Finding a Production Company

Tadak— tadadadak—

"Orabeoni~♡"

Lee Harin had been watching me write the script for a good while without a word. Then, out of nowhere, she called to me in a soft, coaxing voice thick with aegyo.

"Fuck! Have you lost your mind?! Why are you suddenly like this?"

A chill shot up my spine, and the curse leapt out of me before I could stop it.

"Come on, what are you talking about, Orabeoni? I've always been like this~"

"Yeah, sure. You do go off the rails like a crazy bitch every now and then."

"What! You son of a— ah, no. I think our dear Orabeoni might be under a little misunderstanding."

"...Seriously, what's wrong with you. You're actually starting to scare me."

I'd cursed her, and she didn't even hit back. She put on that nasal little voice instead, and a sudden fear crawled over ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠me. I stopped writing and eased my chair back, putting a bit of distance between us.

"This."

"...Huh?"

Still smiling, Lee Harin flicked a finger toward the laptop where the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠script was open.

"This script you wrote. It really made the final round, right?"

"Yeah... here, look. A KakaoTalk came in a little while ago saying it got through."

She was pointing at the script as she asked, so I made a sour face, turned on the phone lying on the desk, and showed her the message that I'd passed into the final screening.

"That's my oppa! I knew it. I always knew you'd pull off something huge someday! To think a talent like this was born into our family—the ancestors in their graves would leap up and tap-dance, they'd be so happy!"

The moment she saw the message, Lee Harin broke into a smile so bright it was suspicious and started pouring bizarre praise all over me.

She went quiet all of a sudden. She must've been reading the script I was writing.

I was starting to understand why she was acting like this, and I spat a curse at her, dumbfounded.

"Crazy bitch."

"You piece of sh— no. Dear writer, has this unworthy little sister done something to make you uncomfortable...?"

For a second my cursing nearly ripped that paper-thin mask clean off her. She forced it back down, kept the smile in place, and asked me anyway.

Wow... she really is ruthless. How do you hear yourself get cursed out and still hold it in?

"Enough. Just spit it out. You've got something you want to say."

"Well... looking at the script, the female lead's a pretty charming character, isn't she?"

"Of course she is. She's the heroine of this drama. So?"

"Um... that female lead, I mean..."

From the look of it, Lee Harin had found the piece pretty fun too. The girl who usually said whatever came into her head, sayable or not, was hemming and hawing like that.

Well, yeah. When you don't even know if you'll debut and a golden lifeline drops right in front of you, of course you want to grab it. Skill or blood ties, either way.

"Maybe, for me..."

"Mmm~ No."

I cut her off mid-request, while she was still hesitating, and told her flatly it wasn't happening.

"I wasn't even finished."

"What's left to hear? You want to play the female lead in this drama."

"Yeah."

"Do you happen to own a thing called a conscience?"

She nodded without a shred of hesitation, agreeing on the spot, and I stared at her through half-lidded eyes.

"Whyyy~ You're my oppa, and you can't even do this much for me!"

The moment I asked whether she had a conscience, that paper-thin mask finally came off and her true colors showed.

"Of course I can't! I don't even know if I'll win, and even if I do, what kind of pull does a rookie writer have to push anybody!"

"...That's true, but I heard writers have a lot of say in dramas."

"Haa... Fine. Say I win the contest and recommend you as the female lead. You've never practiced acting once in your life. You really think you could pull it off?"

She wouldn't give up, stringing together excuses she'd picked up somewhere, and a deep sigh came out of me on its own. In the end I laid the practical problem in front of her.

"..."

"You couldn't. And honestly, don't you feel even a little bad about all that idol prep? You said you're close with the members. You really okay stabbing them in the back like this?"

Once I pointed out how things actually worked, she couldn't say a word, so I drove the last nail in.

"No, sorry. Oppa, I must've lost it for a second."

"It's fine. You were crazy to begin with, so that's normal. And if I actually get a foothold off this drama, ask me to introduce you to a composer or a producer instead. Not that I'd say yes."

"Why?! You could at least do that much!"

"Have I ever just granted you a favor? Anyway, I'm stepping out, so sort your own lunch."

If I stayed home, Lee Harin would keep interrupting and I wouldn't get another line written. I saved the script and started packing the laptop.

"What?! You can't even do that much for your one and only little sister!"

