Descent of the Demon Master-Chapter 1262. Recruited (2)

Late at night...

Kang Jin-Ho remained at MK instead of heading home for the day. He was currently standing on the building’s rooftop and staring at the world below, a cigarette with a burning tip held between his hands.

Even as the biting-cold winds blew in, Kang Jin-Ho remained still, his eyes silently taking in the cityscape under the veil of the night.

‘Mistakes, is it...?’

The conversation from earlier in the day kept replaying in his head.

Although he ran his mouth off like a sage, the truth was... The word "mistakes" also stung painfully for Kang Jin-Ho. After all, he made countless mistakes during his lives.

His first life was a series of torments and pain, while his second life also ended in tragedy. In all honesty, Kang Jin-Ho had no right to lecture other people about making mistakes.

Even then, he still had to criticize Hwang Min-Su like some arrogant know-it-all because... Because Kang Jin-Ho knew better than anyone that making up for one’s mistakes could change one’s life.

His third life proved this. This life was only possible because of all the mistakes he had made in the past lives. They taught him what he should do and what he must avoid, after all!

People supposedly learned from their mistakes. And the perfect example was Kang Jin-Ho.

He slowly puffed away at his cigarette.

The unhealthy smoke and cold night air rushed into his lungs. After savoring the cigarette smoke entering his body for a little while, Kang Jin-Ho leisurely exhaled the smoke. 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

The scenery spreading out before his view seemed a little unfamiliar.

He thought he had gotten more or less used to it, but sometimes, the bright lights of the city that never sleeps would overwhelm and blind him.

The night time in Zhongyuan was not like this. Back then, people didn’t have a way to illuminate the night away, and so the land was bathed in the darkness itself. Especially on those moonless nights—other than the ocean of stars, nothing could be seen.

To Kang Jin-Ho, who had become far too used to that darkness, the nights of the modern era felt so bright and... comforting.

‘Am I...’

Was he living a good life?

Hwang Jeong-Hu’s sons, Hwang Min-Su and Hwang Min-Jae, were not aware of that while making their mistakes.

‘No, that’s not quite right.’

Their actions wouldn’t have ended up as ‘mistakes’ had Kang Jin-Ho not intervened. Hwang Jeong-Hu’s life would’ve come to an end on his sickbed, and his sons would’ve divided Jaegyeong as they originally wanted and lived like kings.

In that case, what mistakes did they make?

Was it not being righteous? Maybe not sticking to Hwang Jeong-Hu’s teachings?

‘Not really.’

At the end of the day, ‘mistakes’ were based on outcomes. Things like mistakes didn’t exist for victors and successful people, after all. In that sense, maybe Hwang Jeong-Hu’s sons didn’t make mistakes. Calling it a failure should be more accurate.

Then, what about Kang Jin-Ho? How was he now?

‘I can’t tell.’

In his own evaluation, it seemed like he was heading in the right direction without committing any notable mistakes. However, was he really? When he was like everyone else? People walking on a road to failure weren’t aware of what was at the end, after all!

Kang Jin-Ho’s life could crumble at any given moment. Only then would he realize what his mistake had been.

He closed his eyes.

Unfortunately, humans were incapable of judging their own lives. Maybe they could do that with the lives they had lived. But doing so to their current lives? Now that would be very difficult.

All they could do was keep trying their best.

They must continuously evaluate if they were living a good life. They must keep asking questions and trying their utmost best to walk the correct path. That was what living a life meant.

Kang Jin-Ho’s gaze drifted toward the entrance of MK’s building. He could see a figure of a man walking into the lobby.

There he was, another person who constantly questioned and worried, just like Kang Jin-Ho.

Kang Jin-Ho grinned subtly, then turned around to head to the stairwell.

***

“Over here,” said Kang Jin-Ho.

He noticed Hwang Min-Su hesitating by the end of the corridor and walked up first.

Hwang Min-Su looked flustered. “Chairman, you still haven’t gone home.”

“Yes. As you can see.”

“Even though it’s so late at night...?”

Kang Jin-Ho casually shrugged. “I had a hunch that we’d be seeing each other again today, you see.”

