Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 86

“2nd Platoon Leader.”

“Lieutenant Park Gil-soo!”

“Park Gil-soo.”

“Lieutenant Park Gil-soo!”

“You son of a bitch!”

Thwack!

The 2nd Platoon Leader lowered his head, watching the documents scatter in all directions after hitting his head.

“Did you have to wait for someone to die before you came to your senses, you crazy bastard? Hey, are you nuts? Are you crazy, you son of a bitch!”

“No, sir.”

“So, you’re not crazy, but you’re just messing with the guys because you’re in a bad mood? You crazy bastard, do you think this is the 80s? Huh?”

“I’m sorry, sir.”

“Sorry is not enough, you son of a bitch! What are you going to do about this? Do you know that the battalion commander’s unit has been upgraded?”

“Do you know what kind of trouble you’ll get into with the battalion commander? And do you know what will happen to us after that?”

“I’m sorry, sir.”

“Hey, you son of a bitch! Is ‘sorry’ going to fix this? I told you to train the new recruits, not to break them! Should I train you a little?”

“I’m sorry, sir.”

“Ugh, what kind of moron came in here?”

Captain Choi Woo-sung, the company commander of the recruit training center, was burning up inside.

It hadn’t been long since the grenade accident had caused such a mess, and now this was happening again.

How much trouble had he gone through because of the last incident?

Since he had been appointed as the company commander of the recruit training center, this was the first time there had been so many accidents in a single class.

“And…”

“Yes, sir.”

“Trainee number 100, Kang Jin-ho?”

“Yes, sir, that’s correct.”

“I heard that he performed first aid? And you were just standing there, doing nothing.”

Park Gil-soo didn’t say anything.

It wasn’t that he didn’t have anything to say, but he knew that if he opened his mouth wrong here, the yelling would just go on longer.

“You bastard, I’m going to kill you for real, so go and reflect on your actions. Got it?”

“Yes, sir, I understand.”

“Get out of here, you son of a bitch!”

As Park Gil-soo bowed his head and went outside, Choi Woo-sung threw the baton he was holding onto the floor.

“Damn it.”

Incidents that were hard to see even once a year were happening one after another in the span of a week. Although he had yelled at Park Gil-soo, Choi Woo-sung knew that this wasn’t a common occurrence.

“Kang Jin-ho.”

The problem was that Kang Jin-ho was involved in all of these incidents. It wasn’t that Kang Jin-ho had done anything wrong. Rather, it could be said that Kang Jin-ho had minimized the damage of accidents that could have become much bigger.

‘This is really unsettling.’

But people can’t always be so rational, can they?

Choi Woo-sung’s feelings were a mix of vague unease, seeing Kang Jin-ho’s name always following these incidents.

He knew that Kang Jin-ho wasn’t the problem, but it was also true that accidents kept happening around him.

“I need to keep an eye on him.”

Choi Woo-sung sighed and sat down.

He needed to tell the instructors and assistant instructors to keep a close watch on Kang Jin-ho.

Of course, before that, he would be dragged away and yelled at by the battalion commander when he returned.

“So… did he go to the hospital?”

“I heard he went to the Armed Forces Capital Hospital.”

“Did the assistant instructor say that?”

“Yeah.”

“I guess someone with asthma shouldn’t have done the CBR [Chemical, Biological, Radiological] training. The instructor said that people who weren’t feeling well could skip it.”

“Hey, I was thinking of saying I should skip it too, but when the time came, I couldn’t say it. If people could just easily say they’re not feeling well to skip training, who would actually train? Everyone would just slack off.”

“I guess so.”

Kang Jin-ho leaned back on his cot, listening to the voices around him.

After the trouble with Joo Young-gi, Kang Jin-ho had started to refrain from doing anything that would draw attention to himself.

It wasn’t that he thought he had a problem, but he thought that if others felt uncomfortable, refraining from such actions was also a way to live together in society.

“So… is he in serious condition?”

“I don’t know. But if he went all the way to the Armed Forces Capital Hospital, wouldn’t it be serious?”

Kang Jin-ho thought that there wouldn’t be any major problems.

The turbidity had been almost completely removed. If the turbidity had been left untreated, his life would have been in danger, but now that it had been removed, he would return to normal soon.

“But if you think about it, wasn’t he saved because of Jin-ho?”

“That’s right.”

The trainees who had gone into the CBR chamber together knew that Kang Jin-ho had pushed the assistant instructors aside and pulled out the trainee who was having a seizure.

“If someone is having a seizure, you should send them out first, what were they doing holding onto him?”

“Isn’t that how the military is?”

“Still, that’s too much.”

Kang Jin-ho closed his eyes.

It wasn’t very pleasant to be the subject of other people’s gossip. Especially in a place where his vision was so clear, he couldn’t help but feel the glances.

The gazes that were glancing at him while talking were strongly felt. For Kang Jin-ho, who was acutely aware of the movements around him, those gazes felt even more awkward.

“Wow, did you guys see that? Jin-ho dragged the assistant instructor and broke the door to get out.”

“I thought he was the Terminator.”

“How can a person do that? He’s something else.”

The atmosphere was starting to get a little warmer.

“But wasn’t it also because of that bastard that it happened in the first place?”

But there was always someone who would throw cold water on the situation.

People’s gazes turned back.

“Why? Did I say something wrong?”

The person who received the gaze scoffed and said.

