Chapter 589. Raid (4)

There was something quirky about the way people communicated.

Humans evolved to convey their intentions through words. Even then, they still had a problem trying to accurately convey what they really wanted to say.

Now was one such situation. Kang Jin-Ho said something 'considerate' after a lengthy deliberation. Since he realized there was a yawning chasm between the path he wished to travel and his current actions, Kang Jin-Ho sought to rectify that by unifying those two things.

He decided to take baby steps first. The first thing he chose to change was how he treated his soon-to-be-completed personal guards. Rather than treating them like socks about to be used and thrown away, he should try harder to see them as his fellow human beings.

When he thought about it, wouldn't these people become Kang Jin-Ho's most precious assets very soon? Treating them humanely was obviously the logical thing to do. No reasons required in that case!

Unfortunately, there was a small problem. The other side had failed to interpret Kang Jin-Ho's intentions properly!

'If I say anything, I'm dead!'

'Is he ordering us to whine if we dare? So that he can crack our skulls?'

'Right, this is like that military thing, the letter from the heart, isn't it? Those who unwisely whine will see their lives go to hell!'

'F*ck! I ain't gonna say nothing! Never!'

It was truly lamentable, but... Kang Jin-Ho's show of 'goodwill', perhaps the first time he had shown it toward the Martial Assembly's people, only aggravated the already-existing atmosphere of fear to an unprecedented level instead!

Yi Myeong-Hwan was no exception. Cold sweat flooded down his spine as he stood there.

'Did something happen to piss him off?'

Didn't this situation kind of resemble something else? Like, in the military... When a senior soldier who endlessly tormented his juniors suddenly sets up a buffet of snacks and goads others to enjoy, then asks them to tell him if anything has been troubling them!

If a junior naively believed the senior and ran his mouth off, that platoon would be flipped on its head that day!

'At least, the seniors on the brink of discharge would end things at f*ck you, you little brat, and move on, but this...'

The super-senior who'd never get discharged, AKA Kang Jin-Ho, didn't seem the type to end things so amiably!

'He did say we should prepare for death during training, didn't he?'

For some time now, it didn't feel like anyone's lives were under threat during training, and Yi Myeong-Hwan had been wondering why. As it turned out, that threat had finally arrived! Anyone idiotically running their mouth off now would see the Martial Assembly being thrown into absolute chaos!

Even though everyone here was tensing up while imagining a veritable buffet of horrifying things, Kang Jin-Ho was innocently tilting his head in utter confusion. It was as if he genuinely couldn't understand their response!

'Look at how natural his acting is!'

That man had to be the devil. Without that explanation, how could his acting be so perfect!

“There's no one?” Kang Jin-Ho confusedly asked.

“...”

How was anyone supposed to answer that?

Yi Myeong-Hwan desperately racked his creaky brain. He even had to question himself if he had ever agonized over something this intensely so quickly in his life!

“Really?” Kang Jin-Ho asked again.

And that was when Yi Myeong-Hwan reflexively replied, “...Yes, we don't have any.”

That was a mistake. Because Kang Jin-Ho's gaze was moving slowly, oh-so-agonizingly-slowly, toward Yi Myeong-Hwan next.

'Yup, I must've lost my bloody mind!'

Yi Myeong-Hwan immediately realized what he had done. He should not have fed the troll but, like a damn fool, simply had to say something and attract the attention!

“...Really?” Kang Jin-Ho asked one more time.

That 'Really?' was the same question as before, but it sounded totally different. If the previous 'Really?' was meant for everyone in this place, this new 'Really?' was solely directed at no one but Yi Myeong-Hwan.

“Y-yes, sir. No complaints!”

“Really? None at all?”

“...Yes, sir,” Yi Myeong-Hwan cautiously replied as more cold sweat trickled down his forehead. 'Why don't you just smack us around, you devil! Why don't you!'

Getting beaten up half to death might be more relaxing than this! Yi Myeong-Hwan heard that the worst possible senior to have during one's military service was someone capable of psychologically tormenting his juniors without lifting a single finger. He finally figured out what those words meant!

If Kang Jin-Ho didn't like something about the martial artists here, shouldn't he just come out and say it instead of doing this? After all, people gathered here were obedient enough to hop around in a handstand for a whole month if Kang Jin-Ho said he didn't like their walking postures! So, what was the point of this kind of torture?

“I see. I guess all of you are having an easy time, then?” Kang Jin-Ho casually muttered, obviously not giving much thought to his words.

Unfortunately, it still led to an unintended side effect anyway. His words might have left his mouth with zero meaning, but they still gave birth to new meanings after entering the listeners' ears.

