Chapter 152
Chapter 152
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 152
Chapter Title: Crisis and Opportunity
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Chapter 152.
“Heh… Heheh… Six billion in three days. Out of the blue?”
Unlike the CEO or the director, President Gu was skeptical. He had a favorable impression of me, but with no basis to judge my trustworthiness, his reaction was only natural.
“The amount I can guarantee within three days is six billion won. If I’m given a little more time, I can make it nine billion.”
Silence fell at my words.
I spoke with confidence, but inwardly, I was already thinking of ways to come up with the additional three billion, a slight worry gnawing at me.
If Answer succeeds, I’ll have no reason to stay at JD Enter. In truth, if it weren’t for this quest to make Answer a massive success—a quest my life might depend on—I wouldn’t need to be here at all. As for Gyeon Sang-jin, I could get my revenge whenever I was ready, no matter where I was.
For me, someone already dreaming of establishing my own agency, this was a golden opportunity I had to seize.
Saying I wanted to establish an agency was one thing. But a startup built from absolute scratch and JD Enter, which had at least a minimal infrastructure despite being on the brink of failure, were fundamentally different.
I was slowly realizing that even a god like me couldn't handle all the work of a dozen people, from the lowest-ranking staff to the top executives, all at once.
The few seconds of silence felt incredibly long.
“How about you delay the transfer, just as a leap of faith?”
“Heheh.”
*Ding.*
[Sudden Quest ‘Crisis and Opportunity’ Updated]
Someone's crisis can become another's opportunity. Convince President Gu, who is in urgent need of cash.
Required Funds: 9,000,000,000 won
Funds Prepared: 0 won
Success Reward: Management Rights to JD Enter
Upon Failure: CEO Park Jae-yong's dismissal and a certain handicap for Answer.
My past and present efforts laid the foundation, but I couldn't have come this far without the system and its quests.
But now, quests barely fazed me. With my current resources alone, I could achieve all my goals and more.
How fickle the human heart is.
“Heheheh. And here I thought this was just a final farewell dinner…”
“I’ll vouch for him. We haven’t worked together for long, but I know better than anyone that he isn’t one to spout nonsense.”
Director Lee said, her expression radiating her unique, trustworthy charisma.
“Heh heh.”
President Gu’s face grew intrigued.
“In the last two months, aside from his salary, PD Min-jun has taken home 50 million in incentives alone.”
“!”
“Our company pays a 15% incentive for contracts our employees secure themselves. 15% of the net profit, of course. Kim Sung-hoon’s recovery and Answer’s growing popularity through various crises were largely due to PD Min-jun’s abilities.”
The longer Director Lee spoke, the more impressed President Gu looked. CEO Park Jae-yong also nodded, a bitter but acknowledging look on his face.
“If you include the contracts he was involved in, beyond the ones he secured himself, it would be well over half.”
“Ha! CEO Park, is this true?”
“Yes. PD Min-jun also produced Answer’s latest title track.”
For a moment, I tensed up, worried he might mention the composer, Beat Room. The number of people who knew my alias had to be kept to an absolute minimum. That was the whole reason I was juggling my time to maintain it.
“Heheheh. And the transfer agreement is set for tomorrow.”
*Please.*
I searched through my available items.
[Hey, Listen (C) x1]
Description: Allows you to persuade the target. (Condition: Must not break plausibility.)
I had one persuasion item left, one I barely remembered obtaining.
*If this doesn't work, I’ll have to use it.*
“I’ll trust you.”
Just as I was about to use the item, President Gu agreed with surprising ease.
“Thank you.”
“Thank you!”
The director and the CEO reacted more strongly than I did.
They must not have wanted to lose the company they’d worked so hard to build in such a way. But could they really trust me that much? A 22-year-old kid? Did they really believe I could handle six billion won?
“However. I can’t just blindly trust you all, so I’ll postpone the transfer for one week only.”
“Thank you.”
“Alright, let’s eat in peace now. This delicious Hanwoo beef has all gone cold. Aigoo, let’s heat it up.”
President Gu retrieved the meat from in front of us and placed it back on the charcoal grill.
“I should get going now.”
