Chapter 117
Chapter 117
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 117
Chapter Title: A Million-Won Wager
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At CEO Park Jae-yong’s summons, we all headed to his office.
Inside, the Director, Manager Ji, and Team Leader Lee were watching a TV commercial with the CEO.
Except for the Director, everyone wore a grim expression.
“Manager Ji… search for it on YouTube. See if it’s there.”
“Yes… it is.”
Manager Ji searched for something on YouTube and connected it to the monitor. It seemed to be the same commercial that had just aired on TV.
Se-yeon, shopping with a luxury bag.
Mi-ji, emerging from a salon, her hair shimmering.
Perry, sitting in a high-end restaurant, enjoying steak and wine.
Ra-mi, pulling a suitcase into a luxurious room with an ocean view.
[Get 30% back on my card! Smart savings amid high prices! Your Girl is with you!]
It was the point card commercial that had been offered to Answer.
“It’s Your Girl.”
“Damn it… Your Girl snatched up what was originally Answer’s. All because you opposed it. Ugh.”
Team Leader Lee scowled, his words laced with blame, but no one stopped him.
“Team Leader Min. Did we make a huge mistake?”
Manager Ji asked, his face sour.
“Pfft…”
A laugh escaped me before I could stop it.
“Hahaha!”
“…Are you crazy?”
Everyone stared at me, dumbfounded.
“So this commercial went to Your Girl. That’s amazing.”
“…He’s lost his mind.”
Team Leader Lee muttered in disbelief.
“Team Leader Lee.”
“What?”
“Want to make a bet with me?”
“What would you and I bet on?”
“That this ad will be the ruin of Your Girl within a month. A million won.”
“…That’s completely out of left field. The deal that was supposed to come to Answer went to Your Girl because you threw a fit, so what are you…”
“Exactly. You’re saying you don’t trust me right now. So let’s make a bet. One million won. Deal?”
Perhaps it was my overflowing confidence, but everyone fell silent. It was Team Leader Lee who now looked uncomfortable.
“I guess a million won is a lot for a salaried man. Let’s make it five hundred thousand.”
“…Fine! Let’s do it. One million won… Today’s the 27th, so by the 27th of next month. And don’t you dare try to claim they’re ruined just because their music show rankings drop a little. I’ll kill you.”
This time, I was going to put Team Leader Lee in his place for good.
⋮
News of my million-won bet with Team Leader Lee spread through JD Enter in an instant.
“Hmm… I wouldn’t blame you even if that ad wasn’t a scam, Oppa. You turned it down because you were worried about us, right?”
“I hope it really is a scam like you said, Oppa, and Your Girl hits rock bottom.”
“I agree.”
After Yi-na and Seul-bi, even Ro-si voiced her agreement.
Come to think of it, the article Reporter Shin Dong-min mentioned about the point card company had been delayed by about a week.
I immediately called him.
-Ah! I was just about to call you!
Was it a habit of reporters? The thing I heard most often from Shin Dong-min was that he was just about to call.
“Hello, Reporter Shin. It’s about the point card from last time…”
-Yes, yes! I was using my police contacts to dig up information and got caught red-handed.
“Ah… so does that mean?”
-The police have asked for an embargo so they can collect evidence.
“Oh… I was worried about something else.”
-Right, right. It’s not like they’re going anywhere. The embargo lifts next week… about ten days from now. It’s until 6 PM, so it’ll be front-page news on the 7 o’clock broadcast.
That was even better. It would be right before the *Best Idol* special live broadcast. The image of Your Girl, who shot a scam ad instead of Answer, would plummet. The viewer votes would be so overwhelmingly in our favor that no one would even think of rigging them.
“That’s a relief, Reporter Shin.”
-I’ll definitely treat you to a big meal this time. Please make some time, even if you’re busy.
“Understood. I’ll be looking forward to the exclusive.”
When I hung up, the members of Answer looked at me, their eyes sparkling with curiosity.
“Why are you so happy?”
“Are you sure you’re going to win that million won?”
“Don’t worry about it. Just focus on signing the debut anniversary merch. You know the music video shoot starts this afternoon, right?”
***
“Make sure you take good care of them at the music video shoot.”
“Huh? You’re not coming, Hyung?”
“I’m swamped. I have a meeting with Rhythm Saber.”
“What? The VR game company?”
“Yeah. They want us to create a map. I’m going to try to negotiate a deal for Answer’s entire new album as a DLC.”
“No way! Seriously, Hyung! How are you so well-connected?”
“It’s not about connections. Skill and effort are what expand your boundaries.”
“…Wow… Hyung, lately you’re…”
“Obnoxious?”
“…A little. Ah! Kidding, kidding! You know I’m joking.”
Choi Yoo-jun scurried away playfully like a child.
“Good luck!”
“You too! I’ll be pulling an all-nighter, so catch some sleep whenever you can.”
After sending Choi Yoo-jun off, I went down to the parking garage with CEO Park Jae-yong.
“Are you really going to win that million won?”
“Of course.”
“Min-jun, honestly, I’m in a tough spot no matter who wins. Of course, I want you to win since you’re like a little brother to me, but Team Leader Lee…”
I actually preferred CEO Park Jae-yong’s frankness. He might be a bit of a fool, but he didn't seem like the type to stab me in the back.
“If I keep doing well, I’ll have to be promoted, right?”
“Hey. That’s a given. You’ll become a manager, and huh? If you do even better… what’s to stop me from making you an executive director? But why do you ask?”
Why was he stuttering?
“Team Leader Lee needs to be mentally prepared to work under me, don’t you think? If he can’t, then he should leave.”
“Huh?”
CEO Park Jae-yong blinked, then let out a small laugh as he realized I was already taming Team Leader Lee.
