Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 1565

Clack.

The sedan door closed.

Jung Hong-geun, his old body settling into the back seat, closed his eyes as if exhausted.

“Chairman, did things go well with your visit?” Park Sang-woo, sitting in the front passenger seat, turned to look at the back.

Jung Hong-geun sighed and said, “You can’t get full on the first bite. It’s just the beginning.”

“…Of course, Chairman.” Park Sang-woo swallowed nervously.

“But… it’s a bit awkward to say this…”

“Go ahead.”

Park Sang-woo hesitated a couple of times before speaking with difficulty. “I’m sorry to say this, but I don’t know if this is really the right thing to do. Honestly, I don’t understand why you’re going to such lengths.”

Jung Hong-geun chuckled. “Why go to such lengths, you ask?”

“Yes.”

“Even if I told you, would you understand?”

“…It would be difficult for me to grasp the depth of your intentions, Chairman.”

“It’s not that I’m looking down on you. But this is a conversation that would just go in circles. So just trust me and follow along.”

“…Yes, Chairman.”

Jung Hong-geun leaned back in his seat, watching Park Sang-woo turn around, looking overwhelmed.

‘No matter how much I explain, he wouldn’t understand.’ That’s why Park Sang-woo is an employee, and Jung Hong-geun is a manager.

Park Sang-woo probably thinks he has experienced enough of the power and force while assisting Jung Hong-geun.

But far from it.

He doesn’t know. Park Sang-woo knows nothing. He doesn’t know how immense it is to have power, and how much benefit there is in being by the side of someone who has that power.

Is Taekwang not powerful enough already?

That’s ridiculous.

Power is relative.

Can the leader of dogs stand up to a tiger? They might live like a king where there are no tigers. But the moment a tiger appears, all authority disappears, and they are reduced to an ordinary dog.

No one knows the power of Taekwang as well as Jung Hong-geun.

It’s just enough to raise their heads among dogs.

If a tiger with real power appears, they have to lower their tails immediately. A dog that overestimates its power when seeing a tiger will not even get a chance to run away and will have fangs sunk into its neck.

What he has to do is to bow his head thoroughly.

And then ride on the tiger’s power.

“Let’s go home.” Jung Hong-geun closed his eyes.

‘This is just the first step.’ There’s still a lot to do, still.

“He’s wagging his tail,” Lee Hyun-soo said casually.

“Wagging his tail?” Kang Jin-ho asked.

“Yes.”

“Why?” Kang Jin-ho tilted his head, as if he couldn’t understand. No, to be precise, he understands that Jung Hong-geun sent a friendly signal. Anyone can see that. But what Kang Jin-ho couldn’t understand was why someone who is the chairman of Taekwang would have to do that. He doesn’t need to have a friendly relationship with him; it wouldn’t affect him.

“The reason is simple. He judged that you are powerful, Chairman,” Lee Hyun-soo explained.

“Powerful?”

“Yes. Well, they’re not blind, and they’ll be getting information from various places. The political circles, worried about us and Taekwang clashing head-on, might have given them information.”

Lee Hyun-soo shrugged. “Well, no matter the route, we should assume they’ve learned something about us. As a result, they must have judged that we are a force they can’t contend with.”

Lee Hyun-joo tilted her head. “Then, shouldn’t they just ignore us? It’s not like we’re going to cause trouble.”

“That’s where the difference lies,” Lee Hyun-soo chuckled. Then, he looked at Kang Jin-ho and said, “Chairman, that guy is someone who built his company that way from the start. That whole family is like that.”

“…Huh?”

“During the Japanese colonial era, they were pro-Japanese collaborators [people who cooperated with the Japanese during their occupation]. Then, before the war, they became pro-American, and after the war, they returned to being pro-Japanese while also aligning themselves with the military regime to grow.”

Lee Hyun-soo shrugged. “They are the same businessmen, but they are not comparable to Chairman Hwang.”

“So…”

“Yes. Whenever they think someone is stronger than them and aligning with them would be beneficial, they are ready to bow their heads immediately. They will start by building a friendly relationship. Then, later, they will stick to us like leeches.”

Kang Jin-ho sighed in dismay. “So, there’s no other hidden agenda?”

“This itself is the hidden agenda,” Lee Hyun-soo shrugged. “There’s no need to think too complicatedly. That guy just wants to become a pro-General Assembly faction.”

Lee Hyun-joo said, as if she couldn’t understand. “Even so, they couldn’t have gotten that much information, could they? Isn’t it too absurd?”

“What’s absurd?”

“How could they conclude that they should attach themselves to the General Assembly with only the information they could get?”

“That’s why you can’t be the director, Lee,” Lee Hyun-soo chuckled, looking at Lee Hyun-joo’s blank face. “If you judge things so logically and try to align yourself, all the spots are already taken. It’s like stocks. Stocks that are sure to rise after the information is out are already sold out. The only time I can get in is when there’s a crash. That’s how retail investors get wiped out.”

