Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 1239

“F-franchise?”As Joo Young-gi glared, Kang Jin-ho involuntarily squeezed his eyes shut.

“Hey, Yoo-min. Park Yoo-min.”

“Huh?”

Park Yoo-min, who was sipping his cola through a straw, tilted his head slightly and looked at Joo Young-gi.

Seeing this, Joo Young-gi grinned.

“Seriously, how old is this guy to be drinking cola so cutely?”

“No, no. I’m definitely not picking a fight. Did you hear what that guy said?”

“Who? Jin-ho?”

“Well, who else would it be?”

“I heard it.”

“What do you think?”

“Hmm…”

Park Yoo-min glanced at Kang Jin-ho and scratched his head.

“Well, um….”

After a slight pause, Park Yoo-min smiled and said,

“It’s Jin-ho’s style to just throw out the main point without any prior explanation.”

Kang Jin-ho coughed softly.

It was Park Yoo-min’s style to subtly criticize someone with a smile while saying that was their style. Though he didn’t seem to be aware of it himself.

“Even so, a person should at least use their turn signal before turning, isn’t that the basics of driving? What’s with turning right from the first lane without even signaling?” [referring to Jin-ho’s abruptness]

“That’s just how he is.”

“Well, you’re right. That guy never uses his turn signal.”

Kang Jin-ho looked at the two with a slightly awkward expression. Now, Joo Young-gi and Park Yoo-min seemed like friends of almost ten years. It was amazing to see how well these two, whose personalities were almost polar opposites, could play off each other.

“Brother.”

“Ugh.”

Joo Young-gi frowned and said,

“A person should have a beginning and an end. Don’t just throw out the main point, tell me the background first.”

“It’s exactly as I said.”

Kang Jin-ho shrugged and continued,

“I want to franchise the pizza place, can you help me?”

Joo Young-gi’s eyes twitched.

“Do you even know what a franchise is?”

“I know.”

Joo Young-gi rubbed his forehead.

“Okay, fine, you know. I know what a rocket is too. But you idiot, knowing what a rocket is and building one are two different things! How dare you talk about franchising without any fear? And! Is franchising something you can just do because you want to? You need people to join, right?”

“I have them.”

“……What?”

“I have people who will join.”

Looking at Kang Jin-ho’s calm face, Joo Young-gi sighed deeply. He instinctively knew that this wasn’t just empty talk, but something that was already in progress.

‘That’s how he always was.’

Joo Young-gi, who had been quietly watching Kang Jin-ho, downed his cola in one shot and slammed the glass on the table with a thud.

He now knew how to get accurate information from Kang Jin-ho.

“Okay, from now on, I’ll ask the questions, and you answer. Got it?”

“Okay.”

“First….”

Joo Young-gi began his barrage of questions.

“So….”

Joo Young-gi scratched his head with a distorted face.

“You want to start a franchise with your company’s capital?”

“Yes.”

“You can secure over a hundred members?”

“Yes.”

“But you’re unsure about who will handle the training and store management, so you want me to help?”

“That’s right.”

Joo Young-gi, having finally grasped the situation, smiled.

‘This guy is crazy.’

He had known it before, and he knew it now, but today he realized it again. His friend was definitely not normal.

But what could he do? His friend had never been normal, and the one who was frustrated wasn’t his friend, but him. A thirsty person has to dig a well [a Korean proverb meaning one must take initiative to solve their own problems].

“Exactly what kind of help do you want?”

“I want to franchise the pizza place. I want you to run the first and second stores and take charge of the training.”

“No, you idiot. If you franchise it….”

Joo Young-gi scratched his head vigorously.

“That means other pizza places will use our name and menu, right?”

“Yes.”

“Then, I should be the boss.”

“Yes.”

“So, what I’m saying… wait? Boss?”

“Yeah.”

Joo Young-gi’s eyes trembled.

‘This guy isn’t just crazy?’

He’s completely insane.

At this point, you could say he’s almost lost it.

“Hey, you idiot! Why would you make me the boss?”

“Is there a reason why not?”

Joo Young-gi sighed deeply and placed his hand on Kang Jin-ho’s shoulder.

“Jin-ho.”

“Yeah?”

“I like connections too. School ties, regional ties, family ties.”

“That’s the Korean way, right? Pushing and pulling each other. It’s a hundred times better to use someone I know than some random capable person. But there’s a limit to that, you idiot.”

Kang Jin-ho narrowed his brows.

Joo Young-gi, reading his thoughts, ‘I didn’t expect this guy to refuse?’ from that expression, looked at Park Yoo-min with a defeated face. Park Yoo-min smiled before Joo Young-gi could even speak.

“That’s Jin-ho’s charm.”

“Hey, you guys! I know you’re close, but at least criticize him a little!”

“Jin-ho, I don’t think that makes sense either.”

Park Yoo-min shrugged.

“It’s true that Young-gi runs the pizza place well, but that’s just his ability as a pizza place owner. The abilities required for a franchise owner and a small store owner are different.”

“Exactly!”

“And Young-gi has a lot of problems sitting in the boss’s seat. First of all, his education is short…”

Thud.

“His personality is a bit bad, and he’s not gentle with his subordinates…”

Thud.

“And he’s foul-mouthed and uncultured, so the people being trained would have a hard time.”

“……Hey, go easy on me!”

Joo Young-gi shuddered.

