Descent of the Demon Master

“You sure have come up with an unexpected idea this time, haven’t you?” Hwang Jeong-Hu cackled loudly. Something seemed to have greatly amused him. “Going legit, huh… Yes, I agree it\'s a good idea. Looks like you guys finally cooked up something sensible, then.”

“Do you think we’re on the right path, Chairman?”

“You’ve already made up your mind, so why bother asking this old fart?”

“That’s because I believe not many can rival your insight on business-related matters,” said Kang Jin-Ho.

Hwang Jeong-Hu tutted. “Hah. You don’t have to kiss my butt like that. Besides, you already know I don’t enjoy flattery like that, anyway.”

“I’m merely stating how I feel.”

“Hmm… Fine, fine. Gimme a sec,” Hwang Jeong-Hu slowly nodded away, then quietly pondered for a minute. “The way I see it… Going legit, in other words, turning the Assembly into a corporation, will greatly benefit you.”

“Isn’t it obvious? Fooling around with shady funds has gotten even tougher than before. Even something as innocuous as buying a can of soda from a corner store can be traced electronically these days, you know?”

Hang Jeong-Hu tutted again.

“Back when everyone was dealing with cold, hard cash, you could have gotten away with pocketing the excess fat off the books, but not these days. You do that, and forget about skimming, you will be shivering in a cell instead! I\'ve zero interest in chowing prison food, thank you.”

Kang Jin-Ho cocked an eyebrow as he watched Hwang Jeong-Hu shake his head. “Mm? Have you been jailed before?”

“Yeah. Went in and out of prison several times already. That\'s how things were like back then, though. Imagine this situation, okay? We\'re in the middle of constructing a building, but \'Big Brother\' says installing the water line this way is illegal, so we try to reroute it the other way… Only to be told that contravenes some other law.”

“…”

“I had to make a choice, so I went with one over the other. And that got me arrested for contravening some construction law. That\'s how I kept getting in trouble, and before long, my rap sheet grew to become a legend. Naturally, I was in the… ‘care’ of South Korea\'s penal system a few times.”

Hwang Jeong-Hu casually shrugged.

“There\'s no getting away from it. Yes, I\'m a convict. It\'s just that people understand why I\'m one, and they don\'t constantly dredge my past up.”

Kang Jin-Ho chuckled slightly. “Shall we get back to our original topic?”

“...Can’t you just play along to this old man’s jokes?”

“So, will going legitimate be more beneficial in your opinion?”

“Yeah, that\'s what I think. However, I\'d wager the hurdles of becoming a legitimate entity will be quite a challenge to you. All sorts of annoying flies will try to buzz around you soon.”

“Mm…!”

“But that\'s what our world is like, is it not? Money is a stagnating, rotting pool of water, you see? And water like that is bound to attract all sorts of bugs. You\'re gonna have to deal with a lot of bastards trying to worm their way into your business whenever you try to do something.”

“As in… who?”

“Isn’t it obvious? I’m talking about politicians, of course. Those tumors of society…!” Hwang Jeong-Hu grunted while shaking his head in disapproval.

He had been harassed by politicians all his life. Back then, politicians being corrupt bastards was only par for the course. Hwang Jeong-Hu had to deal with countless greedy so-called civil servants circling around him for a chance of a quick payday.

Unfortunately, it was impossible to refuse their demands back then.

“Like how flies are attracted to sh*t, politicians can smell even the faintest whiff of money from a mile away, you see?”

Kang Jin-Ho slowly nodded in agreement. “Mm…!”

“There is only one way to deal with flies like that,” said Hwang Jeong-Hu with a deep smirk on his face. “Get a toad to eat up all the flies. That\'s it. They can be as crafty as they want since none of it will matter after you rope in someone even higher up the food chain.”

“When you say higher up the food chain…?”

“Another politician, of course. I\'m talking about someone sitting really high up the ranks. So high, in fact, that most average National Assembly members can\'t even dream of going against. The protection of someone on the level of a political party representative should be enough to discourage any greedy flies.”

Kang Jin-Ho frowned slightly. He acknowledged that this was a sensible solution. However, building a bridge to the political world and enjoying protection from it sounded a little… off. Dirty.

Kang Jin-Ho wasn\'t going to sit here and argue that he was a good man with an admirable past. He didn\'t view himself that way, to begin with. After all, most criminals rotting away in prison were angels compared to Kang Jin-Ho, who was responsible for killing countless people.

Even so, the thought of doing things this way still left this unclean taste in his mouth.

Hwang Jeong-Hu noticed the look on Kang Jin-Ho\'s face. “I\'m sure you already know it can\'t be helped.”

“Mm…”

“You could choose to break through without any shortcuts. That’s going to cost a lot of money and energy, though. And the only payoff is the negligible feeling of moral superiority, nothing more and nothing less. Now isn’t it?”

“Indeed. You’re right, Chairman.”

Despite the agreement, Kang Jin-Ho\'s expression remained gloomy, prompting Hwang Jeong-Hu to furrow his brow. “Listen, Jin-Ho.”

