Descent of the Demon Master

he employee ’s jaw fell to the floor as if he had run into a spooky ghost.
He urgently alternated his gaze between the toy and Kang Jin-Ho ’s face, then asked one more time.
“D-d-dear customer, how m-many did you say you ’d like to buy, sir? I think I might have misheard you just now, so may I clarify it one more time? Did you say thirty?”

“Yes…”

“P-please hold on for me! Store manager! Manaaaager!”

The store manager was stock-taking in the store ’s warehouse when the employee burst through the door and called out to him.
The manager frowned deeply and yelled back, “What ’s the matter now, you idiot! What ’s with all this fuss?!”

“A-a-a customer is asking if we can deliver the stuff he wants to buy, sir! D-do we have a spare truck?! A car? Anything?!”

The manager furrowed his brow.
“What the heck? How many does he want to buy that we need to deliver?”

The employee sucked in a deep breath first.
“Sir, he wants to buy…
thirty of the Destiny full set!”

“Say what? How many?!”

“Thirty!”

The manager ’s eyes nearly bulged out of his head.
“T-thirty of a 950 grand product?!”

“Yes, manager!”

The manager finished calculating at the speed of light, then quickly grabbed the back of the employee ’s neck and yelled at the top of his lungs.
“Lead the way, now! Let me speak to the customer!”

***

’

“And I want thirty of this, too,” said Kang Jin-Ho while pointing at another toy.

“Dear customer, this is a doll playset for girls.”

“Yes, I can see that.
I ’m buying them for girls.”

“Understood.
We ’ll wrap them up immediately!” The manager resolutely nodded, then turned his head to look behind and silently mouthed.
“Stock!”

The employee following them from behind nodded and rushed at full power to the warehouse to see if they had enough stock in-house.

The whole store was in emergency mode at the moment.
This was understandable, considering that a whale had shown up on their doorstep to buy toys worth several hundreds of thousands of won each.
And thirty of them, too! Even though they weren ’t some exclusive store dealing in luxury brands…

This was like the advent of a God of Wealth.
And this divine entity was exceedingly fair and didn ’t seem to care whether he was buying for boys or girls.
He ordered thirty mechas for boys, then turned around to order thirty more girl ’s doll playsets, too.
He was so fair that even the price range for two different products roughly matched each other!

However, this was making the manager rather concerned.

’…This doesn ’t feel right. ’

That Destiny Mecha full set was not designed for children ’s usage.
Since it was meant for adults, it should only be left as a static display.
Unsurprisingly, it was not as sturdy as toys designed to be thrown around by young kids.

Selling them was all good and well, but the manager still felt a little guilty inside, wondering if it was correct to sell them in the first place.

’No.
It ’s my job to sell toys, and that ’s it. ’

It wasn ’t as if the store had forced the customer to choose that particular toy now, was it? The customer apparently had picked it out himself.
So, what could be the problem? No one would criticize him for choosing this path.
The…
’correct ’ thing to do in a situation like this would be to pretend they knew nothing and just sell their wares.

’…Uh-whew! Dang it! ’ 

The manager inwardly groaned, then addressed Kang Jin-Ho, “Excuse me, dear customer.”

“Yes?”

“I ’m guessing you ’re purchasing these toys for an institution with lots of children.
Am I correct? Such as a kindergarten?”

“Something like that, yes.”

‘I bloody knew it,’ the manager bitterly grinned.
“Sir, honestly speaking, the Destiny full set you ordered earlier is not suitable for children.
Kids tend to throw their toys around and crush them.
However, that product was designed to be highly detailed at the expense of being fragile.
It ’ll break in no time when subjected to rough handling by children.”

The manager stopped talking there and looked around before picking up another toy box.
“Here.
I recommend that you buy this one for your intended purpose, sir.
Children love this mecha series of toys, and its cost is much more considerate to your wallet, as well.
Most importantly, it ’s far sturdier.
I believe this product will be a better option in an environment with many children present, sir.”

Kang Jin-Ho tilted his head.
“Mm? How much is it?”

“This one costs two hundred thousand won, sir,” the manager replied honestly as regret began filling him up.
To think that one day, he would recommend a customer to switch a 950,000 won product to another one that cost only 200,000 won! If the head office sent someone to evaluate his performance, he would deserve a salary reduction.
He had practically lost twenty million won in revenue just now, after all!

However, his conscience didn ’t allow him to do this even if he would be labeled as an idiot by the higher-ups.
Even the other employees observing the situation from behind sighed weakly, but…
But the manager still felt better inside.

’Even if we ’re dealing with an immature kid from some wealthy family, we gotta do our job professionally and honestly. ’

’

His honesty was soon richly rewarded by Kang Jin-Ho.
“I see.
In that case, give me this one as well.”

“…Excuse me? When you say ’as well,’ do you mean…?”

“Yes.
I also want this one.
Thirty of them, of course.”

“Y-you aren ’t canceling the other product, sir?”

“I ’m not canceling anything,” Kang Jin-Ho nonchalantly replied.
“You said they ’ll break easily, so I should buy toys that don ’t.”

What a refreshingly simple line of thought that was.
That didn ’t mean ’normal ’ people would think that way, though!

“Mm, buying two different toys for boys is a bit unfair, so…” Kang Jin-Ho rubbed his chin and began browsing the girls ’ toys section next.

After checking out Kang Jin-Ho ’s expression, the manager beckoned at one of the waiting employees.
“…Hey, Jong-Su?”

“Yes, manager?”

“Stick to us like glue!”

“Yes, manager!”

The two men made solemn faces of soldiers about to step into a hail of bullets to occupy the higher ground before following Kang Jin-Ho around the aisles.

***

That was how Kang Jin-Ho got to pick three different toy types for boys and another three for girls.
He stood in front of the counter while making a refreshed face.
For some reason, his initial plan of buying two different kinds ballooned into three, but that wasn ’t important at the end of the day.

However, the store manager was dealing with nasty heartburn after receiving the bad news that seemingly came out of nowhere.
“Excuse me, dear customer…?”

Kang Jin-Ho looked back at the manager.
“Yes?”

“It ’s regarding the Destiny full set you ordered earlier, sir.”

“Yes?”

“My sincerest apologies, but due to its high price tag, our store doesn ’t have many stocks of that particular product.
Our warehouse at the back only has fifteen in stock.
The other fifteen will only arrive after a week ’s delay, sir.
Will it be okay with only fifteen? We are also running short of stocks in other products you wish to purchase as well…” the manager asked while feeling dread creep into his heart.

However, Kang Jin-Ho ’s response still managed to betray the manager ’s expectations.
“That ’s fine.
Prepare the fifteen you have on you now.
As for the rest, please deliver them when you receive your stock later.”

“…W-will that be alright, sir?”

“Yes.
I ’m fine with it.
Besides…” Kang Jin-Ho shrugged his shoulders.
His next words left the manager ’s heart in a flutter.
“I was buying fifteen extra as spares, anyway.
When the kids inevitably break the first fifteen apart, I mean.”

Cold sweat began dripping down the manager ’s back.
After listening to Kang Jin-Ho, that one concept the manager often heard about but never really understood suddenly screamed loudly in his brain.

’Ah.
So, this is what throwing money around looks like, huh. ’

This moment was a huge epiphany for the manager.

1.
Around $665 at the time of TLing.
☜