How can someone stab you while smiling? It hurts like hell.

“Jin-ho tends to evaluate the people around him too positively. Young-gi isn’t fit for that.”

“Hey, friend. Listening to you, your words are a bit harsh.”

“Am I wrong?”

“You’re right.”

Joo Young-gi nodded confidently.

“My capacity is only up to three stores. Anything more is too much.”

“But it’s amazing that you manage three stores this well.”

“Kuh, that’s why I can’t help but like Yoo-min. He’s the king of taming, the king of taming. I can’t resist the taste of the carrots he throws so appropriately [referring to positive reinforcement].”

Kang Jin-ho smiled contentedly.

‘They’re having fun.’

It wasn’t a light topic, but talking with his friends made him feel at ease.

Of course, he was often criticized, attacked, and ignored, but strangely, he felt more comfortable than when he was with the Assembly members who respected him.

“If you want Young-gi’s know-how, you can just give him a position in the training team or something, there’s no need to make him the boss.”

Kang Jin-ho turned his head and looked at Joo Young-gi.

“What do you think?”

“Isn’t it obvious?”

Joo Young-gi chuckled and said,

“It would be nice to wear the boss’s hat thanks to a friend. But there’s one lesson I’ve learned in my life so far.”

“A lesson?”

“If you eat too much, you get indigestion [a metaphor for taking on too much responsibility].”

Joo Young-gi waved his hand.

“People have their own place. What do I know to go there and act up?”

Kang Jin-ho chuckled.

Joo Young-gi had changed quite a bit from before. He used to have a bit of vanity about titles and positions, but recently, that vanity had disappeared, and he had become more straightforward.

“And I can’t do anything more here.”

“Isn’t the store stable?”

“Jin-ho.”

“Yeah?”

“Not everyone runs forward like you. I have a fox-like girlfriend and a rabbit-like younger brother. And that little brat is going through puberty these days, so he’s always acting prickly, which is a problem.”

Kang Jin-ho nodded with a smile.

‘That’s right.’

Joo Young-gi had his own life. It wasn’t a good idea to keep pulling him into his own life.

“I understand what you mean.”

“Don’t misunderstand. I’m not against the franchising itself. You’re the boss, so you should do what you want. What I’m against is me sitting in the boss’s seat.”

Joo Young-gi rubbed his nose and said,

“Every now and then, I realize that Kang Jin-ho doesn’t think things through. If I were to sit in the boss’s seat, what would other people say?”

“If I said so, I don’t think anyone would object?”

“Just because they don’t openly object doesn’t mean they don’t object, you idiot. This guy was clueless in the military, and he’s even worse now that he’s out.”

Joo Young-gi pointed to the employees working in the hall.

“Do you see them?”

“Yeah?”

“Those people are my masters.”

When he first started the pizza place, he used the children from the orphanage as part-timers, but as the pizza place stabilized and the children went back to school, most of the employees were replaced with full-time staff.

“If one skilled employee leaves, it’s a huge blow. So, you have to pay them more and think hard about how to make sure they’re happy at work. Being a store owner isn’t just about sitting around and making money.”

“Hmm….”

Joo Young-gi looked at Kang Jin-ho with slightly sharp eyes.

“You don’t seem like that these days, do you?”

Kang Jin-ho couldn’t answer right away.

Recently, Kang Jin-ho had proposed a vacation for the Assembly members. But if asked whether that vacation was for the Assembly members, he would have no answer.

“You can tell a lot from one thing. Being a boss isn’t about doing whatever you want. The head is not only responsible but also a gathering point. Did you even talk to anyone before trying to put me in the boss’s seat?”

“I didn’t think it was the right time yet…”

“If I had said I would do it, you would have just pushed it through?”

“That’s not true.”

Kang Jin-ho shook his head.

“I was going to talk about it.”

“But in your heart, you thought everyone would understand?”

Did he learn mind-reading?

Joo Young-gi chuckled and looked at Park Yoo-min.

“Our Jin-ho has succeeded. Right?”

“Yeah. He’s succeeded too much.”

“Hey, Jin-ho. Do you know what the characteristic of a successful person is?”

“What?”

“They don’t fail.”

What was that supposed to mean?

He wouldn’t just say something obvious in this situation.

When Kang Jin-ho looked confused, Joo Young-gi chuckled and continued,

“It’s exactly as I said. They don’t fail. They have all the luck, and everything they do goes well. Then, even if a person does something unreasonable, they don’t fail. Do you know what happens to that person?”

“What?”

“They start to think that all that success is because of their own ability.”

Kang Jin-ho’s eyes narrowed slightly.

Park Yoo-min also nodded in agreement.

“That happens a lot. It’s the same when playing games. If you win every time, and the game goes well every time, you feel like every choice you make is right. But in reality, it’s not that, it’s just that you’re forcing the wrong choices to be right.”

Joo Young-gi clapped his hands.

“Kuh, a perfect example. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

Joo Young-gi, who had been joking around, looked at Kang Jin-ho with a slightly serious face.

“You seem to be doing well these days.”

“But what I’m worried about, Jin-ho, is that if a person keeps succeeding and doing well, they’ll eventually become overconfident. Do you know when the problem arises?”

“It’s when someone else says the right thing and I say the wrong thing. In the past, I would have listened, but now I don’t. Why? Because I’ve succeeded by pushing through with what I thought.”

Kang Jin-ho’s expression subtly changed.