“Yes, Chairman.”

“Aren’t you the boss over there?”

“Mm? I’m sorry?”

Hwang Jeong-Hu’s stiff expression remained as he explained. “A boss who’s in charge of his family shouldn’t hesitate to dirty his hands with crap, Jin-Ho. Rather than having an easy time at the expense of your family shouldering the burden, you should be striving to make their lives easier. Even if that means you end up handling sh*t.”

“You’re right, Chairman.”

“Just close your eyes this one time and let it happen.”

Kang Jin-Ho silently nodded away. What Hwang Jeong-Hu said was completely correct.

“So… Do you want me to introduce someone who fits the bill?” Hwang Jeong-Hu slyly asked.

Kang Jin-Ho shook his head. “No, it’s fine.”

“Mm? It’s fine? How?”

“Apparently, our side already knows quite a few politicians. We can utilize those connections.”

“Huh. You acted like you weren\'t sure, yet here you are, already playing this game like a pro.”

Kang Jin-Ho sheepishly chuckled. “Well, it wasn’t my handiwork, you see…”

“I see. In that case, I guess it’s all good. However, a company, eh…?” Hwang Jeong-Hu’s gaze suddenly grew sharp. “Since our sectors won’t be the same, we aren’t going to get in each other’s way, right? You’re not thinking of stealing our lunch, now are you?”

“...No, I don’t have any plans to do that, Chairman.”

“Even so, I’m not happy about the prospect of Jaegyeong’s ranking in the corporate world falling lower, Jin-Ho. Can you tell me how large-scale the Assembly’s launch will be?”

“I’m not sure…”

Hwang Jeong-Hu tutted in disapproval. “Tsk!”

“Oh, hold on. I did receive some documents. Let me access them…” Kang Jin-Ho hurriedly took out his phone. Unfortunately, no matter how much he struggled, he just couldn’t open the document file.

Hwang Jeong-Hu tilted his head. “What are you doing?”

“Well, uh… Can you help…?” Kang Jin-Ho sheepishly pointed to the downloaded file on his phone’s screen.

Hwang Jeong-Hu tutted even louder than before. “Fella, you… No, hold on. I forgot that you’re even older than me. My bad for almost saying nonsense to you.”

“…”

Hwang Jeong-Hu left the grimacing Kang Jin-Ho behind and got up from the couch. He sauntered over to his desk and pressed the intercom button.

One of his secretaries was summoned inside the chairman\'s office. Hwang Jeong-Hu handed the phone over and told him to print the documents. The secretary politely asked Kang Jin-Ho how to unlock the phone, then smartly dashed outside the office.

Shortly afterward, the phone and the printed documents were returned to the office. The phone entered Kang Jin-Ho\'s hand, while the documents ended up in Hwang Jeong-Hu\'s.

After asking the secretary to bring coffee, Hwang Jeong-Hu offered a cigarette to Kang Jin-Ho. “Here.”

“Thank you.” Kang Jin-Ho accepted the cigarette and lit it up. “Fuu-woo…”

Hwang Jeong-Hu also mouthed a cigarette and began perusing the documents. “Now, let’s see… Mm?”

Hwang Jeong-Hu’s lips clamped shut, his cigarette dangling precariously. Even his eyes grew slightly larger in size, too. His hands flipping through the pages grew faster and faster.

He continued to flip the documents at an alarming rate, having long forgotten to light up the cigarette stuck between his lips. After getting to the end, he shot up to his feet and went to fetch his reading glasses from his desk.

“…” Hwang Jeong-Hu, now bespectacled, began to pore through the documents from the first page.

Kang Jin-Ho gradually grew a little nervous at this sight.

‘Why does it feel like I’m about to get my head bitten off…?’

He thought he could vaguely recall something from the depths of his hazy memories. And these memories were not from this life but from his first.

‘Right. This feels almost like when I gave my mother my grade report card in my first life…’

Hwang Jeong-Hu studied the contents of the documents for what seemed like an eternity before dropping them loudly on the coffee table. Then, he silently stared at Kang Jin-Ho.

This uncomfortable silence went on for a while. But then, a hollow expression slowly formed on Hwang Jeong-Hu\'s face, and he quietly lit up his cigarette. Soon afterward, the grayish smoke wafted in the air a couple of times.

Only then did Hwang Jeong-Hu finally break his silence. “You bunch of stinking thieves!”

“…”

“You\'ve been getting fat with this country\'s resources and wealth, haven\'t you? Yet you have never paid a dime back as tax until now?”

“…”

“You goddamn daylight robbers! You\'ve been stealing for so long and tried to hide it from everyone else?! When you told me how your side is holed up in some remote mountainside and trained while tilling the land, I took pity on you guys and tried to help out here and there, but this…?! You… You unethical bastards! Lowlives! Thieves!”

Kang Jin-Ho hurriedly raised his voice. “H-hold on! I wasn\'t responsible for any of this!”

