Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 33

The atmosphere in the faculty office was nothing short of grim.

“I’m Kang Jin-ho.”

Kang Jin-ho opened the faculty office door and stepped inside.

Kim Seong-ju, his face hardened, stared at Kang Jin-ho.

“Why are you here!”

“You called for me.”

“That’s enough! Who told you to come?”

Gong Ik-hyun raised his voice.

“I called for him.”

“Mr. Gong, this is a matter for the teachers.”

“Shouldn’t we hear what the person involved has to say!”

“Hey!”

Gong Ik-hyun ignored Kim Seong-ju and asked Kang Jin-ho,

“Kang Jin-ho.”

“Yes.”

“You were in a traffic accident, right?”

“Yes.”

Kang Jin-ho nodded obediently. There was no reason to lie.

“When did you come back to school?”

“Huh?”

“I’m asking when you came back to school after being discharged from the hospital.”

Kang Jin-ho realized what the problem was.

Kang Jin-ho had returned to school on the last day of the midterm exams. Having forgotten most of modern education, Kang Jin-ho had received terrible scores that day.

Kim Seong-ju, saddened by his student’s poor grades, had marked Kang Jin-ho as absent that day and put him on sick leave.

This was because, according to policy, students who could not attend school due to illness or accidents could receive 80% of their previous test scores.

It was a choice made because 80% of Kang Jin-ho’s previous test scores were much higher than the results of the test he had taken after returning to school.

But strictly speaking, it was grade manipulation.

Kang Jin-ho had clearly taken the test and received a score. However, that score had been manipulated and replaced with a higher one. Kang Jin-ho knew what the problem was, but he couldn’t lie.

Kang Jin-ho didn’t like lying in the first place, and with so many witnesses, lying would be pointless.

“It was the last day of the midterm exams.”

The faculty office began to buzz.

It was a fact they already knew, but hearing it confirmed by the person himself felt different.

“The last day of the midterms… Then it must have been English, Physics, and Classical Chinese, right?”

“Yes.”

“Are you sure you took all three tests?”

“Yes.”

Gong Ik-hyun turned to look at Kim Seong-ju.

“So he says.”

Kim Seong-ju frowned.

“I already told you that was the case. Why are you confirming it again?”

“Mr. Kim, whatever your intentions were, this is grade manipulation. Because of Mr. Kim Seong-ju’s grade manipulation, dozens of students have been negatively affected in the rankings!”

“No, that’s…”

“Are the other students not your students? Because you’re protecting Kang Jin-ho, other students have been harmed!”

Kim Seong-ju sighed.

It was something he had done out of sympathy for Kang Jin-ho, who had been in an accident, but he had no rebuttal when confronted like this. Gong Ik-hyun’s words were not wrong. No, his words were the correct ones.

“So, what I’m saying is…”

“That’s enough.”

The principal cut him off and stood up from his seat.

“I understand the situation. It doesn’t seem like there’s anything more to argue about here. We will hold a faculty meeting tomorrow at this time to discuss the disciplinary actions for Mr. Kim Seong-ju and student Kang Jin-ho.”

“Principal!”

“School rules and regulations are there to be followed! I understand what Mr. Kim Seong-ju’s intentions were, but that doesn’t mean it should be tolerated. If the school’s first mission is to teach and educate students, then teaching them to follow the rules is also the school’s duty!”

“…Yes.”

Kim Seong-ju lowered his head powerlessly.

Kang Jin-ho watched the whole situation unfold and sighed.

He could guess why this matter had resurfaced now. It seemed that Chairman Choi Myung-gil had made a move.

“Can I go now?”

At Kang Jin-ho’s words, the principal looked at him as if surprised.

If such a thing were happening in front of them, most students would be pale with fear, but Kang Jin-ho didn’t even bat an eye.

It had been the same last time.

Even when the chairman had come to see him and the police had come to take him away, Kang Jin-ho had remained calm and accepted everything without batting an eye.

‘Is he just calm, or is he just strong-willed…?’

The principal frowned slightly.

“You may go.”

“Yes.”

Kang Jin-ho closed the door and went outside.

“Hah…”

A sigh escaped him.

It wasn’t the fact that he was going to be disciplined that worried him. Even if they told him to leave the school right now, Kang Jin-ho wouldn’t care.

The problem was seeing his parents upset by this, and that his life, which had finally begun to stabilize, was starting to go awry again.

“Choi Myung-gil…”

Chairman Choi Myung-gil’s name slipped from Kang Jin-ho’s lips.

Before returning to the modern world, he had thought that he would never have anything to do with that man, but now he was becoming the biggest obstacle in his life.

Kang Jin-ho’s eyes lowered. First, he would wait.

If he acted now, not only he but also Mr. Kim Seong-ju could get into trouble.

“I’ll watch.”

How big of a mess would he make?

If that mess reached a point where it offended Kang Jin-ho, then Choi Myung-gil would also receive a visit.

Not from Kang Jin-ho…

The Heavenly Demon Lord would approach him in the darkness.

Kang Jin-ho’s eyes gleamed as he slowly returned to the classroom.

“Did you finish the investigation?”

Jo Gyu-min looked at Chairman Hwang Jeong-hu with nervous eyes.

It had only been a week since Chairman Hwang Jeong-hu had returned. Yet, Hwang Jeong-hu was rapidly normalizing the company.

The Jae-kyung Group was returning to its former state as if the year and a half of absence had never happened.

