Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 1052

“A loner?”

“What did you say? A loner?”

“…Please don’t laugh.”

Jo Gyu-min burst into laughter, as if he was about to suffocate.

A loner, seriously.

Who would have thought the day would come when Kang Jin-ho, of all people, would be called that?

Of course, Kang Jin-ho’s personality isn’t very outgoing, so it’s possible he might not get along well with others.

‘Still, come on.’

Even so, a loner? That’s just ridiculous.

“I saw the report when it came up…”

Jo Gyu-min chuckled as he looked at the report.

‘I never thought he’d go this far.’

It was a given that Kang Jin-ho would excel in the training program. Jo Gyu-min, who had watched Kang Jin-ho throughout his high school and college years, was even more certain of it.

But there are limits to everything.

“Why did you work so hard?”

“I didn’t exactly work hard…”

“Hehehe.”

Jo Gyu-min burst out laughing at Kang Jin-ho’s vague answer.

“It’s a situation where attending class together is a nuisance, so this can’t even be called workplace bullying.”

Jo Gyu-min wiped away the tears that had welled up as he looked at the report.

The report stated that Kang Jin-ho had already mastered the entire scheduled curriculum on his own. And because of that, the other trainees were feeling a considerable sense of deprivation, so they requested that measures be taken.

“The chairman will be pleased to hear this.”

“Hmm.”

Kang Jin-ho sighed.

“Well, it’s better this way.”

“Huh?”

“The reason the chairman put Mr. Kang Jin-ho in the training wasn’t really to have you receive this kind of education. It was more to have you gain experience in carrying out projects. But the problem is that the project-based training was all scrapped when the curriculum was reorganized.”

“Then?”

“Let’s ask the chairman first, see what he says.”

Jo Gyu-min laughed as if he was about to die of amusement.

“…What? The training is over?”

Hwang Jung-hoo stared at Kang Jin-ho, dumbfounded.

‘What kind of creature is this?’

How long has it been since it started, and he’s already finished the training?

“Who, who decides that?”

Jo Gyu-min shook his head.

“Chairman, this is a request from the training team.”

“The training team?”

“Yes. They say there’s nothing left to teach, he’s just a hindrance, and if he keeps coming to training, it’s just going to demoralize the other trainees, so they’re asking for measures to be taken.”

Kang Jin-ho’s face turned gloomy. There was no need to be so blunt about it…

“Goodness.”

Hwang Jung-hoo burst into a hearty laugh. It wasn’t a laugh of joy, but a laugh of bewilderment.

“Was the new employee training program at Jae-kyung that easy?”

“I wouldn’t say it was…”

Jo Gyu-min scratched his head.

The truth is, training has to be based on the level of the lowest-performing person.

But the problem was that the training program, which was created based on the average new employee at Jae-kyung, was too obvious for Kang Jin-ho.

‘It didn’t seem like this before.’

When Jo Gyu-min first met Kang Jin-ho, wasn’t he the one who was teaching him? But now, he doesn’t even dare to think about teaching Kang Jin-ho anything.

“Heh, wow. I don’t think I’ve ever experienced anything like this since I started my business…”

“It’s not something you can easily experience.”

Jo Gyu-min and Hwang Jung-hoo’s gazes landed on Kang Jin-ho.

Kang Jin-ho was leaning back on the sofa with a subtle expression.

“Hmm, since the purpose of the training is to improve the skills of the general trainees, if he’s a hindrance, we should remove him.”

“I agree.”

Kang Jin-ho became even more depressed.

Now he was being treated like a hindrance.

“Then, um…”

Hwang Jung-hoo quickly continued.

“Since it’s come to this, how about we take it a little further?”

“Huh?”

“Either way, that means he’s already at the level of a new employee, right? Then instead of wasting the remaining time, how about he actually works as an intern?”

“…Oh?”

Jo Gyu-min’s eyes widened slightly.

That wasn’t a bad idea. No, it was a good idea.

