Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 1490

“We’ve hit the jackpot, CEO!”

“Right? This is definitely bringing in massive sales, isn’t it?”

“Is that even a question! At this rate, we’ll recover the initial investment in less than a year!”

“L-let’s calm down.”

Hwang Min-soo swallowed hard, his throat dry.

“This momentum can’t possibly last. There’s bound to be an opening boost!”

“I’m saying this while taking that into account. I’m assuming that next month, sales will drop by half, and the month after that, they’ll drop another 20%, and that amount will be maintained for about a year.”

“…Really?”

A jackpot exploded in Hwang Min-soo’s head.

Hwang Min-soo, who had been imagining golden coins pouring down, quickly shook his head.

“I said, calm down!”

Whether he was telling himself or the directors, Hwang Min-soo shouted first.

“Don’t get carried away! It hasn’t even been a week since we opened! Is this the time for us to be like this? Even at this moment, there are definitely problems arising! We should be fixing those problems and stabilizing sales, not getting blinded by money!”

“…Ah!”

The directors calmed their fidgeting, as if they were reflecting on their behavior.

‘As expected of the CEO.’

‘He can stay calm even after seeing these sales. He’s on a different level.’

‘Come to think of it, considering the amount of money he used to handle, this must be nothing to him.’

Everyone was newly impressed by Hwang Min-soo’s composure.

But it was right then.

“Good morning.”

As Kang Jin-ho opened the door and entered, Hwang Min-soo jumped up from his seat and shouted.

“We’ve hit the jackpot, Chairman! We’re rich now!”

So much for composure.

“Reporting in.”

The conference room, which had been swept by a storm, was now filled with a subtle tension.

Lee Hyun-joo slightly adjusted her glasses and continued.

“Sales have reached eight times the expected target. That’s over 700% exceeded.”

“Eight times. Oh my god, eight times. Is this a dream or reality?”

Hwang Min-soo mumbled, almost in a daze.

‘I thought it would do well…’

‘I didn’t think it would fail. After all, the capital was exceptional. Other companies try to raise franchise fees and save as much as possible to cut costs on interior design and everything else, but this company has so much cash that it’s practically rotting, so we could do whatever we wanted.’

‘Plus, we secured the taste, so our competitiveness is solid.’

‘But business is full of unpredictable variables. There are so many cases of businesses that were expected to succeed that failed, it’s hard to list them all.’

‘So, it was hard to let go of the tension until the very end.’

‘But eight times, oh my god.’

“The company has luck, it has luck.”

“The start couldn’t be better. It seems that the Chairman and the directors’ direct marketing and the impact of the CF [Commercial Film, a Korean term for advertisement] were major factors.”

“Oh, that was a big deal.”

“Chairman, your name was trending on the real-time search rankings. Did you see it?”

Kang Jin-ho coughed awkwardly.

Having his name and face known wasn’t something he welcomed.

“Chairman.”

“Hmm?”

“You need to get used to it. We’re aiming for public exposure. We can’t live in the shadows under the name of the Assembly forever, can we?”

“…That’s true.”

Lee Hyun-joo looked at Kang Jin-ho with determined eyes.

“It’s important for MK’s name to be known, but it’s also important for the Chairman’s name to be known. When the Chairman’s face appears on TV and his name is naturally mentioned, the Assembly members will realize that they no longer have to live hidden.”

“I know, but it’s a bit awkward.”

“You need to get used to it. In fact, Chairman, you’ve lived too comfortably compared to the power you’ve had. With great power comes great responsibility.”

“Huh? I saw that in a movie?”

Koo Jung-beom chimed in thoughtlessly, and Noh Tae-kwang gritted his teeth.

“Control your mouth. Don’t embarrass us in front of the Chairman.”

“…No, I just said I saw it.”

Choi Byung-chan also smiled gently.

“Director Koo.”

“Yes?”

“Shut your mouth.”

“…Yes.”

Lee Hyun-joo cleared her throat slightly and continued.

“Anyway, the start is great, but there are still problems. First of all, the supply of coffee beans is insufficient. The pre-made coffee bean stock is running out.”

“W-well, that’s to be expected.”

Hwang Min-soo wiped the sweat from his forehead.

He had prepared about 500% of the expected sales, but he didn’t expect them to sell out at this rate. It was only natural that they would be insufficient.

