Chapter 1259. Mediating (4)

Vrooooooom!

The engine roaring into life sounded not only refreshing, but even visceral. While sensing the vibration of the vehicle, Kang Jin-Ho sat in the driver’s seat and stared outside the window.

‘Riding a bicycle is nice, though...’

Back when he wrecked his Zoom-Zoom, he could have gotten a new bicycle but didn’t. A bicycle that could withstand his leg strength had to be custom-made for him specifically, but with his current financial wherewithal, building one would’ve been easy.

But Kang Jin-Ho still didn’t do that. All because he had gotten too used to driving a car.

Even so, sometimes he’d feel this desire to be one with the moving object by pedaling it himself, rather than entrusting his forward movement to an engine.

While thinking about getting a new bicycle during early spring, Kang Jin-Ho gently depressed the accelerator.

Rumble, vroom!

The low-sung sleek sports car glided on the road.

When Kang Jin-Ho thought about it, he realized how strange he was.

Despite being born in the modern era, Kang Jin-Ho spent most of his combined lives in the ancient past. Perhaps that was why he still had this vague unwillingness toward modern culture and scientific advancements. Even then, look at him, using his car to travel to most places and even commuting to work!

Wasn’t he splendidly fulfilling his role as a man living in the modern era?

Looking at himself made Kang Jin-Ho gain a renewed appreciation on how adaptable humans actually were.

Still, there was one thing that he could never get used to.

Kang Jin-Ho powerlessly leaned against the driver’s seat at the sight of a jam-packed road ahead.

‘I will never get used to a traffic jam.’

Of course, he tried. But getting used to Seoul’s insane traffic jams was even beyond his capabilities. Whenever Kang Jin-Ho found himself in the middle of a sea of unmoving cars, he had to work extra hard to suppress the urge to park the car somewhere and run to his destination instead.

‘After all, that’s faster for me.’

Even if the roads had been empty, Kang Jin-Ho running at full speed would still have arrived faster than a car, so there was no point in thinking about the outcome in a traffic jam.

However, he had to endure it. This city was jam-packed with countless CCTV cameras and even more pairs of eyes, after all!

This was what it meant for a martial artist to live in the modern era. No matter how diligent the Martial Assembly’s monitoring was, it was still impossible to block every person’s eyes and ears. And there was a limit to how much CCTV footage they could erase, too.

As such, martial artists had to tread carefully wherever they went.

‘It’s weird that we’re not dealing with more incidents, all things considered.’

Kang Jin-Ho chuckled softly.

Even the so-called noble orthodox faction people couldn’t suppress their hot-bloodedness and caused scenes every now and then. That was why it should be easy enough to imagine how much worse it’d be with demonic cultivators.

Back then, the demon cult’s main role wasn’t to defend its territory from the orthodox faction bastards, but tracking down demonic cultivators that had gone berserk, beating them up, pacifying them, arresting them and throwing them in prison!

There was a good reason the first thing the demon cult did after growing prosperous was invade Zhongyuan.

One might ask, wasn’t it to acquire the fertile lands of Zhongyuan? Of course, but that was more like a secondary issue.

No, the truth was that the increase in the demon cult’s strength meant the number of powerful demonic cultivators would also increase. If left alone, those idiots would eventually fail to rein in their own hot-bloodedness and start deadly fights with each other.

Rather than letting such a thing happen, it was far better to create some nonsensical pretext and start a war of attrition with the bastards in Zhongyuan.

...Which made the people of Zhongyuan lose their minds in anger, but still!

From their perspective, it must’ve looked like an ocean of bloodthirsty lunatics invading their land without any sound justification, fighting and killing like wild beasts before withdrawing suddenly once their numbers had been reduced somewhat! All the while saying they would be back one day!

No wonder the people of Zhongyuan were more terrified of the demon cult than a plague and continuously cursed the demonic cultivators.

Kang Jin-Ho had largely escaped from the urges induced by demonic qi, yet something like a traffic jam could irritate him to this degree. In that case, just how much dissatisfaction and how many urges to fight did the demonic cultivators suppress every day?

‘Looks like that will also need some kind of solution soon.’

Kang Jin-Ho’s expression grew grave, but a smirk soon floated up on his lips.

‘Looks like I’m beginning to connect random things with the Assembly now.’

Running into an angry dog made him think about the Assembly’s management. And looking at this traffic jam made him think about solutions regarding the demonic cultivators.

It seemed everything in the world made Kang Jin-Ho think about the Assembly in some way these days. Before he had noticed it, the Martial Assembly had become one of the most important things in his life.

