Chapter 255
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 255
Late October last year.
‘What to do about this?’
At the time, my expression looked no different than usual, but Kang Yi-chae’s mood was at rock bottom. It was shortly after I had collapsed.
His usual playful demeanor had vanished without a trace.
“Hyung, sometimes Yi-chae hyung scares me…”
“He scares me sometimes, too.”
Even though Yi-chae was usually quite generous toward the youngest, even Jeong Da-jun was serious when he said that to me.
As I sipped my chocolate frappuccino through a straw, pondering how to break through this situation, Lee Ji-hyeon—who was listlessly tapping away at her keyboard beside me—asked slowly, “Umm… will I be able to go home today?”
“I’ll buy you dinner.”
“Haha… Haha-aaack!”
I watched Lee Ji-hyeon slam her head onto the desk before immediately getting back to work, then my thoughts drifted back to Kang Yi-chae.
Lately, he’d even quit the games he loved so much and was cooped up in his studio.
Hoping to find something to win him over, I searched the names of the games he used to enjoy on my laptop.
Then, an article caught my eye.
‘……Oh.’
It was about IRIX, the hottest FPS game in the world and a massive hit in Korea.
The article stated that Karis Games, the developer, was planning to expand their Korean servers.
Additionally, a short line mentioned they were preparing to release a track in collaboration with a K-pop idol group.
‘…This looks promising.’
As I scanned the article again, Lee Ji-hyeon’s voice reached my ears.
“Ah, that might actually fall through.”
“What?”
“It seems Karis Games wanted to work with Black Call, but they got turned down, so now they’re in talks with A:STAR. But apparently, the game company’s executive producer is incredibly picky. Rumor has it the whole project is likely to be scrapped because things are so friction-filled.”
A:STAR.
They weren’t on the same level as Black Call, but they were a successful first-tier idol group.
And yet, the game company was being difficult?
“What kind of impact does a collaboration like this have on popularity?”
“Well, it’ll be talked about domestically, but more than anything, it brings in a massive influx of overseas fans. There was an idol group—not as famous as Karis Games, but they featured on an OST for an animation made by a foreign studio—and their Nutube subscribers quintupled overnight.”
“Hmm.”
I filled my sugar deficiency with the chocolate frappuccino as I racked my brain harder than ever. Lee Ji-hyeon fidgeted, drawing out her words.
“Umm….”
“Yes?”
“—Actually, I happened to hear about that two months ago, so I sent an email to the IRIX customer center and even managed to get the game director’s direct email address!”
She really works hard.
“But they must not check them, because I checked again this morning and they haven’t even read it!”
“Oof.”
But they don’t work hard over there.
‘What should I do…?’
Win over Kang Yi-chae’s heart and secure an overseas fan base.
Killing two birds with one stone.
I thought it was perfect, but it seemed the plan was dead on arrival.
As I calculated other methods, Lee Ji-hyeon continued.
“Anyway, it’s a shame we didn’t even get a chance… Seo Ho-yun-ssi! I really worked hard, you know?! Should I show you the emails as proof?”
“No matter how much you appeal to me, you’re still not going home yet.”
“…….”
The life that had briefly returned to Lee Ji-hyeon’s eyes vanished again.
Then, as she habitually refreshed her work email, she froze.
“Gaaah!”
I was opening the lid of my nearly empty frappuccino to drink the rest when I glanced over at her. Lee Ji-hyeon was frantically hitting the enter key as if she couldn’t believe it, eventually pulling the laptop screen right up to her face.
“What is it?”
“Crazy! This is insane! Karis Games asked if we have time tomorrow for a meeting!!”
I took the laptop from her and read through the email.
At that time, the only members of The Dawn without a schedule were Kim Seong-hyeon, Kang Yi-chae, and myself.
“Lee Ji-hyeon-ssi. Do you have any materials prepared?”
“If you mean presentation materials, of course not.”
“How confident. Then, do you speak English?”
“I can speak Japanese.”
So that’s a no.
Tapping the table with a pen as I finished organizing my thoughts, I grinned at Lee Ji-hyeon.
“Then forget the presentation materials and just scrape together every bit of related information you can find. Within two hours. Got it?”
“Two hours!?”
Ignoring Lee Ji-hyeon’s long, drawn-out scream, I left the meeting room and stormed into Kang Yi-chae’s studio.
“Hey.”
He was lying on the sofa with his hat pulled low, eyes closed.
“Your hyung is here.”
“No solicitors allowed~.”
As expected, he was pretending to sleep.
Look at this brat, not even looking at me.
I turned my head and saw his laptop screen, which still had his composition program open as if he’d been working until just a moment ago. In the bottom right corner, a small Windows update notification was visible.
“Kang Yi-chae, are you sulking?”
“……No?”
If he’s like that, he’s fine.
The inflection, the tone, the voice, the look in his eyes, and the aura he gave off—I knew exactly what Kang Yi-chae was like when he was out of it.
Concluding that this wasn’t too bad, I decided to get straight to the point.
“You play that game, IRIX or whatever, right?”
“……?”
Kang Yi-chae lifted the brim of his hat slightly and looked at me. His face was trying to gauge what kind of scheme I was up to this time.
“I saw news that they’re doing a K-pop collab.”
“……And?”
“Well, I heard rumors that the A:STAR seniors are doing it.”
Kang Yi-chae’s eyes narrowed significantly.
“Do you want it?”
At this point, I decided to dangle the game he loved most as bait.
“If you want it, I’ll get it for you.”
No matter how much he flew or ran, he was still just a kid in his early twenties.
