Chapter 1492: Opening for Business (2) |
The man who kicked the door open, Lee Hyeon-Su, glared sharply.
“Pay attention, you leeches.”
“Atteeeeeen-tion!”
Lee Hyeon-Su was the Martial Assembly’s chief administrator, while everyone in this cafe was franchisees with MK and no longer had any relationship with the Assembly. Objectively speaking, the franchisees didn’t have to obey whatever Lee Hyeon-Su said.
Of course, no one here pointed that out. That was because logic was nowhere to be found while unforgiving fists of… No, the inflexible bastard of a superior was right in front of their faces, after all!
Lee Hyeon-Su scanned the faces of the people sitting inside the cafe before growling. “Only a few days remain until the opening day. Isn’t that right?”
“Yes, sir!”
“Did you know that the Assembly Master was busy filming the ad for the franchise today?”
“…?” Seong Ju-Chan cautiously asked, “Sir? We knew there would be an ad shoot today, but… I thought Director Choi would be the only one involved?”
“…?!”
Lee Hyeon-Su glared sharply again. “Did you know that our Assembly Master has this neurosis about his face becoming too well known?”
“Yes, sir! We know!”
“That’s right, you bastards. Such is his distaste for stuff like that he hasn’t even taken a single selfie in his life!”
Seong Ju-Chan’s head tilted ever so slightly to the side. Uhm… I don’t think this and that are the same, sir?
“But someone like that went out of his way to star in an ad just to keep you bastards fed, okay? In that case, how should you be responding to his generosity?”
“Sir! We’ll do our absolute best!”
“Nope, we don’t give a crap about that,” said Lee Hyeon-Su curtly. “You’re gonna do your best, you’ll give it your all… Say some cliched bullsh*t like that again, and I’m gonna destroy you. No, the correct reply is, I will do whatever the f*ck it takes to produce the result, sir! Do you understand now? From tomorrow onward, you bastards are no longer humans.”
If someone else said that, everyone here would’ve treated it as a joke, but not when Lee Hyeon-Su was the one saying it. Because the stuff coming out of his mouth didn’t sound like a joke!
“And what are you supposed to be doing?”
“Sir! We must sell coffee!”
“And that mindset is gonna bankrupt you, you morons!” Lee Hyeon-Su angrily roared. “Even a part-timer can sell coffee, okay! Upload a post about selling coffee on a job site, and we’ll instantly get over twenty people clamoring to take over the job from you idiots! You’re all supposed to be the franchisees! Franchisees!”
Seong Ju-Chan grinned sagely just then. What the hell? What do you want from us, then?!
It was just impossible to please Lee Hyeon-Su, no?
Lee Hyeon-Su continued to yell, “Your job isn’t to sell coffee, but to sell your pride! Even if an as*hole customer spits on your face, you gotta keep smiling and deal with the situation amicably!”
“S-sir? Spitting on the face is a bit…”
“What? You want to bleed instead, then?”
“We can always wipe the spit off, sir!”
“That’s right. Getting spat on won’t kill you, anyway. Unlike bleeding to death!” Lee Hyeon-Su murderously glared at the crowd again. “Soldiers! Remember that your life isn’t the only life you’ll be responsible for! Because the future livelihood of all those retiring from the Assembly depends on how this cafe franchise business model works out! In other words, this venture is far, far more important than you think it is!”
Seong Ju-Chan grew a little more somber just then. He hadn’t thought about that.
Until now, he simply viewed this franchise as an attempt to keep the roof over the large number of people quitting the Martial Assembly. However, it sounded as if the Assembly’s true goal was to establish a sustainable system so that everyone leaving the Assembly in the future would have a way to survive, and that this was a trial run. At least, that was according to what Lee Hyeon-Su said.
“Alright, let’s stop kidding around,” said Lee Hyeon-Su.
But it didn’t sound like you were joking, though?!
Lee Hyeon-Su scanned every face inside this cafe. “Tell me. In your opinion, what do you think worries us the most about this business venture?”
“Sir? Isn’t it the business not doing well?”
“How about failing to recoup the investment, sir?”
“I know. Isn’t it the franchises closing their doors?”
The crowd quickly offered a variety of opinions, but Lee Hyeon-Su simply shook his head.
“Nope.”
While making an uncharacteristically serious face, he stared intently into the eyes of everyone.
“What I and the Assembly Master worried about the most is… It’s not making enough money or your stores going bankrupt. No, it’s you idiots failing to do your job properly.”
