Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 575

“Chairman, this is….”

Around Chairman Hwang Jung-hoo’s desk, documents were piled up like mountains.

“Welcome.”

“What is all this?”

“Can’t you see? They’re documents.”

“No, but why so many documents….”

Hwang Jung-hoo chuckled.

“It’s the biggest reason why I’m thinking of retiring these days. I tried hard to keep up with the times, learning computers and all, but when it comes to actually working, I can’t stand looking at the screen. So, I end up printing out documents to check them.”

“Then all of this is….”

“You’re wasting time on things that aren’t even that important. Sit down first.”

Hwang Jung-hoo got up from his desk and moved to the sofa in front. As Hwang Jung-hoo gestured to the seats, Cho Kyu-min and Kang Jin-ho sat down.

‘Impressive.’

Starting something is difficult for anyone. Jumping into a field you’ve never been in before is even more difficult.

It must have been even harder for the elderly Hwang Jung-hoo. A normal person would have taken time to adapt or delegated most of the work to others, focusing on what they could do.

But Hwang Jung-hoo was different.

He was increasing his overall understanding of the work he had to do. Most people couldn’t do that. Who would show such passion?

‘That passion must have made him the chairman he is today.’

Cho Kyu-min smiled without realizing it.

He had been thinking that Hwang Jung-hoo was losing his passion recently, but seeing him regain it like his old self made him feel good.

“You look well.”

“Go to the optometrist.”

“Pardon?”

“Hey, you rascal. You haven’t been sleeping properly; your face is all dark and dead. If I, an old man, can see it, you should go to the optometrist if you can’t.”

“…I’m sorry.”

That’s not what I meant, Chairman.

Cho Kyu-min pouted and turned his head slightly.

“Tsk, tsk… that rascal.”

Hwang Jung-hoo shook his head.

Cho Kyu-min, who used to be so reliable, seemed to be getting younger as he got older.

“So, have you seen much?”

Kang Jin-ho asked, and Hwang Jung-hoo chuckled.

“Seen much? I’ve barely touched the rind of the watermelon. I haven’t even licked it yet.”

“Is it really necessary to go that far?”

“Nonsense.”

Hwang Jung-hoo retorted.

“It’s not good to be young and reckless. Do you think just pushing forward is called drive? When a person pushes something to the extreme, they must have the conviction that it will succeed. And that conviction comes from understanding. How well I know this work, that’s where the conviction comes from.”

Kang Jin-ho nodded.

He had heard the saying, ‘If it’s about drive, it’s Hwang Jung-hoo.’ They said his nickname in his youth was ‘Bulldozer.’ Though now it would be ‘Old Bulldozer’ [a playful nickname for someone who is persistent and forceful].

To others, it might have seemed like he was just pushing forward without thinking, but behind Hwang Jung-hoo’s drive was this much effort. Thinking about how much he must have studied and worked to gain that conviction, Hwang Jung-hoo looked different to him.

“Then when will you finish licking the watermelon?”

“You have to study your whole life.”

“Do we have to wait a lifetime?”

“Would that be the case?”

Hwang Jung-hoo took out a cigarette and put it in his mouth.

“You guys should just smoke without me having to tell you. Why are you being so formal? We’ve been sharing cigarettes for years.”

“…That’s true.”

Hwang Jung-hoo glared at Kang Jin-ho as if he was displeased.

Every time this old man pretended to be young, his stomach twisted slightly. He was older than him on the inside.

“Should I call you ‘hyung’ [older brother]?”

“Absolutely not.”

“…You bad guy.”

Hwang Jung-hoo became depressed at the thought that he was the only one getting old. As he started to pick up the documents again, he realized how old he had become.

He used to be able to read hundreds of pages without stopping, but now his eyes hurt and his concentration dropped after just ten pages.

He was overcoming it with sheer willpower, but Hwang Jung-hoo was realizing how difficult it was to start something at this age.

“I shouldn’t have taken this on.”

“Chairman, we didn’t actually expect you to go this far….”

Hwang Jung-hoo’s face contorted.

“Where in the world is there such a thing as ‘half-assed’! There’s no such thing as ‘half-assed’ in anything you do. If you didn’t do it, you wouldn’t know, but once you start, you have to tuck your pants into your socks and run like hell. Isn’t that obvious?”

Yes, that’s obvious.

But most people can’t do that. That’s why you’re Hwang Jung-hoo.

“So, what’s the reason you called us?”

“…You really have no affection. An old man is lamenting like this, and you have to jump straight to the point without a word of comfort?”

“I thought finishing the meeting quickly would be the best way.”

Hwang Jung-hoo looked at Cho Kyu-min with a dumbfounded expression.

“Since when did this guy’s tongue become so smooth?”

“…Chairman, he’s not the old Kang Jin-ho. Even I get surprised sometimes these days.”

“A guy who had no human scent at all is now even slick. I tried to ripen him a bit, but he’s too ripe. He’s burnt, completely burnt.”

“That’s enough with the appraisals.”

Kang Jin-ho put a cigarette in his mouth and lit it.

He knew that he wanted to show off how hard he had worked despite his old age. But he didn’t want to give superficial praise.

“Ugh, you rotten bastard.”

Hwang Jung-hoo must have sensed Kang Jin-ho’s feelings, as he chuckled while grumbling.

