Descent of the Demon Master

What led to the deepening of trust?

Trust wasn't given but steadily earned over a period of time. No one would be foolish enough to trust strangers from the get-go.

Things like your path in life, the way you treated others, and the attitude and abilities you displayed outwardly all influenced the 'trust' people would hold toward you.

Strangers would often decide whether to trust someone or not solely based on the conduct on display. If an individual possessed an appearance that naturally made others trust them, they wouldn't have to go out of their way to earn more trust. On the other hand, most people would have to work tirelessly for others to start trusting them more.

For Kang Jin-Ho, his category would be... He'd be the former. Until now, he had never tried to make others trust him. Simply doing what he needed to do was enough for others to start believing in him.

That was precisely why Kang Jin-Ho had no idea. No idea how people would treat him after they lost their faith in him!

“And? Where are you going this time?” Baek Hyeon-Jeong pointedly asked her son.

Kang Jin-Ho stood there in stupefaction after learning that merely putting on some clothes was enough for his family members to start suspecting him.

“When will you come home this time? I hope it will be before the end of the month.”

Kang Jin-Ho let his mother know how unfair this accusation was with his sorrow-filled expression. Unfortunately, her response still wasn't what he'd classify as favorable.

“Why are you making that face, son? Are you dissatisfied with something?” Baek Hyeon-Jeong asked "innocently".

“No, Mother.”

“Mm. That's how it should be. A man with morals shouldn't do what you did, after all. Did you know that kids in the military these days apparently call their moms at least once every two days? But my son doesn't even bother to call home for over ten days during his overseas vacation! People might think you've gone on an expedition to a remote outback or something. Wouldn't you think so, too?”

“Everything was this unfilial son's fault, Mother.”

“It's wonderful that you understand, my son. However, what good is knowing if you don't change your ways?”

“You're right, Mother.” Kang Jin-Ho replied while hurriedly tucking his shirt under the pants, then quickly escaped from his room. If he wasted any more time here, his mother might tell him to “Sit down so we can have an earnest talk” again. Before that happens, he must escape!

“What's this? Oppa, you're going out again?”

As it turned out, there was a vengeful demon living in the Kang household.

The old proverb said that sometimes, a sister-in-law was more hateful than a mother-in-law, and this situation seemed to fit that description rather perfectly.

Kang Jin-Ho's expression crumbled a little when Kang Eun-Yeong waltzed up to him, her brow slightly cocked.

“Hey, you. Aren't you supposed to be at work?” Kang Jin-Ho tutted loudly.

“Oppa?”

“Yeah?”

“A human being can't just keep working and working forever, oppa. We have something called seasons, you see? Our schedules are split between in-season and off-season for a reason, you know? So we can work even harder when our season starts again.”

“Oh, is it? Why does it feel like your off-season is quite long, though?”

“Yeeees, my dear orabeoni. This little sister of yours will work her butt off to make a ton of money. In the meantime, my dear orabeoni, why don't you go on your globe-trotting journey and sever your connection to your only family in this world?”

Kang Jin-Ho had to sneakily tuck his tail between his legs when his counteroffensive only got him even deeper in trouble.

'...I should've called home more often.'

Why did he stupidly not call home once during his time in China? That wouldn't have been something difficult or time-consuming, so why didn't he? Even though a couple of quick phone calls would've ensured he'd not go through this hell...!

Of course, Kang Jin-Ho knew that no matter how quickly regret showed up, it'd still be too late. Even then, the regret this time hurt more than usual.

Kang Jin-Ho sighed deeply, then tried another avenue of counterattack. “Mother?”

“Mm?”

“I was too thoughtless. I'll make sure the same thing won't happen again.”

Unfortunately for Kang Jin-Ho, though... Promises of a man no longer trusted would always ring hollow to everyone's ears.

“Really? I don't believe you.”

“Right, right! Oppa, we ain't falling for that again.”

Kang Jin-Ho staggered toward the exit of the house.

Baek Hyeon-Jeong was still not ready to release her son just yet, though. “Son? Are you planning to come home later?”

“I'll be back by the evening, Mother.”

“Sure, sure. See you tomorrow, then.”

Thunk...

When her slump-shouldered son exited the house and closed the door behind him, Baek Hyeon-Jeong glanced at her daughter with a concerned look on her face.

“What do you think? Should we let him off the hook now?”

“No way, Mom!”

Kang Eun-Yeong remained adamant in her opposition.

“That whole thing about blood being thicker than water is all nonsense. You know lots of families lose contact with each other over the years, right? And you often hear about families getting so estranged that they might as well be total strangers! You know what I mean, right? Mom?”

Baek Hyeon-Jeong nodded gravely. "Yes... I do."

