Chapter 138: Mastermind (6)

Translator: Dreamscribe

The situation wasn't looking particularly good for 'K:FESTA'. Or for 'HG ENM'. Then, all of a sudden, a company appeared that was interested in taking the position of 'K:FESTA's' main Investment Firm.

It was 'MEG'.

When the considerably surprised CEO Seok Ji-yeon asked again, the secretary leaning close to her ear nodded.

"Yes, 'MEG'. They're interested in 'K:FESTA', and they say they can match the 8 billion won figure."

"And then?"

"They asked us to look into it and get back to them."

"......"

CEO Seok Ji-yeon stared at her secretary for a moment, then slowly nodded.

"All right, for now."

"Yes."

The secretary straightened from her bowed posture, greeted the directors once again, and left the main conference room. Silence settled over the conference room for a moment. Curiosity spread across the faces of several directors, including the gorilla-like one. They hadn't been able to hear the conversation between CEO Seok Ji-yeon and her secretary very well.

But CEO Seok Ji-yeon merely swept her hair behind her ear without opening her mouth.

"Hmm."

By this point, her mind was filled with the company called 'MEG'. CEO Seok Ji-yeon wasn't unfamiliar with 'MEG' either. These days, 'MEG' was quite famous in entertainment-related markets, including entertainment agencies, films, and dramas.

'MEG'- She had been hearing that name quite often.

'MEG', which had suddenly burst onto the scene out of nowhere, had been creating one issue after another through investments, productions, top actress Moon Ji-a's Transfer, and more. And every one of those issues had been major. Thanks to that, it was an extremely hot Investment Firm throughout the entertainment industry.

'As far as I know, I heard 'MEG' is a newly established Investment Firm.'

CEO Seok Ji-yeon dredged up what little she knew about 'MEG'. Still, her knowledge was shallow. It might have been hot, but she had never imagined she would become involved with 'MEG' like this.

''MEG', huh... It does seem like they're throwing money around everywhere. It feels like they have a separate Financier backing them. Still, a newcomer is a little risky.'

But CEO Seok Ji-yeon's own position was even more precarious. At present, whether it was the way the parent company 'HG Group' regarded her or her title as CEO of 'HG ENM', everything about her position was hanging by a thread.

For one thing, their performance over the past few years hadn't been particularly good.

It was even a little below the barely acceptable line. She had already received warnings from the parent company, 'HG Group'. If things remained this mediocre, she was guaranteed to get the axe.

The sorrow of a salaried CEO, one might call it.

That didn't mean she had any clear breakthrough for rapidly improving their performance either. 'HG ENM' had stopped moving forward. Its stock price was gradually falling as well.

The gamble CEO Seok Ji-yeon had put forward here was the second 'K:FESTA'.

Of course, since the first one had already failed, it was close to gambling. No, it was definitely a gamble. But CEO Seok Ji-yeon wasn't in a position to worry about whether it was gambling or anything else.

'First, I need to buy time, and beyond that, I need to make 'K:FESTA' a success.'

Successfully securing funding for 'K:FESTA' came first. If she could do that, she could buy herself quite a bit of time, and ultimately, she needed to score a decent-sized hit with 'K:FESTA'.

Only then could she survive.

Well, even securing the investment wasn't easy, but the hotshot 'MEG' had suddenly extended a helping hand.

'I have absolutely no connection to 'MEG'...... It's a little out of nowhere, but as far as I'm concerned, thank you.'

Having made up her mind, CEO Seok Ji-yeon made a request of the directors.

"Starting now, look into a company called 'MEG'."

Question marks appeared in the directors' eyes.

"'MEG'? The one that supposedly funded Director Yu Gil-tae's new film all by itself??"

"That Investment Firm called 'MEG' has caused plenty of noise besides the Yu Gil-tae matter. Didn't Moon Ji-a Transfer to one of their Affiliate Companies?"

"Right. 'House of the Daytime Moon' was made with their money too."

As the room grew noisy, the gorilla-like director narrowed his brow and asked.

"Why are you suddenly asking us to look into that 'MEG'?"

CEO Seok Ji-yeon's voice gained strength.

"'MEG' is apparently interested in becoming 'K:FESTA's' Running Mate."

Everyone, including the gorilla-like director, was startled.

"??!"

