Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 204

“Hong Wang, you said?”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

The Yeongnam Martial Arts Alliance.

Known as the Yeongnam Association for short, it was the largest martial arts organization in Korea.

Kim Seok-il, the head of the organization, looked at the person reporting with an expression of disbelief.

“Hong Wang, Hong Wang… Are you talking about Hong Wang, one of the three kings of the Martial Alliance that dominates China?”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

Kim Seok-il frowned.

In terms of national power, there was a huge difference between China and Korea. However, while Korea was known to be somewhat on par with China in the world, in the world of martial artists, China was an absolute powerhouse that could not even be compared to Korea.

And the Martial Alliance that dominated such a powerhouse was making a request to them?

It was something that could never happen.

But that impossible thing was happening now.

“What do they want?”

“The elimination of a specific person.”

“A specific person?”

Kim Seok-il smiled wryly.

“What are the conditions?”

“That is…”

At Kim Seok-il’s question, Lee Hyun-soo hesitated, unable to answer easily, and then replied in a slightly bewildered voice.

“They said they would write off all the funds we have received so far.”

“…What did you say?”

Kim Seok-il doubted his ears.

With his internal energy, there was no way he could have misheard someone, but he couldn’t help but doubt it.

It was an undeniable fact that the secret funding from the Martial Alliance had played a major role in the growth of the Yeongnam Association.

He knew that the issue would become a poison someday, but he thought it was something he had to endure in order to win the competition with the General Assembly [another martial arts organization in Korea].

But now, Hong Wang, the source of the funds, was saying that if they eliminated a specific person, they would write off all that money.

“Did they ask us to assassinate the president or something?”

It was an absurd statement, but it was half serious.

It was not an amount that could be written off unless it was something of that magnitude.

“Well, that’s a bit…”

Seeing Lee Hyun-soo’s reaction, Kim Seok-il narrowed his eyes.

The fact that someone who was usually so straightforward was hesitating like that meant that the matter was either very serious or very absurd.

Which one was it?

“…He’s just an ordinary college student.”

Kim Seok-il quietly waited for Lee Hyun-soo to continue. He thought there would be more to say. But Lee Hyun-soo just kept his mouth shut and didn’t say anything more.

“Is that all?”

“Yes.”

Kim Seok-il’s face contorted as much as it could.

“Stop being so frustrating and report everything you know! Now!”

“Yes, yes!”

Lee Hyun-soo was terrified and started shouting.

“His name is Kang Jin-ho! He’s suspected to be a returnee [someone who has returned from another world or dimension]. He’s currently enrolled at Jae-kyung University, and he recently finished his military service and is preparing to return to school.”

Lee Hyun-soo finished speaking there and lowered his head.

“Is that all?”

“…There’s no more information yet.”

“There are no traces of him being connected to other places?”

“It seems the military tried to contact him, but they haven’t made any further progress.”

“Hmm…”

Kim Seok-il couldn’t help but fall into deep thought.

“And, one more thing.”

“One more?”

“It seems the General Assembly is also looking for him.”

Kim Seok-il quietly closed his eyes.

A person that the General Assembly was moving to find and the Martial Alliance was trying to eliminate.

That alone was enough to guess how dangerous this guy named Kang Jin-ho was. If Hong Wang wasn’t a fool, he wouldn’t try to pay such a price to eliminate someone who was nothing special.

It was a bait that shouldn’t be touched.

But…

It was also a tempting bait that couldn’t be ignored.

If they could handle this matter well, the Yeongnam Association could completely overwhelm the General Assembly and get rid of their awkward relationship with the Martial Alliance at the same time.

It would be a difficult and arduous path, but if a matter with such conditions was easy, it would be even stranger.

“Is the reason they’re not directly involved because of the border?”

“I heard that the relationship between the three kings is very strained right now. If that wasn’t the case, they would have come to Korea themselves like in the past.”

That was at least a hopeful story.

“Call the Outsider.”

“…Association Head.”

Kim Seok-il declared as if he wouldn’t listen to any objections.

“We will put all our efforts into this matter. If there are any cards we can use, we should use them all.”

Thus, the two largest martial arts groups in Korea simultaneously began to reach out to Kang Jin-ho.

“Start a business?”

“Yeah.”

Park Yu-min poured soju [Korean distilled rice liquor] into Kang Jin-ho’s glass with a look that said, ‘What are you talking about now?’ The clear soju filled the glass.

“You’re not going back to school and starting a business?”

“Yeah.”

“…You’re not going back to school?”

“No, I will. Originally, I was going to spend about half a year traveling around, but things have gotten a bit strange, so I think I should try it out.”

“You’re going to start from scratch?”

“It’s not like that.”

After hearing Kang Jin-ho’s explanation, Park Yu-min began to make a strange expression.

“What kind of conditions are those?”

“I know, right?”

“So, you need to find a suitable business to start, but you can’t think of anything, is that it?”

“Yeah.”

Park Yu-min answered easily as if he didn’t know what the problem was.

“Open a PC cafe! You like games, right? If you’re going to play games anyway, you can do it at your own place.”

“I heard that if the owner gets hooked on games, the PC cafe will go bankrupt?”

“Oh, that’s a problem.”

“And with that, it’s hard to recover the investment. The risk is also high.”

Park Yu-min nodded as if he realized that it wasn’t something to be taken lightly.

