Chapter 89
Chapter 89
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 82
Chapter Title: Fantasy Life Commercialization
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"Ah, damn..."
Kwon Na-ye sighed as she looked at the list of hidden trial achievers that had just appeared.
She had no choice but to.
The order of the hidden trial achievers was determined based on their performance in this Trials' Arena.
But looking at the rankings, Na-ye could see that she had been outdone by Anna.
No, it wasn't just being outdone.
Among her party members, she was dead last.
Of course, whenever such topics came up, Hae-jin always encouraged Na-ye.
『The hidden trials are the hardest for your job class, so just achieving them means you're doing great, Na-ye.』
Whenever Na-ye looked deflated upon seeing her low rank in the confirmed hidden trials, Hae-jin would cheer her up like that.
At first, it lifted her spirits, but that only worked initially.
At some point, Hae-jin's consolations started to feel embarrassing to Na-ye instead.
Sure, achieving hidden trials was impressive in itself, but the fact that she was still last among her party members didn't change.
In any case, because of that, Na-ye made a vow.
'In the next Trials' Arena, I'll definitely place my name ahead of Anna's in the hidden trials.'
As she made that resolution, Na-ye snapped back to reality.
Of course, so did everyone else.
The surviving Players returned to reality, and opening her eyes in Hae-jin's house, Na-ye could see Anna.
"You all did great."
Hae-jin was comforting them, telling them they'd worked hard.
Just that alone seemed to melt away all her embarrassment.
Simply seeing Hae-jin made Na-ye feel better.
July 3, 2030.
The day after resting following the end of the seventh Trials' Arena.
That day, Hae-jin headed out with Manager Kim to meet CEO Kim Min-su.
They did so because, once CEO Kim Min-su had finished compiling his reports, they would meet in person from time to time.
Upon Hae-jin and Manager Kim's arrival, CEO Kim Min-su spoke.
"You're here?"
"Yes. So, the webtoon and web novel are proceeding right away?"
"That's right. They'll launch simultaneously at the end of this month, and then next month, we'll commercialize 'Fantasy Life'."
Fantasy Life.
This was the online virtual reality game that Chocolate Games had been preparing.
The previously stuck parts had been resolved thanks to Players experiencing phenomena akin to a real fantasy game, and Hae-jin had turned it into a synergistic venture through the Chocolate Page that Manager Kim had acquired.
In truth, all of this was exactly as the former Leader, Joo-hyuk, had taught him.
The only slight difference was...
'I didn't expect to end up going into business with Manager Kim.'
He hadn't expected to go into business with Manager Kim.
He had no choice but to think that way.
The business direction that Joo-hyuk had described to Hae-jin was completely different.
『They'll probably invest laundered crime funds here and there, make a fortune, then swallow up Chocolate Entertainment. Later, there'll be an article saying Manager Kim has become the new owner of Chocolate Page. Then just take money to that old man and ask him to hand it over. He needs money, not the company anyway.』
Afterward, Joo-hyuk had told Manager Kim that once he acquired Chocolate Page, he should create works that would synergize with 'Fantasy Life' from Chocolate Games.
That way, riding on the commercialization of Fantasy Life from Chocolate Games, blockbuster works would emerge, providing Chocolate Page—acquired through Manager Kim—with solid passive income.
But that business direction had completely changed.
Because Hae-jin had met Manager Kim through Chairman Park Sang-yong and helped him with his revenge against the Player who killed the chairman's daughter, things had progressed differently from what Joo-hyuk had described.
In truth, he hadn't been entirely unaware of this route.
Joo-hyuk had mentioned doing something similar once.
He had moved to avenge Chairman Park Sang-yong's daughter alongside Manager Kim against the Player who killed her.
But since Joo-hyuk hadn't inherited abilities like Hae-jin had, fulfilling Chairman Park Sang-yong's request against that murderer Player hadn't been easy.
『Of course, with so many regressions, I succeeded in revenge once. But compared to that, buying Chocolate Page from Manager Kim with the money we earned was more stable.』
That's why Joo-hyuk had told Hae-jin that whether he regressed or disappeared, Hae-jin should straightforwardly have Manager Kim acquire Chocolate Page and then buy it with money.
But Hae-jin hadn't done that.
Why?
Because he had inherited everything from Joo-hyuk.
Thanks to that, he could avenge the murderer who killed Chairman Park Sang-yong's daughter, and as a result, he even gained Chocolate Games, which hadn't been part of the original plan.
Thus, Hae-jin ended up advancing the business in a direction slightly different from what Joo-hyuk had taught.
Of course, it was just a slight change in direction.
The results weren't much different.
Why?
Joo-hyuk had proposed the most stable route to Hae-jin, but Hae-jin had already inherited everything from him.
Because of that, Hae-jin possessed all the information and memories Joo-hyuk had accumulated through countless regressions.
So, even if it wasn't the exact direction Joo-hyuk had directly taught, he proceeded based on what Joo-hyuk had experienced.
In any case, the online VR game 'Fantasy Life' was complete, and preparations for the secondary IPs—web novels and webtoons—to synergize with it were finished.
