Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 860

“An investment company?”

“It’s just a rough name we’ve given it.”

“…You’re doing some strange things.”

Chairman Hwang Jung-hoo chuckled, seemingly amused by something.

“Legalization, huh? Legalization… That’s a good idea. You’ve come up with a decent idea for once.”

“Do you think this direction is right?”

“Why ask an old man’s opinion when you’ve already made up your mind?”

“I believe that in terms of business, there’s hardly anyone who can match your insight, Chairman.”

“Don’t lay it on too thick. You should know I’m not someone who’ll be pleased by such words.”

“I’m just stating the facts.”

“Hmm.” Hwang Jung-hoo nodded. “Alright, let’s see.”

“It seems that the benefits of legalization and corporatization would be much greater.”

“Much greater?”

“Of course. How do you launder illegal funds these days? Even buying a soda at the convenience store in front of your house leaves a record.”

Hwang Jung-hoo clicked his tongue.

“Back when cash was king, there was a lot of fun in skimming off the top, but now you can’t even dream of it. If you try something like that carelessly, you’ll end up in the back room instead of getting kickbacks. I don’t have a hobby of being locked in a cage.”

Hwang Jung-hoo shook his head.

“Have you been to prison?”

“I’ve been a few times. That’s how it was back then. If you installed a water pipe on this side of a building, it was a violation of the law, so if you moved it to the other side, it was a violation of another law.”

“So, when I had no choice but to choose one, I got caught for violating the building code. As I accumulated those records, it seemed like the Milky Way was about to fall on me. So, I spent some time in detention.”

Hwang Jung-hoo shrugged.

“People understand, so I don’t get cursed at. But I’m actually a convict.”

Kang Jin-ho chuckled.

“Getting back to the main point…”

“…You don’t even take a joke. Geez.”

“So, you’re saying that legalization is more profitable.”

“That’s right. But the process won’t be easy. All sorts of trash will cling to you.”

“That’s how the world is. Money is like dirty water, and bugs are attracted to dirty water. Once you try to do something, a lot of those guys will swarm around.”

“For example?”

“What else could it be? Politicians, of course. Those cancerous tumors of society.”

Hwang Jung-hoo shook his head.

He had been tormented by politicians his entire life. In the days when it was normal for politicians to be corrupt, how many of them had tried to take his money?

In those days, he couldn’t refuse their demands.

“Like flies to filth, politicians have an uncanny sense for money.”

“…”

“There’s only one way to deal with those guys.”

Hwang Jung-hoo smirked.

“To catch flies, you need to call a toad. Trying to swat them with your hand won’t do much. You need to involve a bigger figure.”

“A bigger figure?”

“Another politician. A figure big enough that a mediocre congressman wouldn’t dare to approach. At least someone who is a party leader needs to give their backing so that the small fries won’t even think about it.”

Kang Jin-ho frowned slightly.

He acknowledged that it was a good solution. However, getting in line with the political world and receiving their protection didn’t seem very clean. Kang Jin-ho didn’t think he was clean, nor did he intend to claim that he was.

Compared to him, who had killed countless people, most of the criminals in prison were like angels.

But this method was accompanied by an inexplicable sense of unease.

“It’s unavoidable.”

“Uh…”

“You could choose to go head-on, but that would take a lot of power and money. And all you’d get from that is a little superiority, nothing more.”

“Yes.”

Hwang Jung-hoo clicked his tongue.

“It’s not about trying to gain profit through corruption. It’s about preventing those who would try to interfere with the process of transitioning to a legitimate business. It’s not really a matter of conscience, is it?”

“Yes.”

Even so, Kang Jin-ho’s expression didn’t brighten, and Hwang Jung-hoo frowned.

“Hey, Jin-ho.”

“Yes, Chairman.”

Hwang Jung-hoo said without relaxing his stern face.

“A leader who has to take care of his people shouldn’t hesitate to get his hands dirty. Rather than making myself comfortable and burdening my people, I should choose to get my hands dirty so that they can be more comfortable. At least, that’s how I’ve lived my life.”

“You’re absolutely right.”

“Just close your eyes for a moment.”

Kang Jin-ho nodded quietly. He was right.

“Alright. Shall I introduce you to a suitable person?”

“No. That’s alright.”

“Huh? Alright?”

“Yes. I heard that there are already many politicians lined up. So, we can try to use them.”

“Pretending not to, but you’ve been pulling strings all along.”

“It wasn’t me…”

Kang Jin-ho smiled awkwardly.

“Well, that’s a relief. But a corporation…”

Hwang Jung-hoo’s eyes sharpened.

“Since the fields are different, there shouldn’t be any reason to get involved, but you’re not thinking of eating into our market, are you?”

“…That won’t happen.”

“Even if that’s not the case, I’m not too happy about being pushed down the business rankings. Do you know the scale of the launch?”

“I don’t really…”

“Tsk.”

“Ah, I do have the documents I received.”

Kang Jin-ho took out his phone. But no matter how hard he tried, the documents wouldn’t open.

“What are you doing?”

“It’s a bit…”

Kang Jin-ho pointed to the documents sent to his phone, and Hwang Jung-hoo clicked his tongue.

“You’re a modern person… well, no. I’m talking nonsense to an old man.”

Hwang Jung-hoo got up from his seat and pressed the intercom.

