Chapter 1531 Making Preparations (1)

Was it possible to change a person’s nature?

Seong Ju-Chan believed such a thing was fundamentally impossible.

One’s nature was unchanging. A timid person couldn’t become bolder and more outgoing, and an outdoors person wouldn’t be able to spend a free weekend on a couch basically doing nothing.

Because that was their nature.

However, one’s unchanging nature didn’t mean a person couldn’t be changed, either.

The process of suppressing and taming a part of themselves that didn’t fit in with society so that they could assimilate with the rest of humanity? The world called that ‘education.’

I wonder, will this bastard also change?

Seong Ju-Chan stared weirdly at Jeong Myeong-Cheol.

Most humans could be fixed through education. People kept saying that the importance of “schools” was diminishing in the modern era where private education had progressed by leaps and bounds, but public education still hadn’t disappeared from society. That was because young kids learned what was and was not permissible in wider society while going through a smaller society called the school system.

The reason why Seong Ju-Chan was thinking about all this was, though...

Gee whiz. This guy is no joke.

Seong Ju-Chan slowly licked his lips. He had almost never seen nor heard of a man quite like Jeong Myeong-Cheol until now.

What an amazing guy. Not in a positive sense, of course.

A man usually felt proud, nay, egotistical about himself after achieving something special. However, despite having achieved nothing, Jeong Myeong-Cheol’s pride could easily soar through the heavens. So much so that Seong Ju-Chan had to wonder how a fool who hadn’t done anything notable could even feel this way.

Is this some sort of mental illness? Narcissism, maybe?

Seong Ju-Chan chuckled helplessly, then kicked Jeong Myeong-Cheol’s butt.

“What the hell?! You like sneaking in some rest whenever you get a chance, don’t you?! Why? Is it too hard for you? Is that it, you punk! People you’ve been tormenting must’ve suffered for decades-plus, yet you pretend you’re dying after only a handful of days?! F*ck! Don’t make me separate your f*cking head from your neck, okay!”

“Huff, huff... Wheeze...!”

“Keep running, you punk!”

Since things had come to this, Seong Ju-Chan swore to make a decent person out of Jeong Myeong-Cheol and raised his voice even higher.

However, he had no idea. No idea what kind of changes his little actions would bring in the future!

***

“Eh? Who’s that?”

Bang Jin-Hun tilted his head in confusion while watching Jeong Myeong-Cheol, now resembling a zombie, lifelessly running around the training area.

“That dude doesn’t look like a martial artist, so what’s this? Why is an ordinary person running around one of our training areas? Hang on? Isn’t that Seong Ju-Chan?”

Bang Jin-Hun’s expression crumpled in unhappiness.

Even if Seong Ju-Chan had left the Martial Assembly, he should still know what the rules were. Yes, Bang Jin-Hun might view that former Assembly member rather fondly, but that didn’t mean he was okay with said former member being present within the Assembly grounds. Worse still, that former member bullying an ordinary civilian presented an even bigger problem!

“Hey, Tae-Hun? Find out what’s going on over there.”

“...? Oh, that.” Cheon Tae-Hun dismissively waved his hand as if to say it was nothing to worry about. “I think the Assembly Master has done something again, sir.”

“Eh? Like what?”

Why did the Assembly Master get a mention in this matter?

When Bang Jin-Hun’s head tilting intensified, Cheon Tae-Hun began explaining what he knew about this situation.

“Oh, so...” Bang Jin-Hun contemplatively nodded. “That bastard disrupted the business of our former members by doing some kinda nonsense in their stores?”

“Yes, sir.”

“So, we kidnapped him to punish him? Since he’s not a martial artist, we can’t kill him, and his guilt isn’t serious enough for a beating of a lifetime, either. Is that it?”

“Yes, sir,” Cheon Tae-Hun replied.

“Geewhiz...” Bang Jin-Hun chuckled helplessly. “Are we playing house or something? The old Assembly Master would’ve just killed the bastard even if he was just an ordinary civilian, though.”

“Eiii~,the Assembly Master wouldn’t do that, sir.”

Bang Jin-Hun turned his head slightly and stared at Cheon Tae-Hun. “I gotta say, I sometimes can’t believe you idiots these days.”

“I, uh... I don’t follow?”

“Did you already forget that the Assembly Master could have killed us if things had gone the other way not too long ago? I’m telling you, we wouldn’t be here yapping away like this had Lady Luck not been singing for us. Nope, we’d be in the netherworld by now, busy playing pat-a-cake with King Yama instead!”

“...”

Cheon Tae-Hun found himself reflexively nodding in agreement.

“It’s just that the Assembly Master has gotten a lot mellower these days. Don’t you remember what he was like back in the early days? Dude! I thought he could shoot lasers with his eyes or something! How can a man have such a sharp, burning glare like that? Uh-whew!”

