Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 1538

“Heh heh heh heh heh.”

“Kee hee hee hee hee.”

“Heh heh heh heh.”

Kang Jin-ho’s forehead throbbed, a vein pulsing visibly.

The recent, somewhat tense general meeting had been disrupted, regaining its liveliness due to a certain incident.

The problem was, this incident was absolutely not positive for Kang Jin-ho.

Tap! Tap! Tap! Tap!

He wanted to cover his ears.

But even if he did, he couldn’t silence the incessant ringing of his cell phone.

“Wow, the world is amazing. Things like this are actually happening now?”

“Heh heh heh heh, that’s so true.”

The first comment was Bator’s, and the one who followed with a vile-sounding laugh was none other than Wiggins.

Kang Jin-ho bit his lip slightly.

Under normal circumstances, Kang Jin-ho wouldn’t have tolerated their antics and would have shown them what a violent punishment was.

But this time, it felt awkward to just beat them up. They hadn’t done anything seriously wrong, nor were they openly mocking him.

It was just….

“Just do it moderately.”

“Huh? You mean, do it moderately?”

Lee Hyun-soo started to act cheeky.

Seeing that, a vein popped out on Kang Jin-ho’s forehead.

Come to think of it, that bastard is the root of all evil.

If that guy hadn’t told them about this, he wouldn’t have had to endure this humiliation.

Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!

The KakaoTalk [a popular messaging app], which he had set to vibrate, was ringing incessantly.

“Heh, is this what they call an emoticon?”

“Hah ha ha ha ha! It’s really awesome, isn’t it?”

Kang Jin-ho lowered his head slightly and unlocked his phone.

There were not just dozens, but hundreds of messages. The app seemed to have given up counting, displaying a rough “300+” and ignoring the rest.

Kang Jin-ho opened the chat window with trembling hands.

And then, he witnessed the horrific sight with his own eyes.

Faces.

Emoticons modeled after Kang Jin-ho’s face were plastered all over the chat window.

‘Damn it.’

Those damn bastards were nonchalantly sending messages.

They refused to create a group chat for the general meeting’s executives, saying they weren’t good at it, but as soon as they heard that these emoticons were released, they joined the chat in a flash and were sending Kang Jin-ho several emoticons per second.

“Hah ha ha! It’s an amazing world. No, it’s an amazing thing. To have the owner’s face used in a chat room!”

“It’s amazing that they even thought of releasing this. Their business acumen is no joke. It’s not like they’re young people, but older people came up with this idea… Heh, cough…”

Watching Wiggins cover his mouth, Kang Jin-ho felt his soul leaving his body.

Wiggins was now convulsing with a flushed face, unable to hold back his laughter.

‘Is it that funny?’

Is it?

You rotten bastards!

“All sorts of strange things are coming out. Gee, the world doesn’t wait for anyone.”

Bang Jin-hoon seemed more surprised by the fact that there were emoticons with people’s faces than by the fact that Kang Jin-ho’s face was released as an emoticon.

“Is this the first time?”

“It’s not the first time.”

Lee Hyun-soo shook his head.

“There have been many cases of creating emoticons with celebrities’ faces before. They were more for advertising than for sale. It’s the same for us, though.”

Lee Hyun-soo’s cheeks puffed up.

“Anyway, when you think about it, the Guild Leader is perfect for this kind of thing. First of all, his face is a hit, isn’t it? And it’s great that he doesn’t have to do any lines or facial expressions, right?”

Kang Jin-ho closed his eyes tightly.

‘I knew it.’

They kept taking pictures throughout the advertisement shoot.

I thought they were just taking image shots, but they were planning to make this.

Kang Jin-ho looked at the emoticons and sighed deeply.

They were diverse.

There were dozens of ‘subtly’ different faces. Kang Jin-ho never thought he could make so many different expressions.

“But it’s a bit of a shame that all the expressions are the same.”

The same?

This?

Where do you see that?

“Well, there are memes like that, so it’ll be fine. It would be better if there was one angry expression.”

“No way. When that guy gets angry, his expression disappears.”

“Ah, that’s true.”

Kang Jin-ho covered his face with both hands.

It was humiliating.

Terribly humiliating.

To think that his face was being downloaded and circulated in chat rooms everywhere, could there be anything more terrible than this?

“But how did you manage to get permission?”

“……I didn’t know.”

“So, you made this without permission?”

At that moment, one memory flashed through Kang Jin-ho’s mind.

“I did hear that they needed permission to do a new event….”

“And you readily agreed?”

“I got tricked.”

“You got tricked.”

“Wow! A master angler!”

Anger surged.

Anger!

And at that moment, Lee Hyun-soo further aggravated Kang Jin-ho.

“I have good news!”

“What… is it?”

“I just got a call, and the number of downloads is exploding.”

Good news?

Is that good news?

Kang Jin-ho’s mental state began to ascend.

This terrible incident started with a very simple promotion. Cafe Luo Go started a KakaoTalk Plus Friend service and offered emoticons to those who became their Plus Friends.

The name of this damn emoticon was ‘Our Boss is Treating.’

Whoever came up with it, it was a damn good name.

“If the advertisement worked well, shouldn’t we celebrate, Master!”

“Just do it moderat….”

Never mind.

If I had known this would happen, I should have beaten Bator yesterday and made his eyes look like a panda’s….

“But why are your eyes like that?”

Bator’s lips twitched.

“Something happened.”

“Looks like you got hit pretty hard?”

“Who got hit!”

Bator yelled and stood up from his seat!

“I am Bator! Who would dare hit me! Even if you are the Master, you shouldn’t say such things!”

“Okay, okay, wipe your tears.”

Bator gritted his teeth and sat back down. Then, he picked up his phone and started sending emoticons like crazy.

