Descent of the Demon Master-Chapter 1050: Too Vague (5)

Click…

The lighter did its job, and soon, acrid cigarette smoke wafted around the office.

Hwang Jeong-Hu perused the report while puffing away at his cigarette. Then, he loudly tutted away.

“Only as good as a high schooler, huh?”

Kang Jin-Ho didn't say anything and quietly listened.

“That’s not much of a consolation, no? After all, which high school kid would know about office work? In other words, your people are total idiots. Do you understand what that means?”

Kang Jin-Ho sheepishly scratched his head. “I… It seems I should have paid more attention.”

“That’s what everyone says,” Hwang Jeong-Hu tutted again. “Here’s the thing, though. Do you know what’s the synonym for not paying enough attention?”

“Mm? I’m not sure.”

“It’s incompetence.”

“…” Kang Jin-Ho clamped his mouth again, unable to think of an excuse to defend himself.

Hwang Jeong-Hu rolled up the reports while leaning against his chair. “Tell me. If the on-site workers are like hands and feet of a company, what should the office workers be compared to?”

Kang Jin-Ho tilted his head slightly. “Brains?”

“No. The brain of a company is you. And the board of directors and presidents of each division. Office workers are like nerve cells and blood vessels, Jin-Ho. Who cares how well-trained your hands and feet are? When your blood vessels are blocked? Those great hands of yours will necrose pretty quickly in that case.”

“Yes. I’ve come to realize how severe the situation is lately.”

“Hmm…” Hwang Jeong-Hu grinned meaningfully while studying Kang Jin-Ho’s expression.

Everyone made mistakes. What was important to remember, then, wasn’t consciously trying not to make any mistakes but acknowledging what had happened and finding measures to prevent the same mistakes from occurring again.

In that regard, Kang Jin-Ho seemed to possess the qualities of a good businessman.

‘The first thing people usually try is finding excuses, after all.’

Most adults obviously knew excuses were just that, excuses. They all knew excuses wouldn't really save their hides in times of trouble. Especially so in South Korean society, which had never been tolerant of excuses.

Being able to admit to one's shortcomings was seen as a virtue among Koreans. Even then, everyone still prioritized finding excuses and shifting blame whenever a problem reared its ugly head.

Was it because they had forgotten? Of course not.

It was all because humans were selfish. Egocentric. Not admitting to one’s fault but honing in on others’ shortcomings first to dump the responsibilities on their shoulders instead whenever a crisis unfolded… Such a trait was probably an undeniable aspect of human nature.

However, here was Kang Jin-Ho, not even bothering to come up with an excuse for a problem that some people might think would be unfair to criticize him for. Also…

“Heh. A carrot, too…?” Hwang Jeong-Hu smirked deeply. “Cliched, sure, but it’s a good tactic nonetheless.”

The Chairman of the Jaegyeong Group suddenly fell into a bout of inexplicable reminiscence of the past.

Back when he first encountered Kang Jin-Ho, Hwang Jeong-Hu had the distinct impression that the person standing before his eyes wasn’t “human.”

He didn't mean that in a figurative sense, either. Hwang Jeong-Hu genuinely thought Kang Jin-Ho was not human but something else. He sometimes heard of the existence of “martial artists” in passing, but Kang Jin-Ho's abilities still seemed to be from another dimension altogether compared to those people.

Naturally, Hwang Jeong-Hu’s imagination veered toward Kang Jin-Ho being a literal devil in human guise… Or just a monster.

At that time, at least, it seemed more realistic to think that a creature outside the boundaries of common sense was wearing a human guise.

Hwang Jeong-Hu didn't arrive at that conclusion after observing Kang Jin-Ho's preternatural abilities, though. Back then, Kang Jin-Ho seemingly did not have a single identifiable aspect that made humans “human.”

Rather than being cold-blooded or anything like that, it felt more like Kang Jin-Ho lacked certain things all human beings should possess.