So Hae-jin asked about the status of the remaining secondary IP projects.
"I see. What about the anime or live-action adaptations?"
"For the anime, we're preparing it to commemorate Fantasy Life's first anniversary, so we'll go into production upon success. The live-action is still in the planning stage since it's riskier."
CEO Kim Min-su thought they needed to gauge the live-action carefully.
Hae-jin knew the reason well.
'Yeah, judging live-action as difficult is the right call.'
Live-action adaptation.
Commonly referring to film adaptations mainly done in Japan or the US.
Turning anime or games into live-action with real actors, but the success rate wasn't great.
As a result, film companies worldwide tended to avoid live-action adaptations.
Japan had been attempting them steadily.
Occasionally, successful ones emerged.
'But thinking of the flops, the batting average is low.'
That's why CEO Kim Min-su was subtly skeptical about live-action.
But Hae-jin knew the solution.
Hae-jin asked CEO Kim Min-su,
"Making a live-action film of the Fantasy Life webtoon seems risky, right?"
"...Yes, honestly it is."
Even though he was the CEO, from Kakao Entertainment onward, all the entities now under CEO Kim Min-su's management had come through Hae-jin.
So after some deliberation, CEO Kim Min-su answered Hae-jin reluctantly.
It felt like he wanted to avoid live-action altogether.
CEO Kim Min-su wondered how to explain, but he didn't need to.
"Live-action itself has a low success probability as a film, and it's a genre that ends up awkward when filmed. So I understand the high risk."
"Exactly."
CEO Kim Min-su looked somewhat relieved.
Since Hae-jin seemed to understand why he was skeptical about live-action.
However, Hae-jin had no intention of halting it.
"But we'll proceed with the live-action anyway."
"Pardon?"
CEO Kim Min-su stared at Hae-jin in bewilderment.
He had just acknowledged his skepticism, so why was Hae-jin making this decision?
To the puzzled CEO Kim Min-su, Hae-jin said,
"What if we can make a live-action that doesn't feel awkward?"
"Pardon?"
CEO Kim Min-su wondered what this meant.
To him, Hae-jin explained the method to resolve the awkwardness he was worried about.
"We make it entirely within Fantasy Life."
"Pardon?"
Make it inside Fantasy Life.
To the reacting CEO Kim Min-su, Hae-jin continued,
"If it's just webtoons and anime, a live-action film might feel awkward. Especially if done with real-world CG only. But filming a movie inside the game, in an environment familiar to Fantasy Life users, eliminates that awkwardness."
"Oh..."
Listening to Hae-jin's explanation, CEO Kim Min-su thought it sounded plausible.
It had to be; it was one of the ventures Joo-hyuk had succeeded with.
Virtual reality spaces—not CG—filmed with VR game gear would revolutionize filmmaking.
Of course, this technique wasn't originally Joo-hyuk's idea either.
Through regressions, he had seen films made that way and applied it first.
Anyway, upon Hae-jin's words, CEO Kim Min-su pondered.
'Is it possible? No, it is.'
At first, he wondered if it was feasible.
But CEO Kim Min-su had tested Fantasy Life.
It was a VR system so complete it could pass for reality.
Filming a movie there?
'Wouldn't it feel no different from reality? Plus, since the works would be set in that world, as the major shareholder says, it might look more natural than real-world CG filming?'
Having organized his thoughts, CEO Kim Min-su spoke.
"I'll inquire with Chocolate Games first to confirm if that method is feasible."
It wasn't certain yet, so they needed to check.
Of course, Hae-jin knew.
'They'll say it's possible.'
But he saw no need to mention it.
Though he was steering things along Joo-hyuk's business lines for real-world capital, he had long delegated all operations and management to CEO Kim Min-su.
Thus, Hae-jin told him,
"Yes, check it out. If it's possible, go that route."
"Yes, I think so too."
"Then there's nothing else to report?"
"Ah! One more thing."
"What is it?"
"It's about Team Leader Ailet."
"Team Leader Ailet?"
"Yes."
Hae-jin knew exactly who Ailet was.
The only daughter of Ayla Mist.
He had secured her a management position at the metaverse-operating headquarters from her father, Ayla Mist, and CEO Kim Min-su had reported hiring her.
Regarding that, Hae-jin had said not to care if her father was Ayla Mist or whoever—fire Ailet Mist immediately if she couldn't do the job.
Yet hearing she was still team leader, Hae-jin asked,
"She must be doing well?"
"Yes, surprisingly very well. So unless it's inconvenient, I'd like to keep Team Leader Ailet Mist in charge of the metaverse."
Hae-jin gave CEO Kim Min-su an incredulous look.
"Why are you asking me about that?"
"Pardon?"
Even if all authority was delegated to him, Hae-jin was the owner of all the companies.
So it was natural to report, but being asked why report to him left CEO Kim Min-su perplexed.
To the reacting CEO Kim Min-su, Hae-jin chuckled and said,
"Didn't I tell you? If she does the job well, compensate her beyond the pay."