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# Chapter 1
I had always been interested in a wide variety of fields.
Novels, drawing, music, programming...
I was better than the average person, but not as good as a professional.
Put nicely, I was versatile. Put less nicely, I was a mediocre guy who could not stick with a single thing until the
end.
That was exactly where a man named Kim Jin-woo stood.
‘Let’s quit.’
I was quick to give up.
Because there were people I had to protect.
My older sister, who had collapsed after falling ill, and my nephew, who was only five years old.
I could not turn my back on the two of them and continue wasting my time chasing after my dreams.
And then, as if to drive the final nail into that decision, an event came along.
[Military Enlistment Notice]
─You are hereby ordered to report to the Nonsan Army Training Center by March 21...
A trial no Korean man could avoid.
Time passed both quickly and slowly.
Kim Jin-woo learned many things.
That ramen tasted best when cooked in a plastic bag. That seafood bibim sauce was the worst food humanity had ever
created. That smoking a cigarette with the duty officer after finishing a late-night shift somehow tasted especially
good...
Before he knew it, he was a sergeant in his first month.
One late weekend afternoon, while he was watching TV in the barracks, his junior spoke up.
“I’m jealous of you, Sergeant Kim.”
“Jealous of what?”
His immediate junior let out a groan.
“You’re getting discharged soon, aren’t you?”
“You jealous of going back to civilian life?”
“Of course, Sergeant.”
“The military’s not so bad. At least you don’t have to worry about making a living here. What am I supposed to do with
my life once I get out?”
“Then how about making the military your career?”
“Get lost.”
Kim Jin-woo immediately answered with a frown, making his junior chuckle.
“Why do you hate the idea so much? If Sergeant Kim says he wants to become a professional NCO, the company commander
will welcome you with open arms. Honestly, aren’t you suited for the military? You’re our company’s undisputed ace.”
Then his junior casually asked a question.
“Come to think of it, Sergeant Kim, what did you do outside the military? You’ve never talked about your life before
enlistment.”
“Unemployed babysitter.”
“I’ll give you unemployed, but... babysitter?”
“I have a young nephew. I’ve been carrying him around and raising him since he was a baby.”
“Really? That’s unexpected. Sergeant Kim taking care of a baby? It doesn’t fit your image at all.”
Kim Jin-woo narrowed his eyes.
“What’s wrong with my image?”
“Well, uh... You’ve mellowed out a lot now that you’re in your final days, but you used to be seriously scary. Hehe.”
His junior awkwardly scratched his cheek.
“So being a babysitter was all you did?”
Kim Jin-woo remained silent for a moment before answering.
“Yeah. I did a lot of different things, but none of them worked out.”
Perhaps realizing that he did not want to talk about it, his junior subtly changed the subject.
“There never seems to be a quiet day in the entertainment industry.”
At those words, Kim Jin-woo also turned his attention toward the TV. The news was currently playing, and apparently, it
was quite a big story outside.
It was roughly about an overseas pop star plagiarizing a song.
If you wondered why that was being reported on Korean news, the answer was simple.
“Wow, why would someone who regularly makes it onto the Billboard charts plagiarize a Korean song of all things?”
Because the plagiarized song was Korean.
It was not even a song by a famous singer.
It was an unfortunate song by an unknown Korean composer who had never seen the light of day since registering it on an
indie music site several years ago.
An overseas pop star had plagiarized that song and had even been caught.
It was an incredible coincidence.
His junior clicked his tongue.
“Anyway, I don’t know who the original creator is, but I’m jealous.”
“Why?”
“If it’s serious enough to make the news, even a pop star is going to suffer some major damage. They’ll probably track
down the original creator and settle with them to resolve the matter. Wouldn’t they at least pay a few hundred million
won? Honestly, it’s basically the same as winning the lottery.”
“That much?”
“From the singer’s perspective, if they can make the incident disappear by paying a few hundred million won, it’s still
a profitable deal. They might even pay more than that.”
His junior sighed with an envious expression.
“Ah, why can’t an opportunity like that come my way? Don’t you think so?”
Kim Jin-woo did not answer.
No, he could not.
‘That...’
Because he knew the song playing on the TV.
There was no way he could not recognize it.
‘That’s my song.’
That was a song Kim Jin-woo had made before enlisting in the military.
It felt like he was dreaming.
He simply could not accept reality.
‘A pop star plagiarized my song?’
He spent the entire night researching the pop star.
The man had hundreds of billions of views on MyTube alone, consistently ranked near the top of the Billboard charts, and
whenever he held a concert, thousands of people flocked to see him.
He was quite literally a living legend.
Of course, Kim Jin-woo knew that singer too.
‘Why?’
Why would such an incredible singer plagiarize his song?
Regardless of how unbelievable it was, this was undeniably reality.
He realized that fact the following afternoon.
[Huff, huff. This is an announcement from the administration office. Sergeant Kim Jin-woo, report to the company
commander’s office immediately.]
While he was working in a dazed state, an announcement suddenly calling for him came over the speakers.
When Kim Jin-woo entered the company commander’s office with a puzzled expression, he found several people wearing suits
waiting for him.
“Nice to meet you. I’m attorney Choi Min-seok from Chilseong Law Firm.”
An attorney from the most famous law firm in the country.
Standing beside him were not only the company commander, but also the battalion commander and even the regimental
commander.
“You may already be aware, but an unfortunate incident has recently occurred involving a song belonging to Mr. Kim
Jin-woo. I am here as the representative of Mr. Logan Mitchell, who plagiarized Mr. Kim Jin-woo’s song...”
The lawyer’s voice barely registered.
Kim Jin-woo stared blankly at the documents the lawyer handed him.
Among the dense lines of text, only one sentence stood out clearly.
—As the settlement amount for this case, ‘Logan Mitchell’ will pay ‘Kim Jin-woo’──
At the same time, the lawyer spoke.
“We will give you 2 billion won.”