CH 434

Bang Jin-Hun could only groan deeply at the sight of Kang Jin-Ho relaxedly drinking coffee.

'Does he really have no plan?'

That carefree—or thought-free—expression on Kang Jin-Ho's face forced Bang Jin-Hun into a serious crisis of confidence.

The image of 'Kang Jin-Ho' in Bang Jin-Hun's mind was that of a crafty man. A mysterious man. Once Kang Jin-Ho started something, he was the type to not give a damn about consequences and aftermaths and flip everything on its head like a Chad. However, it was never clear why he would start something in the first place.

In a way, this felt similar to seeing a powerful machine gun capable of wreaking havoc when it started firing sitting pretty before Bang Jin-Hun's eyes. However, he was wary of touching it since no one knew where the trigger was.

'Yup, I can't trust him 100% on this one.'

Kang Jin-Ho might have said he had no plan in mind, but Bang Jin-Hun wasn't convinced. At least, not fully, anyway. Kang Jin-Ho must be thinking of something.

'Without being as crafty as that, he couldn't have created the current situation.'

Looking at the relaxed Kang Jin-Ho sometimes made one forget... that this young-looking returner was someone incredible.

Was it because he was strong? No.

Kang Jin-Ho was not incredible merely because of his superhuman strength. One shouldn't forget that it hadn't even been one year since Kang Jin-Ho 'revealed' himself to the Korean martial society. Yet, in such a short time, he easily united practically everyone affiliated with that shadowy world under his banner, effectively taking over South Korea's underworld at the same time.

Was this situation the result of one coincidence piling up after another? Or was it because Kang Jin-Ho was ungodly strong?

'No, it's not!'

Looking back, Kang Jin-Ho seemed uncannily adept at finding the best available answer to any given situation. Even if his actions seemed reckless at the time, the power of 'hindsight' revealed that Kang Jin-Ho had been making the most optimal choices under the circumstances.

Kang Jin-Ho's martial prowess obviously played a hand in bringing about the best available result in those situations. However, one must not forget that having great power didn't always equal the most optimal results.

'People with power usually want to show it off, too...'

Every person possessed some level of pride. A desire to put on airs, so to speak. And those with excellent talent and abilities would be more inclined to package their good points and advertise them all to the world.

However, Kang Jin-Ho wasn't like that. He was actively trying to hide his powers. Maybe that tendency of his allowed him to reach the current heights.

Bang Jin-Hun became graver after his thoughts reached that far. He nodded slightly, then addressed Kang Jin-Ho. “In that case, what brings you to my office today?”

“Mm?”

“I thought you wanted to discuss the matter with the Japanese today, you see? Since that doesn't seem to be the case...”

Kang Jin-Ho subtly tilted his head while staring at Bang Jin-Hun's face. The latter's expression seemed to say, Please give me an answer, Mister Jin-Ho. “...I didn't have any particular reason, though?”

“I'm sorry?” Bang Jin-Hun blinked his eyes.

“I didn't have any real reason for coming here,” Kang Jin-Ho repeated himself.

That was when Bang Jin-Hun noticed the unusual lack of energy in Kang Jin-Ho's voice. When he stared wordlessly, Kang Jin-Ho flinched slightly and quickly turned his head away.

“Mister Jin-Ho, did you... get kicked out of home?”

Kang Jin-Ho immediately denied it. “No, it's not like that.”

“Then, did you do something wrong?”

“No, it's not that, either.”

“You can be honest with me, Mister Jin-Ho. It's not like I'm older than you, so I can't give you life advice, but talking to me should be better than worrying about it alone, so how about…”

“It's not something to worry about like you say. It's just a trifling matter.”

“A trifling matter?”

“Yes. What happened was...”

After listening to Kang Jin-Ho's explanation, Bang Jin-Hun's jaw nearly dropped to the floor of his office at the sheer inconceivable nature of the situation. “So... Your mother nagged you for being an unemployed slacker sucking your thumb at home? Is that it?”

“...Keep it down, please,” Kang Jin-Ho gestured to Bang Jin-Hun to lower his voice.

Bang Jin-Hun chuckled wryly before handing a fresh cigarette over to Kang Jin-Ho. “Here. Have a smoke.”

“Oh, thank you.” Kang Jin-Ho mouthed it without hesitation.

Bang Jin-Hun lit the cigarette up, then sat back down on his couch.

'So... How am I supposed to interpret this?'

Bang Jin-Hun could only stare at Kang Jin-Ho in disbelief and flabbergast. The sight of this outwardly-young man hurdling a little while sucking on a cigarette continued to trigger Bang Jin-Hun's hollow chuckle.

