Descent of the Demon Master-Chapter 1096. Taking Care of Things (1)

‘What is going on here?’

Lee Hyeon-Su stared at the computer screen with a deep scowl etched on his face.

His hands began trembling, and a thick layer of perspiration coated his forehead.

“What the hell...?”

After muttering quietly, he wiped the sweat away from his brow with his sleeve.

The secretary affably smiled. “Would you like a cup of coffee, sir?”

Lee Hyeon-Su looked away from the monitor. “N-no. Thank you, but I’m fine.”

“Mm? Perhaps you don’t enjoy coffee?”

“No, it’s not that, but...”

The secretary nodded in understanding. “I see. Then, iced coffee, perhaps?”

“That will be great. Thank you.”

The secretary smiled refreshingly, then exited the office.

Lee Hyeon-Su leaned back against his chair, causing it to creak noisily.

‘Gee whiz. This is unbelievable.’

Lee Hyeon-Su’s current location was “his” office right next to the Master’s. He heard that a previously empty space was converted especially for his exclusive use after he agreed to come here.

He never expected to be treated so generously. He wouldn’t have minded as long as his desk wasn’t in the middle of a corridor and his computer wasn’t a hopelessly outdated piece of junk.

But that wasn’t what was important right now.

No, what was important was that the Master guided Lee Hyeon-Su to this office, handed him stuff to finish until tomorrow, then headed elsewhere to start training with Wiggins.

Did Lee Hyeon-Su feel lonely after he got abandoned in a foreign country on the other side of the world? No, of course not.

He already expected something like this to happen, anyway. Besides, even if the Master of the Round Table offered more humane working conditions, Lee Hyeon-Su would have rejected them.

Why? Because Wiggins was in a race to extract as much knowledge from the Master. Every second the Master spent talking to Lee Hyeon-Su must've been eating Wiggins up inside.

Also, Lee Hyeon-Su wasn't hoping to be treated like some kind of nobility, anyway. Didn't he come here expecting to work like a damn slave? Rather than do a sloppy, half-hearted job, he'd rather go all in and do the best he could. That was his style, after all!

That was why he steeled himself to do just that, but this...

“Huh.”

Lee Hyeon-Su chuckled hollowly while looking at the monitor.

“So... You wanted me to wrap all this up by tomorrow?”

All this stuff? Really now?

People apparently would start trembling once their indignation got the better of them. Lee Hyeon-Su thought he could now understand why that was.

Creak...

The secretary cautiously opened the door and entered the office while carrying a cup of iced coffee.

Lee Hyeon-Su looked up at her and smiled. “Oh. Thank you.”

“It's my pleasure,” said the secretary with a warm smile. “I was told to make your stay as comfortable as possible. If you need anything else, please don’t hesitate to ask.”

“I-in that case, may I ask you a question?”

“Of course.”

“This workload... Is this how much the Master of the Round Table usually deals with every day?”

“Mm... Unfortunately, I can’t give you an affirmative answer. Accurately knowing such a thing would be overstepping my authority, after all.”

“Ah, I see. That’s true. I’m sorry, that was a dumb question.”

The secretary smiled back. And Lee Hyeon-Su couldn’t help but blush a little at the radiant smile of a blonde beauty.

“However, I did hear that the Master has handed over all the remaining work to you. Excluding those we can’t show to outsiders, of course.”

“Oh, I see...” Lee Hyeon-Su slowly nodded. “Thank you for that clarification.”

The secretary curiously asked, “Is the workload more than you thought?”

“Hahaha, well...”

“Please let me know if you need anything,” said the secretary.

Before she could leave, though, Lee Hyeon-Su urgently called out to her. “Oh, hold on. One more thing.”

“Yes?”

“What time does the Master start working in the morning? And when does he knock off for the day?”

“He usually starts at nine in the morning,” said the secretary while tilting her head a little. “And he stays in the office until eleven in the evening. Sometimes he also takes some of the work home if he wishes to deal with it privately.”

“Oh, I see... That long, huh.”

“His work hours have actually increased recently. Having said that, he has always been a hard worker, sir. Is there anything else you'd like to know about?”

“No, that will be all. Thank you.”

“Understood. Please call me if you need anything.” The secretary bowed smartly before exiting the office.

Lee Hyeon-Su dazedly stared at her before shifting his attention back to the computer screen. “Okay, so...”

This was what the Master of the Round Table had to deal with in a day’s work?

“This? Really?”

A frog living in a well only knew the world inside the well. It had to emerge into the world outside to realize how insignificant it was. But this... situation was a bit different from that.

“What the heck! How can you take the whole day for this?!”

A slave outside the well who got exploited within an inch of his life would not know how people of this world had it easy.

