Chapter 175: Elevator Pitch (2)
Chapter 175: Elevator Pitch (2)
Quentin laughed heartily as if he were satisfied and rose from his seat.
“Hahaha! You always give me something to look forward to.”
Then he lightly patted my shoulder and threw me a wink.
“See you in LA.”
After Quentin left, I remained alone and thought some more.
Elevator pitch.
I had made it sound grand, but in truth, this was a gamble.
A gamble with high odds.
I slowly closed my eyes and recalled the rules of presentation from the memories of my past life.
An elevator pitch is fundamentally different from an ordinary presentation.
In a normal presentation, the other party is already prepared to listen to what I have to say.
They come having looked at the materials, having opened their ears, ready to be persuaded.
With that kind of audience, all I have to do is convince them through well-organized logic and evidence.
But an elevator pitch starts from a different premise.
It is an uncomfortable encounter.
It is not about sitting face to face in comfortable chairs at a table, but about using that fleeting moment while riding a cramped elevator.
The other party is not prepared to hear me out.
Yes, this is closer to an ambush than communication.
In an enclosed space where they cannot escape, I have to forcibly seize their attention.
In that one short minute or so, I have to strike a powerful spark into the mind of an indifferent opponent.
How?
I tapped the table lightly with my finger.
Three points.
First, make them understand properly.
Second, make it distinctive.
Third, make it concise.
Droning on with, “I’ve won these awards, and I’m good at English...” would be unbearably boring.
To begin with, it was not as though the other side would be unaware of that information.
Even so, they would come prepared with dozens of reasons why I should not be chosen, and with arguments to counter me.
In that case, rather than a hundred words, what I needed was a single intense stimulus.
Don’t try to explain it. Just show it.
It was an unspoken rule in advertising.
If you wanted to sell ramen, you did not explain how delicious it was.
You showed someone slurping it up with gusto.
That way, saliva gathered in the consumer’s mouth and naturally led to a purchase.
An opportunity like this won’t come again easily.
I stared quietly at the Check Mate script lying on the table.
A thick stack of pages.
A giant director like Quentin Marino had written a script with me marked as the lead.
“If I can’t capitalize on this, I deserve to drop dead.”
A few days later, in LA, Ryu Sunho stepped into the lobby of The Movie Pictures headquarters.
It was a scene overwhelming in grandeur, befitting the prestige of a major Hollywood studio.
The ceiling soared impossibly high, and the marble floor was smooth as a mirror.
But what dominated the eye most of all was the lobby wall.
From masterpieces that had swept the Academy Award for Best Picture to blockbusters that had smashed global box offices, dozens of posters born here stretched in a long line.
They’ve laid out their history in tedious detail. To intimidate people.
Ryu Sunho sensed it instinctively.
These glamorous posters were not there simply to boast.
They were closer to devices meant to place silent pressure on the countless actors, directors, and writers who came here.
In fact, several industry people passing through the lobby were walking with visibly diminished confidence.
As he watched boldly, Quentin arrived shortly after.
They exchanged brief greetings and were just about to head inside together when the security team suddenly blocked their way.
“One moment, please.”
The security staff member seemed to receive some instruction through his in-ear radio, then called Quentin aside.
“Director, this way please. We’ll escort you separately in the VIP elevator.”
With a polite gesture, the security staff member pointed Quentin toward the elevator on the right side of the lobby.
Quentin frowned and pointed at Ryu Sunho.
“Why? I’m going with him.”
“We apologize. Mr. Ryu Sunho requires a separate identity verification procedure, so we’ll guide him separately.”
Identity verification sounded nice enough.
In reality, they were openly trying to split them apart.
Just as Quentin was about to open his mouth to protest, Ryu Sunho signaled with his eyes that it was fine.
Quentin, though clearly uneasy, eventually disappeared into the VIP elevator as instructed.
Left alone, Ryu Sunho waited about five minutes.
Then a pale-faced white man approached him.
“Pleasure to meet you. I’m Michael, COO of The Movie Pictures.”
Michael greeted him in a dry voice.
There was no hand extended for a handshake.
He merely swept his gaze over Ryu Sunho from head to toe.
“It’s an honor to meet you. Please come to the executive elevator.”
There was not much of an honored look on his face.
It was blatant disdain.
They were sending Director Quentin up with VIP treatment, while summoning the actor through the back route to break his spirit.
It was an intentional move to make him keenly feel that, within this vast Hollywood system, an Asian actor was thoroughly the weaker party.
But a faint curve touched the corner of Ryu Sunho’s lips.
This actually works out better.
The original goal had been to ride the elevator alone with Michael from the start.
That was why, just before boarding, they had even planned a scenario where Quentin would pretend to have a stomachache and run off to the restroom.
Quentin bragged that he was confident in his acting, but...
I had worried his terrible acting might stick out.
So I could only be grateful that they were setting the stage for me first.
“Very well.”
Ryu Sunho followed behind Michael with easy composure.
Ding—
The elevator arrived at the first floor and the doors opened.
Michael stepped in first, and Ryu Sunho entered after him.
Soon, the heavy doors closed.
Thunk—
The noise of the lobby was cut off all at once.
All that remained was the low hum of the motor and a suffocating silence.
Michael folded his arms and deliberately fixed his gaze straight ahead.
He said nothing.
Silence made anxious people smaller.
Surely the Asian actor in front of him would be unable to bear the oppressive quiet and would start fidgeting or try awkwardly to speak first.
Just as expected, Ryu Sunho, like a shy Asian, merely stared blankly at his own reflection in the metal wall.
Ryu Sunho’s face was stiff and rigid.
Watching that from behind, Michael sneered inwardly.
