Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 578

“Huh?”

Lee Hyun-soo was dumbfounded.

Kang Jin-ho had barged in before the sun had even set and was demanding to see the accounting books.

“The books? Is this… an audit?”

An audit, of all things.

In all the history of the Yeongnam Association and the General Assembly, there had never been an audit, and now he was facing one.

Until now, he had never had to worry about an audit. That was because he himself was the most skilled accountant in the organization he belonged to.

The people he had served until now were all people who were greedy for money but couldn’t even read a financial statement. But now, accounting books?

“Yes, the books.”

Lee Hyun-soo’s face twitched.

‘What is this? Did I do something wrong?’

That’s usually how audits go. Rather than actually catching someone doing something wrong, they’re often used as an excuse to pick a fight and vent frustrations.

Especially when it’s not a professional accountant or audit team, but a private audit like this.

“No, why would you….”

Lee Hyun-soo knew he was making a mistake.

Although his exact position hadn’t been decided yet, Kang Jin-ho was his superior. If they were following the rules, he was just an outsider, but no one could think of him as an outsider. Just like no one would ignore the president’s father as an outsider.

When a superior asks for the books, the best thing for a subordinate to do is to hand them over without question. But Lee Hyun-soo was stalling for time.

Was it because he had something to hide?

No, that wasn’t it.

You might not believe it, but Lee Hyun-soo wasn’t very materialistic. He had no problem maintaining his lifestyle with just his salary from the General Assembly. In fact, it was more than enough. He was an efficient man.

If he had been greedy for money, he wouldn’t have worked under that cheapskate Kim Seok-il. If he had just started his own company, his skills would have made him a fortune.

So, there was no need for him to manipulate the books or embezzle funds. What would someone who didn’t need money do with embezzled funds?

Yet, there was only one reason why he wasn’t handing over the books.

“Um… I’m really sorry, but Mr. Kang Jin-ho.”

“Hmm….”

“…If I give you the books, do you even know how to read them?”

Kang Jin-ho’s face stiffened slightly.

‘Did I mess up?’

Lee Hyun-soo pursed his lips.

Come to think of it, this was questioning his superior’s ability. Even if Kang Jin-ho didn’t have the ability to understand the books, it wasn’t something he should have said to his face.

‘I’ve gotten too comfortable lately.’

It was a mistake he would never have made when dealing with Kim Seok-il in the past. But people are inevitably influenced by their environment.

Humans want to sit when they’re standing, and they want to lie down when they’re sitting. Even if you try to brace yourself, if the atmosphere around you is peaceful, your mind will eventually relax.

‘I should apologize.’

Just as Lee Hyun-soo was about to apologize, Kang Jin-ho opened his mouth.

“In college…”

“Yes?”

“I took an accounting principles class…”

“Ah…”

“Would that not be enough?”

Lee Hyun-soo’s cheeks twitched.

No, it didn’t seem like Lee Hyun-soo was the one who was wrong. The problem was with that man and the people here.

“If that were enough, wouldn’t everyone in the world be an accountant?”

Kang Jin-ho took a step back.

Lee Hyun-soo sighed and opened his mouth.

“Mr. Kang Jin-ho.”

“Hmm…”

“Do you trust me?”

Kang Jin-ho nodded slowly.

“Then don’t say that, and tell me why you want to see the books. Then I’ll take care of it.”

“Well, that’s….”

Kang Jin-ho began to ramble.

“So, you need to make money?”

Of course, people need to make money to live. Unless you’ve received a huge inheritance from your parents, no one can live their whole life without making money.

However, wasn’t this a bit off?

“Usually, welfare and charity are done with the extra money you have after taking care of yourself, right? Someone who has never thought about money in their life is now trying to make money to run a welfare foundation. Isn’t that putting the cart before the horse?”

“There is that aspect…” Kang Jin-ho evaded the question.

Lee Hyun-soo forcefully suppressed the anger boiling inside him.

‘Is this really the time for you to be doing that?’

The General Assembly was changing very rapidly. Even Lee Hyun-soo was scared by it. Change is always good, but rapid change always carries risks.

Whether it’s internal or external factors.

It was Kang Jin-ho who was supposed to prevent those risks.

All the changes in the General Assembly right now were possible because Kang Jin-ho was standing firmly in the middle. If Kang Jin-ho didn’t exist, even if the General Assembly and the Yeongnam Association had merged without any bloodshed, the current changes would have been impossible.

But the person who was supposed to control and manage these changes was distracted by something else. Lee Hyun-soo was strangely annoyed.

‘He’s doing good work, so I can’t even complain.’

Lee Hyun-soo’s principle was that if he couldn’t do good work himself, he shouldn’t speak ill of those who do. In Korean society, there’s a strange tendency to interfere with others, so if someone tries to do good, they inevitably hear things like, “Instead of doing useless things, take care of yourself first.”

Lee Hyun-soo had seen such cases many times, so he had vowed not to say bad things to those people. It was an eyesore just to watch them.

But now….

‘Ah, so that’s why everyone interferes like that.’

It wasn’t interference, but rather greed or selfishness. If Kang Jin-ho put just a little more of the passion he was pouring into the welfare foundation into the General Assembly, it would be a huge help to the development of the General Assembly, but he felt like that energy was being wasted elsewhere.

