Descent of the Demon Master

Kang Jin-Ho gripped Golden Elephant's handles. The original plan had been to use this bicycle temporarily until the replacement bike specifically designed for him arrived. However, he had become attached to it and ended up using it ever since.

Unsurprisingly, this bicycle had experienced quite a lot in the past year. The number of broken pedals alone was too numerous to count, while Kang Jin-Ho had to carry spare chains with him everywhere he went. The spokes of the wheels had gotten bent several times too, requiring full replacements on both wheels. Even after going through all these events, however, the frame had stayed strong and had survived his abuse.

It was as expected of a famous brand’s product.

Kang Jin-Ho headed to school on his bicycle, then parked it in a spot where it was more or less visible. The proxy chief director, Jo Gyu-Min, strongly suggested that the expensive bicycle should be stored in the chief director's office, but Kang Jin-Ho rejected the idea just as strongly.

Doing that once or twice wasn't going to be a problem, but repeating it for months? That wasn't something he could do. The act of carrying the bike to the office was not the issue here, though. Actually, the gazes of other students whenever he popped in and out of the office were what Kang Jin-Ho wasn't so fond of. The feeling of getting special treatment didn't make Kang Jin-Ho happy, only leaving him with a bitter aftertaste.

In the end, the two of them had reached a consensus where Kang Jin-Ho would lock the bicycle down with a custom-made chains-and-lock combination. This arrangement also had a side effect of the school's ancient bicycle storage getting a brand-new roof. Of course, the students commuting on their bikes were overjoyed by this progress.

As Kang Jin-Ho made his way to his class...

“Hey, Jin-Ho. Morning.”

“Morning.”

“Yeah, I did. My bad for not replying to you yet.”

“Senior, are you free this weekend?”

"I'm sorry, but I need to study."

“Jin-Ho, good morning!”

"Oh, hello. Yes, good morning."

Kang Jin-Ho stopped and spoke to everyone who greeted him. What a complete turnaround this was compared to the past! Then again, he had basically achieved a full-body modification through cultivation. He had become better-looking than most people, and he had gotten quite tall, too. His popularity wasn’t really a surprise.

"Hey, Jin-Ho. Morning." Jeong In-Gyu waved his hand when Kang Jin-Ho stepped inside the class.

Kang Jin-Ho nodded. "Yeah. Morning."

“By the way, the mock exam results are already out.”

“Already? That's fast.”

"That's because the school did the tests independently, you see. Our teachers must've graded the tests by themselves."

“I see,” said Kang Jin-Ho as he settled down at his desk.

Only two months remained until the day of the National University Entrance Exams. As a result, the classrooms of all third-year high schoolers had become a weird place where nail-biting tension and mischievousness coexisted together.

Jeong In-Gyu groaned, “Urgh, only fifty days remain until the D-Day!”

Kang Jin-Ho silently nodded.

"How are your grades?" Jeong In-Gyu asked his friend while frowning a little.

“So-so,” Kang Jin-Ho replied.

“Really?”

Kang Jin-Ho shrugged, then opened a textbook with an expressionless face. Honestly speaking, his grades were not up to satisfaction. His school performance records had certainly leapfrogged compared to the previous year's results, but the mock exam results were not good enough to reflect all the hard work he had put in so far. Simply put, this meant he was able to follow along with all the classes well enough, but he still wasn’t getting his desired results when studying on his own.

Jeong In-Gyu tilted his head. "Oh, hey?"

Kang Jin-Ho looked up from the textbook. "What?"

"Isn't that a high school third-year textbook?"

“It is.”

“Weren't you looking at second-year textbooks, like, a few weeks ago? But now, it's a third-year book?”

"I can't continue staring at second-year textbooks until the start of the entrance exams now, can I?" Kang Jin-Ho replied dismissively.

Jeong In-Gyu responded with a grave expression, "You know, I seriously thought that you were doing that just to get ready ahead of time. To repeat this year, that is."

“...Want me to kick your ass?”

"Right, one should never repeat their senior year. That's so uncool. But then... I heard that repeating a year is a necessity these days, while having a go for the third time is a matter of choice."

Kang Jin-Ho tutted, "Are you trying to imply that you'll be repeating a year?"

"No way. How can I do this crap again for another year?"

"At least try studying a bit before whining like that, In-Gyu."

“Stop poking at my wounds, will ya?”

Kang Jin-Ho shooed Jeong In-Gyu away, then resumed reading the textbook. It had been a month since he started on the third-year curriculum. Which meant he had to familiarize himself with the entire year's subjects in the next month in order to take the exams. This arrangement was all thanks to Jo Gyu-Min setting up a strict schedule.

Kang Jin-Ho could've gotten here much sooner if he focused on nothing but studying. However, he hadn't felt the need to do better with his studies up until recently. As long as he didn't fall behind the others, he didn't care—that was his thought process.

Kang Yu-Hwan used to be rather invested in his son's grades once upon a time, even though he hadn't outwardly expressed it. After opening his own cafe, however, he no longer seemed as interested in that topic. Perhaps he thought that Kang Jin-Ho getting poor grades wouldn't necessarily threaten the boy's future livelihood. This meant Kang Jin-Ho wasn't harassed by the pressure of achieving better grades, but he also didn't get to experience his family raising a fuss over him like how it was with other families.

His life at home hadn't changed all that much since his second year in high school.

However, in school... That was a different story altogether.

Scribble, scribble...

The class hadn't started yet, but everyone was already keeping deathly quiet. The only noises produced by the students were the sounds of the pens scribbling away on their notebooks.

