Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 911

Planning (4)

“How to coordinate with someone who disagrees with you?”

“Hmm?”

HBT.

Park Yu-min chuckled, looking at Kang Jin-ho’s displeased face.

“I think about this sometimes.”

“Huh?”

“You really bring a variety of problems.”

Joo Young-gi added.

“It’s not that he brings a variety of problems, it’s that his personality is so difficult that he can’t just let things go like others do.”

“…Aren’t you being a bit too harsh on your friend?”

Kang Jin-ho was speechless.

‘Is my personality really that difficult?’

Joo Young-gi clicked his tongue, seeing Kang Jin-ho’s expression.

“Look at him, look at him. He has that ‘I don’t know anything’ look. This guy pretends to be so innocent sometimes.”

“I never do that.”

“Man, I feel sorry for the people who work with you.”

Park Yu-min nodded, agreeing wholeheartedly.

“I think so too.”

While Joo Young-gi might not know, even Park Yu-min was saying this, so Kang Jin-ho had nothing to say.

‘That’s not true.’

But it was also true that he felt wronged.

In the past, with Cheongma, there was no room for excuses. Now, Kang Jin-ho understood how hard it must have been for Cheongma to assist him.

In terms of work ability, Cheongma was like adding Wiggins and Lee Hyun-soo together and multiplying that by ten. He was a human office, yet sometimes his face was full of dark circles.

At the time, he had just taken it for granted, but looking back now, it was truly an incredible thing.

Cheongma was also a martial artist who had almost reached the pinnacle of mastery.

At the time, Kang Jin-ho was so overwhelmingly strong, but Cheongma was more than capable of being among the top five masters in the world. No, perhaps even more than that.

Thinking about it, among the supreme masters who gathered to kill Kang Jin-ho back then, there wasn’t anyone who was clearly stronger than Cheongma.

For such a master to have dark circles meant that he was suffering from a workload and stress that no human could handle.

‘I should reflect.’

Kang Jin-ho reflected once more and prayed for Cheongma’s soul. In the end, he had killed him cleanly… well, not cleanly, but he had made sure he was dead, so now he was probably living peacefully in a world without excessive work and stress… or maybe not. He probably fell into hell.

Thinking about it, Cheongma suffered both in life and in death.

“Jin-ho, living with others is like that.”

Park Yu-min said with a gentle smile.

“Everyone has different opinions. Coordinating those is what it means to live.”

“It’s that coordination that’s not working out.”

“Coordination isn’t working out? I don’t think that’s it.”

“Huh?”

Joo Young-gi answered instead.

“Man, life isn’t math. There isn’t always a definite answer.”

“No answer?”

Kang Jin-ho frowned.

He couldn’t agree with that.

Everything in the world has an answer. It’s just that people can’t find it. In the past, Kang Jin-ho found answers through force. But in this life, he couldn’t find answers with force alone.

That’s why he talked, that’s why he worried.

But even with that worry, he couldn’t find the answer completely. That’s why he tried to listen to his friends’ opinions….

“The reason you think there’s always an answer is obvious. You already have the answer in your head. But other people don’t agree with your opinion. Isn’t that right?”

Kang Jin-ho quietly closed his mouth.

Sometimes, Joo Young-gi seemed like he could set up a fortune-telling mat. He didn’t seem to have a great interest in Kang Jin-ho or his life, but sometimes he would strike with such sharp insights.

“Hey, do you know what a dictionary is?”

“…Huh?”

“Wait a minute.”

Joo Young-gi turned on his phone and searched the dictionary.

“Here it is.”

Joo Young-gi raised his voice.

“Coordination. To adjust a problem to be suitable or appropriate for a certain object… Why is this so difficult to understand!”

Park Yu-min quietly shook his head as Joo Young-gi started to huff and puff. Kang Jin-ho agreed with Park Yu-min’s sentiment.

“So, what I’m saying is, you don’t know what coordination means. You always think it’s either one way or the other.”

“Why?”

“Either you’re right, or I’m right. If I’m right, you’re wrong, and if you’re right, I’m wrong. Isn’t that right?”

“…Isn’t that how it usually is?”

“There’s no answer, really.”

Joo Young-gi scratched his head vigorously.

For Kang Jin-ho, there was no such thing as multiple correct answers. Whether it was multiple choice or short answer, he always came up with only one answer. He had come to accept that he could be wrong, but he didn’t know that his thoughts and others’ thoughts could both be right or wrong.

“Looking at him, it’s like he’s not quite human.”

It wasn’t an insult.

Joo Young-gi really felt that way.

It felt like some parts were missing from the basic things a person needed to live as a human. That’s why he was sometimes frustrated and found it hard to understand him.

Kang Jin-ho fell into thought as Joo Young-gi and Park Yu-min looked at him with the same eyes.

‘Is that really true?’

Listening to them, it seemed like they were right.

But there was room for excuses.

‘There couldn’t have been two answers.’

His life had always been fierce. His second life never gave him time to think. If there was a problem, he had to come up with a solution immediately, and whether that solution was right or wrong, he had to push it through decisively.

