Chapter 998: Do Not Mess With Me! (4)

I asked the power MeTubers gathered in the lobby of Jinseong Hotel whether they had any interest in moving to a new utopia—a new agency. The moment I asked, the MeTubers in the lobby began stirring all at once.

"I hate that bastard President Yoo enough already. If someone pays my penalty fee, I'll leave right now!"

"Just because the company's gotten a little bigger, he thinks he's the one in charge. I'm leaving too!"

For MeTubers, subscriber counts and view numbers were everything. Yet despite Living Room Ghost, Neighborhood Video Theater, and Ghost Bride pulling huge viewership with exclusive footage, the company had blocked them from filming. The resentment that had been building up finally pushed them to talk openly about jumping ship.

At that moment, Park Do-Jin of Drama Dori got straight to the point and asked me, "Where is this new utopia place anyway? Is Hoop Entertainment getting into the MCN business too?"

Just as I was about to answer, President Yoo Song-Hak suddenly exploded in anger and barked at me in an informal speech. "Hey! Do you have any idea how much these people's penalty fees are? If you add them all together, it'd be at least twenty billion won. Can you even afford that?"

There were roughly twenty MeTubers gathered here.And every one of them was a power MeTuber with over 500,000 subscribers. Their signing bonuses had been expensive, which meant their penalty fees were just as high, but I spoke as if the matter were trivial. After all, there was a way around the penalty fee issue from the start.

"Article 23 of Utopia Network's exclusive contract. Unless the content causes social controversy, Party A, Utopia Network, must guarantee Party B, the MeTuber, creative autonomy in content production. If this provision is violated, Party B may terminate the contract after reimbursing Party A for all related expenses. In such cases, Party A may not claim any penalty fees related to the signing bonus from Party B."

Before the regression, I had tried to recruit Yeo Hae-Jin of TotoTV, a mukbang MeTuber under Utopia Network, on Kim Dong-Soo's orders. That was when I noticed a serious loophole in the contract. Article 23, the autonomy clause that had been included to avoid accusations of pre-production censorship, could be exploited to terminate contracts with ease.

At the time, however, I discovered that TotoTV's contract had less than a month remaining, so I simply waited and signed after it expired. A few months later, though, someone else took advantage of that clause. It was DIVE, a subsidiary of CK Entertainment.

DIVE's legal team exploited the loophole in Article 23 to lower the acquisition price during a merger. Behind the scenes, they arranged for sixty percent of the company's power MeTubers to leave the agency. As a result, Utopia Network's value plummeted and it was ultimately acquired by DIVE at a bargain price. Afterward, DIVE simply re-signed the MeTubers who had terminated their contracts and completed the merger.

Unfortunately for Yoo Song-Hak, he had chosen today of all days to interfere with content production by ordering everyone not to film the press conference for Haze, violating Article 23 yet again. That meant that with only a minimal reimbursement of expenses, I could easily poach all twenty drama-focused power MeTubers gathered here.

Yet Yoo Song-Hak merely blinked in confusion, apparently unaware of the clause. "Article 23?"

At that moment, the face of Team Lead Go Chang-Joon turned pale. "If it's that clause..."

Yoo Song-Hak turned toward him. "What? Is it true?"

"Yes, it is. That clause is triggered when content production is obstructed."

I smiled and addressed Yoo Song-Hak. "In that case, I'll even pay double the associated expenses. About one billion won should do it, don't you think?"

Yoo Song-Hak glared at me and shouted, "Bullshit! Who says it's only one billion won?"

"This is a hotel lobby. Lower your voice."

"Lower my voice? Why should I? And even if it's one billion won, where would you even get that kind of—"

Yoo Song-Hak suddenly stopped speaking. He had just remembered the nickname I had acquired recently.

'The Chaebol Chief.'

At present, I was the second-largest shareholder of Hoop Entertainment, with stock holdings worth over ten billion won. On top of that, I earned an annual salary of 2.5 billion won and drove a Ventley.

That was when he finally realized that ten billion won was nothing to someone like me. And the MeTubers standing nearby had come to the same realization.

"If it's Chief Jung, he'd spend a billion without even blinking."

"At Chief Jung's level, he could probably shake out his wallet and build an MCN company overnight."

As the MeTubers nodded in agreement, the cornered Yoo Song-Hak raised his voice and shouted, "Damn it! I was planning to announce this after everything was finalized, but Utopia and DIVE, a subsidiary of CK Entertainment, are in the middle of a merger! And you're saying you'll go with Chief Jung instead? What's so great about joining some entertainment company instead of a major corporation?"

Ordinary influencer MCNs often struggled to secure advertising deals for their creators. But once an MCN became affiliated with a large conglomerate, it could receive advertising contracts from the group's subsidiaries, causing revenues to skyrocket.

"DIVE?"

