Chapter 42: A Beauty to Topple Nations
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 42: A Beauty to Topple Nations
“Here is the contract. Please show it to your mother and your lawyer.”
Curator Han Ji-woo handed me a yellow envelope, and I took it, feeling a bit dazed.
“Also, I heard you received an ambassador offer from Louis Vuitton.”
“Oh, that?”
I was about to say that their designs were so bizarre I wouldn't even look at them, but then—
“Don’t do it. It doesn’t suit Lee Yu-jin’s image at all. It’s not on your level.”
“...”
“If you sign with me, I’ll pave the ultimate path for you. The path to becoming a star. A Star Road.”
“Oh, you’ve seen Guardians of the Galaxy too, Director?”
I was excited to find a common interest, but—
“I’ve seen it, but didn’t it mean a Star Lord, as in a ruler, not a road?”
“That’s right. It’s the nickname Quill gave himself, meaning the Lord of the Stars. Yu-jin, did you really not know that?”
“I’m sorry... I only got a Grade 3 on my mock exams...”
The way Han Ji-woo stared intently at my face throughout the conversation was embarrassing; a flush kept rising to my cheeks.
“Make sure to show that to your mother and the lawyer.”
*
I left the gallery.
Jang Ji-hye was in a higher state of excitement than usual.
“Yu-jin! So are you officially walking the path of an actress now? Are you finally cured of that disease where you’d die if you didn't retire immediately after debuting?”
“Where did you hear that...? Did Writer Jung Yoon-ah tell you?”
“No, I’m the original source of that joke, remember?”
“So you were the culprit.”
“Just keep acting. Since you’ve already shown your face to the world, you can’t live a normal life anymore anyway.”
To be honest, I’d been wavering quite a bit lately, but the contrarian teenager inside me whispered not to give in so easily.
“But Ji-hye, how much do you think it costs to maintain Writer Jung Yoon-ah’s house? The monthly management fee alone must be two or three million won, right?”
“What are you talking about? For a villa like that, the monthly management fee alone would be over ten million won.”
“Ten... ten million?”
Wait, why on earth did Grandfather leave me such a ticking time bomb...?
Should I sell it right now?
“And you can expect to pay about 150 million won a year in property taxes.”
“How do you know all this off the top of your head?”
“Because it was once my dream to make it big as an actress, rake in money from commercials and ambassador deals, and buy a villa like that to live independently. Oh, right! Is it true you got an offer to be a Louis Vuitton ambassador? Why didn't you tell me?”
I tuned out her whining about me being cold and heartless as I thought to myself.
‘What do I have to do to maintain a house that costs over ten million a month in fees and 150 million a year in taxes?’
It seemed foolish to pray for the already skyrocketing Envidium stock to undergo a supernova explosion.
For now, I felt very, very glad that I’d decided to appear in the Season 2 spin-off.
‘If I don’t make a shitload of money, I’m going bankrupt...’
*
When I got home, I showed the contract to my parents.
My dad, who was good at reviewing these things, read through it meticulously before asking me, “Yu-jin, I’ll be honest, I don’t know much about acting management contracts, but this seems a bit nonsensical.”
“Nonsensical?”
“How can this company even operate if they give away this much? If she wasn't the daughter-in-law of the Baekhyun Group, I would have thought this was a scam.”
“Is it that much?”
“A 100 to 0 split? That’s nothing. Costs for maintaining your image, medical expenses, travel expenses including airfare and hotels...”
It was shocking. She’d included mandatory clauses stating the company would bear all those costs?
“And a mandatory clause to bring in at least 5 billion won worth of commercials, campaigns, and promotional events per year if you want or request them... Why on earth would they include something like this?”
My younger brother suddenly chimed in.
“Dad, you don’t get it because you’re looking at this as a management contract. Think of it as a noble’s sponsorship agreement.”
“Sponsorship? Ah.”
“Why do you think nobles in the Renaissance spent so much money competing to sponsor people? They’re the type of people who find joy just in watching artists and scholars grow while feeding off their money.”
“You’re not my brother. It makes no sense for my brother to have that kind of insight. This shouldn't be happening.”
Dad carefully tucked the contract away again.
“I’ll have a lawyer look at it, but this contract is unilaterally favorable to you. There’s even a clause that says you can terminate it at any time you want, immediately, without any damages.”
My brother chirped again.
