Descent of the Demon Master-Chapter 1286. Organizing (1)

The mood inside the conference room wasn’t as heavy as Kang Jin-Ho had expected. Actually, it’d be more correct to say everyone seemed more relieved about overcoming one hurdle than anything else.

“Master,” said Vator while frowning a little. “Don’t you think the punishments were too soft?”

Kang Jin-Ho stared at Vator, unimpressed. Why was the big man saying this after they had finished with handing out the punishments? And why not when he was reviewing the rules earlier?

“But we did according to what’s in the rules.”

“Yes. But what I’m asking is this. Aren’t the rules too generous to be useful?”

“Fine, I’ll bite,” Kang Jin-Ho sighed. “What should we do to make it not as generous, then?”

Vator explained gravely. “If this happened in Mongolia, any fool daring to dabble in drug dealing would’ve been tied to a boulder and left out in the wilderness for the predators to feast on.”

“...That’s strange. I figured you’d talk about tearing their heads off or something.”

“We deny them a death where we spill their blood. Besides, an easy death like that is being too merciful.”

Kang Jin-Ho couldn’t help but chuckle. “Right. Yes, it’s true that in some aspects, our rules might not seem strict enough.”

Obviously, he shouldn’t say this out loud in front of the Assembly members, but the honest truth was... Kang Jin-Ho didn’t care much for this type of punishment. Forget cumbersome methods like imprisoning someone, his style leaned more toward beating the guilty party up for their crimes. Or just outright executing them to save time.

Of course, he fully understood that as the leader of a large organization, he must not let his style and tendencies dictate his decisions.

“Executing them all would certainly make things easier,” said Kang Jin-Ho.

Vator snorted. “Exactly. That’s what I’m saying!”

“However, what about when I’m not here?”

“...?”

“Or you? What if you and I aren’t around anymore?”

“...”

Kang Jin-Ho shook his head. “Rules that fall apart just because few people are absent aren’t rules at all. We need a set of rules that the guilty party and the judging party can both accept.”

“You’re correct, sir,” Lee Hyeon-Su suddenly butted in. “The law must be impartial and more uncaring than human emotions. That’s because your view on an incident will change depending on whether your emotions are heightened or some time has passed and you’ve calmed down.”

“Hmm...”

Vator still frowned, as if he wasn’t convinced by what he heard.

Kang Jin-Ho chuckled slightly at the big man. He understood where Vator was coming from, after all.

The rules within the martial world were not only strict, but also cruel. Even a minor matter could lead to horrific dismemberments and even outright execution.

There wasn’t much Kang Jin-Ho or anyone could do about that, though. Laws and rules were not meant to prevent people from stepping out of the line, but to prevent or reduce the damage caused by people stepping out of the line. In that sense, using the same yardstick to judge ordinary people to punish martial artists was simply not feasible.

For instance, assault. A martial artist assaulting someone would produce a different outcome than an ordinary person assaulting their victim.

Vator was used to seeing that type of punishment, so in his view, the Assembly’s punishments must’ve come across as way too soft.

“Don’t forget that our rules aren’t complete yet,” said Kang Jin-Ho. Since that was the case, he had to repeat himself here again. “As it was mentioned before, our set of rules is still brand-new at this stage. We’ll undoubtedly amend and improve them through trial and error.”

Vator slowly nodded, finally finding a common ground with his master.

“However, being too strict isn’t always a good thing,” Wiggins butted in again to offer his take. “Here’s a hypothetical. We’ve made our rules stricter, so any martial artist caught assaulting ordinary people will now face a death penalty. When that happens, what do you think a martial artist who had assaulted ordinary people will do next?”

“Well, they will... Mm.”

Vator clamped his mouth.

“Yes. It is as you think so. Getting caught means their death, anyway. So, they’ll simply try to get rid of as much evidence as possible, including killing the victims. Being strict and merciless has its upsides, but it’s not always effective in preventing crime.”

Vator grunted. “However, the strict enforcement of rules can discourage them from assaulting their victims in the first place.”

“Yes, there’s that, too. But...” Wiggins grinned brightly. “Threats of harsh punishment will push people into hiding instead. Since time immemorial, nations that chose harsh punishments never lasted long. The dissatisfaction and distrust among the populace would get worse over time, after all.”

“Hmm...” Vator crossed his arms in front of his chest, looking somewhat unhappy about it all.

Wiggins glanced at Kang Jin-Ho. “Don’t you think so, too, my lord?”

“...”

“My lord, your expression says, ‘I might have acted this way, but my heart agrees with Sir Vator.’ Am I correct?”

Kang Jin-Ho tutted. “Is mind reading one of the magic spells you know of?”

“I assure you, you have done a wonderful job, my lord. A leader must not let his emotions get the better of him.”

“It’s not easy, though.”

