“...Why are you at home?” Kang Jin-Ho curiously asked Kang Eun-Yeong, who was currently sitting on the living room couch.

She tilted her head. “Is it that weird to see me at home?”

“Kinda.”

“...But, this is my home too, you know?”

“And that is why seeing you here is so weird.”

Kang Eun-Yeong analyzed Kang Jin-Ho's response for a second or two, then her expression suddenly brightened. She jumped up from the couch and quickly rushed into his arms. “Orabi~! Looks like you're not angry anymore.”

“...Not angry, you say?” Kang Jin-Ho frowned slightly as his little sister clung to his arm.

“You've been making this face, you know? Anyone could tell you were 'not feeling good' from your expression,” Kang Eun-Yeong playfully replied while using her fingers to crease up her forehead.

Kang Jin-Ho groaned softly. He didn't think he had been acting that way, but he had to be wrong about it since Kang Eun-Yeong had noticed it. “I guess I'll take a break.”

“Yup, yup~! Orabi, you gotta take a break. It's all so tiring, right?” Kang Eun-Yeong's behavior suddenly got a bit too energetic as if confirming her older brother's better mood had improved hers, too.

Kang Jin-Ho lightly shook his head and asked her, “How is the TV production going? Are you doing well?”

“Yeah. It's great fun. Singing and dancing are also fun, but... You know I'm not the best singer in the world.”

“You can certainly sing, though?”

“Is that compared to other idols?”

Kang Jin-Ho chuckled at that. Originally, Kang Eun-Yeong was the typical case of 'good vocals, but lacking facial features.' Only after Kang Jin-Ho revised her bone structure to perform plastic surgery of sorts did she become the so-called perfect article.

Which meant her singing ability was top-tier among the idols. However, that comparison was only valid against other idols. She wasn't quite good enough to survive on her vocal chops alone in the world of trained singers full of monstrous vocal athletes.

“In any case, I think acting also suits me a lot, orabi.”

“...I'm sure that's the case.” Kang Jin-Ho nodded sagely.

How could it not suit his sister, though? She was born a sly fox, after all! Seeing how she hadn't gotten into trouble with her fellow celebrities yet despite her... 'wayward' personality, Kang Jin-Ho couldn't even begin to guess just how much pretending his little sister had been doing out there.

“I think I'm born to do this whole acting thing. It was so weird at first, you know? But I'm getting more and more used to it. Even the director says I'm really good at acting, orabi.”

“Mm. I'm sure that's the case...”

‘Indeed, my little sister. Keep doing what you normally do, and it won't be strange to see you walk away with the gong for the best newcomer category during the award season…’

Kang Jin-Ho lightly patted the back of Kang Eun-Yeong purring happily away, then headed to the bathroom.

“By the way, orabi~?”

Kang Jin-Ho stopped by the doorway and glanced back. “Yeah?”

“You know, there's something I wanna talk to you about.”

“Can we do that later? I'm kinda tired, you see.”

“...Eiii.” Kang Eun-Yeong groaned softly while watching her older brother slip inside the bathroom. 'I guess today's not the right time, either.'

However, there should be other chances in the future, now that Kang Jin-Ho was no longer upset. Kang Eun-Yeong tightly clenched her fist as the flames of ambition burned fiercely in her—the ambition to make Kang Jin-Ho a movie star!

***

After taking a shower, Kang Jin-Ho laid down on his bed.

'I'm feeling a little lost, aren't I?'

It felt like incident after incident was happening around him recently. And the more he thought about it, the more convinced he became that his trip to China was the trigger.

In that case, did he make a mistake by going there? Kang Jin-Ho slowly shook his head. No, all these events... They were bound to happen sooner or later.

Considering that someone had approached him while he was still technically serving in the army, these people would have come after Kang Jin-Ho even if he hadn't done anything in particular.

What Kang Jin-Ho was pondering right now would be his response. How should he respond in the future? The Korean Martial Assembly, the Yeongnam Group, the Martial Union, and then... the returners. Many factions and terms tangled up in a complicated mess were ramming into the outer wall of Kang Jin-Ho's life. And it even led to a loss of an acquaintance, too.

Kang Jin-Ho knew that turning a blind eye and continuing to push away everyone trying to approach him was not the right way.

He slowly closed his eyes. The lifeless, cold figure of Lee Jae-In dangling on the pavilion's roof remained vividly etched in his memories. Even the DSLR camera hanging loosely around her torso, and her blank, unfocused eyes staring into the distance... They were still haunting him from the recesses of his brain.

