Chapter 42
Chapter 42
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Translator: TrueDetective
Chapter: 42
Chapter Title: 13. A Short Commercial Break (3)
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When I suggested changing the model, Lion immediately requested a meeting.
On the day of the meeting, the person from Lion's side was surprisingly young.
The moment he saw me, he flashed a bright smile and extended his hand.
"I'm Jean Moon, the lead director for the upcoming Lion 6 launch."
"......"
A person's name is Brother Jean Moon?
But then I thought about it—my own name is Jeomsso.
"Should I call you Mr. Moon?"
As I shook his outstretched hand and asked awkwardly, Jean Moon gave a lively, cheerful grin.
"Jean Moon. My father's Korean, and my mother's French-American."
"Hoo."
The Heavenly Demon, standing beside me, looked at Jean Moon with gleaming eyes.
"Have you mastered ice arts?"
"Pardon?"
"Those blue eyes suggest you've cultivated some pure inner energy."
Was he seriously saying that just because of the blue eyes?
But even with this out-of-left-field comment, Jean Moon didn't seem offended—in fact, he looked impressed.
"I've heard that the Heavenly Demon has red eyes from practicing demonic arts. It's even more vivid in person than on screen."
After studying the Heavenly Demon's eyes intently, Jean Moon turned to me and said,
"I'd heard that the Heavenly Demon was acting in character even off-duty per Mr. Sa's orders... but I didn't realize you'd stay immersed in role to this degree. It's no wonder our CEO Yang Duck recommended you so strongly."
"...What was the CEO's name again?"
"Yang Duck."
Brother Jean Moon, and now Yang Duck?
...Lion's got some weird names too.
"Wasn't the Lion CEO Ryan Porter?"
"Ryan stepped down recently, and she's the new appointee. A young female CEO."
Brother Jean Moon paused for a moment before continuing with a serious expression.
"Truth be told, I don't know much about wuxia. I couldn't even tell Wudang from Shaolin until I looked it up properly. Even so, choosing the Heavenly Demon of the Nine Great Sects as Lion's model... it's because our CEO recently got hooked on wuxia—specifically, the Nine Great Sects."
Lion's image was that of a company always one step ahead of the competition.
Modern people preferred Lion not for following trends, but for leading them.
"Our CEO has never been wrong so far. She's like a super-sensor who feels trends with her whole body. I'm trusting her instincts and giving this a shot. But......"
Brother Jean Moon took in me, the Heavenly Demon, and the other Nine Great Sects members behind us at a glance.
"We were clearly contracting only the Heavenly Demon... Mr. Wei, right?"
"That's right. But this is an idol 'group.' Now's not the time for solo activities. It could hurt Lion's image too."
"We're aware of the controversy in Korea. But the ones put off by it are just the fandom. Lion isn't in the business of catering to the Nine Great Sects fandom, so we don't mind."
Oh ho?
Beating around the bush, but basically saying the Nine Great Sects' fame was nothing compared to Lion's.
As expected, Lion only wanted to use the Heavenly Demon as a 'model,' not an 'idol.'
A Lion ad would boost the Heavenly Demon's recognition.
But if they shot it like a regular model gig, no one would know he was a member of some group from another country.
The Heavenly Demon needed a ton of fans, and I needed the Heavenly Demon.
Since he'd decided to do the ad with the Nine Great Sects members, I'd have to support him fully.
Of course, the CEO would handle the fallout.
"The new Lion 6 will support Cheetah Black coloring."
"......!"
I could see Brother Jean Moon jolt in surprise.
Cheetah Black was the Nine Great Sects' official color.
It was the world's darkest shade, mixed with real gold flakes—simple terms, ridiculously expensive pigment.
Somehow, the CEO had even cornered the market on it.
Cheetah Black products weren't available anywhere except Nine Great Sects merch.
Lion had inquired a few times before, offering huge fees to use it.
He'd be tempted by this offer.
