Chapter 1614: Invading (4)

—Too slow!

A sword came flying in, its target Kang Jin-Ho’s face. He gritted his teeth and charged forward instead. The incoming blade missed his face by a hair’s breadth, but the flesh on his cheek still split open.

Splat!

Fresh blood gushed out from the wound. However, the stone-faced Kang Jin-Ho continued to charge ahead before slashing down at the flowing crimson robe his opponent wore with his trusted Crimson Destiny.

However, the expressionless Heavenly Crimson Demon Emperor easily slapped the incoming attack away.

“Kuk!”

Kang Jin-Ho gasped in pain. The rebound he felt was almost strong enough to break his wrist just now.

—Still so frail.

“You…!”

Kang Jin-Ho’s expression crumpled hideously. Why? Why wasn’t the gap between them closing at all? Even though he had gotten stronger!

Without a doubt, Kang Jin-Ho was getting stronger even now. But the chasm between them remained as unbridgeable as ever!

Was there some kind of inexplicable difference between them? A fundamental difference?

—Still entertaining idiotic thoughts, I see.

Heavenly Crimson Demon Emperor glared coldly at Kang Jin-Ho.

—Is there a reason for one’s strength? Oh, you weakling! It’s simply because you’re weak.

“That’s… a perfect answer, isn’t it?”

Kang Jin-Ho bared his fangs.

He couldn't help but reflect on himself a lot more often lately. Fighting Heavenly Crimson Demon Emperor like this helped him figure out how incensed his opponents in the past must've been. And he felt rather apologetic about that.

The more I think about it, the more convinced I am that Azure Demon has chosen the wrong religion to join.

If he had joined a Buddhist sect instead, Azure Demon could have become a highly respected great monk. It wouldn't be possible to serve someone as twisted as Heavenly Crimson Demon Emperor unless one was a certifiable Bodhisattva, after all!

—Do you honestly think you can protect what’s yours with such meager skills?

“Fuu-woo…”

Kang Jin-Ho sucked in a deep breath. His eyes began to dye in the distinct crimson hue as he raised the Crimson Destiny and Azuremourne higher.

“Let’s have a proper go, then.”

***

Lee Hyeon-Su deeply frowned. “Sir… Are you sure you’re alive?”

Kang Jin-Ho grimaced. “Ouch, ouch…! Take it easy, will you?”

“Don’t be a baby, sir. Still, this is a bit…”

Lee Hyeon-Su sighed deeply while applying medical tape over all the sword wounds on Kang Jin-Ho’s torso.

An ordinary person would've required dozens and dozens of stitches, but Lee Hyeon-Su's boss should be up and running in less than a day.

Actually, I think the Assembly Master’s recovery rate has gone up a lot?

In the not-too-distant past, injuries as severe as these would have sent Kang Jin-Ho directly to an emergency room, but now? All he needed was some medical tape liberally applied here and there, and his injuries would heal up all on their own.

Kang Jin-Ho had already transcended the realm of humanity, and judging from this evidence alone, it'd be safe to say he was getting dangerously close to the realm of extraterrestrials instead!

But the more pressing issue here was that… Why was this extraterrestrial getting injured this badly?

“Sir, why are your injuries getting worse and worse?”

Kang Jin-Ho innocently replied, “Because I’ve been fighting myself?”

“…” Lee Hyeon-Su's cheeks twitched weirdly at that reply that would've felt right at home in a shonen manga. “My true enemy, the one I must overcome first, is myself! Is this one of those things, sir?”[1]

“No. I am really fighting myself. Literally.”

“…”

Lee Hyeon-Su told himself to stop thinking about it anymore.

After wiping all the blood away, he threw the shredded and destroyed clothes into the nearby trash bin.

“Sir, if you're planning to destroy one set of tracksuits every day, how about just training naked? I'm sure your mother must've said something about this situation.”

“…Well, she has. And she was happy with me wearing new clothes every day instead of sticking to the usual worn-out and stretched tracksuits. She even said I've finally grown up.”

“Oh…” Lee Hyeon-Su’s jaw fell slightly. Uh, that kinda… makes sense?

Indeed, it made sense. Wearing new clothes was much better than sticking to old tracksuits with stretched necklines, after all.

“E-even so, please do it in moderation, sir. Your injuries are getting more and more serious, you know?”

Kang Jin-Ho dismissively replied, “No, I’m fine.”

“I’m not sure if your body agrees, sir. Isn’t it unfair to ignore your own body’s opinions?”

Lee Hyeon-Su stared at Kang Jin-Ho, his heart filled with anxiety.

For now, he was willingly assisting Kang Jin-Ho's training to the best of his abilities. Obviously, this was not something he should object to. Besides, his involvement should soften the severity of this training to some degree. At least, that was his original intention.

But here was Kang Jin-Ho, charging ahead like a runaway train while completely disregarding Lee Hyeon-Su's involvement!

