Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 1130

“What are you trying to hide, senior?” Park Gyu-yeon glanced sideways, his expression displeased.

Then, Ha Gwang-sik, Park Gyu-yeon’s senior, grabbed the back of Park Gyu-yeon’s neck and pressed down firmly.

“Gyu-yeon.”

“Yes, senior.”

“Aren’t you a reporter too?”

“Of course, I am.”

“Then, as reporters, should we just keep distributing press releases from companies? If there’s something fishy, shouldn’t we dig in and make it a story?”

“Well, that’s true.”

“That’s why we’re here, that’s why.”

“Here?”

Park Gyu-yeon turned his head forward, a dissatisfied look on his face.

Of course, it’s a bit…

‘It’s a unique situation.’

It’s strange that a 10-story building is being newly constructed in the middle of Gangnam [a wealthy district in Seoul], where new buildings are rarely built due to high land prices. It’s also strange that such a building is being used as the headquarters of a company.

And most of all, what’s strange is that the company that announced it would use the building as its headquarters is a company that no one has ever heard of before.

“Doesn’t it smell fishy?”

“Fishy?”

Park Gyu-yeon chuckled.

“Senior, it’s not like we haven’t seen venture companies that received investment from private equity funds go bankrupt after splurging money, right? If we were to write articles about each one, we’d have to publish a book every day.”

“It’s not that, you idiot.”

“Then what is it?”

“Like you said, it’s common for guys who received investment from abroad to waste money and go bankrupt. But these guys are on a different scale.”

“…Yes?”

“Anyway, it smells fishy. So, take good pictures.”

“…Yes, yes.”

Park Gyu-yeon glanced at Ha Gwang-sik and sighed.

‘There are many strange things.’

From a general perspective, it’s strange, but in this industry, such things are quite common. A company that no one has ever heard of appears, and then large corporations seem to be pouring work into that company, and then it turns out that the successor of a conglomerate is the CEO.

There are many reasons for this.

Sometimes, a new business is established to overcome situations where it becomes difficult to move due to the shareholding structure, and sometimes, to avoid giving work to subcontractors, a business is established with their own money, and the work that would have been given to subcontractors is transferred to them.

It’s something that wouldn’t make sense to ordinary people, but from the start, the wealthy are not ordinary people. If they didn’t have a strong desire for money, they wouldn’t be able to run such a business.

Strange?

Of course, it’s strange.

But in this industry, strange things happen more often than normal things. So, why waste time on something like this that wouldn’t even make a good story?

Ha Gwang-sik clicked his tongue, seeing Park Gyu-yeon pouting.

‘A reporter, and yet…’

But Ha Gwang-sik can understand why Park Gyu-yeon is pouting like that. Ha Gwang-sik didn’t give Park Gyu-yeon the crucial information.

‘There’s a rumor that the Prime Minister is involved.’

And according to Ha Gwang-sik’s separate investigation, it seemed that the Minister of Economy and Finance was also very interested in this.

The Minister of Economy and Finance was someone who was classified as pro-China. But one day, he started showing hostility towards China as if he had become a different person. As far as Ha Gwang-sik knew, the time when the Minister of Economy and Finance started showing hostility towards China coincided with the time he started showing interest in this company.

‘I don’t know exactly what they’re aiming for, but…’

There could be several hypotheses.

First, that the company itself is receiving government support.

Officially?

No way.

It’s common for politicians who have nowhere else to go to create companies under other people’s names to prepare for their retirement and provide support indirectly.

It’s illegal to give support to a company they own, so they put up a figurehead and pretend they’re not related. Then, when their term ends, they secretly siphon money from the company.

‘Even if it’s not that far…’

Considering the current president’s tendencies, they wouldn’t do anything that shady. The previous president was ruined for doing that. But even if it’s not that extreme, I can’t shake the feeling that there’s indirect support going on.

‘First, this.’

Ha Gwang-sik looked at his notes.

‘Kang Jin-ho.’

It’s a name he’s never heard of. And according to his investigation, he’s only in his mid-twenties.

How can such a young guy be the owner of such a company?

‘You have to make sense.’

It’s something that wouldn’t be possible unless you were a successor of a wealthy family who received an apartment in Gangnam as a gift from birth and received stocks worth tens of billions as a birthday present.

The problem is that there’s no one like that in any of the wealthy families Ha Gwang-sik knows.

“A company owned by someone unheard of. But they have so much money that they’re building a new building on Gangnam-daero [a major street in Gangnam], and it’s registered as a real estate business, is that right?”

It’s ridiculous.

As far as Ha Gwang-sik knows, there isn’t a single company in the world that was created in this way.

“Are you saying it’s a paper company?”

“What paper? There’s a building right in front of us. The form might be a bit different. But the purpose is the same.”

“Hmm.”

Park Gyu-yeon scratched his cheek.

“Senior.”

“Why?”

“I understand what you mean, but please be reasonable. You’ll get struck by lightning again.”

“What, you?”

“The truth isn’t always the truth. You’re not a political reporter, so why are you always interested in this kind of thing? If we reporters get involved in the money games of the higher-ups, we’ll get crushed and die. It’s not like we’re famous enough to have people watching over us. I might be okay, but you, senior…”

Park Gyu-yeon made a gesture of slicing his neck with his thumb.

“Unless you want to see how deep the West Sea [also known as the Yellow Sea] is, please be reasonable, please.”

“This punk, look at how a reporter talks? We’re supposed to do that kind of thing.”

