Chapter 617

Nothing could be allowed to stand in the way. Jegal Rok checked the real-time traffic metrics.

One was for films, one for NetHolics, and one for Intube.

The film remained firmly in first place for ticket reservations, while NetHolics still sat securely on the global TOP 1 throne.

And as for Intube—

[Back Then... When It Appeared on the News]

720,000 views

[The Episode 1 Legendary Rage Bait Everyone Agrees On]

830,000 views

[The Couple That Filled Korea's Psychiatric Hospitals]

460,000 views

[Cringe, Yet Somehow Impossible to Stop Watching]

210,000 views

[Geum Bitgang's Performance That Nearly Made Everyone Wet Themselves in Real Time]

650,000 views

There was no need to say anything.

Watching Han Yeoreum racing forward, Jegal Rok smiled with absolute certainty.

"Soon..."

NetHolics would start getting impatient.

Time was a finite resource. No matter how wealthy someone was, they couldn't stretch a day into forty-eight hours.

The pie only had twenty-four slices. If Intube and NetHolics had to split it between themselves, then the one growing explosively would naturally make the latecomer anxious.

They had to know that they'd soon be forced to sign the sequel to the hottest series around under far less favorable terms.

A smile spread across Jegal Rok's weary face.

* * *

Calabasas, California.

The NetHolics headquarters was in full-blown crisis.

"Will somebody please throw a bomb at Intube already?"

"Even my daughter is addicted to that damned platform!"

After Yousta Reels, the arrival of Intube Shorts had set off alarm bells throughout NetHolics.

Short, entertaining videos between thirty seconds and one minute long—for free.

Or entertaining paid content ranging anywhere from thirty minutes to three hours.

It wasn't hard to guess where people would spend more of their time.

"The amount of time people in their teens and twenties spend online is being stolen by short-form content by the hundreds of millions of hours every single day."

Beyond the floor-to-ceiling windows stretched the beautiful California landscape, but Andrea's expression was frighteningly grim.

Normally, she always wore a pleasant smile.

Now, she was grinding her teeth.

"And in just a few months, Disney will fully enter both the Asian and Korean markets."

The exclusive streaming rights Disney had sold to NetHolics were for five years.

Four had already passed.

Only one year remained.

Considering Disney hadn't licensed last year's new release, , it wasn't surprising that they were preparing to launch their own platform.

"By the end of this year, every Disney title may disappear from NetHolics."

After acquiring a stake in BIMtech—the technology company responsible for Major League Baseball streaming—Disney had spent the past year rapidly strengthening its streaming capabilities.

Soon, Disney's own OTT platform would begin carving away NetHolics' share of the market.

"How much do we estimate our subscription rate will decline?"

"At a minimum, twelve percent. In the worst-case scenario, as much as eighteen percent."

The executives' expressions darkened.

NetHolics currently had around 200 million paid subscribers worldwide.

That meant losing somewhere between twenty-four and thirty-six million subscribers every year.

Disney alone could cost them four to six trillion won annually.

And that didn't even account for the losses caused by Intube Shorts.

"I think we should speed up the negotiations as much as possible."

Andrea let out a sigh.

NetHolics was the industry's leader.

They weren't supposed to be the desperate ones.

They were always the side dictating the terms.

'But...'

Her thoughts drifted to the script for <Seoul Metropolitan City 2> that had recently arrived.

The original contract hadn't included a seasonal agreement.

Which meant the second season could legally be sold anywhere without violating their previous contract.

NetHolics didn't own the rights to the series itself.

'If we negotiate now, there's no way we'll get the best possible terms.'

Seomun Ihwa.

True to the reputation of Korea's greatest writer, they had only received the first two episodes.

Just enough.

And the internal response had been overwhelming.

Dangerously overwhelming.

'If we wait too long... Disney might swoop in.'

If the script leaked elsewhere, the odds of losing it were simply too high.

was still the undisputed global number one.

There was no telling how much Disney would be willing to pay.

Especially since the franchise could expand endlessly through the currently booming K-pop market.

They had to hold on to subscribers.

"Let's contact JC first."

For reasons she couldn't explain, Andrea felt an ominous sense of foreboding.

Something felt wrong about the fact that the company dominating Korea wasn't making the first move.

And her instincts were right.

"...What is this?"

JC ENM wasn't putting all its eggs in one basket.

"That's exactly what I told you."

Division Director Jegal Rok sounded not merely confident—

He sounded shameless.

"This feels like blackmail."

"I'm sorry you see it that way."

NetHolics had offered them excellent terms.

Respect for the writer.

Priority treatment for the production company.

And simultaneous worldwide releases on NetHolics for every drama produced by JC ENM and TVM.

"So you're rejecting simultaneous releases... and your alternative is simply promising not to sell to Disney?"

Jegal Rok made it perfectly clear.

If they wanted simultaneous releases, they should negotiate with other broadcasters.

TVM had no intention of doing so.

"Because you're launching your own OTT platform?"

One that would gather Korean dramas, films, and variety shows into a single service.

A private corporation.

Building its own streaming platform.

Andrea was stunned.

"Since SBC already has a simultaneous-release agreement with NetHolics, releasing competing dramas on the same OTT platform during the same time slot would only hurt the production companies."

Normally, a global corporation of NetHolics' stature would never need to bow before anyone.

Not even a major conglomerate.

Yet Jegal Rok was speaking to Andrea as though they were equals.