“If we let him off the hook this time, you just know that dullard will do the same thing again. Sooner or later, we'll reach a point where we can't even tell whether he's still alive or not unless we call him first!”

“No, that won't happen under my watch!” Baek Hyeon-Jeong decisively cried out.

“Yes, mom! We gotta fix his bad habit for good this time!”

“You're right, Eun-Yeong!”

Kang Eun-Yeong smiled in satisfaction while observing her mother tightly clench her fists.

***

Vroooom...

Kang Jin-Ho's favorite Zoom-Zoom drove past the Martial Assembly's front gate while its engine roared like a beast. He parked the car at a secluded spot and got out, and was immediately greeted by the bowing heads of the Assembly members walking past.

“Good morning to you, sir!”

“Sure thing…” Kang Jin-Ho listlessly greeted them back and dragged his feet toward the Assembly HQ's main building.

The observers immediately began gossiping at this sight.

“Doesn't the Assembly Master look almost lifeless?”

“Well, I guess. He got seriously injured the last time and all.”

“Yeah, I also heard about that, but... I still can't believe it, though. Who in this world could possibly injure someone like our Assembly Master?”

“You never know, dude. This world is huge, after all.”

“Does that mean his injuries aren't fully healed yet?”

“Probably. I mean, he was stuck in the ICU for a while, right?”

Kang Jin-Ho could only shake his head at the voices entering his hearing. His abnormally sharp hearing was way too good at catching even the smallest whispers in moments like these.

'Maybe it would've been better if I was still in hospital...'

Unfortunately, Kang Jin-Ho's physical body was almost fully healed by now. So, that couldn't be used as his excuse. Besides, his recovery speed even exceeded Vator's, anyway.

Demonic qi meticulously protected Kang Jin-Ho's body and accelerated its recovery. By now, not even a trace of external injury remained on his skin. Of course, his internal organs were still damaged, but they shouldn't take too long before making a full recovery.

The problem was with his family, though. His mother and little sister had been rather... persistent lately. Even his father, who usually stood by his side, took potshots from a distance while muttering things like, “Even if I have done so much to raise a kid, I'm still worse than a vacation overseas to him, so why should I care anymore?”

'At this rate, I'll become a withered husk...'

Since he was guilty, Kang Jin-Ho couldn't even make excuses here. Even he could tell that he had been too inattentive toward his family. Sure, he could've told them he was involved in something incredibly important, and that was why he couldn't call them, but...

Since his family had no idea what he did, explaining what happened would be a rather pointless waste of energy. This meant he had no choice but to beg them for their forgiveness, but...

'I need to do something about this situation, but what...?'

Kang Jin-Ho could let Kang Eun-Yeong do whatever, but a special response seemed necessary to ease the anger in his parents' hearts. While pondering his options, Kang Jin-Ho entered the Assembly HQ.

Walking up the stairs led him to his office. When he entered it, though, Kang Jin-Ho tilted his head at the unexpected guests waiting for him. “Mm? What are you all doing here?”

In the office were Vator, Wiggins, and even Chang Min, all sitting around Lee Hyeon-Su. It was as if they knew Kang Jin-Ho would show up at this exact time.

'Hmm... I guess commuting here every morning has become the norm for me.'

While feeling like a bonafide salaryman now, Kang Jin-Ho took his seat by the seat of honor.

Lee Hyeon-Su spoke first. “We have something new to report to you, Assembly Master.”

Kang Jin-Ho grimaced. “Really? Don't feel like handling it now, though...”

Lee Hyeon-Su and Co. rarely showed up like this to make a report, so the news must be quite grave in nature.

“Don't worry, sir. It's not bad news. In fact, you can even call it very good, but... The timing is a bit weird for us.”

“Mm?: Kang Jin-Ho tilted his head. Lee Hyeon-Su saying it's weird timing only confused him further. It was supposed to be good news, but the timing was bad? “Okay...? Tell me what happened.”

“Rather than verbally explaining it to you, I think it'll be better if you see for yourself, sir.”

Lee Hyeon-Su took out his phone and dialed a number. Kang Jin-Ho cocked an eyebrow.

'Video calling?'

Seeing how Lee Hyeon-Su's face appeared on the corner of the phone's screen, it seemed he was doing a video call with someone. He wanted Kang Jin-Ho to see someone, but who was the mysterious person that must be visually confirmed...?

“...Huh?”

A surprised gasp involuntarily left Kang Jin-Ho's lips just then. He rarely, if ever, let his shock show up on his face, but this situation managed to do just that.

Kang Jin-Ho confirmed the face appearing on the phone's screen and bit his lower lip. Then again, how could he not be surprised? When the person on the other side was someone he was quite familiar with?

