Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 1041

‘I don’t understand a word they’re saying.’

It felt like this was the moment to use the phrase, ‘I’m hearing it, but my brain isn’t processing it.’

It was a strange situation.

The people currently teaching him were all office workers from the General Assembly. But Bae Jae-min had also worked as an office worker at the General Assembly.

It was ironic that people who had worked as office workers were teaching office-related tasks, and yet someone who had worked as an office worker for years couldn’t understand a single thing they were saying.

And Bae Jae-min felt like he knew where this irony was coming from.

“Why don’t you get it? Why!”

Was his name Yang Jin-chan, the assistant manager?

Yang Jin-chan, who was training the new recruits, was practically tearing his hair out.

“No! No! Everyone!”

Yang Jin-chan roared like a volcano.

“It’s okay not to know. No one can know everything. Even if it’s work-related, you might not know it. But!”

Yang Jin-chan’s hand slammed against the screen.

“I’m not asking for anything big here! This is something even a basic computer skills certificate holder can do. How have you all been working all this time?”

Indeed.

Everyone nodded in agreement.

They hadn’t really felt it before…

—

You don’t know this?

—

No, why don’t you know this?

—

No!

Looking at the reactions of the instructors, it was impossible not to realize something was wrong. If a person had even a shred of awareness, they would know that something was seriously wrong.

‘Were we really this incompetent?’

Of course, they were aware that their work skills were inferior to those of regular office workers.

However, they didn’t have a clear understanding of ‘how much’ they were lacking.

It was inevitable.

Skills are ultimately measured through relative comparison.

Whether it was unfortunate or fortunate, the office workers of the General Assembly had no direct way to compare themselves with office workers in the outside world. Their standard of ability was not the office workers outside, but the senior office workers within the General Assembly.

They had skills that weren’t too lacking compared to them, so it wasn’t strange that they thought they were good enough.

But now, Bae Jae-min was paying the price.

‘This is hell.’

His mental state was crumbling.

He was a martial artist, so he had experienced countless harsh training sessions.

Although he had eventually fallen behind due to a lack of talent, it wasn’t because he lacked effort or will that he had given up on the path of a martial artist. In fact, he was confident that his willpower was far above average.

Considering the hellish training that martial artists had to endure, Bae Jae-min’s pride was not arrogance.

But…

This was a different kind of challenge than willpower.

“Even new recruits these days can do this! No, not just new recruits, even college students! No, even high school students can do this much!”

‘The world has advanced a lot.’

Science doesn’t wait for humans, indeed.

His mental state was cracking, but he couldn’t show it.

‘He’s going to pass out at this rate?’

While Bae Jae-min’s mental state was crumbling, Yang Jin-chan was simply falling apart. It looked like his blood vessels would burst at any moment, causing a hemorrhage.

When the class started, he looked like someone who had never seen the sun, with his pale face, but now his face was so red that he looked like he had downed three bottles of cheap soju [a Korean distilled beverage] during the break.

The person teaching was more frustrated than the people learning, so if they had any conscience, they couldn’t get annoyed in front of him.

“No….”

Yang Jin-chan, who had been muttering “no” several times, rubbed his face with his hands.

“First, first, review what I’ve taught you so far. I’ll be right back.”

He said, “I’ll be right back,” but his face was saying, “There’s no way this class is going to work like this, so I’m going to go have a meeting and come up with a solution.”

“Please go ahead.”

“I’m sorry.”

As Yang Jin-chan slumped his shoulders and went outside, the murmuring grew louder.

“…Is it weird that we can’t do this?”

“It’s weird. That’s why he’s acting like that, isn’t it?”

“I didn’t understand a single thing he was saying.”

“Me neither.”

“Then how have we been doing our jobs all this time? Chief Lee said it was okay even after receiving our work.”

“Didn’t he never say it was okay?”

The last comment hit the nail on the head.

Come to think of it, when they brought reports or approval documents, Lee Hyun-soo would always tell them to leave it with a disinterested look, or just nod silently with a blank stare.

“…There was a reason for his hysteria.”

“I didn’t know.”

Bae Jae-min was speechless.

He had always thought that Lee Hyun-soo was being hysterical, but after receiving a proper evaluation, he could understand why Lee Hyun-soo had been so irritable.

“Are our work skills really that bad?”

“If I put myself in his shoes…”

“Yeah?”

“If I had to do something with the reports you write, I think I’d be frustrated too.”

“…Please stop with the fact-based violence.”

Bae Jae-min looked at the monitor with a subtle expression.

‘Does that mean we can’t even do basic word processing?’

He realized how incompetent they were. And he understood what Hwang Jung-hoo meant when he said they weren’t lacking in ability, but in the desire to improve.

‘Come to think of it, I also…’

He hadn’t tried to find out what level he was at.

It was meaningless.

There were two reasons.

One was that Bae Jae-min’s choice to become an office worker was not his own intention.

In the end, being an office worker at the General Assembly was like the last step for those who had failed as martial artists to stay in the General Assembly. There was no way they would have any intention of doing something with this job.

And the other reason was…

Bang.

At that moment, the door opened and someone came in.

“Oh!”