'Yup, this isn't something I can comprehend.'

Then again, his difficulty wasn't hard to understand. The young-looking man sucking on a cigarette before Bang Jin-Hun's eyes really resembled a regular twenty-something, after all!

'What a mysterious thing this is.'

Your parents were supposed to be unbeatable regardless of who you were. However, that was just an old saying. Once the child matured and started making a living, the power dynamics in the relationship between the parents and the child would naturally tilt to favor the offspring.

And if that child was extraordinarily capable, that shift in balance would arrive much sooner.

One would be hard-pressed to find a son as capable as Kang Jin-Ho in this country. However, he was still being nagged by his own mother at home. And to escape the hellish nagging, Kang Jin-Ho left home without a destination in mind and eventually drifted toward Bang Jin-Hun's office.

That was the gist of this story.

'I'm telling you, it's pretty much impossible to figure this guy out...'

When Kang Jin-Ho was slaughtering his enemies, even his allies would crap their pants in terror.

People would be apprehensive, nay, scared, of carrying a frag grenade in their pocket despite knowing that it'd never go off unless the safety pin was removed. That seemed like an apt description of Kang Jin-Ho. Bang Jin-Hun knew that Kang Jin-Ho wouldn't bare his fangs at him but still felt nervous simply by looking at this returner.

Besides, didn't Kang Jin-Ho completely take over the Martial Assembly using terror and his overwhelming presence? Despite not occupying any notable position or possessing authority, Kang Jin-Ho swallowed up South Korea's strongest faction with nothing more than his sheer presence alone.

And now, Bang Jin-Hun... was forced to give a piece of realistic-sounding advice to such a capable man. “How about finding a part-time job somewhere?”

“...”

This advice made sense when one thought about it from a different angle. Even if Kang Jin-Ho had taken over South Korea's martial world, it wasn't like he could tell his parents that he had 'successfully taken over South Korea's backstreets', anyway. And, even if Kang Jin-Ho wielded enormous influence over Jaegyeong, publicly revealing that he had 'basically taken over Jaegyeong as well' was also out of the question.

Any sane-minded parents hearing that would've immediately dragged their child to the nearest shrink. That would've been the expected reaction, now wouldn't it!

'Huh. Doesn't this feel like a scene from a sitcom...?'

Bang Jin-Hun heard that some rather infamous backstreet individuals were surprisingly filial at home. And their parents were under the impression that their children were nice people, too. Maybe this was one of those cases, then? Since Kang Jin-Ho couldn't be honest with his parents, well...

“Cough. So... What did your mother recommend you to do, Mister Jin-Ho?”

“...She wants me to resume my studies.”

“Keu-heuh-heuhph!” Bang Jin-Hun laughed, although it sounded like he was sobbing for some reason.

He knew he shouldn't laugh, but holding it back was physically impossible at this stage. How could he not laugh at the absurdity of this situation?

Resuming his studies? Telling someone like Kang Jin-Ho to go back to school when nice wall decorations like diplomas had zero significance to his life?

Bang Jin-Hun curiously asked, “Are you going to do it?”

“I’m thinking about it,” Kang Jin-Ho stubbed the cigarette out. “It's not just my mother noticing it. Even I have to admit that lately, I feel a little lost, maybe a little unfocused. Until now, I constantly had things that must be done, so I kept doing them without worrying too much about this and that. That has been my daily routine, but now... I really don't have anything to do.”

“Mm...” Bang Jin-Hun slowly nodded.

When he thought about it, Kang Jin-Ho used to be a regular high school student not too long ago. After enrolling into a university, he immediately joined the military service. And his discharge was immediately followed by his involvement in the martial world, forcing him to rush around here and there. After going through all that, Kang Jin-Ho finally found some downtime for himself.

That was Kang Jin-Ho's current situation, and even he seemed a little lost as to what he should do about it. Bang Jin-Hun suddenly realized what the right thing to say to Kang Jin-Ho was.

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“Mister Jin-Ho, this is more like a suggestion rather than straight-up advice, but…”

Kang Jin-Ho tilted his head. “Yes?”

“How about taking a break?”

“...Sorry?”

Bang Jin-Hun smiled brightly. “People often mistakenly think that being able to withstand pressure means the pressure itself hasn't been all that much. The truth is, though, it's always been about how much pressure you can handle before you break.”

“Mm...”

“From your perspective, you probably think there's no problem with you whatsoever. However, most people can't even imagine the intensity of all the pressure you've been under until now. Since you haven't noticed anything, you probably think it's nothing to worry about, but stress from everything you went through should still be accumulating within you.”

