Descent of the Demon Master

Ruuuuumble!

The entire world was quaking ominously. Kang Jin-Ho tensed up greatly as he held his breath.

'No, I'm not ready yet!'

If the space began crumbling now...! Kang Jin-Ho had no way of responding to that. He still hadn't finished accumulating enough internal energy to shove aside all this soil and bedrock just yet! If this whole place collapsed on top of him, the only fate waiting for him and Choi Yeon-Ha would be a certain death!

Kang Jin-Ho bit his lip while embracing Choi Yeon-Ha tightly.

'I'll struggle like crazy if that's what it takes!'

If everything collapsed now, he had no choice but to attempt his escape with Choi Yeon-Ha in tow. Even if that turned out to be nothing more than a futile struggle, Kang Jin-Ho had no thoughts of meekly greeting his demise.

He had already lived and died twice. That didn't mean his view on the worth of life had diminished, though. No, he had become even more desperate to survive and to revel at the chance to live a new life.

Calmly accepting death was something only those who had accomplished something great could do. But Kang Jin-Ho hadn't achieved anything yet.

Kang Jin-Ho tensed up more and more as complicated thoughts and anxiety swirled in his mind. However, the rumbling gradually died down, allowing him to breathe a sigh of relief.

'It's... Not yet, I guess.'

Thankfully, it seemed the space wasn't going to collapse.

“Ah...” Choi Yeon-Ha suddenly gasped weakly.

Kang Jin-Ho quickly pushed her back slightly, then scanned his surroundings.

'It's been stabilized?'

Up until now, Kang Jin-Ho had been propping up the debris from the tunnel ceiling with his back in the hope of preventing a further quaking and collapsing. However, he had to stop doing that while holding Choi Yeon-Ha close. But the ceiling remained firm and didn't come crumbling down on the two of them, indicating that perhaps the earth around them had solidified and stabilized to some degree.

However, that was about the extent of the good news. The space Kang Jin-Ho secured for themselves was only large enough for a single person to lie down comfortably. If he were to stop propping up against the ceiling, it might get a bit easier for him. But that would make things that much harder for Choi Yeon-Ha, who was already struggling with weakening stamina.

While Kang Jin-Ho was stewing in his thoughts, Choi Yeon-Ha suddenly reached up, wrapped her arms around his neck and tried to pull him close. Kang Jin-Ho's puzzled gaze locked on her next. Despite her efforts, Kang Jin-Ho wouldn't get pulled in by a pair of arms lacking strength, to begin with.

“Lean... against... me.”

“...I'm sorry?”

“It... must be... hard for you, right...?”

Kang Jin-Ho chuckled faintly at what Choi Yeon-Ha said. She was still worried about him in this situation?

When they first met, Choi Yeon-Ha didn't give off this kind of impression. From what Kang Jin-Ho could observe, this woman treated other people as tools even though she should be commended for her incredible passion for her work.

As an example, didn't she initially approach him not out of casual interest or anything like that but to use him to advance her career? So... What had changed about her since then and now? What was the difference between that Choi Yeon-Ha and the current one?

Did a person's attitude change after getting a little friendlier to someone? After getting to know each other a little more?

'A human heart is a mystery, isn't it...?'

Kang Jin-Ho suddenly had an epiphany. He couldn't learn about another person without learning about their heart first. The first impression and the outer appearance were not enough to truly understand who they were. And to see what was within their hearts, Kang Jin-Ho had to put in the effort to get closer to them first.

He always put some distance between himself and strangers and associated only with his close acquaintances until now. In that case, maybe he had been looking at only one-half of what this world had been offering all along.

Choi Yeon-Ha weakly muttered, “Hurry...”

“No, it's fine.”

“...It's hard to talk, you know. Hurry...”

Kang Jin-Ho slightly furrowed his brows in dilemma but relaxed his arm muscles soon enough.

'Now isn't the time to be wishy-washy.'

The problem Kang Jin-Ho faced was whether he'd recover first or Choi Yeon-Ha's stamina would run out before that. Leaning away from her and slowing down her stamina depletion was certainly one way to go about it, but... But, Kang Jin-Ho assuming the most comfortable position under the circumstances to facilitate a faster recovery was an alternative he should explore, too.

Besides, Choi Yeon-Ha didn't seem like she'd give up anytime soon. If Kang Jin-Ho insisted on not leaning into her, she would have wasted more energy trying to convince him.

Kang Jin-Ho carefully laid on top of Choi Yeon-Ha, then closed his eyes.

'How pathetic I am...!'

