Descent of the Demon Master-Chapter 1244. Reconsidering (4)

—Thugs were really doing that, sir?

“Yeah,” said Kang Jin-Ho to Lee Hyeon-Su on the phone.

—Did you get their personal details?

“Yeah, I did. Why do you want to know, though?”

—So I can properly ruin their lives, of course.

Lee Hyeon-Su’s voice on the phone sounded icy. Despite how cold he sounded, it was plainly obvious to Kang Jin-Ho that he was incredibly agitated right now.

—I’m sure you’ve punished them adequately, but in my opinion, things should not end here. A good beating isn’t quite good enough to ruin those little punks.

“Then, what?”

—We should "talk" to their bosses, sir. The worst form of bullying is top-down bullying, you see? So, you summon the boss of the area those thugs operate in and slap him around a few times while giving him a piece of your mind. That will do the trick. Come the next day, I promise you those punks won’t even get to crawl around from all the beatings they received.”

“Mm? But they won’t crawl around for a while starting from today, though?”

—That’s not quite enough, sir. How dare those stinking bastards go around touching our people?!

Kang Jin-Ho nodded weightily. He agreed that such a thing shouldn’t be allowed.

“It seems we’ve been negligent in this aspect.”

—Yes, that is unfortunately true, sir. I didn’t think we’d be dealing with a problem like this. How about we draw up a list of who has left the Assembly to start a business or get a job in the surface world? That way, we’ll know who to protect. Let’s be honest here, sir. Even I can’t guarantee that I won’t rely on my cultivation if a bunch of thugs come at me.

“That’s only because you can’t win without your cultivation.”

—That’s not the point, sir!

Kang Jin-Ho chuckled slightly. “In any case. I’ll text you the photos of their IDs. Make sure something like this doesn’t happen again.”

—Understood, sir. I’ll make sure. And I apologize for letting something like this happen.

“No, you don’t have to apologize. In any case, I’m hanging up.”

—Good day, sir.

After ending the call, Kang Jin-Ho glanced into the alleyway. Although he was a bit heavy-handed, these four thugs seemed physically durable. They should be fine.

If not? What could anyone do about it, then? When the beating had already been dished out?

Kang Jin-Ho coolly shrugged, then walked away from the alleyway. After walking for a while, he arrived at Seong Ju-Chan’s cafe. He pushed the door open and stepped inside.

Seong Ju-Chan smiled brightly and walked around the counter. “Good morning, Assembly Master!”

“Mm.”

“Sir? What’s that?”

Kang Jin-Ho glanced at the messed-up bag. “Sorry about this, but I dropped it on the ground on the way here. I don’t think we can use the beans anymore.”

“Ah! My apologies, sir. Because of me...”

“No, I’m the one at fault for making such a mistake. I rarely make mistakes like this, so I guess my mind was elsewhere.”

Kang Jin-Ho casually tossed the bag of ruined coffee beans into a trash can.

“But, sir. You don’t have to bring the beans personally like this. And I know those beans are not cheap, either. I already feel bad for getting them for free, you know?”

“Hmm...”

“Rather than doing things this way, how about starting a coffee beans supply business, sir?”

Kang Jin-Ho curiously tilted his head. “Mm?”

Seong Ju-Chan smiled and explained himself. “I mean, a lot of us leaving the Assembly want to open cafes around the country, sir. I think it’ll be great to open a courier service that takes their orders and delivers the coffee beans directly to them.”

“Mm? That doesn’t sound so bad...”

Kang Jin-Ho nodded while taking a seat. When done right, that kind of business could be a win-win for everyone involved. Kang Jin-Ho’s father was deeply proud of his ability to roast high-quality coffee beans, after all. And the ex-Assembly members would gain a supply chain of good beans.

Of course, there was a small problem to consider here, and that was whether Kang Yu-Hwan could cope with the demand or not if the number of cafes grew a bit too high.

“Got it. I’ll have a chat with my father.”

“Thank you, sir. I think that’ll be better. That’s why you shouldn’t personally come all this way, sir. I already feel guilty about being able to buy such high quality beans from your family’s cafe, you know? And on top of that, seeing you acting as a courier like this, I can’t help but think I’m being too shameless...”

Kang Jin-Ho indifferently replied, “Then, why don’t you start making good coffee?”

“...My apologies, sir.”

Seong Ju-Chan sheepishly scratched his cheek.

If he was being honest, the cafe really struggled in the early days. The regulars complained of how the coffee’s taste had changed after Seong Ju-Chan took over, and he was often treated with scowling faces of dissatisfied customers.