Hwang Jeong-hu was Hwang Jeong-hu.

His three sons hadn’t been slacking off either. They had also worked desperately to protect the company. However, the atmosphere of the company was different from when they were managing it.

Just the fact that there was a reliable leader changed the attitude of the employees.

‘Is this charisma?’

Hwang Jeong-hu hadn’t even come up with any special measures, but just the fact that he had returned was enough to restore the company to its original state, as if it had been injected with a vaccine.

“Yes.”

Jo Gyu-min handed the report in his hand to Hwang Jeong-hu.

“Are you still submitting reports like this?”

“What do you mean?”

“Did you get the computer just for show? Even though we have an electronic reporting system, the young ones don’t use it…”

Jo Gyu-min looked at Hwang Jeong-hu with slightly surprised eyes.

Hwang Jeong-hu was in his seventies. Considering when computers were introduced in Korea, it meant that Hwang Jeong-hu had learned to use a computer around the age of fifty.

Usually, chairmen or presidents who had reached the top at that age would stick to the old ways and not try to learn new ones.

That was why he had brought the report in writing.

However, Hwang Jeong-hu was not just any old man. He was a businessman who yearned for change more than anyone else and wanted to move forward.

“I will do that from now on.”

“Hmm…”

Hwang Jeong-hu opened the report and began to read.

“Is this all?”

“As far as I’ve investigated, that’s everything.”

“…Ordinary.”

That was also Jo Gyu-min’s question. The more he investigated, the more ordinary Kang Jin-ho seemed to be.

A high school student you could see anywhere, nothing more, nothing less.

Then why was Chairman Hwang Jeong-hu interested in this ordinary student?

Even going so far as to say that he was the person who held his lifeline.

“Were there any other unusual points?”

“What do you mean by unusual points?”

“Like his behavior, or, well, his atmosphere… things like that?”

Jo Gyu-min hesitated for a moment before opening his mouth.

“He was recently in a traffic accident.”

“It’s written here.”

“But there are many rumors that his personality changed before and after the traffic accident.”

“His personality changed?”

“He used to be cheerful and outgoing, but after the traffic accident, he became a bit quieter and gloomy. Recently, he’s been showing his old self again, so it’s probably right to think that he went through a temporary change after a major accident…”

“But?”

Jo Gyu-min swallowed and continued.

“I have a strange feeling.”

“A feeling?”

Hwang Jeong-hu looked at Jo Gyu-min as if amused.

“Besides the document investigation, I’ve also done some tailing to see the person directly, and every time, I felt like I was being watched instead.”

“You were tailing him, but you felt like you were being watched?”

“It sounds strange, but that’s really how I felt.”

“I see.”

Hwang Jeong-hu began to read the second report.

“Dongmyung Foundation?”

“Yes. It’s the foundation that owns the high school Kang Jin-ho attends.”

“Is that chairman messing with Kang Jin-ho?”

“Yes. It seems there was a problem with his grandson. He’s not only messing with Kang Jin-ho, but he also put pressure on the company where Kang Jin-ho’s parents work, causing them to be fired. Kang Jin-ho’s parents recently moved to another company, but it seems the chairman has started to interfere again.”

“Is that so?”

A smile appeared on Hwang Jeong-hu’s lips.

Jo Gyu-min somehow felt that the smile was a bit eerie.

“You’ve investigated well.”

“Thank you.”

It was a compliment from Hwang Jeong-hu.

Jo Gyu-min felt his heart flutter. And then he realized why Hwang Jeong-hu’s loyal followers, who had lived through the times with him, were so loyal to him.

A single word of praise, which would be nothing from other people, was now stirring Jo Gyu-min’s heart with excitement.

“This is exactly what I wanted. I’ve managed to earn some points with this.”

He couldn’t understand what he meant, but Jo Gyu-min bowed his head for now.

“Did you investigate the Dongmyung Foundation?”

“I didn’t think it was urgent, so I didn’t report it. But I’ve collected the relevant data.”

“Is it solid?”

“Financially, it’s solid. The problem is that it’s only solid financially. It’s a place with so much corruption that if we poke it a little, it’ll collapse on its own.”

Hwang Jeong-hu nodded.

“Okay, then…”

Hwang Jeong-hu stood up from his seat.

“Let’s go.”

“Yes?”

Jo Gyu-min looked at Hwang Jeong-hu with a bewildered expression.

Where was he suddenly going?

“Chairman, where are you saying we’re going?”

“You’re so frustrating.”

Hwang Jeong-hu raised his hand and tapped Jo Gyu-min’s head.

“How can a young man’s mind be so slow? It’s Dongmyung High School, where else would it be?”

“Now?”

“There are things in this world that are a loss the longer you put them off. Now is the time to move. I have a feeling.”

“I will escort you.”

Jo Gyu-min stepped in front of Hwang Jeong-hu. As the door to the chairman’s office opened and Hwang Jeong-hu walked out, the secretary and the employees guarding the area quickly bowed their heads. Hwang Jeong-hu walked towards the private elevator, looking around.

‘It’s old.’

The company and these hypocritical courtesies were all old.

Although he was old, Hwang Jeong-hu was tired of these things.

‘I can’t be hasty. A sandcastle built in haste. I have to slowly expand the foundation little by little.’

So now was the time to build the most important foundation.

Kang Jin-ho.

His existence would become the most important foundation of the Jae-kyung Group.

Hwang Jeong-hu was certain of that as he quickened his pace.