Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 1504

“……Are you really telling me to release all of this?”

“Yes.”

Park Gyu-yeon blinked.

“Uh… Chief? Really?”

“That’s what I said.”

Park Gyu-yeon looked at the briefing file in his hand. No, it wasn’t really a briefing file; it was more like an official document or a press release.

‘Well, this is an economic issue, but…’

Criminal cases aren’t usually his department’s responsibility; they’re typically handled by other departments. However, this case could easily be covered by the economic desk since the companies involved are all Korean.

But the problem is…

“This feels kind of half-baked… Are we really going to report it like this?”

“It seems like it’s still in progress.”

“Huh?”

Park Gyu-yeon checked the press release again.

Basically, articles fall into two categories. One is a complete article that reports on a case after it’s completely finished, and the other is an ongoing article that reports on the progress of a case.

The former is used to fill space in the paper, while the latter is used to generate buzz.

But in Park Gyu-yeon’s opinion, this article lacked the buzz to be considered the latter. Unless they were really trying to make a splash, it wouldn’t have much impact.

“These days, there’s a lot of talk about power abuse, but will this level of abuse really make headlines?”

“That’s not important, just write the article.”

Park Gyu-yeon narrowed his brow slightly. A news item distributed like a press release, and his chief’s uninterested attitude.

‘This is a setup.’

Then this is a piece someone created and is distributing. And the one behind this piece is…

‘The National Police Agency, huh…’

The press release itself came from the National Police Agency, but Park Gyu-yeon didn’t think the agency was necessarily in charge of this. The police are like a public hand; anyone with power can control them and wield them as they please.

The important thing is who’s behind the National Police Agency, but…

Park Gyu-yeon clicked his tongue.

‘This isn’t something to get involved in.’

He can’t chase after every little incident like this. He doesn’t have ten bodies. To survive as a reporter, what’s important is the instinct to smell a story and the judgment to know what to chase and what to ignore.

“So, which cheeky bastards are pulling this kind of crap again?”

“They were probably just trying to step on someone. And the ones who got stepped on must have started squirming.”

“But it’s strange. If the National Police Agency is directly releasing a press release, it should be a big company, but who’s backing this unheard-of franchise…?”

At that moment, Park Gyu-yeon’s eyes widened.

“Huh?”

“••••••What?”

“Huh? Shit, is this MK’s?”

“What?”

The moment the name MK came up, a man who had been killing time in the back jumped up from his seat.

“MK?”

Park Gyu-yeon’s face crumpled.

“What, did you hear a food bowl drop or something? Why did you jump up like that?”

“Does this bastard think I’m a dog?”

Ha Gwang-shik strode over, smacked Park Gyu-yeon on the back of the head, and snatched the press release from his hand.

“You’re really going all out.”

“Who are you talking about?”

“Who else? It’s that mysterious MK CEO.”

Ha Gwang-shik chuckled.

“I thought he was raking in money with his franchise, but he’s going through a lot.”

“Did you know he was running a cafe franchise, senior?”

“His face is all over TV, how could I not know? He’s disgustingly handsome. It makes me sick.”

“Oh, it seems like your favorability has gone up a bit?”

“I’m talking shit, not shitting, you punk!”

Ha Gwang-shik raised his hand as if to hit Park Gyu-yeon again, then started reading the press release again.

“……What are these idiots thinking, messing with MK?”

“That’s what I thought. Something seemed off.”

Ha Gwang-shik chuckled.

“They’ve stirred up a hornet’s nest.”

There weren’t many reporters who knew more about MK than Ha Gwang-shik. Ha Gwang-shik had been digging into MK since before they even started their activities.

In Ha Gwang-shik’s judgment, MK was one of the last places you should mess with in Korea right now.

A place where you couldn’t even guess what was behind it. That was how Ha Gwang-shik saw MK.

“I thought he had a falling out with Prime Minister Kim Myung-chan and his relationship with the higher-ups had soured, but seeing this, it doesn’t seem like that’s the case?”

“That’s how power works. They bicker and fight, but if they see a chance to make money, they’ll be all smiles again. That’s how those guys are.”

Ha Gwang-shik smiled wryly.

“The poor guys who messed with MK without knowing anything are the ones to pity. Who do you think it is?”

“A competitor, probably.”

“……Thank you so much, for telling me something I never would have thought of.”

Park Gyu-yeon chuckled.

“How many cafe franchises are there? From big companies to small businesses, everyone jumps into that market if they have nothing else to do. How are we supposed to find the culprit among them? It doesn’t take much money to do something like this.”

“You’re saying it could be anyone.”

“Exactly.”

Ha Gwang-shik nodded quietly and handed the press release back to Park Gyu-yeon.

“Write the article.”

“……Aren’t you going to do it, senior?”

“Am I at a level to do something like this?”

“But you’re the one who picks up even the trash related to MK.”

Ha Gwang-shik frowned slightly.

“I’m doing this to dig up their dirty deeds, you know! But this is them getting unfairly beaten.”

“Wow, look at that knife-like honesty.”

“Shut up, you punk!”

Ha Gwang-shik got annoyed and turned away.

As he stormed out, the chief chuckled and asked,

“What’s wrong with that guy?”