“Fine, why not. If you’re right, Min-jun, then that card commercial going to Your Girl might just be a blessing in disguise. Phew…”
Then why was he sighing?
In the passenger seat, the CEO’s mouth stretched into a wide grin as he read an article about Answer.
“Anyway, our Answer is absolutely top-tier. They totally dominated that pilot program, didn’t they?”
He loved using teen slang, but that old-fashioned speech pattern that slipped out from time to time… it was so grating.
“That ‘…didn’t they?’ thing… young people absolutely hate that way of talking.”
“Huh? What’s wrong with it? It rolls right off the tongue.”
Didn’t I tell him this at the seafood restaurant before?
“…”
“…Fine, I won’t use it. I’m trendy, after all. We K-pop makers who must lead the trends… have to be like that.”
It seemed he couldn’t think of a way to finish his sentence.
“Anyway, it must have been tough to edit and air that show in just a few days…”
“Someone must have been worked to the bone with no sleep…”
“Right. And you and Seol-ah on the news! Man, I was eating with Director Lee when that story suddenly came on the restaurant TV. I got all teary-eyed, and everyone in the restaurant started clapping. I even bought a round of beer for everyone there. Phew, I’m really experiencing all sorts of things thanks to you.”
After listening to CEO Park Jae-yong’s chatter for a while, we arrived at our destination.
We parked in the garage of a massive, modern building in Pangyo that had a strangely balanced design, then walked to the main building.
A testament to the countless offices it housed, a long list of company nameplates lined the entrance. Seeing the empty spaces between some of them, the thought that business was not easy crossed my mind.
The eyes of the many office workers walking by focused on us. The CEO flashed a cheerful smile and nodded at them.
He had lived as a celebrity for decades, yet he never seemed to tire of the attention.
“You still seem to enjoy the attention, CEO.”
“Min-jun, you know, I believe that you shouldn’t change who you are from beginning to end. If I get a little popular, gain a little social status, and my neck gets all stiff…”
I had forgotten about our CEO’s tendency to be a chatterbox.
“CEO Park Jae-yong!”
Fortunately, his speech was cut short by the Korean branch manager of Rhythm Company, a man in his forties with whom we had the meeting.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m quite surprised to learn that the map maker was working with you, CEO Park.”
“Hahaha! I have a good eye for people!”
Thanks to CEO Park Jae-yong's banter, the atmosphere was bright even before the meeting began.
We were guided to an office on the fifth floor.
Though it was grandly called the Korean branch, it wasn’t particularly large, consisting of about a dozen office workers and five or six technicians who seemed to handle maintenance and repairs.
“…Does Rhythm Company also handle device repairs?”
“Haha. In fact, you could say we released the VR device because of Rhythm Saber. Rhythm Company and Metaverse Company are affiliated. Both have similar shareholder structures.”
No wonder they were so confident for a mere software company.
“The company’s rapid growth has been very fortunate for me. We’re severely understaffed.”
“I can certainly see that. I recently bought one myself, and the potential for growth is endless.”
CEO Park Jae-yong and the branch manager exchanged pleasantries.
“Hahaha. Thanks to that, I’ve hit the jackpot. It may be called the Korean branch, but it’s basically just a service center.”
No matter how short-staffed they were, they wouldn’t send a simple service center manager to an important contract meeting.
This man must have some pull.
After some idle chatter, we got down to business.
I handed him the proposal I had prepared.
“…So… you’re proposing to release Answer’s entire upcoming album as a DLC bundle?”
The branch manager’s expression turned somewhat bitter.
He couldn’t have liked my strategy of promoting Answer while also making money.
“…We were thinking of map-making for popular K-pop songs with easy choreography. We believed that would be better for retargeting. For example, songs from Fire Emblem, which is doing very well right now…”
“Ah, may I say something about that?”
CEO Park Jae-yong, who had been listening quietly, gently interjected.
“The music service for rhythm games like this is different from typical streaming or downloading, so a standard model hasn’t been established yet.”
“That’s true.”
“A standard will emerge eventually, but until then, we have to negotiate individually, which takes a very long time. The association is separate, the singer is separate, the performers are separate, and who knows who else… But as the producer who oversees everything at my company, I, CEO Park Jae-yong, have already completed all negotiations, starting with the association.”
“Oh? Already? That’s certainly an advantage.”
“Yes. The great strength is that legal commercial use is possible as soon as the map is created. Isn’t trendiness born from speed?”
The CEO’s words seemed to be helping, at least a little.
“Hmm… you have a point. But even so, creating an entire album is a bit… The reality is that for most albums, only one or two title tracks are any good, isn’t it?”
I came prepared for that.
“Do you happen to have a speaker we could use to listen to a demo?”
“Of course.”
I played the demo tracks of Answer’s album from my phone.
As the seven tracks, each edited from the verse to the first chorus, played one after another, the forty-something man’s expression grew increasingly favorable.
“A fun and cheerful sound with an anime OST style to capture the teens. An EDM sound that makes you feel like you’re in a club, targeting those in their twenties and thirties. Retro disco and pop to appeal to those in their forties and older. All seven songs are perfect for creating Rhythm Saber maps.”
He nodded at my business-like tone, and I delivered my final line.
“I am confident that these will be the maps to draw back lapsed users who have grown tired of the original maps and attract stagnant new buyers.”
“…The beat and atmosphere of the songs are definitely a good fit. You’re very young, map maker… but you have a high understanding of retargeting.”
I didn’t fully understand what he meant by “retargeting,” but it was clearly a good thing.
However, despite his favorable words, the branch manager looked very troubled. It seemed he was in a difficult position, as my proposal differed from the head office’s suggestion of focusing on hit songs.
Well then, I’ll just have to solve that for him, too.