Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 1289

“I’m just kidding.”

“Seriously.”

Lee Hyun-soo, his face like a steel plate, pressed down on the accelerator. The car lurched forward, slightly rough.

“No, I am not, Chairman.”

His voice sounded as if he were gritting his teeth.

“Vacations can be taken anytime. It’s not that important. But isn’t this a crucial matter concerning the nation’s fate and the future of the Assembly?”

“Don’t worry about it. I’m fine.”

Just as Kang Jin-ho was about to chuckle, Lee Hyun-soo’s cold voice cut through.

“However, taking back what you’ve given is not something a person should do.”

“I’m fine. Hyun-joo might try to take my head… but it’s okay. We still have affection for each other, so would she really kill me? She’d probably just barely keep me alive.”

His words were a mix of threat and consolation.

“It was just a joke…”

“Chairman.”

“Yeah?”

“Jokes usually have a point to them.”

Kang Jin-ho, who had tried to joke around, ended up getting nothing in return.

“Let’s stop with the jokes.”

Lee Hyun-soo chuckled and said.

“I can postpone my vacation for a week. It’s that important.”

“It’s okay. Go on your vacation.”

“Chairman, I’m not joking…”

“I’m not joking either.”

“……Yes?”

“I’m saying, it seems like it’ll be fine even without you.”

Lee Hyun-soo frowned.

“Yes?”

“We’re not going to China together, and you’ll be staying in Korea. So, there’s not much for you to do.”

Oh?

Come to think of it?

Looking at it, this whole thing is happening in China. Unless he can monitor the situation in China in real-time, there’s nothing for Lee Hyun-soo to do in Korea.

If he went to China, he might have a role to play, but it’s too risky for Lee Hyun-soo to go to China.

In a situation where any variable could occur, Lee Hyun-soo, who can’t protect himself, is likely to become a burden.

“No, but I can still stay in Korea and keep track of the situation around us…”

“Really?”

Lee Hyun-soo, feeling a surge of emotion, looked at the rearview mirror.

Kang Jin-ho was shrugging with a nonchalant expression.

“You’re not saying I’m not helpful, are you?”

“That’s not what I’m saying…”

A slight smile formed on Kang Jin-ho’s lips.

“There’s a proper place for everything. It doesn’t seem like there’s a place for Director Lee to step in this time?”

In that instant, a vein popped on Lee Hyun-soo’s forehead.

He could endure not going on vacation.

He could endure being tormented by Lee Hyun-joo like hell.

He could endure the endless overtime and the fatigue that weighed down on him like a ton.

But there was one thing Lee Hyun-soo couldn’t stand.

“I’m not going on vacation.”

“I’ll prove once again how useful I am through this matter!”

Kang Jin-ho stared blankly at the back of Lee Hyun-soo’s head.

‘He’s making his own life harder.’

He didn’t know why, though.

He was telling him to go, even going this far, but seeing him insist on working, he felt beyond dumbfounded, almost pitiful.

‘I shouldn’t become like that.’

Even though ability and passion are important in this world, Lee Hyun-soo had gone way too far.

What would be left for that person if you took away his work?

“Anyway.”

Kang Jin-ho said firmly.

“It’s already decided, so go.”

“I’m not going.”

“I said go.”

“I said I’m not going.”

This, something feels a bit backwards, doesn’t it?

Even though the world they live in is a bit different from the ordinary world, is it okay for the situation to be this reversed?

“Just go…”

“I absolutely won’t go. Just fire me instead.”

“……No, I can’t fire you.”

“If you’re not going to fire me, then don’t tell me to go on vacation.”

Lee Hyun-soo was saying things that would make any labor union in Korea come running to smash his head in.

The rights that the workers of Korea had won with blood and tears were being trampled on here.

“Anyway, I don’t even know what I’d do on vacation, so it’s better this way.”

“Then let’s plan…”

“Let’s talk about it later…”

“Hmm, okay, I understand for now.”

Kang Jin-ho let out a deep sigh.

‘I need to send him for psychiatric treatment.’

There probably aren’t many sane people in the Assembly anyway, but Lee Hyun-soo is severe even among them.

“By the way…”

Lee Hyun-soo changed the subject.

“Are you planning to go to China yourself?”

“If I have to.”

“Hmm.”

“Why?”

“No, it’s just…”

Lee Hyun-soo scratched his head with one hand while holding the steering wheel with the other.

“I know the matter is important, but I don’t think it’s a good look for the Chairman to move personally for something like this.”

Kang Jin-ho chuckled.

“A good look?”

“It’s not just about appearances. Ideally, the Assembly should be run with everyone participating, centered around the Chairman, right?”

“That’s right.”

“It’s right for the Chairman to step in personally for really urgent or important matters…”

“This matter isn’t that important?”

“That’s my judgment.”

Kang Jin-ho shrugged.

“Then who should I send?”

“Well…”

“Bator?”

“Are you joking?”

Lee Hyun-soo was horrified.

Bator is a reliable person. Unlike his seemingly dull exterior, his mind is sharp and rational. His coldness and wisdom were clearly demonstrated in the recent war with Japan.

But this matter is something he absolutely cannot entrust to Bator.

‘This is an assassination.’

