Descent of the Demon Master

what?” Just before Kang Yu-Hwan could ask for more explanation, the cafe ’s door opened again, and the gang member-like man stepped back inside while dusting his hands.

Park Yu-Min waved at him.
“Yeong-Gi! Over here!”

“Hey, man.
So this was where you were! I was wondering where you went when I didn ’t find you at the orphanage.”

“Yeong-Gi, what ’s up with your clothes, though?” Park Yu-Min directed a strange gaze at Ju Yeong-Gi ’s attire.

“Heh, looks good on me, right? Listen here, okay? I might have been dressing casually lately, but if I wanted to, I can put on a good fashion show if I say so myself.”

“…Uhm, it ’s so outdated and uncool, though?”

Ju Yeong-Gi scowled unhappily.
“Say what now?!”

Park Yu-Min held back his laughter and introduced Kang Yu-Hwan to Ju Yeong-Gi.
“Hey, say hello.
This is Jin-Ho ’s father.”

“Oh! Sir, how do you do!” Ju Yeong-Gi bowed forward ninety degrees and energetically greeted Kang Yu-Hwan.
His voice was so loud that it rocked and echoed inside the cafe.

“A-ah, hello.
You must be Jin-Ho ’s friend.”

“Yes, sir! My name is Ju Yeong-Gi, Jin-Ho ’s bestest best friend! I ’ve heard a lot about you, sir.”

“I-I see.
Thank you for coming, Yeong-Gi.
Have a seat, let me get you a cup of coffee.”

“Thank you, sir!”

Judging from Ju Yeong-Gi ’s energetic, forthright attitude, his nature didn ’t seem bad, just as Park Yu-Min had mentioned.
However, something about him still bugged Kang Yu-Hwan.
This young man didn ’t quite seem to fit Kang Jin-Ho ’s style, so to speak.
So, how did they even become friends?

“Excuse me…” Kang Eun-Yeong approached Ju Yeong-Gi and bowed her head.
“Thank you for your help earlier.”

“No probs.
Hey, you ’re Jin-Ho ’s sister, right? Don ’t you remember me? You saw me a couple of times when you came to visit Jin-Ho in the base.”

“Yes, I do remember seeing you back in the base.”

“Good.
By the way, I thought you were an idol? Why are you waiting tables in this cafe?”

“Well…” Kang Eun-Yeong put on a cramped smile after getting a feeling that her oppa ’s friend was not really interested in her life as an idol.

Ju Yeong-Gi chuckled good-naturedly.
“In any case, that creep won ’t show up here again, so you can relax.
I talked to him nicely, you see?”

“Thank you so much, oppa.”

“No need to thank me.
But I gotta tell you, the way you handled that was totally wrong.
If you just yap like that, annoying flies like that idiot won ’t back down, you know? You gotta kick them in the nuts or slap the living sh*t out of them.
Only then will they realize you ’re not a pushover and let you go.”

Kang Eun-Yeong nodded away.
“Okay, I ’ll definitely remember that.”

“Tsk.
Good.”

’

Park Yu-Min butted in before this advice-giving session went even further into weird territory.
“O-okay, so! Were you looking for Jin-Ho?”

“Yeah.
Why is it so hard to see the mug of that guy, Yu-Min? Don ’t tell me he ’s not here?”

“Ng.
He was working here until yesterday.
But not anymore.”

“Eiii. What a waste of time.
Not much I can do, then.
I ’ll just drink some coffee and give Jin-Ho a call later.”

Park Yu-Min tilted his head a little.
“Why are you looking for Jin-Ho, anyway?”

“Well, it has been a while since I got discharged, so it ’s high time I get a job, right? But this is Seoul, you know? I don ’t know anyone here.
But I didn ’t want to go back to my old lifestyle, you know what I mean? I wanted to hold a proper job that ’s not in the shadows, so I figured talking to Jin-Ho for advice might help.”

Kang Yu-Hwan quietly listened to the two men chatting away, then called out to Ju Yeong-Gi, “Hold on.
You said your name is Yeong-Gi?”

“Ah, yes, sir! It ’s Ju Yeong-Gi.”

“Young man, are you interested in working as a manager?”

“I ’m sorry?”

