due to his weakened body, and only then did he grit his teeth and force food into his mouth. Because he had to survive.

The second time was a little better than the first. The third, the fourth…

From the point when he could no longer count how many people he had killed, he felt nothing when he killed someone. It was as natural as swatting a buzzing mosquito. He killed people as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

Around that time, Kang Jin-ho realized.

He could never go back to his old self. He was just a monster with Kang Jin-ho’s memories. Once he accepted that fact, he felt at peace.

‘Would it have been different?’

There was a part of him that had given up.

He had never once thought he would be able to return to this world. He believed that adapting and living in the Central Plains was the only path left for him.

If that was the case, he had to become a Central Plains person.

In living as a Central Plains person, the values and knowledge of a modern person that he had learned in the past were more of a hindrance. A two-eyed person who falls into a world of one-eyed people will only become a cripple.

That’s why Kang Jin-ho abandoned himself.

If he had known back then that he would return to this world, would it have been a little different?

Would he have valued life a little more?

It was impossible to know.

In any case, Kang Jin-ho had never let go of an opponent he considered an enemy. He had killed them, almost without exception. It was the same even after returning to this world.

He had delayed death to inflict greater pain, but he had never let an opponent go against his will.

What should he call Kang Jin-ho’s feelings after letting go of the first person he had wanted to kill…?

Right.

He didn’t have the luxury to worry about such things.

“I told you! To come! A little! Earlier!”

“I’m sorry.”

“A woman! Talking! In! Circles! Like! That!”

“I apologize.”

Perhaps a little while ago, the ordinary-looking guy, not the greasy one, would have been like the Grim Reaper to an average person. If he wanted to, it wouldn’t take him even a second to kill someone.

Kang Jin-ho had trampled on such a person like a toy.

When Kang Jin-ho first returned to this world, he was just an ordinary person with the memories of a strongman. Even when he first made contact with the Murim world [a term referring to the martial arts world in Korean and Chinese fantasy], he had only learned martial arts; he couldn’t be called a strongman.

But the current Kang Jin-ho was a strongman in name and reality. Even so, what should he say…

Kang Jin-ho realized.

While force had a wide range of uses in this world, there were also areas where it was completely useless.

“Are you listening?”

“I’m engraving it in my bones.”

“Hmph!”

Cold sweat trickled down Kang Jin-ho’s forehead.

‘This isn’t it…’

Usually, when you save someone in this situation, you receive great gratitude, don’t you?

But instead, he was being scolded.

He felt a little wronged, but listening to Choi Yeon-ha’s words, he could understand. He didn’t know what it was, but he felt like he had done something wrong.

“How can a person be so heartless?”

Choi Yeon-ha was really going at it.

She had always had complaints, but there was a part of her that was a little reluctant to talk about them. The complaints that Kang Jin-ho gave her were the kind that were too petty to talk about, but too frustrating to keep silent about.

Those pent-up complaints were now exploding.

“It’s always like this! You should do what people ask you to do a little faster!”

“…I tried my best.”

“Tried? Did you just say you tried?”

“Yes…”

Choi Yeon-ha’s eyes blazed.

“Have you ever called me first?”

“I think I have…”

“I mean, have you ever called me just to check in, not because you had something to say?”

He could answer this one.

“No, I haven’t.”

He said it very cleanly.

“Is it that hard to make a phone call?”

Kang Jin-ho slightly raised his head and looked at the ceiling.

‘It wasn’t my mother who was wrong.’

He had thought nagging was a trait of mothers, but that wasn’t it. All the women in the world were definitely max-level naggers. The only difference was whether they used it or not.

“There’s a limit to how heartless you can be!”

“And on top of that, you’re unnecessarily handsome, attracting attention everywhere.”

“No…”

“You even came to China wearing a tracksuit! What are you, an athlete? Are you going to the Olympics?”

It seemed like she had strayed far from the topic, but if he pointed that out now, the nagging would probably be extended by another thirty minutes. Kang Jin-ho quietly endured Choi Yeon-ha’s scolding with the heart of a seeker facing the falling rain.

“Really…”

After a long time of venting her anger, Choi Yeon-ha coughed, as if her throat was parched.

“Would you like some water?”

“Iced coffee!”

“I’ll make you the best one.”

Kang Jin-ho, having confirmed the existence of a coffee dripper on one side of the hotel room, jumped up from his seat.

