Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 1496

“Good morning, Chairman!”

“Good morning!”

Kang Jin-ho entered the MK building, acknowledging the greetings. He then handed his key to the security guard.

“Please take care of it.”

“Yes, sir! Leave it to me!”

Kang Jin-ho nodded lightly and headed for the elevator.

The security guards tilted their heads slightly, watching him.

“Is something the matter?”

“Looks like it?”

It was unusual for Kang Jin-ho to hand over his key and get on the elevator so promptly.

“…His expression doesn’t look too good either.”

“He had his usual blank face, though.”

The security guards looked at the elevator door with uneasy expressions.

Clunk.

The door opened, and Kang Jin-ho stepped inside.

Those who were seated all rose at once.

“Chairman, welcome.”

Kang Jin-ho, after a brief greeting, walked straight to the head of the table and sat down.

“What’s the matter?”

The fact that he went straight to the point, unlike usual, showed his current mood.

Lee Hyun-joo, after a brief eye contact with Hwang Min-soo, immediately began the briefing.

“There was an assault at one of the stores.”

“Assault.”

Kang Jin-ho’s voice lowered.

Lee Hyun-joo swallowed hard without realizing it. Those from the General Assembly knew how terrifying Kang Jin-ho could be when angry. Usually, Lee Hyun-joo played the villain, and Kang Jin-ho was treated like a nice boss, but when Kang Jin-ho got angry, no one knew what would happen.

And Lee Hyun-joo was one of those people.

“Details.”

“Yes. The branch is in Bucheon. During an argument with a customer, the customer first assaulted the store manager at the counter, and the enraged manager then assaulted the customer.”

Kang Jin-ho’s brow furrowed slightly.

“You’re saying we were attacked first?”

“Yes. That’s what the manager is claiming. However, the victim is claiming that they were unilaterally assaulted.”

“Hmm…”

Kang Jin-ho scratched his cheek.

As his expression softened slightly, the atmosphere in the conference room also eased. Hwang Min-soo, who had been holding his breath, cautiously exhaled.

‘Wow, seriously.’

Just Kang Jin-ho’s hardened expression was this nerve-wracking. It felt several times more terrifying than when Hwang Jung-hoo had raged and turned the conference room upside down in the past.

And he hadn’t even done anything.

Click.

Kang Jin-ho put a cigarette in his mouth and lit it.

“Anyone who smokes, have one.”

“Ah… it’s alright.”

It was true that they wanted a cigarette, but today, they didn’t dare to smoke in front of Kang Jin-ho.

Kang Jin-ho didn’t offer again, exhaled a long stream of smoke, and continued.

“How are we handling it?”

“We haven’t suspended operations at the store. If we stop operations without a clear understanding of the facts, it will give the impression that we are at fault.”

“We are at fault.”

Kang Jin-ho said firmly.

“No matter the situation, laying a hand on a customer is unacceptable. Isn’t that right?”

“…Yes, Chairman.”

Lee Hyun-joo replied cautiously.

“What else?”

“There aren’t any measures yet. We haven’t even fully grasped the situation.”

Hwang Min-soo answered.

“That’s why we reported to the Chairman first.”

Koo Jung-beom spoke with a tense expression.

“Shouldn’t we issue an apology first? After all, the problem originated here, and it’s better to resolve it quickly before it escalates…”

“That won’t do.”

Hwang Min-soo said firmly.

“What kind of world is this? If there’s even a small opening, they’ll tear you apart and trample you until you can’t recover. Even innocent people get caught in witch hunts, and when they’re proven innocent, the people who were cursing them just slip away as if it wasn’t them.”

That was true.

The internet, as a public forum, had become deeply ingrained in life, creating numerous benefits. But the biggest drawback was that words spread on the internet were too easily said, and no one took responsibility for the consequences.

“If we were individuals, we could legally address ridiculous rumors… but we’re a company. A company suing potential customers is unacceptable.”

Lee Hyun-joo nodded in agreement.

“Recklessly issuing an apology doesn’t seem like a good approach. We should apologize and take the blame for clear mistakes, but that’s not the situation now.”

Kang Jin-ho nodded.

“Then, the priority is to figure out what happened. What about the manager?”

“We’ve called him in. He’ll be here within an hour. And we’ve sent someone to retrieve the store’s CCTV footage.”

“If we can check the footage, we can understand the situation more clearly.”

“And it had to happen at this time.”

Noh Tae-gwang clicked his tongue, and Hwang Min-soo frowned slightly.

“It’s not that the problem happened at this time, but that problems are bound to happen because of this time. When a new store is overflowing with people, problems are inevitable.”

The problem was that the form it took was not good.

“We’ll know once we check.”

Kang Jin-ho took a deep drag of his cigarette. But the situation was spreading several times faster than Kang Jin-ho and those in the conference room thought.

“Wow! This reaction isn’t dying down?” Han Eun-sol said, looking at social media with a surprised expression.

“Noona [an honorific term used by a younger male to address an older female], I think we’ve got a real hit this time? The reaction is even better than when you won the grand prize for that drama.”

“That’s because I’m pretty.”