But now, Kang Jin-Ho was expertly exploiting his underlings like a pro. Obviously, Hwang Jeong-Hu found this development highly amusing to behold.

“Unfortunately, you can’t call that a carrot, Jin-Ho.”

Kang Jin-Ho tilted his head some more. “I’m sorry? Why not?”

“Do you know what the distinguishing features of evil bosses are?”

“...Mm? I’m not sure.”

“No matter how vile the owner of a company is, they have no choice but to raise wages. Look at all the companies with subhuman bastards as their presidents and chairpersons. They still raise the wages of their workers, right?”

“Yes, of course.”

“In that case, why are they still called evil and vile bastards?”

“…?”

Hwang Jeong-Hu smirked deeply. “See, these people? Even though they are doing something other companies do as a matter of course, those vile as*holes raise a huge fuss as if they are doing something nice for their workers. As if what they have done should go down in history or something!”

Hwang Jeong-Hu’s smirk distorted in irritation as if merely thinking about this topic pissed him off.

“Even though you haven't raised a fuss, your actions are pretty much the same as those vile bastards, okay? What you should be doing right now is reflecting on yourself for raising your underlings' wages to the industry-standard levels. Because it means your workers had not been treated properly until now.”

Kang Jin-Ho clamped his mouth shut again. He had not considered this issue from such a perspective before.

“If you want to dangle a carrot, then do it. Instead of patting yourself on the back for giving your workers a pittance.”

Wasn’t this strange? Kang Jin-Ho had been feeling pretty good until a few seconds ago, so why…

After listening to Hwang Jeong-Hu's lecture, Kang Jin-Ho couldn't help but get a little flustered. Because he suddenly felt like a terrible and vile boss.

“So, stop feeling proud of yourself and be more humble. Be embarrassed, instead.”

“Understood.”

“Also, this situation with your workers being so useless? It’s the same story,” said Hwang Jeong-Hu while pounding the coffee table with the rolled-up reports. “It’d be wonderful if talented individuals constantly joined my company. But that only happens in dreams, Jin-Ho. You’ll always be running short of talented manpower. So, you gotta train the already-existing workforce to turn them into an even better workforce. That is the job of the dude at the top, okay?”

“Yes. I agree with you.”

“Flip that idea around, and now it means that the bosses are to be blamed for the uselessness of their workers.”

“I see…”

Hwang Jeong-Hu smirked when Kang Jin-Ho weightily replied without any retorts. “Heh… You think you're being unfairly blamed here, don't you?”

“No, Chairman. I don't feel that way.”

“Nah. I'm sure some part of you do feel that way. After all, you are being told to take responsibility for things you're not even involved in. It must sound unreasonable, too.”

“…”

Hwang Jeong-Hu leaned against the couch again while crossing his legs. “Unfortunately, that's what it feels like to stand at the top, Jin-Ho. If you were thinking of taking responsibility only for those things you're involved in, you better not call yourself the Chairman of the Board or the President of whatever while showing off to other people, okay?”

Kang Jin-Ho could only bitterly grin at that advice. After all, he had never acted condescendingly toward others using his position until now.

Hwang Jeong-Hu chuckled. “It’s not as easy as it looks, right?”

“Well, rather than not easy…” Kang Jin-Ho sighed and spoke his mind. “I find it rather ironic.”

“Ironic? How so?”

“Well…” Kang Jin-Ho faltered a little before explaining himself. “Things should have become easier after I started my studies. Yes, even if I've never been interested in these topics, shouldn't my tasks get easier the more I learn about them? But that has not been the case. The more I know, the harder the tasks seem to get. And I now need to pay attention to more things, too.”

“What’s so surprising about that?”

Kang Jin-Ho cocked an eyebrow. “I’m sorry?”

“I mean, isn’t that obvious?” Hwang Jeong-Hu tutted again. “Isn’t it the same story with martial arts you’re mastering? Don’t those things get harder the more you master them?”

