Descent of the Demon Master

“If I'm being honest...” Kang Jin-Ho sheepishly revealed the truth of the matter. “...I'm not quite sure.”

“...”

“...”

Everyone in the office beside Kang Jin-Ho smiled at that honest and perhaps not-so-surprising answer.

'Right. This dude has always been like this, no?'

Look into the past, and anyone with a brain could see that Kang Jin-Ho had never acted with a concrete plan in mind.

Back when he was hunting Lee Jung-Geol, Kang Jin-Ho came up with a hair-brained strategy of 'I'll just sneak past some guards and walls before beating the daylights out of Lee Jung-Geol!' that even Zhuge Liang would've shed a teardrop at how absurd it was! And then, what about when he was hunting Kim Seok-Il down? Didn't Kang Jin-Ho cook up a truly marvelous plan of... 'If I go to the Yeongnam Group HQ and run rampant, everyone there should get sh*t-scared and run away, so I'll use that opening to find and beat up Kim Seok-Il!'

The thing about those plans was...

'At least one of them should've failed, you know!'

Indeed, why did they all have to be successful! Just why!?

A man making hair-brained schemes needed to taste the bitterness of failure at least once! That would've opened the door for people in his life to talk him out of yet another idiotic plan! However, what choice did everyone have but to follow along when all of that man's dumb plans were successful?!

“Still, I'm... kind of relieved about this,” said Lee Hyeon-Su.

Bang Jin-Hun nodded slowly without even realizing that he did. Lee Hyeon-Su was right about this.

Kang Jin-Ho not having a plan was actually for the best. If he did have one, it'd be another hair-brained absurd one, that's for sure! And, as per Kang Jin-Ho's style so far, he would have bulldozed his way through regardless of what!

And the ones suffering from this unreasonableness would always be the people under Kang Jin-Ho... Like Bang Jin-Hun!

Bang Jin-Hun was about to say something but discovered Jo Gyu-Min making a deeply pained expression next to Kang Jin-Ho. “Mm? What's the matter, Mister Gyu-Min? Are you not feeling well?”

Jo Gyu-Min shook his head. “No, I'm not sick or anything like that.”

“Huh? Then, why that cramped face?”

“My heart is aching, that's why...”

“...Eh?”

Jo Gyu-Min spat out a lengthy groan. “A Hegemon-King showed up out of nowhere, so I gleefully threw my lot with him, but who knew? That king turned out to be a Gandhi clone...”

“Huh? What are you on about, man?” Bang Jin-Hun furrowed his brow.

“No, it's nothing. Don't mind me,” Jo Gyu-Min lifelessly shook his head before leaning against the couch. 'I told Mister Jin-Ho to find what he wanted to do, but to think he'd really find one like this!'

The wise old 'they' once said that the road to Hell was paved with good intentions. Wasn't Jo Gyu-Min a perfect demonstrator of that old adage?

Lee Hyeon-Su chuckled while speaking about what was on his mind. “Well, since Mister Jin-Ho said he's not quite sure, doesn't that mean he has a vague idea? Even if it's not clear and fully formed?”

Kang Jin-Ho frowned slightly. “Yes, that's more or less true, but...”

“In that case, can you tell us about that instead? Only then will we have a clue on what needs to be done on our side, you see?”

“Mm...” Kang Jin-Ho slowly nodded. 'He's right.'

He never believed he could deal with everything by himself. For one, Kang Jin-Ho knew how sorely lacking he was in many departments. Especially when it came to the matters of running an organization--he was basically a total noob, a clueless dummy, in such things.

Kang Jin-Ho desperately needed other people's assistance. And these other people would obviously be acquaintances and friends in his life.

Kang Jin-Ho scanned his audience before raising his voice again. “My wish is to create a place that can help people in a systematic way.”

“In a systematic way? How?”

“Well...” Kang Jin-Ho took a second or two to organize his thoughts first. “Right now, countless orphans can be found in countless orphanages throughout the country. And the folks entrusted with looking after them are also going through a tough time. I'm not saying they are incompetent or not dedicated enough. No, it's more to do with the limitations of what they can humanly do.”

“Limitations, you say...”

“For instance, what happened in the Seongsim Orphanage recently... Mm, I'm not sure how to explain what happened there, so...” Kang Jin-Ho turned his head slightly and stared at Jo Gyu-Min.

Jo Gyu-Min resisted by shooting a glare that screamed, 'Why do I need to explain this, Mister Jin-Ho?' but Kang Jin-Ho's unyielding gaze was still too much to bear for the poor Chief Secretary of Jaegyeong.

While making a slightly resentful face, Jo Gyu-Min raised his voice. “Orphans will sooner or later run into a wall called 'Being An Orphan.' The orphanages will not be able to support their children in a way regular parents can, and being an orphan means you are always subjected to the public’s suspicion and unfair judgment, as well.”