It’s like telling a tiger to go to the sea and gather seaweed.

If he had to choose one person among the many warriors in the world who is the least suited for assassination, he would choose Bator without hesitation.

“The moment Bator-nim [a respectful title] steps off the plane, the entire continent will know that Bator-nim has entered China.”

“……I guess so.”

Even Kang Jin-ho couldn’t deny that.

“Then Jang Min?”

“It’s not bad, but it’s a bit much to call someone who’s busy working in Japan for something like this…”

And he also had to think about whether it was really not bad.

Jang Min is usually a bit calmer than others, but when he gets his hands on something, he tends to go overboard. Considering that the purpose of assassination is to quickly eliminate a specific target….

‘If it were me, I’d use someone else.’

Then the only one left is….

“Wiggins?”

“A Western assassin in China would be stylish, I guess.”

A handsome old assassin. It would be a hundred times better than a failed movie. But that’s only when it’s a movie.

“Then Director Bang?”

“……I was wrong.”

Lee Hyun-soo sighed deeply.

It was a new realization, but there wasn’t a single ordinary person among the board members. Kang Jin-ho was also noticeable if you looked at him, and unique if you considered him unique, but there was no director he could send in Kang Jin-ho’s place.

There were people who seemed like they could do the job well….

‘Would it hurt them to look a bit more ordinary?’

The most basic element of secrecy is not being kept. Even Bang Jin-hoon, who looks the most ordinary among them, has a face that would make it impossible for him to protest even if he were suddenly stopped for a random search.

Even if news came that he was arrested by the Chinese public security for no reason, no one would be surprised. They would just sigh.

‘This is why you need to raise kids.’

It would be good if the Flame Demons could step in, but they are in Japan right now, and the young warriors who are not Flame Demons are not reliable enough to be put into this kind of mission yet.

‘I feel like I’ve become the coach of a soccer team with a thin player pool.’

He has an ace, but the bench is so thin that he has to keep using the same players. It might not be a problem in the short term, but in the long term, the main players will inevitably burn out.

The solution is simple. Either bring in suitable players or invest in youth development.

“I wonder if the kids are training well these days.”

“Huh?”

Lee Hyun-soo’s eyes narrowed.

‘I need to push them even harder.’

He had to make it so that Kang Jin-ho wouldn’t have to step in for these kinds of things as soon as possible. For the sake of the Assembly, and for Kang Jin-ho’s sake as well.

“Anyway, I will absolutely participate in this matter.”

“……That’s a disease.”

“It’s okay.”

Kang Jin-ho sighed deeply.

Lee Hyun-soo understood Kang Jin-ho’s reaction, but he couldn’t yield this time.

‘It’s dangerous.’

They were talking as if it wasn’t a big deal to avoid putting pressure on each other, but this was a much bigger deal than they were letting on.

First, it was important that this was the first matter the Assembly was undertaking at the request of the government.

And secondly….

‘China, and North Korea.’

China is, needless to say, the Assembly’s biggest enemy. Now that the Round Table and Japan have been dealt with, it is practically the only remaining enemy.

China.

To be precise, the Hong Wang faction among them is the Assembly’s biggest enemy. Even though they are currently hiding their faces behind the facade of an alliance, the Assembly does not trust China, and the Hong Wang faction does not trust the Assembly either.

It was a situation where he had to walk into China and carry out a mission.

Moreover, North Korea is….

‘There’s too little information.’

He had been talking as if he knew it well, but North Korea was just as much of an unknown territory for Lee Hyun-soo. There wasn’t enough time to gather information now.

In the end, he had to go to China in a situation where he couldn’t predict how much of a variable North Korea would be….

‘This is a mess.’

After organizing everything, he realized once again how dangerous this mission was. But if he said these things, Kang Jin-ho would obviously say that he had to go because of that.

“Hoo.”

Lee Hyun-soo, feeling a slight tightness in his chest, glanced at Kang Jin-ho in the rearview mirror.

“Smoke.”

Is he a ghost?

“Th, thank you.”

He used to be someone who couldn’t find a speck of awareness, but now he reads people’s minds like a ghost.

Lee Hyun-soo took out a cigarette, put it in his mouth, and lit it while holding the steering wheel.

Lee Hyun-soo, who had blown smoke out the open window, glanced at Kang Jin-ho and opened his mouth.

“Chairman, this matter…”

“Director Lee.”

“Yes?”

Kang Jin-ho interrupted Lee Hyun-soo.

“Investigate the people who were harmed by this drug incident.”

“We have to compensate them.”

“Chairman, but drugs are…”

“I know. That people who won’t do it even if you push them won’t do it. That even if we hadn’t released that drug, they would have done other drugs.”

“But that doesn’t mean we’re not responsible.”

Lee Hyun-soo unknowingly curled up the corners of his mouth.

‘He’s such a hard person to figure out.’

Sometimes he’s like a demon without any emotions, and other times he’s overly responsible.

Perhaps it’s because Kang Jin-ho’s standards for living are different from those of ordinary people in this world.

And….

“Yes. I will investigate immediately, Chairman.”

The reason why Lee Hyun-soo follows Kang Jin-ho like this might be because he can relate to those standards.

The car moved forward, a bit more cheerful than before.