Descent Of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 761

[Don’t you know?]

‘No.’

Kang Jin-ho answered nonchalantly. There was no reason to hesitate in admitting what he didn’t know.

[You don’t know me?]

Kang Jin-ho frowned.

He had simply said he didn’t know, but if they reacted like this, how was he supposed to respond? Their confidence that he should know them was admirable, but it was a bit excessive for real-life application.

‘Should I know you?’

[Ha… That’s right. There’s no reason you should know me, no reason. Okay, then should I introduce myself? I am Chai Ke-chang.]

‘So?’

[……]

There was silence for a while. It seemed they were speechless, not having imagined the conversation would go this way.

[So…]

‘Wait.’

Kang Jin-ho lowered the phone and looked at Lee Hyun-soo. Lee Hyun-soo also asked immediately, sensing something was off.

‘Who is it?’

‘I don’t know. Chai… Chai something? Chai?’

Kang Jin-ho raised the phone again.

‘What did you say your name was?’

[…If you’re trying to get on my nerves, you’ve succeeded perfectly. It’s Chai Ke-chang.]

‘He says he’s Chai Ke-chang?’

‘Ah, yes. Chai… Who?’

Lee Hyun-soo’s eyes widened.

This name sounded familiar.

To confirm, Lee Hyun-soo’s head immediately turned to Bator.

‘Master, it’s Chai Ke-chang. Didn’t you see him there?’

‘Huh?’

‘He was the one giving orders from the back. You could say he’s the strategist of the Hong King faction.’

‘Ah!’

Kang Jin-ho nodded. He remembered seeing him at the docks. He seemed to have heard a brief explanation too. But he hadn’t remembered the name.

Kang Jin-ho, holding the phone again, chuckled and said,

‘I know who you are now. So, what’s the matter?’

[I am more than pleased that the Demon Lord knows my name. I have a proposal to make regarding this matter.]

‘Go ahead.’

[Not now. You probably need to sort things out on your end, so I’ll call again in ten minutes.]

‘Whatever.’

Kang Jin-ho hung up without waiting for a response.

‘What did he say?’

‘He said he’d call again in ten minutes?’

Lee Hyun-soo closed his eyes and offered a silent prayer. He said he’d call again, but judging from what he just saw, Kang Jin-ho had hung up on him.

Thinking about Chai Ke-chang probably fuming on the other end of the line, Lee Hyun-soo felt a little sorry for him.

‘He’s so consistent.’

Lee Hyun-soo’s stress levels had been increasing daily thanks to Kang Jin-ho, but whenever he saw this side of him, he realized just how much special treatment he received.

Kang Jin-ho was truly indifferent to those he didn’t consider his people. He didn’t try to get involved with them, and he didn’t even engage in conversation.

It was only because there were now enough people around Kang Jin-ho that he could live a somewhat normal life. He wondered what kind of life he would have led if he hadn’t joined the Assembly and couldn’t see his friends every day as he got older.

‘Chai Ke-chang, huh…’

Bator rubbed his chin.

‘He sure contacted us quickly.’

‘It’s only natural.’

‘Huh?’

At that moment, Wiggins opened the door and entered, bowing his head towards Kang Jin-ho.

‘The situation seemed urgent, so I couldn’t offer proper greetings.’

‘Sit down.’

Kang Jin-ho pointed to the front. Wiggins also sat down without further formalities.

‘Since there was a war, they have to contact us.’

Bator frowned.

‘To the enemy?’

‘We should contact the enemy even more so. Post-war processing and negotiations are part of the process of ending a war. These processes are inevitably involved in every war. A war that ends vaguely is bound to cause problems.’

‘Hmm…’

He had a lot to say, but it was hard to argue. Wiggins was a professional in these matters.

The Round Table had been responsible for coordinating and managing numerous conflicts around the world. No one here knew better than Wiggins how to conclude a large-scale conflict.

Wiggins seemed to ponder for a moment before speaking.

‘I don’t like the way they contacted the Lord directly, but it was probably the best they could do. They need to resolve the situation somehow.’

‘Resolve?’

‘They are currently at war with the other three kings. And with this incident, our relationship with them has become the worst of the worst. Anyone with sense wouldn’t want to have enemies on both sides. They’ll want a truce.’

‘A truce, huh…’

It was an unfamiliar word. Especially for Kang Jin-ho.

He had never made a truce with another force in his life. What he wanted was either surrender or death. But he couldn’t equate the situation here with the Central Plains [a reference to a historical region in China, often used in wuxia novels to denote a place of conflict and power].

Kang Jin-ho’s gaze turned to Lee Hyun-soo.

‘What do you think is the best course of action?’

Lee Hyun-soo’s face flushed slightly.

Even with Wiggins right there, the fact that Kang Jin-ho was asking for his opinion was quite symbolic.

‘You should accept it.’

‘Because there’s nothing to gain from fighting them right now.’

Kang Jin-ho seemed to ponder for a moment before speaking.

‘We could fight them?’

‘It wouldn’t be easy, but…’

Lee Hyun-soo clicked his tongue slightly.

Kang Jin-ho was asking if they could invade Korea if they didn’t make a truce.

