Descent of the Demon Master-Chapter 1324. On Standby (4)

“Huh...”

While making a somewhat aggrieved face, Lee Hyeon-Su stared at Kang Jin-Ho next to him.

Currently, they were in a massive suite in an expensive hotel. More specifically, Kang Jin-Ho sat on an expansive sofa that anyone with eyes could tell was super expensive. He looked completely relaxed while watching TV.

After staring at his boss for a long time, Lee Hyeon-Su finally said something. “Do you even understand what they are saying on TV, sir?”

“More or less.”

“As expected of someone who speaks Chinese...”

“But I don’t get some parts, though. Such as newer terms since I don’t know them. If I converse with the locals, they’ll probably think I’m auditioning for a spot in a historical drama or something.”

“...”

A historical drama, was it...?

That sounded about right. The Chinese Kang Jin-Ho was familiar with was last spoken, at the very least, over five centuries ago, after all.

Human language always evolved. Even the language spoken in historical dramas was streamlined to match the modern era’s idea of what the ancient people spoke. The actual ancient people most likely didn’t speak that way.

Kang Jin-Ho continued to channel-hop. Rather than being interested in the events taking place all over China, it was more like listening to Chinese words used in various situations was entertaining to him.

Lee Hyeon-Su asked weirdly. “But sir, haven’t you chatted with Elder Chang a lot?”

“Sure, but he’s like a living fossil, so...”

“Isn’t he, you know, fairly up-to-date with the latest trends?”

“Yeah, that’s true.”

Kang Jin-Ho chuckled and resumed watching TV.

Lee Hyeon-Su couldn’t help but frown, his aggrieved heart getting even more aggrieved than before!

It had already been two days since their arrival. Two days! But no one had contacted them so far. Meanwhile, Choi Yeon-Ha was busy going to various meetings. Which left Lee Hyeon-Su and Kang Jin-Ho to aimlessly squat inside this hotel room and basically do nothing.

Checking out tourist spots around the city was out of the question, since they didn’t want to jeopardize their sensitive mission with that one-in-a-million happenstance. But camping in a hotel room like this was definitely not something an active, healthy-minded person should be doing, either!

Lee Hyeon-Su thanked the heavens for the invention of the smartphone. How would he have survived the last two days without his?

While all this was happening, Kang Jin-Ho was relaxedly watching TV as if it was a source of endless entertainment. No wonder Lee Hyeon-Su felt aggrieved by his situation!

“Sir... Is that program really interesting?”

Kang Jin-Ho nodded. “Yeah.”

“...Really? That’s interesting?”

“Why? What’s the matter?”

Lee Hyeon-Su furrowed his brow. “Well, it’s... nothing, sir.”

Kang Jin-Ho glanced at his companion before sighing under his breath. “Chief Lee.” 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

“Yes, sir?”

“Let’s act like grown-ups, okay?”

“...”

Even though Kang Jin-Ho told Lee Hyeon-Su repeatedly not to come! After obstinately following his boss all the way to China, why was Lee Hyeon-Su complaining about being bored now? To think Kang Jin-Ho would have to carry out this important mission with this man-child...

“But, sir! I didn’t know we’d be forced into waiting like this!”

Lee Hyeon-Su protested his innocence while making the face of a wrongly accused man.

Of course he steeled himself for the prospect of waiting around until the target arrived in China. However, he certainly didn’t expect to sit on his butt and suck on his fingers while no one bothered to contact him for two days!

Actually, that was the true source of his anxiety, not the boredom of being on standby. Why hadn’t anyone contacted them until now?

“Sir, I figured they would call us almost right away. I didn’t know they would forget about us like this!”

“But that’s how these kinds of things usually play out, though?”

“I’m sorry?”

Kang Jin-Ho casually shrugged. “You also don’t really care about people on standby, do you? I remember you contacting one of our guys on standby only after a week, too.”

Lee Hyeon-Su clamped his mouth shut. Now that he had heard Kang Jin-Ho... That was all true.

“You have to be in the other person’s shoes to understand what they are going through,” said Kang Jin-Ho.

Lee Hyeon-Su curiously asked, “Sir, you sound as if you’ve gone through this sort of situation a lot?”

“Yeah, I have.”

“...Really?”

Kang Jin-Ho chuckled.

Even though he had explained everything, his acquaintances still hadn’t fully understood him.

Yes, it was true that Kang Jin-Ho was the demon cult’s leader back in the day.

In ancient times, the demon cult ruled over heaven and earth. And the demonic cultivator who wielded absolute authority over the cult was none other than Kang Jin-Ho. No other cult leader before him or since his demise enjoyed as much power and influence.

This story was what everyone focused on. But they all seemed to overlook a minor fact that Kang Jin-Ho didn’t join the demon cult as its leader.