“...”

“How about you? Why did you come back, Mister Hwang? As you say, it’s quite late already. What if I wasn’t at my office?”

Hwang Min-Su smiled awkwardly. “I thought you’d still be at your office.”

Kang Jin-Ho chuckled slightly and casually pointed at the chairman’s office with his chin. “Shall we go inside?”

“Oh, uh... Mm, Chairman?”

“Yes?”

Hwang Min-Su hesitated some more before a look of determination formed on his face. “Do you mind if I buy you a round of drinks?”

“...?”

***

Pop! Pshooi...!

The sound of a beer can opening rang out rather crisply. Hwang Min-Su unhesitantly chugged the beer down. The sound of beer entering a person’s throat was loud enough to echo inside the silent chairman’s office.

“Keuh...!”

After half-emptying that large can of beer in one go, Hwang Min-Su put the can down on the table with some force.

“This is unexpectedly refreshing.”

“...”

Kang Jin-Ho didn’t say anything while sipping on the beer, a hint of amusement on his face.

Hwang Min-Su continued to speak, “I never thought I’d experience something like this, chairman. To think I’d be drinking beer out of a can in a chairman’s office.”

Kang Jin-Ho replied, “It couldn’t be helped, since I didn’t feel like going somewhere far.”

“If I knew it’d feel this way, I should’ve enjoyed a few cans of beer in my office back then. Back when I was still Jaegyeong’s president, I mean. It’s like I’m breaking a few rules by doing this, and that kind of feels amazing, no?”

“...Actually, you shouldn’t do that.”

“Ah, of course. I’m just saying. Drinking during office hours is obviously not going to happen.”

Drinking booze in one’s workplace was heavily frowned upon even if it was not office hours, but Kang Jin-Ho didn’t bother to point that out.

Without saying anything else, the two men drank several cans of beer. Since they got these from a nearby convenience store in a hurry, there weren’t any snacks to speak of. But that didn’t really matter right now.

After emptying three cans of beer without rest, Hwang Min-Su stared at Kang Jin-Ho briefly before standing up. “My apologies, but I’d like to pop outside for a quick smoke break.”

Kang Jin-Ho nodded. “I see. You can smoke here.”

“...Here?”

“Yes. It’s fine.”

Kang Jin-Ho glanced at the ceiling.

Not too long ago, he inadvertently triggered the fire alarm by smoking in the office. So, he made contingency plans for that. All he had to do was to ensure the smoke didn’t reach the fire sensors. Something like that was a cakewalk for Kang Jin-Ho.

When Hwang Min-Su hesitated some more, Kang Jin-Ho pulled out a packet of cigarettes himself and mouthed a fresh cigarette. After lighting it up, he took out another cigarette and offered it to Hwang Min-Su.

“Here.”

“Thank you.”

Hwang Min-Su finally mouthed the cigarette and lit it up, too.

“Fuu-woo...”

Hwang Min-Su deeply inhaled, then exhaled the smoke, his expression turning a little sheepish. “...How did you know I’d be back, Chairman Kang?”

“It was just a hunch.”

“Do you mind telling me what you based your hunch on?”

“Well, it’s just that...” Kang Jin-Ho grinned nonchalantly. “I would’ve done so if I were in your shoes.”

“That’s a... strange answer.”

Hwang Min-Su grabbed one of the beer cans on the table. Despite knowing it was empty, he still held onto it and even gently shook it around.

“I was furious.”

Kang Jin-Ho quietly listened, his gaze locked on Hwang Min-Su.

“I thought you were just saying all those things without knowing anything about me. I believed that other people simply could not understand my worries. But... I was too furious to go home, so I sat on a random park bench and thought about a bunch of things. That’s when I realized something.”

“What did you realize?”

“Why should other people care about my worries?”

“...”

Hwang Min-Su helplessly chuckled. “When I thought about it, I also had never cared about other people’s worries. Taking care of myself is already a full-time job, so why should I care about some strangers? Whenever I heard about other people’s troubles, I’d just brush them aside and move on. I’m pretty sure their stories didn’t even last one hour in my memories.”