“I mean, look! Sir, your injuries are clearly getting worse and worse every day! You're supposed to improve with training, you know?! So why are you seemingly getting worse?”

Kang Jin-Ho dazedly muttered, “It’s because…”

“Yes? Because?”

“…I’m too strong.”

“…” Lee Hyeon-Su wordlessly stared at his boss before suddenly yelling in unhappiness. “What the freak?! When did I start working for a middle schooler?! Sir, why are you spewing a line only an eighth-grader syndrome sufferer would say?!”

“No, hang on. I’m being serious.”

Kang Jin-Ho groaned loudly.

That damn Heavenly Crimson Demon Emperor! It felt like Kang Jin-Ho was so close to grasping somethingimportant, yet he kept failing to do so. Even though he believed his strength should be on par, his sword still couldn't reach Heavenly Crimson Demon Emperor for some unfathomable reason.

“Why? Why can’t I do it?”

Lee Hyeon-Su tutted. “What’s the point of racking your brain about it, sir? You were never the type to theorize about stuff, anyway.”

“Eh?”

“Did you ever think about stuff like that during your previous life?”

“…No, I did not.”

Kang Jin-Ho simply ran headlong into the problem first. If something was not working out for some reason, he’d train until he found his answers. If not, he’d search for them in battles.

No, wait. That’s not it.

When he thought about it some more, he realized that back then, he never really had to worry about getting stuck like this. His strength continued to improve the more he trained, after all. And the more he fought, the stronger he got.

Lee Hyeon-Su cautiously spoke up. “Sir, this is just my opinion, but…”

“Mm?”

“Maybe you’re overthinking a lot of this stuff compared to your old self.”

“…Mm?”

“I mean… You must've heard about this too, right? To become a top-level athlete, you need to be smart, but to become the best of the best, your instincts must surpass the realm of logic. Something like that?”

“…”

Kang Jin-Ho slowly nodded. He could more or less figure out what Lee Hyeon-Su was saying here.

“When I first met you, the vibe you oozed was someone with muscles for brain… Ouch?! Ouch, ouch! Sir! It was an honest mistake! A slip of my tongue! Still, how could you hit me without hesitation like that?!”

Kang Jin-Ho tutted loudly. “You wouldn’t be alive and yapping if I had hit you seriously.”

“…Thank you for sparing my life.” Lee Hyeon-Su swallowed his bitter tears. Being weak was a sin in this world, wasn’t it? After groaning deeply, he resumed his explanation. “I’m sure nothing frustrated you back then. Because you didn’t know what was ahead of you. Even if your strength increased by a negligible amount through training, you probably thought you had made significant progress.”

“Yes, that’s true.”

“But that's not the case anymore, sir. You are now fully aware of where you need to be. And that's making you more anxious than before. You think you're stuck, unable to make any headway. But that anxiety will only make you choose shortcuts instead.”

“Shortcuts?”

Kang Jin-Ho tilted his head in confusion.

“Yes, sir. Shortcuts. Even as you were rushing headlong, you were thinking about ways to make faster breakthroughs, weren’t you?”

“…”

“Sir, there are no easy paths in martial arts. You often told us that.”

Kang Jin-Ho stared dazedly at Lee Hyeon-Su.

“…? Sir, why are you looking at me that way?”

“No, it's just that…” Kang Jin-Ho sheepishly scratched his cheek. “Talking to you about the way of martial arts is kinda… A bit rueful? I feel a bit sad? And it also feels a little absurd?”

“Sir?! Are you saying only the top experts know about theories?! Since time immemorial, top-level athletes have never made for good coaches, okay? The weakest and the worst performers usually make for the best coaches and directors, I'll have you know!”

Kang Jin-Ho tilted his head. Something about that argument sounded rather persuasive, no?

Squeeze…!

Lee Hyeon-Su placed more pressure than usual while applying the medical tape over Kang Jin-Ho's injuries as his way of protesting. Unfortunately for him, though, Kang Jin-Ho was obviously not affected by it, considering he was still deep in his thoughts.

“Tsk…” Lee Hyeon-Su furrowed his brow at this sight. This is not necessarily a good thing.

Some might applaud Kang Jin-Ho for being manly, but the way Lee Hyeon-Su saw it? A human being becoming numb to pain was nothing to celebrate. No, it was something to lament about, instead.

Just how much pain and suffering must one endure to become dismissive about injuries this grave?

Everyone simply focused on Kang Jin-Ho’s achievements. That was why they didn’t think about how much effort he had to put in to achieve all those incredible feats.

The Demon Flames constantly whined about how tough their training regime was. However, watching Kang Jin-Ho’s training for five minutes should be enough to drain all the blood from their faces.

Yeah… Ordinary people will never endure it.

Their minds would crumble in a few days. After all, what Kang Jin-Ho was doing was akin to getting injured to the point of being admitted to the ICU every single day, only to recover the next day so that he could repeat the cycle again.

