Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 1595

“Here, here, and here. And also…”

A map appeared on the TV screen connected to the computer.

Kang Jin-ho quietly examined the screen, then turned his head to look at Lee Hyun-soo.

“What’s that?”

“It’s the site for the orphanage that Jo Gyu-min sent.”

‘No, did he sign an MOU [Memorandum of Understanding, a formal agreement] with Jae-kyung or something?’

‘Why is that matter being handled at the general meeting?’

As Kang Jin-ho looked at him with a disgruntled face, Lee Hyun-soo also sighed.

“Don’t look at me like that. I know you’re busy, and I can’t keep asking you to come here, so they’re sending it here. What can I say?”

“I didn’t know there was such an impolite person in the Land of the Rising Sun [a poetic name for Japan]. Seriously, how can they think of using me like this?”

“I don’t know about anything else, but it’s really awkward to see you caring about manners.”

“Hey, what are you talking about? Who else cares about manners as much as I do?”

Kang Jin-ho was speechless at his shameless words.

“Anyway, the site will be roughly this size.”

“Okay.”

“Okay.”

Kang Jin-ho nodded.

“Is it going to be okay?”

“Well, what does it matter? As long as it’s a good place to live.”

Lee Hyun-soo said indifferently.

“It’s not your problem, so…”

“It’s not that…”

Lee Hyun-soo interrupted Kang Jin-ho and glanced at the map.

“I’m sure Director Jo knows what he’s doing, but basically, an orphanage has problems if it’s in a busy area, and it has its own problems if it’s in a remote area. It’s not about the site, it’s about the perception.”

‘That makes sense.’

Basically, children living in an orphanage receive two kinds of gazes at the same time.

A pitiful gaze of sympathy, and a wary gaze that they don’t want their children to associate with them.

Neither is welcome.

To build a new orphanage, it’s necessary to solve this perception problem first. That’s what Lee Hyun-soo was talking about.

“Don’t worry about it.”

“Huh?”

“If you worry about every little thing, you won’t be able to do anything. Sometimes you need to be bold. You can just say you understand about trivial things like the site. This guy reports even the unnecessary details.”

Kang Jin-ho nodded.

Putting aside the last comment, he agreed that sometimes you need to be bold.

“What you need to worry about when choosing a site isn’t that.”

“Then what?”

“It’s about which school they’ll be assigned to. If they go to a school where the kids are rough, the orphans will suffer.”

Kang Jin-ho frowned.

Come to think of it, he had already experienced the same problem several times.

Park Yu-min was like that, and Han Jin-sung was like that. There was no guarantee that other children wouldn’t experience similar situations.

“That’s a problem.”

“Yes. This is the priority.”

“…Should I go visit the school?”

Lee Hyun-soo stared at Kang Jin-ho with a blank look.

“What are you going to do there?”

“Meet the principal and ask them to pay attention…”

“…Are you kidding me?”

Lee Hyun-soo became serious.

“That’s definitely not a good solution. In the first place, those kinds of people don’t want to pay attention to each and every child. Besides, if rumors spread that the principal is taking special care of them, it will only backfire.”

“Then a teacher?”

“You might as well homeschool them.”

Lee Hyun-soo sighed deeply.

“Chairman, to be honest, there’s no answer to this problem. Teachers and principals are the same.”

“Think about when you were a tadpole [a young, inexperienced person]. Did you go to a teacher when something like that happened to you?”

“No, I didn’t.”

“Why?”

“Because I could just beat them up.”

‘Oh…’

‘That’s the right answer, but…’

Realizing that there isn’t only one right answer to a question, Lee Hyun-soo continued.

“It’s best for the kids to solve their own problems.”

“That’s true, but…”

Kang Jin-ho frowned.

‘That’s why I’m worried, because it’s not easy.’

As Kang Jin-ho looked worried, Lee Hyun-soo tilted his head slightly, as if he didn’t understand.

“But what are you worried about?”

“…You said it yourself, if they go to a place with rough kids, they might get bullied.”

“No, it’s not that…”

“Huh?”

“Are you seriously thinking about a solution right now?”

Kang Jin-ho nodded slightly.

Then Lee Hyun-soo laughed as if he was dumbfounded.

“What’s so funny?”

“It’s just absurd that the person who can solve that kind of problem the easiest in Korea is worrying about it.”

Kang Jin-ho frowned.

Lee Hyun-soo looked at Kang Jin-ho and continued.

“Chairman, this is the General Assembly.”

“I know. I’ve already tried that method. But that’s not a method that can be used for many people.”

He had already mobilized a suitable member of the General Assembly when he solved Han Jin-sung’s problem. However, as the orphanage grows, there will inevitably be more children, and problems will occur more frequently.

If he sent members every time, the problem would become unmanageable.

“No. Not that method.”

“Huh?”

“Chairman, think about it. Why do kids get bullied?”

“…Because they’re orphans?”

“No, that’s not it.”

“Huh?”

Kang Jin-ho tilted his head.

‘Not that?’

Lee Hyun-soo smiled bitterly at the reaction.

“Who would dare to bully you because you’re an orphan?”

“There’s only one reason why they get bullied. Because they’re easy targets.”

Kang Jin-ho nodded.

It was a very simplistic way of putting it, but that was the truth. There could be countless reasons why bullying occurs, but if the other person isn’t an easy target, bullying wouldn’t even start.