There was a time when Kang Jin-Ho wasn’t known as Heavenly Crimson Demon Emperor but merely “Crimson Demon”. And in those days, he had to complete all the missions assigned to him. Many of those missions required him to infiltrate the orthodox faction-held territories.

People could easily pick up a phone and call anyone these days, but back then? Such a luxury was obviously unthinkable. Waiting to receive a single communique for months upon months was the norm in ancient Zhongyuan.

Compared to those days, waiting for two days doing nothing was child’s play.

“Nothing will change by anxiously waiting, Chief Lee. Go and take a bath in warm water. Being on edge so much like this has the potential to mess up the mission, after all,” said Kang Jin-Ho.

Lee Hyeon-Su narrowed his eyes and studied Kang Jin-Ho. His boss could be such a mystery, no?

If Lee Hyeon-Su was being honest, he’d have to call Kang Jin-Ho a surprisingly anxious type despite his status, financial muscle, and martial prowess.

A person with Kang Jin-Ho’s level of status usually was overflowing with confidence and leeway. After all, they knew they had achieved so much, and indeed, so many things in their possession acted as the foundation of their confidence.

As an example, one should think about how a person would suddenly feel more confident and secure from having some money in their bank account.

Yet Kang Jin-Ho worried a lot despite having so many things. However, when it came to things related to battles? He’d become one of the most relaxed, unflustered people in this world.

Lee Hyeon-Su chuckled helplessly. Gee whiz. Would it kill him to choose one personality and just stick to it?

Of course, it wasn’t as if he couldn’t understand. But such a switch in personality still roused some helpless chuckles from Lee Hyeon-Su. If this hotel wasn’t in the middle of the enemy territory but in Seoul, Kang Jin-Ho’s attitude would’ve been totally different, after all!

Before Lee Hyeon-Su could say anything, though, his phone shoved inside his pocket began vibrating angrily. Like a gunslinger from an old Western movie, he rapidly yanked out his phone.

He didn’t recognize the caller’s number. But that only made him happier.

Lee Hyeon-Su answered the call. “This is Lee Hyeon-Su speaking.”

-Good day, Mister Lee Hyeon-Su.

That was Yi Jong-Wuk’s voice. A subtle sigh of relief escaped Lee Hyeon-Su’s lips.

“You sure took a while contacting us.”

-What do you mean?!

The voice of a triggered man suddenly burst out from the phone’s speaker.

-Why did you move from the assigned hotel and go somewhere else?! Why!

“We told you about that, so what’s the problem?”

-Of course it’s a problem! Why did you have to get a fancy suite like that?! Don’t you know that a key card is needed to visit the suite you’ve rented?

Lee Hyeon-Su inwardly flinched. Ah, that’s right.

He remembered getting a special key card while checking in. That card was the only way to get the suite’s exclusive elevator to function. Since that card also opened the door to the suite itself, Lee Hyeon-Su focused on that and forgot about the thing with the elevator.

“Oh. Sorry about that.”

-Our agent tried to go to your suite, only to get thwarted by the damn elevator!

“In that case, why didn’t you call me on the phone?”

-Field agents can’t carelessly call you like that! There is always the threat of wiretapping, you know! Do you even have any idea how many times we had to re-route this line just to get in touch with you?

Of course Lee Hyeon-Su didn’t know. Or cared. Wasn’t that obvious?

“Uh, I see. There has been a breakdown in communication somewhere, then.”

-Why?! Why couldn’t you stick to the plan and create an issue like this! Don’t you know how much hardship our agents go through whenever they...

“Yes, yes, I hear you, so let’s skip the preamble, shall we? We’re both too busy to sit through a round of nagging, no?”

-Urgggggh!

Lee Hyeon-Su could vaguely hear something being thrown around, followed by someone screaming, from the phone’s speaker. Of course, he pretended to hear nothing and whistled nonchalantly away.

What could he do when the milk had spilled already? Besides, people made minor mistakes all the time, anyway.

-Huff, huff! Yes, you’re right. Let’s focus on the business at hand. Our agent should be at the lobby of your hotel right now. Go downstairs and contact him. But don’t try to invite him to your suite.

“Why? Wouldn’t the suite be more secure?”

-Nothing draws more attention than a fancy suite like yours. Why did you thoughtlessly book an expensive suite like that?! Are you trying to advertise the fact that someone special is staying there?

Lee Hyeon-Su replied in an unfazed tone. “And that’s precisely why no one will suspect us as an assassin!”

-Urgggggh!

A pained groan came from the phone’s speaker this time.

However, Lee Hyeon-Su was right about this, wasn’t he? He could swear on heaven’s name that he hadn’t done anything shameful here. This suite really was a part of his plan to complete this assignment as perfectly as possible.