***

Ruuumble…

Kang Jin-Ho watched the suspended scaffold descending lower, then looked behind him while making a slightly stupefied face.
He was greeted by the panoramic view of Seoul.

Some people would have commented, ’what a nice view this is! ’ However, if they knew where Kang Jin-Ho was, they probably wouldn ’t say that.

An older man, Kang Jin-Ho ’s new colleague, smirked and asked, “What ’s the matter? Scared?”

“…No, I ’m not.” Kang Jin-Ho shook his head.

“It ’s okay, young man.
Everyone ’s like you in the beginning.
Even if people pretend to be fine and unaffected, getting a ride on this platform freezes them up real fast.
They can ’t even move a finger afterward.”

“I ’m really fine.”

“Really? Huh.
I guess you ’re pretty good at hiding your expression, then.
However, it ’s gonna be less scary than you think.
You see, most people will get terrified when looking at a ten-meter drop below them.
Increase that height, though? They start losing perspective.
It no longer feels real to them.”

“I see,” Kang Jin-Ho replied disinterestedly, then peeked his head past the side of the scaffold he was riding on.

’Right, this is a rather unusual experience. ’

Kang Jin-Ho knew what it was like to live as a cultivator.
That still didn ’t prepare him for a job that involved dangling two hundred meters up in the air, though!

The older man chuckled and continued talking to Kang Jin-Ho, “Now normally, folks don ’t volunteer for a job like this.
That makes you rather peculiar, young man.”

“I guess you could say that.” Kang Jin-Ho slowly nodded.

Whoooooosh-!

A powerful gust of wind whooshed past, causing the scaffold to rock from side to side.

“Aigoo~! Be careful there, young man! The winds get stronger the higher we are, you see!”

’

“…Oh.” Kang Jin-Ho cocked an eyebrow.

His new part-time job was to clean the windows of a high-rise building.

’For sure, this job is pretty unique.
And it ’s…
kind of fun, too. ’

This job didn ’t require a lot of physical strength, but it was also not something anyone could experience at will.

Kang Jin-Ho ’s older colleague patted him on the back.
“Do your best to acclimatize, young man.
Later in the afternoon, you won ’t be riding on a large platform like this, but on an individual ’chair ’ called a bosun ’s chair to clean the windows by yourself, you see.”

“Understood.
I ’ll do my best.”

“However, will this be really fine? Newbies are usually not allowed to do this kind of work, you see? But the supervisor said it ’s okay for some reason, and that ’s why you ’re here today.”

“Yes, I ’ll be alright.”

“My head will fly if you get into some kind of accident, so don’t be negligent and keep your wits about you, okay?”

“Yes, I will do that.” Kang Jin-Ho nodded, then got to work.
He sprayed water on the windows and used a squeegee to wipe the surface clean.

’It might be an unusual experience, but it ’s not that difficult either. ’

Other than the fact that one had to cling to the side of a skyscraper, the difficulty rating of this job wasn ’t all that high.

The older man tilted his head slightly.
“Uh…
Are you really okay?”

“Yes, I am.”

“That ’s weird.
Most newbies are always this close to passing out the first time they get a ride on the platform, you know?”

Kang Jin-Ho ’s colleagues tilted their heads as if they couldn ’t quite figure it out.

Kang Jin-Ho flatly replied, “I have always been somewhat fearless.”

“That ’s not always a good thing, young man.
Fearless people tend to get into accidents far easier, you know?”

Kang Jin-Ho was about to respond, but he suddenly turned his head and looked at the ground far below the scaffold.

The older man was taken aback.
“What ’s the matter?”

“…It ’s nothing.” Kang Jin-Ho shook his head while making an unreadable expression.

***

“Wow, he sure has a sharp intuition, eh?” A suspicious-looking man stopped staring at the tall building with Kang Jin-Ho dangling to the side and hid within the nearby shadows.

He slowly shook his head and muttered, “Is this why the Crimson King is interested in that brat? He certainly doesn ’t seem like a small fry, but…”

An insidious grin slowly crept up on the face of the man in the shadows.

“It ’s no good to do something this dangerous when you ’re the man of the moment, you know.
Kekeke…”

Sinister laughter capable of creeping out the listeners lazily leaked out of his mouth.