Descent of the Demon Master-Chapter 1154. Advancing (4)

Bae Jae-Min nervously swallowed his saliva.

‘This must be Hell, right?’

Actually, that couldn't be true. This place was too clean to be Hell, after all!

Lee Hyeon-Su’s private office in MK’s headquarters was so minimally furnished that the initial impression Bae Jae-Min got was...

‘Such emptiness!’

Even after taking into account Lee Hyeon-Su's main focus being the Martial Assembly's operation, this desolateness still seemed a little too over the top!

With Lee Hyeon-Su sitting right in the middle of this desolateness, it felt like this situation was...

‘...It’s like I’ve stumbled into a planning of an insidious criminal activity or something!’

With Lee Hyeon-Su being the axis of all evil!

Lee Hyeon-Su pointed to an empty chair. “Take a seat.”

“Yessir!” Bae Jae-Min hurriedly parked his butt on the chair.

“Want some coffee?”

“N-no, sir. I’m good.”

“Why are you so scared, though?”

“...”

How could he not be scared in this situation?! Bae Jae-Min nervously swallowed his saliva again.

He had already experienced what it was like to be in close proximity to Kang Jin-Ho during the training program, so he should have become numb to such nervousness, but no!

Then again, this outcome shouldn’t be seen as surprising.

Kang Jin-Ho was the Martial Assembly's ultimate boss, which inspired much fear and trepidation. However, a low-rank regular Assembly member like Bae Jae-Min didn't have a reason to interact with the boss regularly.

Trepidation and fear weren't always proportional to the other person's rank. A division commander's sudden visit might throw a military base into disarray, but regular grunts wouldn't feel all that scared by the visit itself.

The truth was, regular grunts were more scared of their immediate superiors or higher-ranked officers within their base. The division commander boasted a much loftier status than all those officers, yes, but that didn't necessarily mean he was scarier than them.

That logic also applied in this situation. To Bae Jae-Min, Lee Hyeon-Su was at least thirty-six times harder and scarier to talk to than Kang Jin-Ho!

Why was that? Simple. Bae Jae-Min didn't really have to worry about getting tangled up in Kang Jin-Ho's business, but Lee Hyeon-Su oversaw all administrative workers in the Assembly, didn't he!

Even though Bae Jae-Min had transferred to MK, which meant his affiliation had changed a tiny bit, he shouldn’t trust that and act like an arrogant prick here. Otherwise, he might get tied up and dragged back to the Assembly in the blink of an eye!

Since that was the case, the only thing he could do was grovel and kowtow in dread!

‘I wouldn’t be this scared if only Lee Hyeon-Su was a nice guy!’

What if your superior officer much higher up the food chain, who got acknowledged by the brass for his hard work, just so happened to possess the personality of a devil?

That would be the absolute worst superior you could ask for!

In Bae Jae-Min’s humble opinion, Lee Hyeon-Su was the epitome of the worst evil boss you could possibly experience in life. What made him even worse was the fact that he didn’t even bother to hide his sh*tty personality, either!

If only Lee Hyeon-Su pretended to be nice and all that! People like Bae Jae-Min might have found some shelter in the shade cast by that facade and taken a breather, but no!

Since Lee Hyeon-Su unhesitantly crossed the line that made people question if he had any morals or humanity left in his heart...

Lee Hyeon-Su cocked an eyebrow. “What are you thinking about?”

Bae Jae-Min hurriedly shook his head. “N-nothing important, sir!”

On top of all that, Lee Hyeon-Su was as sharp as a seasoned detective, to boot!

Gwok Hyeon-Tae right next to Bae Jae-Min was also visibly stiff from nervousness. Unsurprising, really.

His status was slightly better than Bae Jae-Min's, but he was still nothing more than a deputy section chief.

In front of someone like Lee Hyeon-Su, who enjoyed power and authority surpassing that of a director despite being a chief, Gwok Hyeon-Tae was no better than a mere fly.

Lee Hyeon-Su finally got the meeting going. “I brought you both here because I wanted to confirm a few things, you see?”

“Sir?”

“Let’s start with you first. Bae Jae-Min, you’ve received good grades from the training program, haven’t you?”

“T-thank you for noticing that, sir!”

“It’s the same story for you, Gwok Hyeon-Tae.”

“T-thank you, sir!”

Lee Hyeon-Su rummaged through some documents before looking away from them and at the two men. There wasn’t anything wrong or threatening in his actions, yet they still held this inexplicable power to make people nervous!

“So, I wanted to know... Now that things have settled down somewhat, can you tell me if something's been bothering you guys? Some kind of an issue we've overlooked?”

“Sir?”

“I was asking around, but for some reason, everyone kept saying everything is fine and nothing’s been bothering them. Even though I told them it’s okay to be honest with me.”

