Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 1071

“He’s not that kind of person.”

Cho Kyu-min looked at Hwang Jung-hoo with slightly nervous eyes. Hwang Jung-hoo, who was on the phone, had a different expression than usual.

‘A call from the Prime Minister…’

Of course, it wasn’t strange for Hwang Jung-hoo to be on the phone with the Prime Minister.

A titan of the business world.

Hwang Jung-hoo was someone who wouldn’t be surprised even if the President himself called, not just the Prime Minister.

Cho Kyu-min’s tension wasn’t because Hwang Jung-hoo was on the phone with the Prime Minister. It was because the reason Hwang Jung-hoo was taking the Prime Minister’s call was about Kang Jin-ho.

[Can I trust him?]

“I understand your concerns. But the Kang Jin-ho I know is definitely not that kind of person. The things you’re worried about won’t happen, so please relax.”

[That’s easy to say, but I also have my position…]

“I understand.”

Hwang Jung-hoo smiled faintly.

“I think I know why you called. I’ll meet with Kang Jin-ho separately.”

[Thank you, Chairman. I’m really sorry for this…]

“However, please keep one thing in mind.”

[Yes, please tell me.]

“I understand why this has to be done. But Kang Jin-ho is still someone who makes me uncomfortable and cautious. You understand why, right?”

[Of course.]

“Your side won’t be happy that the government is investigating his past actions and contacted me. In fact, who would like that?”

[Ah, that part…]

“Yes, I understand.”

Hwang Jung-hoo smiled and continued.

“There are things that can’t be helped. From the Prime Minister’s perspective, you had no choice. But Kang Jin-ho is not someone you should deal with like that. He’s like a rubber ball.”

[A rubber ball?]

“Yes. A rubber ball. If you leave it alone, it won’t move, and if it does, it’ll just roll around with the wind. But if someone tries to press it down, it’ll bounce back with more force.”

[I understand what you mean.]

“If you’re worried about Kang Jin-ho, just leave him alone. Then nothing will happen.”

[Thank you for your words. I’ll leave it to you.]

“Don’t worry.”

Hwang Jung-hoo hung up the phone and smiled faintly.

“Tsk, tsk, people.”

Cho Kyu-min carefully opened his mouth.

“Has the government started to keep Kang Jin-ho in check?”

“It seems so.”

Hwang Jung-hoo reached out, grabbed a cigarette, and put it in his mouth. Cho Kyu-min quickly took out a lighter and lit Hwang Jung-hoo’s cigarette.

“Hoo…”

Hwang Jung-hoo exhaled deeply and leaned back on the sofa with a subtle expression.

“It was bound to happen sooner or later.”

“That’s right.”

The Assembly was expanding its activities day by day. It wasn’t Kang Jin-ho’s intention, but regardless of his intentions, the Assembly was expanding its influence at this very moment.

With the integration of the Yeongnam Association [a regional martial arts group] and the Assembly, the Korean martial arts world was unified, and now they were almost done with the internal reorganization process.

Once the reorganization was complete, the only thing left was expansion. And if the Assembly expanded, it was inevitable that it would clash with power.

It would be difficult to define this incident as a clash between the Assembly and the political world, but…

‘It might become a fuse.’

Originally, huge events start from minor troubles.

“Are you going to be okay?”

“What do you mean?”

“If the government starts to seriously keep you in check, it will be difficult for the Assembly to withstand it.”

“They’re not that stupid.”

Hwang Jung-hoo chuckled.

“Politics is like that. There’s nothing clear. From the outside, it looks like a very simple problem, but the smartest people in Korea gather and agonize over it for years. Do you know why?”

“I don’t know.”

“Because once something is done, it can’t be undone.”

“Ah.”

“It means that ‘it’s okay if it’s not’ doesn’t work. The same goes for the Assembly. Those who know of the Assembly’s existence will think that they have to reduce the Assembly’s influence somehow. But if they touch it carelessly, they don’t know what will happen. That’s how much of an unknown the Assembly is.”

Hwang Jung-hoo smiled faintly.

There was no need to tell Cho Kyu-min, but that wasn’t the only reason why the government was hesitant to touch the Assembly.

Basically, the Assembly already had an organic relationship with the government.

The cooperation between the military and the Assembly when Japan invaded Korea was a good example.

‘Was it Lee Joong-geol?’

The previous head of the Assembly was no ordinary person. For a very long time, he never rushed and slowly connected the Assembly to the world. At a speed that you wouldn’t even feel it seeping in.

Thanks to that, it has become impossible to completely separate Korea and the Assembly now.

It’s like a tumor that grows in one place, no matter how big it is, you can just cut it out, but if the cancer has spread throughout the body, there’s no way to deal with it. Even Hwang Jung-hoo couldn’t figure out where to start to completely exclude the Assembly.

“It must be a headache.”

Hwang Jung-hoo chuckled softly.

The internal situation was not good, but considering the external situation, it became even more complicated.

“It seems like the trip to England went well?”

“I heard it did. They said they got the best results.”

“The best…”

Hwang Jung-hoo curled up the corners of his mouth.

Since the British government had contacted them directly, the burden of dealing with the Assembly would have increased several times over.

“A dilemma.”