Bang Jin-Hun and Lee Hyeon-Su nodded in agreement. “Yes, that sounds logical.”

“Children enduring such treatments in society are bound to have personal problems. Issues when they are in the orphanage, for instance. We won't have a problem if the orphanage is managed admirably well. However…” Jo Gyu-Min grunted before sitting upright. “It's obvious that orphanages with lots of internal problems exist throughout the country. This problem isn't caused by the lack of effort or willpower, but by the limited budget preventing these institutions from hiring enough people to give the children the care and attention they need.”

“Okay, so…” Lee Hyeon-Su turned his head toward Kang Jin-Ho. “Am I to assume that you wish to create a massive orphanage backed by a large operational budget that boasts a more-than-enough number of caregivers?”

Kang Jin-Ho nodded. “Yes. And I'm also thinking about solving the question of education through my own means.”

“Huh? Education?”

Search "pawℝead.com" for the original.

“Yes. Can't I answer that question by building a school right next to the orphanage?”

“...I'm sorry?”

“The source of discrimination against orphans or bullies picking on them is because they are different from other students, right? In that case, I thought the problem could be solved quite easily by having them attend a normal enough school where everyone is the same as…”

“H-hold on for a second there!” Lee Hyeon-Su nearly fell out of his seat while hurriedly waving his hands. “L-let me get this straight, Mister Jin-Ho. So, you weren't talking about a large orphanage, but... But a gigantic one with enough children under your care to fill up an entire school? That big?!”

“Mm? Even if you say it's gigantic, don't you need only around fifty children per school grade for a school to exist...?”

“W-well, yes. That's not technically wrong. Many elementary schools nowadays only have three hundred learners in total, and it's not uncommon to find schools with even fewer children, too. So, uh…” Lee Hyeon-Su frowned slightly when he realized this idea started making sense for some reason. “W-wait! This matter isn't as simple as that, Mister Jin-Ho. Korean elementary school attendance is decided by jurisdiction. Building a school right next to an orphanage does not guarantee that only orphans will attend it.”

Kang Jin-Ho casually shrugged his shoulders. “And solving that will be the Assembly Master's role.”

Lee Hyeon-Su, making a weird face, turned to look at Bang Jin-Hun. And he was rewarded with the sight of Bang Jin-Hun nodding slowly, his expression screaming, 'Of course, I will deal with something so minor!'

A flood of goosebumps broke out on Lee Hyeon-Su's skin just then.

'What the hell?! Maybe he's missing some screws in his head, too?'

However, Bang Jin-Hun's current attitude wasn't entirely indecipherable. On paper, at least, Bang Jin-Hun was supposed to be Kang Jin-Ho's comrade. His equal. However, he had never really assisted Kang Jin-Ho until now. Or enjoy a status of similar importance, for that matter.

All the problems capable of destroying the Martial Assembly had been handled by Kang Jin-Ho until now. No wonder Bang Jin-Hun was over the moon with this opportunity to finally be some sort of help to Kang Jin-Ho!

'...The problem with that is I'll be the one who has to deal with this crap!'

A chairperson of a company never dirtied their hands, now did they?! No, they would just say they were on it, then dump the workload on a team of poor employees. And the unfortunate thing about Bang Jin-Hun was that the most trusted employees under him happened to be Lee Hyeon-Su and Cheon Tae-Hun...

Thanks to the rather unique nature of this matter, Lee Hyeon-Su was sure with 99% certainty that he'd have to deal with it!

Lee Hyeon-Su sighed quietly. “We can rock the politicians' boats for a bit, and that might solve this issue. However, continuously dealing with matters that way will invite a bigger problem later down the line, Mister Jin-Ho. The way I see it, the matter of the foundation is a massive undertaking. Since you're attempting a social welfare system that hasn't been seen before in this country, related government departments and civic groups will show a great deal of interest. So, bending the law or getting preferential treatments now can potentially bite us in the rear later.”

Kang Jin-Ho shrugged his shoulders again. “In that case, let's do it lawfully, then.”

“How?”

“...?” Kang Jin-Ho relaxedly cocked his eyebrow, his expression silently saying, 'Why do you ask me that? Isn't that, like, your job?'

On the other hand, Lee Hyeon-Su's expression was gloomy. “Mister Jin-Ho... By any chance, have you ever been a chairman of an organization before?”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“N-no. It's nothing.” Lee Hyeon-Su weakly shook his head in despair. Kang Jin-Ho's utterly unperturbed attitude was sapping every ounce of energy from his soul! Lee Hyeon-Su raised his head just a little and noticed the slumped-shoulders Jo Gyu-Min making a roughly similar expression as him. 'Aaah, now I see. This is why Chief Jo always looks so tormented...'

Lee Hyeon-Su could already see it; when this crazy plan was finally put into motion, just how much additional work would land on his lap? He could only shudder in dread!