That petty….

“Anyway, the promotion is a huge success, Chairman.”

A vein popped out on Kang Jin-ho’s forehead.

“We’re also giving away prizes to people who download the emoticons through a lottery, so the downloads will continue to increase. This, we could even sell it for money later, right?”

“Didn’t you already get a lot?”

“Ah, this is a 30-day limited edition.”

30 days.

I just have to endure for 30 days, 30 days.

A vein popped out on Kang Jin-ho’s forehead. It would be 30 days of hell, but he just had to get through that period!

It was then.

Buzz buzz buzz buzz!

He had muted the group chat, but his phone was ringing again. Kang Jin-ho, who checked his phone just in case, trembled.

—

There=1ThereThereThereThereThereThere What is this There There There There That That There There Ah=1 AAARRAARAAA I’m dying There There There There There There There There There There There There There =1 =1 =1

—

Our Jin-ho is handsome! Very handsome There There There There There There There There There There There There

ThatThatThatThat That There There ThatThatThat There There There

Ah, I want to buy a hundred There There There There There There There There There There There There There

Stop it.

Don’t you do this too….

— I have to brag to people. Don’t worry. I’ll guarantee the number of downloads.

Don’t do it!

Please!

Kang Jin-ho, completely worn out, hung his head low.

‘I feel like my brain is melting.’

If this was a strategy by the Chinese to break Kang Jin-ho’s mentality, Kang Jin-ho would have applauded. He had never experienced such a mental attack in his life.

Kang Jin-ho, who could break through the mental attacks of the Blood Demon who was hiding in the shadows and sending emoticons, couldn’t bear this.

‘Just kill me.’

The chat was a mess.

— Oppa=1 There There There There There There There There There There There There There There There There

Oppa, you’re awesome There There There There There There There There There There There There There There There There There

Let’s leave Kang Eun-young aside.

— My son is handsome even here! Mom is showing it off everywhere.

Please don’t, Mother. Why are you doing this to me?

— HyungThereThereThereThereThereThereThereThereThereThere

Hyung, are you crazy? There There There There There A More There A More More There There A There A There There A There There There There

I will definitely find this bastard at the orphanage.

— Jin-ho, the emoticons came out so cute.

Kang Jin-ho, who even checked Park Yu-min’s message, let out his soul.

Hwang Min-soo.

To think that this man would send him to hell.

“Is it okay to use people’s faces like this?”

“What’s the problem with the company using the Chairman’s face?”

No, come to think of it, it seems right.

But it doesn’t seem right either.

This is kind of subtle….

Then, Lee Hyun-soo grinned.

“Give up. Once something like this starts, there’s no way to stop it. You just have to accept your fate.”

“……But why are you smirking?”

“Haha, it’s good to live with a smile.”

Kang Jin-ho sighed deeply.

What he said was right.

Since the emoticons were released today, there was nothing he could do about this reaction. For now, he had to live like a dead mouse and wait for this craze to pass.

Eventually, it would be forgotten. It was a 30-day limited edition.

But the problem was that the craze was too extreme.

Bang!

The door burst open as if it would break, and a person rushed into the chairman’s office.

“Oh, Demonic Lord!”

Don’t do it.

Don’t you do this too.

“Look at this! Oh, Demonic Lord! Your face is here! I have told all the Demonic Cult members to get one each. I have also told the idiots who can’t use KakaoTalk to have the people around them explain it, so all the Demonic Cult members will get it….”

“Aaaah! Damn it!”

Kang Jin-ho jumped up and kicked Jang Min, who was rushing at him. Then, he picked up a cushion from the sofa and started hitting Jang Min with it.

“Why!”

“Aack! Ack! Oh, Demonic Lord! What did this subordinate do wrong!”

“For doing something I didn’t tell you to do!”

Kang Jin-ho threw the cushion back onto the sofa and covered his head. Then, Bator slowly approached and poked Kang Jin-ho’s side.

When Kang Jin-ho looked up with a questioning look, Bator whispered softly.

“Hit him a little more, Master.”

So, you got hit by him.

Well, if it wasn’t Jang Min, there wouldn’t be anyone else to hit Bator.

‘I can’t stop this.’

This situation was beyond repair. How could a human stop a landslide?

Kang Jin-ho picked up the phone on the table.

“Where are you going?”

“••••••Seoul.”

“No, why Seoul all of a sudden?”

“I’m going to catch Hwang Min-soo.”

“Oh. Then I’ll go with you, too.”

“……Follow me.”

As Kang Jin-ho and Lee Hyun-soo left the room, the remaining people burst into hearty laughter.

“Hah ha ha ha! It feels like a ten-year-old indigestion has been relieved!”

“Don’t tease him too much.”

“You did everything you could!”

“••…Honestly, isn’t it too funny?” Wiggins and Bator laughed, holding their stomachs.

“I don’t understand why the Demonic Lord is so embarrassed.”

Jang Min shook his head as if he didn’t understand.

“It’s probably because he made the Demonic Cult members download it too.”

“What’s wrong with that?”

“No, that’s….”

As Wiggins was about to explain Kang Jin-ho’s feelings in more detail, Jang Min’s phone wallpaper caught his eye.

“……Is your wallpaper the Guild Leader’s face?”

“Of course! Isn’t it a cult member’s duty to see the Demonic Lord’s face first thing when they open their eyes?”

Ah, well, that’s….

Wait a minute!

“Wait a minute. You said it’s not the Elder’s duty, but the cult member’s duty? Then?”

“Of course, all the cult members have the Demonic Lord’s picture as their phone wallpaper.”

“So, what difference does it make to add one more emoticon?”

It makes no difference.

Yeah.

It really makes no difference.

Haha….