Wiggins smiled at Kang Jin-Ho. “Indeed, it shouldn’t be easy. Despite the difficulty, you’ve done the right thing. The tricky thing about applying the law is that reducing the sentence appropriately is harder than increasing the severity. If we start off with excessive punishment, we’ll undoubtedly face undesirable consequences in the future.”

“Yes, I agree,” Kang Jin-Ho briefly nodded before glancing at Lee Hyeon-Su. Surely, he’d do a good job on his own?

The Assembly had plenty of people who could do a better job than Kang Jin-Ho in these kinds of things. Even Vator, who looked like a simpleton on the surface, was more knowledgeable and sensible than Kang Jin-Ho was. And there was no need to mention Wiggins or Lee Hyeon-Su.

Even Bang Jin-Hun was the same. Leading a faction for a long time had helped him gain tremendous experience in leadership, which meant Kang Jin-Ho couldn’t even hold a candle to him when it came to working with other people.

Since that was the case, why should Kang Jin-Ho worry about things like this?

Lee Hyeon-Su noticed Kang Jin-Ho’s expression and joined the conversation between the Assembly Master, Wiggins, and Vator.

“Now that we’ve decided to hear the members’ opinions through the app, I’d like us to hold another meeting after observing the situation for a little while longer. Even if we discuss among ourselves, things will have to change when we come across more sensible ideas from our members, after all.”

“No, well, I wasn’t trying to say we gotta change stuff now... I was just thinking out loud, okay?” Vator smiled awkwardly while backing off from the discussion. “Think of it this way. Me submitting my idea through the app might look weird, so I figured I’d directly voice my opinion to you.”

“Ah, I see. I’ll think of it that way, then.”

Lee Hyeon-Su grinned subtly and ably ended this conversation. A few fake-coughs from the executives later, the atmosphere changed again.

“There’s that, but...”

Kang Jin-Ho suddenly spoke up.

“That man... Ahn Dae-Hyeon had a point.”

Wiggins furrowed his brow. “My lord, you can’t possibly be agreeing with that bullsh*t. Are you?”

He mouthed a swear word without hesitation, which was unlike him.

Kang Jin-Ho cocked an eyebrow. “You seem rather angry at that man?”

“...My apologies. Personally speaking, I despise people like him, so I couldn’t help it.”

“No, it’s fine. I get it.”

Kang Jin-Ho chuckled softly. He was also not a fan of such a type of person, anyway. That type of people kept their mouths resolutely shut when things were going great for them, but when those same things suddenly turned on them and made them suffer losses, they would become hellbent on dodging responsibilities.

Any person with morals would feel strongly about such a type of person.

“The man himself is worthless, but what he said can be useful,” said Kang Jin-Ho.

Wiggins frowned slightly. “My lord? I don’t quite follow...?”

Kang Jin-Ho turned his head away from Wiggins. “Lee Hyeon-Su?”

“Yes, sir?”

“I want you to investigate how people who left the Assembly are living right now.”

“Do you mean... everyone?”

“Let’s say those who are still alive.”

Lee Hyeon-Su’s expression stiffened a little. As the reign of Lee Jung-Geol ended and Kang Jin-Ho took over the Martial Assembly, the majority of middle-aged and older martial artists quit the organization. Although investigating them all wasn’t a problem...

“But, sir?”

Kang Jin-Ho shook his head. “No need to worry about unnecessary things. I’m not some saint, after all.”

“Oh...”

Kang Jin-Ho could tell what Lee Hyeon-Su was worried about. The latter must be terrified by the thought of the Assembly Master wanting to support them financially, too.

However, Kang Jin-Ho wasn’t a good-natured moron. He might have the duty to take responsibility for the people in the Assembly, but that duty didn’t extend to those who lived through Lee Jung-Geol’s reign but quit before Kang Jin-Ho’s arrival.

“I merely want to know what the overall situation looks like,” said Kang Jin-Ho.

“Understood, sir.”

Even Lee Hyeon-Su grew curious about it now. How were those people, who had left the Assembly, living right now?

“Hmm...?”

Lee Hyeon-Su frowned slightly before sighing deeply.

“Sir, I think I can make an educated guess without digging into their situations. I’m pretty sure their lives aren’t all that rosy at the moment.”

“What makes you say that?”

“The thing is, the concept of looking after the members’ welfare only came about after your arrival, sir. Something like that was unheard of in the past. Heck, I’m guessing a dude opening a Taekwondo gym would’ve made more money than the Assembly’s people back then.”

“...?”

Kang Jin-Ho dazedly stared at Lee Hyeon-Su, prompting the latter to shrug helplessly. Kang Jin-Ho shifted his gaze to Bang Jin-Hun next.

Bang Jin-Hun had a cramped smile on his face. “Well, yes. That was how it was back then.”

When even Bang Jin-Hun agreed, Kang Jin-Ho couldn’t help but tilt his head.

“That’s odd, isn’t it? After all, aren’t martial artists a high-value workforce? How was that situation even possible?”

