Descent of the Demon Master

a small pool of loyal customers wasn ’t a viable business plan to survive here.

Park Yu-Min suddenly came up with an idea.
“Hey, how about we hold a pizza-tasting event?”

“A tasting event?” Ju Yeong-Gi perked up, clearly interested in the idea.

“Yeah.
Everyone who had tasted Jin-Ho ’s pizza said it ’s delicious, right?”

“Yeah, that ’s true.”

“In that case, wouldn ’t it be a good idea to hold a tasting event? People participating in it might come back later, you know?”

“Hmm.
Owner, what do you think?”

Kang Jin-Ho slowly shook his head.
“Before that.
I think there ’s a fundamental problem we are overlooking.”

“A fundamental problem?”

“Mm…” Kang Jin-Ho nodded.
“We had that many people coming to our store earlier, but so few have returned.
That could only mean there ’s a problem we haven ’t thought about.”

“Now that you mention it—what do you think is the problem?”

’

“Don ’t know.”

“…”

Kang Jin-Ho sighed.
“All I know is that we have a problem, but I can ’t figure out what it is.
So, let ’s figure it out together.”

Ju Yeong-Gi suddenly grinned like a content dad.
“How can every one of us be this useless? What a bunch of praiseworthy morons we are!”

“…Mm.” Kang Jin-Ho clamped his mouth shut, unable to respond to that accurate observation.

’…By the way, what did she mean by a flood of customers starting from today? ’

Thanks to the vague yet meaningful actions of Choi Yeon-Ha, Kang Jin-Ho couldn ’t help but remember her warning.
It wasn ’t as if he completely believed her, of course.
However, he knew Choi Yeon-Ha wasn ’t the type to make a baseless claim for giggles, and that was why her warning had been bugging him from the corner of his mind.

Ju Yeong-Gi called out to Kang Jin-Ho.
“Owner.”

“…Can ’t you just call me by my name?”

“No.
I thought no customers were coming because calling you by name was too undignified or something.”

“Please, just calm yourself down.” Kang Jin-Ho shook his head again, then glanced at the pizzeria ’s clock.

’Almost half past nine, huh? ’

The pizzeria would be closed for the day in around one hour.
Kang Jin-Ho recalled the day ’s sales and sighed under his breath again.

’Then again, getting money from the others obviously won ’t be easy. ’

Any prospective new owner would be living high in their own dreams at the beginning of their business ventures, thinking their business would take off into the sky.
They would come up with various strategies and unique aspects to separate themselves from the competition.
Even if their business struck the skids and things went bad, they would still feel reasonably confident about putting some bread on the table, at the very least.
But now…

Kang Jin-Ho was being painfully reminded of what would happen to those daring enough to haphazardly jump into the world of commerce.

Korea had an extremely low rate of self-employment versus big companies.
People competed fiercely in the limited market space just to make a living, yet Kang Jin-Ho tried to join the fray without any solid vision.
Maybe this result was set in stone from the get-go.

’From now on, no matter what I do…
I need to prepare and plan more. ’

When he thought about it, Kang Jin-Ho realized he hadn ’t really analyzed anything in-depth, even while serving as the leader of the demon cult.
He would usually never pay attention to anything and simply let them flow around him like a river.
Only when he was faced with an obstacle did he make impulsive decisions to ’solve ’ it.

Kang Jin-Ho was freshly reminded of the fact that only his overwhelming martial prowess and the Azure Demon ’s selfless sacrifice prevented the utter destruction of the demon cult under his so-called leadership.

’If I ever get to see the Azure Demon again in the netherworld, I better apologize to him. ’

He might have killed the Azure Demon for betraying him, but living in the modern era helped him understand just how hard things had to have been for his underling back in Zhongyuan.
Right now, Kang Jin-Ho had friends boasting equal status as him to point out the errors of his ways, but Heavenly Crimson Demon Emperor in the past didn ’t have anyone like that.

Even Kang Jin-Ho knew he wasn ’t the type to listen to dissuasion nor pay attention to outspoken opinions during those days.
So, how much stress and grief would he have caused Azure Demon? He couldn ’t help but wonder about it.