The only thing that had improved since his father opened a cafe was his coffee-making skills. It was difficult to make good coffee with this household coffee dripper and the roughly chosen beans, but at least he could leave this place under the pretext of making coffee.

Kang Jin-ho, having escaped from Choi Yeon-ha’s presence, ground the beans and pressed the button on the dripper.

‘Slowly, as slowly as possible…’

Usually, he had been frustrated by the speed of the coffee dripper, where the coffee dripped one drop at a time, but today, the speed at which the coffee was dripping felt fast.

Everything depended on one’s state of mind, didn’t it?

“Don’t just stand there, take a bottle of water from the fridge and come here!”

“Yes.”

Even that sweet time was not allowed.

Kang Jin-ho pressed his stinging eyes with his hands.

He wanted to protest that he hadn’t come to China for this, but if he hadn’t come to China, something terrible would have happened.

Thinking about it again, Kang Jin-ho was suddenly chilled.

Kang Jin-ho, having taken a bottle of water from the refrigerator, approached the bed, handed the water to Choi Yeon-ha, and sat on the floor.

“Sit up here.”

“It’s a bit…”

“Come up here.”

Kang Jin-ho quietly got up and sat on the edge of the bed.

Choi Yeon-ha’s lips twitched.

She wanted to scold him a little more, but his appearance of sitting a little far away and looking at her cautiously was like a wounded puppy, so harsh words wouldn’t come out.

‘I should take the lead at times like this.’

Choi Yeon-ha knew.

The relationship between people always involves the issue of dominance.

A relationship with mutual respect and consideration?

It sounded good. It’s just that there weren’t many people who could actually do it.

The relationship between Kang Jin-ho and Choi Yeon-ha seemed like Choi Yeon-ha was superior, but in reality, it was a relationship that was unilaterally tilted towards Kang Jin-ho. The reason was very simple. Choi Yeon-ha was obsessed with Kang Jin-ho, but Kang Jin-ho was not obsessed with Choi Yeon-ha.

If Choi Yeon-ha were to say to Kang Jin-ho tomorrow, ‘Let’s stop seeing each other,’ Kang Jin-ho would leave with the words, ‘Okay, let’s do that.’

Knowing that fact, Choi Yeon-ha was always conscious of Kang Jin-ho’s feelings. On the surface, she was annoyed, but deep down, she was worried that Kang Jin-ho would get angry at her annoyance.

But now, she had unintentionally gained the upper hand to unilaterally scold him, so she wanted to take a little more control, but…

‘What’s the point of all this?’

Her head began to clear.

She couldn’t gain control by doing this. In the end, Kang Jin-ho wouldn’t be obsessed with her. It was just something that would make them both feel bad. Besides, wasn’t she in a situation where she should be grateful to Kang Jin-ho right now?

“Kang Jin-ho.”

“Yes?”

Choi Yeon-ha lowered her head.

“I’m sorry. I was being childish.”

“Yes?”

Choi Yeon-ha sincerely apologized.

“I know this isn’t a situation to be angry about. It’s not a situation to be annoyed either. I know I should be bowing in gratitude. But I was annoyed because… I think it was just me being childish. I just wanted to do that. If it wasn’t for you, I would never have done this… but there are times when you just feel like it, right? Times when you want to insist, ‘I’m having a hard time and I’m sad, so even if you’re a little annoyed, don’t show it and just accept me.'”

“…I guess not. Well, I guess you would be like that.”

Choi Yeon-ha burst out laughing at Kang Jin-ho’s face, which showed that he didn’t understand at all.

He would never be like that. Because he was strong. And very much so.

“Anyway, I feel much better thanks to you. Thank you for saving me. Really. And I’m sorry. I’m always being childish.”

Kang Jin-ho frowned as he watched Choi Yeon-ha wipe her eyes.

“I’ve never thought of it as you being childish, and I’ve never thought that you were bothering me. It’s true that I was late, and it’s true that I haven’t been paying much attention.”

Choi Yeon-ha quietly looked at Kang Jin-ho.

“I want to make the excuse that I was busy, but I know that I can’t get away with that excuse. So you don’t have to say that.”

“Really…”

Choi Yeon-ha wiped her eyes and smiled.

“You’re really not cool at all.”

“Then, I have a favor to ask you, will you grant it?”

“Yes. Of course.”

“Stay the night.”

Kang Jin-ho’s body stiffened.

It was as if time had stopped.

“Yes?”

“I said, stay the night.”