Chapter 107: A Well-Deserved Break
Chapter 107: A Well-Deserved Break
< I’ve worked so hard! >
Earth Channel was changing people's daily lives.
< Earth Channel's Subscriber Growth Remains Unstoppable, Adding 5 to 10 Million Daily >
< Earth Channel Rapidly Closing in on Netflix >
< Earth Channel Becomes Asia's #1 Most Popular OTT Platform >
Subscribers, mainly from the United States and Asia, steadily increased, reaching 150 million.
Although subscription fees varied, it was only a matter of time before it surpassed Netflix in subscriber count.
< *Squid Game*, the World's #1 Most Popular Drama >
< *Squid Game* on Earth Channel Claims the #1 Spot in 39 Countries >
< American Households Are Hooked on *Squid Game* >
< *Squid Game* Rewrites the History of Korean Dramas >
The popularity of *Squid Game* on Earth Channel was nothing short of dazzling.
Though it was a Korean-made drama, the response from American viewers was overwhelmingly enthusiastic.
Word of mouth spread through the media and the public, playing a crucial role in driving new subscribers to Earth Channel.
- Seon Jae-yong: My sincerest congratulations on the success of Earth Channel. I had high expectations since this was a project you were leading, Mr. Kim, but its success has far surpassed anything I could have imagined. I'm truly astonished.
A message from Vice Chairman Seon Jae-yong of Isung Group.
He had been sending me text messages every now and then since the production of the K-Vaccine.
It was only proper etiquette to reply when someone reached out.
- Kim Shin: Thank you. I think the new phones and smartwatches from Isung Electronics this year are excellent quality. It seems there's a good reason they're so popular worldwide.
- Seon Jae-yong: I believe it's thanks to the hard work of our researchers and employees. If you like them, would it be alright for me to send you some of Isung Electronics' new products?
A gift of electronics.
It wasn't a huge amount in terms of money, but receiving physical items felt different.
- Kim Shin: If you're offering, I'll gratefully accept. Would it be possible to send enough phones and watches for my friends as well?
- Seon Jae-yong: Of course. I will send a generous amount.
It was shameless, but I asked for enough for the people around me too.
When it came to vaccine production, Isung Group was our subcontractor.
And since they were generating massive sales through the shopping mall business, I figured I could get away with asking for a little gift or something extra.
Perhaps it was because Vice Chairman Seon Jae-yong was born with a silver spoon in his mouth, but for some reason, I felt comfortable dealing with him.
The next day, a massive pile of products was delivered directly from Isung Electronics' California branch: laptops, phones, smartwatches, speakers, refrigerators, a wine fridge, a washer, a dryer, an air purifier, an induction cooktop, and more.
- Kim Shin: Thank you, I'll put them to good use. But I didn't expect you to send so much. I feel a little burdened accepting it all.
Even if it was a gift, the total value of the items had to be in the tens of thousands of dollars.
- Seon Jae-yong: It's good for Isung Electronics if you use our products, Mr. Kim. If you just show them once during a live broadcast on Earth Channel, wouldn't we make back the cost in advertising value?
- Kim Shin: ...I see.
There was no such thing as a free lunch.
Just when I was thinking of getting something out of them as a subcontractor, he was trying to use me as a walking billboard.
Vice Chairman Seon Jae-yong wasn't the only one who contacted me to congratulate me on Earth Channel's success.
- Yair: It's been a while. Thanks to you, Mr. Kim, the people of Israel were able to significantly reduce the damage from COVID. I've also been thoroughly enjoying Earth Channel.
- Kim Shin: It's good to hear from you. Have you been well?
A call came from the Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs.
Ever since we first spoke about vaccine exports, he had made sure to text or call at least once every month or two.
- Yair: Prime Minister Benjamin also wishes to meet you, Mr. Kim. Whenever you have the time, we will send a plane to San Francisco to bring you to Jerusalem.
- Kim Shin: Thank you. My schedule is quite packed, so it would be difficult, but I will cherish the kind offer.
They wanted to invite me to Israel as a state guest, but honestly, I had no desire to visit.
I wasn't a politician, and being dragged to various official events was extremely uncomfortable for me.
- Jean-Yves: I was surprised to see so many French art films on Earth Channel. It showed me just how great your love for France is. I believe Earth Channel's incredible success was only possible because of your deep interest in content.
- Kim Shin: Yes. France has many profound films, and I've enjoyed watching them. I've truly learned a lot from French cinema.
I offered some lip service in my reply to the congratulatory message from the French Foreign Minister.
To be honest, the only thing I really knew about French films was that they often had a lot of nudity.
While they were known for having many art films, I preferred Hollywood-style blockbusters over movies with deep narratives.
Nevertheless, France was a country with a strong sense of pride, which made them easy to deal with.
When negotiating the vaccine price, they had even insisted they wouldn't buy it for less than the UK and Germany.
'In Europe, there's the UK, France, Israel, Germany, Italy, and Spain. In Asia, Singapore, Japan, Vietnam, and Malaysia. And I know quite a few American politicians.'
I had never been to Washington, but through my work at Earth Resource and because of the vaccine, I was frequently receiving calls from governors of various states.
Inquiries about the vaccine, supply plans, and so on.
I'd reached a point where I could converse with such people without a second thought. Maybe I had become quite the big shot.
