The Million Dollar Challenge
The end of the century — The Million Dollar Challenge!
Time Warner Nextcom is looking for stories worth a million dollars!
From movie scripts to webtoons, any original story is welcome to apply!
Could this become a new gateway for writers?
Exactly one week after Remington’s video conference, Time Warner Nextcom officially announced the launch of the Million Dollar Challenge. The news appeared not only on the company’s homepage but also across Time Warner’s television networks and in major articles splashed across newspapers and magazines.
Million Dollar Challenge. What a sexy name. Even media outlets that didn’t have particularly friendly relations with Time Warner Nextcom or ID Group ran the story. They had no choice. The total prize pool was one hundred million dollars.
It wasn’t just one work receiving a million dollars. They were selecting one hundred stories. Writers’ hearts couldn’t help but race. At the same time, ordinary people shook their heads at Yoo Jae-won for spending that much money on such a project. It was simply beyond common sense.
Even though the North American book publishing market was the largest in the world, many believed selecting a hundred works at a million dollars each was excessive. Some within Time Warner Nextcom and ID Group felt the same way. If Remington hadn’t known about the massive success Jae-won had achieved in Japan, he likely would have opposed it too. It was that big a decision.
“Even if we only land one massive hit like Harry Potter, it’ll more than pay for itself.”
On the other hand, Yoo Jae-won was brimming with confidence. The 21st century was the age of visual media. A single story that translated well to the screen could easily recoup a hundred million dollars. No — they had already done so. With the Harry Potter series.
The first book in the series, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, had been published in the UK last June, exactly as it had in his previous life. As a huge fan, Jae-won had known about it, but he hadn’t rushed over to pressure the author into signing a contract. The original author, Joanne Rowling, hadn’t finished the entire series yet and was still writing. Since Jae-won’s very existence created countless variables, he worried that meeting her too early might influence the original work.
He had thought it would be enough to participate as an investor when the Harry Potter series was adapted into films. But now he was being a bit more proactive. After all, he had merged with Time Warner. Warner Bros. under Time Warner was already moving forward with the film adaptation of Harry Potter.
However, the exclusive contract would only be signed after the first book, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, was also released in the United States. Only after confirming that American children were responding with explosive enthusiasm did they push for the deal. Naturally, Warner Bros. wasn’t the only film company that had spotted the potential. Competition was fierce and the price had risen sharply.
But this time was different. While promoting the Million Dollar Challenge, Jae-won confirmed that Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone had not yet been published in America. The U.S. release date was September 1st — there were still a month and several weeks left. Of course, the book had already been contracted with an American publisher. But they were still skeptical about its commercial prospects and hadn’t been particularly aggressive with marketing.
“This is the perfect time to swoop in and snatch it up!”
Even if Jae-won hadn’t intervened, Warner Bros. would have signed the film rights anyway. Still, he personally instructed Remington to move quickly and secure the contract. It wasn’t about saving money by acting first and avoiding competition. Quite the opposite. He planned to offer a substantial advance plus generous running guarantees, so the original author would receive far more compensation than in his previous life.
In exchange, if she signed for one million dollars, he intended to select Harry Potter as the very first work for the Million Dollar Challenge. Announcing Harry Potter as the first selected work would clearly signal the direction of the challenge and dramatically reduce the amount of effort Jae-won would need to spend reviewing submissions.
That effort mainly involved reading through the manuscripts of everyone who applied. Many writers would hear that the first selection was Harry Potter and assume their own work didn’t fit the challenge, causing them to drop out. While Jae-won was willing to select pure literary works if they were excellent enough, this small psychological barrier made for a perfect filter.
He planned to operate a separate evaluation panel for the challenge, but if a title caught his eye, he intended to read it himself. Of course, to save time, he had set up his email so that any work verified through his previous-life memories — like Harry Potter — would trigger an immediate alarm.
Submissions were accepted only via email, and applicants had to follow a specific format. The subject line, file format — everything was strictly regulated. Novels had to be submitted exclusively as IDW files, while webtoons had to use the universally compatible JPG format. The rules clearly stated that any submission failing to follow these guidelines would not be read at all.
The reason for such strict rules was the monitoring program that scanned email subject lines.
“Eragon would be good. The Chronicles of Narnia too. I’d love it if someone submitted the Dragon series as well.”
The titles Jae-won recited were all registered in the monitoring program. He had also registered the authors’ names, so if any of them submitted to the Million Dollar Challenge, an immediate alert would be sent to both his ID Talk and Tiffany’s phone.
Naturally, the existence of this monitoring program was a complete secret. Not even Tiffany or Yeong-sik could know about it. That was why the computer running the program wasn’t in ID Technology’s data center but on Jae-won’s personal machine. The best way to keep a secret was to run it only on a computer he could completely trust.
He double-checked all the settings he had prepared and confirmed that the monitoring program was working perfectly. Everything was operating normally.
“Hmm, shall we see how hot the response is?”
No ID Talk notifications had sounded yet, but he still logged into the dedicated Million Dollar Challenge email account. It had been less than an hour since the official announcement, but surely some people had already finished their manuscripts. Unlike Korean contest formats that required handing over all rights upon submission, this challenge carried far less burden. He was certain of that.
Jae-won immediately accessed Email.com and logged into the challenge’s submission account. What he saw made him certain this would be a massive success.