“That’s the confidence of noble sponsorship. They’re showing off by giving you the unilateral right to terminate, because they’re certain you’ll never want to.”
Seeing his smug, know-it-all expression made my hands itch, so I gave him a good smack on the back.
Watching him writhe on the floor in a scream made me feel much better.
*
On the filming set.
During a break, the child actor Jang Dong-hyun ran over and started babbling.
“Yu-jin Noona! In a dungeon, when an adventurer party accidentally provokes a boss mob and is on the verge of being wiped out, a high-level tanker suddenly appears, stuns the mob, and saves them! What does the adventurer party say in admiration?”
“I really don't know this one.”
“Phew... stun! Houston!”
I tried to hold it in, but I burst out laughing, clutching my stomach and laughing like a maniac.
Jang Dong-hyun, you little brat, where do you pick up these ridiculous jokes?
I was barely calming down while wiping away a stray tear when I noticed the child actor Kim Yu-jung, Jang Ji-hye, and even my brother staring at me, frozen.
“Unnie...”
“Yu-jin... do you honestly find that funny...?”
“Hey, Jang Dong-hyun. Aren't you going to share the source of that joke with your Hyung? As her brother, I cannot overlook the fact that you’re the only one making Noona laugh.”
“N-no! I’m the only one who’s going to make Yu-jin Noona laugh!”
Jang Dong-hyun, what a terrifying kid.
Ever since he realized I was weak to military-style puns, he’s been making me crack up constantly.
“Actress Lee Yu-jin, it’s time for you to become an elf.”
“Writer, please...”
“Since it’s a period piece, should I call you a celestial maiden instead?”
“I was wrong. Please spare me.”
I stood before the camera and acted according to the side script.
I honestly had no idea which part of the overall story I was acting out right now.
Most of it involved laughing and chatting with the child actors, eating, and drawing admiration by showing off swordplay and archery. That was the main gist of my acting.
‘Is it okay to get paid 700 million won for two hours of running time doing this?’
But whenever I saw Writer Jung Yoon-ah occasionally clutching her head with a serious expression while pounding away at her laptop, those petty thoughts vanished.
She was restructuring the entire framework, so until then, we were filming light, everyday scenes to keep the schedule as tight as possible.
‘A different turning point from the original, the story of Prince On Ji-wook giving up his revenge... I can’t even imagine how she’s going to make it different.’
*
Jung Yoon-ah, depleted of caffeine, fell into a pipe dream.
In her dream, Jung Yoon-ah observed the most regrettable moment of her life from a transcendent, third-person perspective.
Watching her past self staring at the futures exchange monitor, Jung Yoon-ah screamed.
‘Don’t buy it! Don’t buy it! Please don’t buy it! STAY!’
Vrrrrt.
Whether her desperate will reached her or not, the entire room vibrated, and the laptop shut down.
Thanks to that, her past self was able to avoid the purchase that would have changed her fate.
“Gosh, what was that poltergeist...? C-could it be that my future self appeared to stop me from buying?”
‘That’s right! Even though it’s just a pipe dream, my future self came to save you!’
Jung Yoon-ah felt pleased, then suddenly realized something.
‘Wait, then what happens to my drama debut?’
What about the future where she lost everything in that futures trade, frequented soup kitchens to save on living expenses, and wrote the script that caught PD Jang Hyun-soo’s eye, leading to her debut as a drama writer?
It vanished.
Instead, her past self succeeded in every trade, quickly becoming a "super ant" with hundreds of billions in cash and enjoying a glamorous life.
‘Eh, nothing more to see here. This dream is lacking content. Should I go see Yu-jin?’
So, Jung Yoon-ah flitted away to see Lee Yu-jin.
Since it was a dream, she could cross time and space at will.
Jung Yoon-ah felt satisfied watching Lee Yu-jin’s glamorous, gorgeous life, where she effortlessly charmed men, received a barrage of confessions, and drove everyone around her crazy.
‘Yu-jin, you’re living such a fun life. I’m a bit jealous of that. Super Ant Jung Yoon-ah’s life has no more content.’
In her senior year of high school, Lee Yu-jin suddenly declared her debut as a pro-gamer. Her idol’s contract had only one year left, and her wish was to play on the same team, even if only for a short time.
But the dream did not come true.
[Pro-gamer Shin Sang-hyun! Announces retirement with one year left on his contract!]
