Chapter 320: Stroke of Genius (5)

After exchanging greetings with Han Jung-Woo, Choi Myung-Hoon followed him to a cafe near the office.

He said he had something important to talk about... What could it be?

Since they agreed to discuss the details at the cafe, he figured he would find out once they got there.

Having arrived at the cafe, Han Jung-Woo guided him to a table in the corner.

“

Hm?

”

Choi Myung-Hoon’s eyes slightly widened as they reached the table. There sat a man who looked to be around his own age.

“

Oh

...”

Only then did Choi Myung-Hoon glance at Han Jung-Woo with a look of realization.

Of course, there’s no way such a young guy would have something to discuss with me.

Thinking Han Jung-Woo was just an errand boy, Choi Myung-Hoon greeted the man in front of him. “Hello, I’m Choi Myung-Hoon.”

“

Oh

, yes. My name is Park Sang-Soo.”

However, something felt off, and both of them sensed it at the same time.

This man doesn’t seem like a businessman.

What is this? He should have a far more intimidating attitude if he's an investor.

While the two stared blankly at each other, Han Jung-Woo snapped them out of it. “Alright, please have a seat, both of you. I have something important to say. Shall we order drinks first?”

After ordering drinks for the three of them, Han Jung-Woo sat down and introduced them to each other. “This is Mr. Choi Myung-Hoon, CEO of Pure Entertainment, and this is Director Park Sang-Soo.”

At Han Jung-Woo’s introduction, the two looked at each other with surprised expressions.

“Pure Entertainment... Isn’t that the agency of Twin Girls?”

“It’s all in the past now, but yes, that’s correct. And if you’re Director Park Sang-Soo, didn’t you direct

Where the Sun Sets

?”

Perhaps because they had both been brought here by Han Jung-Woo, a sense of shared experience led them to warmly shake hands.

After the two finished greeting each other and turned to look at him, Han Jung-Woo said, “The reason I’ve brought you both here today, as I mentioned, is to present a business proposal.”

“Before that, I’d like to know how you know who I am,” Director Park Sang-Soo asked with a slightly sharp tone.

“I heard about you from my mother. Do you remember CEO Kim Hyun-Jung?”

“CEO Kim Hyun-Jung...

Ah!

” Director Park nodded repeatedly as if he remembered who she was. “She was the CEO of the outdoor clothing brand that supported one of my films. She’s your mother?”

“Yes, she is. And as for Mr. Choi Myung-Hoon, I heard about you from my father.”

Choi Myung-Hoon, who knew that Kim Hyun-Jung was the wife of his friend Han Tae-Ho, nodded. “I see. You’re Tae-Ho’s son.”

“Yes, my parents introduced you both to me. I have a personal proposal I’d like to make.”

“A proposal?” Director Park Sang-Soo let out a short, dry laugh.

Having been through countless similar experiences, this kind of meeting didn’t exactly put him at ease.

Is this kid one of those types who wants to wear a crown funded by his parents?

There were always some like that. Kids who started companies with their parents’ help, then came to him with orders like they knew everything. Naturally, he had always kicked them out, along with their shredded contracts.

“Yes. I would like to hire both of you.”

At Han Jung-Woo’s direct offer, Park Sang-Soo visibly showed his discomfort. “Of course. I should’ve known. Why did I even bother coming to this meeting?”

As he began to rise from his seat, Han Jung-Woo stopped him with a single sentence.

“Are you running away?”

“What?” Director Park Sang-Soo glared at Han Jung-Woo with sharp eyes.

“This is a meeting where I, someone who wants to hire you both, am making a proposal. But without even hearing a single condition, you’re just running away? Because you assume I’m just another investor riding on his parents’ backs?”

“That doesn’t seem incorrect.”

To be fair, from a general perspective, Park Sang-Soo’s suspicion made sense. After all, the young man, only twenty-three years old, was wearing luxury designer clothes that everyone recognized, and now he was talking about hiring top talents in the industry.

Just then...

"That guy... it's him, right?"

"Oh my, I think it is."

"He kinda looks better in person."

"Should we go talk to him?"

As the people in the cafe began whispering while looking at them, Director Park Sang-Soo cleared his throat and sat back down. “

Ahem

. So there are people who recognize us just from a few public appearances.”

“Looks like it.”

Park Sang-Soo and Choi Myung-Hoon covered their faces with their palms. Since both had shown their faces on TV a few times, they assumed that was why they were being recognized.

“Sorry. Seems like some people are recognizing us. We might need to move to another place,” Choi Myung-Hoon whispered.

At that, Han Jung-Woo nodded. “That’s fine. I haven’t finished explaining everything, but I guess there’s no choice. Let’s head to the next location.”

“Next location?”

As the two tilted their heads, Han Jung-Woo led them to a capsule room. Capsule rooms were places where people could play virtual reality games, and in modern times, they had taken the place of internet cafes, which had mostly shut down.

As the door opened, the part-time worker at the desk smiled brightly and greeted them. “Welcome to—

ahhhh!

”

Upon seeing the guests entering, the worker covered her mouth with both hands and looked shocked. “I-It’s you, right?”

As the worker caused a stir, customers who had been looking around for snacks or heading to the washroom turned their attention to them.

“What? What’s going on?”

“No idea, she suddenly screamed...

Gasp!

It’s Unknown!”

“Holy crap...”

“Dude, I’m at Ion Capsule Room, and guess what? Unknown, Kai, is here!”

The capsule room instantly burst into chaos.

“What the hell...”

“Unknown? Kai? What are they talking about?”