"That's under CK Entertainment, isn't it?"

"We'd become part of a major corporation too?"

The idea of joining a conglomerate-affiliated company was tempting enough to shake the resolve of those who had just agreed to follow me.

However, I erased their doubts in an instant. "The MCN you'll be moving to is also affiliated with a major corporation."

Yoo Song-Hak immediately shouted that I was lying. "Since when is Hoop Entertainment a conglomerate?"

"Who said Hoop Entertainment was creating the MCN?"

"Then who is?"

"They should be arriving any moment now..."

At that moment, I heard a sound.

Click. Click.

The sound of high heels echoed through the lobby, and a woman dressed in luxury brands appeared, waving enthusiastically.

"Mr. Jung!"

The woman waving at me was none other than President Lee Ha-Yoon. She was the president of Hayoon Entertainment and the eldest daughter of Kim Ae-Ryeon, who had become the chairman of Daechon Inc. And she was also the person who would serve as the president of the influencer agency being established under Daechon Media.

Pointing toward her as she hurried over, I explained the new utopia awaiting the MeTubers. "The newly established MCN will be DCM_TV, a subsidiary of Daechon Media. It will be personally managed by President Lee Ha-Yoon, a member of Daechon Inc.'s royal family. And we'll give you twice the benefits you'd receive from joining DIVE."

The moment they learned that this new utopia belonged to Daechon Inc., ranked sixteenth among Korea's largest conglomerates, the MeTubers' faces lit up.

"If it's double what DIVE offers, then it's DCM_TV without question. I'm in!"

As the MeTubers raised their hands one after another and declared their intention to transfer, Yoo Song-Hak's face gradually turned pale. "Th-This can't be happening... The merger is right around the corner, and now this..."

Utopia Network was collapsing like a castle built on sand. And that was the price of provoking me without thinking.

***

Lee Ha-Yoon began explaining the benefits of joining DCM_TV once more.

Priority access to copyrights for content produced by Daechon Media, massive financial investment, including private studios, top-of-the-line equipment, and dedicated production staff, global expansion services, and much more—the promises of support seemed endless.

The MeTubers quickly finished signing their letters of intent. As soon as they were done, they grabbed their cameras and equipment and rushed toward the grand ballroom. Soon, every last one of them had disappeared from the lobby.

Yoo Song-Hak was left standing there alone, staring blankly into space. "How did every single one of them... leave..."

I shrugged and said, "Because you lost sight of where you started."

Originally, Yoo Song-Hak had been a gaming-focused power MeTuber. He was well-liked and took good care of people, which was why so many creators followed him when he founded a company for MeTubers.

However, after he started making money, he gradually changed. Unlike the days when he had been just another stay-at-home gamer, he began treating the company credit card like his personal spending money. Claiming it was for business and client entertainment, he frequently visited upscale hostess bars in Gangnam. He had even purchased several luxury imported cars under the company's name and proudly shown them off on social media.

As a result, support for the MeTubers gradually declined. And with that, he lost the goodwill of the people who had once followed him.

"I never should've listened to President Son..." Yoo Song-Hak squeezed his eyes shut in belated regret.

He had finally realized that Utopia Network was finished. Then, unexpectedly, he said something I hadn't anticipated.

"Chief Jung. I know you hate me, but... please take the employees who are still at Utopia. The MeTubers will be able to make a living somehow, but the staff won't. That's all I'm asking. If you want me to get on my knees, I'll do it."

Maybe he wasn't completely beyond saving after all. At the very end, he was asking me to help his employees.

To be honest, the moment I decided to bring down Utopia Network, I had already planned to bring all of its employees over to DCM_TV. After all, DCM_TV was a newly established company with no staff of its own. We were going to have to hire people anyway.

Still, with Yoo Song-Hak taking this approach, the acquisition would become much easier. More importantly, it would make it far easier to screw over President Son Hyung-Tae, the man who had orchestrated today's events.

So I walked over to Yoo Song-Hak as he was about to kneel and grabbed his hand. "Then can you do me one favor?"

"Just... say the word. I'll do anything."

I nodded. "Then starting now, tell the gaming MeTubers under DIVE what I told everyone here and encourage them to switch companies. If you do that, I'll bring you into DCM_TV as a director on the condition that you never go back to your old ways. I'll also pay the remaining acquisition costs for Utopia."

DIVE had a loophole in its contracts as well. It was a loophole that never would have been triggered if the company had spent even a little money considering the circumstances of its MeTubers.

The moment I explained that loophole, Yoo Song-Hak's eyes lit up. "I'll bring every last gaming MeTuber over from DIVE!"

I had discovered the loophole before the regression, but I hadn't been able to use it because I lacked connections with the MeTubers involved. Fortunately, Yoo Song-Hak was here. And thanks to him, I could finally put it to use.