“What? You have to eat this before you go. Where are you off to?”
“Every minute counts if I’m to raise the rest of the money.”
“Hahahaha! PD Min-jun, you’re quite amusing.”
President Gu laughed heartily.
“Let’s make it eight days. I’ll add an extra day, so let’s just eat for today.”
I sat back down, my mind at ease.
***
After finishing dinner with a somewhat relieved heart, I was on my way back to the company.
The room’s ventilation system was excellent, so the smell of grilled meat wasn’t overwhelming.
“Can you really get that much money?”
CEO Park Jae-yong asked.
“I’m not sure yet. I’ve only bought us some time for now.”
“It’s not really Director Lee Joo-won, is it?”
“Please, stop with the leading questions.”
“Haa… As the CEO, I’m truly ashamed.”
At the CEO’s words, I heard Director Lee’s stifled sigh.
“I’m sorry, Sun-ah. If I hadn’t made that stupid move with the overseas expansion, you would have… by now…”
“What’s the point now… And I’m sorry about earlier, too. There was nothing wrong with expanding overseas. You were pretty cool back then.”
CEO Park Jae-yong’s face broke into a goofy grin, but Director Lee continued.
“The problem was that you insisted on setting up an overseas branch when you could have just used a partnership, and you ran it into the ground.”
His goofy grin vanished in just two seconds, replaced by a haggard expression.
“Hey, Min-jun can hear you.”
“He’ll find out eventually anyway, so what?”
CEO Park Jae-yong glanced at me and spoke.
“Min-jun. This is confidential.”
“Understood.”
We arrived at the company.
“You’re heading home, right?”
The wording itself sounded like a boss pressuring an employee into overtime, but coming from Director Lee, it didn’t feel malicious.
“I was going to monitor Answer’s performance.”
“That’s why I asked.”
Director Lee looked at the CEO.
Her gaze seemed to say, ‘You’re going to monitor with us, right, CEO?’
“I’m going to try and meet Joo-yong.”
“Ah… Joo-yong oppa…”
It sounded like she was talking about the CEO of one of the top two entertainment agencies in the country.
*He’s probably going to try and borrow money.*
-Dropping off the artists and returning Lee Yoo-ah’s outfit. Did things go well?
A text from Choi Yoo-jun had arrived 30 minutes ago.
-It went well. Let’s talk on the phone when you have time.
As I was heading up to the planning office with the director, I got a call from Choi Yoo-jun.
“Hey. Did you return the outfit?”
-Yeah. What was going on?
“Just some company business.”
Director Lee Sun chimed in.
“Is that Yoo-jun?”
“Yes.”
“Coffee?”
“I’d appreciate it.”
Director Lee gestured for me to continue my call and headed to the break room.
-Oh, Director Lee is with you.
“We just got back too. We’re about to monitor Answer’s performance.”
-Wow! Right, do you know how amazing it was? I think Yoo-ah gained quite a few fans this time.
“That’s a relief. Good work.”
-I didn’t do much. Oh, more importantly. Min-jun, that metaverse stock, can I buy more?
“I warned you. Don’t get greedy.”
-No… I wasn’t even thinking about it, but my sister…
I suddenly remembered the account Choi Yoo-jun had happily shown me, which had gone up by 40 million. If he hadn’t sold, it would have been worth nearly 300 million by now.
“How much?”
-About 200 million?
The amount was larger than I expected. With the stock and 200 million, I could convince Choi Yoo-jun and Choi Yoo-kyung to pull together 500 million.
Gyeon Sang-jin’s debt couldn’t have been small, but she’s already paid it all off and is even saving? I felt a pang of sympathy, thinking about how hard Choi Yoo-kyung must have worked since her early twenties.
“Your sister must have worked incredibly hard.”
-I was surprised too. But what’s really infuriating is that there’s a catch. They won’t let her pay off the debt all at once.
“Is that even possible?”
-Something about an early repayment fee? She said it would cost about the same either way. Ugh, that bastard.
It seemed they had used some kind of loophole to keep her indebted for longer. Or maybe they had leverage on her.
