Descent of the Demon Master

o, wait—his power would probably be a bit too over-the-top to discipline one mad dog!

“Can you come over here as soon as possible?”

– Ohhhh? Is today a special day or something? You want to go out on a date with me? Have you finally seen the light and want to accept my feelings for you? Is that what it is?

“Stop spewing nonsense, will you?! There ’s something you need to do!”

– …Oh.
If it ’s work, I ’m not that interested.

“Even if I ’m gonna get beaten up to death?” Lee Hyeon-Ju ’s desperate voice brought about a sudden bout of silence on the line before the man asked quietly.

A quick look at bit.ly/3iBfjkV will leave you more fulfilled.

– Where are you now?”

“I ’ll send you the address through the chat app.
You need to hurry.
Things are really dangerous here, you know?”

– Let ’s stop wasting time talking on the phone, then.
I ’m on my way.

“Yes.
Please hurry!” Lee Hyeon-Ju ended the call and sent the map to the cafe through the chat app.
After confirming that her message had been sent, she sighed in relief.

She was summoning a madman to oppose a mad dog, but that madman ’s abilities had been acknowledged by the Martial Assembly.
Although his personality could be a bit wild and unpredictable at times, that much was acceptable.
Finding an expert who also happened to possess a ’normal ’ personality was quite a challenge, anyway.

’

’Yes, I just need to buy time, that ’s all. ’

Lee Hyeon-Ju got up from the toilet bowl as determination filled her expression.

***

“It ’s the Yeongnam Group,” said Lee Hyeon-Ju.

Jo Gyu-Min tilted his head.
“Excuse me? You mean, Yeongnam People ’s Facebook group?”[1]

“…No, it ’s just the Yeongnam Group.”

Jo Gyu-Min voiced his honest impression.
“I have to say, that is one evocative name, isn ’t it? One that really makes you remember your old hometown and stuff.
It ’s rather rustic yet also imparts the feeling of solidarity? Something like that?”

Lee Hyeon-Ju sighed.
“…Isn ’t that obvious considering Yeongnam Group was formed over five decades ago? What were you expecting from the people of the 60s? Something grandiose like the East Korea Organization?”

“Of course not,” said Jo Gyu-Min while inwardly thanking Hwang Jeong-Hu.
Even though Jaegyeong was also named in the 60s, it sounded so much more sensible and modern compared to the Yeongnam Group, didn ’t it?

“Korea ’s martial artists are divided into many different factions.
And I ’m affiliated with Korean Martial Assembly, arguably the most important faction in this country.
However, the Yeongnam Group currently boasts the greatest influence.”

Kang Jin-Ho silently listened to Lee Hyeon-Ju.
Since he wasn ’t responding at all, Lee Hyeon-Ju had little choice but to engage Jo Gyu-Min and talk to him instead.
Thankfully, Jo Gyu-Min turned out to be an excellent listener who knew when to voice his retort or put on a splendid reaction.
He was so good, in fact, that he would have been a megastar if he chose to participate in variety shows!

“So, what did this Yeongnam Group do?” Jo Gyu-Min asked curiously.

“They have sent one of their men,” said Lee Hyeon-Ju.

“…Are you talking about that serial killer?”

“Yes.”

“Hmm…” Jo Gyu-Min rubbed his chin while glancing at Kang Jin-Ho.
“You know, there ’s something I can ’t quite understand…”

“What would that be?” Lee Hyeon-Ju asked back.

“For now, let ’s forget about why that killer is targeting Mister Jin-Ho.
Let ’s also put aside why this Yeongnam Group wishes to kill Mister Jin-Ho, who has been minding his own business.
The question I have is this: why hasn ’t that killer directly targeted Mister Jin-Ho and started killing innocent people instead?”

“That ’s what that man is like, you see.”

“Excuse me?” Jo Gyu-Min narrowed his eyes.

“Well…” Lee Hyeon-Ju sighed deeply.
“The Yeongnam Group refers to the killer as the Fallen.
And he ’s kind of like their hunting dog.”

’

Jo Gyu-Min ’s voice went up an octave.
“…If that ’s the case, why are your people keeping mum even as that killer is doing something so heinous?”

“Because…
we don ’t have any solid evidence,” said Lee Hyeon-Ju while shrugging her shoulders.
“Everyone tacitly understands that the Yeongnam Group ’s chairman holds the leash of that killer.
However, the chairman has always denied all involvement, and there is no clear proof of him employing the Fallen in the first place.
If an influential man with great power rides on the back of a powerful organization to deny everything, do you honestly believe you can convict him of a crime?”

“Indeed, it ’d be exceedingly difficult,” Jo Gyu-Min nodded, knowing he had no choice but to agree with her.
It wasn ’t something to be surprised about; however, because such a thing happened pretty often in society, after all.

Even if everyone had a suspicion about an influential man doing wicked things behind the scenes, it would be impossible to punish that person without irrefutable proof.
’Suspicion ’ alone had its limit, after all.

“So…” Kang Jin-Ho finally broke his silence.
“Why are you so sure that the Fallen is the culprit?”

“…The murders were similar, you see,” said Lee Hyeon-Ju in an apprehensive voice.

“Similar? How?”

“Rather than a hunting dog, the label of the ’cleaning crew ’ would be a better job description for the Fallen.
In that case, we shouldn ’t know about his existence, but we all do.
The reason for that is…
Whenever the Fallen makes an appearance, there are always serious problems left behind in his wake.
We ’ve already cleaned up all the mess he had left behind several times.
And these murders bear the hallmark of that killer.”

“In other words, this isn ’t his first time…” Kang Jin-Ho slowly closed his eyes.
“In that case—”

Before he could finish, a commotion broke out first just outside the staff room ’s door.

“Hyeon-Ju! Where are you, Hyeon-Ju!”

The moment she heard that voice, Lee Hyeon-Ju shot up to her feet and rushed toward the doorway before escaping outside.
“I, I ’m here!”

Jo Gyu-Min could only groan loudly at this sudden turn of events.
“Seriously? Why can ’t one of Mister Jin-Ho ’s predictions go wrong just once?”

Jo Gyu-Min was suddenly tempted to plant bamboo flag poles of mudang behind Kang Jin-Ho.[2]

Kang Jin-Ho noticed Jo Gyu-Min ’s gaze, then smirked deeply while getting up.
He leisurely made his way to the exit of the staff room.

“Was it you?!” A man with closely-cropped sportsman ’s hair huffed angrily while glaring at Kang Jin-Ho.
He was well over 190cm tall, and his shoulders had to be twice the size of a regular person.
A man strong enough to beat up a bull with his bare fists suddenly began charging at Kang Jin-Ho.

“J-Jin-Ho!!!” Kang Yu-Hwan ’s panicked cry rang inside the cafe.

While making an apathetic face, Kang Jin-Ho took a step forward toward his opponent.
A large fist was coming his way, but he deftly side-stepped the attack, grabbed the tall man ’s head and slammed it straight on the floor.

BOOOOM!

An impact noise too loud to have come from a human head hitting the floor rang out.
Kang Jin-Ho glared at the man pressed down on the ground and opened his lips to speak, “Dear customer, such behavior inside the store will not be tolerated.”

1.
Yeongnam is an actual region located in South Korea ’s southeast.
And yes, Yeongnam People ’s Group is a real Facebook group.
It ’s dedicated to sharing news, and connecting people from the Yeongnam region spread throughout the country.
☜

2.
“Mudang” is a Korean shaman who performs exorcisms and makes predictions.
Mudangs often have bamboo poles with various colored flags hanging on them in front of their ‘workplace/place of residence.’ ☜