Bang Jin-Hun shuddered in dread. Of course, Cheon Tae-Hun also agreed with his master’s sentiment.

Wow, now that I think about it, that’s true.

Back when Kang Jin-Ho had first gotten involved with the Martial Assembly, the impression he gave off was a man with unbreakable sharpness. Maybe that was because he had viewed them as enemies. But...

No, wait. That might not be it. Because I still felt that way around the Assembly Master for a long while afterward.

Cheon Tae-Hun remembered how scared he was to look Kang Jin-Ho in the eye back then. But these days? If he saw Kang Jin-Ho in the distance, he would voluntarily walk over there and offer his greetings first and maybe even crack a joke or two.

“Wow. The Assembly Master really has changed a lot lately, hasn’t he?”

Bang Jin-Hun nodded. “Yup. Even now, I get shocked sometimes, you know? These idiots now all think the Assembly Master is their friend or something. I mean, how dare they crack jokes with him!? Seriously!”

“...”

Cheon Tae-Hun gently clamped his mouth shut since he knew of his own guilt.

“If our Assembly Master was still his old self,” Bang Jin-Hun tutted loudly. “That Jeong Myeong-Cheol, or whatever his name was, would’ve been busy looking for his missing head right about now.”

“Yes, sir... That’s true.”

Bang Jin-Hun sighed deeply. “Our boss becoming mellower is good news, but still. Isn’t that a bit... Hmm.”

“I think it’s because this matter involves the former Assembly members, sir.”

“Mm?”

“The Assembly Master cares a lot about their welfare, after all. It makes sense that he’d be furious at some idiot trying to interfere.”

“Oh, that. I’m not talking about that. I was just wondering why he’s keeping that bastard alive when we could’ve just pulled out his fingers one by one until he died of blood loss or something.”

“...”

Cheon Tae-Hun dazedly stared at Bang Jin-Hun.

No, hang on. He’s not the weird one here, no?

When Cheon Tae-Hun thought about this some more, Bang Jin-Hun shouldn’t be chided for thinking that way.

Sure, the unwritten rule stated that the Martial Assembly should not hurt ordinary civilians. But that rule had never been strictly adhered to over the years. After all, the Assembly often accepted money to assassinate people in the past, didn’t it? In that case, how could it tell its members to stick to that rule?

Jeong Myeong-Cheol would have died many times over if this had been the Martial Assembly of the past. It was only after Kang Jin-Ho’s arrival that the ignored rule had regained its importance.

“In any case... Since the Assembly Master is involved, we can’t just butt in, sir.”

“Is that so?” Bang Jin-Hun muttered, his expression becoming unreadable.

That was when Cheon Tae-Hun’s heart tumbled to the pit of his stomach.

Whenever Bang Jin-Hun made that face and spoke like that, something bad was about to happen. Because, he only made that face when he was upset!

Obviously, he’s not upset with the Assembly Master, so...

Other people might not realize how much Bang Jin-Hun trusted and believed in Kang Jin-Ho, but Cheon Tae-Hun did.

But that kind of loyalty made sense. Without Kang Jin-Ho, Bang Jin-Hun would have died a long time ago, after all! Either he would have lost his life during his struggle against Lee Jung-Geol, or the war against the Yeongnam Group would have killed him.

No, wait. It wouldn’t even be the Yeongnam Group, actually.

None of them had anticipated that Lee Jung-Geol was crazy enough to get the Japanese involved just to win, after all! If the internal strife and the standoff within the Assembly had reached the boiling point, the ones getting purged would have been Bang Jin-Hun and his people, instead.

On top of that...

Bang Jin-Hun rebelled against Lee Jung-Geol because the former Assembly Master treated the Assembly’s people as disposable tools. But Kang Jin-Ho wasn’t like that. He cared about the Assembly members even more than Bang Jin-Hun.

First of all, he had habitable residences built for its members. He then raised the wages next, before giving them job titles they could proudly use in the surface world. Not stopping there, Kang Jin-Ho even created a path for those quitting the Assembly to make a living, too.

How could Bang Jin-Hun not be loyal to someone like that?

The Martial Assembly was overflowing with the followers of the cult of Kang Jin-Ho. Even then, Cheon Tae-Hun was certain that no one else was as devoted to the cult as Bang Jin-Hun in this place.

So, doubting Kang Jin-Ho’s policies should be no different from committing sacrilege in Bang Jin-Hun’s eyes.

That meant Bang Jin-Hun had to be upset about something else, but... What could it be?

Bang Jin-Hun asked Cheon Tae-Hun. “What are our people doing right now?”

“Sir? It’s just past the lunch hour, so I think they must be taking a quick break.”

