Descent of the Demon Master

a dummy.
However, such a guy was willing to exhaust himself by chatting and taking selfies with countless people to the point of collapse to ensure his store’s success.

”Some people will always be slackers no matter how important the job is, but some other people will give a hundred and ten percent into jobs that don ’t need such passion in the first place… ” Ju Yeong-Gi muttered.

“Eh? What are you talking about?”

“I ’m talking about that.” Ju Yeong-Gi pointed at Kang Jin-Ho, prompting a nod of understanding from Park Yu-Min.

Park Yu-Min also knew that this pizzeria didn ’t hold much meaning to Kang Jin-Ho.
Even then, Kang Jin-Ho still worked himself to death like this every day.
It seemed some people in this world just didn ’t know the concept of taking it easy.

“By the way…
Just how long do we have to deal with the insane waves of customers?” Ju Yeong-Gi cautiously asked.

Park Yu-Min tilted his head.
“What ’s wrong? Are you finally sick of serving too many customers?”

“Hey! A store that complains about having too many customers deserves to go bankrupt, you know! I ’m not worried about too many customers here, dude.
No, I ’m just scared that all these people might suddenly stop showing up one day.
After listening to Miss Choi Yeon-Ha the other day, I finally know that we should ’ve gone under a loooong time ago. ”

Park Yu-Min shrugged his shoulders.
“Well, I don ’t think you ’ll have to worry about that for a while.”

“Eh? How come?”

“The TV station has been rebroadcasting the first episode like crazy, you see.”

’

“…”

“Right now, kids at the orphanage are scrambling for a spot to work here.
The fighting has gotten real nasty, you know? I had no idea they were so passionate about working part-time until now.”

Ju Yeong-Gi blinked his eyes in surprise.
However, he suddenly remembered that all the kids waiting tables today happened to be girls.

Park Yu-Min continued.
”Those kids have been around Jin-Ho since they were snotty brats, but they still behave like that around him even now.
I guess the power of media is really something else, huh? Don ’t you think it ’s funny? They know what he ’s like, but one appearance in a TV show is enough to put pink hearts in their eyes. ”

”…Funny, my ass. ” Ju Yeong-Gi shook his head helplessly.
”Okay, so….
You ’re saying that we ’ll be dealing with this scale of customers for the foreseeable future.
Is that it? ”

”Well, I guess the number might decrease.
I mean, Jin-Ho said he has no plans to appear again in the show, didn ’t he? At least, the number won ’t go up as long as he doesn ’t act again on screen.
It ’ll probably decrease gradually. ”

”Hmm… ” Ju Yeong-Gi rubbed his chin.
”In that case, we should hire a pasta specialist before all the customers disappear to normalize our operation somewhat. ”

Park Yu-Min nodded.
“I agree.
Should I put up a job ad right away?”

“Nah. For now, let it be.”

“Mm? Why?”

Ju Yeong-Gi frowned as if he was surprised by Park Yu-Min ’s thoughtlessness.
“Dude.
Look at our current table turnaround time, then imagine adding pasta on top of that.
The turnaround time will fall by at least half.
Even if you bring in the number one chef from Italy, they won ’t be able to keep up with Jin-Ho ’s baking speed.”

“I didn ’t know the number one chef position was decided on how fast you can make pasta, but in any case, I get what you ’re saying.”

Ju Yeong-Gi nodded sagely, then walked over to where Kang Jin-Ho was to grab his friend ’s shoulder and shake him around.
“Hey, dude! Wake up!”

“Mm…?”

“It ’s time to go home, dude.”

“…Mm.” Kang Jin-Ho got up with a slack-jawed look.

Ju Yeong-Gi chuckled hollowly at this sight.
His friend, Kang Jin-Ho, was capable of wrecking the instructors during the guerrilla training.
He even broke the ice to get enough water for a cold shower during the cold weather training, too.
He didn ’t even blink once during the hellish training regime of the Korean military, and people eventually started wondering if he was a cyborg…
But that Kang Jin-Ho was sagging on these chairs like a limp blanket after taking a few measly selfies!

