Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 1554

Black sedans, one after another, converged on the towering skyscraper that seemed to pierce the sky.

In response, the security guards protecting the building came out to the road in front, greeting the vehicles with tense postures.

“Welcome!”

As soon as the cars stopped, the guards opened the rear doors and bowed deeply, their heads almost touching the ground.

“Okay.”

The elderly man who stepped out of the car nodded slightly and headed into the building, guided by his female secretary.

The guard who had bowed swallowed hard.

‘My heart is pounding so hard, I can’t take it.’

The people getting out of the cars now were the heads of the corporations that led South Korea.

Even ordinary people would feel a sense of awe and pressure watching them walk in a line toward one place, let alone someone like him who was just making a living by working for Taekwang [a major conglomerate].

He could feel the back of his neck getting damp.

“Hoo.”

The guard wiped his forehead, watching the sedans head into the parking lot.

‘What is going on?’

He looked up, his gaze reaching the top floor of the building.

Those who lived in a different world, though they walked on the same ground, were gathering there.

“It’s been a while.”

“Hahaha, everyone’s so busy, it’s hard to see each other’s faces.”

“It seems Chairman Choi hasn’t arrived yet?”

“Tsk, tsk, tsk, how can you be so late with the news? Chairman Choi is in the hospital.”

“What? There was nothing about that in the news…”

“It’s not like it’s good news to spread around. If it gets out that the chairman is in the hospital, the stock prices will fluctuate immediately.”

“I suppose that’s true.”

The chairmen looked at each other, wearing friendly smiles.

However, no one took those expressions at face value. Those gathered here were competitors, all vying for a piece of the same pie. There wasn’t a single major corporation that didn’t have overlapping business areas.

So, they wore smiles on their faces and hid knives in their bellies. That was the way businessmen lived.

“Everyone, please take care of your health.”

Jang Myung-gu, the president of NF Group, said in a raspy voice.

“We’re all at an age where we don’t know when our health might fail. Seeing empty seats makes me feel uneasy.”

“That’s right, Chairman.”

Some of them wore embarrassed expressions.

“So, I’m trying to take care of my health and buy some expensive herbal medicine… but the Wang Chairmen are so robust, I’m afraid I’ll be accused of exaggerating.”

“They’re too robust, too robust. Oh, I’m dying. I’ve been beaten my whole life, and they’re still trying to beat me more.”

The chairmen joked around.

The people gathered here were all figures who made South Korea tremble.

But even among them, there was a hierarchy.

Usually, it was thought that the hierarchy was based on the ranking of the business world, but that wasn’t always the case.

Basically, there was an age difference.

The ones called Wang Chairmen were those who had been like brothers with the fathers of the current chairmen since they were being trained as successors. Strictly speaking, they were like uncles.

Even if one’s business ranking was high, one couldn’t treat the figures of the father’s generation carelessly. So, everyone treated those two as elders, regardless of their business ranking.

One of those two was the one who had summoned them now.

“So, why is our Chairman Jeong in a bad mood again?”

“Have you heard anything?”

“It’s obvious. He hasn’t seen us in a while, so he wants to share some friendship. But when has Chairman Jeong ever called people to share real friendship?”

“I know a little bit about this time.”

Jang Myung-gu chuckled slightly and said,

“It seems one of the new companies has offended Chairman Jeong. I heard it’s called MK.”

“Did you say MK?”

“Yes. It’s a recently established place. I think it’s in the food service or real estate business.”

The atmosphere changed as soon as the name MK was mentioned.

Half of them tilted their heads in confusion, and half of them had slightly stiff expressions. Jang Myung-gu wore a strange expression as he saw their reactions.

‘It seems some of them have heard of it?’

Just then.

The door opened, and Jeong Hong-geun walked in.

“Has everyone arrived?”

“Chairman, how do you do?”

“Chairman, are you in good health!”

“Oh my, you look well.”

Greetings were exchanged.

If you stripped away their status as heads of major corporations, it wasn’t much different from a gathering of elderly gentlemen of a certain age. After all, that was what this place was made for.

Jeong Hong-geun, who sat in one of the two seats of honor at the table, smiled quietly.

“Thank you all for coming. It’s so hard to see your faces, I had to create a gathering like this to see you all.”