If he had hesitated even a little, Kang Jin-ho’s second life would have ended quickly.

It wasn’t a life that could be called successful, but that process had clearly kept Kang Jin-ho’s second life going for a long time. Efficiency and focus. That was Kang Jin-ho’s motto.

“So, instead of beating around the bush, just tell me properly, man. What’s so embarrassing between us that you’re being so vague? We’ve already seen each other at our worst.”

“…I thought there was still some left.”

“No, there isn’t. You might not know, but I don’t. And if you’re the only one hiding something, I’ll feel wronged. So, spill it all out.”

“…Your logic is a bit strange, isn’t it?”

But it was strangely persuasive.

Kang Jin-ho sighed deeply and began to explain the situation. Of course, he couldn’t tell them everything about the people and the situation at the General Assembly, but he could convey the general situation.

“So….”

Joo Young-gi’s voice was slightly excited after hearing everything.

“You want to do it this way, but the group is against it.”

“Yes.”

“And you think that what you’re thinking is right, no matter how much you think about it?”

“That’s right.”

“So, you want to push it through, but because the group is so against it, you don’t have a justification?”

“That’s accurate.”

“Ah, so….”

Joo Young-gi scratched his head vigorously.

“Your personality….”

“Huh?”

“Your personality is unbearable.” Joo Young-gi said, as if lamenting.

“So, everyone in the world is saying no, but you think it’s right. But because you don’t have a justification, you said you understood in front of them, but you can’t accept it, so you’re looking for a way to do it your way. Is that right?”

Kang Jin-ho nodded a bit heavily.

It felt like the nuance had become very negative. But looking at the context, there was nothing wrong with what he said.

“Oh, Lord.”

Joo Young-gi rubbed his face roughly with his hands. Kang Jin-ho flinched at the violent movement.

Joo Young-gi, having lowered his hands, downed a glass of beer in one shot and slammed the empty cup on the table.

“My friend.”

“I really love you.”

“I don’t particularly….”

“But sometimes I think you’re crazy. No, to be honest, it’s quite often.”

Kang Jin-ho felt very wronged.

This was a perfectly normal reaction. So why was he getting this kind of evaluation?

“Man, democracy isn’t the best and most righteous way in the world, but generally, it produces good results, right? If everyone says yes, and you shout no, you don’t get recognized, you just become a weirdo!”

“Maybe so.”

“But!”

“But that doesn’t mean I can say something wrong is right.”

Joo Young-gi sighed deeply. Kang Jin-ho’s words were also right.

“If I can bring good results by accepting it, I should do that. But no matter how much I think about it, that’s not it. I think my way is right, but everyone else says no.”

“If you really think you’re right, you should push it through.”

“That’s also a bit….”

Kang Jin-ho sighed, as if frustrated.

“I know why they’re against it, so it’s not easy to push it through like that. Because I know it’s out of good intentions.”

“Why is it so complicated?”

Park Yu-min smiled gently as Joo Young-gi gave up.

“Jin-ho.”

“Huh?”

“I don’t think that’s a big problem.”

“…Not a big problem?”

“Yes.”

Heh.

Park Yu-min shrugged and continued.

“I think I see why you’re feeling burdened or frustrated with this situation. You’re feeling burdened by having to match opinions through conversations with those people. Isn’t that right?”

“I don’t think that’s quite it.”

“You said coordination, right?”

“I did.”

“Coordination isn’t about choosing the right opinion by presenting each other’s opinions. It’s about presenting each other’s opinions, making some concessions, and creating a better opinion in the process.”

“Hmm.”

“I think I can be of some help here, because I do that every day.”

“Every day?”

Kang Jin-ho looked at Park Yu-min with shining eyes.

“What I do is gaming, right?”

“That’s right.”

“And it’s a team game. Five people become a team and play a game. But here’s where the problem arises….”

Park Yu-min smiled meaningfully.

“Five of us played a game, but the opinions during the game and the feedback after the game are all different. It’s like the five of us played different games.”

Kang Jin-ho tilted his head.

Was that possible?

“Why is that?”

“Because even when looking at the same situation, the way people perceive it is different. Personality issues, disposition issues, and the amount of information they have… there are many factors. Anyway, everyone interprets the game differently. That’s where the problem arises.”

Park Yu-min took a sip of beer and continued.

“Because no matter what the result is, we have to give feedback on the game. It’s somewhat better when we win, but if we lose, we have to discuss why we lost. Then all sorts of stories come out.”

Kang Jin-ho nodded vigorously.

This was something he could relate to. Wasn’t Kang Jin-ho the one who had been obsessed with gaming for a while because he had lost to Park Yu-min in a game? For a man in his twenties, losing in a game was a huge blow to his pride.

“But think about it. Those prideful guys have to talk about who was the reason for the loss. The atmosphere gets completely ruined. At first, we fought every day because of that. It was hell.”

“…That must have been.”

“But do you know how we solved that?”

“How?”

Kang Jin-ho fixed his gaze on Park Yu-min with expectant eyes.