Just like that, Yoo Song-Hak, once Son Hyung-Tae's pawn, became my ally.

***

In the presiden'ts office of CK Entertainment, Son Hyung-Tae leaned back against an expensive sofa while sipping Taiwanese brown sugar milk tea filled with ice and tapioca pearls. His secretary had brought it in for a tasting session, saying it was one of the snacks being considered for theater concessions.

Slurp.

Pop.

A pearl coated in brown sugar shot through the straw and into his mouth with a cute little sound.

Chew. Chew.

"Not bad... Hmm. The pearls are a little too large. We should reduce the quantity."

Son Hyung-Tae was already looking for ways to save money by putting fewer pearls into the drinks.

After swallowing the chewy tapioca, he began fiddling with his phone. If things had gone according to the instructions he had given Yoo Song-Hak, videos attacking Haze should have started appearing by now.

Slurp.

Pop. Pop. Pop. Pop.

This time, four pearls came through the straw at once. Just as he was chewing through a mouthful of them, his phone made a sound.

Ding!

[Drama Teller has uploaded a new video.]

[Drama Dori has uploaded a new video.]

Notifications began appearing from Utopia Network's most prominent drama reviewers.

"They're up."

He quickly tapped the alerts. However, every single video contained content completely different from what he had expected.

[Drama Teller: (LIVE) KBC's Haze — Surviving One Week on Yeonmu Island, the Island of Terror Where Evil Spirits Run Wild]

[Drama Dori: (LIVE) KBC's Summer Horror Special Series Haze — This Will Leave the World Speechless! Holy Crap, This Feels Like a Massive Hit! A Korean Horror Series Like This?]

...

Instead of malicious content, the platform was flooded with enthusiastic and supportive titles.

"Yoo Song-Hak... That son of a bitch actually stabbed me in the back?"

Furious to the point of seeing red, Son Hyung-Tae swallowed all four tapioca pearls at once so he could call Yoo Song-Hak immediately. However, that turned out to be a huge mistake. The pearls clumped together and lodged in his throat.

"Cough!"

Son Hyung-Tae dropped his phone and tried to spit them out, but only a thin, strained voice emerged.

"Secretary... Kim..."

As panic set in and his airway began closing, the office door suddenly burst open.

Bang!

Secretary Kim Yong-Jin rushed inside. "Mr. President! We've got a serious problem! Huh? Huh?"

Son Hyung-Tae pointed frantically at his throat. "I've... got... a bigger... problem... Pearl... stuck... cough!"

"Just a moment!"

Kim Yong-Jin immediately wrapped his arms around Son Hyung-Tae from behind and performed the Heimlich maneuver.

Thud. Thud.

He clenched his fists between Son Hyung-Tae's navel and sternum and applied force.

Pop.

"Gghhh..."

With a surge of intense pain, a black clump of tapioca pearls shot out of Son Hyung-Tae's mouth.

Thump.

"I-I'm okay now."

"Are you all right, sir?"

"The hell do you mean all right?! Do I look okay to you?! Ugh..." Clutching his aching chest, Son Hyung-Tae pointed at the milk tea on the table. "Hey. Pull this drink from every one of our subsidiaries. And cut off every product from this manufacturer too!"

"Y-Yes, sir!"

Every breath sent pain through his chest, but Son Hyung-Tae immediately grabbed his phone. "I'm going to kill that son of a bitch Yoo Song-Hak..."

At that moment, Kim Yong-Jin spoke carefully. "Sir, if this concerns President Yoo Song-Hak, there's something you should hear before contacting him."

"What is it?"

"Apparently, all of Utopia Network's MeTubers have transferred to Daechon Media."

"What?"

It was a bolt from the blue. He had planned to build Asia's largest influencer MCN using Utopia Network's extensive talent pool. Now that entire plan was on the verge of collapsing.

"What do you mean? We were already discussing a merger with DIVE!"

"We were. But the MeTubers all terminated their contracts and moved to DCM_TV under Daechon Media."

"What kind of bullshit is that?!"

"And that's not the end of it."

"What now?"

"The popular gaming MeTubers under DIVE have also submitted mass contract termination notices. They're claiming there's a loophole in the contracts."

"Really? How many are leaving?"

"About thirty percent of them."

Thirty percent of DIVE's MeTubers meant nearly one hundred creators were walking away.

"Damn it. Why are there so many? More importantly, what loophole is supposedly in our contracts?"

Kim Yong-Jin handed over a tablet. "Article 17 is the problem."

[Article 17. Support Provisions]

1. Party A (DIVE) shall provide Party B (the MeTuber) with equipment necessary for streaming services.

2. Party A (DIVE) shall provide Party B (the MeTuber) with facilities necessary for broadcasting.

...