Lee Hyeon-Su was a man born to work. At this point in life, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say his life was basically a synonym for a grueling work schedule. But here he was, feeling enraged by the life lived by someone else.

That was because he... was finished. And now, he had nothing to do!

It had been only three hours since he entered this office, yet all the paperwork he was meant to finish before tomorrow... was already finished! Not only that, but perfectly finished, no less!

Wasn't this supposed to be the Master of the Round Table's usual workload?!

Lee Hyeon-Su’s mind was suddenly filled with the memories of the secretary’s expression when they first met.

‘She looked genuinely relieved, didn’t she?’

He wasn’t exaggerating, either!

Anyone could tell from her attitude that she was genuinely worried about the Master keeling over from too much work. ƒreeωebnovel.ƈom

Didn't she welcome him with one of the brightest, happiest smiles Lee Hyeon-Su had ever seen when she realized he came to share the Master's workload? Such was her enthusiasm that she didn't even ask about the background of this stranger from the East, either!

Could that mean...

“...This level of work is considered too much in this neck of the woods?”

This frog finally learned about the lives of other folks outside the well and couldn't stop his jaw from falling to the floor in dismay.

“You... You lazy ass European bastards?!”

This little work was too difficult to handle?! Seriously!

It wasn’t even worth mentioning Lee Hyeon-Su's workload as the Martial Assembly's top administrator. Back when he was enjoying a bit of a cushy professional life under Kim Seok-Il in the Yeongnam Group, didn't he handle the workload twice as intense as this?

To think someone like the Master of the Round Table would whine like a brat over something so... so little!

However, the Master couldn’t have been a lazy person. And his administrative skills couldn’t have been lackluster, either. Considering that, the only logical conclusion was...

“What kind of abuse have I been enduring until now?”

Tears suddenly began blurring his vision.

He looked back and quickly realized that he had never been conscious of how much work he dealt with on a daily basis. He never got formal training as an office worker, after all!

No, he was seen as a schemer, the brain of the operation, and that was what people trusted him for.

However, he couldn’t endure the boiling rage from watching people around him doing a crappy job and began mercilessly cracking the whip of nagging, eventually taking on the paperwork himself in the end. And the end result of that twisty road was him sitting in front of this computer in another country.

In other words, the final evolved form of the university group project leader was none other than Lee Hyeon-Su!

The problem here was that most projects had a clear goal, and the project leaders could compare their workload with their peers. But Lee Hyeon-Su had no one to compare how much work he had been doing until now.

That was why he always managed to pull through despite constantly whining about how abnormal his workload was. But now...!

Other people were busy using blades with super-sharp edges to slice through straws, while here was Lee Hyeon-Su, stupidly cutting through firewood with a wooden sword! How could he not feel aggrieved by this situation?

‘This... This is unfair!’

The Assembly had been treating him far too unfairly!

That was when the office door suddenly opened without a knock. The Master and Wiggins stepped inside, their faces full of smiles.

Even with his comparatively dull perception, Lee Hyeon-Su could still sense the fluctuations of energy emanating from these two men.

Outwardly, they seemed the same as earlier in the day. But Lee Hyeon-Su could tell that they must’ve been training intensely until now.

The Master grinned and asked Lee Hyeon-Su. “So, how is it? Can you manage the workload?”

Lee Hyeon-Su pouted slightly. “Manage what, sir? This?”

“Fufufu...! I'm sure it's not as easy as it looks. First of all, there is a language barrier to overcome. And you don’t know the situation in our organization, either. I know I shouldn't expect you to deal with a lot of work for us yet. So, take today's experience as a lesson for...”

“I’m already finished, sir.”

“Yes, indeed. It’s a lot of... Say what?”

The Master’s gently arching eyes suddenly opened as wide as saucers.

“Y-you are already finished?!”

“Yes, sir.”

“All that work? Really now?”

The Master’s expression grew confused, then urgent. This situation could only have been caused by one thing: unclear instructions.

Unclear instructions would lead to the worker doing a sloppy job. He might think he had done what he was supposed to, but he made the situation even worse by not following the correct procedures.

“H-hold on! Can you step away for a minute? I need to confirm something first.”

The Master hurriedly took over Lee Hyeon-Su's seat as the dread of potentially sleeping here tonight instead of his own bed washed over him.

However, Wiggins didn't seem to care much about the Master's sentiments. He relaxedly settled on an empty spot on the couch, then asked the secretary. “Can you bring us a cup of... No, please bring us a pot of tea. Thank you.”

The Master hurriedly scanned the documents.

“This is finished. Okay. And this one... is also good? Mm? And this one? Huh? ...Eh?”

He progressively grew quieter and quieter. On the other hand, the frequency of the mouse clicks sped up.