"Huh-"

CEO Seok Ji-yeon, on the other hand, remained quite composed.

"This looks like an opportunity, so find out everything you can about 'MEG' as quickly as possible."

They gathered again two days later, around the afternoon of March 3, after word about 'MEG' had spread. It was the same main conference room, with the same people gathered, including CEO Seok Ji-yeon and the gorilla-like director, but the atmosphere was completely different from before.

The previously depressed mood had instantly turned to excitement.

Not everyone felt that way. A few, including the gorilla-like director, looked somewhat unimpressed.

In any case, CEO Seok Ji-yeon listened to the directors' briefing.

The subject was naturally 'MEG'.

"From what we found, 'MEG' has more than four confirmed Affiliate Companies. MEG Enter, the film company FilmMEG, and the animation production company FrameMEG. There clearly seem to be more, and all of these were created within a single year."

"It seems to be fairly recent, but they also have a Japanese branch."

"A Japanese branch? So they're targeting Japan too?"

"We'd have to assume so."

"That growth rate is...... way too abnormal. They're just a little smaller in scale, but aren't they basically no different from a major corporate group?"

At the word abnormal, one director cut in.

"What's even more absurd is that those Affiliate Companies aren't just names on paper. Every single Affiliate Company is properly operating. You all know Yoon Da-yeon and Moon Ji-a recently moved to MEG Enter."

"It caused a huge stir, with Moon Ji-a, the actress among actresses, moving to MEG Enter right after Yoon Da-yeon."

Soon, several of the projects Kang Jae-ha currently had in motion, including 'House of the Daytime Moon', came up in the main conference room. All of them were projects that had generated a fair amount of buzz. There was plenty of information available, and 'MEG' had deliberately announced much of it, so it probably hadn't been difficult to uncover.

"I already thought something was unusual about them before, but the more you dig into 'MEG', the more absurd the place gets. I've never seen anything like it."

"It is strange. Who's the CEO there?"

"A man named Lee Chan-hoo, but he didn't seem to be anyone well-known."

"Lee Chan-hoo? Hmm, definitely unfamiliar."

The gorilla-like director soon objected.

"Even so, they're still just a rookie Investment Firm that's only been around for a year. They got lucky and had a few hits, but can we really decide 'MEG' is that impressive based on just one year?"

"Come on, luck or not, you can't ignore results like these."

CEO Seok Ji-yeon ignored the gorilla-like director's words and spoke.

"'MEG' appeared too suddenly. It just dropped out of nowhere, like a meteor falling from the sky."

Several directors agreed.

"I agree. And the results they've produced since then are enough to leave anyone speechless."

CEO Seok Ji-yeon nodded and continued.

"One year since they appeared, and all these results within that time. They've spent an enormous amount of money. We should assume they have a separate Financier backing them after all."

"Foreign capital, perhaps?"

"Probably not. There aren't any connections pointing that way."

After a brief silence, she announced her decision to the directors.

"Let's meet with 'MEG'. Frankly, there's no reason to turn them down."

The gorilla-like director cut in.

"Are you sure about making an Investment Firm that's only been around for a year 'K:FESTA's' Running Mate? It could be risky. Things might be fine at first, but they could run into problems midway through, such as failing to transfer funds smoothly."

CEO Seok Ji-yeon's expression said she was well aware of that. But she didn't appear to have any intention of changing her decision.

"To me, 'MEG' looks like a monster. We're meeting them. No matter what."

Night, 'MEG' conference room.

With the move confirmed and the place they would move to already decided, Lee Chan-hoo and the rest of the subordinates had all gathered in 'MEG's' conference room.

Of course, Kang Jae-ha sat at the head of the table.

The subordinates, starting with Lee Chan-hoo.

"We've been keeping a proper eye on CEO Han Tae-sung, but nothing's come up yet. There is one thing, though. It's a bit ambiguous, but I'll mention it anyway. CEO Han Tae-sung has two cell phones. But then again, it isn't exactly strange for the head of an entertainment agency that size to have two phones."

Jae-ha rubbed his chin.

"Hmm."

In truth, just as Lee Chan-hoo had said, there was nothing strange about someone in CEO Han Tae-sung's position having two cell phones. Still, it was at least a thread of suspicion.