Kang Jin-Ho realized Hwang Jeong-Hu was right.

The difficulty facing an expert trying to reach the pinnacle of martial arts was incomparably greater than the difficulty faced by newbies freshly stepping on to the path of cultivation.

It was the same situation for regular sports, too. The hurdles facing a casual sports fan would be nothing in comparison to the challenges facing an athlete representing their country in an international sporting event.

Whatever the profession, it was inevitable that the more one dug into it, the harder it’d get to advance forward.

“It's the same deal with business, Jin-Ho. When you're on the outside looking in, it must look like a cakewalk. People tend to think that hiring a good workforce and paying them good money is the ticket to a successful business venture. But things rarely ever work out that way in business. Business ventures don't fail because the leadership had no idea about such things.”

“I see. I guess you have a point.” Kang Jin-Ho sighed again while leaning against the cushions of his couch.

He learned a painful lesson while experiencing the recent series of events.

‘The only thing I’m good at is fighting people. And not much else…’

Kang Jin-Ho never felt the urge to be excellent at everything. However, he still wanted to meet people's expectations of him. But that mission still proved to be rather difficult for him.

Hwang Jeong-Hu noticed the furrowed brows on Kang Jin-Ho’s face and smirked in satisfaction.

‘Yup, he’s growing nicely as a person, then.’

No matter how excellent and talented someone was, they would inevitably run headlong into a wall called the limitation of their talents after breathlessly rising through the ranks.

This was an absolute fact of life. Whether the person in question was talented or not, they all wished to produce results far exceeding their talent level, after all!

A person experienced growth whenever they encountered these dilemmas and overcame them.

Hwang Jeong-Hu was well aware of Kang Jin-Ho being his equal, someone who didn't lack anything compared to him. No, if the two men were to be compared as human beings and not as businessmen, one might even argue that Kang Jin-Ho was a better person than Hwang Jeong-Hu.

That might be all true. However, what Hwang Jeong-Hu wanted to see from Kang Jin-Ho right now was the aspect of a successful businessman, not a saintly human being.

“Listen, Jin-Ho.”

“Yes, Chairman?”

“Don’t think of running a business as an insurmountable mountain.”

“Mm?” Kang Jin-Ho tilted his head in confusion. “I don’t understand.”

“You look like you have a lot on your mind, so let me give you a tip. Actually, this tip is more like my secret sauce to success, so I don’t usually tell people about it, but…”

Hwang Jeong-Hu sneakily sat forward. Since the Chairman had never tried to build anticipation like this during their interactions until now, Kang Jin-Ho also leaned forward in curiosity.

“Jin-Ho, do you know how I managed to grow Jaegyeong to what it is today?”

“...No, I don’t.”

“Everyone seems to be curious about it. People think I have some kinda secret knowledge. Or they think I’m the greatest businessman in history or something. But the truth is nothing like that. There was only one reason for my success with Jaegyeong. And that is…” Hwang Jeong-Hu smiled meaningfully. “...I thought of my employees as my family.”

This chapter is updated by freēwēbnovel.com.

“…?”

Feeling deflated, Kang Jin-Ho leaned back and stared at Hwang Jeong-Hu in dismay. He wasn’t listening to a public service announcement here, so why…

“So, you viewed them as your family. Is that why you weren’t paying attention to your actual family?”

“Oii, oii…” Hwang Jeong-Hu cackled while waving his hand away. “Every fool who begged me to tell them the secret all reacted like you when I told them the truth. In that case, what's the point of telling them? When no one's willing to listen?”

“It’s not that I’m unwilling to listen, but…” Kang Jin-Ho groaned again. “I'll do as you say and treat my workers like my family.”

“Gimme a break…” Hwang Jeong-Hu threw his hands up in the air in unhappiness. “If people don’t get it at this point, I usually stop explaining things and drop the subject altogether. For you, though? I’ll make an exception, so you better listen up, okay?”

“I am listening,” said Kang Jin-Ho. His reply indicated he wasn’t expecting much.