Not even in ancient Zhongyuan did such a thing happen.

Those affiliated with the demon cult enjoyed a fairly abundant life compared to ordinary citizens back then. And that wasn’t just limited to martial artists or head demons, either. Simply being a part of the demon cult ensured that the quality of your life would be above average.

That shouldn’t come as a surprise, however. Back then, the demon cult was ostracized for being unorthodox and heretical. So, without such merit on offer, who would want to join the cult?

But the Assembly wasn’t a cult in ancient Zhongyuan, but an organization in the modern era. So, to hear that the Assembly didn’t even bother to compensate its members adequately enough to match or even better the living standards of ordinary people...! That stunned Kang Jin-Ho quite a bit.

“Huh. Even though the wages must’ve been good? So how?”

“Actually, I’m responsible for that one,” Bang Jin-Hun replied with a casual shrug. “Lee Jung-Geol and his ass-kissers usually left the members to their devices, but when I started building my faction, he finally bothered to raise the wages to counter me and pacify the growing dissatisfaction. It worked fairly effectively, I’d say.”

Kang Jin-Ho’s jaw fell slightly. “Hold on? Are you saying the members back then didn’t fight back against such an unfair situation?”

“Well...” Bang Jin-Hun sighed, then smiled awkwardly. “It’s possible if you brainwash the masses enough times, sir. Take your time and repeatedly emphasize stuff like, martial artists can’t become stronger if they obsess over materialistic things, or those mastering martial arts must forget about money and focus solely on training, and you’ll have them believing in your rubbish eventually.”

“Are you telling me that actually worked?”

“Yes, sir. At least in South Korea, that is.”

“Hah...”

Kang Jin-Ho could only chuckle hollowly.

Being a martial artist didn’t mean you could subsist on morning dew drops and mists. Even in the past, the orthodox sects, who proclaimed their disinterest in worldly affairs like wealth, still ran sizable business ventures to survive.

Shaolin was the largest Buddhist monastery under the sun back then, so the queues of pilgrims were never-ending. Wudang also received countless donations on top of running a profitable business. And disciples learning martial arts in Shaolin and Wudang didn’t have to worry about the quality of their lives, as their wealthy sects took care of such things.

Kang Jin-Ho muttered weakly. “Should I chalk that down to Lee Jung-Geol’s business acumen or something...?”

Lee Hyeon-Su smiled wryly. Actually, this couldn’t be seen as the Assembly-exclusive issue, but more like a society-wide problem that South Korea had experienced. Before the IMF incident in the nineties, the social trend of the day was not to obsess over money, after all!

The problem wasn’t limited to the Martial Assembly, in other words. It was simply the norm for Korean society to exploit its people back then. That was all.

“I’ll confirm their situations as soon as possible, sir,” said Lee Hyeon-Su.

“Good. Before that, though...” Kang Jin-Ho chuckled while addressing everyone in the office. “We’ve put out all the urgent fires, so how about going on a vacation? I mean all of you, of course.”

“Ohh!”

“A vacation sounds like a wonderful idea, my lord.”

Vator and Wiggins beamed brightly. Even if they had nothing to do during vacations, it was always good to have some time off.

Bang Jin-Hun chuckled and waved his hand. “Eiii, if I want to go on a vacation, I gotta do a ton of work beforehand, so...”

“Oh? So you don’t want to?”

“Of course I want to! Why wouldn’t I!”

Bang Jin-Hun’s surrender brought a round of laughter to the conference room. However, someone in this place wasn’t smiling. In fact, he was making a strangely contorted expression. His name was Lee Hyeon-Su.

He asked Kang Jin-Ho weirdly. “Sir, c-can I really go on a vacation?”

Kang Jin-Ho furrowed his brow slightly. “Then, you think I’m joking?”

“N-no, it’s just that, uh, I’m a bit...”

Rather uncharacteristically for him, Lee Hyeon-Su faltered for some reason.

“What’s the matter?” Kang Jin-Ho asked.

“Well, sir. I’ve been devoting myself to this industry for over twenty years, but...”

Twenty years? How young was Lee Hyeon-Su when he started doing this?

Kang Jin-Ho couldn’t help but think that maybe, Lee Hyeon-Su’s career was far more impressive in scope.

“In all those years, uh, I’ve never enjoyed a vacation before, so...”

Kang Jin-Ho’s jaw fell slightly again. “Hang on. Never? Not even once in twenty years?”

“Yes, sir.”

“...”

After dazedly staring at Lee Hyeon-Su for a while, Kang Jin-Ho reflexively massaged his eyelids and the bridge of his nose. Other directors also couldn’t bear to look at Lee Hyeon-Su and turned their heads away.

The world’s most pitiful salaryman was sitting right before their eyes.

This was the moment when the conference room was plunged into a pit of sorrow in the blink of an eye.