Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 257

With a light laugh, Choi Yeon-ha responded to Park Yu-min’s question.

“If I didn’t come at this hour, I wouldn’t even be able to get in, would I?”

“Well, yes, but…”

Putting aside the fact that there was a reason to come here, it was strange to Park Yu-min that a busy person would visit at almost midnight.

Choi Yeon-ha took off her sunglasses and walked inside, pulling out a chair at the table where Kang Jin-ho and Joo Young-gi were sitting and sat down.

“How is it? Am I right?”

“…I guess so.”

Looking at the triumphant Choi Yeon-ha, Kang Jin-ho nodded with a sullen expression.

“I told you. I said you’d be incredibly busy now.”

“I don’t understand what’s going on at all.”

“You’re probably the only one in the world who doesn’t understand, Mr. Kang Jin-ho. Everyone else knows what’s going on.”

“Why is everyone doing this?”

Choi Yeon-ha chuckled.

“Why else? Because you’re handsome, that’s why.”

“That’s true, but why do I feel so uncomfortable hearing that?”

“Me too.”

Joo Young-gi and Park Yu-min chimed in, but Choi Yeon-ha was unfazed.

“Then you should have been born handsome.”

“Wow, that really breaks the image. Is this who you really are?”

“…The drama was good though.”

Choi Yeon-ha clicked her tongue at the two of them.

“I wish you wouldn’t confuse drama characters with real people. So many people are having a hard time because of that. One of the people I know is a really nice person, but they played an adulterer once and they’re still getting cursed at by middle-aged women. They whisper behind their back when they go to cafes.”

“We’re not that bad.”

Choi Yeon-ha looked at Kang Jin-ho quietly and said,

“A guest has arrived, aren’t you going to offer anything? Are we just going to breathe air like this?”

“We’re closed. The oven is off too.”

“Then you should at least bring out some cola. What kind of man has no manners?”

“You thought I was annoyed just now, didn’t you?”

“Heh.”

Choi Yeon-ha laughed as if she found it hilarious.

“Mr. Kang Jin-ho, you still have a lot to learn. But you should be grateful that you met a woman like me. Do you think most women would tell you these things? If someone like you went on a date, you’d be known as a man with no manners the next day. I’m saving you from that.”

“It’s okay. I don’t have any plans to date.”

“Okay. Being chaste is a pass.”

Choi Yeon-ha smiled, watching Kang Jin-ho shake his head as if he couldn’t win.

“Still, it’s good that business is doing well, right?”

“I think it’s better than not doing well.”

“That’s why I helped a little. Here.”

Choi Yeon-ha held out her phone.

“Huh?”

An SNS [Social Networking Service] account with a photo of someone eating pizza at the store was displayed. Below it was an explanation that it was the store of the male actor, along with the store’s name.

“Business is all about timing. You have to sell as much as you can at this time.”

What she said was true. And it was something to be grateful for. But seeing the playfulness in her smile, good words didn’t come out of his mouth easily.

“From tomorrow, even more customers will come. I’m a pretty influential actress, you know.”

“Please, no.”

“Oh, my.”

“Don’t exaggerate. It’ll only be for two months at most. These days, the buzz changes so quickly that after two months of making a lot of money, you’ll go back to normal.”

“Two months…”

“Yes. After two months, it’ll be empty again. Then I can eat delicious pizza in peace, which is great.”

Park Yu-min raised his hand.

“Yes, student. What is it?”

“You just said it’ll be empty after two months.”

“Yes, I did.”

“I’m really curious, why isn’t our store doing well? I’ve eaten a lot of pizza, and I think our Jin-ho makes really good pizza. But I don’t know why we don’t have any customers.”

Choi Yeon-ha looked at Park Yu-min with wide eyes as if she was dumbfounded. Then, she checked Joo Young-gi and Kang Jin-ho’s faces and grabbed her head.

“This store… was it made to do business?”

“Then why else would we make it, if not to do business?”

“I thought that was the case. No matter how I look at it, it doesn’t look like a store made to do business. I thought Mr. Kang Jin-ho had a lot of money, so he made it as a hobby.”

“This guy does tend to spend money, but it’s not that excessive.”

“Oh my god, this is business…”

Choi Yeon-ha sighed deeply. She seemed to have no idea where to start explaining.

“Please tell us if you know. Why don’t we have customers?”

“It’s obvious.”

Choi Yeon-ha reached out and grabbed the menu on the table and opened it.

“Look here. What kind of menu do you have?”

“Pizza.”

“Do you deliver? Are you a franchise?”

“No.”

“What kind of pizza place that does business only sells pizza?”

Park Yu-min and Joo Young-gi looked at each other.

‘What is she talking about?’

‘I don’t know.’

Choi Yeon-ha sighed after seeing their reactions, then turned her head and looked at Kang Jin-ho. Kang Jin-ho also had a blank look on his face, not understanding what she was saying at all.

“Wow, you guys really stick together, how did you all meet people who are so similar?”

All three of them laughed awkwardly.

“Are you all single? Have you never been on a date?”

“That’s a bit harsh, isn’t it?”

Park Yu-min replied with a stiff face, and Choi Yeon-ha looked at him, realizing she had gone too far with her comment. Just as she was wondering how to apologize, Park Yu-min said,

“Jin-ho and Young-gi had girlfriends! I’m the only one who’s single.”