“Eh? Isn’t that the same thing, sir?”
“We don’t care about your business not doing well. Because we know it’s dumb to expect a roaring success from you lot. That’s why we worked hard to create a franchise system where even middle school dropouts can still operate their stores.”
That was not the main point, of course.
“What we worry about is your patience.”
“Uh… I don’t understand, sir.”
Lee Hyeon-Su subtly chewed his lip. “Look. Making a living will never be easy. You must be thinking that nothing can be as punishing as being in the Assembly, but here’s the thing.
“Life outside the Assembly might not be as physically demanding, but the mental toll on you will be even worse. Until now, you only had to worry about improving your skills and getting stronger. You never had to swallow your pride and lower your head to random strangers. But that’s exactly what you will have to do from now on.”
“…!”
“Even though these strangers are making unreasonable demands, and even though you’re right, logically speaking… You will have to lower your heads. Even though you haven’t done anything wrong, you’ll still be the one suffering losses. Such unfair and illogical things happen all the time in life. But ordinary people try to endure it all and carry on with their lives.”
“But, sir, isn’t that wrong?”
“Yeah, sure. It is wrong,” Lee Hyeon-Su icily replied. “But, so what? What are you gonna do about it? When you can’t change a damn thing with your own power?”
“…!”
Reminding these people about the harshness of reality was never a pleasant thing, but it was Lee Hyeon-Su’s job to do it.
“I will be fine since I never expected much from you, anyway. Besides, this whole project was not my idea, to begin with. I’m merely following the Assembly Master’s orders, okay? However!”
Everyone paid even more attention to what Lee Hyeon-Su said.
“That’s not the case for the Assembly Master.”
“…!”
“If we ask someone who knows about our unique situation if they are interested in putting you up as franchisees, not a single sane person would agree to do that. Even if they have money burning holes in their pocket, they would still say no. Besides, you lot can still find a way to put food on your table without this franchise, right? For instance, you could get a job on a construction site. You’d become the number one worker in no time at all, right?”
“Y-yes, sir.”
“I know I’m damn good at that, sir!”
“Oiii, Mister Kim? Shut the hell up!”
“…”
Lee Hyeon-Su chuckled helplessly. “But the Assembly Master didn’t seem to like that idea. Since you’ve been training your body in the Assembly, you can always fall back to manual labor to make a living, but it’s not like that should be your only option, right? Theoretically speaking, you should also be able to do what ordinary people do. And that’s what the Assembly Master wanted to prove.”
A subtly wry expression formed on Lee Hyeon-Su’s face. Even he hadn’t thought about such a thing. However, that was because he had no need to worry or care about those who were no longer affiliated with the Assembly.
Anyone who had gotten off the train called the Martial Assembly was not his concern anymore, and as long as they didn’t cause a problem in the surface world, he didn’t have to pay attention to their lives.
Despite knowing what it felt like to be thrown aside better than anyone, he didn’t think about looking after the people who had to leave the Assembly for one reason or the other.
Then again, Lee Hyeon-Su didn’t think he was wrong to feel this way.
Well, it’s the Assembly Master who’s the weird one here.
The Martial Assembly was, at the end of the day, an organization of martial artists. And the way of life for the martial artists was the survival of the fittest. Nothing more, nothing less. No martial artist would give a damn about the “defeated.”
Nothing would be more humiliating for a martial artist than quitting the martial path, or the Assembly in this case, and giving up on becoming stronger. In that case, why would Lee Hyeon-Su even think about looking after these people? When the Assembly didn’t care about the “defeated” in the first place?
As a matter of fact, Kang Jin-Ho also thought this way. He detested those who didn’t put in enough effort to become stronger. And that was what made this situation so funny—he didn’t even think about extending a helping hand to those who were still riding this train but not bothering to give their all, yet here he was, trying to help those who had already left the train.
Is it because these people are no longer martial artists?
A martial artist who gave up on being one shouldn’t be called a martial artist; maybe, Kang Jin-Ho’s standards meant he was subconsciously more strict toward “actual” martial artists.
“Whatever the case might be, you all better not disappoint the Assembly Master,” said Lee Hyeon-Su.
“…”
Everyone in the cafe sneakily lowered their heads.