He rapidly clicked away like a man possessed and about to plunge himself into the computer monitor. Eventually, though, he stopped, and his dazed gaze drifted toward Lee Hyeon-Su next.

“You... actually finished all this?”

Wiggins smirked relaxedly. “You didn’t believe me, did you?”

“N-no, that’s not it. Rather than not believing you, I thought you were pulling my legs a bit. You can’t blame me for it, though! How could I have known that you knew a man capable of handling this much workload in such a short time?”

“Mister Lee is a transcendental being when it comes to this sort of office work, sir. It seems he has evolved into something ridiculous after being subjected to unmentionable working environments for too long. You could call him a walking, talking office work machine at this point!”

“Goodness me...!”

While listening to this exchange, Lee Hyeon-Su stared tearfully at the office ceiling.

‘Please don’t look at me like that, Master...’

Those were definitely not heartfelt words of praise, after all!

The more he listened, the more the feeling of something burning welled up in his chest.

It felt like he was a war orphan familiar with surviving on tree bark shavings getting adopted into an ordinary family and eating meat for the first time in his life!

“H-hang on a minute! Mister Lee, just what kind of work have you been doing in the Martial Assembly?” The Master urgently asked.

“Well, it’s a long story, but...”

Lee Hyeon-Su began explaining his life story as a look of sorrow filled his face. And when he was done...

The Master’s jaw fell. “Why have you been doing all that work by yourself?”

“...”

Lee Hyeon-Su wasn't sure where to begin. And he didn’t think they would have enough time to explain why of it all, either! The bigger problem, though, was that he might break down and start sobbing if he did start explaining why.

As a man, he couldn’t show such an unmanly side to others, no?

“Huh. Huhuhuhu...” The Master chuckled hollowly before getting up. He walked up and gently patted Lee Hyeon-Su on the shoulder. “Goodness me. I've experienced all sorts of things in my life and met many geniuses in various fields, but... Huhuhuh. I never thought I’d meet a genius of office work. I genuinely do not know what to say here.”

“...”

“This might be a good opportunity for you, Mister Lee. How about permanently transferring to the Round Table? I will make it worth your while! In fact, I’ll pay you so much that you might drown from all the wealth!”

Lee Hyeon-Su’s expression instantly brightened as he hopefully looked up at the Master. Unfortunately, what he heard next instantly sapped all energy from him and his shoulders slumped in dejection.

“My lord will have to agree to it first, Master. I’m pretty certain that it won’t happen, though,” said Wiggins.

The Master ruefully shook his head. “I see. How unfortunate. Truly so.”

The reward for working like a slave in an unfair and turbulent environment was the acknowledgment of esteemed strangers. Should Lee Hyeon-Su rejoice or despair at this?

He sighed deeply, then glanced at the Master. “Was that all? Or do you have more for me, sir?”

“No, that’ll be all for today. Thank you for your help. You don’t have to do anything for now, so get some rest until the end of the training. Do something fun to unwind, Mister Lee.”

“Something fun, sir?”

The Master noticed the weird look on Lee Hyeon-Su’s face and asked in confusion. “What’s the matter?”

“Just give me more work, sir.”

“I'm telling you, there is no more work for today,” said the Master while genially chuckling away. “Get some rest. Or have fun. Either is fine. Mister Lee, what do you do when you're off duty?”

“Off duty, sir?”

“Yes. Like during your vacations.”

“Vacations?” Lee Hyeon-Su began tilting his head in confusion. It wasn’t as if he didn’t know the meaning of the word, vacation, but more like he couldn’t quite remember what he did during his downtime.

The Master curiously asked, “...Mister Lee, when was the last time you had some time off?”

“At the beginning of this year... No, wait. Maybe it was last year?”

“...!” The Master’s voice grew more somber. “I, I see! Then, what about your hobby? Something you enjoy doing after knocking off work?”

“After work, I go to bed immediately.”

“Oh. Then, before you go to work...?”

Lee Hyeon-Su flatly replied, “I go to work right after waking up in the morning, sir.”

“H-how about when you take quick breaks during work hours? Something you’d do to destress yourself? Or to improve your moods?”

“I’m sorry?”

That was when the Master stopped talking altogether. Because he couldn't bring himself to ask anymore.

Just how long had it been since slavery was abolished? Yet he ran into a slave in the sacred halls of the Round Table.

A modern-day slave who didn't need to be chained up since he wasn't going anywhere! And one that voluntarily searched for more work even though no one ordered him to!

The Master gripped Lee Hyeon-Su’s shoulder even tighter. “Mister Lee... In that case, would you like to get some sleep?”

“...”

Even Wiggins couldn’t watch this anymore and turned his head away.

One of the saddest spectacles known to humankind was busy unfolding in the Round Table.