Descent of the Demon Master

Chapter 485: Captured (5)

“Sounds like I can't help you with this one, Jin-Ho,” said Ju Yeong-Gi while making a very apologetic face.

“Yeah, me too.” Park Yu-Min shook his head, knowing he also had no sensible solution to this crisis.

Kang Jin-Ho grimaced while clamping his mouth shut. Ju Yeong-Gi could be referred to as a lifelong stranger to all things related to studying. And he was recently proving without question that one's success as an adult didn't depend on how good one's school grades were.

It was the same story for Park Yu-Min. He could talk about how to play video games like a pro all day long, but ask him to discuss ways to get better grades? He'd go deathly silent in the blink of an eye.

“Hey, Park Yu-Min...!” Ju Yeong-Gi, feeling a bit embarrassed about this situation, quickly directed the blame in his friend's way. “You brat! Weren't you supposed to supervise the kids' studying? What have you been doing, dude! You think your job is over just because you cook them curry and do their laundry?”

Park Yu-Min faltered from that assault. “T-that's not something I can help with, you know!”

“Even so! You attend university, don't you!”

“That's because I was a special admissions case! Without that, I wouldn't have gone near a university entrance, you know!”

Of course that wasn't strictly true, but Park Yu-Min indeed wasn't really invested in studying. To be good at the pro gaming scene, one obviously needed to be smart. If an excellent pro gamer was that passionate about studying, they would've done quite well at school, too. But...

That story was only applicable when Park Yu-Min was still in school. Right now? He was as hopeless as Ju Yeong-Gi.

“What are you trying to say, then? You don't wanna do anything?” Ju Yeong-Gi shot back.

“No, of course not! I'm not saying that. What we should do right now is find another way to help them out.”

“It's the same story for you, too!” Ju Yeong-Gi suddenly shifted his deadly glare to Kang Jin-Ho next. “Listen here, dude! You're a student at Jaegyeong Uni, right! You dumbass! How can someone like you ask a high school grad and a fake uni student for advice on studying?! You think we know the answer that you don't have a clue about!”

“...Mm.” Kang Jin-Ho clamped his mouth shut.

There was no questioning the fact that... Kang Jin-Ho's academic records were the best among the trio. He had a prior form of reaching a near-perfect score in the entrance exams, after all!

However, Kang Jin-Ho's problem in this case was...

'I don't know anything that can help, though...'

Kang Jin-Ho was a unique case where he 'forcibly' achieved his good grades. Rather than studying effectively or efficiently, he broke through the wall called 'entrance exams' with his heightened concentration, calculative ability and memorization, which were by-products of his cultivation. In other words, Kang Jin-Ho's studying method wouldn't be helpful to anyone else without a martial arts background.

Park Yu-Min hopefully stared at Kang Jin-Ho. “Can't you just... teach the kids yourself?”

“Not possible,” Kang Jin-Ho unhesitantly waved his hand. Even he knew he made an excellent athlete but a terrible coach. He simply didn't have the right talent to teach people. The only case where he could barely qualify as a 'good' teacher would be when the learners risked their lives and prepared themselves to survive whatever abuse he threw at them.

Rather obviously, he couldn't ask the orphanage children to do that when they only wanted to improve their school grades!

Not only that but... The path of cultivation had a clear road map to follow to reach the destination, but studying did not. No wonder Kang Jin-Ho had no idea what to do here. Being an honor student didn't necessarily mean you'd automatically be an exemplary student, after all!

Ju Yeong-Gi narrowed his eyes. “What do you mean it's not possible?”

Kang Jin-Ho shook his head. “I don't know how to teach people.”

Ju Yeong-Gi theatrically threw his hands up in the air. “What the hell? You're supposed to be a Jaegyeong Uni student, yet you can't even teach a few kids?”

“...Mm.”

“Just what is it that you actually can do?”

Kang Jin-Ho was deeply aggrieved by that question, but what could he do about it? While he was stewing in the injustice of this situation, Ju Yeong-Gi was getting stressed by his utterly-hopeless friends, after all!

“You two are totally hopeless, you know that?! You are supposed to be university students, yet you summon me, a high school grad, here to ask about how to educate the kids? I'm already busy as it is! If I wanted to start teaching one day, I'd have finished my dang high school first!”

Park Yu-Min blinked his eyes. “Hang on a sec. Didn't you say you were a high school grad?”

“Uh? Oh, uh... That's not important, you dummy!”

.

The more he talked, the worse Ju Yeong-Gi's academic records seemed to get.

“Okay, so... What should we do about this?” Kang Jin-Ho asked again.

“Stop asking me, you dumbasses!” Ju Yeong-Gi yelled back and shot up to his feet like an erupting volcano. What kind of a stupid situation was this, and why did he have to deal with it! “What kind of insane uni students are you to ask a middle school grad about studying?!”