And not just letting them use it for free.
"You mean...?"
"It means Kichi will provide all the pigment for the product."
"Without a guarantee fee?"
"Yes."
"Really? Has this been cleared with Mr. Sa?"
"No issue there."
Yeah, it's not my money anyway.
Brother Jean Moon looked tempted for a moment but eyed me suspiciously, not fully convinced.
"...There must be a reason you're going this far, right?"
"Yes. To be direct: we don't want to be just the Lion 6 models."
"What do you mean? Backing out now after wanting the gig?"
"Literally. We don't want to stop at being models."
I raised my hand, and Dang Sa-cheon approached politely, handing me a tablet PC.
I held it up so Brother Jean Moon could see the screen clearly and said,
"We're proposing a collaboration between Lion 6 and the Nine Great Sects."
"......"
Brother Jean Moon peered at the tablet screen in disbelief.
"...A collaboration. I get what you want. You don't want to be remembered just as that Eastern model from the Lion 6 ad. But......"
He pointed at the screen with a trembling finger.
"What the hell is a 'knife-proof phone'?"
The text at the top read:
Lion6×9P1B
Collaboration.
Below it was an image of a Lion smartphone impaled on a knife.
And under that: Knife-proof Phone.
In other words, knife-proof phone.
The Heavenly Demon spoke calmly.
"This lord looked into it, and your phones have this 'bulletproof' function."
"That's not a real feature—it's just marketing for how tough they are... Wait, what does that have to do with knife-proof phones?"
When Brother Jean Moon shot back, the Heavenly Demon clicked his tongue lightly, as if he couldn't believe the guy didn't know.
"We're the Nine Great Sects—can't call it bulletproof."
"Why bulletproof?"
"Jean Moon, there's idol stuff you wouldn't understand."
"Pardon?"
"Anyway. Who better than us to spread the word about your knife-proof phones?"
"We didn't put in any knife-proof features."
"If it blocks flying metal chunks, it'll block blades too. And this lord already tested it."
"Tested it?"
"For professional reasons, I carry a sword."
He'd snapped a quick proof-of-concept photo during a public martial outing, real sword in hand.
For the record, all Nine Great Sects members except the Heavenly Demon had sword-carrying licenses.
It was ironic that the only real deal among the concept-obsessed idols lacked one.
Brother Jean Moon looked dazed for a bit before slowly regaining his composure and saying,
"You guys... are serious."
"You get it?"
"I'm dead serious when I say you're insane."
"Cheeky bastard."
"But thinking about it, the Nine Great Sects are that so-called 'crackpot' group, right? Yeah... a crackpot concept ad isn't bad. But that's not the image Lion wants!"
As Brother Jean Moon raised his voice, the Heavenly Demon tilted his head slightly.
"Then what image do you want?"
"A smartphone needed anytime, anywhere, by anyone. That's why we wanted you as the model. A timeless smartphone!"
"A knife-proof phone is needed anytime, anywhere, by anyone."
"Why would modern people need a knife-proof phone?"
"To block incoming swords."
"What... Bullets flying is rare even in Korea—swords aren't gonna come flying!"
At Brother Jean Moon's words, the Heavenly Demon grinned wickedly.
"You think so?"
* * *
The meeting naturally fell through.
Jean Moon had unilaterally declared it over.
As he left, Jean Moon reported the meeting to CEO Yang Duck.
But the CEO burst into mad laughter and told him to go ahead with it!
He agreed over the phone but had zero intention of proceeding with something like a knife-proof phone.
He was the project lead, after all.
The CEO had given him full authority, so he'd find some excuse to kill it.
As Jean Moon sighed, the driver glanced at him via the rearview mirror.
From the start, Jean Moon had wanted Greenwood over the Nine Great Sects.
"Greenwood" sounded friendlier than the incomprehensible "Nine Great Sects."
A phantom thief concept was more approachable than tough wuxia themes.
'And above all......'