The people from the other side were already butting into his life. In the military, they hung back and observed him. In the department store, Kang Jin-Ho was ambushed. And now, someone in his circle of acquaintances even got murdered.

If... If Kang Jin-Ho had been a little more willing to step up, would those results be any different? This dilemma didn't seem to have an answer.

Complicated thoughts refused to settle down and continued to ransack his mind and torment him. Maybe his over-the-top response toward Lee Hyeon-Ju and Lee Seong-Hwi was a rebound from his chaotic mind.

~

“Nothing in this world is easy, boy. How can life be that simple?”

~

In times like these, Kang Jin-Ho would often recall his teacher's words. His current life boasted incomparably better conditions than his previous two attempts, but that didn't mean his life would always be plain sailing. The resolution of one problem would open the door for the next problem to rear its head. However, all problems had their solutions. At least, that was what he believed.

Kang Jin-Ho kept his eyes shut, as he felt oddly tired today. He usually slept less than four hours a day, but for some reason, he wanted to just stay in bed and snooze for as long as he could.

'Right. Tomorrow's matter should be left for tomorrow...'

Kang Jin-Ho muttered the chant of a master procrastinator and slowly drifted off to sleep. But then—

His eyes flew open. He shot up from the bed like a bolt of lightning, his expression distorting bizarrely.

'Could it be...?'

Kang Jin-Ho dashed toward the window and threw it open before hurling himself outside. He didn't even have enough time to put on his shoes. In less than one breath, he managed to leap onto the house's roof. Before he finished landing, he began dashing toward a particular direction.

'It's not a certainty yet, but...!'

Indeed, it was not confirmed yet. And to do that, he had to get closer. Like a cat, Kang Jin-Ho silently and swiftly dashed across various rooftops.

'...I can see him!'

In the distance, he spotted the shadowy figure of a person. Kang Jin-Ho continued to run toward that shadow, his expression still distorted. Daring to unleash his aura to provoke Kang Jin-Ho was utterly unforgivable. And daring to approach his family's residence was even more so.

Kang Jin-Ho's family was sleeping in that house. What if he wasn't home? What would have happened to them? When his thoughts reached that far, Kang Jin-Ho felt flames erupting deep inside his chest. Flames of hostility and nearly-uncontrollable anger!

Kang Jin-Ho's legs, now laden with powerful energy, kicked the roof below.

Boom!

The roof made out of concrete cracked and split. Kang Jin-Ho used the rebound from the impact to shoot forward like a streak of lightning toward the shadow, urgently pursuing it.

The shadow was running away, although he sometimes glanced behind him. He probably could see that the distance between himself and Kang Jin-Ho was progressively getting narrower.

“Kekeke...” A low cackle leaked out of the shadow's distorted lips before the shadow suddenly changed his direction toward the nearby hills. That was a clear indication of him wanting Kang Jin-Ho to follow.

At any other time, Kang Jin-Ho would have responded to such a provocation with composure. That bastard wouldn't be able to escape from his grasp, after all. However, there was no sign of leeway or composure on Kang Jin-Ho's face right now. He speedily chased after his target, even though he was making the face of a man being chased.

“Dammit!” Kang Jin-Ho noisily gnashed his teeth.

If only this weren't the middle of the suburbs, he would have caught up to the shadow already. Unfortunately, Kang Jin-Ho was currently utilizing a lightness skill belonging to the demonic cultivation path.

The demonic cultivation path was the way of absolute power. Even though Kang Jin-Ho's speed could reach unfathomable extremes, doing so would be accompanied by loud noises and powerful shockwaves. In other words, unleashing the lightness skill to its maximum output during the middle of the night would cause one hell of chaos. The rooftop he had shattered with a loud bang earlier alone could cause enough of a problem, too.

“Fuu-woo...!”

Kang Jin-Ho sucked in a deep breath to calm his racing heart. The distance between him and the target was not increasing, so he told himself that there was no need to get agitated like this. As long as they were out of the city limits, he should be able to dash as fast as he liked.

Maybe the shadow knew what was in Kang Jin-Ho's mind because he was heading further and further toward the uninhabited area up the hills. Eventually...

The shadow stopped at a deserted, wide-open space. Rather bravely, he stood in the center, obviously waiting for Kang Jin-Ho to arrive.