Lee Hyun-soo raised his hand and made a gesture of cutting his neck. “Even if I don’t know anything else, I have to acknowledge that man’s intuition. He’s someone who built a large corporation by identifying who is powerful like a ghost and sticking to them first to gain benefits. If he had made a wrong choice even once, the company called Taekwang wouldn’t exist. But in those numerous moments of choice, he found the stronger side every time. This kind of choice doesn’t even need definite information. He would have figured it all out just from the nuances.”

Lee Hyun-joo also closed her mouth. Looking at the situation, this makes the most sense. It’s absurd and ridiculous, but it’s true.

“So, he’s acting like this because he wants to stick to our side, just like he did with the military regime in the past?”

“That’s right.”

“…Doesn’t he have any pride?”

“It would be stranger if he had pride. What pride does a pro-Japanese collaborator have?” Lee Hyun-soo shook his head. “Our way of thinking is different. For those people, face and pride are only displayed towards the weak. They wouldn’t even understand why bowing their heads and wagging their tails to someone stronger than them is something that hurts their pride.”

Lee Hyun-joo was speechless. She felt dizzy. Of course, she doesn’t deny the method itself. After all, people tend to move for profit. But if ordinary people worry about balancing profit and pride, it means that those people don’t even have that balance.

“In a way, it’s scary.”

“They’re just being true to their desires,” Lee Hyun-soo shrugged. “Let’s put aside these kinds of evaluations. There are many people who will evaluate that person, even if we don’t. However, well, human likes and dislikes are inevitable.”

Kang Jin-ho, who had been listening to their conversation, opened his mouth. “Then…”

“Yes, Chairman.”

“What’s the best thing to do?” At Kang Jin-ho’s words, Lee Hyun-soo grinned. “Leave it alone.”

“…Huh?”

“One of your bad habits, Chairman, is that when a problem arises, you try to establish a solution on the spot. Sometimes, just leaving it alone is also a solution.”

“Oh…”

“…”

“It’s not us who are in a hurry. Actually, it doesn’t matter to us how that guy acts, does it? It’s not us who are in a hurry, it’s them.”

“That’s right.”

“So, leave it alone and just watch. If there’s no reaction from our side, they will try to do something, feeling impatient. Then, you can decide after watching that.”

Lee Hyun-soo’s face turned slightly cold. “Cut them off, or use them as dogs.”

“…Dogs?”

“Of course, I understand your disgust. But think about it, Chairman. We recently went to Japan to create a pro-Korean faction and had to teach Japanese guys we didn’t even like. Is there any need to push away someone who comes to us on their own feet, wanting to be a dog?”

“Hmm.”

“Think about it, Chairman. Taekwang is a really big company. In terms of the business world, it’s on par with Jaekyung. Being able to use such a place under us is a really good opportunity. Such opportunities are rare while expanding our reach in the business world.”

“We have Jaekyung. Do we really need another…”

“Honestly, I didn’t want to say this…” Lee Hyun-soo scratched his cheek. “Isn’t Jaekyung Chairman Hwang’s?”

“That’s right.”

“What can we do with that Jaekyung?” For a moment, Kang Jin-ho closed his mouth, as if he had nothing to say.

“Friendship is just friendship. And in most cases, friendship works well, but in this case, it becomes a problem. Can we ask Jaekyung to handle our Japanese business for us?”

“We can’t.”

They might be able to make a proposal. But if they do, they would have to reveal too much to Jaekyung and show too much. For them, Jaekyung is just a company they are friendly with, not a partner. It might be possible if Kang Jin-ho inherited Jaekyung, but that’s at least a few years away. There was nothing they could do right now.

“But isn’t that why we created MK?”

“MK is a company focused on a specific field, so its capabilities are still lacking. MK is gaining power because of the existence of the General Assembly, but if you look at MK alone, it’s just a small business that has just opened a franchise. There are limits to what it can do.”

“…So, Taekwang is different.”

“Yes,” Lee Hyun-soo smiled. “What’s even better is that the guy named Jung Hong-geun understands the rules of the game. He knows that in order for them to stick to us and gain benefits, they have to offer something that we would be interested in first.”

“Come to think of it, he even said he would offer his grandson.”

“See? That man is despicable, terrible, and annoying, but he’s definitely not stupid.”

“…Just swear instead.”

That’s worse than swearing.

“Anyway…” Lee Hyun-soo summarized the situation. “That doesn’t mean we have to tame Taekwang. It’s right to watch for now. We need to see if they can become dogs that listen well and wag their tails right away, or if they are wild dogs that need to be beaten to come to their senses.”

“It seems like you’ve already decided on the outcome…”

“Hey, it’s a misunderstanding, a misunderstanding,” Lee Hyun-soo chuckled.

Kang Jin-ho sighed, watching him. Anyway, he knew their intentions for sure, so it became a bit easier to respond.

‘I should watch for a bit, as Lee Hyun-soo said.’

But neither Kang Jin-ho nor Lee Hyun-soo knew at this point how persistent Jung Hong-geun, who had found a place to lean on, could be. And the moment they found out came sooner than they thought.