“So, we just need to make them not easy targets.”

“How?”

“It’s simple. Just have them do physical training for an hour a day.”

‘Physical training…’

‘Physical training…’

“Is it just physical training?”

“Well, if that’s enough, then that’s it… But it wouldn’t hurt to learn how to beat someone up without leaving a mark, how to beat them up the most painfully, how to deal with multiple people at once, and how to threaten them until they’re scared out of their wits, would it?”

Lee Hyun-soo grinned.

“Fortunately, there are so many experts in that field here that you can trip over them. If you place one of them in each orphanage as a physical education teacher, you can create human weapons in half a year.”

“…I don’t want to raise them as martial artists?”

“Hey, who said anything about teaching them martial arts? We’re just teaching them how to fight properly.”

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

“I guarantee you, this is the best solution. The moment the kids’ eyes are filled with killing intent, even the pathetic bullies will wet their pants just by making eye contact.”

‘Is it going to be okay?’

‘Is this really going to be okay?’

It’s important that the children don’t get bullied, but is it necessary to make them rule the school for that?

“If you think about it, it’s a very good system. The orphanage kids can prevent bullying at school, and the physical education teacher can stop them if they cause trouble. Isn’t that a happy, beautiful world for everyone?”

‘Is that really a beautiful world? Really?’

“Chairman, I’m not a person who likes violence that much.”

“You?”

Lee Hyun-soo corrected himself with a disgruntled face.

“…I kind of prefer it, but I don’t think it’s a good solution.”

“Um, so?”

“But sometimes there are things that need to be solved with violence. Other methods are just temporary fixes. You need to be bold when you need to be.”

Kang Jin-ho nodded.

It was also true that he couldn’t think of a better solution.

“Hmm, I’ll consider it for now.”

“Well, I think that’s enough for now. There’s still plenty of time left.”

Lee Hyun-soo shrugged.

“But it seems like the orphanage business is getting bigger than I thought.”

“Yeah.”

Lee Hyun-soo smiled brightly.

“That’s good.”

“I thought you’d nag me?”

“As I said before, I don’t oppose you doing that kind of work. I actually welcome it.”

It’s hard to explain exactly.

But this was Lee Hyun-soo’s true feeling without any exaggeration.

“Because the situation is different from then.”

Lee Hyun-soo shook his head.

“Because we’re busy, because the situation is urgent, etc… There are countless reasons why we shouldn’t do it. But as humans, there are things we need to protect even in the midst of that, right?”

“…Yeah.”

Kang Jin-ho’s mind felt a little more at ease.

He was a little worried about doing this kind of work when the Three Kings could invade at any time.

“More than that…”

Kang Jin-ho cleared his throat slightly and continued.

“How is the training of the Japanese trainees going?”

“There’s nothing to say about it. It’s just starting, you know. But, since it’s Elder Jang Min, I’m sure he’ll take care of it.”

In this aspect, Jang Min was a truly reliable person.

“You just need to be careful, Chairman.”

“Me?”

“Yes. Don’t meet Elder Jang Min outside. I don’t want to show the trainees how you act when you’re causing a ruckus.”

Kang Jin-ho, who wholeheartedly agreed, quickly nodded.

“I heard that they’re going to show them the reality first, and then teach them demonic arts when they’re ready.”

‘Reality…’

Kang Jin-ho subtly curled up the corners of his mouth.

That reality would probably be a great help to them.

“They’ll take care of that. Then who’s with the US military right now?”

“It’s Bator.”

Kang Jin-ho closed his eyes slightly.

He was the one who sent him, but he felt sorry for the US military for some reason.

“Did he explain it well?”

“Yes. He said that you told him to make the basics within a week.”

‘Me?’

‘When did I say that?’

Lee Hyun-soo grinned as he looked at Kang Jin-ho, who had wide eyes.

“If I say it like that, they’ll do a good job, right?”

‘Oh…’

‘They’ll do a good job.’

‘I’m worried they’ll do too good of a job.’

“You can go check again tomorrow.”

‘Okay.’

‘Well, there’s no way anything bad will happen.’

“It’s not like Bator is training people for the first time, he won’t cause any trouble.”

“Hey, no way. He’s got a lot of experience. He’ll do a good job of coaxing and appeasing them.”

“I guess so.”

Kang Jin-ho and Lee Hyun-soo smiled at each other.

Until Lee Hyun-soo’s phone rang.

“…It looks like it’s Commander Reggie?”

Lee Hyun-soo, who had a disgruntled expression as he looked at the screen, looked at Kang Jin-ho as if asking what to do.

“A-answer it.”

“…Yes.”

Lee Hyun-soo answered the phone with a reluctant look.

“Hello?”

“[Lee Hyun-soo!]”

“Yes, that’s me. What’s…”

“[S-save me! That man, he’s completely crazy. I… I…]”

“[Aaaaaaaah!]”

Reggie Mercer’s urgent voice and screams that seemed to be coming from afar mixed together and flowed out of the phone.

Lee Hyun-soo smiled brightly, then hung up the phone and turned it off.

“It seems like he’s doing a good job.”

“I think I just heard a scream…”

“It’s something that often happens during training. More than that, would you like a cup of coffee?”

“Uh…”

Kang Jin-ho smiled brightly.

‘Yeah.’

‘Let’s just say that.’