That development didn’t surprise Bae Jae-Min or Gwok Hyeon-Tae. Not even remotely.

Even if someone was dissatisfied by something or felt troubled, who would dare say it to Lee Hyeon-Su? Maybe a few might be insane enough to whine playfully for a bit, but no one would be brave enough to earnestly discuss what dissatisfied them with this devil.

“So, that’s why I set this meeting up.”

Gwok Hyeon-Tae cautiously asked, “Sir? Do you mind if I ask you... why you’ve chosen us specifically?”

Lee Hyeon-Su casually shrugged “No particular reason. You two just so happened to be at the lobby.”

“...”

“...”

“I’m kidding, okay?”

But he sounded serious, though? Especially with that subtle smirk etched on his face? Lee Hyeon-Su had to be telling the truth here!

“I memorized the names and faces of those with grades in the upper half of the program. I figured that listening to you, who might not be buckling under the workload thanks to your superior intellect, could help me identify what's what."

Bae Jae-Min grimaced a little. “We don’t have any particular complaints to report, sir...”

“I don't care if it's something trivial,” said Lee Hyeon-Su while grandly stretching his limbs. “Even if it's something like the chairman's office being on the way to the roof, which makes it harder for you to go for a smoke break.”

“...I don’t know who said that, but that guy sure has balls, sir.”

“Plenty of crazies out there, that's for sure,” Lee Hyeon-Su smirked softly. “As I was saying... Even trivial stuff like that is fine. If I had been stationed here permanently, I might have been able to deal with things causing dissatisfaction. But you know my place is with the Assembly.

“Still, I can't help but get bothered by this situation. So, to give myself peace of mind, I better solve as many problems here before heading back to the Assembly.”

“I see, sir. But Miss Lee is here to oversee us, isn’t she?”

“Well, sure. She is, but...” Lee Hyeon-Su casually rested his chin on his fist while staring at Bae Jae-Min. “I didn’t know I must studiously explain all these things first before I get to hear your report.”

“M-my apologies, sir!”

“Don’t get too full of yourself.”

Bae Jae-Min felt a dreadful chill run down his spine.

He let his guard down because the atmosphere seemed friendly enough. However, he should never forget that the man before his eyes was the true authority in the Assembly, Lee Hyeon-Su... The devil of the administrative department!

In other words, not someone Bae Jae-Min should casually crack jokes with!

“Sir...?” Gwok Hyeon-Tae cautiously spoke up just then as if to rescue Bae Jae-Min from his predicament. “If you don't mind me saying this, the travel arrangement is simply not working out, sir.”

Lee Hyeon-Su glanced at the deputy section chief. “Mm?”

“It takes too long to commute, sir. I mean, uh, it's illogical to commute between here and the Assembly every day, isn't it?”

“Well, yeah.”

“The trip back and forth takes four hours in total, and... Honestly, sir? I don't think this is something sane people should be doing.”

“Yeah, I agree. We're trying to find a solution, but...” Lee Hyeon-Su shrugged again. “For now, it's impossible to hook you guys up with a suitable accommodation.”

“Is it because of money?” Gwok Hyeon-Tae curiously asked.

That was when Lee Hyeon-Su smirked weirdly. “Although it’s kinda embarrassing to say this, you don’t have to worry about the Assembly running out of cash anytime soon.”

“...”

“The issue isn’t with money, but more to do with the fact that the list of employees hasn’t been finalized yet.”

“...Ah!” Gwok Hyeon-Tae hurriedly nodded. He remembered the second round of training program currently underway in Jaegyeong. Folks who failed the first time were also taking part in that program.

The plan was to take half of those who passed the first and second rounds of the program and assign them to MK, while the other half would return to the Assembly.

In other words, who would be assigned to MK had not been finalized yet.

“Sure, it’d be nice to arrange some kind of accommodation according to the expected number of people, but...” Lee Hyeon-Su relaxedly reclined. “What can we do when we don’t know what that number will be?”

“Mm, I see...”

“Also, it’s not easy to find a large number of places to rent nearby. The Assembly is basically surrounded by ownerless lands, so you can just pick anywhere you like and build a home, but you can’t do that here.”

“Of course.”

“Finally, I’m sure you don’t want to stay in dorms again while working in Seoul. Am I wrong?”

No, Lee Hyeon-Su was not wrong.

There weren’t many options near the Assembly’s location. After all, the Assembly’s HQ was located smack dab in the middle of a nameless mountain. Obviously, there wouldn’t be any proper houses nearby.

Anyone who wanted to live near the HQ would have to stay in a village of one-room houses about thirty minutes of driving away. Alternatively, they could stay in the Assembly's dorms.

After living like that until now, who would want to repeat that arrangement while working in Seoul?

People were often irrational like that. They knew staying in dorms would save them money and time. Even then, they still yearned for a private space not shared with anyone else.

