Chapter 159: America (1)

Translator: Dreamscribe

Kang Jae-ha was on the phone in the 'MEG' conference room, where his subordinates had gathered. Since the Commander was on a call, every one of them clamped their mouths shut, and Jae-ha smiled faintly with his phone pressed to his ear.

'She took the bait.'

It was only natural. The person on the other end was CEO Seok Ji-yeon of 'HG ENM'. CEO Seok Ji-yeon had just brought up the matter of the 'Mercenary' to Jae-ha. She wanted to know whether the offer he had made back then was still valid. Of course, the target was Director Lee Dong-hak, who was locked in an internal power struggle with CEO Seok Ji-yeon at 'HG ENM'.

Slowly crossing his legs, Kang Jae-ha answered into the phone.

"Of course. Do you need it?"

CEO Seok Ji-yeon's answer came quickly.

"......Yes, I'd like to take you up on the offer you made back then."

"Director Lee Dong-hak must have been making some unusual moves lately."

"Nothing's certain yet, but it's been bothering me."

"I see. It's always best to prepare in advance."

"To be frank, I'm not sure whether it's right to ask outsiders for help with an internal power struggle, but... I want to focus on 'K:FESTA' right now."

"I understand. A gnat buzzing around may be a trivial nuisance, but it still makes a person raise a hand to swat it."

"I still...can't get a read on it. On how Director Lee will move. And I don't really understand this 'Mercenary' thing yet either. Could you tell me a little more about it?"

"It's difficult for me to give you a definite answer right now as well. Am I correct in assuming that what you want, in clear terms, is Lee Dong-hak's removal?"

After several seconds of silence, CEO Seok Ji-yeon answered.

"Yes."

"Understood. I'll contact you once I have something ready."

"Will it take long?"

"No. It shouldn't take very long. In the meantime, focus on 'K:FESTA'."

"What if......word somehow gets out."

"CEO."

A chill entered Kang Jae-ha's voice as he cut CEO Seok Ji-yeon off.

"You'd be better off not worrying about things that don't need worrying about."

"Ah."

"If you've made your decision, trust yourself for making it, and trust 'MEG', your running mate. That's the only way you'll be able to focus on your work."

"Under...stood. Contact me."

-Click.

As soon as the call ended, Kang Jae-ha lowered his phone. The moment he placed it on the table, one of his subordinates immediately asked a question. It was the slit-eyed Lee Chan-hoo.

"CEO Seok Ji-yeon took the bait?"

Kang Jae-ha nodded.

"Yeah, she took it."

"Oh-ho. It really went exactly like you said, Commander."

"Because I led her there."

Including Go Chun-seok, who had accompanied him to the meeting at 'HG ENM', all of his subordinates seemed to know about CEO Seok Ji-yeon's situation. Ha Yeon-ji, who had been writing something in her diary, joined in.

"As expected, CEO Seok Ji-yeon took it. She did seem to be losing some ground in the power struggle with Director Lee Dong-hak, so I figured she'd start getting desperate soon."

Slowly resting his chin on his hand, Kang Jae-ha thought of CEO Seok Ji-yeon and spoke.

"She must've wrestled with it. Even if we're running mates, she probably wasn't too comfortable with getting help or power from an outside party."

"It would also amount to admitting that she's struggling."

"Right. But she couldn't have ignored her curiosity or MEG's clout these days, and more than anything, she wants to clean up her surroundings before the 'K:FESTA' project really gets underway."

Jae-ha switched which leg he had crossed.

"From my perspective, it's better for CEO Seok Ji-yeon to take control of 'HG ENM'. She's easier to manipulate, for one. Director Lee Dong-hak is useless to me. Anyway, if I make Seok Ji-yeon, that chess piece, owe me one, it'll be easier to pull the strings at 'HG ENM' later."

His subordinates each marveled inwardly as they listened to the explanation. The reaction was especially intense from Lee Chan-hoo, 'MEG's' figurehead CEO.

'Designing and handling all those countless things while controlling details like this too is seriously......almost awe-inspiring every time I see it. I'm nowhere near capable of doing that yet. I need to learn how, but it's so far beyond me that I don't even know where to begin.'

Within 'MEG' as a whole, the slit-eyed Lee Chan-hoo held the number-two position. When Kang Jae-ha was away, he received instructions, but until the Commander returned, it was Lee Chan-hoo who had to take command of 'MEG'. Considering his intelligence, abilities, and everything else, Lee Chan-hoo was indeed the better choice for the number-two position.