“We need to increase production as quickly as possible. Otherwise, we’ll have to close the stores in about two weeks due to a lack of coffee beans.”

Kang Jin-ho looked at Hwang Min-soo.

“What’s the plan?”

“Well, I’m asking Factory Manager Kang to do his best, but it’s a manpower shortage, so there’s not much that can be done by pushing him…”

“Hmm.”

Kang Jin-ho nodded.

Kang Yoo-hwan would also be doing his best. But physical limitations can’t be overcome with willpower.

Kang Jin-ho looked at Lee Hyun-joo.

“What do you think?”

“I’ll recruit more people. We can hire additional candidates from the last round of applicants who were rejected.”

“There’s training time.”

“Actually, it’s not so much about needing skills, but about enduring the level of labor that humans can’t handle… With training, they can be deployed in just one day.”

Hwang Min-soo’s face turned pale.

‘No, if it’s a level of labor that humans can’t handle, then you shouldn’t deploy them.’

‘Then what about the people working now? Are they not human?’

It was a natural thought for those who didn’t know the true nature of the Murim [Martial Arts World, a term for a community of martial artists in Korean fantasy novels].

“That will still take a few days, won’t it?”

“We won’t let them sleep. We’ll temporarily switch the current eight-hour shifts to twelve-hour shifts. If we set the additional work pay at 300% and provide separate performance bonuses, there won’t be any complaints.”

“Hmm, will that solve it?”

“If it really comes down to it, I’ll go and stir the beans myself.”

That didn’t sound like a joke. Kang Jin-ho smiled wryly and opened his mouth.

“Then, Director Lee, take full charge of this and solve it. I’ll support you fully. You can use my name if you need to.”

“If I can use the Chairman’s name, I’d like to try a sixteen-hour shift instead of a twelve-hour one.”

“…I’ll cancel the part about using my name for now.”

“Is that so?”

Lee Hyun-joo clicked her tongue as if she was disappointed.

‘She’s becoming more and more like Lee Hyun-soo.’ They say couples resemble each other.

No, they’re not a couple yet.

Actually, this was less about the two of them being similar and more about the Assembly and Murim’s unique concept of ‘Murim are not human’ and the ‘everything can be solved by pushing them’ mentality.

If you exclude all emotions and think rationally, the Murim currently working in the factory can work for about a week without sleep without breaking down.

But…

‘That’s not right.’

As long as we’re operating under the guise of a company, we need to respect labor laws and care about welfare as much as possible. Training is a different story, but I don’t want to make money by grinding people down.

“Even twelve hours is a bit uncomfortable…”

“Chairman, you’re not necessarily right about that.”

“Huh?”

“The need to guarantee rest time and personal time is only relevant when the compensation is ambiguous. With a 300% additional payment, they’ll be the first to rush to work.”

“It would be unreasonable to maintain that system for a long time, but they can do it for about a week. If the compensation is sufficient and reasonable, people won’t complain.”

That’s the Assembly’s way of thinking. Oh, right.

Lee Hyun-joo was definitely Lee Joong-gul’s granddaughter.

“Anyway, make sure it doesn’t violate labor laws.”

“It’ll be impossible to do it completely, but I’ll try my best.”

One problem had been solved.

“What’s next?”

“There’s a shortage of manpower. There are more customers than expected, so we can’t handle the current order volume. We need to hire more part-timers, but we don’t have the capacity to hire and train them right now.”

Hiring additional people is no easy task.

If you’re already busy and have to teach beginners at the same time, the work becomes twice as hard.

Of course, the store owners wouldn’t have physical problems, but unless they have two bodies, there’s a limit to what they can do in a limited amount of time.

“What’s the solution?”

“It seems that the problem is that part-timers are trained at headquarters. We’ll temporarily implement in-store training. Once we have a little more time, we can call them to headquarters for training.”

“Huh? We don’t have time.”

“Training can be done after closing hours, and the machines can be used.”

“The part-timers have to go home, but the store owners can stay and train. The guidelines have been delivered, and we’re currently selecting resumes.”

Uh…

Isn’t that fundamentally the same solution as the factory?

Kang Jin-ho realized that this company, MK, didn’t have any differentiated technology, and it was a company that only worked by grinding down its differentiated workforce.

So, to increase production or sales, the only option was to grind down the workforce.