However, what Hwang Jeong-Hu said next was not the cliched boomer talk Kang Jin-Ho was thinking of.

“Fella, what do you think it means to treat your employees like your family?”

“Mm? Do right by them, of course. Like how I’d treat my family.”

“And that’s why you failed, Jin-Ho.”

Kang Jin-Ho blinked his eyes. “...Huh?”

“Let's say you have kids. Their skill levels are rubbish, so they get sidelined in the competition against their peers. After seeing that, though, you still treated them nicely. However, do you think you did the right thing?”

“…” Kang Jin-Ho frowned slightly. He realized that wouldn’t be it.

“Tell me, Jin-Ho. What about your family? What do you think? Don’t you want your family to do well in life?”

“Yes, I do.”

To be more precise, Kang Jin-Ho wanted his family members to fulfill their dreams and be happy throughout their lives. Wasn't that why he went out of his way to support Kang Eun-Yeong's career as an idol?

“But now, you were thinking of raising wages and welfare standards of your employees after being told to treat them like your family. Is that how families treat each other in South Korea? If my kid can’t do anything, I just hand over the keys to a building I bought with my own money and forget about them? Is that it?

“No, of course not. That’s not how families operate. If my kid sucks at something, I’m gonna send him to schools and tutoring and whatnot. And I’m gonna make damn sure my kid will grow up to be someone even better than me. That’s what families do.”

Kang Jin-Ho’s eyes widened in shock. This was something he had never considered before.

“So, just like that! Make sure each and every employee is motivated to do a good job, grows their skill levels, and becomes happy in life. That's when the company will become successful, Jin-Ho. That's the only natural outcome, you see? With happy people like that working for you, how can your company not do well? That's what I've been trying to say.”

“…!”

“Whenever I say people should treat their employees like family… They all misunderstand it as ‘Business owners should be kind to their employees’ instead. What a bunch of idiots.

“Kind fathers can certainly be good fathers. But good fathers aren't always kind, Jin-Ho. Sometimes, a strict father capable of giving you hope for a brighter future can be a far better parent than someone who only knows how to be kind. Do you understand what I'm trying to say to you?”

Kang Jin-Ho slowly nodded. This time, he fully understood it. “Yes. Treat my employees like my family.”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“So that they can be even better than before.”

“Yes! You finally… Mm?”

“Like family…!”

“…?” Hwang Jeong-Hu narrowed his eyes as uncertainty washed over him. That was because Kang Jin-Ho was muttering to himself like a man bewitched by something. At the same time, Kang Jin-Ho’s expression was progressively getting graver and graver.

No, rather than ‘graver’, maybe it was closer to ominous…?

‘Why does it feel like I’ve made a mistake just now…?’

Hwang Jeong-Hu's instincts as a businessman were whispering to him that something had gone terribly wrong here.

Kang Jin-Ho snapped out of his thoughts and stared at Hwang Jeong-Hu. “Chairman?”

“Y-yeah?”

“Thank you. I've learned something valuable from you again.”

“H-hang on. You don’t look like you’ve learned something, though…?”

“I'll have to think some more about this. It seems I was deeply wrong about this matter."

Hwang Jeong-Hu blinked his eyes furiously. “H-hold on, Jin-Ho! I changed my mind. I don’t think you were…”

“I have a lot on my mind at the moment. For now, please give me time to organize my thoughts. Then, I’ll speak to you later.”

“W-wait, Jin-Ho!”

Kang Jin-Ho shot up to his feet and unhesitantly rushed out of the office. All Hwang Jeong-Hu could do was dazedly stare at the wide-open doorway. And then, his subtly trembling hand picked up a fresh cigarette.

“Oii, oii. I’m sure something has gone wrong here, but…”

As it turned out, even the one and only Hwang Jeong-Hu made mistakes. Unfortunately, he wasn’t the only person who would have to deal with the consequences of his mistake this time!