Unread Emails: 123
Already 123 emails had piled up. The number 123 itself felt like a good omen in many ways.
“Oh! The first email is from Korea!”
Although the challenge was centered in America, there were no regional restrictions. The genre fiction scene in Korea was still in its infancy, but its foundation was growing rapidly through the internet. As if to prove that point, the very first submission had come from a Korean writer.
But the remaining 122 emails were all in English.
“I hope we get a lot more from Korea too.”
With a modest wish that more writers would take on the challenge, Jae-won opened the first submission email. It was a fantasy novel titled Monster Super Long — a title so bizarre he couldn’t even imagine what the story might be about.
The next day.
Jae-won was in the middle of a voice call with Vincent Greenhill, president of ID Investment, who was still in Japan. Although the conquest of Japan had been completed, there was still plenty of cleanup work left. Moreover, Vincent had given him a new idea, so they had started the voice conversation to review it.
Of course, they were connected through a secure line. These days computer performance had improved so much that lag was almost imperceptible, and the audio was crystal clear.
“Worse than Doctor Doom?”
Doctor Doom was Vincent Greenhill’s nickname. Originally, it had been given mockingly by Wall Street elites because Vincent always presented bearish views whenever he met the press. But after the Nasdaq really collapsed and now the Nikkei had followed, the nickname Doctor Doom had taken on a terrifying new weight.
Vincent then briefly explained the current state of Japanese public opinion. It was simple. In Japan, the root of all evil was now considered to be Yoo Jae-won. The Japanese economy, which had seemed like it might recover slightly, had sunk for a second time due to internal contradictions. Jae-won had simply exploited those weaknesses. Yet somehow the narrative had been completely reversed in the Japanese media — claiming that Jae-won harbored a grudge against Japan and had deliberately destroyed its economy.
“Do Japanese people actually believe that?”
If the Japanese public had ever critically examined their media coverage, the country would never have fallen into its current state. Jae-won thought it might be best to avoid visiting Japan for the time being.
But Vincent wasn’t finished.
The conquest of Japan had been too risky to use other people’s money, but this incident had caused ID Investment’s past performance to be reexamined in Japan. The company operated with complete transparency, charged low fees, and delivered incredible returns. They had achieved several hundred percent gains — something unimaginable in Japan — and even their mutual funds, which allowed free deposits and withdrawals, had outperformed all the traditional Wall Street giants.
Compared to ID Investment, the funds from Goldman Sachs or JP Morgan looked no better than ordinary bank deposits. No matter how much ill will people felt, if they had spare cash, the difference was large enough to make them think, Maybe I should put some in.
Vincent explained that there were actually quite a few such people, and the amounts involved were substantial.
“Oh, in that case, open a few more branches of ID Investment in Japan.”
Expanding into every provincial city like they had in Korea would be too risky, but opening three or four branches in major cities like Tokyo and Osaka was manageable. They weren’t building factories. If business performance was poor, they could simply close them.
“Of course. You have more than enough authority to make that decision, President Greenhill.”
Opening a few branches was something Vincent could decide on his own.
“As expected, President Greenhill and I really are well-matched.”
“Yes! Thanks to the huge profits we made in Japan this time, I was already planning to significantly expand the scale of Shin-Nihon Investment Bank.”
Japan was in an oversold state. Although Jae-won was the one who had inflicted serious damage on the country’s national image and credit, it was still an undeniable fact. Some companies were practically being given away. Especially those that held core original technologies and possessed solid foundational capabilities. If they could be acquired, Jae-won believed now was the perfect time.
Vincent immediately agreed with Jae-won’s plan. The companies currently held under the name of Shin-Nihon Investment Bank were already generating steady profits. Jae-won’s insight had been thoroughly proven. If they used the astronomical funds earned in Japan to expand Shin-Nihon Investment Bank, ID Investment’s brilliant future in the 21st century would be guaranteed.
“Then I’ll send you the list. Go ahead and make contact. If necessary, don’t hesitate to pursue hostile M&A. We have more than enough ammunition.”
With those words, Jae-won sent Vincent Greenhill a list of promising Japanese companies. Reflecting Jae-won’s IT expertise, the list was centered on companies that held original technologies necessary for semiconductor production. But it wasn’t entirely predictable. A few unexpected names stood out.
Vincent noticed one immediately.
“Yes, it’s a fast fashion brand.”
The clothing sector, like agriculture, had a complicated distribution chain. A complex distribution chain also meant there was significant room to simplify it and dramatically increase margins. The development of internet shopping and fast fashion had progressed almost in parallel. That was why Jae-won planned to add Uniqlo and other fast fashion companies to ID Investment’s portfolio going forward.
After ending the voice call with Vincent Greenhill, Jae-won moved on to the next item on his agenda: checking the presentation for the VOD service, Next Music, and the portable device DAP. From the devices and systems to the venue interior, partner companies, and even the VIP invitations related to this business — although Jae-won hadn’t been able to pay close attention, thanks to the devoted efforts of the employees, every preparation was proceeding perfectly.
All that remained was to create a venue that would leave a powerful impression on people and deliver a spectacular presentation there. Naturally, delivering a historic presentation in front of the invited guests was, of course, Yoo Jae-won’s responsibility.