"Oh, and for your information—we've already signed a comprehensive exclusive creator agreement with Writer Seomun Ihwa."

"..."

Since the original contract hadn't been for multiple seasons, the moral rights and priority rights currently belonged entirely to the writer.

Andrea had been completely cornered.

In a game where whoever moved first won...

Being one step too late meant death.

One famous franchise after another flashed through her mind.

She had seen it happen countless times.

Copyright.

Ownership shares.

Distribution rights.

Split across different entertainment giants until a single franchise turned into an all-out war.

Marvel Studios and SOMY Pictures fighting over Spider.

Marvel, Disney, 20th Century FIX, and Aniversal battling over Z-Man.

Winner Brothers and NBS Universal fighting over Harry Pincher.

Disney and 20th Century FIX fighting over Star Rising.

If they failed to secure the series and Disney snatched it away instead...

If it became another endless corporate war...

Then every bit of the blame for losing would fall squarely on Andrea, the APAC executive overseeing the project.

In an industry where careers meant everything...

She couldn't afford that stain.

"So you're saying... we should simply be satisfied that JC ENM won't simultaneously release future projects on Disney?"

"For now, yes."

"You're obsessed with money."

"When there's money to be made, I don't see much reason to ignore the opportunity."

"Hahaha... Hahahahaha... Hahahaha!"

Andrea wasn't ignorant of the close relationship between Disney and JC ENM.

After all, GCV handled Disney's film distribution.

If she refused to compromise now...

She would be completely screwed.

On the monitor, Jegal Rok wore a relaxed smile.

One that practically said:

What exactly can you do about it?

"I'm sure you'll realize that producing Season 2 as quickly as possible is in everyone's best interest. We'll wait to hear from you."

The video conference ended.

Even Andrea's practiced business smile had vanished.

"That son of a bitch! Damn it!"

Andrea had always taken pride in understanding capitalism better than anyone while working in its very heart—

America.

And yet...

She had just been bitten by capitalism's truest hound.

* * *

<Faster Than the Law 3> had comfortably surpassed three million viewers and was steadily marching toward four million.

It had only been a week since its release.

Ticket reservations continued climbing.

"This is so, so great!"

"I know! We were number one in reservations yesterday too!"

"Everyone worked hard doing stage greetings late into the night yesterday."

As of 9:00 a.m., the real-time reservation rate stood at 63.4%.

There were already 280,000 advance reservations.

'It's winter vacation season, so even weekday screenings are completely sold out.'

Just as expected.

<Faster Than the Law 3> was making an enormous impact.

Shorts had played a huge role.

The stage greeting clips had spread everywhere.

At the same time, action scenes from and <Faster Than the Law 2> had racked up massive view counts.

"The Korean Film Council updated the numbers at nine this morning. As of yesterday, cumulative admissions have surpassed 3.362 million. At this rate, we'll hit four million cleanly during the evening screenings the day after tomorrow!"

"Woooooo!"

Director Gong was so overwhelmed that he flopped face-first onto the dressing room floor.

Apparently all his tension had finally melted away.

I walked over and patted him on the shoulder.

"The floor's dirty~."

"Hahahaha! What did I tell you?! We'd clear the break-even point with room to spare!"

He had worn the three-million-viewer commemorative T-shirt yesterday evening.

Soon he'd be changing into the four-million one.

Everyone was buzzing with excitement over the incredible success.

"I honestly didn't expect reservations to stay this high even after the holiday ended."

Joo Junseo quietly leaned over and whispered in my ear.

"Is that really high?"

"If a movie keeps over sixty percent reservation share on a weekday, the game's already over."

The films in second and third place were barely scraping together ten percent each.

In other words...

Almost everyone walking into a theater right now was there to watch <Faster Than the Law 3>.

"Alright! Let's all do our best again today!"

The distribution team's cheer sounded brighter than ever.

"Yeoreum. Yeoreum."

Then I heard a voice low enough that only I could hear it.

It was Manager Choi.

"Unnie? What is it?"

Choi Seonhye's expression was strange.

Her face had gone pale.

"What's wrong?"

Something wasn't right.

Even Yun Hyeonjo, noticing how serious she looked, silently asked what had happened with a glance.

"Come outside for a minute..."

I left the dressing room with Manager Choi.

The movie theater hallway was empty.

Her trembling voice echoed quietly through the silent corridor.

"Listen carefully."

"What is it?"

"You're going to America..."

"...Me?"

Choi Seonhye held out her phone.

"Uh..."

For a moment, it felt as though my brain had stopped working.

NetHolics headquarters Press Day.

A global web magazine photoshoot.

Interviews.

New York Fashion Week.

An entire week's worth of scheduled events.

"What is this?"

"And this is still under embargo."

She swiped to the next screen.

[Seoul Metropolitan City 2_Script_Episode_1.pdf]

The file they had received today appeared on the screen.

"Uh... This is..."

"They finalized the NetHolics contract for Season 2! It's already been arranged—you'll go to America before starting !"

"..."

Was I dreaming?

No words came after that.

If it really was a dream...

I wished I would never wake up.

Time seemed to freeze.

Every thought converged into a single realization.

Every cell in my body felt alive.

The back of my neck stiffened.

My blood ran hot.

America.

The land of opportunity I had always dreamed of reaching.

And now...

Simply knowing that I was finally going there was enough to make everything else disappear.