Then one day, Kang Jin-Ho waltzed into the cafe with zero warning and ordered a cup of coffee for himself. But he only took one sip before getting up and storming out of the cafe altogether.

‘Back then, I wondered why he was so angry...’

Kang Jin-Ho soon returned, but with a large bag in tow this time. And this bag contained coffee beans roasted personally by his father.

“If you lack the skill, you should at least use good ingredients.”

Although those words cut deeply, Seong Ju-Chan had to admit that Kang Jin-Ho was correct. Thanks to these beans, the evaluations from the customers improved in no time at all, and the sales went up appreciably, too.

Kang Jin-Ho asked, “Any issues to worry about?”

“No, nothing to report, sir. But I’m not sure why you’re taking care of me to this degree...”

Seong Ju-Chan felt troubled while sheepishly studying Kang Jin-Ho’s expression.

Back when he was still a member of the Martial Assembly, he didn’t dare lock eyes with the Assembly Master. Ironically, though, it felt like he had a lot more chances to talk to Kang Jin-Ho after leaving the Assembly.

‘Even though I’m merely a quitter...’

He never imagined that Kang Jin-Ho would take care of a random nobody who quit the Assembly. Why would Kang Jin-Ho do any of this when there was no point?

Besides, Kang Jin-Ho’s plate must be full from trying to lead the Assembly, anyway. If Seong Ju-Chan was in the Assembly Master’s shoes, he’d not have enough time to worry about the quitters, too.

Then again...

That was why Kang Jin-Ho was the Assembly Master and Seong Ju-Chan had been an ordinary member of the organization.

“Don’t worry about me, sir. I can definitely take care of myself now. You’re putting me in a tough spot by coming here all the time despite how busy you are.”

“Oh? You can take care of yourself?”

“Yes, sir.”

“That’s not as easy as it sounds, though.”

“...”

Kang Jin-Ho smirked softly.

Martial artists suffered from this tendency of underestimating the life in ordinary society. Since the training they went through easily exceeded the level of effort most ordinary people had to put in to survive, they all naively believed that finding a way to put food on the table shouldn’t be that difficult for them.

In a way, their thought process wasn’t wrong. Unfortunately, the martial artists all seemed to miss something crucial in this equation.

A regular society was different from the martial world, in that your effort didn’t necessarily translate into a fitting reward at the end of the day. Indeed, working one’s butt off did not guarantee success in life.

Rather than effort, sometimes you’d need quick wits and discerning eye to make it in the surface world. And martial artists desperately lacked such wits and eyes.

If Bang Jin-Hun and Lee Hyeon-Su left the Assembly to start their own businesses, who would succeed more?

Lee Hyeon-Su might desperately lack the requisite talent for martial arts, but in an ordinary society? He’d be like a fish in water. No one in the Assembly would be able to rival him, and that included Wiggins and Vator.

Truth be told, the martial artists lacked the street smarts to survive in the surface world.

Kang Jin-Ho asked another question. “How about the others? Has anyone started their own business yet?”

“Well, no. They are getting ready to start a few things, but...”

Seong Ju-Chan scratched his head.

“I already had the barista qualification, so it was a simple decision for me, sir. I didn’t have to weigh my options and could start earlier than others. But the others, well, they haven’t really thought about what to do if they quit the life of martial arts, so that has been a bit of a problem for them.”

“Mm...”

“But I’m sure they’ll pick themselves up and start some things soon enough.”

“I see. What about finding jobs, then?”

“Almost no one went for that option, sir. We don’t have much of an academic record to speak of, after all. And it’s not like we’re familiar with life in a corporate environment, either. Worse still, we aren’t exactly youngsters, so people haven’t been all that keen to hire us in the first place. That’s why most of us are thinking of opening our own businesses with the money they had saved up until now.”

“Mm, I see.”

“But the franchises demand a lot of money. That makes it much harder for us to take the first step, sir.”

“I’m not surprised to hear that,” said Kang Jin-Ho while slowly nodding away.

“About half of us are staying like unemployed bums, sir. And the rest are just going around here and there to see if they can find something to do.”

Kang Jin-Ho frowned while glancing outside the window.

‘This is problematic.’

Getting used to living in the surface world should already be a massive challenge for these guys. So, it shouldn’t come as a surprise to hear about all the troubles they ran into while trying to join the labor market.

Besides, these former martial artists had zero common sense regarding economics. Even a blind man could see what would happen if they started their own businesses.

As an example, Seong Ju-Chan would’ve closed his shop not too long from now had it not been for Kang Jin-Ho’s help.