“A society that discriminates according to academic records is a bad society, Yeong-Gi,” said Park Yu-Min in a sage mode.

“It's fine to discriminate right now!” Ju Yeong-Gi cried out while seemingly arguing for a discriminatory society.

Ju Yeong-Gi alternated his gaze between his two dazed-looking friends before facepalming himself. “Meeting you two was my life's greatest blessing... and the worst calamity! Calamity, I say!”

Park Yu-Min nodded sagely. “And it's been a great blessing to have you in our lives, dude.”

“Yes, I agree,” Kang Jin-Ho quickly nodded along.

“Urghhh…” Ju Yeong-Gi groaned loudly after somehow becoming the brain that would teach 'studying' to a pair of university students. “Okay, let me get this straight. So... The orphanage kids want to improve their grades but can't study as well as they'd like.”

“Yeah, that's what they said.”

“First of all, I don't get what kind of bull dust that is. Isn't studying something you just have to do?” Ju Yeong-Gi tilted his head.

Kang Jin-Ho nodded in agreement. He also thought that studying was something one just did. So, why couldn't the kids do it right?

Park Yu-Min stared at Ju Yeong-Gi and Kang Jin-Ho, who obviously lacked any sort of understanding of school life, to explain the situation. “So, it's like... Apparently, it's difficult to catch up to other kids while studying through only textbooks and workbooks.”

“Say what?”

“Mm?”

When Ju Yeong-Gi and Kang Jin-Ho opened their eyes super-wide in confusion, Park Yu-Min couldn't stop himself from groaning loudly.

'If I talk about studying in any other group besides this one, people would've laughed straight at my face...'

Ju Yeong-Gi's reaction was more or less understandable since he willingly admitted to remembering nothing about his school life besides beating kids up, lunch hours, and sleeping in his classes. However, what about Kang Jin-Ho, then? Why was he acting like this?

Park Yu-Min briefly shook his head before resuming his explanation. “Practically every kid goes to cram schools nowadays, you see? So, the school curriculum will adjust to match them. It's not like the school teachers can repeat what the students already learned in cram schools, anyway. So, the classes will carry on as if the students already have some level of knowledge. That means kids who don't attend cram schools will have a hard time catching up.”

Ju Yeong-Gi blinked his eyes. “What nonsense are you on about? Schools are compulsory while cram school is optional, right? Doesn't that mean cram schools gotta keep pace with the actual schools instead?”

“Well, schools are only compulsory because of the entrance exams, you see? It's been like that for a while, too.”

“...Wow, this country sure is on a path to success, eh?” Ju Yeon-Gi tutted and mumbled sarcastically.

As a man who got 'disqualified' from South Korea's state education system a long time ago, Ju Yeong-Gi held a healthy level of distrust toward public education in general. That didn't mean he wasn't a pragmatic person, of course.

“Well, if that's the reality, naught we can do about it, I guess,” Ju Yeong-Gi shrugged his shoulders. “Okay, so... Send the kids to cram school, and that should fix this problem, right?”

Kang Jin-Ho shook his head. “From what Mi-Hye told me, it's no use for her or other orphanage kids to enter a cram school now. The gap between them and the other students is too great to catch up, apparently.”

“...And why haven't you done anything until things got this bad?”

“...Don't hit us with fact bombs, okay?”

“You pathetic excuses of human beings...” Ju Yeong-Gi tutted loudly. “The way I see it, us three dunces won't find any solution even if we rack our brains together. I mean, how can we find hope for the kids when we are this hopeless?”

Park Yu-Min sheepishly nodded. “...Well, yeah. You have a point.”

“Yes, agreed.” Kang Jin-Ho also solemnly nodded.

Ju Yeong-Gi's glare sharpened. “In that case, we gotta rely on someone who knows what's what.”

“Yup, there's no helping it,” said Park Yu-Min.

“Fine. I'll call him.” Kang Jin-Ho took out his phone.

It seemed all problems were heading toward a speedy conclusion.

***

A black sedan drove into the orphanage's front yard. The sleek vehicle came to a gradual stop, then its driver's side door opened. The driver leisurely disembarked from his ride.

This man wore a black business suit from a famous brand. The tips of a pure-white dress shirt's sleeves peeked out from the ends of the business suit, while a neat necktie hung smartly from his collars. His hair was neatly combed in a regent style, while a pair of dark sunglasses covered his eyes.

The man briefly scanned his surroundings before mouthing a cigarette, a stoic expression forming on his face.

Hiss, sizzle...

The flame from the lighter lit up the end of the cigarette. The man leisurely sucked in the cigarette smoke before releasing it back into the air. This whole scene seemed straight out of a black-and-white noir film.

“Fufufufufu...”

The man let out a sinister chuckle before discarding his still-fresh cigarette into a portable ashtray. After closing the lid, he entered the orphanage in cheery, energetic steps.