‘That’s definitely true.’

Starting a business was something that seemed easy in everyday life, but when you actually tried to do it, there were so many things that got in the way.

“Then, why don’t you go into logistics or something like that? I think you could rewrite the history of logistics in Korea if you went into that field.”

“…They said to limit it to the food service industry.”

“Wow, that’s like playing a game of chess with all the pieces removed. You can’t use your strength in the food service industry.”

Kang Jin-ho felt miserable hearing his best friend tell him to do something that required strength. Of course, even he thought that was the most suitable field for him.

“Hmm, is there anything suitable?”

“If it’s the food service industry, are we talking about Chinese restaurants or chicken places?”

“…They said not to do delivery.”

“Wow, I really don’t understand this. Why are they doing it this way? If you do well, what will they give you?”

“Grades.”

“Huh?”

Kang Jin-ho replied with a stiff face.

“The higher the sales, the higher the grades!”

Park Yu-min stared at his friend with an astonished face.

‘If that’s the case, just go back to school, you idiot.’

To leave a perfectly good school and start a business to get grades. And it’s not like he’s doing a part-time job for a month or two, but he’s going to get grades with a six-month long-term business. What is this all about?

“Jin-ho?”

“…I know what you’re going to say. But I want to do it.”

“If that’s what you want…”

Park Yu-min chuckled as he looked at his eccentric friend.

It was something he didn’t understand well, but the Kang Jin-ho he knew wasn’t someone who would waste his time on useless things.

If he had decided to start a business, there must be a reason why he had to do it.

“But why don’t you just use your money and do it big? If you start big, you’re halfway there.”

“That’s also prohibited.”

“Ugh.”

At this point, it was like playing chess with not only the rooks but also the knight removed.

‘Fair competition is good, but…’

It’s also a skill to utilize the weapons you have. If everyone succeeded just because the conditions were good, there would be no failing companies in the world.

But right now, Jae-kyung was hoping that Kang Jin-ho would start from a perfectly equal point.

‘Is this an evaluation?’

There were a few times when this happened during his pro-gamer days.

They would skip the early game and create a certain situation, then make him play from there, saying they wanted to see only his operational skills, not his overall abilities.

For example, they would make him play from a disadvantageous situation to see how he would handle it.

He knew that Hwang Jung-hoo cared about Kang Jin-ho, but the fact that he was evaluating him in this way meant that he wasn’t going to end it with simple friendship.

Depending on the results of this evaluation, Hwang Jung-hoo might use Kang Jin-ho in an important position.

‘Then I should help him properly.’

Park Yu-min was burning with motivation.

He was much more independent now, but Kang Jin-ho was still like a religion to him.

If Kang Jin-ho could just stand in a position where he could smoothly demonstrate his abilities, he would be on a smooth path from then on.

So, Park Yu-min decided to do his best to help Kang Jin-ho.

“But Jin-ho.”

“Yeah?”

“Do you even know how to cook?”

Seeing Kang Jin-ho’s dumbfounded expression, Park Yu-min felt that this was not going to be easy and let out a deep sigh.

“You’re opening a restaurant?”

His father couldn’t hide his expression that said, ‘Son, what on earth are you doing?’

“Yes. So…”

He didn’t know how many times he had explained the situation, but Kang Jin-ho obediently explained what situation he was in.

“Hmm, why don’t you just open a cafe? I’ll teach you how to make coffee.”

“Unfortunately, cafes are also prohibited.”

“Isn’t that condition too strict? It seems like you’re getting too little for accepting such conditions?”

Kang Jin-ho understood what his father was worried about. If he hadn’t heard Joo Young-gi’s words, he wouldn’t have tried to do such a useless thing either.

But after hearing Joo Young-gi’s words, he realized one thing.

Kang Jin-ho himself might be a near-perfect human being, but he was the worst human being when it came to using and dealing with people.

He had become a little more lenient after meeting Park Yu-min, going to the military, and working part-time at his father’s cafe, but he was still an awkward person when it came to dealing with others.

He had given up on living a perfectly ordinary life. But even so, his desire to live a normal life had not changed.

Now that he had identified what he lacked the most, Kang Jin-ho thought it was natural to make an effort to overcome it.

This matter would probably be a good opportunity and a good experience.

“Well, I do agree with this matter itself, but…”

Kang Yu-hwan didn’t continue speaking and just quietly looked at Kang Jin-ho.

“They say that suffering in youth is something you should buy, and it’s true that I told you to have various experiences, but honestly, I don’t think you need to go through such a difficult path to gain experience. Our country tends to highly value entrepreneurs who started from the bottom, but in fact, most of the people who have successfully built businesses in the United States are those who grew up in relatively wealthy families.”

Kang Jin-ho also nodded.

“I don’t know what you’re thinking by trying to do such a thing. But if it’s something you want to do, you should do it. But experience doesn’t necessarily have to be difficult. The fact that you’re experiencing it is what’s important.”

“Yes. I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Okay. Then do your best.”

“Huh?”

Why did the conversation end so abruptly?

“Aren’t there any recommendations? Like in this field?”

“My son will take care of it himself.”

Kang Jin-ho stared at Kang Yu-hwan with a blank face.

“I believe in you.”

This isn’t trust, it’s more like neglect, isn’t it?

Kang Yu-hwan coughed awkwardly at Kang Jin-ho’s gaze.