Seong Ju-Chan continued with his report. “Also, we have a few morons and crazies in our midst, sir.”

“Crazies? Like how?”

“Well, since the only things they walked away with from the Assembly are their healthy bodies, they want to open fitness centers, sir. They think that working out topless should be enough for prospective customers to sign up for a three-month course...”

“...”

“And some are even talking about opening MMA gyms to exploit their aptitude and stuff.”

“...What? They want to teach martial arts and cultivation?”

“Eiii, I don’t think that’s the case, sir. They know they’ll get beaten up to death if they do that. No, they are probably thinking of teaching the customers some sundry skills and basic hand-to-hand combat techniques. They said that, if they force the customers into endless sparring sessions and beat them up like dogs, they’ll have no choice but to get better at it eventually.”

“Huh. So they’ll quickly go out of business, then.”

“You think so, too? Sir?”

Kang Jin-Ho spat out a loud groan.

Although he’d like to applaud them for trying to rely on their strengths, the way they wanted to go about it seemed ill advised, to say the least.

“Got it,” said Kang Jin-Ho with a simple nod. He then stared intently at Seong Ju-Chan. “Time for an inspection, then.”

“...Today, too? Sir?”

Seong Ju-Chan got up, his face filled with nervousness. He then went behind the counter to prepare the coffee.

Sweat beads trickled down his forehead as he prepared a cup of Americano with the utmost care in the world.

With a pair of trembling hands, Seong Ju-Chan cautiously brought the cup on a tray to the waiting Kang Jin-Ho.

“Here it is, sir.”

“Mm...”

Kang Jin-Ho brought the cup closer to his lips. The aroma of this coffee was quite enticing. After taking a small sip, he nodded in approval.

“You’ve improved.”

“Heol?! Did I pass, sir?”

Kang Jin-Ho glanced at the space behind the counter, where the coffee was brewed.

There would always be a clear limit to how good the coffee brewed from a coffee machine was. However, preparing a cup by hand all the time was not recommended, either, since that’d take too long and be inefficient overall.

Still, most people would gladly pay money for a cup of coffee on this level.

“This is more than passable,” said Kang Jin-Ho. “When you get your part-time workers, teach them well.”

“Understood, Assembly Master! I’ll do my best!”

“I’ll bring you the new beans tomorrow.”

“N-no, sir. I’m telling you, it’s fine! Please tell me the address instead. I’ll go get them myself.” 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

“Mm... Sure, why not?” Kang Jin-Ho coolly nodded. “Oh, and by the way?”

“Yes, sir?”

“Not too long from now, you’re gonna receive a summons from the Assembly. There’s this thing we’ve been planning on, you see?”

“Huh? With me?”

“Yeah.”

Seong Ju-Chan dazedly nodded. He wasn’t sure how helpful he could be to the Assembly, but since Kang Jin-Ho told him to show up, what choice did he have but to do as told?

“Okay. I’m leaving now,” said Kang Jin-Ho.

“Oh, of course, sir! Have a great day!” Seong Ju-Chan energetically bade Kang Jin-Ho goodbye while bowing ninety degrees forward.

Kang Jin-Ho reached out to the exit but paused midway. Without turning around, he addressed Seong Ju-Chan. “Oh, and that thing earlier...”

“...Sir?”

“You did well, holding yourself back like that.”

“...!”

“Something like that won’t ever happen again.”

Kang Jin-Ho finally exited the cafe. Seong Ju-Chan stood there, unable to tear his eyes away from Kang Jin-Ho’s back until the latter had completely disappeared from view.

“Eiii... So embarrassing.”

He teared up for some reason. Not because Kang Jin-Ho had witnessed all that nonsense with the thugs, though.

Even though Seong Ju-Chan had quit the Assembly, the Assembly Master was still looking out for him as if he was still a part of the family. And that made his tear well up.

...And also because he was such an idiot for thinking that he’d never have anything to do with the Assembly and its members for the rest of his life.

‘I’m gonna do my best.’

Although his path had diverged from the Assembly’s, it didn’t mean his connections and relationships had been severed altogether. There should be plenty of ways to help out the Assembly even as a member of the surface world.

Only then would Seong Ju-Chan repay—at least a small portion of it, anyway—the favor the Martial Assembly and Kang Jin-Ho had shown him all this time.

Ding-dong!

The cafe’s entrance opened, and new customers stepped inside. Seong Ju-Chan hurriedly wiped the corners of his eyes and greeted the customers with a bright face.

“Good morning! What can I get you?”