‘Definitely.’

Even though he’s not familiar with the company, someone like Kang Jin-ho would be an asset no matter what.

From Jae-kyung’s perspective, it’s good to have someone who is an asset as an employee, and from Kang Jin-ho’s perspective, it’s a good opportunity to experience real company life.

“But it’ll be hard for most departments to handle Mr. Kang Jin-ho. First of all, his unconventionality is too much…”

“Why are you worrying about that? You can do it.”

“Huh?”

“Put him in the secretary’s office.”

“Ah…”

Jo Gyu-min’s eyes lit up.

‘As expected of the chairman.’

His thinking is broader than mine.

The secretary’s office at Jae-kyung is taking on more work than in the past. It’s not just about assisting Chairman Hwang Jung-hoo’s schedule, but also about consolidating and reporting on proposals from various departments.

If he can work in the secretary’s office, he’ll be able to see how the company operates as a whole.

“That’s a brilliant idea.”

Besides…

Jo Gyu-min wore a sly smile.

‘That means I can boss Mr. Kang Jin-ho around.’

The secretary’s office is Jo Gyu-min’s territory.

He’ll have the legal authority to boss Kang Jin-ho around. At this point, he really wants to do it.

“Then let’s proceed with that…”

“Hold on.”

Just as Jo Gyu-min was about to agree, a sinister voice was heard.

Jo Gyu-min turned his head with a slightly stiff face.

Click.

Kang Jin-ho had taken out a cigarette and put it in his mouth.

“The contract was only for the training, wasn’t it?”

“If I can’t participate in the training, it seems right to go back… Now you’re talking about an internship?”

Kang Jin-ho smiled slightly.

But Jo Gyu-min knew that was definitely not a smile. That was the face Kang Jin-ho made when he was pissed off.

“Haha, well… there’s that kind of method too, that kind of method.”

Jo Gyu-min awkwardly laughed as he tried to smooth things over.

“Wouldn’t it be a good experience for you too?”

But Hwang Jung-hoo couldn’t let go of his attachment.

“I’ve had enough good experiences.” Kang Jin-ho shook his head.

“You’re not interested?”

Hwang Jung-hoo seemed quite serious.

So Kang Jin-ho had to answer seriously as well.

“I am interested, but I’m not free enough to do an internship here in the first place. I have quite a lot of things to do.”

“If you experience this work, it will help you with the work you’ll do in the future, won’t it?”

“There’s one thing I’ve learned in my life.”

“Oh? What is it?”

“I can’t do everything.”

“And I can’t be good at everything either.”

Kang Jin-ho curled up the corners of his lips.

“I came here to learn how things work to a certain extent. I’ve learned that, so that’s enough. If I’ve played enough, I need to go back now. If I’m not there, the people in the council will have a hard time.”

“Hmm.”

Hwang Jung-hoo nodded.

In fact, Hwang Jung-hoo knew better than anyone that it was an unreasonable request to have Kang Jin-ho participate in the training.

The position of chairman or president is a very strange one.

If you ask if it’s absolutely necessary for carrying out work, you can answer no. If a position has to be vacant, it might be less of a disruption to the work if the chairman is absent than if a department head is absent.

But if the chairman is not there, it becomes a problem. That was a subtle influence that couldn’t be explained systematically. A group whose head is absent is bound to falter.

The role Kang Jin-ho plays where he is now is not that different from the role Hwang Jung-hoo plays at Jae-kyung. So it’s right to send him back at this point.

“Tsk, I’d like to hold you back, but I guess I should thank you for joining me in this old man’s game.”

“It was beneficial.”

“It’s a shame, a shame.”

Hwang Jung-hoo smacked his lips.

“Are you really going to stop here?”

“Yes.”

Kang Jin-ho said calmly.

“I’ve done everything I needed to do.”

Kang Jin-ho smiled as he looked at Jo Gyu-min, who looked disappointed.

‘That’s enough.’