“But, for something like that... I'm still physically fine. At the peak condition, you might say.”

Bang Jin-Hun shook his head. “Stress doesn't only cause physical issues, Mister Jin-Ho. Your mind becomes muddled, and your judgment starts failing on you. Without you even noticing it, too.”

Kang Jin-Ho clamped his mouth shut. 'For sure...'

When he thought about it now, maybe he made that extreme decision in the past life to turn everyone into his enemy because he... He couldn't subconsciously deal with all the pressure bearing down on him.

If Kang Jin-Ho could go back in time, would he have made a different choice? If it was the current him, Kang Jin-Ho would have potentially picked a less controversial option and even discussed it with the people around him first.

Saying things like 'I didn't have anyone to trust' and 'I did it on a whim' could not excuse the extreme decision he made toward the end of his second life.

“I see. Thank you, Mister Jin-Hun. I'll take your suggestion into consideration.”

“Sometimes, resting without worrying about anything could be a good way to prepare for your future, Mister Jin-Ho. Please don't think of me trying to nag you or something like that. I only wish to recommend that you take your time reflecting on yourself.”

“I see.”

“And do it as soon as possible, too.”

“Mm? What do you mean?”

Bang Jin-Hun sighed in lamentation. “I know it's uncool to say this after telling you to take a break, but... Honestly speaking, Mister Jin-Ho, you're not in a position to rest just because you want to. This world won't just leave you alone, after all. For instance, the matter with Japan we discussed earlier. Those Japs will definitely not sit still. And there should be plenty of problems yet to be discovered piling up as we speak.”

“Mm...” Kang Jin-Ho slowly rubbed his chin.

“That's why you need to rest as much as possible while you can. An opportunity like this won't come around often.”

Kang Jin-Ho slowly nodded, clearly contemplating something.

Bang Jin-Hun smiled in satisfaction after thinking that Kang Jin-Ho had listened to his advice. “In that case, how about a game of billiards between...”

Kang Jin-Ho suddenly said something to cut Bang Jin-Hun off. “Actually, there's something I've been thinking about lately...”

“Sorry?”

Kang Jin-Ho raised his head and stared straight at Bang Jin-Hun. “I thought that... This matter needs to be looked at sooner or later. Since there never was a good time, and I was skeptical about its necessity, I kept delaying it... But, since I have some free time on my hands, maybe I should take care of it now.”

Bang Jin-Hun grandly sighed. “I thought I advised you to get some rest, yet here you are, searching for something to do...”

“That's because it's not a difficult task, you see. Something of this difficulty level won't trouble me. And it's not going to mentally pressure me, either.”

Bang Jin-Hun narrowed his eyes, still unconvinced. “...I see. What is this new task you're thinking of?”

The corners of Kang Jin-Ho's lips slightly curled up. “Well, it's something I noticed while dealing with the Japanese.”

“...Yes?” Bang Jin-Hun tilted his head, wondering why the Japanese were suddenly brought into this conversation.

“It seems there is a gap in strength between Korea's and Japan's martial artists.”

“Unfortunately, yes. It's the painful truth,” Bang Jin-Hun slowly nodded. He had no excuses to offer on that sad situation. The truth was, though...

In terms of global ranking, South Korea's martial society could never be called 'weak.' No, objectively speaking, South Korea should be seen as one of the stronger nations.

However, the Korean peninsula just so happened to be sandwiched geographically between Japan and China. The current level of martial arts in South Korea was simply too inadequate to stand out when two of the strongest nations in the world existed right next to it.

Kang Jin-Ho grinned softly. “That's why I was thinking of changing that a bit.”

“...Sorry?”

“If I work on your people for a bit, they should become so much stronger than now.”

“...Mister Jin-Ho, did you just say you'd 'work' on my people?”

“Yes.”

“On my people?”

“Yes, that's what I said.”

Bang Jin-Hun crossed his arms in front of his chest while frowning. Okay, so... If I'm not mistaken, Mister Jin-Ho is saying he wants to train my people, AKA the martial artists of the Martial Assembly.

He naturally recalled how Kang Jin-Ho 'trained' the orphanage kids not too long ago, and a radiant smile suddenly bloomed on Bang Jin-Hun's face. “Mister Jin-Ho, is it okay for me to say no?”

Kang Jin-Ho smiled brightly back at Bang Jin-Hun. “Of course not.”

“...”

Bang Jin-Hun slowly raised his hands and shielded his face.

I tried, but...

I'm sorry, guys.

I'm really sorry.