A new wave of rage suddenly welled up in his chest. His rage was directed at his complacent, idiotic, and dull self.

The modern era was so much safer compared to Zhongyuan where he had lived most of his life. Kang Jin-Ho had no need to look out for any sudden attack from strangers while walking on the streets. And he didn't have to stay awake at night to counter assassins trying to take his head in his own bed.

Most importantly, the modern era didn't have tens of thousands of righteous sect idiots baying for his blood, too. And that was why he relaxed. Lowered his guard.

But he had overlooked something. His most-painful mistake was forgetting that it wasn't 'martial arts' that made the world a dangerous place but the people living in it. If his luck had been slightly poor, he'd have asphyxiated to death under a thousand tons of earth.

Anger at his own complacency, and rage toward those who attacked him this way, began boiling Kang Jin-Ho's rational mind once more.

'I won't let them off the hook!'

Once he escaped from here...! None of his enemies would be able to walk again on this Earth! He'd teach them what it meant to provoke him to this degree. He'd gift them the terror felt by the denizens of Zhongyuan!

That was when Choi Yeon-Ha reached up and wrapped her arms tightly around Kang Jin-Ho's back.

“...ld.” Incomplete words left her mouth just before the flustered Kang Jin-Ho could say something. Then, another cracked moan leaked out of her lips. “Co...ld.”

Kang Jin-Ho's expression hardened. Her body temperature falling was definitely not a good sign. Objectively speaking, the temperature down here wasn't low at all. Yet, for her to feel cold could only mean...

He gently, but also tightly, held her, his expression stiff and determined. He must prevent her body temperature from falling as much as he could.

“So warm...” Choi Yeon-Ha dazedly murmured before gradually slipping into the land of dreams once more. Kang Jin-Ho confirmed her soft, rhythmic breathing, then bit his lip.

'We will get out of here alive!'

Regardless of what it takes!

It can be hard to make great work when its stolen from "pawread dot com".

The desire to live burning in his heart was the most desperate he had ever felt in all three of his lifetimes. Kang Jin-Ho closed his eyes and resumed breathing in and circulating qi throughout his body, knowing he had to focus on recovering his strength for the time being.

***

“You... wanna blow it up?” Jo Gyu-Min stared wide-eyed at Bang Jin-Hun.

His expression could be interpreted in various ways. However, Bang Jin-Hun thought he had zeroed in on the most accurate interpretation. Jo Gyu-Min must be thinking, 'What the f*ck, is this guy f*cking insane or what?'

However, Bang Jin-Hun remained straight-faced. “Yes. The more I think about it, this option seems to be the best one available to save both of their lives.”

“No, no, no. Hold on for a second there, Mister Bang.” Jo Gyu-Min hurriedly waved his hand, his expression failing to hide how absurd he thought this whole idea was. He then held his head and closed his eyes. Jo Gyu-Min needed some time to calm himself before he could say something in a pained voice. “The thing is, my mind is a bit complicated right now. Thank you for your insightful opinion, so shall we move on and…”

“I told you I'm dead serious about this, Mister Gyu-Min.”

“No, you cannot be!” Jo Gyu-Min suddenly yelled loudly. “How can you say that with a straight face! What are you trying to do by blowing that place up?! Tell me! If we pour out enough firepower, then sure, we might be able to blow all the soil on top of Mister Jin-Ho in one go! And all we have to do afterward is grab ourselves a vacuum cleaner and start picking up Mister Jin-Ho's bits and pieces one by one!”

“Mister Gyu-Min, I think you need to calm down.”

“How can I calm down when...!”

“Calm down first,” Bang Jin-Hun muttered in a grave-sounding voice.

Jo Gyu-Min gritted his teeth and sucked in several rapid breaths. “My apologies. Looks like I got agitated a little just now.”

Bang Jin-Hun shook his head. “I understand, so don't worry about it. Even I know it sounds crazy, after all.”

“Thank you.”

“However, I didn't come up with this idea on a whim, Mister Gyu-Min.”

Jo Gyu-Min grew serious as he asked in a quiet voice. “What did you base your suggestion on, Mister Bang?”

“I think the biggest reason why Mister Jin-Ho can't make his escape right now is his companion. If it were him alone, he would've broken through the layer of soil by now, like a fish swimming in dirt.”

“...Am I supposed to laugh at that example?”

“I'm telling you, this is not a joke! Seriously! Logically speaking, there shouldn't be a habitable space down there, right? It's not like all the falling debris fit like pieces of the jigsaw puzzle and created space down here, you know. I'm pretty sure Mister Jin-Ho propped up the pieces of debris to artificially create a space. And he got lucky with the soil not flooding in from the sides.”