“Hahaha, if the Chairman calls, we have to come.”

“Thank you for inviting us.”

A smile bloomed on Jeong Hong-geun’s lips.

These were people who would be hard to gather even if the President called. Yet, they had all gathered at Jeong Hong-geun’s word.

At times like this, Jeong Hong-geun felt the power he possessed. Power, wealth, experience, and status. All of that combined to move them.

‘This is my power.’

His bad mood seemed to be improving.

“It seems there are some empty seats.”

“Everyone is so busy, it’s hard for everyone to come. They asked me to convey their apologies to the Chairman.”

“That’s right, that’s right. Everyone is so busy with their own affairs.”

Even so, Jeong Hong-geun did not forget to check who the owners of the empty seats were.

“I think there’s someone in the hospital?”

“It seems his health isn’t good. I told him to move to our cancer center this time, but he refused.”

“Tsk, tsk, tsk, so stubborn even in old age.” Jeong Hong-geun smiled and opened his mouth.

“It would be nice to exchange pleasantries and have a meal together, but it wouldn’t be polite to keep you busy people for too long. The reason I’ve gathered you all here is because there are a few things I want to talk about.”

Everyone looked at Jeong Hong-geun with slightly serious faces.

“The economy isn’t good. You’re all feeling it, aren’t you?”

“Well, I guess it’s the same for everyone.”

“The good times are over. Now, we have to figure out how to barely make a living.”

“Oh my, if the Chairman says that, what are we supposed to do? Will we even be able to put food on the table?”

Jeong Hong-geun smiled slightly as he watched the chairmen joke around.

‘This is what people are like.’

These people, who owned stocks worth trillions to tens of trillions and had cash in the trillions, were talking about starving to death.

Ordinary people would call them disgusting and greedy, but Jeong Hong-geun knew. It wasn’t that they were particularly greedy.

Humans were all the same.

Those who had ten million won [approximately $7,500 USD] wanted to earn twenty million won, and those who had ten billion wanted to earn twenty billion.

Even if the unit of money became ten trillion, it didn’t mean that satisfaction would come. Satisfaction didn’t come from the value of the money one had, but from the heart.

Those who ran businesses of this scale were all basically obsessed with money. They were like hungry ghosts who could never be satisfied, no matter how much they earned.

“It’s not easy for anyone to make a living. The atmosphere isn’t good these days. Everyone is pointing fingers at the big corporations, and the government is pressuring us to give up even more money.”

“There hasn’t been a time as frustrating as these days. What did we do so wrong?”

“It’s a bit much. How much have we contributed to the country all this time?”

Jeong Hong-geun smiled.

“It’s times like these that we need to unite. Who else would understand our difficulties? We need to stick together so that they don’t look down on us. If we give them that impression once, we’ll be taken advantage of from then on. We need to show them that even a worm will wriggle if you step on it.”

“Then how…”

Jeong Hong-geun shrugged slightly.

“The one who messed with Myung-cheol this time is said to be the chairman of a place called MK. He calls himself a chairman, but he hasn’t even come to apologize.”

Jeong Hong-geun gritted his teeth slightly.

“So, we need to teach him a lesson. I heard they’re doing a cafe franchise, so if we just mess with their distribution network, they won’t last a few days, will they?”

“Hmm…”

Everyone wore heavy expressions.

It was burdensome to pick a fight with a place that might be protected by the government. But, as Jeong Hong-geun said, it was also unpleasant to back down.

“I’ll take responsibility!”

Jeong Hong-geun raised his bony hand and thumped his chest.

“Just help me. I’ll make sure you’re well compensated. If there’s a problem, I’ll take the blame! You just need to lend a hand.”

“Oh my, Chairman. What compensation are you talking about? It’s not that big of a deal.”

“That’s right. Don’t worry. It’s not a big problem.”

“We’ll check if we’re supplying them with food ingredients. Cutting them off for a month or so won’t be a problem.”

“If we do it right, we might even be able to bring over someone who has a good relationship with the government.”

Cheerful laughter flowed from all around.

If Taekwang took the lead and took responsibility, there would be no great burden on the others. Even if the government got angry, Taekwang would take the brunt of it.

It was at that moment, when everyone was calculating their own gains.

Bang!

The door burst open, and a person strode in.