Thinking about the Prime Minister’s position, Hwang Jung-hoo felt a sense of frustration. It was like a large cancer cell was growing inside his body, but if he removed it, he would die too.

At this time, all he could do was use chemotherapy appropriately and hope that the cancer cells wouldn’t grow any bigger. Just like the Prime Minister was trying to keep the Assembly in check while hoping they wouldn’t reach out any further.

“Thinking about it, isn’t it a useless worry?”

“Huh?”

Hwang Jung-hoo raised his head and looked at Cho Kyu-min.

“Kang Jin-ho has no interest in politics at all. There’s no need to be so wary, he wouldn’t even think about touching that side.”

“Do you think so?”

Cho Kyu-min raised his head.

He had felt a different nuance in Hwang Jung-hoo’s words.

“Do you think differently, Chairman?”

“Rather than thinking differently…”

Hwang Jung-hoo chuckled.

“It’s not something that can be done as one pleases.”

“Yes?”

Hwang Jung-hoo shrugged his shoulders.

“Do you remember how much sweet-talking I did to bring that guy into the business world?”

“Well…”

Of course, he remembered.

In a way, it was quite a desperate process. But Kang Jin-ho firmly rejected Hwang Jung-hoo’s offer.

“What did that guy say back then?”

“Ah, that was…”

It was something that sounded so obvious now, but…

“He said he wanted to live an ordinary life.”

“I don’t think that was a lie.”

Hwang Jung-hoo brought the cigarette to his lips with a slightly subdued face.

His face showed a hint of bitterness.

“Kang Jin-ho really wanted to live an ordinary life. But that’s impossible for Kang Jin-ho. A person who is not ordinary cannot live an ordinary life.”

Cho Kyu-min had no choice but to nod in agreement.

It was a difficult thing to understand for someone who didn’t know Kang Jin-ho, but anyone who knew Kang Jin-ho would have to agree.

Kang Jin-ho gets caught up in incidents.

Looking back, the things Kang Jin-ho wanted were all ordinary things.

Going to college, helping his father at the cafe, opening a pizza place and running a business, although Hwang Jung-hoo and Cho Kyu-min had some influence.

But every time, an incident always happened.

The result?

‘He unified the Korean martial arts world and became the head of the Assembly.’

And now, the overseas martial arts world was keeping Kang Jin-ho in check, and the political world was starting to watch him.

“Thinking about it…”

“That’s right.”

Hwang Jung-hoo shrugged his shoulders.

“You’re right. Kang Jin-ho isn’t thinking about politics at all. There’s no need to make things bigger. If he can provide a reasonable level of safety and income to support the people he’s responsible for, he wouldn’t want to do anything more.”

“That’s right.”

“But it’s not something that can be done according to his own will. Look at it now. Of course, the Prime Minister won’t touch Kang Jin-ho right now. It’ll be a headache. But…”

Hwang Jung-hoo smiled subtly.

“How long is the Prime Minister’s term?”

“…It’ll be short.”

“If the current Prime Minister can persuade his superiors well, they can maintain peace for a while. But the government is bound to change. Even if the government doesn’t change, people’s tendencies can’t all be the same. The moment a hardliner takes power, change is inevitable.”

“Certainly…”

Cho Kyu-min, who was nodding, widened his eyes as if he had realized something.

“Ah, then Kang Jin-ho’s side too?”

“They’ll know.”

Hwang Jung-hoo said as if it was interesting.

“Right now, they can’t help but know, even if they don’t want to. It’s the trend of the times. Now that Kang Jin-ho has become the head of the Assembly, he can’t live only according to his own will. And…”

Hwang Jung-hoo seemed to hesitate for a moment and then shook his head.

“No, no. This isn’t something to talk about yet.”

Hwang Jung-hoo clapped his hands lightly to change the mood and opened his mouth in a calm tone.

“First, tell them that I contacted the Prime Minister and smoothed things over. Then they’ll act accordingly. As a gift, send them a bottle of good liquor.”

“Yes, Chairman.”

As Cho Kyu-min bowed his head and got up from his seat, Hwang Jung-hoo put a new cigarette in his mouth and lit it.

‘This isn’t something I need to say.’

Kang Jin-ho’s tendencies are clear.

If you follow Kang Jin-ho’s behavior patterns so far, his actions follow one principle.

Elimination of danger.

Becoming stronger and growing the Assembly ultimately stems from eliminating the threats that might come to him and those around him.

What if Kang Jin-ho recognizes the government as a danger?

“Hmm…”

Hwang Jung-hoo scratched his head.

“I don’t want to see that.”

Either way, the result wouldn’t be good.

Kang Jin-ho is extreme. If that extremism is expressed in a bad way, it was difficult for Hwang Jung-hoo to easily predict what the outcome would be.

“Ugh.”

In the end, the conclusion was obvious.

Hwang Jung-hoo had to mediate to prevent the situation from getting worse.

“They’re making an old man work.”

So where should he start?

“That guy should know that I’m going through all this.”

Hwang Jung-hoo sighed.

He said that, but it didn’t matter if he didn’t know. Just watching him in his later years was enough to give him pleasure.

“Okay, then who should I meet first?”

Hwang Jung-hoo got up from his seat with a pleasant smile.

It seemed like he would have to move busily for a while to get his hands on both sides.