Park Sang-Soo and Choi Myung-Hoon stared blankly at Han Jung-Woo, confused by the crowd’s reaction.

“Please sign this!”

“A photo, just one photo please, oppa!”

As fans claiming to love Unknown blocked the way, Han Jung-Woo looked troubled. “

Hmm

.”

Of course, whenever he appeared in a city in the game, crowds much larger than this would gather, but he never expected to be recognized like this in real life.

I misjudged this. Of course most people here would be gamers since it's a capsule room.

Just as he stood there, not able to do anything and sweating while watching the approaching crowd, men dressed in black suits entered the capsule room. They quickly and precisely surrounded Han Jung-Woo, forming a protective barrier around him.

“Mr. Han Jung-Woo, we’ll escort you.”

“Everyone, please maintain a safe distance.”

Startled, Han Jung-Woo asked, “Who are you?”

“Apologies for the late introduction. I’m Chief Kim Hyun-Tae of Cheonhwa Group. Please feel free to call me Chief Kim.”

“Cheonhwa Group?”

Now that he thought about it, there had been a contract like that.

They said they would handle all the annoying stuff for me.

But he never imagined bodyguards like this would be stationed nearby without his knowledge.

Realizing the situation, Han Jung-Woo slowly nodded. “Alright. Just please don’t hurt anyone. If there’s time when we leave, I can at least sign a few autographs.”

“As expected, you have a generous heart.”

Ignoring Chief Kim’s flattery, Han Jung-Woo led Choi Myung-Hoon and Park Sang-Soo into the family room. The family room, as the name suggested, was designed for families visiting the capsule room, and the room they were assigned had three capsules lined up side by side.

CEO Choi Myung-Hoon looked at Han Jung-Woo with a complicated expression as he asked, “Jung-Woo, was it? Who are you exactly...?”

He had worked with some fairly famous celebrities, but he had never seen anyone with this much popularity, and yet an ordinary person was enjoying this level of fame. Moreover, he even had personal bodyguards following him around.

“I was going to explain at the cafe earlier, but it seemed like you were both uncomfortable with me, so I wanted to show you first.”

“Show us what, exactly?”

In response to Park Sang-Soo’s question, Han Jung-Woo answered while putting on the headgear, “Aren’t you curious? About what kind of guy I really am? If you think I’m just some rich brat born with a silver spoon, you’re free to leave right now. Not the option I’d recommend, though.”

“... And if we are curious?”

“Then come on in.” Han Jung-Woo, now with the headgear on his head, knocked on the capsule. “You’ve heard of Miracle Dream Online, right?”

“Of course. If I even think about the times our agency artists skipped schedules because they got hooked on it...”

“

Ugh

, it caused more than a few shooting delays on our end, too.”

It seemed both of them didn’t have such good memories of

MID Online.

“First, go in and create your character, and set the starting city to Haveros.”

“Haveros... Haveros.”

“Well, we’ve come all the way here. Let’s just go along with it and see.”

The two quickly put on their headgear.

***

“This is... really a game?”

“

Hah

, it’s completely different from just watching a video of it...”

Inside the game, Choi Myung-Hoon and Park Sang-Soo stood with their mouths agape, unable to close them. It made sense as both of them, being older, hadn’t really had a chance to try the virtual reality games that were trending these days.

Sure, I’ve seen it on TV or online, but...

But they never imagined for it to be this realistic.

“Amazing.”

“No kidding. Now I understand why the film industry has been shrinking.”

After repeatedly expressing their awe, the two finally looked around. They had arrived in Haveros, the starting city Han Jung-Woo had told them to select.

“Hm. I don’t know much about games, but the cities I saw in videos were all clean and modern.”

“This place is practically a wasteland.”

Haveros was even more underdeveloped than Arkan had been before its development began, but it did have one advantage. The sheer size of the territory. It wasn’t just a little bigger than Arkan territory, but was easily twice the size of it.

“You’ve both arrived.”

The two turned their heads at the voice coming from behind. Someone was walking toward them. It was Kai, wearing radiant white armor and a fluttering red cape, with the White Death Dragon Helmet tucked under his arm.

“

W-wow...

”

“Impressive.”

They looked down at their own shabby clothes, then looked at Kai’s gear. The difference in equipment quality was so big, they couldn’t even be compared.

“Are you one of those so-called... rankers in this game?”

When Choi Myung-Hoon asked, Park Sang-Soo picked up on the word, “Ranker! Right. I’ve definitely heard about those ranker people before.”

“Yes, I am a ranker.” Kai, who suddenly found the two of them rather cute, showed a gentle smile and advised, “If you’re curious, open the system menu and tap on the rankings list.”

“

Uh

... like this?”

“Here it is, found it!”

The two, completely absorbed in the fun of trying out the game for the first time, laughed together as they found the rankings list.

But then, Park Sang-Soo looked at the ranking screen floating in front of them and asked, “What’s your ID? Your nickname? For the record, I go by Spielbucks. I took it from the name of a director I respect.”

“My ID is PureCEO.”

Hearing their creative ID names, Kai replied, “Kai. My ID is just Kai.”

“Kai...

huh?!

”

Just as the two were about to scroll through the rankings, they gasped in surprise. The ID Kai didn’t even require scrolling, and was embedded right at the very top.

“Ranked... number one?!”

“You are?”

Facing the two in shock, Kai nodded.

“Allow me to introduce myself again. Ranked number one, I am Count Kai.”

Of course, his self-introduction didn’t end there.

“And with that, I welcome you both to my territory,” Kai gave a slight bow with graceful movements.