“If that bastard hadn’t been so reckless, the instructors wouldn’t have been so crazy and tormented him, and if that had been the case, he would have come out fine. Who is he to act like he’s done something great when he’s the one who made him sick?”

Kang Jin-ho wondered if he should say that he hadn’t acted like he’d done something great.

“Well, that’s true…”

The atmosphere in the barracks became strange.

“But it’s not like he did it on purpose. He did it because he was good at it.”

“Whether he did it well or not, it’s wrong to cause harm to others.”

“He didn’t cause much harm.”

“Someone was taken to the hospital, and you’re saying there was no harm? Does that make sense?”

Logically, it didn’t seem right, but emotionally, it was an atmosphere that people were agreeing with.

“Isn’t it because that bastard was being reckless that this happened?”

Kang Jin-ho didn’t try to argue or answer.

There was no point in arguing with someone who was acting on emotion. And if he got involved, an accident could happen.

Kang Jin-ho lay there without answering.

“Look at him! That bastard! He doesn’t even care when someone is talking to him. It’s like he doesn’t care if a kid dies or not.”

“Hey, that’s too harsh. Jin-ho pulled the kid out, you shouldn’t say that.”

They had nothing to say about that, and their words trailed off.

“Anyway, I don’t like that bastard.”

“What don’t you like about him?”

“Have you ever seen that bastard talk to anyone in the past three weeks?”

“No.”

“It’s like he’s looking down on people, acting like he’s so great. But do you think he was worried about the other guy? I don’t think so.”

Kang Jin-ho’s brow twitched slightly.

He didn’t expect to be looked at favorably, but they shouldn’t make things up. How could they be so sure about what was going on in his mind, as if they had been inside his head?

“So, just don’t be so reckless.”

“Hey, are you listening to me? Don’t pretend you can’t hear me, open your eyes and talk, you bastard.”

Kang Jin-ho opened his eyes.

Just as Kang Jin-ho was about to get up and say something, the door to the barracks opened, and Joo Young-gi, holding a polished combat boot in one hand, walked in.

“What, you son of a bitch.”

“..Huh?”

The person who had been talking looked at Joo Young-gi’s face and shut his mouth like he had swallowed a bug.

Joo Young-gi, who had tattoos all over his body and a physique that was twice the size of an average person, was the object of fear in the barracks. He didn’t particularly harass the other guys, but no one dared to defy Joo Young-gi’s words.

“What’s the problem?”

“No…”

Lee Sang-hoo, trainee number 82, who had been leading the atmosphere, stammered.

“He’s too reckless.”

“You son of a bitch!”

Joo Young-gi threw the combat boot he was holding at Lee Sang-hoo.

Thud!

He ducked to avoid it, but the boot bounced off the locker and flew up.

“What’s the problem, you son of a bitch?”

Lee Sang-hoo lowered his head and didn’t make eye contact with Joo Young-gi.

“You sons of bitches, I saved a guy who was dying, and you’re picking on him and gossiping. What were you doing in that situation that you’re cursing at others, you girly bastards?”

Everyone quietly turned their heads away from Joo Young-gi.

Before judging right or wrong, no one wanted to get on Joo Young-gi’s bad side.

“What did Jin-ho do wrong?”

“Why are you ganging up on someone who didn’t do anything wrong?”

Joo Young-gi started to speak in a dialect.

“Young-gi, calm down.”

“The kids are just immature.”

The guys who were close to him started to calm Joo Young-gi down.

“You sons of bitches… if anyone ever picks on Jin-ho again, I’ll shove a combat boot down your throat.”

Everyone shut their mouths at Joo Young-gi’s fierce words.

The barracks, which was full of people, felt quiet for a moment. Joo Young-gi shouted, panting.

“What are you doing? Bring me my boot!”

The trainees who were cautiously watching picked up the combat boot that had fallen in front of them and brought it to Joo Young-gi.

“I just polished it.”

Joo Young-gi, annoyed at the dirty boot, walked back out.

Bang!

As the door slammed shut, sighs were heard from all over, as if they could finally breathe.

“Why is he like that? He was the one who was giving Jin-ho the most trouble before.”

“Well, Jin-ho saved Young-gi at the grenade range.”

“Does that mean he has to change his attitude like that?”

“If he kept being a jerk, he’d be even more of a crazy bastard. This is the right thing to do.”

“I guess so.”

Kang Jin-ho watched the situation with a dumbfounded expression and then chuckled.

‘This is a place where I don’t have to get involved much.’

It seemed like there were always people who would stop him whenever he tried to do something.

Kang Jin-ho leaned back against the blanket on his locker and closed his eyes.

‘Even here, it’s already like this.’

Even the guys in the same position as new recruits were picking on Kang Jin-ho, who hadn’t done anything in particular.

It meant that something about Kang Jin-ho was stimulating their psychology. Then what would the self-sufficient unit be like, where there were only seniors? Would they not be bothered because they were in a higher position, or would they be even more bothered?

‘It doesn’t suit me.’

Kang Jin-ho had to admit that he and the military were not a good fit. And he could understand why his father and Yoo-min were so worried before he came to the military.

By nature, Kang Jin-ho did not fit in with organizations.

But the good thing was….

Kang Jin-ho opened his eyes and looked at the person approaching him from the side.

“What? Why?”

“It’s nothing.”

Kang Jin-ho chuckled, seeing Joo Young-gi’s slightly flushed face.

Still, it was still kind of fun.

“You’re so boring.”

Joo Young-gi, who had sat down next to Kang Jin-ho, kept muttering with an awkward expression.