“He’s like that whenever MK is mentioned. You know, that feeling you get when you encounter something you can’t touch.”

“……Isn’t that something you graduate from within three years? How many years of experience does that guy have, and he’s still acting like a newbie?”

“Our senior has a pure side, you know.”

“If he was pure, his wife wouldn’t have run away.”

“……Don’t hit me where it hurts when I can hear you.”

“Would I ever?”

Listening to the chief’s banter, Park Gyu-yeon turned his head slightly.

“Seriously.”

Then he jumped up from his seat and followed Ha Gwang-shik outside. Watching him, Department Head Bae Hyun chuckled.

“Just date already, you guys.”

Click.

Ha Gwang-shik took out a cigarette, lit it, and exhaled a deep puff of smoke.

“Tsk.”

He felt a sense of frustration, as if something was stuck in his throat.

“Those guys, really…”

Park Gyu-yeon approached Ha Gwang-shik and took out a cigarette himself.

“Hey, senior. Take it easy.”

“What?”

“If you’re going to dig, dig properly, or just let it go. This in-between thing, what is it?”

Ha Gwang-shik’s face contorted.

“I’ll handle it myself, you punk.”

“You can’t handle it yourself, that’s why you’re like this. Be honest, senior. You’ve lost your drive, haven’t you?”

Park Gyu-yeon chuckled, seeing Ha Gwang-shik unable to answer.

“Right, I knew it. You thought that Kang Jin-ho was a really bad guy with a lot of dirt, but now you find out he was almost a victim of the regime and is now getting beaten up by some random guys, so you feel weird, right?”

“Write a novel, you punk.”

“Then what is it?”

Ha Gwang-shik took a long drag of his cigarette. He forcefully pushed the smoke into his lungs and exhaled with a sigh.

“So, are you saying Kang Jin-ho is a good guy?”

“Oh, senior. What movie are you filming? Where are there good guys and bad guys in this world? Everyone’s just so-so.”

“You know that things aren’t so black and white, senior. Kang Jin-ho? Sure, he’s probably not a good guy. But he might not be a bad guy either.”

“That’s not possible.”

Ha Gwang-shik said firmly.

“A guy who gets unchecked power will eventually become a bad guy.”

“It seems like he’s getting checked enough? He was dragged to jail on ridiculous charges just the other day. It’s just that the media and this side didn’t pay much attention, but if Kang Jin-ho had wanted to, it could have been a huge mess. It just strangely got buried quietly.”

“Is that buried? It was buried.”

Ha Gwang-shik chuckled.

If that Kang Jin-ho was such a pushover, there’s no way he could have become the head of such a company.

‘He must have won the power game with Kim Myung-chan.’

He couldn’t understand how that was possible.

No matter how great Kang Jin-ho was, he was just the owner of a company, while Kim Myung-chan was the prime minister who controlled Korea. And not just a puppet prime minister, but someone who was favored by the highest authority, practically a de facto power.

Wealth can always shake power, but when power decides to strike wealth, there’s no way to resist.

If wealth could win against power, the heads of conglomerates wouldn’t be spending time knitting in prison or riding around in wheelchairs.

Wasn’t it just recently that the head of the biggest conglomerate of the time was released from prison?

If the most powerful person of the time tried to bury you with everything they had, no matter how rich you were, there was no way to survive. But Kang Jin-ho had turned that situation around and sent Kim Myung-chan to the depths of hell.

The victory of truth?

‘Don’t make me laugh.’

Being in this industry, you learn how powerless the truth is.

If the truth had that much power, the world wouldn’t be like this.

“Honestly, I still don’t know what kind of guy that bastard is.”

“He’s definitely a big deal. He’s definitely got dirt. But I really don’t know. That’s why I’m more concerned.”

“You’re such a loyalist.”

Park Gyu-yeon chuckled.

“If you’re just going to say things that get under my skin, go inside. It’s annoying.”

“Senior.”

Park Gyu-yeon grinned.

“Then how about this?”

“What?”

“Let’s go see him, that Kang Jin-ho.”

“•…What?”

Park Gyu-yeon shrugged.

“You said you don’t know what kind of guy he is? When we saw him before, we didn’t know anything. So we couldn’t know what kind of guy Kang Jin-ho was.”

“That’s right.”

“Then it’ll be different if we see him now. Put Kang Jin-ho right in front of you and use your gut to figure out what kind of guy he is again.”

“How?”

“Ha, you’ve lost your touch. We got a press release, right? Then they’ll naturally welcome a clarification interview. We can say we’ll write an article, but we want to interview the CEO.”

“They have no reason to refuse.”

“Hey, that’s a different topic.”

“If it wasn’t for this situation, how else would we get an exclusive interview with that hotshot MK owner? It looks like they’re going to keep escalating things, so let’s apply for an interview before he gets too busy.”

“You’ll do it?”

Ha Gwang-shik nodded slightly.

“Do it.”

“Okay. I’m really going to do it.”

Watching Park Gyu-yeon whistle as he headed back to the office, Ha Gwang-shik let out a low sigh.

‘Kang Jin-ho, huh…’

I’m curious.

What kind of feeling would Ha Gwang-shik get if he faced Kang Jin-ho right now?