What shocked him was not the familiar person's appearance, though. No, Kang Jin-Ho was shocked because he believed this familiar person would've long left the world of living by now!

“Yi Myeong-Hwan?”

Lee Hyeon-Su chuckled sheepishly while handing the phone over to Kang Jin-Ho.

Kang Jin-Ho asked again in shock. “Yi Myeong-Hwan? Is it really you?”

-Yes, it is me, Assembly Master.

Yi Myeong-Hwan smiled awkwardly while bowing his head at Kang Jin-Ho. Several complicated expressions flitted in and out of Yi Myeong-Hwan's face.

From relief to remorse, from embarrassment to hope... Yi Myeong-Hwan's expression couldn't be described in one word.

-My apologies, Assembly Master. It's shameful to admit this, but they captured us.

“Captured? Really?”

-Yes. As you can see.

Yi Myeong-Hwan turned the phone around to show what was behind it. The room seemed to be a hotel suite, and the rest of the 'suicide squad' dispatched alongside Yi Myeong-Hwan were also there, sheepishly vowing their heads.

-It's kinda surreal to be treated so well by the enemies, sir. We figured they would cut our heads off right away, but... I'm not sure why these crazy bastards are doing all this...

Kang Jin-Ho chuckled loudly. “No, it's fine. This is great.”

It felt like a rock stuck in his chest had been washed away. After regaining consciousness, Kang Jin-Ho's heart was weighed down the most by the fate of Yi Myeong-Hwan and his squad mates. How could he not worry about them when they willingly threw their lives away to rescue him?

Kang Jin-Ho had been trying hard to mask his real feelings and come across as unruffled, but the truth was... His heavy chest refused to get better until now. So much so that he was even surprised by himself.

Heavenly Crimson Demon Emperor of the past wouldn't have cared about his loyal subordinates dying in droves. He was the type of a man who wouldn't bat an eyelid while driving hundreds of people into pits of fire if that helped him achieve his goals, after all!

However, the death of a dozen or so people weighed so much on Kang Jin-Ho's conscience. Didn't that serve as irrefutable proof that he was definitely not Heavenly Crimson Demon Emperor? On the other hand, it also proved that Kang Jin-Ho was not powerful enough to protect everyone around him.

If Heavenly Crimson Demon Emperor had been fighting the Crimson King from the start, Yi Myeong-Hwan and his comrades wouldn't have had to make the ultimate sacrifice in the first place.

From Kang Jin-Ho's perspective, those people sacrificed themselves because he was Kang Jin-Ho, not Heavenly Crimson Demon Emperor. This debt was something Kang Jin-Ho could never repay.

Maybe Kang Jin-Ho's stubbornness was the reason for their sacrifices. In that case, how could he not agonize about what they had done for his sake?

But now, people he thought were dead for sure were all alive and well to talk to him over the phone. How could Kang Jin-Ho not be shocked by this turn of events?

-Well, uh... If we had been tortured or put through a wringer, we would've been less embarrassed while speaking to you, but... The truth is, it's like we're lounging around doing nothing in a nice hotel room, sir. And we even get fed on time and all...

Kang Jin-Ho had to laugh at that.

'Well, Cai Kechang is pretty crafty, isn't he?'

Wasn't it obvious why Cai Kechang spared these men and even treated them well? Even if this was a trap, Kang Jin-Ho had no choice but to walk into it.

“You guys did well. I know it's tough, but be patient for a little longer. We'll get you guys home as soon as possible.”

-N-no, Assembly Master. It hasn't been tough at all for us. Besides... I'm sorry. I know we're expected to bite our tongues or something to kill ourselves in this sort of a situation to protect the Assembly, but... We were scared about dying, and...

“It's totally understandable,” Kang Jin-Ho chuckled again. “I'm also scared about dying, so it's fine. Don't worry about unnecessary things, and stay put for a bit longer.”

-Yes, sir.

Kang Jin-Ho ended the call, then looked back at Lee Hyeon-Su.

The latter was making a very awkward and troubled face. “So, uh... Assembly Master, sir. I was thinking that maybe, viewing this situation as objectively as possible is...”

“Lee Hyeon-Su?”

“Yes, sir!”

Kang Jin-Ho issued a new order in a flat tone of voice. “Bring them home in one piece, no matter what it takes. I permit you to resort to any means available.”

Lee Hyeon-Su silently stared at the ceiling, his expression resigned as if everything had come crashing down just then.

'Aaaand here I was, thinking that everything was going so well...'

He briefly thought he could hear Cai Kechang's insidious cackle in the distance.

That man sure landed a painful sucker punch in Lee Hyeon-Su's gut, didn't he?

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