“You have to ask from the right person.”

“Haha….”

Cho Kyu-min laughed awkwardly to smooth things over, and Hwang Jung-hoo opened his mouth.

“I’ve roughly looked into what you guys are trying to do and how it works. I haven’t been able to dig deep yet, but I’ve got a general idea.”

Roughly….

Cho Kyu-min glanced at the mountains of documents.

The documents stacked on the desk were neatly organized, while the stacks of documents on the floor looked messy and crooked.

The documents on the desk were those he hadn’t seen yet, and the books and documents under the desk were those he had already read.

There were far more documents under the desk. He had seen all that data; could he really call that ‘roughly’?

Even if he wasn’t an expert, he had enough data to confidently call himself a semi-expert.

“Let me ask you first.”

“Yes.”

“What are you trying to do?”

Kang Jin-ho tilted his head slightly.

“I don’t know what you mean.”

“I know you want to do something with a welfare foundation or whatever. But it has no direction.”

“Hmm….”

Hwang Jung-hoo looked at Kang Jin-ho as if he was pathetic.

“You were acting like you were doing something grand, but what you’re doing is just expanding what you’re already doing for the kids at the orphanage, right?”

“That’s the idea for now.”

“What about the money?”

“Money?”

Hwang Jung-hoo took out a document from the desk and handed it to Kang Jin-ho.

“This is the money that goes into your Seongsim Orphanage or whatever. Check how much it is for a year.”

Kang Jin-ho’s eyebrows twitched slightly as he read the document.

“A lot, right?”

“…It seems better than I thought, though?”

“That doesn’t include the money that came out of your own pocket, does it?”

“It’s a lot.”

Kang Jin-ho understood instantly.

If the money from his own pocket was excluded, this was really just the bare minimum living expenses. Yet, if this much money was going in, the orphanage had to be called a money pit.

“How many kids are there in that orphanage? Not many. Right?”

“Yes.”

“But if you push forward with your work in this way, all you’ll be able to do is set up a few more orphanages like this across the country. Is that what you want?”

“No, it’s not.”

Kang Jin-ho frowned as he looked at the amount on the document.

“But I can handle this much money. Even if ten more are created….”

“You idiot!”

Kang Jin-ho flinched at Hwang Jung-hoo’s shout.

“You have to say something that makes sense. Is this a matter of one or two years? If you throw all the money you have now, you could make twenty instead of ten and still last a few years. But what happens when that money runs out? Until now, you were responsible, but now that there’s no money, are you going to tell them to fend for themselves? Are you going to send the kids to other orphanages then?”

“…That shouldn’t happen.”

“You have no understanding of what a foundation is, no understanding! A foundation is not a place where you contribute capital and do something with that money. It’s a place where you use the contributed capital to generate profits and do something with those profits. Why? To do something sustainable. If you’re going to solve it by spending all the money you have now, why create a foundation? You can just donate!”

Kang Jin-ho looked at Cho Kyu-min with a bewildered expression. Cho Kyu-min then smiled awkwardly.

“Chairman is right.”

“No, then….”

Kang Jin-ho scratched his head.

“If you have 100 million, you don’t do something with that 100 million, but you invest that 100 million and do something with the money that comes out of it? And you keep that 100 million?”

“That’s right. You invest it in various ways. You put it in a long-term savings account at the bank to use the interest, or you get rent from real estate….”

Kang Jin-ho said, sounding confused.

“What’s the point of putting it in the bank? It only gives you a few percent.”

“Yes. You do things with that money.”

“You leave 100 million and only do something worth a few million?”

“…That’s what a foundation is, Mr. Kang Jin-ho.”

Kang Jin-ho’s eyes trembled.

“Then I wouldn’t make it. Why would I make a foundation!”

Cho Kyu-min smiled wryly.

Most foundations in Korea operate their funds in that way. That’s why the privatization and inheritance of foundations become a problem.

On the surface, they make it seem like they’re investing this much money to do good, but if you look at the reality, the capital hardly moves, and they operate the foundation with only the profits that come from it.

Many people have taken advantage of this to create foundations. They used the laws created to support those doing good to avoid taxes and not pay inheritance tax.

Recently, there have been issues raised about this situation, but it’s still not enough.

“I’m not saying you should operate it that way, but that’s how it’s usually operated. Of course, you wouldn’t think of doing that.”

“Yes.”

“Then the problem becomes very simple.”

Hwang Jung-hoo chuckled and leaned back on the sofa. Then, in a very arrogant tone, he looked at Kang Jin-ho and said,

“Go make money.”

“…Pardon?”

“You can’t do anything properly with the money you have now, so go make money.”

“If you’re going to do it with the mindset of ‘I can solve it with the money I have now,’ it’s better not to start at all. You’ll never achieve what you want. So, it’s very simple. Either give up here, or go make money. Do you understand what I’m saying?”

Kang Jin-ho’s shoulders trembled. After looking back and forth between Cho Kyu-min and Hwang Jung-hoo for a while, flames ignited in Kang Jin-ho’s eyes.

“I’ll go make it.”

His fighting spirit was overflowing.

“That money.”

A wicked smile appeared on Hwang Jung-hoo’s face as he saw Kang Jin-ho’s determined expression.