Hwang Jung-hoo, who had called someone, handed Kang Jin-ho’s phone over and instructed them to print the data. The secretary, who had asked Kang Jin-ho for his lock pattern, quickly ran out.

Soon, the printed documents and the phone were returned.

Kang Jin-ho took his phone, and Hwang Jung-hoo took the documents. Hwang Jung-hoo, who had ordered coffee from the secretary, took out a cigarette and offered it to Kang Jin-ho.

“Here.”

“Yes.”

Kang Jin-ho took the cigarette and lit it.

“Phew.”

Hwang Jung-hoo also put a cigarette in his mouth and began flipping through the documents.

“Let’s see, let’s see… where…”

Hwang Jung-hoo’s mouth closed.

His eyes widened slightly.

The hand flipping through the documents sped up.

Without even thinking of lighting the cigarette in his mouth, Hwang Jung-hoo flipped through the documents wildly. Then, he jumped up from his seat, went to his desk, and brought back his glasses.

Hwang Jung-hoo, wearing his glasses, began to examine the documents again from the beginning.

‘It feels strangely like I’m being punished… It’s like something is coming back to life from a distant memory.’

It was like the feeling of receiving a report card in his first life, not this one, and handing it to his mother.

After staring at the documents for a long time, Hwang Jung-hoo slammed them on the table and looked up at Kang Jin-ho.

After staring at Kang Jin-ho silently for a long time, Hwang Jung-hoo lit his cigarette with a hollow look. After a couple of puffs of white smoke, Hwang Jung-hoo finally opened his mouth.

“You thieving bastards.”

“You guys were eating up all the country’s money. And not even paying taxes?”

“Hey, you highway robbers! You’ve been eating this much and hiding it? I helped you guys out because I thought you were poor kids living in the mountains, training and eating dirt! You have no sense of decency!”

“I, I didn’t do it.”

“You’re the same! When did you become the head of that place! You must have known, right?”

It was a situation where he would get cursed at whether he said he knew or didn’t know. Kang Jin-ho, caught in an unguardable state, chose to remain silent rather than choose either side.

“So, you’re going to legalize only what can be legalized, and sell off the rest to turn it into cash, right? And then, you’ll be able to invest it into the company’s capital without any problems, right?”

“No.”

“What’s wrong again?”

Kang Jin-ho hesitated slightly and then opened his mouth.

“That’s the list of what we’re going to legalize. It’s a separate list…”

Hwang Jung-hoo’s eyes twitched. Kang Jin-ho also saw the reaction and turned his head slightly.

He hadn’t done anything wrong, but it was like…

It was like showing a huge sum of money won from illegal gambling to someone who had been working hard every day to save money.

Hwang Jung-hoo wasn’t just an ordinary salaryman, but the chairman of a large corporation, so this analogy might not be appropriate, but that was the face Hwang Jung-hoo was making right now.

Was he feeling the futility of life?

“…You thieving bastards.”

Harsh criticism poured out, but there was nothing he could say in his defense. Even to Kang Jin-ho, who had a very poor sense of money, the numbers written there were staggering. They were so staggering that no matter how many times he looked at them, he couldn’t understand what they meant.

Lee Hyun-joo probably didn’t send him the documents thinking he would understand anything. She just had to leave the data and report it.

“While others are working hard every day, these highway robbers!”

“They also worked hard in their own way…”

“Is eating up real estate and redevelopment zones hard work? Hard work? You’ll know what hard work is when blood pours out of your nose!”

“These bastards, looking at them, they bought the land first and then turned it into a development zone. How much money did they eat up… I heard that the world’s easy money is all eaten up by the Yakuza [Japanese organized crime syndicate] and the Mafia, but there were even worse guys in Korea.”

Kang Jin-ho sincerely paid his respects to Lee Joong-gul.

Who in Korea could elicit such a reaction from Hwang Jung-hoo? Regardless of whether it was illegal or legal, he couldn’t help but acknowledge his skill.

“Legalize it. I’ll help you.”

“Thank you.”

“There’s no need to thank me. It’s because I’m so twisted inside thinking that you were eating up all that money without paying a single tax.”

“I need to have a drink today. Damn it, if I had known this, I would have gone into the land business. What’s the point of a corporation?”

“L-Let’s go.”

“And!”

“Yes?”

“You’re paying today.”

Hwang Jung-hoo’s eyes blazed.

“It’s been over forty years since I last had someone buy me something. Today, I’m going to have you buy me something properly, so open your wallet.”

“I was giving money to a guy like this. From today, I’m cutting off the money going into your account, so keep that in mind. Got it?”

“…Yes.”

“Let’s go! I need to drink! Damn it.”

And that day, Kang Jin-ho learned two things.

Hwang Jung-hoo’s alcohol tolerance was enormous for his age.

And the common perception that Hwang Jung-hoo enjoyed makgeolli [Korean rice wine] was a lie.

Hwang Jung-hoo, who had drunk all sorts of expensive liquor until dawn, threw the bill at Kang Jin-ho and went home.

Ah, one more thing.

“What? There’s a limit on debit cards too?”

Kang Jin-ho, who had never known that there was a payment limit on debit cards as well as credit cards, ended up summoning Lee Hyun-soo to pay the bill.

Lee Hyun-soo’s endless grumbling echoed through the streets of Gangnam at dawn.