That was probably why Kang Jae-ha had chosen him.

However, Lee Chan-hoo judged that he still had an incredibly long way to go before he could keep up with the Commander.

'I can't even imagine how long it'll take before I can come anywhere close to that man.'

At that moment, Ryu Hyuk asked Kang Jae-ha.

"Then how are you going to play this from here?"

Jae-ha's answer was brief.

"We lay the groundwork."

In fact, Kang Jae-ha had gathered everything there was to know about the gorilla, Director Lee Dong-hak, quite some time ago. In other words, the investigation had been completed before he had even signed the contract with 'HG ENM'.

"We've got our justification. Now we just need to pace it properly."

All that remained was to paint the picture properly.

"And since we're mercenaries, we won't move directly. We'll put the knife in Seok Ji-yeon's hand. Once she's worked up, CEO Seok Ji-yeon needs to wield it herself if she's going to absorb all the power completely. The other directors are watching too."

"That's right. We're mercenaries, after all."

"Lee Chan-hoo, you look excited?"

"Every day keeps me too busy to get bored."

Kang Jae-ha raised the corner of his mouth slightly and changed the subject.

"Anyway, about my business trip to America. Including the weekend, there are only three days left, and the trip will last about a week at most. Go Chun-seok and Ha Yeon-ji. You two are coming with me, so get ready."

"Yes, Commander."

"Understood..."

"We'll link up in America."

Kang Jae-ha turned his gaze toward his other subordinates and spoke. There was a hint of anticipation in his voice.

"I might meet a new subordinate in America, so keep that in mind."

America was a huge country, after all.

Afterward.

Starting Friday the 16th, several topics heated up the media and public discourse across search sites, online communities, and elsewhere. First, Jeon So-hee, who had recently admitted at a press conference to illegally using propofol.

《[Star Issue] Jeon So-hee, From Top Actress to the Gutter, Faces Hundreds of Billions in Breach Penalties From Advertisements and Productions Alone/ Photo》

《With Revelations Still Pouring Out, Can Jeon So-hee Handle Hundreds of Billions in Breach Penalties?》

Even as she underwent police questioning, she was also hit with an enormous amount in breach penalties. The advertising industry had already scrubbed away both her face and her name. Jeon So-hee's illegal propofol use was one thing, but the bigger problem was the hundreds of billions in breach penalties she would soon be facing.

Her agency, 'GOO Production', was in an uproar as well.

《Is the Entertainment Industry's Tax Evasion 'Pandora's Box' About to Open? Signs of GOO Production's Offshore Tax Evasion Emerging One After Another!》

《National Tax Service: "We Will Investigate GOO Production's Offshore Tax Evasion Lawfully and Transparently"》

Public opinion surrounding 'GOO Production' was especially dire. The Shanghai offshore tax evasion scandal had laid bare the Chinese capital that had previously been somewhat concealed.

Either way.

-Jeon So-hee and her agency are both going down together ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ this is so fucking satisfying

Just as the public was saying, it was obvious that neither Jeon So-hee nor 'GOO Production' would be seen in the entertainment industry much longer. Of course, Kang Jae-ha was the one who had cut the two of them out, but only a tiny number of people knew that.

On the content side, 'Moonless Village' burned like a furnace throughout the weekend.

[@**Yyo98**]

[Highly recommend Moonless Village!! Seriously recommend it!!! I've already watched it twice!! It's seriously so, so much fun! Everyone has to watch it! It's meaningful because it's an animated film made in Korea, and the movie itself is just sooooo fun!!!]

Naturally, 'Moonless Village' held onto the number-one spot on Netflix's domestic rankings throughout the weekend, and word of mouth spread in an instant. At an incredible speed. At this point, it was fair to say that it had built real momentum.

[「Moonless Village」/ Released April 12, 2021]

[Rating 9.8]

[Viewer.Netizen Reviews/ 2321 participants]

-I watched House of the Daytime Moon, and this is even more fun ㅋㅋㅋㅋ hurry up and watch it, especially the OST, it's insane/ 4****

-I dare say it, Moonless Village is going to lead K-animation/ f****

-It's genuinely moving that Korean animation produced something like this....the characters, direction, music, there's not a single thing lacking!/ g****

-This is fucking fun/ p****

-It really nailed the Korean aesthetic with the Joseon-era setting, and the music is insane too ㅋㅋㅋ I watched it twice/ b****

-I fucking came when the Sain Sword showed up....it's fun as hell even if you haven't seen House of the Daytime Moon, and it's even better if you have/ v**** [TL Note: The Sain Sword is a traditional Korean ritual sword associated with tiger energy and used to ward off evil.]