"Like you said, he might have two phones for business, or one of them might be for communicating with the 'New Light Truth Church'. Keep watching him."

"Yes. What does Sato Shota say?"

"Just that almost his entire day is taken up by Leon Entertainment."

"Figures, considering Leon Entertainment is practically his weakness."

"Well, we already knew it wouldn't be easy to find the connection between Han Tae-sung and the 'New Light Truth Church'. In other words, the Vice-Commander. We'll keep watching Han Tae-sung, but it might actually be faster to find another follower of the 'New Light Truth Church'."

At that moment, the Ryu Hyuk raised a hand.

"Commander."

"Yeah."

As a detective, Ryu Hyuk was the one properly digging into the 'New Light Truth Church'.

"I've been tearing into the 'New Light Truth Church', including everything Ha Yeon-ji handed over, but they definitely seem to have gone even deeper underground after we exposed them before."

"The Vice-Commander knows how to use his head pretty well. Unless he's a moron, he won't make a move at a time like this. Same goes for the Jin Jong-hoon matter."

"And I dug back into Woo Jeong-cheol's drug case, but a few of the people connected to it have disappeared without a trace."

Kang Jae-ha rested his chin on his hand and spoke flatly.

"They got rid of them. They probably cut off the loose ends before the drug case could cause even more trouble."

"Probably."

"What about the human trafficking side?"

"It isn't easy. Burner phones, cars registered under false names. We have evidence, but none of it means much, and we're even in a situation where it's difficult to determine why Jin Jong-hoon's brain was destroyed. Still, we're digging into it based on the victim's statement."

As Ryu Hyuk gave his report, his voice suddenly gained strength.

"But I found something interesting."

"What?"

Ryu Hyuk's gaze, which had briefly gone to Ha Yeon-ji, returned to the Commander.

"When we exposed the 'New Light Truth Church', it caused quite a stir, didn't it?"

"Right. The media and public opinion both piled on, and thanks to that, the 'New Light Truth Church' is pretty firmly lodged in people's minds now. All that talk about another cult appearing and so on."

"Yes, and around that time, it seems a terrestrial broadcasting current affairs team was preparing a program about the 'New Light Truth Church'. You probably know it too, Commander, 'Trace File X'."

'Trace File X' was CBC's flagship current affairs program. Despite airing late at night, it pulled respectable ratings, and it was a long-running current affairs program that had lasted for more than a decade. It had that much influence, and many cases had either been brought into the public eye by 'Trace File X' or resurfaced after having been buried.

Its edited YouTube videos also drew high view counts.

Naturally, Kang Jae-ha knew 'Trace File X' as well.

"The issue was pretty big, and it involved a cult, so it makes sense that a current affairs program like that would jump on it."

"Yes. Their scope of investigation would obviously be weaker than ours, and it probably included a fair amount of speculation, but what I find interesting is that 'Trace File X', despite having finished preparing the episode back then, was unable to air its 'New Light Truth Church' episode."

"They couldn't air it."

"Yes, even while the 'New Light Truth Church' issue was exploding everywhere, they didn't broadcast it."

"Even though the production staff had everything ready."

"Yes, I looked into it a little and."

Before Ryu Hyuk could continue, Kang Jae-ha cut in.

"The director of the Current Affairs Department at that station blocked the 'New Light Truth Church' episode from airing?"

Ryu Hyuk nodded, looking slightly surprised as if wondering how he had known.

"That's... right. You got the answer immediately."

"Because that's the most likely possibility."

Kang Jae-ha gave an offhand answer and rested his chin on his hand.

"Let's see- 'Trace File X' airs on CBC, right? Just like the Variety Department and Drama Department, the Current Affairs Department may look respectable on the surface, but they're still obsessed with ratings."

His mind turned.

"If they'd aired it while the 'New Light Truth Church' was a hot issue, the ratings would've shot up. Yet for some reason, the broadcast was blocked. And by the director of the Current Affairs Department, the person responsible for programming and things like that. I'm sure he gave one excuse or another, but for a department director, ratings should naturally come first. It is strange."

After a few seconds of silence, Kang Jae-ha smiled faintly.

"Something stinks. And an interesting picture is starting to form."

His smile was full of interest.

"For example, maybe that Current Affairs Department director is a follower of the 'New Light Truth Church'."

*****

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