’I thought I was treating him fairly, but…
I guess not. ’

Wasn ’t he the typical example of an incompetent but stupidly stubborn senior officer? Kang Jin-Ho groaned softly after suddenly realizing that he wouldn ’t be able to complain even if someone tried to ’frag ’ him on a battlefield.
He couldn ’t even use the excuse of everyone being like that back in Zhongyuan, too.
He was a modern-era person traveling back in time, after all!

That was when the pizzeria ’s doors opened, and two people walked in.
“Oh? It ’s quieter than I thought in here.”

Kang Jin-Ho quickly got up, followed by Ju Yeong-Gi.
The latter picked up the menu boards and rushed to meet the customers.

One of the customers asked while receiving the board, “What time do you guys close?”

“We ’re open till dawn as long as there are customers!” Ju Yeong-Gi replied, brazenly throwing out the opening hours they had agreed upon outside the window.

While Ju Yeong-Gi was receiving the orders, Kang Jin-Ho put on the chef ’s hat and got ready.
His job was to bake killer pizzas, after all.

“…Huh?”

However, something strange occurred just then.
The female customer looked up from the menu for some reason.
Then…
Her gaze landed firmly on Kang Jin-Ho and decided to remain glued to him.

’

Ju Yeong-Gi tilted his head.
“Is there something wrong, dear customer?”

“I-isn ’t that…” The female customer cautiously pointed at Kang Jin-Ho.

Her companion was confused by such behavior and turned her head to follow the pointing finger, eventually discovering Kang Jin-Ho about to enter the kitchen.
“What is it? What ’s the matter?”

“L-look! Isn ’t he, you know, him?”

“Him? Who are you talking about?”

“You know, that guy! The guy from that thing!”

“…Eh?”

And then, both customers stared at Kang Jin-Ho, charmed.

’What the…? ’

Kang Jin-Ho could only frown slightly because he had no idea why these customers had decided to openly stare at him like this.

“I think you ’re right?”

“Ask him about it! Hurry!”

The female customer coughed to clear her throat, then cautiously asked Kang Jin-Ho, “Excuse me.
Could you be that actor from that TV series?”

“…That TV series?” Kang Jin-Ho tilted his head.

Disappointment quickly filled up the expressions of the two customers.

“I guess it ’s not him?”

“…Maybe they just look alike? But they look too much alike, so that can ’t be—”

As ever, Ju Yeong-Gi was the quickest on the uptake, and he sneakily chimed in.
“Hey, man…
I think they are talking about that TV show you filmed with Miss Choi Yeon-Ha.”

Kang Jin-Ho blinked his eyes in surprise.
“Mm? It’s being broadcast already?”

The two customers shuddered grandly at his words, and they got up from their chairs.
They cautiously sneaked closer to Kang Jin-Ho and asked, “Excuse me, is it okay if we take just one selfie with you?”

“A selfie, you say?”

“Yes! We ’ll order an expensive pizza for it.
No, wait! We ’ll order two! The other one will be for takeaway.”

“Hold on, please.
I…” Kang Jin-Ho was about to refuse, but then…

Suddenly, someone blocked his mouth from his side and spoke in his stead, “Of course, a selfie is okay, dear customers.
Do you want us to help?”

’Park Yu-Min, even you…! ’

Ju Yeong-Gi gleefully took the customer ’s phone and started snapping pictures of two female customers clinging to either side of Kang Jin-Ho while the latter was gnashing his teeth at the unexpected betrayal.

’…Give me a break.
Seriously. ’

After freeing himself from the impromptu photo session, Kang Jin-Ho stepped inside the kitchen while shaking his head.
“I was wondering what she was talking about, but now…”

When Choi Yeon-Ha said the pizzeria would be overflowing with customers, she definitely meant his appearance in the TV series.
Unfortunately for her prediction, though, only those two female customers had recognized him in the entirety of today.

No one could predict what would be the next box-office smash—not even the director nor the actors involved.
And it seemed the series wasn ’t as well received as they had been hoping.

However, Kang Jin-Ho had no idea—no idea the kind of storm the photo he took a few seconds ago would bring to his life.