“That’s right. We’re supposed to do that kind of thing. That’s why we disappear for doing that kind of thing.”

“Is this the 80s? Are we going to get drowned in the sea for investigating corruption?”

“You don’t know how scary the world is.”

“Enough, you. Someone’s coming.”

At Ha Gwang-sik’s words, Park Gyu-yeon’s gaze quickly turned.

Then, he swallowed hard.

“Isn’t this the wrong focus? It’s not the political world, it’s like the mob set up a company. Those guys look like they could easily beat up any college athlete.”

Ha Gwang-sik was also a bit flustered.

Men in black suits were walking down the street in the hundreds.

‘Are they filming a movie?’

If a close movie director friend of his said he wanted to film a noir, he would recommend this scene as a reference. The sight of the large men rushing in was intimidating.

“Is it a loan shark business, not real estate? What was the name here again?”

“It was MI.”

“That sounds like a name for loan sharks. Like MK Money or MK Cash.”

Thinking that it could actually be true, Ha Gwang-sik gestured with his chin.

“Take a picture, of that.”

“What for?”

“It might be useful. Take a picture.”

“Can I use the flash?”

“…Don’t use the flash.”

It was a weak statement, but Park Gyu-yeon didn’t criticize Ha Gwang-sik. Survival instinct is something everyone has. In fact, Park Gyu-yeon, who was holding the camera, was just as anxious.

Click! Click!

The moment he took a couple of photos.

The gazes of those in the camera’s angle all turned towards them at once.

‘What, what is it?’

The camera he was using was a professional camera with a telephoto lens. The distance must have been at least 300 meters, but they noticed him taking pictures? And all of them at once?

“What are those punks?”

“Catch them!”

Then, the large men rushed towards them.

Park Gyu-yeon turned to Ha Gwang-sik, his face pale.

“S-Senior, they really look like gangsters. Shouldn’t we run away?”

“…Do you think we can run away?”

“No, we can’t.”

Their athletic abilities seemed exceptionally good. There was no way they could run away with their heavy equipment. While Ha Gwang-sik and Park Gyu-yeon were at a loss, swallowing hard, they were surrounded by men in black suits.

“Hey, you guys, who gave you permission to take pictures?”

“Who are you?”

“Should we just investigate you?”

Cold sweat broke out on Ha Gwang-sik’s forehead.

‘This is like a scene from a movie too.’

Fortunately, there was no physical violence or attempts to take their camera.

However, just being surrounded by such large men was more than enough to feel a sense of crisis. His legs were shaking so badly that he couldn’t think straight.

“What’s going on there?”

At that moment, a sharp voice was heard. It wasn’t Ha Gwang-sik and his companion who flinched at the voice, but the large men surrounding them.

“Manager, these punks were taking pictures without permission.”

The men who had surrounded them moved to the sides, creating a path. A man in a navy suit walked through the path.

‘He looks young?’

Of course, he looked to be in his 30s. But isn’t it strange that a man in his 30s is controlling these men?

“So?”

“Yes?”

“What about taking pictures?”

“…Ah, that…”

The man frowned.

“You guys, who told you to wear sunglasses?”

“Ah, no…”

“Hey, you punks.”

The man in the navy suit, Lee Hyun-soo, spat fire.

“You guys already look gloomy, and if you wear all black and sunglasses, everyone will think you’re gangsters. Are you going to fight somewhere?”

“…Sorry.”

“Aren’t you going to take off your sunglasses? And if you’re covering your face with sunglasses, that’s enough. What’s the problem with the pictures?”

“But we also have the right to our image…”

“Where did you hear that nonsense? You punks, aren’t you going to clear the way?”

“Hey, hey, move, move. Go back to the meeting quickly.”

The men, who didn’t want to hear any more nagging from Lee Hyun-soo, left as if they were running away.

It felt like a storm had passed.

Lee Hyun-soo approached Ha Gwang-sik, who was still out of it, and extended his hand.

“Are you a reporter?”

“Ah? Yes! I’m Ha Gwang-sik from Jaeil Economy.”

Ha Gwang-sik took out his business card and handed it to Lee Hyun-soo. Lee Hyun-soo also took out his business card and handed it to Ha Gwang-sik.

“It seems like you came to cover the story. Please take good pictures.”

“Ah…”

“The guys… no, the employees are not used to this kind of situation, so they made a mistake. I apologize on their behalf.”

“No, it’s okay. We weren’t harmed. But is it okay to take pictures?”

“Of course. If the article doesn’t come out too badly, isn’t it free advertising? Of course, we welcome it. However, I don’t know if there will be anything to write about. Haha.”

Lee Hyun-soo smiled gently.

Ha Gwang-sik’s inner thoughts became a bit complicated as he watched Lee Hyun-soo.

‘What is this guy?’

It’s the first time he’s seen his face, but the way he acts shows a level of experience that comes from rolling around in this industry countless times.

“It doesn’t seem like we’ve done anything yet, and we haven’t even distributed any press releases, so how did you know to come?”

“It’s our job to find those things.”

“Ah, I see. If I had known you were coming, I would have prepared some gifts.”

“That’s… illegal now.”

“Ah, that’s right.”

Lee Hyun-soo shrugged.

“We have to prepare for the opening ceremony now, so there’s nothing much I can do for you. If you have any questions, please contact me after the opening ceremony. I’ll answer everything.”

“…Thank you.”

“Yes. Ah, well, the chairman is coming, so I have to…”

“Yes?”

Ha Gwang-sik turned his head.

He saw a sports car speeding towards them with a low engine sound.