Jean Moon pulled out his smartphone and launched the idol training sim game.
[Street K-Pop Singer Fighter 101].
On the main screen sparkled the SSR full-group Greenwood members.
Jean Moon's ultimate fave was Lupin.
'As a Frenchman, I can't resist Lupin......'
If they needed a past-and-present image, Lupin would've worked fine.
If the CEO hadn't insisted on the Heavenly Demon, he'd have gone with Greenwood.
'Cheetah Black is a bit of a shame, though.'
If Kichi had pitched a safe concept, Jean Moon probably would've approved it.
But a knife-proof phone? Ridiculous.
Smartphones were made for human convenience.
If you wanted to block bullets or blades, you'd buy proper body armor—not a phone.
Suddenly, the car jolted hard, and Jean Moon dropped his smartphone.
"Sorry. A truck cut in suddenly."
Looking out the windshield at the driver's excuse, sure enough, a truck that hadn't been there before was now ahead.
Jean Moon picked up his smartphone absentmindedly, dusted it off, then felt a chill down his spine and looked ahead again.
The truck's rear door had two crossed knives painted on it.
'Knife transport truck......?'
Well... knife transport trucks could share the road.
They could cut in suddenly.
Koreans use knives for meals too.
But......
"...Isn't that truck's rear door open?"
"It's not just open—it flew open. Looks like it caught on a speed bump."
Through the open door, he could see gleaming silver knives inside.
The driver made a dumb joke.
"If it jolts again, they might fly our way, haha."
"You're joking about that so casually?"
"Just kidding. With that weight, no chance. Unless we crash into it."
"...Pass it on the side."
"Got it."
Watching the driver carefully turn the wheel, Jean Moon leaned back in his seat, somewhat relieved.
What a weird day.
What were the odds of encountering a knife truck with an open rear door right after the knife-proof phone meeting?
'Like the 0.06% odds of pulling SSR Lupin......'
Then, an ominous sound came from the driver's seat.
"Huh?"
A sharp scraping noise across the road.
Jean Moon faced the shadow draping over the windshield and the silver glint filling his vision.
Without thinking, he raised the smartphone in his hand.
* * *
"What the?"
I frowned at the screen.
It briefly showed "Brother Jean Moon, call ended" before vanishing.
The Alliance Leader, editing the Lion 6 proposal, looked up at me.
"Hyung, what's up?"
"Lion wants to do the knife-proof phone ad?"
"Suddenly?"
"Yeah."
Brother Jean Moon had left looking like our time was wasted.
How long had it been since he split, and now he wants to proceed?
Accepting our proposal was one thing.
"But he was rambling about a sword flying and it actually being knife-proof, then hung up."
"Maybe he's on drugs?"
Dang Sa-cheon said it while brewing coffee, and it somehow sounded plausible.
"No, stop brewing coffee already. No one asked you to, so why are you keep doing it?"
"No one drank the ones I brought earlier, so I thought I brewed them badly and I'm practicing."
"Don't you realize you ruined the CEO's favorite tea?"
Dang Sa-cheon pouted and pulled away from the coffee as Ziha suddenly wedged between us.
"Maybe Brother Moon thought about it and liked Sabu's idea? I think knife-proof phone is a brilliant concept."
"...You're calling Jean Moon 'Brother Moon'?"
Just then, the dorm door burst open, and the Heavenly Demon strode in majestically.
"Where'd you go alone?"
"Work."
"Your workplace is here."
"What did that Jean Moon punk say?"
"Oh, he called the Heavenly Demon too? Says he'll do the knife-proof phone."
The Heavenly Demon nodded in satisfaction at my answer.
"That punk. Makes a fuss even though he was gonna cave eventually."
"That's business people for you."
"Why not just accept before things get ugly?"
"You're talking like you made something ugly happen."
"......"
Silence at this timing?
"No ugly stuff... right?"
"It happened."
"Heavenly Demon??"
What the hell did you do this time?