In the past, the answer would have been an unconditional ‘yes,’ but the situation was a bit different now. With the Hong King, their most powerful card, having been sealed once, they wouldn’t be able to push for an all-out war.

‘Master.’

At that moment, Bator spoke.

‘The Hong King faction’s power is not all that we saw.’

Bator spoke with an unusually serious expression.

‘Just as the Hong King’s power was greater than we expected, your power was also greater than they expected. That’s why this happened. If the Hong King faction had been completely wary of you from the start and had mobilized all their available forces, you would never have been able to return alive from there.’

‘That’s obvious.’

‘No, it’s not obvious.’

Bator swallowed hard and continued.

‘It’s not about a few thousand more nobodies joining the fight. The core forces of the Hong King faction would have targeted you. If those who are currently on the front lines to keep the other three kings in check, and even the guardians who can somewhat ignore the Hong King’s orders, were to come… this place would collapse within three days.’

‘And they would collapse within three days too?’

‘That’s likely.’

Lee Hyun-soo added to Bator’s words.

‘There’s nothing scarier than saying something is realistically impossible. It’s naive to think they wouldn’t do such a thing even if they knew they would perish together. Historically, such things have happened countless times. In the end, we and they are all human. Humans are not rational. We are creatures that can be emotional at any time.’

Kang Jin-ho nodded heavily.

It was unlikely, but the Hong King, having been properly defeated this time, might pour all their forces into Korea, even if it meant losing to the other three kings. If that happened, the Assembly, which hadn’t had time to grow, would be crushed.

‘I don’t think they’d do something that stupid?’

‘If it were me…’

Wiggins spoke.

‘I would rather pull all my forces out and attack Korea. And while I’m at it, I’d take over Japan as well. Please keep this in mind, Lord. In the end, all the forces in the world are controlled by money.’

‘If you take over the underworld of Korea and Japan, you can easily replace about a third of China’s wealth. There are many annoying things that will happen and you will lose your local base, but if things go wrong, it’s a method worth considering.’

‘So, what’s the conclusion?’

‘We need to discuss it a bit more, but… it seems like it would be better to have a truce. If we gain time, it will be more beneficial for us.’

‘Then take care of that part.’ Kang Jin-ho didn’t want to get involved any further.

But the reaction was a little different from what Kang Jin-ho expected.

‘It’s not something we can take care of on our own. The Lord must decide.’

‘The Assembly Leader needs to think about it.’

‘Master, this is not something we can handle on our own.’

Kang Jin-ho slightly opened his mouth at the chorus of complaints.

‘Uh…’

Wiggins said firmly.

‘We can handle all the trivial matters. Whether it’s using our bodies or our minds, we’ll take care of it all. But the Assembly Leader must think and decide on such important matters. Do not diminish your own authority. If the mind stops thinking, the body becomes lazy.’

‘I agree, Master. Giving authority to subordinates can increase autonomy, but authority without oversight will inevitably rot.’

‘I agree.’

Kang Jin-ho closed his eyes.

These kinds of things were not his specialty. Comparing forces and thinking about how to respond was Cheongma’s job. Unlike Cheongma, these people were also asking Kang Jin-ho to think.

‘Don’t people usually say they’ll take care of it so you can rest?’

‘Those are the ones who are sycophants.’

Wiggins smiled lightly.

‘Fortunately, there are only loyal people here, so you can rest easy.’

It doesn’t make me feel any more at ease?

Kang Jin-ho sighed and nodded.

‘Then what do I have to do?’

‘You have to get something out of it.’

‘Huh?’

Lee Hyun-soo said firmly.

‘The result of making a truce will be the same. But the process is different. We have to get as much as possible from them in exchange for giving them a truce.’

‘What?’

Kang Jin-ho tilted his head.

This wasn’t a war between countries, so what was he supposed to get? He couldn’t ask for rice or iron, and getting martial arts manuals was meaningless. So what was he supposed to ask for…

‘Money?’

‘Kuh!’

Lee Hyun-soo clapped his hands.

‘The Assembly Leader has finally reached this point.’

Kang Jin-ho’s face soured at the applause pouring in from all sides.

So this was how he was being treated. He was being regarded as a creature whose brain was almost entirely made of muscle. What made Kang Jin-ho even more heartbroken was that even Bator was clapping with an admiring look on his face.

‘Excellent, Master. This Bator is impressed.’

‘……Shut up.’

Just as Kang Jin-ho was about to say something, the phone rang again. Kang Jin-ho, confirming that the number on the screen was Chai Ke-chang’s, answered the phone with an annoyed expression.

[Are you ready now, Kang Jin-ho? I’ve been waiting for this call…]

‘It’s not over yet, so wait. I’ll call you.’

Click.

The phone hung up.

Lee Hyun-soo looked at Kang Jin-ho with a slightly dazed expression. Kang Jin-ho put the phone on the table and faced Lee Hyun-soo.

‘So, what am I supposed to do?’

‘……You’re doing great?’

‘Huh?’

Bator also nodded.

‘Getting under someone’s skin is the basis of negotiation.’

Wiggins added.

‘I hope the phone is okay.’