'The National University Entrance Exams, is it...'

Kang Jin-Ho glanced at the calendar with its pages for the previous months already torn off. He disliked the system of National University Entrance Exams, but he couldn't think of a better assessment of one's abilities than it, either.

'Must conform... Is that why it's called entrance exams?' [1]

As long as you were born in the Republic of Korea, the entrance exams were an unavoidable part of your life. Since the exams had to be taken anyway, you might as well give it your all.

The classroom door opened, and Park Yu-Min entered.

"Uh? Hey, it's Yu-Min." Jeong In-Gyu got up and walked over to Park Yu-Min trying to get to his desk. "Congrats, man. I heard that you won yesterday."

“Yeah. Thanks.”

"That means you're a full-fledged pro gamer now. Geez, I'm so envious of you. You don't have to worry about going to universities and whatnot now."

Park Yu-Min didn't say anything but grinned softly.

Jeong In-Gyu continued. “Man, wish I was as good as you in gaming. Then, I wouldn't have to worry about taking the entrance exams.”

Kang Jin-Ho tutted loudly, "Stop holding up a tired kid and go back to your desk, will you?"

"Come on, dude. Don't you think I'm onto something here? Yu-Min doesn't have to worry about the exams, right? And he won't get scolded for getting poor grades, either."

Kang Jin-Ho snorted, “Why don't you start playing computer games for fifteen hours a day like Yu-Min, then?”

“That sounds like a great idea.”

"And do that every single day."

“...?”

“You'll be playing games without a single day off, like a machine. Fifteen hours a day, every day, every week.”

Jeong In-Gyu stumbled a little. "That... sounds a bit tough, I admit. But!"

Kang Jin-Ho explained it further in a flat voice, "Only a few percent of people who go through that rigorous schedule can debut as a pro gamer. And out of that few percent, an even smaller number of pros will compete in tournaments."

“...”

"Even those players who call themselves the best of the best will fall to the bottom if they laze around for a while."

Jeong In-Gyu stuttered, “B-but, Yu-Min...”

Kang Jin-Ho sighed, “I'm pretty sure you'll be playing around if you go to a university.”

“Well, yeah...”

"However, Yu-Min has already started his career. While you go to a university and waste time on group dates and parties, he will have to play computer games for fifteen hours a day to make a living."

Jeong In-Gyu suddenly wrapped his arm around Park Yu-Min's shoulders and spoke in a pitying voice, "Hey, Yu-Min, listen.”

“Yeah?”

Jeong In-Gyu clenched his fist tightly and lightly shook it. “I'll cheer for you!”

“...Huh?”

“I now understand that it must be hard for you, too.”

"What are you talking about?" Park Yu-Min chuckled and finally reached his desk. Even though he was a pro gamer now, he still had to graduate high school.

Kang Jin-Ho grabbed his pen and delved into the textbook, knowing that he was in the same boat. It was true that he had already lived through being a third year in high school all those decades ago. Back then, he thought giving his best would be the ticket to success, but not anymore.

The crucial thing to consider was 'efficiency.’ If his plan was to get an average result in the exams, then it'd be fine to study like he did so far. However, his new goal was to get a better result than his past self.

'Otherwise, there's no point now, is there?'

If he failed to get a better result this time around, all those years he spent in Zhongyuan would've been for nothing. Kang Jin-Ho couldn't stomach the mere idea of that happening.

***

Kang Jin-Ho stared at his report card. “Ranked 25th, huh...”

Considering that he had been ranked 50th last time, reaching this spot in the latest mock exams was a commendable improvement. Even then, it was still a long way off his old record.

Since he was now cultivating again, he had thought getting better grades would be only a matter of time. Unfortunately, fifteen years of being a jobless shut-in and several decades of life in Zhongyuan had robbed him of most of his knowledge. While others had had twelve years to gradually build their knowledge base, Kang Jin-Ho had to do the same in only one year.

Yes, it had been only one year since he started studying again. And in that year, he had managed to drag his ranking of 250th all the way up to 25th, a jump of 225 spots.

However, he still wasn't satisfied with this result.

'I know it'll get better.'

Kang Jin-Ho had only just begun on the third-year curriculum when he took the mock exams. Once he was done with the curriculum, his grades should rise up even higher.

“...Let's aim for the first spot.”

His goal had always been the top spot. Kang Jin-Ho's motto was since he started this thing, he had to reach the top no matter what.

***

Lunch break...

Kang Jin-Ho was sitting on the grandstand of the school's athletics field.

He groaned weakly, "So tired..."

The issue was not with his stamina. No, he had the endless battle against the printed letter to blame. Those fights had steadily shaved away at his mental strength, leaving him feeling fatigued. His body was fine, but his head would repeatedly experience a state of hazy emptiness. He could restore his stamina by using a breathing technique to generate and circulate qi, yet he still couldn't avoid falling in this state. How bad was it for other students, then?

'Now that I think about it, I held on pretty admirably back then.'

Kang Jin-Ho recalled his past self. Back then, he had been studying several times harder than this. Even though his study regimen back then had been inefficient and a waste of his valuable time, he still had to admit that his past self was a lot more passionate about studying.

'Two months left, huh?'

If things played out the same as in the past... Kang Jin-Ho was fated to get involved in another car accident in two months. He would either end up as a paraplegic and live alone for the rest of his life, or a new life that Kang Jin-Ho couldn't even begin to imagine might start in two months.

He thought about the rapidly-approaching