Chapter 1281. Punishing (1)

Next morning.

The serious-faced Lee Hyeon-Su stood in the center of the conference room. Not only the Assembly’s executives, but even Lee Hyeon-Ju, who normally commuted to MK instead, were present.

The atmosphere within the conference room was calm, but also a little stiff.

Lee Hyeon-Su raised his head ever so slightly to gauge Kang Jin-Ho’s mood before starting his briefing. “Everyone, the draft of the Assembly’s rules has been finished. Please go over it. If you have any ideas you wish to add, we’ll amend the rules before announcing them to the rest of the Assembly.”

Wiggins stared at a certain

something

on the table. “Is that... the draft?”

“Yes, sir.”

Wiggins forgot what he wanted to say after taking in the sheer size of the thing, which must’ve been a booklet once upon a time! Or was it supposed to be an encyclopedia, instead?

The book’s thickness made Wiggins wonder if that was the biggest size a printing machine could pump out.

Even though all they asked for was a set of rules for the Assembly, Lee Hyeon-Su had basically returned with an entire system of constitutions and governing laws. Sure, he should be commended for working so diligently, but...

But a person should know how to do things in moderation, too!

Besides, him nonchalantly telling the others to

check

the contents of that huge thing? Wiggins was suddenly tempted to

check

the contents of Lee Hyeon-Su’s brain instead!

“So... How long do we have to read through that? Until next week?”

Lee Hyeon-Su replied

seriously

. “No, sir. Please read it here.”

“Here? As in, now?”

“Yes, sir.”

Wiggins smiled strangely. “How unfortunate this is. Although my grasp of the Korean language has improved tremendously in recent times, it’s still not quite good enough to understand the contents of such a specialized tome without assistance. Perhaps I can be excu...”

“Oops, my apologies,” said Lee Hyeon-Su, then pulled out two more

books

of similar thickness as the first one from his large bag. “I’ve also prepared an English version. We’re living in a global age, after all.”

“...”

“And this is a Mongolian version. I’ve also prepared the draft in Chinese, but I figured it’s not needed right now.”

Vator’s hands trembled almost imperceptibly as he accepted the draft. Both he and Wiggins were thinking roughly the same thing at that moment. Which was...

What the hell, this insane bastard?! Why couldn’t he do things in moderation!?

Everyone here should have known all about how Lee Hyeon-Su did things, but they had stupidly forgotten about it after not getting involved with him in the administrative affairs of the Assembly for a while.

However, the trio of massive books before their eyes freshly reminded them of who they were dealing with.

Bang Jin-Hun nervously gulped his saliva, then flipped open the book’s cover, only for his expression to crumple hideously.

“What the...?! Hey, man! Are you expecting us to read this with a magnifying glass or something?”

Lee Hyeon-Su shrugged. “Don’t be such a baby, sir. Any martial artist can read it just fine.”

“Seriously? Don’t you think it’s wrong to create a book that can only be read by martial artists in the first place?”

“No, because only martial artists will read it.”

Bang Jin-Hun facepalmed just then. Without a doubt, there was something deeply wrong with this fool! Even Lee Hyeon-Ju was shooting a deadly glare in Lee Hyeon-Su’s direction right now.

Eventually, though, everyone had no choice but to shift their gaze to one person capable of resolving this urgent crisis.

“...

Kuh-hum.

” Kang Jin-Ho covered his mouth and fake-coughed when the executives’ pleading gazes landed on him. “You want us to read this massive thing?”

“Oopsie!” Lee Hyeon-Su hurriedly pulled out something else from his bag.

Was that bag Dorae*on’s magic pocket or something? How could things keep popping out of there like this?

What he took out this time was a genuine booklet that was much, much slimmer than the previous three.

“Here. This is an abridged version for you, Assembly Master. Since it doesn’t contain any wordy explanations on the bylaws and provisions, it should be easy enough to skim through.”

Bang Jin-Hun immediately voiced his disapproval. “What the hell?! Hey, if you had the abridged version, why didn’t you give it to us, too?!”

Lee Hyeon-Su firmly shook his head. “No, sir. Executives must read through everything. You are in charge of your people, after all. But that’s not the case for the Assembly Master.”

“What? But, but! Y-yeah, he has Yi Myeong-Hwan and the rest of the Demon Flames, doesn’t he?!”

“

Oh

, them? I’m the one managing them, actually. Also, I’ve left a provision in our rules that the Assembly Master can choose to apply a different set of rules and punishments to his personal guards, which obviously includes Yi Myeong-Hwan.”

“What? Doesn’t that mean he can do whatever he wants?!”

“Yes, it does. Is there a problem with that, sir?”

“...!”

Of course there wouldn’t be a problem. Who would dare complain about Kang Jin-Ho doing whatever pleased him?

Simply by taking vaguely defined rules and turning them into something more concrete and promising to abide by them, Kang Jin-Ho had proven himself to be the most fair and democratic Assembly Master in the organization’s history.

