Descent Of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 82

“That bastard…”

Ever since his run-in with Kang Jin-ho, Joo Young-gi had been constantly watching him.

‘There’s something about him…’

He knew that people who knew him from his old life would laugh if they saw him now. He knew how futile it was to judge someone by their ‘vibe’ or eyes.

He himself would have scoffed at anyone who said the same thing back in the day.

“I know that.”

But Joo Young-gi couldn’t take his eyes off Kang Jin-ho.

The look Kang Jin-ho had given him at the last moment was burned into his mind like a brand, and it wouldn’t go away.

“Shit.”

Joo Young-gi spat on the ground.

Having lived a rough life, he had even been involved with people who had committed murder. He himself was just a petty thug who had never even thought about committing such a serious crime, but one of the people he knew was actually serving time for killing someone.

Thanks to that, Joo Young-gi knew that the idea that people who had killed someone had a different look in their eyes or a different vibe was nonsense.

But that guy was different.

‘It felt like my body was shrinking.’

If Kang Jin-ho had moved even a little bit in that moment, Joo Young-gi would have collapsed.

Joo Young-gi had never been scared, even when a knife was dancing in front of his eyes. But he was scared of someone who hadn’t even lifted a finger.

However, strangely, he didn’t feel ashamed or have his pride hurt. Somehow, it felt too natural.

No one would call a person a coward for being scared of a lion.

What remained for Joo Young-gi was not anger or hatred, but curiosity.

Just who the hell is that guy?

“Trainee number 99!”

“Trainee number 99, Joo Young-gi!”

“Are you not paying attention? Do you know where you are, spacing out like that?”

“Sorry, sir.”

Sweat broke out on Joo Young-gi’s forehead.

The drill instructor who was scolding him was also watching Joo Young-gi with a tense face.

Normally, he wouldn’t have been reprimanded for just spacing out. But it was different here.

At the grenade training range, where everyone at the training camp was most tense, the drill instructors and trainers were even more tense than the trainees.

Boom! Boom!

The sound of grenades exploding was heard right in front of them.

“Stay alert! Do you understand?”

“Yes, sir!”

Joo Young-gi sighed deeply.

‘Let’s get it together.’

He could think about it later. It was good to be distracted, but not here.

“Next line, move to the range.”

With the announcement calling his line, Joo Young-gi got up from his seat.

“I’ll say it again, from the moment you remove the safety pin on the grenade, never let go of the tension in your hand. Do you understand?”

“Yes, sir!”

A crisp response.

“To your positions!”

Joo Young-gi headed to his firing position with a tense face. A trainer was already waiting at the firing position.

‘That bastard is next to me again.’

But for Joo Young-gi, Kang Jin-ho, who was entering the firing position next to him, was more noticeable than the trainer waiting at his own position.

It would be less nerve-wracking if he couldn’t see him, but because of their training numbers, they had to move together everywhere, eat next to each other, and so on. There were so many things that bothered him.

It was the same now.

Looking at the guy getting checked by the trainer in the next firing position, he kept feeling like he was shrinking.

“Relax, relax.”

“Yes, sir.”

The trainer patted Joo Young-gi’s back, thinking he was tense because his face was stiff.

“You don’t have to be so nervous. Everyone else does it, right?”

It seemed like Joo Young-gi had been labeled a coward by the trainer.

‘I can’t even say anything.’

— Grenade handover.

“Grenade handover!”

Joo Young-gi took the grenade from the trainer with both hands. The trainer covered Joo Young-gi’s hand holding the grenade with his own and pressed down hard.

The pain was palpable from how much force he was using. It was clear how little the trainer trusted Joo Young-gi.

It seemed like the trainer was even more nervous than he was.

Joo Young-gi tried to act calm, but as soon as he felt the cold touch of the grenade in his hand, he couldn’t help but tense up.

‘Don’t be scared.’

– Target confirmation.

“Target confirmation!”

The announcement came from the large tower behind them.

“Get ready.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Just follow the posture you’ve learned. It’s nothing, so don’t be too scared.”

“Yes, sir.”

He didn’t know why they kept saying he was scared. The trainer in the next firing position wasn’t saying a word to Kang Jin-ho.

“Trainee number 99!”

“Trainee number 99, Joo Young-gi!”

“Stop thinking about other things.”

“Yes, sir.”

Joo Young-gi realized that he was very distracted. He had been too focused on the next firing position and hadn’t been able to concentrate properly.

When the order to assume the throwing stance was given, Joo Young-gi slowly took his stance. The trainer was still gripping his hand holding the grenade tightly.

The large lake for throwing the grenade came into view.

‘I just have to throw it there, right?’

It wasn’t that difficult. He just had to be careful not to double-click the safety lever by releasing the tension in his hand and throw it properly. It was a simple training exercise.

He had probably seen the news about accidents a few years ago, so it seemed that all those trainees had completed the training without any problems.

There was no way Joo Young-gi couldn’t do the training that all the other losers around him were doing.

—Safety pin removal.

“Safety pin removal!”