Moreover, most of the core members of MK were from Murim, so Lee Hyun-joo had no qualms about grinding people down.

“Hmm, the store owners will have a hard time.”

“Then should we look for another way?”

“No. I said they’ll have a hard time.”

Kang Jin-ho looked at Lee Hyun-joo with eyes that said, ‘Why would we look for another way?’

He might nag at Lee Hyun-joo, but in fact, Kang Jin-ho was the originator of the idea that people get stronger the more they’re pushed.

The Murim of Lee Joong-gul’s era did dirty work, but they lived relatively leisurely lives. However, after Kang Jin-ho became the head of the Assembly, it was running like a runaway train.

If he had even a little bit of guilt about grinding people down, this would never have happened.

“However…”

“Yes, Chairman.”

“The reason this method is possible right now is because the Murim are the store owners and the workers. But MK can’t run only on Murim forever, can it?”

“Of course not.”

“In the long term, find a way that ordinary people can do it too.”

“I’ll keep that in mind, Chairman.”

Kang Jin-ho nodded.

“Then, are there any other problems?”

Hwang Min-soo swallowed hard and opened his mouth.

“The marketing team wants to strike while the iron is hot. In that regard, we need a few additional approvals from the Chairman.”

“Huh? Approvals?”

“It’s nothing much. It’s just about giving some free gifts to the buyers.”

“Is that something that needs approval?”

“Hahaha, that’s what I’m saying. Just sign here, here. Anyway, it’s something that needs the Chairman’s approval.”

Kang Jin-ho signed without much thought.

And Hwang Min-soo slyly lowered the documents before Kang Jin-ho could see the contents.

‘Got it!’

‘You did well, CEO!’

‘Sales! Sales are coming in! This will bring in more sales!’

Kang Jin-ho tilted his head, noticing the meaningful glances from the board members. However, Lee Hyun-joo continued her report, and Kang Jin-ho quickly dismissed it from his mind.

Soon, Kang Jin-ho realized something.

That signing documents should never be done carelessly.

“Just how far is that guy going?”

Han Jin-sung stared blankly at the commercial on TV. Kang Jin-ho’s face was now appearing on the screen.

Of course, he had been on TV before. There was that drama that Kang Jin-ho considered a dark chapter in his life. Well, Han Eun-sol had enjoyed it, though.

But this time, it felt different from that drama.

In the drama, Kang Jin-ho’s role wasn’t significant. But this commercial, no matter what anyone said, was clearly centered around Kang Jin-ho.

The feeling it gave was distinctly different.

“Wow! Oppa, he’s so handsome.”

“Isn’t Yeon-ha noona [older sister or female friend] pretty?”

“They’re both so good-looking. The world is so unfair.”

“What is?”

“Some people get to drink coffee with a guy like that, while I’m stuck munching on snacks with this squid.”

At Jo Mi-hye’s words, Han Jin-sung flared up and glared at her.

“Hey! I want to eat snacks with someone like Yeon-ha noona too, you know?”

“From the moment you said you wanted to eat snacks together, you’re out, oppa [older brother or male friend].”

“Huh…?”

“Never mind. You wouldn’t understand anyway. I might as well be talking to a brick wall.”

Jo Mi-hye shook her head as if there was no hope.

Han Jin-sung felt a strong sense of injustice, but he instinctively knew that it wouldn’t do him any good to say more here.

Han Jin-sung, feeling awkward, scratched his cheek as he subtly turned his gaze toward the TV.

“But seriously, Jin-ho hyung [older brother or male friend] is amazing.”

“What is?”

“When he first came here, he was just Yumin hyung’s school friend. He was a bit, how should I say it, clumsy? No, not clumsy, but more like, um…”

“Anyway, he seemed like he was missing a screw.”

“It’s a bit different from that, though…”

The Kang Jin-ho that Han Jin-sung remembered was a really good person.

Children in orphanages are quick to read people. They know that even if they make a mistake, there’s no one who will protect them until the end, so they are sensitive to how others look at them.

It’s a sad thing, but this is a habit that doesn’t disappear no matter how good the orphanage is.

Even to Han Jin-sung, Kang Jin-ho was a truly amazing person.

From the time he started coming here at that young age, he never showed them any prejudice.

However, how should I put it….

“It’s a bit weird to call it a screw, but anyway, he felt like someone was missing something.”

“Isn’t that the same thing?”