"Mmm~ I can't. All right, I'll be back in a bit!"

"Hey, you fucker! Just get lost! Don't ever show your face in front of me again!!!"

I changed clothes, grabbed the laptop, let the cursing at my back go in one ear and out the other, and quietly shut the door behind me.

Once I was outside, I headed for the Starpucks near home to finish what was left of the script.

Tadak— tadadadak—

I went in, ordered an iced Americano, opened the laptop, and picked up part three where I'd left off.

"...Done. Now I just have to submit it."

Around the time lunch was winding down, I managed to finish parts two and three of The One Forgotten from Memory.

I knocked back what was left of the iced Americano—the ice long melted, nothing but coffee—and emailed the two parts I'd just written to Mir Studio.

"How the hell did it end up like this?"

I'd never even dreamed of being a writer. I'd just submitted a script without thinking, because the System told me to. But the moment the text came in saying I'd actually made the finalist list, that fifty-million-won prize started shimmering in front of my eyes, and greed kicked in.

Ding!

I was sunk in those thoughts when a familiar chime rang and a message appeared, telling me I'd cleared the tutorial quest.

"Right—why does any of that matter? If I'm having fun, that's enough!"

The reward popped up alongside the completion message. I forgot the brooding ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I'd been doing a moment ago and used it on the spot.

"It's a decent skill, but the effect's vague. Shame."

The grade was low and the effect fuzzy, but I was satisfied enough.

"Script's submitted, so now what? Go home and my sister's obviously going to lose her shit."

After reading through the effect of Seductive Pheromones (C) and closing the System, I leaned back in the café chair and wondered what to do next.

I'm already out. Might as well look for a production company. I've got the Compass of Fate, so I'm not about to get scammed.

Deciding to find one today while I was out, I picked up the empty cup and headed for the counter.

"I can leave the cup here, right?"

"Yes! Leave it there and I'll clear it."

The moment I set the cup down, the employee—usually lukewarm at best—flushed a little and smiled. And unlike before, she waited on me eagerly.

Being handsome really is the best!

"Yeah, thanks."

"Not at all. It's my job."

Watching her, if I asked for her number she'd probably hand it over on the spot...

She was smiling and treating me so kindly that I briefly wondered whether to sweet-talk her.

Nah. She's all right, but unless it's a one-night thing, her face and her figure are both worse than my sister's. No reason to bother meeting her.

After sleeping with Lee Harin last night, the minimum my standards would accept had been set to her.

"Well then, take care."

The moment Lee Harin came to mind—better face, better body than the girl behind the counter—any thought of hitting on her vanished.

I decided to just leave, told the employee to take care, and started for the door.

"Thank you, have a nice day!"

Her goodbye followed me out, and I stepped outside.

"Should I use it right away?"

I took the Compass of Fate out of my inventory, and the instant I thought that I wanted to find a production company to belong to, the compass cracked and crumbled into powder.

The powder gathered in the air, clumped into a golden arrow, and pointed in a single direction, as if showing me where I had to go.

"Oh. So this is how it points the way."

I glanced around at the golden arrow hanging in the air. Nobody paid it any mind. They just walked past.

Apparently I was the only one who could see it.

"Wonder what kind of place it's leading me to~"

With a flutter of excitement over wherever that arrow was pointing, I started walking in the direction it showed.

A short while later.

I followed the golden arrow, transferring through the subway and whatever else would carry me, and at the end of it I arrived at a rather shabby five-story building in Suwon.

More precisely, a sign reading SW Production hung on an office on the third floor.

"Is this really the place?"

Standing in front of a building where I couldn't see a single ant, let alone anyone who worked in the industry, I doubted for the first time whether the System had made a mistake.

But the System answered as if to say this was correct: an arrival message, and the golden arrow that had been pointing at the building vanished.

I stared for a moment at the building with the SW Production sign. Then, just in case, I searched the name on my phone to see whether there was a posting recruiting rookie writers.

"There is a posting, at least... even if it went up a while ago."

The search turned up an old notice looking for a rookie writer. They still hadn't taken it down, so it seemed they were still looking.

"Hoo... nothing for it. Let's go in. I used an SSS-grade item to get all the way here. No way I'm getting scammed, right?"

I tamped down the unease and walked into the building where SW Production waited.