Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 858

A legitimate force.

It sounds easy.

If you think about it simply, it’s not that difficult. You just need to register.

But with what, exactly?

A group of fighters living off rent money from here and there?

‘They’d be on a documentary.’

It would be quite a spectacle.

Before Kang Jin-ho could say anything, Lee Hyun-soo started ranting like a horse that had broken free.

“Did you even sleep last night?”

“I wish you would be clear about your intentions. I doubt you’re suggesting we have a friendly chat here, are you?”

“It’s not like you didn’t sleep, so why are you dreaming?”

Lee Hyun-soo sighed and said,

“Let’s keep it reasonable, okay?”

“I’m not joking.”

“I know you’re not joking, so let’s keep it reasonable.”

“…Hey, Chief. Do you think I’m just saying this to score points?”

“I don’t think so.”

Lee Hyun-soo said with a cold face.

“But it doesn’t sound like you’ve thought about the practicalities.”

“Chief!”

“No, no, let’s be precise. Reality is reality. It’s not a place where idealism works.”

Just as Lee Hyun-joo was about to retort, Wiggins spoke up.

“If you suddenly start fighting in Korean while I’m translating, should I just play on my phone or something?”

“…Sorry.”

Wiggins shrugged and looked at Kang Jin-ho.

“It might sound like pie in the sky, but it’s not a bad suggestion.”

“Hmm?”

“Actually, this is a major concern for martial arts circles in other countries as well.

And in fact, Korea should have started thinking about this a bit earlier.”

“Why is that?”

“Because there are hardly any countries with as high a card usage rate as Korea. For example, in Japan, which is right next door, people hardly ever pay with cards. Most of them use cash.”

Lee Hyun-joo added,

“Even in Japan, fast food restaurants didn’t accept cards. It seems like more places are starting to accept them recently.”

“…What is this?”

I had the impression that Japan was a very developed country, but hearing that makes me feel strange.

“Among the three East Asian countries, Korea is the most advanced in electronic payments. Surprisingly, China is next. They’re skipping card payments and moving straight to smart payments.”

“…S, sma?”

Wiggins shook his head.

“Lord, you don’t need to know that. Anyway, the overall trend is moving towards electronic payments, and when electronic payments become widespread, untraceable money disappears. There’s a record of where every single fund moves.”

“Because of this issue, martial arts circles in each country are thinking about how to manage funds legally. In fact, Korea should have started thinking about this issue sooner. It’s already quite late. So…”

Wiggins glanced at Lee Hyun-joo and Lee Hyun-soo and smiled.

“Chief Lee’s suggestion isn’t that bad. Rather, you could say she has a good grasp of reality.”

Lee Hyun-joo smiled slightly. In contrast, Lee Hyun-soo’s face was sour.

“No, Master!”

Of course, Lee Hyun-soo couldn’t accept that assessment.

“A good grasp of reality? How is that reality? It’s a fantasy. The martial arts world can’t mix with the outside world. We have to keep our distance.”

“But aren’t we already mixed?”

Wiggins chuckled.

“Can’t mix? To do that, you’d have to block all contact. But martial artists and ordinary people are already living mixed together. Besides, there are people among the general public who know about your existence, aren’t there?”

“Ugh…”

Lee Hyun-soo couldn’t argue and let out a heavy groan.

Kang Jin-ho looked at everyone with a strange expression.

The issue has grown a bit from the practical problem of taxes. What started with taxes has now reached the stage of redefining the boundaries between the Assembly [a group of martial artists] and the outside world.

“Wiggins.”

“Yes, Lord.”

“What about the Round Table? How are they doing?”

“The Round Table is already very much mixed with the outside world.”

“Hmm.”

“The members of the Round Table are the heads of their respective countries. They directly influence their countries politically and economically. That’s on the outside, but internally, each of them has at least the influence of a minister or higher in their country.”

“A minister…”

Kang Jin-ho scratched his head. Hearing that kind of explanation doesn’t really give me a sense of how much influence they have.

“The important thing isn’t political influence. It’s economic influence. The Round Table has been using companies they own to cover their operating expenses for a long time. Times have changed, Lord. To be honest, the most important thing in the martial arts world is power, but outside, power isn’t that important.”

“That’s right.”

“Power that can’t be used is meaningless. Even if there’s trouble with the outside world, you can’t just lead your troops and attack them, can you?”

“…I guess not.”

“In the end, you have to hold the money. You need money to exert influence. The people of Korea should understand this. Isn’t this a country where the head of a company has more influence than the president?”

Kang Jin-ho’s eyes narrowed slightly.

Even if it’s true, it’s not a pleasant thing to hear.

“I apologize for that.”

“No, continue.”

Wiggins, after glancing at Kang Jin-ho, continued.

“Of course, the Assembly is probably pulling strings here and there. I don’t think they haven’t been doing double-dealing.”

Looking as if to confirm, Lee Hyun-soo answered.

“All the influential politicians know about the Assembly. It’s unavoidable.”

“And they’re probably getting financial support too?”

“You have to feed a dog to train it.”

Wiggins nodded.

