Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 202

“You gave him five thousand?”

“…Yes.”

“No, you crazy bastard. Did you hit a Benz or something? Why five thousand?”

“It wasn’t a Benz, it was a total piece of junk about to be scrapped.”

“And you gave him five thousand for hitting that?”

“You told me to settle it quietly so it wouldn’t become a rumor, didn’t you?”

“I told you to wait until I got there.”

“He looked like he was going to kill me if I didn’t pay him right away, what was I supposed to do?”

“Ha… you crazy son of a bitch.”

Kim Shin, the road manager of The Voice, sighed repeatedly while looking at Jun-young.

He knew Jun-young was immature, but he didn’t realize he was this immature. It was already a mess because of the dating rumors, and then he went to the cafe run by Kang Se-ah’s father, creating a situation that could cause gossip, and on top of that, he got ripped off.

“Didn’t you hear me when I told you not to go anywhere near Kang Se-ah? Are you trying to die? Huh? Do you think I’m just putting up with you because I have a good personality?”

“Ah, damn it. Why are you only picking on me? I already talked to the CEO about it.”

“…The CEO?”

“Yes.”

“Why would the CEO allow that? You son of a bitch, if you’re lying, I’ll hang you up for real.”

“I’m telling you it’s true. Call him.”

Kim Shin’s face twisted.

“So? Did you go and meet Kang Se-ah?”

“I just saw her face.”

“You saw her face?”

“Yes.”

“…Was there anyone else there besides Kang Se-ah?”

“Her father and brother were there.” Squeeeak!

Kim Shin slammed on the brakes. Jun-young, who almost hit his head on the dashboard because the car stopped so suddenly, cursed.

“Ah, damn it! Why are you doing this!”

“Her father was there?”

“Yes! He was there!”

“…Wow, I’m going crazy. What am I supposed to do?”

Kim Shin, who was fidgeting, stepped on the accelerator with all his might. The car started to speed forward with a loud screech.

“StarWiz?”

Han Seon-gu tilted his head.

“Don’t you remember? The StarWiz incident? It was two years ago.”

Kim Shin said, sounding frustrated, and Han Seon-gu tilted his head and said,

“What happened?”

“…Ah, right. You weren’t here at that time, were you, boss?”

‘He was in jail.’

Kim Shin could now understand how this situation had escalated to this point.

“About two years ago, there was an entertainment agency called StarWiz that completely collapsed.”

“Wait a minute. I think I remember… StarWiz, wasn’t that the agency that… Hyuk-gi was running? Park Hyuk-gi?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Come to think of it, I haven’t seen Hyuk-gi recently, so it completely collapsed?”

“Yes, it completely collapsed. Because of that incident, the issue of unfair contracts for celebrities was reported in the media, and the issue of slush funds at entertainment agencies blew up, leading to tax audits and a huge mess.”

“Oh, I think I heard about that. But what does that have to do with anything?”

“There’s a rumor that it was all because of Kang Se-ah.”

“…What?”

Han Seon-gu’s eyes shook.

“K-Kang Se-ah?”

“Yes. At the time, the trainees that StarWiz was fostering all became free agents and either left the industry or auditioned elsewhere to become trainees again, but as soon as StarWiz collapsed, Kang Se-ah transferred to Code and immediately started preparing for her solo debut. It’s as if Kang Se-ah blew up her agency and transferred.”

“…W-what are you talking about? So, you’re saying that Hyuk-gi from StarWiz messed with Kang Se-ah and the agency went down?”

“Yes. And CEO Park Hyuk-gi is still in jail.”

“Why are you telling me this now! Why!”

“I thought you knew, boss. And you didn’t tell me that you were trying to get to Kang Se-ah through Jun-young. I thought it would be okay since the previous incident was just a minor happening. But he went there even after being warned, so they won’t stay still.”

Han Seon-gu asked in a trembling voice.

“I-is that true? That Kang Se-ah brought down StarWiz?”

“…It’s not certain. But the circumstances suggest that. StarWiz was dismantled, and Kang Se-ah transferred to Code, not anywhere else, and there’s also talk that Jae-kyung is backing her.”

“Hey, why would Jae-kyung bother with such an agency? If there’s a backlash, they’ll be completely destroyed.”

Kim Shin said, sounding dumbfounded at Han Seon-gu’s words.

“Why would there be a backlash? It’s Jae-kyung because there won’t be a backlash.”

“Huh?”

“There’s no place, whether it’s the media or anywhere else, that’s hostile to Jae-kyung. If they had grown by sucking the blood of people like other conglomerates, they would be the only conglomerate in Korea, not just one of the top five. Who would dare to mess with them? They’d get their heads chopped off.”

“Ah…”

“Anyway, we need to fix this quickly.”

“Ah! Do you want to see the company go down? Get a grip, boss!”

“Y-yes, I will.”

While Han Seon-gu, who was still in a daze, was thinking about how to solve this problem, his cell phone started ringing.

Han Seon-gu stared blankly at his cell phone, confirming the words ‘Jae-kyung Secretary’s Office’ on the screen. He couldn’t bring himself to answer it.

After the phone kept ringing and then stopped, Kim Shin opened his mouth with a slightly disgusted look. He had also seen what was on the screen with his own two eyes.

Bzzzz!

The phone started vibrating again.

“…You should answer it.”

At Kim Shin’s words, Han Seon-gu looked at the phone with a half-dazed expression before pressing the call button.