*Is this the kind of old debt you sometimes hear about in the entertainment industry?*
-And hey, the money I first invested was cash. 80 million? Will that trigger a tax audit?
“I heard that transactions over ten million won are recorded by the National Tax Service. Is it dirty money?”
-No, no. My sister doesn’t do anything illegal.
Choi Yoo-kyung was living a busy life, DJing at clubs and posting videos online. She undoubtedly put a lot of effort into editing music, having to change her repertoire regularly.
“Of course not. They have bigger fish to fry, so they won’t bother with that amount. Don’t worry. You haven’t done anything illegal.”
-That’s what I thought, but you know how my sister is. She’s just worrying for nothing… Oh, but seriously, can I put in that 200 million?
“No. Sell everything tomorrow and hold onto the cash.”
-Everything? I thought it was going to go up more.
“How would you know? It already went up 200% in a single day. You and your sister should use this chance to get really rich.”
-…You kinda sound like a con artist right now.
“……”
-Haha! Just kidding, kidding. I made this much thanks to you. I won’t blame you even if I lose it all. My sister won’t object either.
“Thanks for trusting me.”
-So where are we investing this time?
“JD.”
A moment of silence followed.
-…Our company?
“Yeah.”
-Whoa!
“I’ll tell you the specific plan in a few days. Keep it between you and your sister.”
I could hear the sound of Director Lee’s heels approaching.
“The director’s coming. Let’s talk later.”
-Okay.
Director Lee placed a mug on the table.
“Are you okay with coffee this late?”
“Yes.”
“My mouth felt a bit grimy after the meat.”
“Me too.”
We each took a sip of the moderately warm coffee and looked at each other.
“Is it really possible?”
Director Lee’s question came out of nowhere, but it was a reaction I had anticipated.
I held out my phone, displaying my stock account screen which I had prepared beforehand. I figured things would go more smoothly if Director Lee was in the loop.
Her eyes widened.
It was an amount so large that an ordinary person would have had to count the digits one by one, but Director Lee recognized it at a glance and stared at me, aghast.
“…How… do you have this much money?”
Director Lee asked, swallowing hard several times.
“Busking, my salary, and various sound-making gigs. And you remember the day Sung-hoon treated us to that sushi dinner.”
“Don’t tell me… that 300 million?!”
Director Lee exclaimed softly as if the memory just hit her.
“I got lucky with every investment. The last one I made in Rhythm Saber while working on the DLC also did well.”
“……”
Stunned, Director Lee was at a loss for words.
“I thought I could solve this with just my own money, but I’m short by three billion, so I’m planning to turn the tables on them.”
“…What do you mean, turn the tables?”
Director Lee would have no idea that the investment group trying to acquire President Gu’s shares was Gyeon Sang-jin. Of course, I hadn’t confirmed it with my own eyes either, so it was only a strong suspicion.
“I’m certain that CEO Gyeon Sang-jin is involved in this acquisition of President Gu’s shares.”
“…Why do you think so?”
“They’re buying shares in our company, which still has a lot of debt, at a high price.”
“That’s because we have a new growth engine called Answer…”
“If that were the case, they could just invest. Demanding all the shares instead of splitting them in exchange for a high price means they’re aiming for management rights.”
“……”
For a fleeting moment, a look of awe crossed Director Lee’s eyes. It was true that these weren’t things someone my age would typically know.
“That’s the kind of person CEO Gyeon Sang-jin is, based on my experience. He’s already overflowing with money, and he’s even taking his time with the stock market listing that seemed imminent.”
“…You can’t be certain it’s CEO Gyeon Sang-jin for just those reasons.”
“The problem is, my suspicions have never been wrong so far. And it doesn’t matter if it’s not CEO Gyeon Sang-jin. In any case, we can’t let two complete strangers snatch away your management rights.”
I felt a pang of guilt under Director Lee’s gaze as she crossed her arms and looked at me. When you got down to it, I, the one who would gain the management rights, was ultimately a stranger too.
“Assuming that’s true, what do you mean by turning the tables?”
“I’m thinking of creating an investment group, just like them.”
“An investment group?”
Director Lee’s eyes were filled with questions.