“I’m sure that’s the case,” Kang Jin-Ho nodded slightly.

“When I realized that, your rebuke made so much more sense. It didn’t matter what I was worried about, because other people wouldn’t know or care. They must’ve viewed me as a fool who got scared and gave up without fighting back. Worse still...”

Hwang Min-Su chewed on his words before sighing at length.

“An objective evaluation of a person can only come from other people. Which means your assertion is correct.”

Kang Jin-Ho silently studied Hwang Min-Su.

Despite saying all these self-mocking things, the light in his eyes was sharper and clearer than when he was in this office earlier in the day. Kang Jin-Ho wasn’t surprised, however.

Humans had this trait of looking away when a danger loomed over them. Although logic dictated that you should look for solutions in times of crises, the first thing most people did was look for a way to avoid facing said crises.

Of course, it was impossible to avoid the situation forever.

The first step in finding a solution was to look at oneself properly. In other words, one must face their frailty and acknowledge the situation they were in.

Hwang Min-Su couldn’t let go of his past and failed to analyze himself, yet the brief time spent on the unnamed bench must’ve given him a fresh perspective. He must’ve faced himself before coming here.

Only that could explain the light in his eyes.

“Chairman Kang?”

“Yes?”

Hwang Min-Su stared at Kang Jin-Ho while speaking in a still voice. “I’ve already failed once.”

“...”

“You said this to me during the day, that people make mistakes. But what matters is what we do afterward.”

“Yes, something like that.”

“Then, does that also apply to failures? What comes after you fail... Is that also important?”

Kang Jin-Ho silently drank the beer.

Giving his guest an answer was not easy. Even though he already knew the answer.

How should he go about explaining it, though?

“Failing isn’t the issue here,” said Kang Jin-Ho in a calm but slightly withdrawn voice after organizing his thoughts. “People despair not because they have failed. No, they despair when they can’t see any hope.”

“Hope, you say?”

Hwang Min-Su felt deflated when he heard that rather obvious statement. However, before he could grow despondent, Kang Jin-Ho began a more in-depth explanation.

“Everyone doesn’t fall into despair after experiencing a failure. Many pull themselves back up and start charging forward again.”

“Are you... suggesting the issue is with people’s drive?”

“Not at all,” Kang Jin-Ho shook his head. “Rather than the issue of one’s mindset, you could say it’s more to do with the severity of the failure.”

“I... don’t follow.”

“People falling into despair do so not because of their failures, but because they know they can’t go back to the time before they experienced the failures. If you fail an exam, you can always retake it later. If you lose money, you can try to make some more again. However, some failures cannot be fixed no matter what.”

Hwang Min-Su’s eyes powerfully quaked just then. What Kang Jin-Ho said had accurately stabbed him in the heart.

Getting a job in some small corporation where Hwang Jeong-Hu’s influence didn’t reach and living out the rest of his life should have been more or less doable if Hwang Min-Su had tried. After all, a father wouldn’t let his son starve to death.

Despite knowing this, Hwang Min-Su couldn’t bring himself to do it. Why?

Because he used to be a president in the Jaegyeong Corporation.

He could try everything in his power, but returning to that position and the life he led back then would be impossible. And that was the source of Hwang Min-Su’s despair.

His powerlessness didn’t stem from his failure. No, it came from the knowledge of his future, one that didn’t have a lot of options left!

“I get it,” said Kang Jin-Ho.

He had also experienced a situation similar to Hwang Min-Su’s.

No matter what he tried, he couldn’t return. He couldn’t regain the past. All he could do was to keep living.

Even though that had been the case...

“The one thing that I do know is that... Nothing will change if you remain collapsed like that. In fact, nothing will happen unless you struggle and fight back.”

Hwang Min-Su wordlessly began massaging the bridge of his nose.

He must’ve had a lot on his mind right now.

What tortured him could be his regrets. Maybe even lingering attachments. Or his resentments.

Hwang Min-Su mulled over something for a long time before raising his head to stare directly at Kang Jin-Ho.

All hints of hesitation were gone from his eyes now.