“Until now, that’s how you’ve been able to get by. Even if illegal funds were detected, you could have smoothed things over through the higher-ups. But as time goes on, everything is becoming computerized, and the influence of civic groups is growing. There’s a limit to how long you can operate illegal funds.”

“Haa…”

Kang Jin-ho leaned back on the sofa.

‘Even this is a problem.’

Hiding the Assembly from the world is like hiding an elephant in the desert. If the environment in the past was a lush jungle, now it’s like a desert where you can see all the way to the horizon.

Kang Jin-ho was also aware that this situation couldn’t be maintained forever.

“So…”

Kang Jin-ho scratched his cheek.

“What’s the solution?”

“We need to create a company, Chairman.”

“Ch, Chairman?”

Lee Hyun-soo was dumbfounded. But Lee Hyun-joo was confident.

“If we properly evaluate the assets the Assembly currently has, we’re not going to be inferior to any large corporation. Even if we exclude the assets that can’t be revealed or whose ownership can’t be recovered, we’re still better than any decent mid-sized company.”

“But what kind of company are we going to create? We don’t have any products.”

“There are countless ways. Security, private security, and an investment company.”

“…Investment?”

Lee Hyun-joo looked at Lee Hyun-soo with a slightly cold gaze.

“Chief.”

“Huh?”

“I acknowledge your abilities, but your abilities are limited to the operation of the Assembly. You don’t know how outside companies work, so please stop nitpicking.”

Lee Hyun-soo was instantly speechless.

It wasn’t that he was intimidated, but that he had no room to argue. He doesn’t know how other companies work. No matter how weak he is, he was a martial artist through and through, and he had only learned how to adjust and streamline power within the martial arts world.

“Aren’t you the same?”

“Hah.”

Lee Hyun-joo, with a slight sneer, turned her head and looked at Kang Jin-ho.

“Grandfather thought from early on that the Assembly would have to become a company someday. So I’ve been thinking about and learning about this since a long time ago.”

“Come to think of it, Lord, you majored in business administration. So you must be very interested in this kind of thing, right?”

“Th… uh… ah? Y, yes. Of course.”

Kang Jin-ho nodded repeatedly.

But Lee Hyun-soo didn’t miss the cold sweat on Kang Jin-ho’s forehead.

Lee Hyun-soo glared at Kang Jin-ho with a strange look, but Kang Jin-ho desperately avoided Lee Hyun-soo’s gaze.

“What does a guy who went for half a semester know about business? You probably just learned the basics.”

“Still, you must have been interested in it to go to business administration, right? Right?”

“Y, yes. Of course.”

I just put it down randomly, though?

I can’t say that, can I? Sweat broke out on Kang Jin-ho’s back.

My grades were good enough, and I had decided on a university. Besides, Kang Jin-ho had never thought about what he would learn at university and use in his life. So I just put down the department that was on top.

It would be good if it could help the cafe later, that was about it.

So how could I have had any vision?

“We should establish an investment company.”

“We don’t have anywhere to invest.”

Lee Hyun-joo looked at him as if he were a bug.

“An investment company isn’t a place to invest. To make it easy for even Chief Lee’s brain to understand, it’s a fund management company.”

“Fund management?”

“A corporation isn’t like Chief Lee thinks, where you have to run a factory or make something. Who do you think owns those high-rise buildings in Gangnam [a wealthy district in Seoul]?”

“…Landlords.”

“Oh, for crying out loud!”

Lee Hyun-joo’s eyes flashed, and Lee Hyun-soo shrank back. That’s why you shouldn’t get involved in things you don’t know well.

“They’re all owned by corporations. In the first place, there are tons of investment companies that raise funds as corporations, operate buildings, and run their companies with the profits they make.”

“Oh.”

“We already own a lot of buildings, so I think it would be good to take this opportunity to convert them legally. If nothing else, it will be a huge relief for fund management.”

Kang Jin-ho quietly looked at Lee Hyun-joo and said,

“Summarize it.”

“Yes!”

“Tell me the advantages.”

“First, as I said, we can legalize our assets. If the money coming into the corporation is legalized, we can recover funds that we couldn’t recover before.”

“Second, we can now invest.”

“Invest?”

“Yes. We own a huge amount of cash and real estate, but we can’t redeploy them. We can’t sell them, and we can’t buy them.”

“That’s right.”

“The moment we legalize them, all of that becomes possible. Then we can dispose of all the ambiguous things and reinvest in high-quality buildings and stocks. It’s absolutely necessary for the future of the Assembly.”

“And?”

“And most of all…”

Lee Hyun-joo grinned.

“It’s also a big deal that you’ll get a business card, Lord. Now you’ll be the Chairman, not the Lord. You’ll be able to puff out your chest when you meet your relatives during holidays, right? Your parents will be doing cartwheels.”

Lee Hyun-soo sighed. Annoyed, Lee Hyun-soo scolded Lee Hyun-joo.

“This isn’t a joke! Speak properly…”

“Wait.”

At that moment, Kang Jin-ho raised his hand to stop Lee Hyun-soo.

Then, with the most sparkling eyes, he opened his mouth.

“What was that you just said? About my parents?”

Ah…

I think I’ve been baited.