The lights changed, and the road finally opened up. Kang Jin-Ho depressed the accelerator, prompting his car to dash toward the horizon.

***

“Good morning, Chairman!”

“Good day to you, sir!”

Kang Jin-Ho headed to the elevator as other workers greeted him. Although the workplace was different, the people filling it up were still the same bunch, so the greetings he received here in MK were about the same as when commuting to the Assembly.

Of course, there were some differences, such as the building being much more modern, and fewer rough-looking guys loitering around the entrance.

Some people here were still rough-looking, but compared to what could be found in the Assembly? These folks were fashion models in comparison!

When Kang Jin-Ho walked toward the elevator, a security guard nearby jumped up in alarm and rushed toward him. “Chairman, sir! Don’t use those elevators. Allow me to guide you!”

Kang Jin-Ho tilted his head. “

Mm

?”

“Executives-only elevators are located over here, sir.”

“...Executives only?”

“Yes, sir! Please, this way!”

The security guard took the lead, and Kang Jin-Ho wordlessly followed him. They reached the elevator at the far end, and that was when Kang Jin-Ho noticed a card reader by the elevator’s buttons.

“Sir! Please place your employee card here. The elevator’s door will open afterward.”

“This... Has this been here all this time?”

“No, sir. Chief Lee ordered us to set up an executives-only elevator.”

Kang Jin-Ho sighed under his breath.

‘Still doing things I didn’t ask for, huh.’

It wasn’t as if he couldn’t understand Lee Hyeon-Su’s mindset. But this was not how Kang Jin-Ho did things.

He glanced at the security guard. “Tell your supervisor to get rid of this card reader. And convert this elevator back so that everyone can use it.”

“Sir? But... Chief Lee said the executives need an exclusive elevator since they deal with many urgent situations...”

“Urgent situations, you say?”

“Yes, sir.”

“That would’ve been true had we been an ordinary company.”

The security guard blinked his eyes in confusion. “I’m sorry?”

Kang Jin-Ho casually pointed at the entrance to the stairwell with a flick of his chin. “But we’re not an ordinary company, now are we? If there’s an emergency, tell the executives to use the stairs. That should be faster than an elevator, anyway.”

The security guard dazedly nodded.

However, Kang Jin-Ho was right. No matter how fast the elevator was, it couldn’t have been faster than a martial artist running up or down the stairs. Doing so might get tiring, but still.

“Being our company’s executives means you should be faster than an elevator,” said Kang Jin-Ho.

“Sir, that’s a bit... harsh for a qualification, isn’t it?”

A workplace culture somewhat different from others seemed to be developing in this company.

“Also...” Kang Jin-Ho glanced at other elevators. “Do we really need an exclusive elevator?”

“...”

The security guard smiled awkwardly. The truth was that a higher number of employees preferred to use the stairs instead of the elevators.

“Well, we’re the type to get restless if we don’t get to move around, so...”

“Right, that’s true...”

“Speaking of which, quite a few people are having a tough time because the company doesn’t have a dedicated training area, sir.”

“

Mm

?”

Kang Jin-Ho tilted his head at that unexpected revelation.

“Folks still train whenever they have some free time, you see?” The security guard chuckled sheepishly. “They couldn’t give up on this path and that’s how they ended up here as office workers, sir. But there isn’t anywhere to train on the company premises.”

Kang Jin-Ho scratched his cheek. He didn’t even realize there was a problem like this.

“So, how are they dealing with this issue?”

“From what I hear, they got themselves gym memberships and work out a sweat there, but... Well, uh... What can I say, sir? The personal trainers haven’t done anything wrong to deserve them.”

“Yes, that’s true.”

Even Kang Jin-Ho’s heart ached a little at the thought of personal trainers being forced to accept martial artists as members of their gyms. Imagine a situation where the martial artists were casually picking up an inconceivable amount of weight in unusual postures.

The personal trainers couldn’t even point out the bad postures, since the martial artists would be carrying more weight than they could ever pick up. But leaving them alone was also out of the question, since doing so would set a bad example for the rest of the gym users.

That wouldn’t be all, either.

At the end of the day, these people were still martial artists, even if their job title now was ‘office worker’. Folks like that could run for dozens of minutes at full steam on a treadmill, caked in sweat from head to toe, and still not have their fill.

What could personal trainers say to people capable of running half-marathon distances at world record times?

Kang Jin-Ho curiously asked, “No one has signed up for private fitness sessions, right?”

“I hope not, sir. If they have any conscience, they shouldn’t have.”

