Descent of the Demon Master-Chapter 1338. Executing (3)

Kang Yu-Hwan yelled, “I’m telling you, you won’t get great coffee this way!”

Hwang Min-Su replied in exasperation. “But Mister Kang, you know that we have to rely on mass production to...”

“Forget mass production or whatever, I’m telling you from my experience that roasting beans this way will not get us good tasting coffee! I’ve tried literally every method there is, and nothing comes close to roasting beans by hand!”

Hwang Min-Su frowned while staring at Kang Yu-Hwan. A migraine had begun assaulting his head just then.

Currently, he and Kang Jin-Ho’s father were in a newly set-up coffee factory. Such an automated manufacturing facility was a must if they wanted a stable supply of beans to franchises located all over the country.

However, even though this ship hadn’t been sailing for long, a giant reef was threatening to ground their operation to a screeching halt!

Why is he being so bloody stubborn like this...?!

Hwang Min-Su suddenly remembered that he had already experienced a stubbornness of a similar magnitude before.

Ah. I’m supposed to say, like father, like son, in a situation like this one.

Hwang Min-Su groaned deeply.

It wasn’t as if they were running a traditional chili sauce factory here, so why were they discussing craftsmanship and whatnot over coffee beans destined to end up in franchise cafes?

“Mister Kang, sir? You know there is no other way.”

“But isn’t it your job to find a better way? It’s certainly not mine.”

“...”

Well, Kang Yu-Hwan was technically correct on this one. Hwang Min-Su’s frown grew deeper.

That was when Kang Yu-Hwan shook his head. “President Hwang, I’m not opposing the automated process because I’m an idiot. I know full well that our hands are currently tied on this one.”

“Oh, uh...?”

“However! Doing so will not get us good-tasting coffee.”

“Is the taste of coffee such a deal breaker?”

“No. It’s not important, actually.”

“I’m sorry?”

“I’m saying, the taste isn’t important.”

“...!”

Hwang Min-Su’s cheeks began twitching just then. Just what on earth was this guy saying now?

Kang Yu-Hwan noticed Hwang Min-Su’s expression and chuckled softly. The latter couldn’t help but think that the former’s somewhat sinister grin was eerily similar to Kang Jin-Ho’s.

“Yes, the taste of coffee is ultimately unimportant. Plenty of places offer better tasting coffee than what’s available in franchised cafes, after all. Even then, more customers still prefer franchises.”

“Yes, that is so,” Hwang Min-Su slowly nodded.

“That’s because franchise cafes are convenient, have nicer interiors, and boast cleaner facilities. After considering all these factors, the customers no longer feel the need to seek out independently owned cafes.”

Again, Kang Yu-Hwan was technically correct here.

“Then, why are you opposing the...”

It was now Kang Yu-Hwan’s turn to frown deeply. “Tell me, President Hwang. Do we have our own USP that will help us survive the competition against rival franchises run by massive conglomerates?”[1]

“...”

“It’s not like we’ll be investing massive amounts of money into nice interior decors, right?”

Stab!

“And I can already tell that the service in our cafes will be... unexceptional, to say the least.”

Stab!

“And on top of that, we don’t even have a clear business strategy, either.”

Staaab!

Each and every word leaving Kang Yu-Hwan’s lips morphed into invisible daggers and ruthlessly stabbed Hwang Min-Su in the side.

Even as Hwang Min-Su struggled to regain his wits from the merciless stabbing, Kang Yu-Hwan continued with his verbal assault laced with a healthy dose of cynicism.

“Since that’s the case, we need something unique to differentiate ourselves from the competition, no? Our franchise’s coffee needs to be so good that our competitors won’t have anything to complain about when we advertise how superior our coffee is. But machines like these can only spit out regular supermarket-quality stuff.”

Hwang Min-Su could only dazedly stare at Kang Yu-Hwan. He thought Kang Jin-Ho’s father’s stubbornness stemmed from the pride of producing wonderful coffee beans, but no. As it turned out, he was wrong.

Kang Yu-Hwan had been thinking about the business all along.

Hwang Min-Su shook his head. “But, sir. It’s not like we’re dealing with one or two cafes here... It’s impossible for every one of our stores to prepare their own beans. And it’s also impossible for you to manage the quality level of every store.”

Of course, that didn’t mean Hwang Min-Su could back off on this one, either.

