This Company Is Weird
As I went ahead and pulled the trigger whenever the right idea struck me, I’d be lying if I said the whole thing wasn’t a little slapdash.
The company was no different.
“I look forward to working with you. My name is Song Hoon.”
The office occupied the entire top floor of a building in Gangnam, yet there were so few people inside that it almost felt empty.
There were six teams in all: the Investment Analysis Team, the Project Management Team, the Legal and Contracts Team, the Finance and Accounting Team, the Business Development Team, and the Marketing and PR Team.
The total headcount was around twenty.
Everyone had been hired from a previously bankrupt private equity firm.
They all still looked dazed. Only a little while ago, their company had collapsed, and they’d been scrambling to figure out where they were supposed to go next.
“Well, there won’t be much difference. You’ll be doing the same work you did at your old company. Same positions, same salaries.”
Song Hoon smiled faintly and raised a finger.
“The one difference I can promise you is this: if we succeed, I’ll make sure the returns are shared with all of you.”
He knew better than anyone what employees wanted most.
“This company is weird.”
When Song Hoon went into the conference room to hold a separate meeting with the executives and team leaders, the employees who’d come in half suspiciously gathered in little clusters to trade impressions of their new company.
“Weird how?”
“There are three company cars here. Two BMW 5 Series and one Mercedes.”
“What’s weird about that?”
“They said the BMWs are for staff use and the Mercedes is for team leaders and above.”
“They’re driving foreign cars...?”
Wasn’t it normal at their old company to commute in your own car?
And yet they had two business vehicles? Not even three, but 5 Series?
“And then there’s this building.”
“Isn’t the rent crazy expensive? But it’s just us on this huge floor, and it looks like they recently renovated too. The monthly rent alone has to be in the tens of millions.”
“That’s not the issue... this building belongs to us.”
“What? This building? It’s right in front of the station, and the floors...?”
“At least 100 billion won.”
“What the hell...!”
“And the boss’s office is in Signature Tower... the penthouse.”
“He was alone here before we got here.”
“The boss owns 100 percent of the company. The funding, everything, all of it.”
No wonder it had felt strange. With so few employees, why were they using an entire floor like this?
And the building belonged to the company.
“U-um... I’ve got one too.”
One of the finance team employees cautiously raised a hand.
“There’s over 500 billion won left in the account.”
“O... over 500 billion?”
“Yes. Pure company cash. Just 500 billion won sitting there.”
Insane funding.
Five hundred billion. The previous company had barely been worth a few tens of billions.
“All right! Team meetings by department!”
After a brief meeting, the executives led their teams off to their separate conferences.
What came out of those meetings was simple.
They specialized in investing in content such as films, dramas, and variety shows.
Every investment decision went through the boss.
They would continue managing the first-round investments already made before the employees arrived.
There were also plans to invest in, or even acquire, outsourced production companies.
Don’t get intimidated; go out through a variety of sales channels and bring back anything worth investing in.
“U-um... is that really true?”
“All of it. That was just the meeting summary, and the other teams got the exact same message.”
The direction was a little octopus-like, reaching in too many directions at once, but after hearing that the company had over 500 billion won in capital, everyone just nodded.
“And those business vehicles...”
“Congratulations. That part’s real too. If your department needs one, just fill out a company car request form.”
“Uh, so, basically... we’re all just like Song Hoon’s personal assistants?”
“Well... if you want to put it simply, sure. We look for investments. If they’re approved, we invest. We get paid. We get bonuses. Simple, right?”
It looked like they really had come to a very strange company.
At the very least, they probably didn’t need to worry about their pay being stolen.
A slightly strange company.
***
“Phew, maybe things will start running on their own now.”
Song Hoon shook his head and headed back to Cheongdam.
Company management? Wasn’t it enough to decide the important things?
Besides, company management was ultimately just another means to have more sex.
If I have more sex and earn more Dice Points, that helps the company too.
Money? Honestly, he didn’t care all that much. From the beginning, he’d never once imagined himself losing money on an investment.
As long as I have Dice Points, I can’t fail at investing. Ever.
After parking in the underground lot and heading up to the first floor, the usual security guards bowed at ninety degrees.
“Good afternoon, boss.”
“Yes. Hello. Lovely afternoon, isn’t it?”
“Where are you headed?”
“Oh, nothing much. I’m expecting something to arrive. Ah... there it is now.”
Far off in the distance, two huge transport trucks approached the front of the apartment complex.
“A supercar...?”
The logo stamped on the vehicle looked so forceful it made his mouth drop open.
Was that what a real rich person’s life looked like?
As the Ferrari was unloaded from the transport truck, Song Hoon deliberately left both car doors open while he signed the paperwork.