The man seemed familiar with the place as he made a straight beeline to the orphanage's kitchen. And when he jerked the door open, an energetic welcome bombarded him.

“Chief Jo!”

“Chief!”

“We were waiting for you!”

“Fufufufu...!” Jo Gyu-Min bared his fangs as he cackled. He even pulled the sunglasses off in a cool way, too. “So, gentlemen. I hear you've been looking for me?”

This was the moment of the savior's arrival.

***

“Eh...” Jo Gyu-Min slowly nodded after listening to Kang Jin-Ho's explanation. “Indeed, it's not a straightforward situation.”

“Do you think it's bad?” Kang Jin-Ho narrowed his eyes.

“Well... Fundamentally, education is meant to be a step-by-step process. Think of it as an escalator going up. You will gradually go higher up in the level. The problem with this set-up is that if someone falls back a few steps through some kind of mistake or illness, there aren't any good education methods to pull them back to where they should've been.” Jo Gyu-Min crossed his arms in front of his chest while explaining himself. “Kids with the right inclinations who meet the conditions will attend cram schools or find other ways to catch up. However, the orphanage kids are not only several steps behind, it's more like dozens of steps at this point. It's safe to say the gap might be even as great as several floors now.”

“Mm...” Kang Jin-Ho's expression grew heavier.

“However, it should be fine, Mister Jin-Ho. Nothing in this world is truly impossible, after all.”

“Ohhh!”

“If it's impossible, make it possible! That is the South Korean salaryman's mantra, you see!”

Park Yu-Min cocked an eyebrow while muttering quietly to no one in particular. “Instead of a salaryman, that sounds more like something a salamander or unicorn might do...?”

People like Jo Gyu-Min with the “A salaryman will do whatever is asked of him!” mentality were the reason why the majority of South Korea's workers were having a hard time at work!

Jo Gyu-Min cackled while rubbing his hands. “Fufufu... If there is no other way, you have to create one. Isn't that the correct way to survive in our era?”

Park Yu-Min quickly refuted that. “Sounds like you're living in a slightly different era from me, Chief Jo. I can definitely sense the differences in our generation.”

“Well, yes. You're not strictly wrong about that. However...” Jo Gyu-Min stared at Park Yu-Min and smiled meaningfully. “If you're unsuccessful at your pro gaming career and have to find a job somewhere else... I'm sure you'll have to forge ahead with my type of mindset, wouldn't you agree?”

Park Yu-Min told himself to practice really hard from now on after hearing that advice tinged with a veiled threat from Jo Gyu-Min.

“Although it won't be easy, that does not necessarily make this task any harder. In truth, a student needs to meet three requirements for good grades.”

“Three things?”

“Yes. Passion toward studying, an efficient studying system, and finally...!” Jo Gyu-Min turned his attention to Kang Jin-Ho. “An unreserved support so that students can focus on studying and nothing else!”

“...I'll make that happen.” Kang Jin-Ho grimly nodded.

A warm smile formed on Jo Gyu-Min's face. “In that case, shall we summon the children? Figuring out who wants to study earnestly is a part of the charm, you see.”

Ju Yeong-Gi watched Jo Gyu-Min shrug his shoulders while leaving the kitchen, then cautiously asked Kang Jin-Ho. “Hey, man. Do you know which university Chief Jo went to?”

“Mm? I think it's Hanguk Uni...”

“H-Hanguk, you say?”

“Yeah.” Kang Jin-Ho cocked an eyebrow at his friend's weird reaction.

Ju Yeong-Gi's eyes filled with awe and respect locked on Jo Gyu-Min's back. Hanguk was South Korea's best university, after all!

Park Yu-Min chimed in. “And Chief Jo was the deputy chief director for our high school, too. And he spent about half a year as a chancellor or something in our university. While Chief Jo was the school's deputy director, he transformed it so much to the point where parents are dying to get their children admitted to our old high school!”

“Wow. That dude can do practically anything, eh?” Jo Gyu-Min muttered, clearly impressed.

“You think so, too?”

“And he's the total opposite of you two.” Ju Yeong-Gi sharply tutted at his friends.

“...Kuh-hum.” Park Yu-Min powerlessly stood up from his chair while listening to his friend's biting diss. It was his job to summon the kids, after all.

'This feels so weird, though.'

Park Yu-Min glanced behind him. This should've been his job, but things he missed were noticed by Kang Jin-Ho first, then Jo Gyu-Min stepped up to take care of them. Since when did this relationship start, though?

'I'm a really lucky guy, aren't I? To think such good people are around me...'

Which included the orphanage's children, of course. A warm grin sneaked up on his lips as his mood began improving.

Ju Yeong-Gi loudly tutted. “Why are you grinning like an idiot as if you've done something good, Yu-Min?”

“...Kuh-hum.”

It seemed Park Yu-Min might need to think a bit harder about Ju Yeong-Gi, though!