Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 69

The parents, upon hearing the situation, were speechless, a mix of bewilderment and anger washing over them.

“Is this true?”

“I’m sorry,” Kang Eun-young mumbled, her head bowed low, now somewhat composed.

“You foolish girl!”

*Smack!*

Baek Hyun-jung’s hand landed hard on Kang Eun-young’s back.

“Ouch!”

“Are you stupid, an idiot? Why did you just take it!”

“I’m sorry.”

“I’m so frustrated! If something like that happens, you should say something! How are we supposed to know if you don’t say anything! Who’s going to solve it if you just stay quiet!”

“…I’m sorry.”

Seeing Kang Eun-young repeatedly apologize only made her heart ache more. The self-reproach of not noticing her child’s distress earlier fueled Baek Hyun-jung’s anger.

“Oh, for goodness sake.”

Kang Ji-hwan stopped Baek Hyun-jung.

“Stop it. She’s already upset enough.”

“How can you say that! I’m so upset! She should have said something! How are we supposed to know if she doesn’t say anything!”

“I said stop it!”

Baek Hyun-jung flinched and fell silent at Kang Ji-hwan’s raised voice.

“You’ve been through a lot.”

“…Dad.”

“Next time, if something like that happens, tell me. What’s the point of having a father if he can’t listen to such things?”

“Yes.”

Baek Hyun-jung shed tears, her heart seemingly breaking.

Kang Jin-ho watched the scene without a word.

At that moment, his cell phone vibrated in his pocket.

Kang Jin-ho took out his phone, checked the screen, and answered the call.

“Hello?”

[It’s me. Is it a good time to talk?]

“Go ahead.”

[I’m in front of your house right now. Could we meet for a moment?]

“I’ll be right out.”

Kang Jin-ho got up from his seat.

“Where are you going?”

“I’m just going out for a bit.”

“At this hour?”

“I’ll be right back.”

Baek Hyun-jung glared at Kang Jin-ho, her face still flushed with anger.

“Your sister just came back like that, and you’re going out!”

“I’ll be right back. Just for a bit.”

“Okay, go and come back quickly.” Kang Ji-hwan gave his permission, and Kang Jin-ho bowed his head and went outside.

A black sedan was parked in front of the house. It was a familiar sedan. Kang Jin-ho opened the car door and got inside.

“What’s the situation?”

“First, I terminated the contract.”

“What about the penalty?”

“Do you think they would pay it? I told them that if they want the penalty, they should be prepared for StarWiz as well. At first, they scoffed, but when they heard about the Jaekyung Group, they turned pale.”

“Does Jaekyung have influence in the entertainment industry?”

“It’s both yes and no.”

“What do you mean?”

“Jaekyung hasn’t entered the entertainment business directly, but it has ties with a major group that controls the entertainment industry.”

“I see.”

“Besides, they have a lot of irregularities, so if we wanted to, we could easily dismantle them.”

“Leave it.”

“Pardon?”

“Don’t handle it that way. I’ll take care of it myself.”

“Mr. Kang Jin-ho.”

“…I’ll handle it myself.”

Jo Gyu-min sighed. It was a situation he had been worried about.

“This time, we can resolve it with Jaekyung’s power. So, it would be better to go around a bit…”

“What about other issues?”

Kang Jin-ho cut him off, and Jo Gyu-min changed the subject as if he had no choice.

“I reported the matter regarding Hwangseong Corporation to the Chairman. The Chairman was furious and ordered all transactions with Hwangseong to be cut off.”

“Isn’t there a penalty?”

“It just so happens that the contract renewal is next month. We can just not renew it.”

“Hmm…”

Kang Jin-ho shook his head.

“Renew the contract.”

“Pardon?”

“If it’s a company with no problems and worth doing business with, then do it.”

“But this incident…”

Kang Jin-ho shook his head.

He was angry too. But he couldn’t direct his personal anger at others.

“This issue is the fault of the CEO. There’s no reason why other people working under him should suffer just because the CEO’s daughter did something wrong.”

Jo Gyu-min was impressed by Kang Jin-ho.

People with power are usually eager to show it off and use it. But Kang Jin-ho, despite having enough power, was trying to find a way that wouldn’t harm others.

It seemed obvious and simple, but it was by no means an easy thing to do.

“You are absolutely right. Then, I will make sure to get a sincere apology for the related incident, and I’ll play with them a bit to make them sweat.”

“That much should be fine.”

“Yes.”

Kang Jin-ho nodded.

“There’s another issue…”

“What is it?”

“Even though things have turned out this way, she’s a girl with a dream, so it’s hard to tell her to give up this path. We need to find another agency, but is there a suitable one?”

“There is.”

“There is?”

“I have connections with one of the top 4 agencies in the country. If I mention the Chairman’s name, they will probably scout her immediately and start preparing for her debut. Judging by the situation, her skills are already beyond the level of a trainee.”

“Connections…”

“In Korea, it’s hard to survive if you avoid connections too much.” Kang Jin-ho readily admitted.

It wasn’t just in Korea. It was the same in the Demonic Cult in the past. Kang Jin-ho had experienced firsthand how important connections were.

“I suppose so.”

“If you’re uncomfortable with that, there’s another way.”

“What is it?”

“I’ll have an agency set up neatly. Jaekyung can create an agency and make your sister the first celebrity…”

“Let’s send her to the place you mentioned earlier.”

“It’s not a bad idea, but…”

“No. Let’s go with the first option.”

“If that’s what you want.”

Jo Gyu-min clicked his tongue at Kang Jin-ho’s words.

His plan to also become the head of an agency had been neatly crushed.

“Then, I’ll prepare accordingly.”