This was the same as leading a super-massive project while being saddled with a superior who... Who was overflowing with passion but provided zero help and only soured the moods with unnecessary nagging all the time!

'This... This is hell!'

Lee Hyeon-Su's body instinctively shifted back defensively. He suddenly realized he needed to escape from this... this ant hell! His brain was already near the bursting point from the current workload, yet he now must handle this whole foundation business, too?! He might as well kiss his sleep goodbye, then!

He must never get involved in this...

Bang Jin-Hun proudly declared, “Don't worry, Mister Jin-Ho. Our Hyeon-Su here will help you.”

'N-no, wait! You crazy son of a...! You're supposed to be the Assembly Master, aren't you!? Why are you dumping this on me!'

This was why Lee Hyeon-Su just couldn't get along with the higher-ups! Before he could clarify his position by saying, 'I'm sorry, I'm too busy and can't take on the additional workload,' Lee Hyeon-Su was interrupted by Kang Jin-Ho standing up and extending his hand.

Lee Hyeon-Su blinked his eyes and stared at that offered hand. “...?”

Kang Jin-Ho smiled and said, “Thank you. We'll be in your care.”

Lee Hyeon-Su reciprocated that smile with his own, but his mind was going, 'I'm screwed!'

Lee Hyeon-Su's slightly trembling hand rose up to shake Kang Jin-Ho's hand. That grip strength should've signified Kang Jin-Ho's trust in Lee Hyeon-Su, but...

But, at least right now, it felt like a threat to Lee Hyeon-Su. A threat that said, Try any foolish nonsense or attempt an escape, and I'll utterly grind your bones to powder!

Kang Jin-Ho smiled and addressed the other three in the office. “Having you three on this venture is filling me with confidence.”

Lee Hyeon-Su, Bang Jin-Hun and Jo Gyu-Min replied one after the other.

“...Of course, Mister Jin-Ho.”

“Hahaha! You can rest assured!”

“I never said I'll help you, Mister Jin-Ho.”

Kang Jin-Ho expertly ignored Jo Gyu-Min's sour-sounding words and moved on. “By the way, I never imagined I'd have to face a lot of legal hurdles in this venture.”

“Wait a minute, Mister Jin-Ho! I told you, I'm not going to help you!”

Kang Jin-Ho frowned while rubbing his chin. “Mm. I should've considered the legal side of things a bit more…”

“Please listen to me! Please! I don't want any part of this! I'm telling you!”

Lee Hyeon-Su could only look on at the desperately-yelling Jo Gyu-Min with sympathy before shifting his attention to Kang Jin-Ho. “Mister Jin-Ho, it's inevitable that you'll have to clear several legal hurdles while operating a foundation.”

“I see. My head is already hurting from trying to think about it,” said Kang Jin-Ho.

“...”

We haven't even done anything yet, so why is your head hurting so soon!

Lee Hyeon-Su had a lot of things he wanted to get off his chest but couldn't say a word. How many salarymen in South Korea were free to express their opinion without fear of reprisal? Zero, that's how many!

They had no choice but to endure everything while fidgeting with their resignation letters for yet another day. That was their sad fate!

“Mister Jin-Ho, if you're really, honestly, brutally serious about doing this, then... You have a mountain of hurdles to clear first. How much are you going to accept as donations? What kind of welfare system are you implementing? And you need to also consider the impact this system might have on society in general. And ensure that it's not illegal in some way, too!”

“Mm...”

“Unfortunately, nothing in this world is easy, Mister Jin-Ho.” Lee Hyeon-Su indirectly tried to scare Kang Jin-Ho just then. His tactic involved opening Kang Jin-Ho's eyes to the fact that he'd have to give up on his current leisurely lifestyle if he wanted to run a foundation.

Lee Hyeon-Su was reasonably confident that his scare tactic would work.

'Besides, I have nothing to lose by saying all this, right?'

Why would Kang Jin-Ho waste his time and energy operating a foundation? His bank account would continue growing fatter and fatter even if he did nothing but lounge around the whole day, anyway. As far as Lee Hyeon-Su could see, there was not much logical reason for Kang Jin-Ho to do something this cumbersome.

However, even if Kang Jin-Ho had a reason, the realistic hurdle of annoyance was still incredibly difficult to clear. Lee Hyeon-Su believed that Kang Jin-Ho wouldn't be motivated enough to overcome such a mighty hurdle.

Unfortunately, Lee Hyeon-Su's assumption was wrong.

Kang Jin-Ho smiled brightly. “I see. In that case, I'll be counting on you for your help.”

“...!”

This was the case of 'Why would I overcome that hurdle when I have you?'

Warm tears began pooling near the edges of Lee Hyeon-Su's eyes. As it turned out, the military wasn't the only place in this country where the grunts had to shut up and do as told.