Son Hyung-Tae frowned. "Gaming MeTubers already have their own computers and stream from their own homes anyway. Why would they need equipment or facilities?"

"DIVE used that exact same logic. They never bought cameras for the streamers and told them to film everything on their phones. Naturally, they never provided facilities either."

Once this was all over, DIVE had intended to exploit Article 23 of Utopia Network's contract and carry out a deliberate acquisition. Instead, the same tactic had been turned against them.

"Don't tell me... Jung Yoon-Ho is behind this too?"

"It certainly appears that way."

A vein bulged across Son Hyung-Tae's temple. "I told them to stop Jung Yoon-Ho, and instead they got eaten alive. Damn it. What about the legal team? They don't have a solution?"

"They say it'll be difficult to win. We failed to faithfully fulfill the obligations outlined in the contract."

"Useless idiots! Then meet with the lawyers handling the MeTubers' cases and buy them off. Get them on our side!"

Kim Yong-Jin shook his head. "The opposing counsel is Attorney Kim Chan-Sung."

"Who?"

"You know, Writer Lee Ji-Yeon's personal attorney. The one who's supposedly close to Jung Yoon-Ho..."

"For God's sake, again? Again it's Jung Yoon-Ho?" A sharp pain shot through his chest the moment he shouted. "Damn it. Maybe I cracked a rib or something... Fine. I'll talk to Yoo Song-Hak myself."

Fuming, Son Hyung-Tae grabbed his phone and called Yoo Song-Hak. The moment the call connected, he exploded.

"Yoo Song-Hak, you son of a bitch! How dare you stab me in the back?"

However, the voice that came through the speaker wasn't Yoo Song-Hak's. It was Jung Yoon-Ho's.

-Thanks to you, the acquisition of Utopia went smoothly, and it looks like we'll be recruiting all of DIVE's popular gaming MeTubers too. You're practically a founding contributor to DCM_TV. How can I ever repay such a favor?

The words "founding contributor of DCM_TV" pushed Son Hyung-Tae over the edge.

"A favor? A favor?! You little bastard! Are you mocking m— Gghhh!"

A ripping pain stabbed deep into his chest. The agony was so intense that his vision turned yellow around the edges. He collapsed back onto the sofa.

"Hey! Call 119... 119...!!"

As the price for provoking Jung Yoon-Ho, Utopia was gone. His own gaming MeTubers had been taken from him as well.

The rage flooding through him only intensified the pain in his chest.

"Gghhh... Hurry!! Hurry!!"

***

[Call ended.]

While speaking with Son Hyung-Tae in front of the grand ballroom, a scream suddenly rang out and the line went dead.

"What was that? Did he literally make himself sick from anger?"

I tilted my head and handed the phone back to Yoo Song-Hak. Or rather, Director Yoo Song-Hak of DCM_TV now.

"Good work."

"Yes, sir. Then I'll go meet with the gaming MeTubers from DIVE and handle the follow-up arrangements."

"Please do."

Yoo Song-Hak bowed respectfully, a far cry from his old self, and left.

At that moment, Lee Ha-Yoon smiled brightly beside me. "Thanks to you, DCM_TV has become the number-one MCN in the industry from day one."

"Congratulations."

"Thank you. By the way, what are you planning to do about the reporters? The video views are exploding, so it feels like we don't really need them anymore..."

"Even so, it's better to have them."

Just then, as if on cue, Reporter Jang Moon-Ki awkwardly approached us from the hallway. "Chief Jung, um... The reporters who boycotted yesterday want to make peace with you. They're asking me to act as a go-between. What should I tell them?"

Apparently, once the MeTubers' videos started racking up insane view counts and it became obvious the promotion campaign was succeeding without them, the reporters had panicked and rushed over.

"Make peace? Not apologize?"

"Well... you know how reporters are. Their pride. Making peace is about as far as those guys can go."

'Their pride, huh.'

They had organized a boycott against us despite us having done absolutely nothing wrong. And they still wanted to cling to their pride. If that was the case, there was only one thing to do—give them a gentle reminder of where they stood.

"Let's go."

"Huh? You're going to reconcile with them?"

"Of course not."

"Then what are you going to do?"

"You'll see."

I grinned and started walking.

Lee Ha-Yoon immediately spoke up. "I'm coming too."

"Of course."

At that moment, Jang Moon-Ki hurried after us. "Chief Jung! Wait, wait! At least tell me what you're planning! Damn it, if you're going to do something, take it easy on them! Okay?"

When no answer came, he shouted again. "Chief Jung! You know I felt bad about yesterday, right? Right?"

Mr. Jang... stay out of this."

The reporter following behind me finally let out a sigh of relief. "Thanks, Chief Jung."

I gave him a small nod and quickened my pace.

It was time to collect proper apologies from the so-called journalists who had organized yesterday's mass boycott.