A slightly surprised exclamation escaped. The person who had opened the door was none other than Kang Jin-ho.

“Attention.”

Kang Jin-ho, who had walked to the platform, opened his mouth, looking at everyone.

“I think there’s something I need to tell you before I leave.”

“Yes!”

They didn’t know what it was, but everyone answered loudly with a tense voice.

“I think I mentioned that there would be separate interviews for those who didn’t do well in this training…”

“I don’t think I mentioned the opposite situation. The top performers in this training will be appointed as the head of a newly established department.”

The office workers’ eyes widened.

“A department head?”

“Yes.”

“Oh, no…”

It wasn’t polite to ask questions when a superior was making an announcement. Even if they weren’t used to etiquette, they had that much sense.

But Kang Jin-ho’s statement was enough to temporarily blow away that sense.

‘A department head?’

The highest-ranking person here was at the manager level. This meant they would be promoted by at least one rank.

“Is, is that okay?”

“Is there any reason why it wouldn’t be?”

Kang Jin-ho shrugged.

“No, no, but a department head…”

“Shouldn’t they have some experience or a certain amount of experience?”

If they were learning something new together, the younger ones would likely be ahead.

That could lead to a situation where a new recruit with no experience becomes a department head.

‘Is this just empty talk?’

‘They usually change their minds later.’

Kang Jin-ho chuckled, seeing the reactions around him. It seemed like similar things had happened elsewhere.

“I’ve heard the overall evaluations.”

“The evaluation was that you all lack the necessary skills, regardless of your position.”

It was a stinging remark.

“If you think about it the other way around, it means that there’s no one who can do the job properly anyway, so it doesn’t matter who becomes the department head. We’ll go by ability. If you have the ability, I’ll promote you regardless of age or experience. Of course, um…”

Kang Jin-ho scratched his cheek as if he was pondering.

“I’m not sure if saying this now will be helpful or harmful, but since you’ll find out anyway, I’ll just tell you. I’m planning to adjust the salaries of all office workers, not just the top performers, to reflect reality. I don’t know if it’s because I didn’t understand properly, but you’re not getting paid properly.”

“And I’m planning to increase the salary differences based on position a bit more. So work hard and get both the position and the salary.”

Everyone nodded silently.

It wasn’t a passionate reaction, but Kang Jin-ho smiled as if it was enough, and then went back outside.

As soon as Kang Jin-ho disappeared completely, the murmuring grew louder again.

“Is it real?”

“Are you doubting that, you idiot! Have you ever seen the Guild Leader lie?”

“No. Come to think of it, everything the Guild Leader has said has been kept.”

“That’s right. And why would the Guild Leader lie?”

“That’s true.”

They didn’t have faith in the situation, but they had faith in Kang Jin-ho. Kang Jin-ho had always kept his word, and he was developing the General Assembly at an incredible pace.

Bae Jae-min looked at the door where Kang Jin-ho had left and bit his lip.

‘The other reason is this.’

Are the office workers of the General Assembly considered to be the dregs?

Not exactly.

The office workers of the General Assembly are not evaluated.

From the beginning, the executives of the General Assembly, including Lee Jung-geol, thought of the office workers as mere secretaries. They didn’t care about their abilities. If there were no expectations, there would be no disappointment, so there were no evaluations.

So, even if they did their jobs well, nothing changed, and there were no promotions based on ability.

They thought things would change when Lee Hyun-soo came, but Lee Hyun-soo was too busy with his own work to pay attention to the office workers.

The only person who had proven their ability and earned a position was Lee Hyun-joo. But unlike Lee Hyun-joo, they had no way to meet with the Guild Leader, and no opportunity to prove their abilities.

If nothing changes even if they try, who would try?

But now, Kang Jin-ho was throwing them a carrot. He was saying that if they tried, he would make things change, so they should try from now on.

It was a transparently obvious intention, but…

“A department head…”

Bae Jae-min curled up the corners of his mouth.

Everyone knew that Kang Jin-ho was the type to go all out when he was giving something. Since Kang Jin-ho had said he would adjust the salaries to reflect reality, the salary of a department head would definitely be more than they imagined.

Who doesn’t like money?

Bae Jae-min glanced around.

Everyone was pretending to be indifferent, but there was a strange heat in the air.

‘They’re thinking about it, these guys.’

Well, yeah.

The instructor was disappointed with their overall work skills, which meant that everyone was starting from the same point. So now, the results would depend on who worked harder.

It was rare to have such a fair fight.

‘Should I try it too?’

Bae Jae-min sat down with a meaningful expression.

Bang.

“Everyone, I… Huh? What’s going on?”

Yang Jin-chan, who had opened the door and come inside, was surprised by the changed atmosphere.

“I’ll make an announcement. I’ve decided that a fundamental reorganization of the training program is needed, so we’ll stop here for today. Everyone go home, and come back at the usual time tomorrow.”

“Um, Instructor.”

“Yes?”

“There’s something I don’t understand, could you explain it?”

It sounded like a line he had heard somewhere before…

“What, what don’t you understand?”

Yang Jin-chan realized that humans are bound to repeat the same mistakes, only after his departure was delayed by three hours.