He believed that the most important aspects of running a business were paying taxes and levies on time and sticking to regular delivery schedules. Some people might think product quality and customer service were more important, but a business must deal with customers first to encounter such issues.

Various problems would inevitably rear their heads while running a business. Delaying the schedule whenever a problem occurred and altering the business plan to fix it would lead to the loss of one of the most valuable assets, the time itself.

We can’t afford to have issues like this so early on.

Hwang Min-Su believed they needed to stick to their schedule, no matter what. At the very least, he needed to produce some kind of result before Kang Jin-Ho returned from his overseas business trip. Only then would he be able to secure his position better.

Kang Jin-Ho didn’t seem to think this way, but Hwang Min-Su still viewed himself as a mercenary. And mercenaries needed to produce tangible results if they wanted to be acknowledged as a part of the family.

“Then, do you have something in mind?” Hwang Min-Su asked. “We don’t have the technical know-how to design and manufacture the machines ourselves. That’s out of the question, at least in this stage of our operation.”

Kang Yu-Hwan replied as if he couldn’t see what the problem was. “We’ll have to compromise, then.”

“Compromise, you say?”

“Yes,” Kang Yu-Hwan nodded, then furrowed his brow at the large machine designed to roast coffee beans. “I can do something about the roasting of the beans or the blend. But the problem with these machines is that they can’t notice subtle differences. In that case, it’ll be better to do it by hand.”

“B-by hand?”

“Yes. People roasting large amounts of beans by hand is the compromise I’m talking about. Manage those people, and we should be able to control the quality of our coffee to some degree.”

“H-hold on, Mister Kang!” Hwang Min-Su freaked out and tried to stop Kang Yu-Hwan. “Y-you want to roast all these beans by hand?! That’s just as impossible, you know?”

“Why?”

“Well, the beans won’t roast themselves while we watch from the sideline! I know you prefer to roast the beans through the high temperature method, but you can’t expect regular employees to stand the whole day in front of such heat. That’s being unreasonable.”

Kang Yu-Hwan furrowed his brow again. “Really?”

“Yes. Not only the heat, but... Even if we ensure a safe, comfortable work environment, such employees still won’t last too long on the job. And, and! Just enduring heat alone won’t be enough, no? Just how many people can endure such heat while maintaining a high level of concentration for over eight hours a day?”

That was when an unwavering voice came from behind Hwang Min-Su.

“I can solve that issue.”

Hwang Min-Su hurriedly turned around. “...? Chief Lee?”

Lee Hyeon-Ju walked up to him and smiled brightly. “Thankfully, I know quite a few people fitting such criteria, you see? People who can maintain a delicate touch while enduring difficult work environments, that is.”

“Really? You know people like that? And there are quite a few of them, too?”

“Yes, I really do.”

Lee Hyeon-Ju casually shrugged.

Wasn’t that basically describing a martial art training regime?

The Martial Assembly members spent their entire lives enduring such conditions. Martial artists must never lose their focus even during brutal, back-breaking training regimes, after all.

Kang Yu-Hwan’s proposal might sound like a torture to most people, but to martial artists? They had been enduring something just as worse day after day, year after year.

Hwang Min-Su furiously blinked his eyes. “Are you serious, though? But why would such people...”

“They will thank us if we hire them. Of course, we’ll have to promise them a lot of money to convince them in the first place.”

“Yes, that goes without saying. The cost of renting and operating these machines is no joke, so if we can replace them with skilled manpower, I think... It might be worth a shot, actually. But it depends on if such people really exist or not, of course.”

“How many people do we need, though?”

Hwang Min-Su frowned while crunching the numbers. First of all, they would have to revise the volume of roasted beans, but...

He turned toward Kang Yu-Hwan and confirmed how long one would need to roast the beans to a satisfactory level. He soon arrived at a rough estimate.

“For now, we might need five people. To start off, we can make do with one person, but that won’t be enough to deal with the increase in demand, which will happen quickly.”

“Five people? I can find them by tomorrow,” said Lee Hyeon-Ju without batting an eyelid.

“...”

Hwang Min-Su blinked his eyes in sheer flabbergast.

Finding people to work for you wasn’t as easy as it sounded. Regardless of which corporation it was, they all struggled to find a talented, skilled workforce that could be deployed at a short notice.

But Chief Lee Hyeon-Ju wasn’t the type to make empty promises. Hwang Min-Su might not have worked with her for a long time, but it was still enough for him to learn that she always delivered on her promises.