He pulled the safety pin from the grenade he had brought in front of his chest. With his right hand, he didn’t forget to be careful not to double-click the safety lever.

“Be confident, be confident!”

-Throw!

“Throw!”

After completing the verbal confirmation, Joo Young-gi forcefully threw the grenade forward.

Thud!

But because he had put too much force into it, the grenade didn’t fly forward. Instead, it landed downwards, hit the protective wall in front of the firing position, and fell to the ground.

Joo Young-gi’s eyes trembled for a moment.

“Ah!”

The trainer rushed towards the grenade in a panic.

The trainer, who was trying to push the grenade into the disposal pit with his foot, missed a few times in his haste.

“Shit!”

The trainer, realizing that it was too late to push the grenade into the disposal pit, grabbed Joo Young-gi’s arm and threw himself out of the pit.

“Ugh!”

But Joo Young-gi didn’t come out easily as he had expected.

Joo Young-gi, who was flustered and had frozen up, had momentarily resisted. The trainer, who had fallen over with half his body in the pit, shouted and looked towards the grenade.

“Uwaaaah!”

Even in that situation, he desperately curled up, but he knew better than anyone that it wasn’t enough.

That’s when it happened.

The sight of someone jumping into the pit caught his eye.

‘A trainee?’

It wasn’t a trainer wearing a military cap, but a trainee wearing a helmet. The number 100, painted in white on the back of the helmet, was clearly visible.

‘Why?’

There was no time to think.

The trainee who had jumped into the pit neatly picked up the grenade and lightly threw it into the lake, not in a hurry.

Before the trainer could even say to stop, trainee number 100 had neatly thrown the grenade and sat down on the spot.

Kwaaaang! Boom! Boom!

The grenade exploded in mid-air before it could even reach the water. The grenades thrown into the water exploded at the same time, creating chaos.

“Ugh…”

The trainer trembled.

If that grenade had been thrown just one second later, they would have already been torn to pieces.

Realizing that, he couldn’t feel any strength in his legs.

“Ah… ugh…”

The trainer couldn’t decide whether to curse at Joo Young-gi or the trainee who had jumped in. He was in a state of panic.

— What are you doing, you bastards! Check if anyone is hurt!

As the shout came from the broadcast, the surrounding trainers and drill instructors rushed over.

“Sergeant Choi, are you okay?”

“Trainee number 99, are you okay?”

“Uh…”

Joo Young-gi, coming out of his daze, nodded his head frantically.

“Y-yes, I’m okay.”

“You bastard, I told you to pay attention!”

The drill instructor who had rushed over immediately hit Joo Young-gi’s joint.

The sound was loud enough to hear, but Joo Young-gi didn’t even feel the pain and kept nodding his head.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”

He knew that he could have died if he had made a mistake. He was completely out of it, but he was aware that he had made a big mistake. If things had gone wrong, not only him but also the trainer would have died.

“Trainee number 100! Are you okay?”

“Yes, sir.”

He heard Kang Jin-ho’s indifferent voice from behind him.

“Who told you to do such a reckless thing! Huh?”

“I thought it was possible.”

“You bastard! You could have died too.”

“But I’m alive.”

“What, you punk?”

Sergeant Choi sighed deeply and waved his hand.

“That’s enough. Let’s clean up the area first.”

“Yes, sir, I understand.”

The drill instructor, with a flushed face, grabbed Joo Young-gi’s arm and dragged him towards the command post.

“Hey, trainee number 100.”

“Trainee number 100, Kang Jin-ho.”

“…Good job.”

“Yes, sir.”

Kang Jin-ho still had a nonchalant expression, and Sergeant Choi, seeing his face, couldn’t control his pounding heart.

‘Is that guy’s heart made of steel?’

He had handled grenades countless times at the training camp, and his heart was still racing like this. How could that guy be so calm when his nerves weren’t made of whale tendons?

And the grenade had fallen to the ground. In a situation where he would have been busy saving his own life, how did he think of jumping into the pit and throwing the grenade out?

“…Crazy bastard.”

Sergeant Choi shook his head.

He forced his trembling legs to stand up.

“Sergeant Choi, are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. I’ll go report first.”

“Yes, sir. I’ll take care of the cleanup.”

Sergeant Choi saw the faces of the trainees who had frozen up.

‘The training is over.’

There was no guarantee that a major accident wouldn’t happen if he gave grenades to those tense trainees. There would be more than one or two trainees who would have a fit just from holding a grenade.

It was a relief, if anything.

Sergeant Choi also didn’t have the courage to continue the training. He was just now realizing that he had come back from the brink of death.

‘That bastard…’

Sergeant Choi’s eyes caught trainee number 100, who was being led out of the training ground by the drill instructor.

‘Just what kind of guy is he?’

Sergeant Choi imprinted Kang Jin-ho’s back into his eyes and walked towards the command post to report the situation.

The cold sweat that had soaked his back was dripping down.

“I really came back from the dead.”

Sergeant Choi turned around several times to look at Kang Jin-ho’s back as he walked away.