Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 271

The aftermath was significant.

Kang Jin-ho was acutely aware of the magnitude of the repercussions of revealing himself. He should have held back a little longer, but his inability to do so was now disrupting his daily life.

“Could you sign this for me?”

Taking the subway to work had been a mistake. Normally, he would have taken Goldie [his motorcycle] or walked, no matter how long it took, but the rain had led him to board the subway, and that was the beginning of it all.

Seeing the child’s eyes sparkling as they held out their notebook, Kang Jin-ho couldn’t help but break out in a cold sweat.

“You’re the one from the drama, right? I’m a big fan!”

“Ah…”

Appearing in that drama had been a mistake.

If he had known that the drama would have such a profound impact on his life, he would never have agreed to appear. But as always, regret, no matter how quickly it comes, is always too late.

“…I don’t have a signature.”

“Really?”

The girl, looking disappointed as she lowered her notebook, soon smiled brightly and said,

“Then, can I take a picture with you? I heard you do that at the store.”

The world these days is unpredictable.

Even when he was in the Central Plains [a historical region in China], like the saying ‘a rumor travels a thousand miles,’ news always spread faster than people could travel, but it never spread across the entire world simultaneously like it does now.

Kang Jin-ho was probably the one who felt the most acutely how much social media was changing human lives.

“…Yes, I should.”

And Kang Jin-ho was not the same as he was in the past.

“But you have to come to my place for pizza later.”

“Yes. I definitely will.”

Seeing that he had the presence of mind to do business in this situation, it could be said that Kang Jin-ho had adapted well to modern society.

Of course, he wasn’t perfect yet.

“Me too, please!”

“Me too! Please take a picture with me!”

“I’ll come to your store! I’ll come twice!”

Looking at the crowd gathering around him, Kang Jin-ho closed his eyes with a dazed expression.

This world was still too difficult for him to live in.

The time when the number of people visiting his store should have been decreasing was approaching. But why wasn’t it decreasing?

It wouldn’t be the right attitude for a store owner to question why so many customers were visiting his store. In that sense, Kang Jin-ho was a terrible owner.

“Who cares? I’m making money.”

Kang Jin-ho sighed as he watched Joo Young-gi pat him on the shoulder and walk past.

‘Has he learned mind-reading now?’

Whether Joo Young-gi had said that knowing Kang Jin-ho’s thoughts, or if it was just a random remark that happened to hit the nail on the head, he didn’t know.

“Jin-ho, two orders of bulgogi!”

“Okay, got it.”

Kang Jin-ho, having received the order, renewed his resolve and headed to the oven. No matter how he felt, he had to make the food with care. It was Kang Jin-ho’s style to not do something at all rather than do it half-heartedly.

Kang Jin-ho, having baked the pizza in the oven and headed to the table to take pictures, tilted his head as he saw two men staring blankly at him.

“…Aren’t you going to give us the pizza?”

“Oh, yes, I should.”

Kang Jin-ho, having placed the pizza down in a daze, stood awkwardly next to it, and the men stared at him with blank expressions.

“Do we tip you?”

“No, it’s okay.”

As Kang Jin-ho turned away with an awkward expression, he heard a low conversation from behind.

“But why don’t they sell beer here?”

“It looks like a beer place. And why are there so many women?”

“Usually, there are more women in places like this during the day.”

“Does that mean all the men are gone? Usually, there should be some couples too, right?”

Kang Jin-ho quietly closed his eyes.

‘I’m sorry.’

It had been a long time since a normal customer had come, but those customers were not adjusting to the atmosphere of the store. If the customers who liked the drama started to leave, it was obvious what would happen.

“Did you find someone for the pasta side?”

“Yeah. They said they’ll start working tomorrow.”

“Oh, that’s a relief.”

“But the person who was doing pasta here is gone, and since they’re adding it as a new menu, they asked if we have a frying pan?”

“And?”

“I said we don’t.”

Park Yu-min answered with a bright smile, and Kang Jin-ho smiled back.

“We’re doomed.”

“Don’t worry. They said they’ll prepare everything from the necessary ingredients to the tools when they come tomorrow.”

“Really?”

Kang Jin-ho nodded.

Anyone who came and helped with the work would be a help to the store.

“Anyway, Jin-ho.”

“Yeah?”

“It seems like it’s been a month since we started working, so I did a settlement.”

“Yeah.”

“We made a lot of money…”

“…”

“Since the actual customers started coming about two weeks after we opened, we’ll make even more money next month. We could make twice as much?”

“Hmm…”

Kang Jin-ho nodded.

“Let’s talk about that later.”

“Okay, got it.”

Kang Jin-ho’s expression became a bit serious when the topic of money came up. Especially since they were friends, this was an issue that needed to be handled properly.

“You want to divide it by 1/N [equal shares]?”

Kang Jin-ho quietly nodded. But Joo Young-gi and Park Yu-min looked dumbfounded.

“Is that even calculable?”

“We just need to handle the expenses from this month and set aside the taxes we’ll have to pay later, and then divide the remaining money.”

“Oh, Kang Jin-ho.”

Joo Young-gi grabbed his forehead as if he had a headache.

“Taxes aren’t like you think, where if you make this much, you pay this much. The tax rate changes depending on how much you earn. Do you understand, Kang Jin-ho, who majored in business administration?”

“We can just deduct more later if the tax rate goes up.”

“Who’s going to calculate that?”

“Me.”

Kang Jin-ho pointed at himself.

“Ah, you’re a student at a prestigious university, right?”