Such a thing deserved a round of applause, of course. If one discounted the fact that before Kang Jin-Ho, there had been only two previous Assembly Masters, that was!

However, so what if that was all true? No one here had any justification to argue if Kang Jin-Ho suddenly ripped up the rule book and announced things would be run according to his whims, after all!

Besides, they didn’t have any thoughts of opposing him, anyway.

Kang Jin-Ho sneakily picked up the abridged rule book and opened it. The executives stared at him with eyes filled with half dissatisfaction and half pleading.

“...

Kuh-hum

.”

Kang Jin-Ho subtly raised the book and hid his face behind it.

The executives all cried out in their minds.

Traitor!

Why can’t you share that with us?!

How do you expect us to read this whole thing? Where are your morals?!

The executives urgently turned their glares at Lee Hyeon-Su, their boiling anger almost palpable on their expressions.

Lee Hyeon-Su tilted his head. “Is there a problem, everyone?”

“...”

Of course there wouldn’t be a problem. Again!

Since it was unfair to spit on the face of someone for working too hard and too well, none of the executives here could raise their voices despite there being a clear problem here.

“

Urgh

... Look, Chief Lee.”

“Yes, Mister Wiggins?”

Wiggins grimaced. “Yes, I can see that you’ve done... an admirable job here, but don’t you think expecting us to memorize something this hefty in one sitting is unreasonable? Let’s be honest here, shall we? We still won’t finish it even if we read it throughout the night...”

Lee Hyeon-Su firmly put his foot down. “Master. A set of rules is meant for everyone to uphold, is it not?”

“Yes, it... certainly is.”

“If we flip that notion around! If the ones enforcing the rules don’t even know what they are enforcing, they can’t catch and punish the rule breakers! Considering that the Assembly doesn’t have enough manpower to form a team of inspectors, the executives like us must have a full grasp of the organization’s rules.”

“Full grasp?” Wiggins dazedly stared at the hefty tome before pointing at it. “Even though you can probably use this as a weapon if you coat it with something?”

Bang Jin-Hun immediately offered his counterpoint. “No, Mister Wiggins. We can use this as a weapon without any coating whatsoever. If someone asks me to pick this or a knife to use as my weapon, Imma pick this book every single time. I mean, just look at how heavy it is! One hit from this thing, and you’ll be on your way to the afterlife in no time!”

Unfortunately for both men, Lee Hyeon-Su remained unmoving and adamant. “Sirs, whining like babies isn’t allowed!”

“Who’s whining like a baby here?!”

“Where’s your humanity, man! Come back to being human again!”

Many vocal criticisms targeted Lee Hyeon-Su, but his expression simply said,

Everything you say is entering through one ear and leaving through the other

. The executives gritted their teeth and glared at Lee Hyeon-Su even more.

“By the way...” Kang Jin-Ho, realizing that he had no choice, stepped in to mediate the situation. “You want to resume the meeting after we finish reading this? That’s unworkable, isn’t it? Since doing so means we’ll have to wait until nightfall, at least.”

Lee Hyeon-Su still didn’t yield an inch. “No, sir. These executives can definitely do it.”

“No, I can’t!” Bang Jin-Hun yelled unhappily. “Let me tell ya, I tried to teach arithmetic to my dumb nephew last week, only to make a total fool of myself, okay!”

“Please calm down, sir. That’s not something to boast about.”

“Why is stupid mathematics so difficult these days?! Things weren’t like that back in my day!”

“Sir, the moment you said back in my day, you’ve crossed a line you can never uncross.”

“I don’t care. I’m at that age where it doesn’t matter to me, anyway!”

Lee Hyeon-Su grinned bitterly. “As the Assembly Master alluded to earlier, we need to get on with the meeting, so allow me to provide you with abridged versions this time. However, promise me that you will all finish reading the full draft as soon as possible.”

“...Easier said than done, I tell ya.”

Bang Jin-Hun whined till the end, but the other executives urgently nodded away. Maybe they were being short-sighted, but not being forced to read this thing right now felt like salvation to them, so there was no helping it!

Lee Hyeon-Su rummaged through his

magic

bag and extracted several more abridged rule books. Their number matched the number of occupants in this room!

What the f*ck! This was his goal all along, wasn’t it?!

He had the abridged books, after all!

What a snake-like bastard!

Lee Hyeon-Su probably wanted the executives to promise that they would read the full set of rules. His scheme was obvious at this point, but none of the executives could criticize him. That was because they knew creating this set of rules was so much harder than trying to read it.

Wiggins groaned. “And people kept telling me that having too good of a subordinate can spectacularly backfire sometimes.”

Bang Jin-Hun shot Lee Hyeon-Su another glare. “Oii? You ain’t thinking of forcing the regular members to read this, right?”

“Of course not,” Lee Hyeon-Su chuckled wryly. “The government doesn’t force its citizens to memorize every law in the book, after all. That would be pointless.”

“Sure.”