“Yes.”

“And about StarWiz, which I mentioned earlier…”

“Is there a problem?”

“They’re in terrible shape.”

Kang Jin-ho’s eyes narrowed.

“Your sister was in good condition. I guess it’s because they thought they could get something out of her. The other poor trainees have been through a lot.”

“Is that so?”

“As you said, it’s gone too far to just let it go. If we didn’t know, we wouldn’t know, but knowing it and just letting it go…” Kang Jin-ho nodded.

“Then, clean it up appropriately.”

“Understood.”

“Then, what will happen to Park Hyuk-gi?”

“He will be investigated by the prosecution.”

“And then?”

“He will likely be arrested and serve a prison sentence.”

“Understood.”

“Then, please go in carefully.”

“Yes.”

Kang Jin-ho got out of the car and went inside the house.

Inside, his mother, father, and Kang Eun-young were still talking.

‘It’s been a while.’

Come to think of it, it had been a long time since he had seen such a scene.

“Eun-young must be tired, go to sleep.”

“Yes, Dad.”

Kang Jin-ho opened his mouth.

“And…”

“Huh? Oppa?”

“…Just a moment.”

Kang Jin-ho hesitated before speaking.

“I didn’t ask for the name. What’s the name of the agency that’s affiliated with a large corporation?”

“A large corporation? Are you talking about Code?”

“I don’t know the name well. They said it’s one of the top 4 agencies.”

“Yeah. It’s Code.”

Kang Jin-ho nodded.

“You’ll be transferring there.”

“Oppa, an agency like Code wouldn’t accept someone like me.”

“What’s wrong with you?”

“I auditioned there several times before and got rejected.” Kang Jin-ho answered honestly.

“That’s because you didn’t look like you do now.”

“Hey…”

Kang Eun-young’s fist began to clench at Kang Jin-ho’s cold words.

If you take it positively, it means she’s become prettier, but why does she feel so bad?

“Anyway, you’ll be transferring. It’s been decided.”

“Really?”

“So, don’t lose sleep over it and get some rest. Okay?”

“Okay, Oppa. Thank you…”

Kang Jin-ho said that and went into his room.

He turned off the lights… and slowly waited for dawn to come.

How much time had passed?

Kang Jin-ho opened the door and went out to the living room.

“Aren’t you sleeping?”

His father was sitting alone at the kitchen table, drinking.

“You’re not asleep?”

“No.”

“You can’t sleep.”

“I can’t sleep thinking about how much that guy must have suffered alone.” Kang Jin-ho looked at his father’s slumped back.

He had seen this kind of 모습 [moseup – appearance/figure] before.

Kang Jin-ho closed his eyes.

‘I feel the same way, Father.’

“I’m angry because there’s nothing I can do. I’m so frustrated.”

“Yes.”

“And I can’t sleep thinking about those bastards who made my daughter suffer sleeping soundly.”

“You should still sleep.”

“Yeah, I should sleep.”

Kang Jin-ho smiled.

“Please go to sleep soon.”

“You should go to sleep too.”

“Yes.”

His father slowly headed to his room.

“Jin-ho.”

“Yes, Father.”

“You’ve been through a lot.”

“You did what I couldn’t do. I’m ashamed.”

“Please don’t say that.”

“Haa…”

Kang Ji-hwan sighed deeply and went into his room.

Kang Jin-ho watched him for a moment before turning around.

It was dawn.

Before the break of day.

The darkest hour.

It was the time when the monster sleeping inside him awakened.

Park Hyuk-gi scratched his head vigorously.

“What should I do?”

The Kang Eun-young incident had become too big. The Jaekyung Group was involved in this matter. Who would have known that the Jaekyung Group was behind Kang Eun-young? It was like there was a swan among the ducks, and he didn’t recognize it and instead mistreated it.

“What should I do?”

With the Jaekyung Group involved, StarWiz could be completely destroyed. Even though their fields were different, a group like Jaekyung could erase StarWiz in a day.

“I have to go see them.”

He had to go to Kang Eun-young’s house and beg, even if it meant groveling, to resolve the situation.

“Damn it, how did I end up like this!”

Park Hyuk-gi shouted nervously.

As he worried, he couldn’t even go home and was stuck here until this early morning.

“Damn it, that rich bitch… she could have just sponsored me, why did she have to make such a big deal out of a few bucks!”

Park Hyuk-gi gritted his teeth.

They say the rich are worse, they were a bunch of unbearable bastards.

“Anyway, tomorrow I’ll go to Kang Eun-young’s house and…”

“There’s no need for that.”

“Wh, who is it!”

Park Hyuk-gi was startled and turned around.

*Click.*

The lights went out.

The time was early morning.

The lights were off.

When the two situations met, his office was filled with complete darkness.

“Wh, who is it! Who are you!”

Park Hyuk-gi picked up the desk lamp on his desk. He was ready to strike if necessary.

“You know.”

Park Hyuk-gi’s body trembled.

It was a voice he had heard before.

And it was definitely a voice he had heard today.

“Earlier that…”

There was no answer.

“Why, why are you doing this!”

“Chuckles.”

A low chuckle was heard. Park Hyuk-gi gripped the lamp tightly. Seeing this kind of behavior in the early morning, he knew they hadn’t come with good intentions.

If so, he had to prepare.

“Because of Kang Eun-young…”

At that moment, Park Hyuk-gi’s body was lifted into the air.

“Guh!”

Park Hyuk-gi grabbed his neck.

Someone was holding his neck and lifting him into the air.

“Guh…! Cough…”

A low voice reached his ears as he was losing his mind from the pain.

“Tell me.”