Ju Yeong-Gi chuckled weakly.
“Hah, I guess you’re human after all, eh?”

“Mm?” Kang Jin-Ho looked up.

“Nah, it ’s nothing.
Anyway, get up already, will ya?” Ju Yeong-Gi shook his head.
Kang Jin-Ho managed to stand up, but he still looked half-asleep.
Ju Yeong-Gi patted his friend on the back to wake the latter up.
“Let ’s go home for the day, dude.”

“…What about the preparations for tomorrow?”

“It ’s already done.”

’

“Mm…” Kang Jin-Ho staggered on his feet.

Park Yu-Min chuckled and pointed to the staff room.
“Jin-Ho, you should at least change your clothes first.”

“Mm…” Kang Jin-Ho groaned and nodded.

Park Yu-Min pushed Kang Jin-Ho inside the staff room, then turned the lights off the pizzeria and finished tidying up.

’Mm? It ’s already this late in the year? ’

After opening the store, Park Yu-Min and Co.
had to work crazy hard until now.
And that made him forget how many days it had been since they started.
Now that he could take a breather, he realized it had been almost a month since the pizzeria had opened its doors.
Pretty soon, another winter would come around, and then…
it would be a new year.

’Jin-Ho will need to go back to class by then… ’

Even if this pizzeria started off as a project—a contract—between Kang Jin-Ho and Jaegyeong, Park Yu-Min had a sneaking suspicion that Kang Jin-Ho wouldn ’t let go of this place even after going back to university next year.
Park Yu-Min made that guess based on how much passion and energy Kang Jin-Ho was pouring into this place.

“I ’m sure he ’ll do what he thinks is the best…” Park Yu-Min muttered before quietly chuckling away.

He had faith in his friend.
Whether Kang Jin-Ho wanted to keep this store going or not, he would surely do what was best for himself.
Just like what he had been doing all along, as observed by Park Yu-Min.

***

Kang Jin-Ho shook his head while walking on the deserted street.

’I ’m still tired… ’

His fatigue didn ’t want to go away.
If this were him back in Zhongyuan, Kang Jin-Ho wouldn ’t have been this tired after going on a rampage once.
Unfortunately, the current Kang Jin-Ho wasn ’t Heavenly Crimson Demon Emperor anymore.

Something didn ’t feel right, though.
This fatigue seemed far too intense to be something caused by the backlash of his actions.

’Right.
This can ’t be because I used up some of my strength. ’

If that wasn ’t it, Kang Jin-Ho ’s mind could be under strain after causing that massacre, which was something he hadn ’t done in such a long time.

It seemed weird, but at the same time, also unsurprising.
Heavenly Crimson Demon Emperor wouldn ’t get tired of ’work ’ on that level, but Kang Jin-Ho? Not experiencing some kind of shock would be a weirder outcome instead.
Both of them were Kang Jin-Ho, but sometimes, it felt like two different personalities were sharing one body.

Kang Jin-Ho rubbed his face a few times, then raised his head.
Then, he discovered something.
Something—a man was watching him from afar.

The man in a sharp business suit sported a well-trimmed crew-cut hairstyle.
His physique was well-built enough for him to pass off as a gangster, but the elegance oozing off from his demeanor prevented such a first impression.

When their eyes met, the man smiled affably and approached Kang Jin-Ho.
His intentions of not wanting to annoy Kang Jin-Ho were evident from his slow, measured steps.

The man eventually got to where Kang Jin-Ho was located, pulled up his sleeve ever so slightly, then extended his hand for a shake.
While maintaining this posture, he raised his head a little and stared straight into Kang Jin-Ho ’s eyes.

“It ’s an honor to make your acquaintance, sir.
I ’m Bang Jin-Hun.”

A smile bloomed on Kang Jin-Ho ’s lips.