“Y-yes, hello?”

“[Nice to meet you, CEO Han Seon-gu. We’ve met before, haven’t we? This is Jo Gyu-min.]”

“Yes! Yes! I know! I know!”

“[It’s just that, we told you once, but the situation doesn’t seem to have changed at all. And that young man seems to have quite a bit of guts, so I like him. Judging by his attitude, he seemed to know the situation, is that right?]”

“There’s no way that’s possible?”

At times like this, denying it was the best option.

If he admitted that he said it was okay to go, he knew exactly what would happen.

“[Oh, is that so? Then it seems like the management of your agency’s celebrities isn’t being done properly.]”

“Hahaha, as you know… we’re a small agency, so we can’t chase after all those kids and monitor them one by one. I clearly told him firmly, but these days, the kids are just out of control.”

“[I see.]”

After that, Jo Gyu-min was silent for a while.

And that silence was more terrifying to Han Seon-gu than anything else. If he had gotten angry or yelled, he might have been able to accept the situation more calmly, but since that wasn’t the case, he didn’t know what to do.

“[I understand what you mean.]”

“I will make sure that this doesn’t happen again and manage them properly.”

“[Next time?]”

“[It would be nice if there was a next time, but unfortunately, I don’t think there will be a next time for you, CEO.]”

“W-wait a minute! Mr. Jo Gyu-min!”

Han Seon-gu, reading the coldness in Jo Gyu-min’s tone, grabbed the phone and started shouting desperately.

“It was a mistake! A mistake! We really didn’t mean to do that! If you understand this time, I will make sure that it never happens again. If you want, I’ll fire that Jun-young bastard. So, just this once!”

“[You seem to be mistaken about something, CEO.]”

“Yes?”

What was he mistaken about?

“[We don’t really care about such small fries either. What we don’t understand is your attitude, CEO, that you think this is a trivial matter even after we warned you, including the name of Jae-kyung.]”

“N-no, that’s not it…”

“[Let me tell you one of the Chairman’s principles. People can make mistakes. But a mistake that is knowingly made is not a mistake. That’s all. Mistakes can be forgiven, but just because they are forgiven doesn’t mean that the price you have to pay disappears. You will come to know that now.]”

“H-hey! Mr. Jo Gyu-min! Mr. Jo Gyu-min!”

The call was cut off mercilessly.

Cold sweat started to drip from Han Seon-gu’s forehead.

“W-what do I do?”

Kim Shin also had a blank expression.

“If only you had been more careful…”

“Hey! You bastard! Did I know this would happen? And what’s the point of blaming what’s already happened! We need to think of a solution, a solution!”

‘A solution, my ass.’

With the situation like this, what solution was there?

They say ignorance is bliss, but what kind of guts did he have to mess with Jae-kyung?

It wasn’t like he messed with them unknowingly, he messed with them even after Jae-kyung warned him not to. If he dies like this, he should get a Darwin Award.

‘I need to get out of here.’

Kim Shin quietly got up from his seat.

If Jae-kyung decided to destroy them, there was no telling what would happen. Unlike other conglomerates, they didn’t throw money around, so their influence in the political world was low, but even with that low influence, Jae-kyung was a place that could crush them like bugs.

“B-boss!”

Kim Shin sensed that it had begun when he heard a desperate voice from outside.

The secretary burst into the room without permission and shouted.

“It’s a disaster!”

“W-what is it?”

Han Seon-gu asked back, but he already had a sense of the situation.

“The second team contacted us, and all the public broadcast schedules for this week have been canceled!”

“…What?”

Han Seon-gu couldn’t help but feel like his vision was going dark.

How much alcohol and money had he spent to get that one broadcast… If he counted all the money he had given to the PDs [Producers], it would easily be worth a house. He had worked so hard to get that broadcast, and now the schedule was canceled! What was going on?

“Not only the public broadcasts, but the radio schedules have also been canceled.”

“D-did you get an official notice?”

“No. They said they received a phone call.”

“Why, why was it canceled? Why?”

“That’s…”

Kim Shin left the bewildered CEO behind and quietly left the CEO’s office and closed the door.

‘Why, you ask?’

Even if Jae-kyung didn’t try to exert influence, it was still a leading conglomerate.

The amount of money that Jae-kyung spent on advertising in the broadcasting industry was unimaginable. If Jae-kyung coughed in discomfort, a small agency would be swept away by a typhoon.

‘There’s a hole in the boat.’

Being on a boat with a hole in the middle of the vast ocean would only lead to sinking together. Kim Shin put the resignation letter he had been carrying in his pocket on the secretary’s desk and left the building without delay.

Standing on the street, Kim Shin looked at the building where his workplace had been and sighed.

‘They’re ruthless.’

He thought that if they were weak, they would be investigated by the tax authorities, and if not, the prosecutors would investigate. That alone would destroy the company, which was full of corruption.

But now, they were showing their intention to slowly kill them, even though they knew a way to completely destroy them.

Han Seon-gu couldn’t even imagine it, but Kim Shin could fully sense their intention.

“You shouldn’t mess with a ruthless person.”

As Kim Shin clicked his tongue and left the company, Jo Gyu-min, who was sitting in the secretary’s office and making phone calls, kept scratching his ear.

“…Is someone talking about me?”

Jo Gyu-min had done so many things that deserved criticism that it was hard to guess who the culprit was.

Jo Gyu-min chuckled and reached for the phone.