But doesn’t that mean she really will... Huh?

Lee Hyeon-Ju subtly grinned while studying Hwang Min-Su and his confusion.

Of course he would be confused. He wouldn’t have a clue, after all.

How would he know that Lee Hyeon-Ju was surrounded by societal rejects boasting physical strength surpassing gorillas and endurance outstripping camels?

Kang Jin-Ho’s worries regarding potential catastrophe had led to the start of this franchise business, but it was still not enough to save all those who had quit the Assembly.

People who had spent their entire lives mastering martial arts were extremely poor at socializing. Worse still, many of them were deeply uncomfortable about the prospect of mingling with complete strangers every day.

That was why several didn’t bother to attend the “town hall” meeting that discussed the business plan. And some still gave up even after receiving this franchise offer.

But those people would still jump at the first opportunity to get this job. Since they would only be using their bodies, and not worry about dealing with strangers, this job sounded tailor-made for them. On top of that, what if they were promised handsome salaries, and were also allowed to rely on their cultivation inside the factory?

It’d potentially be the best job a martial artist could ask for.

The competition rate... I guess it’ll be around twenty to one?

Ordinary people might not understand it, but the martial artists lived in their own world filled with their own trials and tribulations.

Hwang Min-Su furrowed his brow. “Can you really make it happen, Chief Lee?”

“Yes, sir. Please don’t worry. The people I know are very industrious and honest,” said Lee Hyeon-Ju.

There shouldn’t be an issue with productivity. If these people did a poor job and failed to meet the demand, the managers of the franchises would charge straight into the factory to have a “quiet word” with them. And torment them like the prison guards from hell. Kang Jin-Ho, Lee Hyeon-Su, or Lee Hyeon-Ju wouldn’t even have to get involved here.

Knowing this, everyone would work hard to ensure that eventuality never came to pass.

“Well, if it can be done...!”

Hwang Min-Su’s complexion brightened. If what Lee Hyeon-Ju said was doable, this would be the most optimal method for them. They would be hitting two birds called quality and speed with one stone, after all.

“Then, can you have them come to the factory tomorrow... No, the day after tomorrow?”

Lee Hyeon-Ju nodded. “Yes, I can. But why not tomorrow?”

“We have various things to prepare, you see? These machines need to be returned, then we must get new equipment next. If we order large containers to roast beans in, they should take at least over a day to arrive. On top of that, we’ll need some time to install the ovens and ventilation...”

“I see. Then, I’ll have the aforementioned five people come to the factory the day after tomorrow.”

“Great! I won’t have anything more to wish for if you can do that for us. What about you, Mister Kang?”

Kang Yu-Hwan coolly nodded. “Well, as long as they are prepared to work honestly and diligently, I have no problem with teaching them the ropes.”

“Sorry?” Lee Hyeon-Ju blinked her eyes in surprise just then.

Hwang Min-Su tilted his head. “Mm? What’s wrong, Chief Lee?”

“N-no, it’s nothing.”

Hwang Min-Su furrowed his brow in confusion at Lee Hyeon-Ju’s flustered reaction.

She had forgotten about the Assembly Master’s father leading the training program. While other conditions were perfect and posed no issues, quite a few would-be applicants might still run for the hills after learning about who would be in charge of their training. Of course, some people should still be mad enough to volunteer, but...

If there aren’t enough volunteers, I can always force them, anyway.

The thing about life was that grown-up people couldn’t only do things they liked all the time.

“Don’t worry. I’ll do whatever it takes to have those people arrive here in the factory in two days.” 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

A gentle smile bloomed on Lee Hyeon-Ju’s face, but Hwang Min-Su and Kang Yu-Hwan sensed something chilling about that smile and could only nod awkwardly.

“Y-yes. I’m sure you’ll do a good job, Chief Lee.”

“I-indeed.”

Kang Yu-Hwan turned his head and stared at the distant skies beyond the nearby window. Why was every woman acquainted with his son so... terrifying?

This had to be some kind of twisted luck.

Kang Yu-Hwan didn’t have a lot left to wish for in life. Sure, there was one wish left, and that was welcoming a friendly and caring daughter-in-law someday and playing with adorable grandkids as the curtains gradually closed in on his life. However, with how things were going... He couldn’t see how that wish would come true.

Maybe I should lower my expectations, then? Uh-whew...

Kang Yu-Hwan groaned deeply.

1. USP = unique selling point. ☜