“...Right.”

Kang Jin-Ho swore to build a training area for MK’s employees as soon as possible. He glanced at the security guard. “Don’t hesitate to tell me about issues like this in the future.”

The security guard sheepishly looked away. “But sir, I’m a nobody, and...”

“Do me that favor.”

The look on the security guard’s face changed when Kang Jin-Ho said ‘favor’.

“Don’t worry, sir! You can leave it to me! I’ll make sure to catch all the complaints of employees and report back to you!”

N-no... It’s fine even if you don’t zealously devote yourself to it...

Kang Jin-Ho decided to say nothing, since it seemed a bit rude to reveal what he really thought.

“Well, then. Later.”

Kang Jin-Ho got inside the elevator and smiled wryly at the security guard saluting him.

‘Someone’s found their calling in an unexpected place, huh.’

Judging from how satisfied that security guard looked, it seemed MK’s security was in good hands. Now that he had navigated through that mini-event, Kang Jin-Ho should stop by at the office, and...

Ding!

The elevator suddenly stopped. Kang Jin-Ho narrowed his eyes. Even though he ordered this elevator to be converted from executives only to something everyone could use, that happened only a minute ago. In other words, only the executives could stop this elevator right now.

But the executives currently in this building were...

The elevator door slid open, revealing the figure of a

very

familiar woman.

“Goodness me? You’re early today, Mister Chairman?”

“...”

Choi Yeon-Ha smiled brightly while striding inside the elevator.

Kang Jin-Ho grimaced ever so slightly. “I was going up, though...?”

“Oh, what a coincidence! So am I.”

She was going up? Kang Jin-Ho reflexively looked at the current floor as displayed on the elevator’s panel. From here on, the higher floor would be the top floor. Which was where...

“I had something important to discuss with you, you see?” Choi Yeon-Ha continued to smile radiantly. “Actually, I wanted to speak to you several times in the past, but you were never in the office.”

𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

“...!”

Cold sweat began caking Kang Jin-Ho’s forehead.

“Isn’t that so weird? A chairperson is supposed to be the owner of their company, but... But our company doesn’t seem to have an owner. Don’t you think it’s weird?”

“...”

“I was enticed into joining this company, but when I did, the chairman suddenly went totally radio-silent, saying there’s something he’s gotta take care of. When he did reappear, though, he didn’t even come back to work for some unknown reason! Isn’t this such a funny place to work for? Don’t you think so?”

Of course Kang Jin-Ho had never enticed anyone. But he wasn’t brave enough to point that out.

“Chairman Kang.”

Also, that title felt insanely awkward to Kang Jin-Ho’s ears right now.

“You can just call me Mister Ji...”

“Of course not!” Choi Yeon-Ha yelled, her gaze getting sharper. “The right thing to do when in the company’s corridors is to use one’s ranks. As such, it’s not Choi Yeon-Ha but Director Choi trying to speak to you, Chairman! Do you understand what I’m saying?”

Of course Kang Jin-Ho understood. He did, but...

‘In that case, you shouldn’t be shouting at me like this, right?’

Why did it feel like she did whatever was convenient for her?

“We have so many things requiring your approval, you know! How can we get any work done when you’re not in your office!”

Kang Jin-Ho sheepishly replied, “I thought I gave you the authorization to decide on most matters...?”

“Chairman?”

“...”

“Did you give me the authorization because you had faith in my decision-making ability? Or simply because you didn’t want to be bothered?”

“Of course I had faith in you.”

“Is that so?” Choi Yeon-Ha smiled brightly again. “Unfortunately, I feel it’s disrespectful of me to decide on certain matters without reporting to you first, Chairman. As such, I’ll make sure to report on everything I do from now on.”

“...”

“You know, with how busy my boyfriend is, I might even forget what he looks like before long unless I do this. So, give me a call first if you’re planning to drop by at your office. So that at least I can come over and give you reports and stuff.”

“

Oh

...”

“But don’t you dare decrease the number of days you commute here because you want to avoid doing that, okay? Because I’m gonna barge into your house instead.”

Kang Jin-Ho wordlessly stared at the elevator doors. Why was this damn elevator moving so slowly today?

“Well, then! Shall we get our refreshing morning started with a meeting?”

The elevator doors finally slid open, and Choi Yeon-Ha energetically headed to the chairman’s office. As for Kang Jin-Ho, he lifelessly followed her like a cow being dragged into an abattoir.

“Hurry, Chairman!”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Kang Jin-Ho had to ponder seriously just what the chairman’s position meant in this company.