–Riiight. It's all going way too easy for you lot, is that it?

Kang Jin-Ho's tone distorted ever so slightly inside everyone's head. With that, they all stood even stiffer, including Yi Myeong-Hwan. If someone was deemed to be 'standing a little crooked', Kang Jin-Ho might just personally pound that offender into the shape he'd like to see!

'Please, please! Don't hurt us!'

'What the heck is up with this dude today? Is this his plan all along?'

'And here I was, thinking that he was leaving us alone lately for some reason! Why is he trying so hard to torture us like this? Gimme a break, man!'

'God bloody damn it...! Should I just quit this damn thing?!'

A private accidentally running into a division commander out on a stroll would be more relaxed than these younger-generation martial artists!

Unfortunately for these martial artists, though... If anyone was asked to pick the most lacking thing about Kang Jin-Ho, they would unhesitantly choose his lack of awareness!

After failing to understand why these martial artists seemed so uncomfortable around him, Kang Jin-Ho coolly nodded and casually addressed them. “I'm glad to hear that you don't have any issues. However, if you still encounter difficulties in the future, alert me directly instead of going through other channels. I will try to deal with the problem as soon as possible.”

The younger generation martial artists all grimaced slightly. Indeed, he would deal with it. By cracking people's skulls! They interpreted Kang Jin-Ho's words as, 'Tell anyone about what's happening inside here, and I'm going to yank out every one of your teeth and play jackstones with them!'

No wonder their replies came out roaring from their mouths!

“Yes, sir! We understand!”

“Glad you... understand...?” Kang Jin-Ho tilted his head again. He thought the atmosphere would get a little friendlier if he said all these considerate things, but something didn't feel right here. Why did this place suddenly resemble a military camp instead? 'Overflowing with enthusiasm is fine, but these people are weirdly tense for some reason...'

Then again, Kang Jin-Ho shouldn't try to micromanage and point out all the little issues one by one, anyway. That would be uncool.

Kang Jin-Ho scanned the faces of all the younger-generation martial artists standing at attention. Some of them had bruises and swellings on their faces.

“...Have you been sparring?”

“Yes, sir!”

“Good,” Kang Jin-Ho nodded with a smile.

Martial artists recovered fast. Their defensive stats were already impressive compared to normal people, but their regenerative abilities were even better. Bruises that would've taken two weeks to heal for a normal person only needed overnight to disappear for a martial artist. And this was not a rare case, either.

So, to see such bruises on the faces of these martial artists... The so-called sparring must've been quite vicious.

Kang Jin-Ho addressed the crowd while nodding sagely. “It's good for you to treat sparring like a real battle. Get used to it, so you will have the upper hand during the real thing.”

However, Yi Myeong-Hwan interpreted those words as 'Fight even harder. Fight until your blood and flesh splatter everywhere!'

'Ah? Is he seriously implying that what we have done so far is... not enough?'

During the last 'sparring' session, the younger-generation martial artists almost ended up holding several funerals. The initial idea was for them to form groups and spar with each other in an orderly fashion, but when the fighting actually got going... Well, the fighters went totally nuts with the desire to kill each other, and trying to separate them took even longer than arranging the sparring session itself!

In the end, two martial artists getting ready to fight necessitated ten additional people surrounding the ring to stop the sparring at a moment's notice!

But now... Kang Jin-Ho wanted to up the intensity?!

'What the hell? At this rate, someone might really die, you know!'

However, Kang Jin-Ho did say he only wanted those prepared to throw their lives away to join this training program. Since everyone here accepted that premise, it was too late to complain about it now.

“...Understood, sir.”

“By the way...” Kang Jin-Ho scanned the crowd before quietly opening his mouth. “In a not-too-distant future, you will all enter a real battle.”

The air suddenly grew icy-cold in an instant. But then, that coldness quickly boiled over, and the auditorium was soon enveloped in flames of fervor.

The real battle! Those three little words carried such a powerful meaning for these young martial artists.

'Finally!'

Yi Myeong-Hwan tightly clenched his fist. A person holding a blade would want to test out its sharpness. A man wielding a firearm would want to discharge it at least once somewhere. That was human nature.

However, these younger-generation martial artists never had an opportunity to test out the might of their demonic qi even after acquiring this incredibly potent weapon.

Of course, their demonic qi cultivation was nowhere close to being perfect. Even so, which living, breathing martial artist had perfected their cultivation? Every single martial artist cultivated under similar conditions, anyway. Besides...

Besides, Yi Myeong-Hwan had been sensing something since some time ago. And that would be that demonic qi was not meant to be cultivated in some remote corner, far out of everyone's sight. To improve his cultivation, he needed to engage in actual battles. Battles where blood and flesh really splattered everywhere! Battles where people risked their lives to win!