“Why? Did I say something wrong?”

“Noona.”

“Yeah?”

“Do you know why people who speak their minds always die young?”

“…I don’t know?”

“Because people who speak their minds are annoying.”

“Do you want to die?”

Choi Yeon-ha glared at her.

Han Eun-sol sighed deeply at that reaction.

‘Well, it’s not wrong.’

Right. The reaction is good because she’s pretty.

What a dirty, looks-obsessed society.

“It should be a world where we can see people’s true intentions…”

“You’re saying something really stupid. If that were the case, I wouldn’t have become a celebrity in the first place.”

Choi Yeon-ha knew herself remarkably well.

“Anyway, the reaction is amazing.”

“I know.”

The corners of Choi Yeon-ha’s lips curled up slightly. These days, Choi Yeon-ha couldn’t put her phone down.

New reactions were popping up every minute, and it was fun to read them. Moreover, all the reactions were full of praise, so it was natural to feel like she was flying.

Choi Yeon-ha glanced at her phone, and the corners of her lips curled up again.

However, there was one thing that bothered her slightly….

“But why are there more stories about Jin-ho than me?”

Choi Yeon-ha narrowed her eyes, and cold sweat began to form on Han Eun-sol’s back.

That was the expression Choi Yeon-ha made when she was starting to get angry.

“Ah, maybe it’s because he’s a new face?”

“New face?”

“Yes, yes. Everyone is used to you and knows how pretty you are, but people don’t know the Chairman well. So, maybe that’s why the attention is focused on him?”

“Ah, is that so?”

As Choi Yeon-ha’s expression softened slightly, Han Eun-sol sighed quietly.

This needs to be resolved somehow….

“Then what are these comments? ‘The man is prettier than Choi Yeon-ha.’ ‘Choi Yeon-ha’s beauty isn’t what it used to be.’ ‘This unnie [another honorific term used by a younger female to address an older female] is so happy to be with a younger man.’”

“…The last one seems to have a slightly different meaning.”

“Anyway!”

Han Eun-sol started sweating again.

‘No, how am I supposed to deal with that?’

The Chairman probably looked prettier than you. Even I think my eyes are drawn to him more!

Han Eun-sol subtly avoided Choi Yeon-ha’s gaze.

“Well, it’s not something to be upset about. It’s not like you were beaten by another woman, but by a man.”

“Don’t you think that’s more of a problem?”

“Come on, he’s the Chairman, the Chairman. It would be a problem if it were another man, but it’s not a problem if it’s the Chairman.”

“Hmmmm.”

Whether Han Eun-sol’s response was successful or not, Choi Yeon-ha nodded slightly.

“That’s right. Jin-ho is kind of handsome.”

He looked like a real celebrity when he was dressed up neatly, not just in his usual casual clothes. No, he looked like he could devour celebrities.

“Seeing this, I really want to use him in our agency.”

“I’ve thought about that a lot too. The best thing is that he’s easy to manage.”

“Right.”

Choi Yeon-ha agreed enthusiastically.

Celebrities.

In the entertainment industry, it’s said that the most desperate people are the celebrities who haven’t made it, and the most terrifying people are the celebrities who have made it.

Those who used to try so hard to get even a small role would lose their initial humility and turn into a power-tripping machine once they were surrounded by the cheers and love of fans.

It was fortunate if they only ended up as a power-tripping machine. They would cancel schedules, go into hiding, go to clubs every night, date fans, and openly have relationships with fellow celebrities.

“Most of them are crazy.”

Nevertheless, the agencies couldn’t do anything about them because the money that a successful celebrity earned was enormous.

The agencies, unable to give up that revenue, would protect and clean up after their top celebrities, no matter what kind of mess they made.

“But we don’t have to worry about the Chairman doing that.”

Kang Jin-ho was completely free from such scandals. First of all, because Choi Yeon-ha existed, there was no chance of him getting involved in any woman issues… and even if Choi Yeon-ha didn’t exist, he wasn’t the type of person to cause problems.

Kang Jin-ho’s brain was almost in the realm of a religious person, so he barely reacted to the stimulating pleasures of everyday life. If you gave him free time and let him go, he would go home and make ramen, so what kind of scandal was that?

From the perspective of an entertainment agency, there was no more perfect celebrity. He wouldn’t cause trouble even if you left him alone, and he looked great on camera.

It was almost beautiful.

However, there was one problem….

“He can’t act.”

“That’s a big problem. A big problem.”

To be precise, it wasn’t that he couldn’t act, but that he couldn’t act ‘with lines’… but when you think about it, it’s the same thing. This wasn’t the silent film era, and where was there acting without lines?

A talent that was useless was not a talent.

“Let it go. It’s a pipe dream. Why would Jin-ho want to be a celebrity?”

“That’s true.”

“He makes a face even when he’s filming one commercial, I’m afraid he’ll run away if I ask him to film another one. Let’s just leave him alone and try to persuade him whenever we need him.”

Choi Yeon-ha chuckled and picked up her phone again.

Choi Yeon-ha, who was checking social media again, widened her eyes.

“W-what is this? What kind of nonsense is this?”