Descent of the Demon Master

r>Make sure that people will talk about how talented Se-Ah is as an actress, as well as how hands-on and cooperative she is during film shoots.
Get my drift?”

“Yes, sir.
I ’ll definitely engrave it into my heart.”

“Oh, and one more thing…” Yi Jin-Gun hesitated slightly, then bit his lower lip in determination.
“Get a rumor mill going on the set.
It should be about how Kang Jin-Ho starred in this drama because of his litter sister, Kang Se-Ah.
So, make people think that if you hire Kang Se-Ah, her oppa might come along for the ride, too.
We need to surf this wave for as long and as much as possible.”

A quick look at tinyurl.com/2p9emv8w will leave you more fulfilled.

“Understood, sir.”

“Okay.
You can leave now.”

After exiting the president ’s office, Min So-Yeong couldn ’t help herself as she kept looking back at the office’s doorway.
The look on her face still showed her confusion.

’Why is he acting that way, I wonder? ’

No one could say it openly, but President Yi Jin-Gun was like a Doberman who would never let go once he had bitten something.
Such a description wouldn ’t usually be used in a positive way, but Min So-Yeong believed that such a venomous, tenacious drive was necessary to win in the tumultuous and deadly entertainment industry.

But now, such a Doberman was lowering his tail before backing off? It wasn ’t as if he had already bitten into his target before letting go, either.
This had to be… This had to be a first for Yi Jin-Gun.

’In that case…
Maybe that story was true all along? ’

The story of Jaegyeong backing Kang Eun-Yeong was an open secret among those who worked with her.
Code hadn ’t officially acknowledged the link, but those who knew already knew.

Didn ’t the Chief Secretary of Jaegyeong suddenly show up one day in the agency and become a non-executive director? Even a blind would be able to see that something was up after seeing that Chief Secretary only looked after Kang Eun-Yeong and no one else.

However, Kang Eun-Yeong had apparently denied that fact to the managers closest to her.
She even openly stated that Jaegyeong wasn ’t on friendly terms with her but with someone else.

When Min So-Yeong heard that, she figured that girl was just trying to be polite or play the part of a fool.
Now that the situation had ended this way, though, maybe Kang Eun-Yeong wasn ’t completely lying about her circumstances.

Although it was true that Jaegyeong was supporting her from behind the scenes, Kang Eun-Yeong was not tied to that corporation.
In other words, someone closely related should be the one with ties to Jaegyeong.

Assuming that Kang Jin-Ho wielded a major influence within Jaegyeong ’s corridors, and the corporation decided to support Kang Eun-Yeong to appease him, then—everything would fall into place.

’

If Kang Jin-Ho was a fish big enough to have Jaegyeong at his beck and call, then Yi Jin-Gun ’s behavior from earlier would make sense.

There was still one unresolved question in that assumption, however…

’…If that ’s true, just what kind of relationship does Kang Jin-Ho have with Jaegyeong? ’

Min So-Yeong sighed under her breath.
She could tell that her thoughts were a waste of time.
The important thing to focus on was that Kang Eun-Yeong ’s TV show was receiving an unprecedented amount of attention all thanks to Kang Jin-Ho. Oh, and Code ’s PR team was getting crushed by the weight of all the inquiries coming in.

“No one will believe us even if we tell them the truth about Kang Jin-Ho not wanting to make his acting debut, right?”

Just like that, Kang Jin-Ho unwittingly created one more victim from his actions.

***

A brightly-smiling Jo Gyu-Min watched as Kang Jin-Ho opened the passenger-side door and climbed inside his car.
“Kuh-uh~! The global superstar has deigned to enter my car!”

Kang Jin-Ho retorted, unimpressed.
“…You want me to get out?”

“Eiii, of course not.” Jo Gyu-Min guffawed again.

Kang Jin-Ho groaned loudly at that mischievous laughter.

Jo Gyu-Min continued, “Did you see how much hullabaloo you ’ve raised in all the search engines lately, Mister Jin-Ho?”

“I have to say, I ’m surprised,” Kang Jin-Ho replied flatly.

“Everyone ’s raising one hell of a fuss about how handsome you are, Mister Jin-Ho.
Even though I have been sticking to your side all these years, I didn ’t think you were that good-looking, you know? But when you showed up on the screen with makeup and everything, even my heart started to pound…”

“I ’m getting out…”

“It ’s just a joke!” Jo Gyu-Min cackled while depressing the accelerator.
“Still, isn ’t this amusing? Opportunities to become the center of attention like that don ’t happen every day, Mister Jin-Ho.
Only the politicians capable of upending our country or the stars at the highest echelons of popularity can garner such an amount of interest as you have.”

“I ’d like to decline such opportunities, thank you.”

“Hmm.
You definitely had a ton of customers in the pizzeria today, yes?”

“…How did you guess?”

“It ’s pretty obvious, you know.
The store ’s address has been widely shared on social media sites, after all.
Even if they are not your fans, people would still want to come to your store at least once now that you ’ve become the hottest topic in town.”

Kang Jin-Ho silently nodded in agreement.
He understood why some people would act that way since this was the era of judging food not by how it tasted but by how it looked.
People accepted a restaurant being famous for being famous these days, so he shouldn ’t be too surprised by people having that kind of mindset.

’

He glanced at the road ahead and asked Jo Gyu-Min, “Anyway.
Where are we going?”

“We ’re heading to Jaegyeong ’s head office.”

Kang Jin-Ho cocked an eyebrow.
“May I ask why?”

“Didn ’t I say your items have arrived? And we also have other matters to discuss, so…
Well, you ’ll see once we get there.”

“Hmm…” Kang Jin-Ho frowned a little while glancing at the other cars on the road brushing past his side.

’My items… ’

Soon, the duo arrived at Jaegyeong ’s headquarters and headed to the chairman-only elevator directly connected to the top floor.
While Kang Jin-Ho waited for the elevator to arrive, people walking past kept stealing glances at his face.

’Had they seen that TV show as well? ’

Kang Jin-Ho suddenly realized that he should check out the TV show and see for himself just what kind of a scene did they see that everyone raised such a huge fuss about it.

Jo Gyu-Min noticed the concerned look on Kang Jin-Ho and quickly said, “Please calm down, Mister Jin-Ho.
They are simply trying to see who ’s about to ride in the chairman ’s elevator, that ’s all.
Even I can ’t get on this elevator by myself, you know.”

“Couldn ’t we just take a normal elevator?”

“Why didn ’t you say that earlier? Look, our elevator is already here.”

Kang Jin-Ho sighed under his breath and got in the elevator.
Why did it feel like Jo Gyu-Min was having so much fun teasing Kang Jin-Ho lately?

The duo arrived at the top floor and headed to the secretary ’s office.
Jo Gyu-Min asked Kang Jin-Ho to wait for a little while, so the latter found a spot on the couch to settle down.

As promised, Jo Gyu-Min showed up a short while later.
He was pushing a large box toward the waiting Kang Jin-Ho while grunting loudly.
“Haaa, haaa…
Here they are.”

Kang Jin-Ho wordlessly opened the box.
He didn ’t even need to ask what was inside since he could hear the constant buzzing coming from the box for some time now.

Creeaaak…

The lid issued an aged creak distinct to wooden boxes to reveal its contents.
Kang Jin-Ho ignored the densely-packed straw and instead reached inside to pick up two swords resting in the middle.

Azuremourne and Crimson Destiny…!

The two swords that shared his fate had crossed the Yellow Sea to finally return to Kang Jin-Ho ’s hands.