The best way to deal with a sulking child is to give them what they want.
“I’m amazed sometimes. I have no idea where your confidence comes from, hyung.”
“It comes from our genius producer, of course. How long does it take you to compose a new song?”
When I asked him nonchalantly despite his fed-up expression, Kang Yi-chae took off his hat, scratched his head vigorously, and sat bolt upright on the sofa.
“If I’m not sulking… not long.”
“By tomorrow?”
“If it’s just a sample.”
“Good.”
I deliberately clicked to postpone the Windows update and shifted my gaze back to Kang Yi-chae.
“I’ll send you the materials we’ve gathered in two hours, so look at those and make the song. Your hyung is heading out now.”
“Where are you going?”
“Where do you think?”
I gave Kang Yi-chae’s long, sprawled-out legs a light kick and walked toward the door.
“Ah, if I snatch that contract—”
I paused with my hand on the doorknob and looked back at him.
Then, I smirked.
“You’d better stop sulking.”
*
Rachel Krueger.
As a director for the promotional video team in the IRIX department, she was currently in Korea on a business trip.
It was for the launch of the new Korean server and the K-pop collaboration project.
She had been obsessed with games since she was young and had built a successful career out of it, but she knew almost nothing about Korea or K-pop.
“Black Call? How about Black Call?”
“How many times do I have to tell you! They already turned us down.”
Even Rachel knew of Black Call.
Not because she wanted to, but because it had been forcibly drilled into her.
A colleague of hers was a fan of Black Call’s Ju Woo-seong.
The colleague would shout “Joo!” and watch their videos during every break, so it was impossible not to know them.
At one point, she had wondered what “Joo” was supposed to mean, thinking it sounded like “Zoo.”
‘But seeing their stage videos, they really were impressive.’
Joo was different.
Aside from his stunning looks and dancing skills, he had a charm that pulled people in, breaking through the barrier of the screen.
However, Rachel didn’t develop an interest in K-pop after that.
It was just that Luca, the executive producer—who was famous even within the IRIX department for being eccentric—was obsessed with Asian culture, especially K-dramas.
“If it’s Black Call, they’d fit perfectly with a cyberpunk theme.”
It was also Luca who had come up with the plan for the Korean server expansion.
One day, he had seen a K-drama featuring a night street filled with neon signs and seemed to have become instantly hooked.
The unfamiliar characters created geometric patterns, and the diverse colors formed a mysterious atmosphere.
She understood what he wanted at a glance, but the actual process of the work was a series of hardships.
‘Ugh, this crazy bastard!’
The executive producer was an undeniable genius.
However, he was just as meticulous and detailed, and the ideal he pictured in his head was far too firm.
The new server testing was going relatively smoothly, but the K-pop collaboration project kept falling through at the recruitment stage.
“I don’t like it~.”
The meeting with A:STAR hadn’t been bad, but Luca pouted as soon as the agency staff left, saying it didn’t “strike a chord” with him.
Muttering that it had to be Black Call, Luca slumped into his chair and whispered, “I’m hungry, and since the meetings are all over, should we go eat that ‘Budae-jjigae’ thing that even Hormel Foods recognized?”
“What do you mean they’re over? There’s still one more left.”
“Huh?”
“Dammit! You told me yesterday to schedule one more! Don’t you remember me sending the email?”
Who was the one who had snooped through someone else’s emails in the first place?
Only then did Luca seem to remember. His eyes went wide, and he said with a bright smile, “Ah! Right. It’s a hassle, though. Should we just go?”
The email address for the Human Resources team flashed through her mind.
She desperately wanted to draft a workplace harassment report right then and there, but she settled for a sigh instead.
After all, there was still so much she wanted to learn from Luca.
‘I can’t quit yet. Not yet… not yet…….’
As she was calming herself down, two people appeared, guided by the hotel staff.
“Hello.”
An aura radiated from the man, who had his hair neatly slicked back with pomade and wore a deep charcoal suit with a hint of blue.
“I am Seo Ho-yun from Daepasung.”
The man didn’t have a native accent, but his English was clean, fluent, and concise.
“I’m Lee Ji-hyeon.”
The woman, on the other hand, seemed a bit clumsy.
The man stepped forward and offered a large, pale hand for a handshake.
“Thank you for coming all the way to Korea. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Rachel.”
“Ah, about that email….”
Recalling Luca’s comment about it being a hassle and wanting to leave, Rachel looked troubled.
“I’m sorry, but we’re planning to move forward with a contract with another group, so we’ll have to cancel today’s meeting. I apologize for the trouble.”
“Wait, why?”
“What do you mean, why?”
The protest actually came from Luca.
“He’s handsome!”
Rachel felt a throbbing pain in her temples.
Once again, the HR email address hovered in her mind.
Luca, who had just been captivated by something, was now staring at the two people in front of him with sparkling eyes.
“So, was it… Ho? Is that right?”
“My stage name is Ho-u Ho-u.”
“…….”
“…….”
Suddenly, the woman standing next to the man began to cough.
A chilly silence filled the hotel conference room.
“It was a joke, but I guess it didn’t land,” the man muttered awkwardly to himself. Luca then asked in a tone full of interest, “So, Ho-u Ho-u? Can we see what you’ve prepared?”
“Of course.”
“Excuse me, did you hear what I said?”
The moment Rachel’s brow furrowed slightly, the look in the man’s eyes changed instantly.
“Of course. I heard you loud and clear.”
Even though she had said the contract would be signed with someone else, the man didn’t hesitate at all.
Instead, he slowly curled his lips into a confident smile.
“You might want to get ready to change the name on that contract.”