I mean, imagine what something like that will do to a normal person.

Usually, people would call a much more humane version of this cycle “torture.”

In other words, Kang Jin-Ho was torturing himself through the most intense method available.

“Please do it in moderation, sir.”

Lee Hyeon-Ju finished applying the medical tape and then stepped back.

“At this rate, you’ll die before getting stronger. I’m guessing that none of the blood you had circulating inside your body a week ago now remains in you.”

“Mm…”

“Yes, I get that you’re in a rush, but…”

Lee Hyeon-Su groaned deeply. All because of that bastard, Lee Seong-Hwi!

Why did that bastard show up out of the blue and say those things? That must be the cause of the newfound anxiety taking root in Kang Jin-Ho's heart.

If he kept this up, Kang Jin-Ho would really get gravely injured soon. However, Lee Hyeon-Su couldn't forbid his boss from embarking on this type of training, either. And that was the dilemma he faced right now.

The Martial Assembly had basically done everything it could, which meant progressing at the same breakneck pace was no longer feasible.

So, we must focus on the Assembly Master's own progress next, but…

An absolute powerhouse made a massive difference on the battlefield.

That was how the Martial Assembly won its battles. Once Kang Jin-Ho stepped up to break the enemy's fighting spirit, the rest would swoop in to collect the fallen enemy heads with utmost ease.

Objectively speaking, the Martial Assembly stood no chance against the combined might of the Three Kings and their factions. As a matter of fact, it couldn’t even handle the Crimson King’s faction alone. Simply put…

Unless the Assembly Master steps up and overwhelms the enemy, our fate will be obvious.

Knowing this, Lee Hyeon-Su also wanted to see Kang Jin-Ho improve his strength even further.

Still, watching him do this to himself is torture for me, too.

Kang Jin-Ho was being forced to carry far too many things on his shoulders right now. Thinking about all the burden made Lee Hyeon-Su suck in a deep breath. Just imagining the weight of everything was enough to nearly crush him.

Lee Hyeon-Su might be the one rampaging around in the Assembly to his heart's content right now, but that was only possible because Kang Jin-Ho had shouldered all the burden.

“Assembly Master?”

“Mm?”

“Please refrain from harming yourself, sir. I’m being serious.”

“You don’t have to worry,” Kang Jin-Ho replied without much concern. “This isn’t as serious as it looks.”

“…” Lee Hyeon-Su was about to say something, only to groan loudly instead. He picked up the bandages and vinyl discarded on the floor before getting up to leave. “Sir, promise me that you’ll get some rest.”

“…? Where are you going?”

“I'm going to see if our people are also training hard, like you.”

“…”

Lee Hyeon-Su exited the office while emitting a bone-chilling aura.

Kang Jin-Ho smacked his lips at this sight. It seemed another round of chaos was about to erupt in the Assembly, judging from the air Lee Hyeon-Su was emitting just now.

He probably was thinking of causing a huge ruckus while yelling at the Assembly members, saying something about the Assembly Master torturing himself because of how weak they all were.

A wry smirk formed on Kang Jin-Ho's face just then. Lee Hyeon-Su probably wouldn't understand it and would mistakenly think that Kang Jin-Ho was subjecting himself to this torture in order to protect the Martial Assembly.

I’m guessing that he will never get it.

Lee Hyeon-Su wouldn’t understand the desperation of a martial artist who was staring at a clue that was right there but couldn’t be reached quite yet.

The legend said that the Second Patriarch of Chan Buddhism, Dazu Huike, had to cut his left arm off as the price to enter the path toward enlightenment. What that story signified was that losing a limb was nothing in comparison to the pain of not being able to reach the goal right before your eyes.

Just a little bit more!

As the look of thirst filled his face, Kang Jin-Ho reached out to the empty air above. He thought he could see the back of the crimson robe-wearing Heavenly Crimson Demon Emperor.

Yes, just a little more!

He swore to surpass himself. He'd overcome his past self soon enough!

Kang Jin-Ho turned his head and stared at the scenery beyond the windows.

I don’t have much time.

For a while now, it felt like the world was tightening around him like a noose. If this was more than a mere feeling but something much, much more… Something major must be happening in China right now.

Soon, an unavoidable storm would come crashing into Kang Jin-Ho’s shore. A storm of inescapable fate, that was!

If he wanted to trample on this fate and emerge victorious, he must become even stronger than he was now.

Much, much stronger!

“Fuu!”

Kang Jin-Ho spat out a short but deep grunt, then mouthed a cigarette before lying down on the couch.

I’m tired…

He closed his eyes and rapidly fell into a deep slumber, his cigarette remaining unlit.

His soft breathing was the only noise permeating the Assembly Master’s office stained with the stench of blood.

1. “Shonen manga” is a genre of Japanese comics aimed primarily at a young male audience, typically characterized by action-filled plots, according to Google-sensei.