“Excuse me, Chief Lee...?” Gwok Hyeon-Tae cautiously spoke up.

“Yeah? What is it?”

“If we find accommodation on our own... Uh, is there a possibility of the company supporting us financially? So we can cover the rent or security deposit?”

“Nope.”

“...”

Lee Hyeon-Su smirked. “Companies do that so the workers don’t have to worry about stuff and focus on their work. Right?”

“Y-yes, sir.”

That was precisely why it’d be great to have such financial support, though!

Lee Hyeon-Su’s smirk deepened.

“But it’s not like you can quit this place. Isn’t that right?”

“...Eh?”

That’s... true?

MK's situation was rather different from other companies. Unless they got fired, the martial artists working for MK would never quit on their own volition. Didn't that mean this was a type of job-for-life that shouldn't normally exist in the 21st century?

“Financially supporting you when we won’t recoup it for decades and decades? You can’t call that support.”

“...?” 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

“We’re thinking of lending you the money, though. As in, you can borrow the money with the company’s name at zero interest and service the debt with a portion of your salaries.”

Gwok Hyeon-Tae’s face fell. “For how long, sir?”

“The repayment period will be around ten years or so. So stop making that face, will ya?”

“...Sir, with two kids to feed, ten years will still put me in a bind.”

“Don’t sweat it. We’re planning to give you all a raise, anyway.”

“Excuse me?” Gwok Hyeon-Tae’s eyebrows shot up at that revelation. “A-are you being serious, sir?”

Lee Hyeon-Su frowned deeply. “What the hell... Do you honestly think I have enough free time to crack jokes with you?”

“N-no, sir! Definitely not.”

Lee Hyeon-Su grunted before shrugging again. “The Assembly Master... Oops, I mean the chairman has already approved it.”

“But didn’t we get a raise not too long ago, sir?”

“Sure. But the administrative staff are still not getting paid enough, wouldn't you say? Like you said, the money you're getting isn't enough to raise a family.”

“Chief Lee, sir! I swear I will stay loyal for the rest of my...”

“Does that mean you won’t stay loyal if we don’t give you a raise?”

“...No, sir. That’s not what I meant.”

Lee Hyeon-Su smirked again. Although he had this tendency to look down on the administrative staff, deep down he knew these people truly were a high-value workforce. It was just that a lot of their stat points had been distributed to meaningless stats that didn’t help out with their work.

What good were office workers who knew how to fight, anyway?

Having said that, Lee Hyeon-Su should still acknowledge these people’s worth despite their incorrect character builds.

“Sir, a raise will go a long way for us, that’s for sure!”

Lee Hyeon-Su nodded. “Then, let’s call this problem ‘solved’ for now. Which leaves the commute problem, then...”

That was when Bae Jae-Min cautiously piped up. “Regarding that, I was thinking of a way to deal with everything, sir.”

“Yeah? What is it?”

“How about renting out a motel, sir?”

“Huh? A motel?”

“Yes, sir,” Bae Jae-Min fake-coughed before continuing with his explanation. “Until we know how many will commute to MK, how about renting out a few motels nearby and using them as temporary dorms? You could stay in a motel as if it's your own place, and the contracts can be renewed on a monthly basis, as well.”

“Ohh!” Lee Hyeon-Su cried out in excitement. Why didn’t he think of this before?

Companies that sent people overseas for work often resorted to this method. Since it was a commonly used practice, Lee Hyeon-Su should have thought about it, yet he hadn't until now.

“That’s a good idea. With that, the accommodation issue should be sorted for now. I’ll get right to it,” said Lee Hyeon-Su.

“But it might cost an arm and a leg, sir.”

“It's fine. Working one hour longer every day should more or less cover the increased expenses.”

“...!”

Bae Jae-Min was almost tempted to pick up his phone and call the labor department to blow the whistle on this black company!

Lee Hyeon-Su clapped his hands. “Okay! Looks like we've solved the most pressing issue, then. Any other problem besides that one?”

Bae Jae-Min replied, “Rather than a problem, I’ve been curious about something, sir.”

“Yeah?”

“We haven’t seen the Assembly Master for a while now, you see? Did something happen, sir?”

“Oh, that?” Lee Hyeon-Su chuckled slightly. “He’s been working in the Assembly for the past few days.”

“Really? I thought MK was his priority?”

“That is so. But, uh...” Lee Hyeon-Su awkwardly scratched his head. “I think he’s sulking after I gave him an earful for smoking in the office and triggering the fire alarm.”

“...”

“...”

“I should hurry back to the Assembly and try to diffuse the situation, but... Oh, well.”

Something was wrong. Something was definitely wrong with this company!

Bae Jae-Min squeezed his eyes shut and silently prayed for this company’s continued survival.