“Aha, a quick break, you say?” Bang Jin-Hun muttered, his brows quivering ominously. “It’s not like I’m against taking breaks and stuff, okay?”

“...!”

Cheon Tae-Hun’s deep-seated trauma began rearing its head again.

“Yup, you gotta rest when you’re resting. And train like crazy when it’s training time. I get that. I’m not some stuck-up boomer, okay? Let’s make that crystal clear. I have no desire to butt in when people are resting after they’ve finished everything they were supposed to do. You get what I’m saying, don’t you?”

“I... Yes, sir.”

“But now, look at that punk. Look.” Bang Jin-Hun jutted his chin toward Jeong Myeong-Cheol. “Don’t you think he’s working even harder than you lot?”

“...!” Cheon Tae-Hun’s cheeks subtly twitched. But, sir! That bastard is getting punished, you know? You can’t compare him to us when we’re merely training, not paying for our crimes!

“Look. I know what you’re thinking, Tae-Hun. I really do. You probably think your situation isn’t the same as that guy’s.”

Bang Jin-Hun snorted gruffly.

“Even then, aren’t we supposed to be martial artists? In that case, don’t you think it’s problematic for martial artists’ daily training regime to be less strenuous than an ordinary person’s?”

“...Sir, it’s definitely not ‘less strenuous’. That I assure you.”

“Hey, it’s still problematic if the intensity is about the same, okay?”

No, sir! It’s much more intense, okay?! We really are pushing ourselves to the limit these days, you know!

Despite almost being overwhelmed by things he’d like to get off his chest, Cheon Tae-Hun couldn’t say anything to his master. Because, he knew that carelessly opening his pie hole now and making excuses would only make things much worse for himself.

That was who Bang Jin-Hun was, after all!

“Look, Tae-Hun. I’m not trying to bite your head off here. But think about it from my perspective, okay? Those Demon Flame guys are training like crazy with the Demon Cult’s people. Meanwhile, Sir Vator is busy knocking those big guys into shape right now. And let’s not forget Mister Wiggins, too. Look at how he’s pushing those mage fellas to the extremes lately. However...”

Bang Jin-Hun slowly and ever so slightly turned his head toward Cheon Tae-Hun.

“Doesn’t it feel like you guys are having it easy these days?”

“...”

“I’m not trying to bully you or anything like that, okay? You already know I’m not that kind of guy, right? You do, don’t you? Tae-Hun?”

“Y-yes, sir. Of course.”

“Good, good. I knew you’d understand. So, like I was saying...”

“...”

Bang Jin-Hun asked gravely. “Don’t you think you should be putting in even more effort?”

“Y-yes, sir. We will work even harder. Sir.”

“Good, good! I knew you’d get it, Tae-Hun. However! It’s pointless if you’re the only one getting it, right?”

“...Of course.”

“I know the break time isn’t over yet, but why don’t you give our guys a call? And explain nicely? That will get them motivated again, no? Which would be a good thing for everyone involved, I’d say. The future of the Martial Assembly depends on you guys, after all. Isn’t that right?”

“I... I’ll call them, sir.”

“Great~! I always knew you’d be open to reason, Tae-Hun.”

After patting Cheon Tae-Hun’s shoulder a couple of times, Bang Jin-Hun fake-coughed to clear his throat and turned around to leave. While clasping his hands behind his back, he leisurely walked away.

“...”

Cheon Tae-Hun wordlessly stared at that sight while doing his best to suppress this urge to hang a boomer-tastic army general’s cap on Bang Jin-Hun’s head.

After a while, he tore his gaze away and pulled his phone out, his teeth gnashing softly.

“...Hey, it’s me. Tell everyone to come outside. Now.”

—Eh? Why?

“Because... Director Bang wants us to stop slacking and start training, that’s why!”

—Huh? Why so suddenly?

“Just come outside when I tell you to, you dumbass! Tell everyone to gather at the training area in five minutes. Director Bang will be watching, so tell them to be smart about it, okay?”

—Hah-ah... Understood.

“The way I see it, this ain’t gonna be a walk in the park for us. If Director Bang spots anyone making a dissatisfied face, you and I will see hell today. Do you get that? Make sure everyone keeps a straight face.”

—Got it, sir. Don’t worry.

Cheon Tae-Hun ended the call, then glared like an enraged devil from Hell at Jeong Myeong-Cheol and Seong Ju-Chan.

Why! Why didn’t you punish that bastard where no one could see you?!

Cheon Tae-Hun swore to... speak privately to Seong Ju-Chan once this whole hullabaloo had come to its natural conclusion later.

And so...

A matter that started off as a relatively minor thing gradually ballooned in scale until it drove the entire Martial Assembly into the clutches of unending Hell!