-It would've been way more insane in a movie theater ㅋㅋㅋㅋ anyway, so much fun ㅋㅋㅋㅋ the occult atmosphere is crazy/ 6****

Judging from this explosive momentum alone, 'Moonless Village' was a hit. No, calling it a mega-hit wouldn't have been an exaggeration. One piece of evidence was this.

[1(new!)] Wolhyang/ Rina('Moonless Village' OST Part 1)

[2(-)] CCCCCC!/ Purple Lime

[3(↑1)] 0+0=/ 11cm

[4(↓1)] Nyxtra/ Seriel(Seriel)

[5(↑1)] Murder Impulse?/Kim Hyun-a('Murder Is a Qualification Too' OST Part 1)

.

.

.

The main OST, 'Wolhyang', proudly took first place on the domestic music chart. In fact, the top ten was packed with songs Choi Ri-na had been involved in. Either she had composed them or sung them herself.

As a result, curiosity about Rina, the composer, music director, and rookie singer who had swept the music charts, exploded.

That wasn't surprising.

《Rina, Singer of Moonless Village OST 'Wolhyang', Turns Out to Be the Composer Behind Seriel's Songs?》

She was making money hand over fist in the music market, yet there was barely any information about her, not even her face, so people's curiosity was bound to be piqued.

By this point, Netflix Korea was naturally in a celebratory mood.

《Netflix Korea Scores Another Smash Hit With 'Moonless Village' Following the 'One-Act Drama Project'! Undisputed No. 1 in the Content Market/ Photo》

Director Hong Man-seop's value in the industry soared as well. Naturally, that meant the clout of the production company 'FrameMEG' and its parent company 'MEG' shot up too.

Meanwhile, Kang Jae-ha, who had recently received his fifteenth monthly salary/Pension and was wrapping up his work before leaving for America, got a 'Deja Vu'.

It was information about the US stock market that positively reeked of money, something he hadn't gotten in a while.

"Three days' worth of stock surges. Tasty already."

For Kang Jae-ha, who needed to spend hundreds of billions on investments in 'K:FESTA' and 'The Cooking Teacher of Joseon', it was extremely welcome news. This US stock-market 'Deja Vu' might allow him to make back all of those investment funds.

'I'm going to keep needing money. MEG is much bigger than before, and that means a lot more money going out.'

Of course, money was also set to pour in from 'Moonless Village', which was on track to become a mega-hit.

And so, the weekend ended and Monday the 19th dawned.

Today, the 19th, was the day Kang Jae-ha left for his business trip to America, sometime in the afternoon. He was scheduled to touch down in LA in the late morning local time.

Having already finished preparing for the trip, Kang Jae-ha held a meeting as soon as he arrived at Leon Entertainment.

It was about 'Kisera'.

Currently, 'Kisera' had climbed into the lower-middle ranks of the domestic music chart as reactions began coming in from overseas as well. The reception was fairly good. It wasn't a bad result for rookies, but compared to the amount of money poured into them, it wasn't enough. If things continued this way, they would do better than before the rebuilding, but it would still be difficult to call them a success.

But Kang Jae-ha wasn't particularly concerned.

After all, the market he was aiming for wasn't Korea but overseas.

'If they blow up overseas, Korea will naturally follow.'

That was why he wasn't putting his full effort into the domestic market. Sales, promotion, marketing, and so on. In any case, Kang Jae-ha was discussing 'Kisera', who were currently working through their music show schedules, with the A&R Team and others when it happened.

"M-Manager Kang Jae-ha-nim!!"

Without warning, the PR Team leader came rushing into the conference room. Looking at her, Jae-ha asked flatly.

"What is it?"

The wide-eyed PR Team leader held up her phone and shouted.

"'BBlink!', one of Kisera's songs, just entered the Spotimy Global Chart!!"

The newly debuted Kisera had entered a highly reputable overseas chart.

"At number 188!!!"

Kisera was the first.

*****

For more chapters, join my Patreon: https://patreon.com/dreamscribe

If you enjoy this novel, please review and rate it at Novelupdates. Thanks! 😊

To receive the latest update notifications or report mistakes, join our Discord server linked below.