“The plan is to distribute the simplified versions of the most important rules to our rank and file. If anyone wishes to know more, they can access the abridged version. As for those in charge of punishing the rule breakers, well... I’m sure you can already guess, sir.”

“

Urgh

...!”

Bang Jin-Hun roughly scratched his head. It was rather obvious that he’d be the one referring to this set of rules the most out of everyone here.

With eyes of a puppy searching pitifully for its owner, Bang Jin-Hun stared at Kang Jin-Ho. However, Kang Jin-Ho simply faked a cough and sneakily avoided Bang Jin-Hun’s pleading gaze.

Bang Jin-Hun didn’t give up, however. “Sir? Excuse me, Assembly Master?”

“

Kuh-Hum

.”

“...Sir? Hello? Please?”

“For now, let’s finish reading up on the draft. We’ll talk afterward.”

Kang Jin-Ho turned his head completely away. All Bang Jin-Hun could do now was pick up the abridged version of the rule book as the look of sorrow washed over him. He finally understood what it felt like to be a freedom fighter who heard the news of his country’s destruction.

Despite the label of

abridged

, this book was still substantial enough in its thickness to give most novels a run for their money. At least the printed words were large, making the chore of reading somewhat bearable.

The attendees of the meeting quickly skimmed through the rule book and began putting it down one by one. The last person to finish was Bang Jin-Hun. Once the cramped-face Bang Jin-Hun put his book down, Lee Hyeon-Su addressed the executives again.

“Have you noticed any parts that require amendments? Or any ideas for additional provisions?”

“

Hmm

...” Wiggins muttered while rubbing his beard. “This is well thought-out.”

“Thank you, sir.”

𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

“Discussing among ourselves like this is rather pointless, however. All rules and regulations can only be amended and refined while applying them in real-world situations.”

Bang Jin-Hun and Vator readily agreed.

“Yes, that’s true.”

“I guess so.”

Lee Hyeon-Su pouted slightly. “Sir? That suspiciously sounds like you don’t want to read properly and search for any errors? Because that’ll be too much work?”

“Of course not,” Wiggins tutted.

“Oii, Chief Lee, you seem to be on edge lately... How about going on a vacation to unwind or something?”

Lee Hyeon-Su chuckled helplessly before nodding away. Although he had asked the executives to read through the rules, they probably wouldn’t notice anything too egregious to point out.

Besides, Vator and Wiggins should find it a bit trickier to discuss these rules, anyway. Unlike Bang Jin-Hun, those two wouldn’t be well-versed in Korean culture and not feel confident enough to make suggestions according to their common sense.

That left Bang Jin-Hun as the only person who might say something, but...

Bang Jin-Hun cocked an eyebrow. “What? What are you looking at, brat?”

Anyone could see that his mood wasn’t at its best right now.

Lee Hyeon-Su glanced at Kang Jin-Ho next. “Assembly Master. What do you think?”

Kang Jin-Ho frowned. “It’s... good.”

“Have you read through it thoroughly, sir?”

“Well, it’s very good, but...”

Kang Jin-Ho waved his hand in defeat. He had to admit Lee Hyeon-Su had him on this one. However, before Lee Hyeon-Su could say something, Kang Jin-Ho cut him off.

“It’s all good and well to establish a set of rules like this. However, something this restrictive and overreaching will only serve as restraints choking the people it’s supposed to protect. Nobody will be able to live their lives while trying to stick to these rules.”

“...For sure, some provisions can be seen as a bit too much.”

“Don’t touch the part about crimes, but have a look at other parts. Try to make them a little less restrictive.”

“Understood, sir,” Lee Hyeon-Su nodded, his eyes gleaming sharply. “Sir, since you want us to leave the provisions regarding criminal activities as-is, we can now officially use those rules to punish the ones in captivity.”

Kang Jin-Ho’s brows quivered. “Yeah, that’s true.”

“What will you do, sir?”

“Before we start, let me confirm one more time. What is the punishment for those caught dealing in drugs?”

“That part of the provisions has been left blank, sir.”

“And why is that?”

Lee Hyeon-Su stood at attention. “That’s because I thought I shouldn’t be the one to decide that, sir!”

Kang Jin-Ho nodded in approval. Even someone as smart as Lee Hyeon-Su couldn’t unilaterally decide on something like that. Which meant it was now up to Kang Jin-Ho to decide.

“Then, all I have to do is decide on the punishments?”

“Yes, sir.”

Kang Jin-Ho nodded again. “Good. No need to drag this out, then. Director Bang.”

Bang Jin-Hun sat up. “Yes, sir!”

“Get things ready. We’ll wrap this matter up right away.”

“Understood!” Bang Jin-Hun’s eyes coldly flickered. “I’ll have everyone gathered by this afternoon!”

“

Mm

!”

Kang Jin-Ho gravely nodded while mouthing a cigarette. Even though he hadn’t lit it up yet, he still could pick up on the distinctive bitter taste of the cigarette swirling in his mouth.