He’s scared. This is going to be easy today.
Ding—
The floor indicator changed to 2.
At that moment—
......?
The atmosphere around Ryu Sunho changed in a strange way.
Ssshh—
The sound of him inhaling came unnaturally loud.
At the same time, his previously straight shoulders curled inward.
The firm muscles in his neck slackened helplessly, and his gaze began to wander through the air.
The sturdy adult man who had been standing there a moment ago was gone, replaced by the odd air of a child, green and anxious.
“Adults tell me I’m brave.”
His voice cracked with a youthful tone.
Michael furrowed his brow and looked at him.
“What did you say?”
Avoiding Michael’s eyes, Ryu Sunho looked down at the floor and muttered, “Because I only keep going forward.”
“Without ever looking back.”
His fingertips were trembling of their own accord.
It was the classic symptom of a child suffering from trauma.
“But the truth is...”
He slowly raised his head and looked at Michael.
Pure fear and sorrow shimmered in his eyes.
“It’s only because I don’t know how to run away...”
Michael’s heart dropped hard.
At first he wondered what on earth this man was suddenly talking about.
But for some reason, he could not look away.
What is this? Is he... doing a bit right now?
Then the word Pawn flashed through Michael’s mind.
The weakest piece.
The piece that could not retreat.
And then another line from Quentin’s synopsis and character description flickered past his memory.
[Pawn: the personality of a pure young child]
Michael swallowed hard.
No way... ?
Ding—
The indicator changed to 3.
The boyish face vanished from Ryu Sunho’s features.
This time, his eyes belonged to a cold and dogmatic adult.
Adjusting his tie, Ryu Sunho spoke neatly.
“I did not kill him.”
“......”
“You don’t say a chess piece was killed on the board, do you?”
He looked straight at Michael.
There was not the slightest wavering in that gaze, only fanatical conviction.
“You say it was captured. In other words, I merely arrested that bastard.”
A line flashed in Michael’s head.
It was dialogue from the script.
Bishop...
A moral justification wrapped in religious conviction.
Michael tightened his grip around the handle of his briefcase.
A chill began crawling up his spine.
Ding—
Fourth floor.
Ryu Sunho’s head tilted sideways with mechanical precision.
All emotion had been completely erased from his eyes.
He rapidly scanned the space inside the elevator.
“One camera. The angle is about here.”
Ryu Sunho flicked a glance at the CCTV camera in the ceiling corner.
Then his gaze dropped to the back of Michael’s neck.
“That’s the perfect blind spot.”
Ryu Sunho pointed at where Michael was standing.
Michael’s body flinched.
This was acting.
It had to be acting.
But that killing intent was real.
“At this level, even if something happened, no one would find out.”
[Rook: collecting information and concealing evidence]
Before Michael could even fully process that setting, the elevator kept moving.
Ding—
Fifth floor.
Ryu Sunho’s shoulders gave a slight twitch.
The tension in his body stretched taut like a rubber band.
A moment ago, it had been analysis.
Now it looked ready to erupt into action.
[Knight: unpredictable violence]
Without warning, Ryu Sunho lunged a step toward Michael.
The speed was threatening.
“Hh!”
Michael instinctively jerked backward, but his back had already hit the elevator wall.
Ryu Sunho thrust his face right up close to Michael’s.
“Even if you hide somewhere safe, I can break in instantly.”
He let out a low, crackling laugh.
Madness swam in his eyes.
Ding—
Sixth floor.
In an instant, all the strength flowed out of Ryu Sunho’s body.
The aggressive momentum vanished like smoke, and in its place came soft, elegant gestures.
“I understand your situation perfectly.”
He spoke gently and smiled faintly.
With the easy poise of someone who saw through everything.
“You can’t make this decision easily because of the risk.”
He traced an invisible chessboard in the air with his finger.
Then he looked into Michael’s eyes and whispered, “Even so, your choice is the worst possible one. Because, crushed by risk, you chose avoidance.”
[Queen: the personality closest to the King. The front personality that communicates with the outside world and competes in chess tournaments]
Michael’s eyes filled with shock.
The personalities that had existed only as text in the script were now peeling over the same skin in short intervals right in front of him.
Michael could not even part his lips. He only thought inwardly, On the next floor... what will come?
Ding—
【7】
Michael swallowed.
His anticipation soared all the way to the crown of his head.
So far he’s shown Pawn, Bishop, Rook, Knight, and Queen... now it’s the King’s turn.
The existence that ruled all the other personalities.
The absolute sovereign, the only one who remembered and controlled everything.
How would the King, who radiated insane charisma in the script, unfold in reality?
Ryu Sunho slowly closed his eyes, then opened them.
His gaze sank deep and heavy.
Just as he was about to open his mouth—
Thunk—
The elevator doors flew open.
“...What the hell!”
Michael unconsciously reached out as if to grab the door.
Who on earth interrupted at the most important moment—!
In his fluster, he realized it immediately.
No one had stopped the elevator...
They had simply reached the destination: the seventh floor.
The traces of the previous personalities vanished completely from Ryu Sunho’s face.
The real Ryu Sunho returned, then looked at the blankly standing Michael and smiled politely.
“We’re here. Let’s go.”
Ryu Sunho stepped out of the elevator without a trace of lingering attachment.
Michael stared at his back as though someone had struck the back of his head hard.
What kind of... impossible thing was that...
What kind of person suddenly performed like that in an elevator?
But there was something even more horrifying and astonishing.
The fact that, right now...
I’m going crazy because I didn’t get to see the King...
His unconditional opposition to Ryu Sunho.
The many arguments and prejudices he had prepared to justify that opposition.
But now, they were being shaken violently.