“Feel free to take a look. While I’m parking the other one.”
“Th-thank you! Boss!”
Even the guards, stunned by the sight, hurriedly pulled out their phones.
“Technically, you’d be protecting a resident’s property while I park the other car.”
“Of course!”
Vroom—
With a deafening growl that made his ears ring, he slowly guided the car into the entrance of the underground sky garage.
He drove the vehicle onto the car lift and entered the floor number, and then the whole car began to rise slowly.
“Not bad.”
It was a truly spectacular view. Even as the car ascended, nothing blocked his sight, and compared to a normal elevator, the lift moved steadily, leisurely, toward its destination.
Dong—
When the elevator reached its destination, the platform supporting the car slid smoothly back into place.
“Damn... now that’s a picture. A picture itself.”
It was only a sports car, and only one at that, but parked in the sky garage, it made the whole atmosphere come alive.
I should fill it up.
Once the Lamborghini and Porsche he’d ordered arrived, if he packed the garage full with four cars total, wouldn’t it become a masterpiece all on its own?
When he rode back down to the first floor, the employees were already snapping photo after photo with the Ferrari in the background.
Their faces were blooming with smiles.
Well, of course they were. It wasn’t just any imported car; it was a Ferrari.
“I’m heading out now~”
“Yes, sir! Take care, boss!”
Right. Fewer enemies were better, and more allies were better.
At least after the elevator incident last time, it looked like he wouldn’t have to worry about his reputation inside the apartment complex.
***
Song Hoon’s eyes gleamed as he watched the filming in progress.
“Fascinating.”
He couldn’t visit every one of the dozen-odd sets he’d invested in during the first round, so he’d chosen to come to the set of Whispers of the Stars, the project with the highest chance of success.
It had barely been a week since filming began after his investment, but the production was already moving into the middle and later stages.
“Usually the filming period depends on the scale of the movie. Projects with overseas location shoots can take months. Short indie films usually wrap within a month, assuming the schedule lines up.”
He nodded at the marketing and PR staff member who’d come along to the set.
“I see. So that’s how it works.”
“I heard they’ll be shooting late into the night today. Apparently this is one of the key scenes in the film.”
Everything was just fascinating. In his life, how often had he ever come to a movie set? And how often would he ever get to see the process this closely?
Like a proper youth film, the students in their school uniforms were clustered together, giggling and chattering away.
Meanwhile, the staff were running around busily, pushing the set along so the shoot could start and end as quickly as possible.
It was, quite literally, a scene alive with energy.
“Investor-nim has arrived!”
He had only been casually looking around the set from a distance when Kim Gwangsik suddenly came sprinting over, bowing so deeply his upper body folded like a desk, a smile plastered across his face.
“Yesss~ Long time no see. How’s the filming going?”
“Very well, indeed.”
The eyes of the people who’d thought of him as nothing more than a contact at an investment partner company went round with surprise.
“Ah, g-good afternoon!”
The staff and actors gathered together all bowed at once, and Song Hoon scratched his head awkwardly.
“I hope I’m not causing trouble by coming here.”
“No, no, not at all. We haven’t even started filming for today yet.”
“I figured it’d be rude to invest and then never show my face.”
Following the staff member’s guidance, Song Hoon turned his head.
Vroom—
Two box trucks rolled into the unpaved parking area and settled into place.
“Ah, huh?”
As the doors swung open and the contents inside became visible, smiles bloomed across the faces of everyone on set, staff and actors alike.
“Whoa! It’s a meal truck!”
They’d heard that dinner would just be boxed lunches because filming would run late into the night, so they’d been worried—but now a meal truck had appeared out of nowhere.
“C-coffee truck!”
This time, cheers broke out among the staff.
After all, caffeine was the greatest form of support for office workers, wasn’t it?
“We’ll begin filming!”
Before long, the set had been cleared, and once shooting started, Song Hoon held his breath and looked beyond the camera at what lay just out of frame.
“Camera?”
“Rolling!”
“Action!”
At Kim Gwangsik’s cue—
“Th-the universe. H-has no sound. It’s... v-vacuum.”
The female lead spoke in a clumsy, halting stammer.
As she spoke, her hands moved naturally.
Sign language.
“So... I... like... the universe.”
She took the man’s hand and carefully placed it atop the telescope.
“Stars. D-don’t need sound. They tell stories... w-with light.”
Stumble, stumble.
Even holding the conversation seemed difficult for her.
Gradually, the words faded away, and the conversation continued through their hands instead.
A brief silence.
“Cut!”
It was a very short scene, perhaps one that might not even amount to a full minute in a two-hour film.
But Song Hoon somehow felt like he understood why this movie had such a high chance of success.