Yi Myeon-Hwan found himself licking his lips without even realizing it. The mere mention of a real battle started boiling the blood of these demonic cultivators gathered inside this auditorium. They now resembled pedigree racehorses waiting for the starting signal to burst out of the gates.

“Very good...!” Kang Jin-Ho nodded in satisfaction at this heated atmosphere.

He had no plans to make a boomer-like speech about not taking real battles for granted. What he wanted to nurture weren't grizzled soldiers afraid of war. No, his plan was to create crazed hounds ready to continue marching on to kill their enemies even as spears and blades stabbed through their guts!

'In the end, I can't help myself, now can I?'

Kang Jin-Ho helplessly chuckled. Wasn't he agonizing about charity work not too long ago? Or treating these people more humanely? However, the mere mention of real battles had reverted him back to his old Heavenly Crimson Demon Emperor persona. It was at this point that Kang Jin-Ho clearly saw his limitations.

It seemed he still had a lot to learn.

“Sir, can I ask you something?” Yi Myeong-Hwan raised his hand and asked.

Kang Jin-Ho glanced at him. “What is it?”

“Who will we be fighting?”

Kang Jin-Ho's reply was as simple as it could get. “Does it matter?”

Yi Myeong-Hwan couldn't help but chuckle away. Indeed, it didn't really matter.

At least, from what he felt right now, Yi Myeong-Hwan couldn't care any less even if he tried. As long as he could feel the sensation of cracking someone's skull with his bare fist, he didn't give a rat's ass about who his enemies were!

“...When will it be, sir?”

“Well, it's not confirmed yet, but...” Kang Jin-Ho muttered, his voice growing quieter toward the end of his sentence.

The younger-generation martial artists immediately felt slightly disappointed at that non-confirmation.

“Still, it shouldn't be too far off. Maybe, it might even happen tonight.”

Some people sucked in deep breaths just then. And then, the quiet chorus of controlled breathing rapidly got louder and heavier.

An even deeper smile of satisfaction spread on Kang Jin-Ho's face.

'Looks like I've been bitten by the nostalgia bug, then.'

These men's heavy breathing came across far too familiar to Kang Jin-Ho's senses. Once upon a time, men breathing like this used to protect his surroundings. With their lives, through their madness! Maybe, that spectacle could be recreated in the modern era, too.

That thought even managed to flutter Kang Jin-Ho's heart, which had been beating lazily until now.

“Sir! We'll get ready!”

“Very good.” Kang Jin-Ho slowly nodded. Everything seemed set now, but... How should he put this? Something about this exchange felt a bit lacking, somehow? Kang Jin-Ho licked his lips while scanning the crowd. “So... It must mean your cultivation so far has been plain sailing, then?”

“...I'm sorry?”

“If you've been focusing all your being into cultivating to the point of not caring about anything else... I'm sure you've all made stunning progress. Am I right?”

“...!” Yi Myeong-Hwan clamped his mouth and tightly clenched his fists. He had a strong hunch on... what Kang Jin-Ho might say next! And that premonition acted like ice-cold water pouring down on his boiling, pounding heart.

Unfortunately for him, his ominous premonition came true.

“Well, then. Why don't I confirm it? Let me see how much stronger you've all gotten.” Kang Jin-Ho muttered as the corners of his lips curled up to reveal his white fangs.

Not just Yi Myeong-Hwan, but everyone here felt their heart rapidly wither.

It was as if Kang Jin-Ho had released the massive pool of demonic qi slumbering within him. Simply put, it felt like the Gates of Hell had opened, and the stench of the netherworld began wafting out into the living world.

Everyone here shivered and spasmed at that shockingly palpable demonic qi.

Yes, this was it! That was the real demonic cultivator!

The whole reason why these younger-generation martial artists cultivated so hard was to reach a similar realm as that! The expressions of the martial artists crumpled as despair and hope flooded their hearts at the same time.

“Well, then... Come at me,” Kang Jin-Ho muttered, his eyes gradually dyeing in an eerie crimson hue. “I shall confirm how much you have improved your pathetic little realm. I'm warning you, though. You better not disappoint me.”The initial posting of this chapter occurred via N0v3l.B1(j)n.

Just as those words came to an end...!

The demonic cultivators simultaneously charged at Kang Jin-Ho, tendrils of demonic qi gushing out of their figures.

Loud yells of fear and sadistic laughter intermingled in the air to create Hell on Earth. It also indicated that Kang Jin-Ho's personal army had finally taken proper shape.