[Unable to maintain form due to wrist injury]
[Retirement of the superstar who led the global league! Where is the future of the LoL league now?]
Shocked, Lee Yu-jin gave up on both her pro-gamer debut and college, and in a state of desperation, joined a major corporation.
Watching her enter as a mere intern and instantly secure a permanent position, Jung Yoon-ah marveled.
‘Wow, even when she’s living in despair, she gets a permanent job at the headquarters of the nation’s top conglomerate. And she’s only a high school grad.’
Lee Yu-jin, now an employee of the Yunbyeol Group, quickly became the talk of the entire company, even catching the eye of a young managing director in his late 20s, a fourth-generation chaebol.
As a result, she was assigned as the managing director’s secretary...
“I’m resigning.”
“No, no, Employee Lee Yu-jin? Resigning? Why would you turn down such a great position?”
“How can I cater to the whims of a chaebol heir? I’m sick of being treated like an orderly. I’m quitting.”
The young managing director, who had fallen for Lee Yu-jin, ran like a madman to persuade her as soon as he received the report.
“I promise I will never give you any unreasonable tasks! I’ll even give you a raise! You just have to tell people who are looking for me whether I’m in or out!”
“Hmm, I’ll give it a try. I can always quit tomorrow.”
And so, Lee Yu-jin became the managing director’s secretary.
To outsiders, it was confusing who was the boss and who was the secretary.
The employees were certain that Lee Yu-jin would become the future wife of the Yunbyeol Group’s chairman.
The managing director practically trembled in front of Lee Yu-jin, looking like he’d give her his very liver and gallbladder.
Hearing the news, the managing director’s friends—other chaebol heirs—even came to visit...
‘Wow, things are escalating this much?’
Jung Yoon-ah was thrilled by the increasingly provocative romantic drama.
Lee Yu-jin had zero interest, but the chaebol heirs fought and brawled with each other.
The emotional battle eventually spread to the companies, and even the group chairmen, who had intended to scold their sons, joined the competition to claim her as a daughter-in-law after seeing Lee Yu-jin in person.
“She must be the mother of our group’s next successor.”
“We must mix that bloodline into our Lee family.”
The romantic spat between friends turned into a bloodline war, and further into an all-out war between the major corporations that dominated the national economy.
Abandoning any spirit of cooperation, the conglomerates fought each other with murderous intent, and the national economy collapsed.
As if the Miracle on the Han River had been an illusion, the Korean economy plummeted in an instant.
“Ugh, they’re so pushy. I really can’t live here.”
Though it was tedious, Lee Yu-jin, who couldn't quit a secretary job where she earned a six-figure salary while doing nothing, left for America without regret when she received a casting offer from Hollywood.
The Korean economy was ruined, but Lee Yu-jin thrived in Hollywood, living a long and prosperous life.
‘Wait, how is this dream so realistic...?’
*
Jung Yoon-ah woke up as the dream dissipated.
“...”
The filming site came into view.
Everyone’s eyes were following Lee Yu-jin, even while pretending not to.
The men all had a look of longing bordering on dark desire in their eyes. Only a few, like Jang Hyun-soo and Park Seong-gu, were exceptions.
‘Was what I saw really a dream? Or was it a future that almost happened?’
What if she hadn't suffered that forced liquidation of her futures account that ruined her bank balance?
What if the script she squeezed out while wandering as a ghost of the soup kitchen hadn't caught Jang Hyun-soo’s eye?
‘Player Shin Sang-hyun!’
Jung Yoon-ah suddenly remembered and searched for news, finding out that he had recently signed a four-year contract renewal.
Goosebumps broke out all over her body.
‘When Yu-jin becomes a senior in high school, his contract will have exactly one year left...’
A shiver ran through her entire body, and her mind opened wide.
‘On Ji-wook’s turning point!’
Jung Yoon-ah opened her laptop and began typing like a madwoman.
Lines, settings, and stage directions that wouldn't come no matter how much she wracked her brain now poured out effortlessly.
Vrrrrt! Vrrrrt!
At that exact moment, the laptop began to vibrate for no reason.
The exact same phenomenon she had used to stop the futures liquidation in her dream.
“A poltergeist? Could it be...?”
Startled, she looked around, and it felt as if she could hear an auditory hallucination in her head.
「Never STAY... Go on... Save World...」
That day, Jung Yoon-ah completed the entire script.