In reality, even if he didn’t put his energy into the welfare foundation, it was unlikely that his attention would return here, but people are creatures that tend to have expectations.

“Um, but what does the General Assembly’s books have to do with making money….”

Lee Hyun-soo stopped talking.

Kang Jin-ho also looked away.

‘That guy, he was trying to steal money from us.’

Lee Hyun-soo glared at him. Kang Jin-ho kept drinking water as if he was embarrassed.

“…Do you want to eat a flea’s liver?”

“It’s a bit big for a flea.”

“Even if it’s a whale, you shouldn’t eat its liver.”

“That’s true.”

Lee Hyun-soo sighed quietly.

‘What should I do about this?’

It was something he couldn’t help but worry about.

Did the General Assembly not have money?

That wasn’t it.

Lee Hyun-soo could guarantee it. There were probably only a few places in Korea that had more money than the General Assembly. This was the greatest achievement of Lee Jung-gul and Kim Seok-il.

Unlike other martial artists, Lee Jung-gul and Kim Seok-il didn’t really care about morality. They boldly rejected the old-fashioned idea that those who practiced martial arts should keep their mind, body, and spirit clean.

Of course, it was Lee Jung-gul who started it.

In the end, they were people who used violence. Violence is inevitably intertwined with darkness, and they were interested in the underworld that had begun to grow since the war.

Instead of rejecting or destroying the gangsters, who were no different from insects in the eyes of martial artists, they managed them appropriately and kept them under their control. And then, they gained enormous profits from them.

For Lee Jung-gul, who had extended his reach into the political, business, and underworld, making money was too easy. The money gathered from the underworld was invested using information obtained from the political world, and the management was entrusted to the business world.

Thanks to this, the martial artists who were members of the General Assembly could live comfortably, receiving more than enough money to live on even if they just played around and trained.

The situation was similar not only in Korea but also overseas.

Just looking at who the real rulers of the Triads [Chinese organized crime] and Yakuza [Japanese organized crime] were would give you the answer.

So, they had money….

Lee Hyun-soo picked up the cold water on the table and gulped it down.

Thud!

Lee Hyun-soo slammed the cup on the table and sighed, looking at Kang Jin-ho.

“Mr. Kang Jin-ho, I’ll be honest with you.”

Kang Jin-ho raised his head and looked at Lee Hyun-soo.

“The General Assembly has money. No, it has a lot of money. Probably more money than Mr. Kang Jin-ho thinks.”

“My standards are a bit high, though?”

“It’ll still be a lot. Mr. Kang Jin-ho’s standard for ‘a lot of money’ is probably around Chairman Hwang Jung-hoo’s level.”

Kang Jin-ho nodded.

“Chairman Lee Jung-gul’s personal wealth is probably double that of Chairman Hwang Jung-hoo.”

“Wow…”

Kang Jin-ho’s eyes shook.

He knew how much wealth Hwang Jung-hoo had. Of course, this was Hwang Jung-hoo’s wealth. Jae-kyung couldn’t be called Hwang Jung-hoo’s wealth. Hwang Jung-hoo’s wealth was all the money he had personally and his stake in Jae-kyung.

But even that was an enormous amount. And Lee Jung-gul had more money than Hwang Jung-hoo.

“That much?”

“The boss of the underworld is usually very rich.”

Kang Jin-ho nodded as if he understood.

‘That’s definitely how it was.’

The time when he had the most money was when he was the leader of the Demonic Cult. The leader of the Demonic Cult had powers that couldn’t be compared to the presidents of modern companies. Basically, the concept of embezzlement exists in the world now, right?

There was no such concept in the Central Plains [a historical region in China]. If I was the leader, it was basic that I could take the money of the cult whenever I wanted. Moreover….

‘It was incomparable.’

At the time, the wealth of the Demonic Cult was at a level that even the emperor couldn’t touch. Even the emperor of the wealthiest country in the world envied the wealth of the Demonic Cult. A powerful military group was bound to attract that much money.

Compared to the Demonic Cult at that time, the current General Assembly was shabby, but it was still at a level that most companies wouldn’t dare to compare to.

“There is money. No, there’s a lot of it. But there’s a problem. In the end, the use of the General Assembly’s money is decided through the board of directors. The head of the Assembly has a lot of power, but when using a certain amount of money, they must specify how it will be used.”

“Hmm…”

Kang Jin-ho scratched his cheek.

“Taking money without approval for its use is called embezzlement. The only way Mr. Kang Jin-ho can use the General Assembly’s money right now is through embezzlement. No, it’s not even right to call it embezzlement. Mr. Kang Jin-ho doesn’t embezzle. It’s that an internal employee embezzles and gives it to Mr. Kang Jin-ho.”

“I know what you mean.”

Kang Jin-ho said calmly.

Lee Hyun-soo was mistaken about one thing.

Kang Jin-ho had no intention of taking the General Assembly’s money in the first place. That wasn’t his style. What he wanted to know was how modern martial artists made money. He needed to know that to figure out how he would make money.

“So, what I’m saying is….”

“Hmm?”

Lee Hyun-soo looked at Kang Jin-ho with serious eyes.

“How about taking complete control of the General Assembly on this occasion?”

Kang Jin-ho’s eyes shone coldly.