“We also risked much discomfort when booking this suite, all in the name of potentially fooling our adversaries,” said Lee Hyeon-Su. “All these luxurious cushions that envelop our butts are so uncomfortable, while the subtle fragrance coming from the high-end diffusers is getting on our nerves, too. “Also, did you know that all the bathrooms in this suite are so far away from our bedrooms? It’s so far, in fact, that I sometimes worry about soiling my pants on my way there! Don’t you understand how tough our lives are?”

-Oh, wow. You sure have it tough, Mister Lee.

“Of course I do. On top of that, we paid for the suite ourselves to reduce the toll on your side, too. You should be thanking us from the bottom of your heart, you know!”

-...You should’ve used the card I gave you, though.

“Mm? I didn’t quite catch that?”

-No, it’s nothing important.

If only Lee Hyeon-Su had wasted the precious tax money! Yi Jong-Wuk would’ve had no problem swearing like a sailor. But he couldn’t, and that was pissing him off so much.

-In any case... Please go downstairs and contact our agent. It’s difficult for me to call you on the unsecured line like this, so he’ll tell you our usual method of communication.

“Sure thing, Mister Yi. We’ll handle things from here, so stop worrying about it, and why don’t you take a bath in warm water or something? Being on edge like this will lead you to making mistakes, you know? Or something like that.”

-I... That’s my business.

“Sure, sure.”

Just before Lee Hyeon-Su ended the call, he heard more noises of chaos unfolding on the other side of the line. But he didn’t mind it and ended the call, anyway.

“Dumbass, acting like he’s my superior or something.”

Lee Hyeon-Su oh-so wanted to torment Yi Jong-Wuk some more. In fact, he wanted to amp up his torment of the poor guy!

If only it hadn’t been for the fate of the country hanging in the balance, he would've made the NIS agent beg for mercy. Still, Lee Hyeon-Su decided to stop here since he knew Yi Jong-Wuk’s job was pretty tough in its own right.

Kang Jin-Ho glanced at Lee Hyeon-Su. “So? What did he say?”

“Apparently, his agent is downstairs in the lobby, and we should contact him now.”

“Mm...?”

If the content of the message was this short, why was the phone call so long? Kang Jin-Ho chuckled, then pushed himself off the sofa.

“Okay, let’s go.”

“Yes, sir.”

The look on Lee Hyeon-Su’s face transformed instantly.

His relaxed, nay, playful demeanor must stop at the conclusion of his conversation with Yi Jong-Wuk. The assignment was about to begin for real, after all.

The two men exited the suite and entered the waiting elevator.

Kang Jin-Ho disinterestedly asked, “Why did they contact us so late?”

“It seems you need a card like this to use the elevator to our suite,” said Lee Hyeon-Su while lightly waving around the key card.

“...”

No wonder no one showed up in the last two days, despite Lee Hyeon-Su notifying the other side of their room number.

Kang Jin-Ho chuckled slightly. Such a mistake had the potential to become a serious problem, but it should still be okay at this stage of the assignment. Besides, mistakes were bound to happen in most things people did, anyway.

The important thing wasn’t about not making mistakes, but how one went about correcting their mistakes.

Ting~!

The elevator stopped on the first floor with a chime.

Kang Jin-Ho and Lee Hyeon-Su stepped outside and into the lobby, then scanned their surroundings. At the far corner of the lobby was a cafe-like space with several tables and lounge-like couches. Several people were sitting there. Who among those people could be the NIS agent?

The two men wordlessly headed to the tables. They spotted a man wearing a jet-black business suit and a pair of sunglasses.

Could it be that man?

Before they could get far, though, a person hauling some boxes walked past in front of them before tripping on his feet. Lee Hyeon-Su reflexively reached out to assist. The person he helped up had a pretty ordinary face. As a matter of fact, this person looked like any other farmer-turned-migrant laborer commonly found in the streets.

The person apologized immediately. “I’m so sorry, sir.”

Lee Hyeon-Su replied with a cramped smile. “N-no, it’s fine.”

“Looks like I was in a hurry, sirs. I was starving, you see?”

“...I’m sorry?”

The farmer-turned-migrant laborer put his boxes down, then grinned subtly. “I’d like to treat you to a meal for helping me out, sirs. Do you like beef noodles? I know this place behind this hotel, and I promise you, they make one mean beef broth.”

“Eh? Actually, we’re a bit busy and...”

“Nah, it’s fine, Mister Lee Yeong-Hui. Nothing can be more important than this, after all.”

Lee Hyeon-Su’s eyes narrowed to slits immediately. “Yes... You’re right. This is important, that beef noodles thing or whatever you call it. Shall we try it out, then?”

The person grinned before lifting up the boxes again. He took the lead, prompting Kang Jin-Ho and Lee Hyeon-Su to follow in silence.