Kang Jin-Ho landed on the ground and wordlessly studied the shadow. The first thing he noticed was the shadow's bizarre appearance. The so-called clothes on this man were more like rags made out of straw, while his hair was so matted and greasy that his face couldn't be seen. And then—the thick stench of blood!

The stench of blood so heavy that it clogged up one's nose wafted off from that man's body. Just how much did one need to bathe in blood to have such a stench deeply embedded in their body?

Even from his outer appearance alone, anyone could tell that this man was insane. However, Kang Jin-Ho's eyes were looking past the man's appearance. What agitated him right now was a certain aura. A thick, cloying aura was completely enveloping that man from head to toe. An aura Kang Jin-Ho was intimately familiar with!

“...A demonic arts cultivator, is it?” Kang Jin-Ho quietly muttered.

The monstrous-looking crazy man instantly responded to Kang Jin-Ho's mutter, “Demonic? Arts cultivator? Ke? Kekeke.”

The crazy man's head slowly tilted to the side until it was touching his shoulder. “Demonic arts cultivator, you say? But? What's that? What's a cultivator? Kekeke, I'm not a cultivator. I am... Me? Who am I?”

Kang Jin-Ho couldn't stop his expression from crumpling up. This demonic arts cultivator was completely corrupted by bloodlust and wickedness.

'Is this how far the demonic arts have fallen?'

It was true that cultivating demonic arts would stimulate one's murderous impulses. However, such an impulse was already an ingrained part of human's true nature. As proof, look no further than 'regular' people killing others and going on a rampage despite not being demonic arts cultivators.

However, this cultivator's situation wasn't as simple as that. No, he went well beyond that. Even his rational mind had long been devoured by the demonic energy, leaving not much behind.

If the incomplete demonic cultivation methods were handed down to the modern era, the side effects of mastering them would be unimaginable. Kang Jin-Ho recalled hearing about how similar events happened fairly regularly before the demonic cultivation methods were regrouped under the demon cult's banner.

“Are you the Fallen?” Kang Jin-Ho quietly asked.

The crazy man's eyes opened wider in surprise. “The Fallen? Sure, I am the Fallen. No, wait. I'm not fallen. Fallen?”

Insane. Utterly insane. That was the only fitting description for this man. The demonic energy had completely eaten away at his brain, and he was beyond the point of no return. Even if he still wasn't beyond that point, Kang Jin-Ho had no desire to save this crazy bastard in the first place.

Kang Jin-Ho wordlessly stared at the Fallen while tightly clenching his fists. He was instinctively sure about it. This crazy man was the Fallen, a monster who couldn't control his impulses and recklessly slaughtered other people.

“It doesn't matter either way...” Kang Jin-Ho muttered.

Whether this crazy man was the Fallen or not, he didn't care. No, all he cared about right now was this crazy bastard would definitely kill again if he wasn't stopped right here, right now.

Since time immemorial, there was only one way to deal with a demonic arts cultivator who had lost themselves to the demonic energy.

Grit...!

Kang Jin-Ho tightly clenched his fists. The Asura Qi stored in his dantian circulated rapidly throughout his body until reaching his fists.

“Let me ask you something,” Kang Jin-Ho asked quietly, even though the Fallen wouldn't really understand him. However, he still had to ask. “Have you killed a woman recently?”

“...A woman?” The Fallen suddenly cackled. “Which woman? A young woman or an old hag? A pretty girl? Or...”

His maddened cackle echoed within the open space.

“No need to choose, I just kill everyone! Every! One! Ones I can see, ones I like! All the women!”

“I see...” Kang Jin-Ho nodded, the corners of his lips curling up. His white fangs revealed themselves from his slightly parted lips. “In that case, it's fine.”

‘Because, that answer took care of my last remaining qualms, you see?’

A flood of dark aura began gushing out of Kang Jin-Ho's figure like a terrifying illusion. Was there any sense of kinship toward his fellow demonic arts cultivator? Did he hold any pity toward someone who couldn't master the demonic cultivation properly and ended up in this wretched state?

Of course not. No one would have forced the Fallen to master the demonic cultivation technique. Which meant everything was his responsibility. And if he was unwilling to admit his responsibility, then well...

Kang Jin-Ho would make sure to hold him accountable.

“Allow me to show you,” Kang Jin-Ho growled menacingly as a storm of demonic energy was unleashed from his figure. “...What a true demonic arts cultivator is.”