“Saying he’s missing a screw makes him sound stupid. It wasn’t like that.”

“Hmm, that’s right. Jin-ho oppa is smart.”

Back then, the orphanage wasn’t as big as it is now. The children at the orphanage relied solely on the head nun and lived day by day. The head nun showed them so much affection that they were much brighter than other orphanages, but….

‘Still, there were limits.’

Lack of money and support couldn’t be overcome with just affection. When I think of Park Yu-min, who was the oldest at the orphanage at the time, all I remember is his slumped shoulders.

Then, one day, Kang Jin-ho suddenly appeared.

And then, he naturally blended into a part of the orphanage as if he had always lived there.

“Thinking about it, he’s a really weird hyung.”

“What is?”

“Does someone usually hang out at an orphanage just because their friend lives there?”

“……No, they don’t.”

Thinking about it, neither Han Jin-sung nor Jo Mi-hye had bad friendships, but none of their friends had ever come here.

It’s also true that the two of them didn’t try to bring their friends here, but there wasn’t anyone they could even bring up the idea to in the first place. Besides, their old orphanage was at the very top of the shantytown, wasn’t it?

Kang Jin-ho was the one who rode his bike up there. And he even had Park Yu-min on the back.

“He’s not normal.”

“In many ways.”

Park Yu-min still thinks the world of Kang Jin-ho. It’s not a joke; he’s someone who would really die for Kang Jin-ho if he was in danger.

Some might say that’s an overreaction, but Han Jin-sung felt like he understood Park Yu-min’s feelings.

‘No one knows that feeling.’

The joy of meeting someone who looks at you without any prejudice when you’ve been at the bottom of the world and received scornful looks from others is something that ordinary people can’t imagine.

Han Jin-sung was also saved by Kang Jin-ho’s gaze.

That’s why the people at the orphanage like Kang Jin-ho. Now that the subtle difficulties of the past have disappeared, they’ve become like a neighborhood fool they tease, but…

That’s also an expression of their closeness. If Kang Jin-ho showed even a little bit of displeasure, no one here would treat him like that.

However, how should I put it….

“It’s a bit like that.”

“What is?”

“It might sound weird if I say this…”

“Oppa, you’re already a bit weird, so you don’t have to worry about that.”

Thank you. Thank you so much, I’m crying.

Han Jin-sung sighed deeply and said,

“Seeing Jin-ho hyung on the TV screen like that, it feels like he’s gotten a bit distant.”

“What…”

Jo Mi-hye, who was about to scold Han Jin-sung, shut her mouth.

Although she didn’t say it, Jo Mi-hye was feeling the same way.

It’s strange.

They had just gone to the United States together not too long ago.

“Of course, I know that Jin-ho hyung isn’t the kind of person who would distance himself from us just because he’s on TV. Of course, I know. Jin-ho hyung is originally that kind of person. But… um, I feel a bit uncomfortable.”

Han Jin-sung scratched his head.

It was difficult to express the uncomfortable feeling he had in his heart right now. This might be less of a disappointment about Kang Jin-ho and more of a disappointment in Han Jin-sung himself.

It felt like no matter how hard Han Jin-sung tried, it had become impossible to influence Kang Jin-ho’s life.

‘I still wanted to repay him a little bit….’

Kang Jin-ho would probably say, ‘You don’t owe me anything,’ but… how could people’s hearts be like that?

“Don’t say weird things. Jin-ho oppa isn’t that kind of person.”

“Jin-ho hyung wouldn’t, but people are like that. Jin-ho hyung will be busy with business and everything, so he won’t be able to come here as often as before…”

That’s when it happened.

Bang!

The door burst open, and a huge tower of boxes came into Han Jin-sung and Jo Mi-hye’s view.

“Huh?”

“Huh?”

Boxes stacked high. It didn’t take long for them to realize that the boxes were pizza boxes.

“Hmm.”

The person who came in.

Kang Jin-ho put down the stacked pizza boxes and turned around to go back outside.

“Hy, hyung! Hyung, where are you going?”

Han Jin-sung urgently called out to Kang Jin-ho.

Then, Kang Jin-ho slightly turned his head and looked at Han Jin-sung with a strange look.

“I’m going to get the cola?”

“Ah…”

“Why?”

“Ah, no, it’s nothing.”

Kang Jin-ho tilted his head and went back outside.