“Sorry. Sometimes when I’m with you, I forget that you’re smart. It’s not my fault, honestly.”

“Who said anything?”

Joo Young-gi firmly waved his hand.

“I understand what you’re saying, but I don’t like it.”

“Why?”

“You invested the money, so why should I get the same share of the profits? Am I a beggar, you little brat?”

“We would have failed if it weren’t for you guys.”

Park Yu-min also shook his head firmly.

“No, Jin-ho. I don’t think that’s right. If we take the money like that, we won’t feel comfortable working.”

“Hmm…”

Kang Jin-ho frowned as if he had encountered an unexpected hardship. He never thought there would be people who would refuse money.

“And dude, giving money by percentage… isn’t that a bad idea? Who knows how long the drama buff will last? What if the store doesn’t do well later, are we just going to suck our thumbs?”

“…Ah!”

Kang Jin-ho made a blank expression as if he hadn’t thought of that, and Joo Young-gi rubbed his face roughly.

“Even that guy goes to a prestigious university… I should have studied harder when I was in school.”

“Isn’t it because you couldn’t that you didn’t go?”

“Park Yu-min, your mouth is the problem these days.”

Joo Young-gi clicked his tongue and opened his mouth.

“Anyway, I’m not taking money like that. I’ll take what I’ve earned. I have no intention of taking more.”

“Really? Then how much should I give you?”

“Give me as much as the other employees, dude. And how long are you going to keep using us? We can’t work here forever. Once things are stable, I have to go do my own thing, and Yu-min has to prepare to be a gamer.”

Kang Jin-ho had also been thinking about that.

“I have to go back to school soon anyway.”

“You want us to work together until you go back to school?”

“Is that not okay?”

“Let’s think about it. It’ll take some time.”

“Okay, sure.”

After roughly finishing the conversation, it was already past midnight.

“Then we’ll go first.”

“Okay.”

“Want a ride?”

“I’ll pass.”

Kang Jin-ho shook his head as he looked at Joo Young-gi’s car, which he doubted could even run. Park Yu-min, who happily rode in that thing, was also quite brave. Come to think of it, he used to be weak-hearted, but after hanging out with him, he had become quite resilient.

“Then, see ya.”

“Okay…”

As the car sputtered and emitted acrid smoke, Kang Jin-ho smiled bitterly.

‘I should buy them a car.’

Even if he offered Joo Young-gi a car, his pride wouldn’t let him accept it. Besides, from a common-sense perspective, Joo Young-gi’s words were a hundred times more correct than Kang Jin-ho’s, so Kang Jin-ho couldn’t force the issue.

Honk, honk.

Just as he was about to get lost in thought, a car horn blared.

Turning his head towards the sound, he saw a familiar sedan approaching him.

“Get in.”

The window opened, and Jo Gyu-min peeked his head out. Kang Jin-ho smiled and went to the passenger seat, opening the door and getting inside.

“What brings you here?”

“I came because I have something to tell you. And also to see your face. But why does your store close so late?”

“Because there are a lot of customers.”

Jo Gyu-min looked at Kang Jin-ho with an astonished expression.

‘Is the effect of that drama really lasting this long?’

Jo Gyu-min was realizing that the world of self-employment was truly unpredictable. Who would have imagined that he would attract customers for this reason? At this rate, there was no way to evaluate his management skills.

‘Is this what the chairman meant?’

Management skills are an illusion. Jo Gyu-min was now realizing what Hwang Jung-hoo meant when he said that the only thing that mattered was the ability to produce results. At this rate, he would have to write in his report, ‘His skills are unknown, but the store is a huge success.’

“What is it that you wanted to tell me?”

“Ah!”

Jo Gyu-min, who was about to get lost in thought, snapped back to reality at Kang Jin-ho’s words and quietly stepped on the accelerator.

“It must be inconvenient not having a car, right?”

“…A little.”

If it had been just last night, he would have said that it was a bit inconvenient, but he had gotten used to it to some extent. But after what happened on the subway today, his thoughts had changed.

Personal space was a necessity. Especially for Kang Jin-ho, who now had to be careful about going outside without a car.

If he was like this, how much more difficult must it be for top stars? Kang Jin-ho could now understand a little why they tried to eat paparazzi alive and were so tired of people’s attention.

“I’ve selected some candidates. Let’s go take a look.”

“Okay.”

Kang Jin-ho nodded without a word.

In the past, he would have said, ‘I can just look at them myself, why are you going to all this trouble?’ but now, Kang Jin-ho knew that everything Jo Gyu-min did had a reason.

Vroom.

The car slowly moved forward.

“Would you like a cigarette?”

“Yes, I will.”

Without a word, Kang Jin-ho put a cigarette in his mouth, and Jo Gyu-min also put one in his mouth.

Jo Gyu-min, having lit his cigarette, asked in a slightly lower voice,

“Have you been recently involved with that Korean Martial Arts Association?”

So this was the main point.

Kang Jin-ho smiled quietly, thinking that the car was just an excuse. It wasn’t that he was hiding his true intentions in his words, but rather that he had borrowed the pretext of the car because he was uncomfortable asking directly.

“I am.”

“Kang Jin-ho.”

Jo Gyu-min looked at Kang Jin-ho with a calm gaze and then pulled the car over to the side of the road.

It was a sudden action, but Kang Jin-ho didn’t blame Jo Gyu-min. He had long since become someone who had the right to act this way towards Kang Jin-ho.

“May I say one thing?”