“I don’t have time for stuff like disappointments, so I’ll be fine one way or the other. As for the Assembly Master, I’m sure he’ll pretend that he’s fine, too. That he’s not disappointed by you. Even if you beat up a customer and get arrested by the cops, even if you get fed up and close the store permanently, and even if you smash the coffee machine to pieces.”
“Eiii, we wouldn’t do that. Don’t you know how expensive a coffee maker is, sir?”
“That’s not important here, you bastards.”
“But, uh, it kinda is…”
Lee Hyeon-Su shook his head. This was why these idiots could never become normal human beings.
“Yes, he will say it’s all fine. But in reality? It won’t be fine. And you already know that, don’t you?”
Seong Ju-Chan slowly nodded. He understood what Lee Hyeon-Su wanted to say here.
What Kang Jin-Ho was trying to achieve here wasn’t merely giving these people a way to make a living. No, he was trying to pave a path forward so that people leaving the Assembly, and even the people still in the Assembly, could integrate into the ordinary society without running into issues.
“That’s why… I’m begging you idiots. Please do not disappoint the Assembly Master.” Lee Hyeon-Su bowed deeply to everyone in the cafe and stayed in that position for a long while. He eventually stood up straight and sighed. “To think I’d one day bow to a bunch of trash like you.”
“Wowsers, did you hear what he said?”
“I was almost moved to tears just now, though.”
“Yup, sure enough.”
Lee Hyeon-Su scowled deeply. “Shut the hell, you dipsh*ts. Can’t you tell from how worried we are about you bastards beating customers up? That means we consider all of you as sub-human pieces of trash! Instead of using you, it might be safer to hire newly released convicts!”
“You think we’re kids, sir? And beat up customers for no reason?”
“We won’t do that anymore, sir. Even we’re fed up with all the fighting, you see… We would’ve stayed in the Assembly if that wasn’t the case. Since, uh, you won’t fire us, after all.”
They were right about not getting fired, at least! Lee Hyeon-Su chuckled loudly. “Whether it’s MK or the Assembly, we will do our absolute best to support you. This is the Assembly’s first-ever business venture in the surface world, okay? It might be weird to tell a bunch of people who’s no longer a part of the Assembly, but try to remember that the fate of the Assembly now rests on your shoulders. Kinda ironic, if I say so myself.”
Everyone grew a little more somber just then.
Okay, so…
The success or failure of the Assembly’s first foray into the legitimate business world depended on how well they did in this franchise, and how well it operated in the surface world would determine the future of all the people who’d leave or retire from the Assembly.
Oii, oii! What’s with all this pressure?
I know, right! And I only agreed to do this thing to put food on my table, too!
Gee whiz! Talk about being in a high-pressure situation!
Lee Hyeon-Su smirked softly after noticing how stiff everyone had gotten. “You don’t have to make that face, okay? As long as you behave like a human being, you probably won’t mess things up. However!”
Lee Hyeon-Su suddenly began grinding his teeth loudly.
“If any f*cker here still causes us problems later, despite all the warning I just gave you, I will make sure you regret it for the rest of your miserable f*cking life, okay? So, I dare you. Go ahead and try me.”
“…”
Yup, I knew you’d say that in the end. What a horrible bastard you are!
Lee Hyeon-Su cocked his brow after remembering something. “Oh, and… On the opening day, look forward to experiencing an event completely, utterly out of your expectation.”
“Eh? Are you going to hire narrator models, sir?”[1]
“The event I’m talking about is even more outlandish than that. I think you will all be moved to tears by how much your comrades care about you.”
“…?”
“It’s going to be so much fun, I can tell you that much. Fufufufu~!”
When Lee Hyeon-Su began snickering ominously, a hint of ominous foreboding crept into the hearts of all the franchisees.
H-hey, man. Will we be alright at this rate?
Dunno, dude. But it’s too late to chicken out now.
Not asking if it was possible to annul the contract was quickly turning into the biggest regret of these people’s lives!
“By the way, Chief Lee! I have a question!”
Lee Hyeon-Su glanced at the person who said that. “Yeah? What is it?”
“You talked about an ad earlier? Can we expect a kiss scene in it, though?”
“…Come out.”
“Sir? Are you saying they took it out?”
“Come outside, right now! You dumbass!”
“…”
Some people in this world just didn’t know how to take a joke. How unfortunate, then.
1. A narrator model is someone who stands at the front of a booth or a store to interact with passersby and prospective customers. As far as I can tell, they are like store mascots, but they, uh, all seem to be young, attractive women for some reason.
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