Jo Mi-hye gave a faint smile to Han Jin-sung, who was staring blankly at the scene.

“What’s wrong with Jin-ho oppa?”

No, well…

Um.

Chomp.

Kang Jin-ho shoved pizza into his mouth like someone with a grudge.

“You’re staying the night?”

“Can’t I?”

“It’s not like you can’t. Who would say anything if you’re staying here?”

“I’ll leave if it’s uncomfortable.”

“Do they look uncomfortable?”

Looking at the kids half-lying on the floor eating pizza, they were definitely about 30,000 light-years away from being ‘uncomfortable.’

“But why aren’t you going home?”

“I just want to rest today.”

“What does that mean?”

“No, it’s just that…”

When he goes to work, he has to deal with Lee Hyun-joo and the executives, and when he goes home, he has to avoid the fussing Kang Eun-young and the sharp glares of Baek Hyun-jung.

And there was an even bigger problem….

‘I can’t face my father.’

Kang Yu-han was practically dying right now.

Because the cafe was doing too well, the consumption of coffee beans had skyrocketed beyond imagination, and naturally, Kang Yu-han, who was in charge of coffee bean production, was directly hit by the busyness.

Kang Yu-han doesn’t roast the beans himself, but he has to inspect the roasted beans and decide whether to supply them or discard them.

Originally, he only had to stop by once a day to check the roasted beans, but due to the shortage of supplies and the demands of the store managers, the roasted beans were being shipped out immediately.

As a result, Kang Yu-han was in a situation where he had to check the roasted beans at the factory almost like a 5-minute standby team and immediately decide whether to ship them out.

Moreover, the factory is running 24 hours a day, isn’t it?

They decided to store some of the beans made in the early morning to secure some time to sleep, but there was no way a normal person could endure this schedule.

When Baek Hyun-jung, who only cares about her son, saw Kang Yu-han returning home exhausted late at night, she shouted, ‘I gave birth to a bad son, and now he’s eating his father alive!’ What more is there to say?

The problem was Kang Yu-hwan’s artisan spirit.

“What? Send them out without inspection? I won’t see that happen before I die. Do you think they roast the beans consistently? No way!”

It would have been cool if he hadn’t been drinking ginseng extract like water while saying that.

Anyway, due to those circumstances, Kang Jin-ho was now very embarrassed to go home.

That’s why he ended up coming here.

Han Jin-sung and Jo Mi-hye, who had roughly heard the situation, looked at Kang Jin-ho with utterly pathetic eyes. Kang Jin-ho subtly avoided their gaze and shoved pizza into his mouth.

“Do you want some cola?”

“Uh…”

..Huu.

Kang Jin-ho, after drinking the cola, let out a deep sigh.

“This isn’t what I had in mind…”

“That’s life, hyung. If life went according to plan, I would have gone to Korea University too.”

“……That’s comforting.”

Han Jin-sung couldn’t help but laugh.

Kang Jin-ho’s situation was really absurd, but the fact that this orphanage was the place Kang Jin-ho considered the most comfortable after his home made Han Jin-sung feel good.

It’s not like Kang Jin-ho is broke, and if he needed a place to rest, he could go to a hotel, but he still came all the way to the orphanage.

“Did you bring clothes to change into?”

“……I bought underwear.”

“There are some kids’ tracksuits in there. Don’t just stand there, go change, hyung.”

“Okay. I got it.”

Watching Kang Jin-ho scratch his head and go into the room, it felt like his older brother, who had gotten a job far away, had come home for a visit.

Jo Mi-hye shook her head as she watched the scene.

“I really don’t understand that oppa.”

“Why?”

“No, sometimes when he’s serious or when I see him on TV, he’s such a cool person, but when I see him normally, he’s like a total goofball.”

“……Yeah.”

That’s true. That’s definitely true.

But….

“Isn’t that a good thing?”

“……I guess so.”

Jo Mi-hye ended up laughing too.

Kang Jin-ho was getting busier day by day, and maybe the time he could spend here would decrease more and more.

But it felt like they had confirmed that Kang Jin-ho’s heart wasn’t moving away from this place.

Bang!

At that moment, the door opened, and someone rushed inside.

“Jin-ho, are you here?”

Seeing Park Yu-min come in with an excited face, the two of them sighed.

Two fools, there are two fools.