"Myeong-woo, we've really changed a lot since we started Earth Resource, haven't we?"
"Of course. You'll be able to hit Platinum soon. Gold 1 is basically the same as Plat, anyway."
Whenever my chest swelled with pride, a casual conversation with Oh Myeong-woo brought me back down to earth.
I hadn't done this on my own.
It was the result of the combined efforts, abilities, passion, and dreams of the company's employees and the production teams who created the various works.
- Vice President Jeong Beom-tae: All the celebrities and staff at Dream Art Rainbow are overjoyed. It's all thanks to you, Mr. Kim, that Korean content has been able to enter the global market through Earth Channel.
Still, as the CEO of the company, Vice President Jeong Beom-tae's flattery wasn't unpleasant to hear.
'Someone who's good at flattery and also competent is a great asset.'
The number of employees at Earth Channel continued to grow.
"We need to send a negotiation team to the UK to secure the distribution rights for BBC documentaries."
"Go ahead."
"How about we contact independent film festivals and acquire films with mainstream appeal?"
"Proceed."
"Several Hollywood production companies are interested in receiving investment from Earth Channel."
"Approach the negotiations with a positive outlook."
"There's feedback that we're lacking in educational and children's content."
"That's an important area. Let's hurry and secure more content."
After its launch, Earth Channel began to acquire even more content.
In addition to video content like dramas, movies, and shows, there were also gaming-related tasks and decisions.
We were investing aggressively, spending more than the income Earth Channel was generating.
* * *
'I've worked so hard until now.'
November.
Looking back on the past year, it felt like I had lived in a frenzy, doing nothing but work.
When I worked at Arcor, I used to wait all week for the weekend, but now I couldn't even rest properly on Saturdays or Sundays.
Even when my body was resting, my mind was constantly thinking about management and business.
I had contributed to the development of Biolife's vaccine and created a massive enterprise called Earth Resource, so the sense of reward and accomplishment was immense.
Even looking at the comments on American news articles, stories about me came up frequently.
- Kim Shin is an incredible person. Americans should be truly grateful to him for creating the COVID vaccine.
- I heard a million more people would have died without Kim Shin. That’s like preventing several wars.
- An outstanding investor. Couldn't you call him a prophet?
- Sign up for Earth Channel, if only out of loyalty.
- It actually has a lot of good stuff to watch.
- The news says they're producing even more new content.
- I used to dismiss Korean dramas, but they feel better than American shows that milk a popular series for 10 seasons.
- I'm going to be a lifetime member.
Reading the comments from Americans filled me with a sense of pride.
- Kim Shin is a god.
- I have made over a billion won thanks to Kim Shin hyung. I love you.
- Poverty relief! Kim Shin hyung is doing what even the Korean president could not.
- My coworker took out every loan he could to invest in US stocks. Everyone laughed at him, calling him crazy, but now he's the winner.
- If Kim Shin hyung had not led the charge into U.S. stocks, South Korea’s national wealth would have shrunk.
- I saw an article in the Korea Economic Daily that said Korean retail investors invested over $50 billion. They said the profit was $70 billion.
- $70 billion in foreign exchange gains... whoa.
The comments from Korea were great, too.
The things I had worked so hard to achieve, the investments I had made with good intentions without expecting anything in return—they all hit the jackpot.
My business at Earth Resource had been limited to dealing with corporations, crypto investors, or shopping mall customers.
But Earth Channel was a business aimed at the general public, so my fame and influence felt like they were growing even larger.
"Diane."
"Yes, Mr. Kim."
Diane, the single mother in charge of Earth Channel.
She was incredibly hardworking and did her job well.
"Let's invest in each Hollywood production company separately and keep our involvement in the stories to a minimum."
"Yes, I'll proceed in that direction."
I didn't want to meddle in every detail of drama and film production.
'I want to rest for a while.'
The thought that it was already November made me realize I hadn't had a proper break all year.
It felt like I hadn't been able to truly relax for a whole year.
The most I'd done was take the yacht out for some fishing on the weekends.
I hadn't even worked this hard when I was at Arcor.
'When the end of the year comes, I'll take a good long rest.'
Even as I had that thought, I kept showing up at the office every day. Then, Oh Myeong-woo spoke up first.
"You should go on vacation already."
"Huh?"
"You've worked a lot. Get some rest."
Had I been showing how tired I was?
Earth Channel had just launched, so I felt bad about taking a vacation so soon.
"Myeong-woo, haven't you been doing more of the company work?"
"My situation is different. I don't have that kind of pressure."
As we managed the company, we hired many employees.
A business can fail, but the thought of employees losing their jobs was an immense burden.
The pressure of knowing that other people could be greatly harmed because of me.
Because the founding of Earth Resource had been based on coincidence and luck, I think I had felt even greater pressure to get this far.
"And you were stressed about the COVID vaccine, too."
"You knew about that?"
"During the third clinical trial, you were drinking seven cups of coffee a day."
As my housemate, the guy knew every little thing about me.
I had thought about stepping away from work for a while to get some proper rest, and honestly, right now, that was more appealing than money.
"Can I really take a vacation?"
"Yeah. I'll call you if there's an important decision to be made at the company. Just don't turn your phone off."
"Alright."
To live diligently, one also needed to recharge.
The thought of going on vacation cleared my mind and gave me a surge of energy.