“Mm...” Jo Gyu-Min's expression grew grave.

Bang Jin-Hun continued to explain his plan. “Whether he can't assume the right posture or whatever, his current situation probably doesn't allow him to lift up the earth out of his way. So, our job should be to get rid of much of the weight and the pressure, at least for a moment or two. And he'll take care of the rest from there.”

“...You do know what you're saying right now, don't you?”

“Of course.”

“...Relieving Mister Jin-Ho of the pressure is a good idea, but don't you think the impact of the explosion will reach him in full, regardless of the methods we use to blow the earth up?”

“You think that's gonna kill Mister Jin-Ho?”

“...I'm sorry?” Jo Gyu-Min grew a little stupefied by that reply.

“Let's be real here, shall we? Mister Gyu-Min, the person trapped down there isn't some random dude off the street, but Mister Jin-Ho. THE Kang Jin-Ho. Do you honestly think he'd die from something like that?”

“No, hang on a second here.” Jo Gyu-Min could only chuckle hollowly just then. He couldn't think of a suitable comeback to an argument like that. Even now, he couldn't imagine Kang Jin-Ho dying, after all.

Bang Jin-Hun smirked. “Our job is to create a stage for Mister Jin-Ho to do his thing. If it's something that man can't do with his own power, then there's no way we can do it, anyway. So, let's make that stupid layer of earth dance around for a bit and relieve the pressure bearing down on him. Then he should be able to escape on his own.”

“How should I say this…” Jo Gyu-Min muttered seriously while trying to sound as genuine as possible. “In my whole life, I've never heard of such a refreshing dogsh*t before.”

No matter who heard this suggestion, they would all think Bang Jin-Hun was selling snake oil right now. Jo Gyu-Min's problem, though, was that he actually wouldn't mind trying that oil out himself. Logically speaking, this suggestion didn't even make one iota of sense, but...!

'F*ck! Why am I getting interested in this idea?!'

If it was Kang Jin-Ho, said Jo Gyu-Min's heart, he'd be able to seize that tiny little opening and break through. However, when Jo Gyu-Min looked at this from the opposite side, wasn't Bang Jin-Hun trying to drive Kang Jin-Ho into a deadly situation just because he believed in the latter? This seemed like a totally incomprehensible situation.

“Holy cow. I might really go crazy at this rate...!” Jo Gyu-Min shot up to his feet, then began heading outside the office.

Bang Jin-Hun tilted his head. “Where are you going?”

“I'm going to try selling that damn oil, that's what!”

“Eh?” Bang Jin-Hun's head tilting intensified.

Jo Gyu-Min sounded irritated as he explained himself. “We can't figure out something like this on our own, you know? Which means we gotta ask an explosives expert first. Such as, what do we need to do to make the whole tunnel lift up without placing too much burden on the center of the shaft? Those kinds of things.”

“Hah?” Bang Jin-Hun chuckled softly, then quickly got up to follow Jo Gyu-Min. “So, you're willing to give it a go, then?”

“Let me be unequivocally clear on this, Mister Bang...!” Jo Gyu-Min glared straight at Bang Jin-Hun and slowly chewed his words out. “If Mister Jin-Ho dies because of your idea, I will make sure you pay with your own life. No matter what it takes.”

Jo Gyu-Min's burning eyes provided all the proof necessary about how dead-serious he was with his threat. Despite being strong enough to kill Jo Gyu-Min with his finger, Bang Jin-Hun still obediently nodded away. That was because he could sense how earnestly Jo Gyu-Min wanted to rescue Kang Jin-Ho.

'I'm kinda envious.'

If Bang Jin-Hun was stuck in a similar situation, who among his subordinates would genuinely worry about his survival and get angry for his sake? He knew he shouldn't be thinking this way about a dude stuck under a collapsed tunnel, but the thoughts of how lucky Kang Jin-Ho was suddenly entered Bang Jin-Hun's head.

'And... it's kinda scary, too. Genuinely scary.'

Judging from what Jo Gyu-Min had been like recently, Bang Jin-Hun knew he'd not be safe if the Chief Secretary of the Jaegyeong Corporation decided to get serious about it. Look at how even someone like Kang Jin-Ho found himself in such an unenviable position. They were not living in an era where powerless civilians couldn't oppose the martial artists. Bang Jin-Hun had to remember that.

Bang Jin-Hun gravely nodded and replied honestly. “We will definitely save him, Mister Gyu-Min.”