“…That’s nice.”

It seemed like there was no hope for these three. If there was only one of them, they might be able to blend in with other people, but it was unfortunate that these three became friends.

“Anyway, what kind of pizza place doesn’t have pasta or risotto? And it’s not like you have any special menus, you don’t even sell salad. You just serve pizza, who would come to eat that?”

“We have pickles.”

“Wow, what a great side menu you have.”

“Even the drinks are like that. You should make and sell some mojitos or ades [a type of fruit-flavored drink]. You just have cola and cider on the menu, what are you trying to sell?”

Park Yu-min said blankly.

“Wasn’t the interior the problem?”

“See, you idiot! I told you it wasn’t the interior! I said I did a good job with the interior. Are you ignoring my sense?”

“Yes, you deserve to be ignored.”

“So, um, ah… ah, damn it!”

Joo Young-gi smiled as he watched Choi Yeon-ha curse.

‘Being next to Jin-ho, I’m seeing all sorts of things.’

Where else would you see a top actress cursing?

“I don’t know where to start explaining. Okay, Mr. Kang Jin-ho!”

“Yes?”

“Take a day off. Go see how other pizza places operate and learn something. Check out their menus too. I’ll take you to a good place.”

“…Yes?”

“Don’t you know the saying ‘Imitation is the mother of creation’? You need to know how successful places operate to do anything.”

Kang Jin-ho was speechless.

He opened a pizza place because he wanted to open a pizza place, but what else did he have to do here?

“Do pizza places usually sell all that stuff?”

“Of course. Haven’t you been to one?”

“I’ve only ever ordered delivery.”

“Me too.”

“Me too.”

Choi Yeon-ha stared blankly at the three of them before yelling.

“What are you guys? Are you aliens?”

Chai Ke-chang couldn’t lift his head.

Hong Wang was silent, but his silence was even more frightening.

“I told you I would leave it to you.”

Chai Ke-chang’s body flinched.

“But quite some time has passed, and no report has come up.”

“…I’m sorry.”

“You can fail while doing a job. It’s good if you succeed, but it’s not necessarily bad if you fail. What’s bad is when nothing happens. Failure can be an opportunity to analyze the cause and pave the way to success, but delaying work does not bring any benefit. Do you know that?”

“Yes, Hong Wang.”

Chai Ke-chang gritted his teeth.

‘Those damn punks…’

He entrusted the work to insignificant beings, but they couldn’t even do that one thing properly, bringing him to this situation. As soon as he got out of here, he would never leave them alone.

“Chang Wang has moved.”

Chai Ke-chang raised his head sharply.

“Chang Wang, you say?”

“That’s right.”

Chai Ke-chang clenched his fist tightly.

The fact that Chang Wang, who had been sitting still for some reason, had revealed himself meant a great deal.

Perhaps the all-out war that they had been so worried about might break out.

“But the reason why Chang Wang started moving is interesting. He has detected the movements of the demons.”

“Demons.”

Chai Ke-chang’s mind began to spin rapidly.

The work he was doing now was also about catching demons, if you removed the unnecessary embellishments. He had moved the Yeongnam Association to deal with the demon named Kang Jin-ho, hadn’t he?

But the demons in the Central Plains were moving at the same time.

‘Should I simply accept this as a coincidence?’

Demons are like cockroaches.

Even if you exterminate them, they come back again.

It was not strange that cockroaches appeared here and there, but…

‘I have a bad feeling.’

Hong Wang seemed to be thinking the same thing.

“I don’t know if it’s because of the real movements of the demons, or if they’ve created a plausible excuse to move, but now that Chang Wang has started moving, the current peace will no longer be maintained. If even Black Wang moves, the Central Plains will once again be engulfed in a vortex of slaughter.”

“That’s right.”

“I do not fear them. I am Hong Wang. No one dares to be my opponent.”

Chai Ke-chang bowed his head to the ground. That’s right.

The one in front of him was Hong Wang. He was one of only three kings in the Central Plains, and a peerless martial artist whom Chai Ke-chang firmly believed to be the best in the world.

“But Chai Ke-chang.”

“Yes.”

“A general always prepares his rear before going to battle. You cannot fully focus on Chang Wang and Black Wang with that demon left behind. Do you understand what I mean?”

“This Chai Ke-chang will do whatever it takes to eliminate him under Hong Wang’s command.”

“Go now.”

“Yes!”

Chai Ke-chang carefully left Hong Wang’s room and wiped his forehead.

“Damn Korean bastards.”

How long had it been since he had entrusted the work to them, and they still hadn’t done it properly?

Chai Ke-chang gritted his teeth as he grabbed his phone.

“I don’t think this is going to work.” This is the last time, the last time.

Chai Ke-chang, who had decided that he would have to move himself if things didn’t work out even after urging them one more time, picked up the phone with cold eyes.

And if he moved, his target would not only be Kang Jin-ho. He would make it clear to the Yeongnam Association and the Korean martial artists who dared not carry out his orders.

The overflowing martial arts of China.

He would show the weak Korean bastards what true martial arts were.

Chai Ke-chang pressed the number with cold, calm eyes.