“It doesn’t matter! You’re just as guilty! How long has it been since you took over, anyway!? In that case, you obviously knew what was going on, didn’t you!”

“…!”

If Kang Jin-Ho said yes to that accusation, he’d get his head bitten off for sure. However, saying he didn’t know would still get his head bitten off either way! After getting hit by an unblockable move, Kang Jin-Ho was left with no choice but to plead the Fifth.

“So! You want to take what you can out of these assets and make them legal, then sell the rest to shore up your coffers? Is that it? And you want to know if that money can be utilized as the company funds without running into legal issues?”

“N-no, not exactly…”

“What’s the problem now?!”

Kang Jin-Ho faltered a little at that sharp response. “That’s just the list of things we wish to publicly declare, Chairman. We’ve narrowed everything down to that… list of…”

Kang Jin-Ho noticed the faint twitching near Hwang Jeong-Hu’s eyes and decided to stop talking and sneakily turn his head away.

Even though he hadn’t done anything wrong, wasn’t this like… Like, showing off all the jackpot earned through illegal gambling to a man who worked tirelessly every day to save up?

Maybe this analogy was a bit off since Hwang Jeong-Hu wasn’t a regular salaryman but the chairman of a large corporation. However, the look on Hwang Jeong-Hu’s face convinced Kang Jin-Ho that he wasn’t too far off.

It was as if Hwang Jeong-Hu was stewing in the futility of life itself.

“...You goddamn thieves.”

More biting insults slammed into Kang Jin-Ho, but he wasn’t sure what to say to excuse himself.

Despite being a man with a substantially poor financial sense, even Kang Jin-Ho had to agree that the numbers written on that document seemed astronomical. So otherworldly were the sums that he couldn\'t make heads or tails no matter how many times he had read the document.

Lee Hyeon-Ju probably didn\'t expect Kang Jin-Ho to understand everything while sending this document to him. She most likely wanted to leave some proof behind of her making a report. Or something to that effect!

“Even though everyone is shedding their blood, sweat, and tears to make a living, you…! You bunch of daylight robbers!” Hwang Jeong-Hu continued to growl angrily away.

“B-but, uh, the Assembly also sweated and bled to…”

“What sweat?! What blood! When all you did was swallow up juicy real estate meant for redevelopment later?! Do you want to bleed through your nose first to know what real blood-and-sweat is like?!”

“…”

“Wait a minute, you bastards…! Looks like you bought the lands first, then manipulated things behind the scenes to get those places earmarked for redevelopment! Just how much money did you steal…! I heard that Yakuza and Mafia have pocketed all the easy money for themselves, but who\'d have thought that there\'s an even worse group of bastards living in South Korea!”

Kang Jin-Ho earnestly paid respect to Lee Jung-Geol in his mind. No one in South Korea should be capable of making Hwang Jeong-Hu react like this. Forgetting for a second whether it was done legally or not, how could anyone not acknowledge the sheer audacity and scope of Lee Jung-Geol’s achievement at this point?

Hwang Jeong-Hu panted like an angry bull. “Going legit, is it? Do it, now! I will definitely help you.”

“Thank you, Chairman.”

“Don’t thank me. I’m only helping you because the thought of your side stealing all that money but not paying a dime back in tax and whatever is giving me a goddamn heartburn!”

“…”

“Booze…! Right, I’m drinking tonight. Goddamn it! If I knew you could get away with sh*t like this, I’d have invested in real estate, too! Who cares about corporations and factories and sh*t!”

Kang Jin-Ho hurriedly got up. “L-let’s get going, then.”

“And!”

“Y-yes, Chairman?”

“You are buying!”

“…”

Hwang Jeong-Hu\'s eyes burned like the midday sun. “Forty years! That\'s how long it has been since I let someone pay for my booze! But today! I\'m gonna make you pay through your nose, so you better prepare your wallet, got that?!”

“…”

“To think I’ve been giving money to someone like you! I’m stopping the auto deposits going into your account from today! You hear me?”

“...O-of course.”

“Let’s go! I need booze, right now! Goddamn it!”

That night, Kang Jin-Ho got to learn two valuable pieces of info. One, despite his age, Hwang Jeong-Hu could drink most people under the table. And two, the public\'s perception of Hwang Jeong-Hu preferring to drink the people\'s low-cost rice liquor, makgeoli, was nothing more than a bunch of horsesh*t!

Hwang Jeong-Hu drank all sorts of expensive liquor till dawn, then tossed the bill in Kang Jin-Ho\'s lap before going home.

That was when Kang Jin-Ho learned another valuable life lesson.

“I’m sorry? Debit cards also have a spending limit?” Kang Jin-Ho asked incredulously to the bar’s employee.

For the first time in his life, Kang Jin-Ho learned that, like credit cards, even debit cards had a spending limit. And he was forced to call Lee Hyeon-Su to pay for the drinks.

Lee Hyeon-Su’s endless complaining echoed loudly within the streets of Gangnam in early dawn.