Kang Jin-ho had a different reason for coming here in the first place.

There were two purposes.

One was to check what kind of work the office workers of the General Assembly who participated in the training were learning, and the other was to make sure they could adapt well to the training programs of ordinary companies.

Even if Hwang Jung-hoo hadn’t specifically called him, Kang Jin-ho would have come here. Even if he didn’t participate directly like he did now, he would have stopped by several times to make sure there were no problems.

It’s that difficult for a martial artist to get along with ordinary people.

If Kang Jin-ho hadn’t been there, there would have been several accidents like the one that happened on the first day, and then the training itself might have been canceled. Just by preventing that, Kang Jin-ho had done his part.

Hwang Jung-hoo clicked his tongue and took out a cigarette.

“A promise is a promise.”

Click.

Hwang Jung-hoo, who had lit his cigarette, looked at Kang Jin-ho quietly and said,

“At this point, I think you’ve kept your promise too. I’ll make sure the trainees are perfectly trained.”

“Thank you.”

“Still, it’s a shame. If you learned a little more, it would be a great help.”

“I don’t think that’s my job.”

“Huh? What do you mean by that?”

“There’s someone else who actually has to run the company, so it’s not my job to learn. That person has to learn.”

“Huh?”

Hwang Jung-hoo tilted his head.

But Jo Gyu-min, as if he had caught on, widened his eyes and looked at Kang Jin-ho.

“Oh? Then, could it be…”

“When the time is right, I’ll send someone, so you have to train that person really thoroughly. They have the skills, but they have almost no experience in this area…”

“Mr. Kang Jin-ho.”

“Yes?”

His hand, which was holding his knee, was throbbing. Jo Gyu-min, who couldn’t contain his excitement and was trembling, stared at Kang Jin-ho with his piercing eyes.

“I can do it really well.”

“If you send them, I’ll do my best to roll… no, I’ll do my best to train them. I’ll pass on everything I know, and I’ll use every method I can to torment… no, to teach them. So, please, send them.”

“You promise?”

“Yes.”

Kang Jin-ho turned his head and looked out the distant window.

‘What kind of grudges have I been accumulating?’

I have to think of it as karma, there’s no other way.

“Ugh, damn it!”

“What’s wrong?”

“Why has my ear been so itchy since a while ago? Is someone talking about me? The only person who would do that is the council leader, right?”

“You’re supposed to be in training, what kind of talk is that?”

“Exactly. There’s no way, right? Ah, it’s itchy again.”

“…Go to the hospital. Maybe you have some weird disease?”

“A weird disease!”

Lee Hyun-soo poked his ear and then cracked his neck.

“Okay, is this all I have to do?”

“…You seem excited? It seems like you’ve adapted somewhat?”

“Rather than adapting, I’ve decided to think differently. Isn’t everything in life up to how you think about it?”

“Huh? What do you mean by thinking differently?” Lee Hyun-soo said with a grin.

“If you think about it again, the work will decrease a lot when the kids who went to training come back, right?”

“That’s obvious…”

“And since the council leader is also working hard to learn, we can delegate some of the work to him, right?”

Lee Hyun-soo chuckled.

“When the next batch of kids goes to training, I’m going to follow them and say I’m going to get training too. And then I’ll tell the council leader to do all this! When I think about it that way, it’s more enjoyable even though there’s a lot of work!”

Lee Hyun-joo shook her head.

That man, who was so brazenly planning a rebellion, was her boyfriend.

‘He’s going to get it bad one of these days.’

Lee Hyun-soo was the person who had suffered the most at the hands of the council leader in the General Assembly, but she couldn’t understand why he couldn’t let go of his obsession and kept going after him.

“Just imagining the council leader buried under a pile of documents makes me feel like a ten-year-old indigestion is going away. If I say I’m going to training, the council leader won’t have any justification to stop me!”

And so, Lee Hyun-soo was walking into the tiger’s den on his own two feet.

And he was doing it with a very happy heart.