Genius Manager Who Hears Voices - Chapter 97



Only Noblemtl

Episode 97

At the moment when Hong Min-jung was about to be stopped, a man’s voice was heard from somewhere.

There was no one else in the hallway he was in besides Hong Min-joong, so it seemed that his ability had been put to use again.

But this time, something was different.

This is because the voice came straight into my ear without any surrounding noise disappearing.

It’s as if my hearing ability has been expanded several times.

[Yes, I’ve definitely finished it. I’ve cleaned up everything without missing anything, so don’t worry. Just tell them to keep pushing forward like they were doing.]

Heeseong’s gaze naturally turned to the left.

There was a door there leading to the emergency stairs, and the voice now seemed to be coming from there.

‘What is this phenomenon? I can hear the sound coming from inside in such detail?’

More than who the other person was or what the conversation meant, I couldn’t help but wonder about the current situation.

This is the first time something like this has happened, and the voice I’m hearing now is coming from the present, not the future.

Moreover, it seemed as if Hong Min-jung, who was right in front of him, couldn’t hear it at all.

Then, a man’s voice was heard again.

[Where, S Hotel? Boy, how am I going to get there? He must have just found out that the email was deleted. Do you think Hong Seonbae would just sit there and do nothing? I don’t know for sure, but he’ll probably tell you to find a PC recovery company right away. So he’ll tell you to find out if it was hacked or not.]

Judging from the fact that only a man’s voice could be heard, it seemed like he was talking to someone, probably someone who knew Hong Min-joong very well.

In fact, Hong Min-jung told me to find the company right away.

[You don’t have to worry about that. If Hong asks you to do something, he’ll ask you to do it anyway, so you can just say that the company said it’s not possible. There’s a high chance that it won’t actually happen, and even if it does, you can just give them a little money and settle things. There’s a company in Yongsan that I know well.]

At that moment, I felt like I knew who this voice belonged to.

Because that name was mentioned directly from Hong Min-jung’s mouth earlier.

‘I think he said he was a producer. But judging from the way Hong Min-joong orders him to do things, he’s probably an assistant producer.’

Even if it’s an outsourcing, an assistant producer at a broadcasting station is still a PD.

After passing the civil service exam and working as an assistant director, he takes on the role of main producer.

Given the circumstances of these conversations, it seemed certain that he was right.

[I’ll take care of this myself, so please keep your promise. And tell Ling Wei not to say anything nonsense later. You know? I’m risking my life on this. If I get caught doing this, I’ll never be able to work in broadcasting in this country again. I’m prepared for that, and that’s why I’m doing this now.]

Although he didn’t know who he was talking to or what the conversation was about, one thing was certain.

It was he who deleted all the email data of the team members that Hong Min-jung had firmly trusted.

We plan to completely destroy any evidence that may appear later.

At the same time, Hong Min-jung was seen trying to get on the elevator.

Heeseong took his gaze away from the emergency exit door and ran straight to press the elevator button.

“PD, could you spare me a moment?”

“Right now? Oh, sorry, but if it’s not urgent, let’s do it later. As you know, I’m in a different situation right now.”

It was obvious what would happen if Hong Min-jung was sent away like this.

Heeseong looked towards the emergency exit and said.

“It’s important and urgent. Please give me a moment.”

After a while, the two moved to a quiet place.

Heeseong asked Hong Minjoong, who was taking out a cigarette and smoking it.

“What are you going to do by going to the Chinese authorities without any evidence?”

“What proof do you need? The situation itself is proof. How could this be a coincidence? Who else would do something like this if not them?”

“Think about it calmly and rationally. If you go to see him now, he’ll just evade your duty, and there’s nothing you can do about it. Are you really going to throw a punch because you’re angry?”

At Heeseong’s question, he clenched his fist and clenched his molars.

“There’s nothing I can’t do with my emotions right now, after all that I’ve been through because of that guy. If it were up to me, I’d want to tear him to pieces and kill him, begging for his life until my hands and feet are worn out.”

“… … .”

Of course I understand that it makes you angry, but I wonder if it’s appropriate to use that expression.

I also thought that there might be another story behind the conversations I had heard about in the future.

“Do you have any ill feelings towards that Chinese person named Ling Wei?”

Hong Min-jung took a drag on his cigarette and exhaled, then looked into space.

“You heard the story, when I was at MBS, I copied a successful program from China? I copied it without changing a single word, including the format and concept.”

“Yes, I heard about it.”

“That guy was Ling Wei. He became a star PD in one fell swoop through that program and is still going strong to this day. Before that, he had never had a single proper masterpiece.”

“That guy is Ling Wei? Then why this time… … .”

I heard the story from Joo Seung-ik.

Several years ago, a variety show created by Hong Min-joong was copied verbatim in China, and Hong Min-joong sharpened his teeth after that incident.

So, when planning this program, we made a joint proposal to nip plagiarism in the bud from the beginning, and it came to fruition, resulting in this format.

Hong Min-jung said that his goal was to show who and which country has a higher level even if they are doing the same program.

By the way, the person who plagiarized at that time was Ling Weilani, who was in charge of directing this program.

I thought that if this were to happen, it would be a situation that could not have been rational in the first place.

“After what happened back then, why did you make that offer to him again this time? It’s for revenge. To repay the debt I owed you back then.”

“Debt? What kind of…?”

“When I found out that he had plagiarized, I was so shocked that I called him directly to confront him. But we couldn’t communicate. So I took an interpreter and went to that country myself. I went there and started swearing. I said things like, “Is this something a human being should do? Do you have no morals? How can you call yourself a producer after doing this?”

“Um, did you say you were sorry?”

“Oh, I wouldn’t have done that. If I had, we wouldn’t have come to this point. Do you know? That program is still being broadcast in China and is still doing well.”

“Not yet? But it’s already ended in Korea.”

This program was planned by Hong Min-jung while he was at MBS, so it was naturally canceled when he transferred.

Originally, entertainment shows don’t have a very long lifespan, and when viewer ratings drop, they are naturally replaced with other programs when the reorganization period comes.

In line with that, Hong Min-jung also transferred to JNBC after receiving a large signing bonus.

It’s an ironic situation that a program that ended long ago in Korea is still being aired in China, where it was plagiarized.

“So isn’t that what’s happening? They started by copying others’ work, and now it’s completely their world. They say they’re the original.”

“Hmm. It seems like even though you went all the way to China, it wasn’t resolved amicably at the time.”

“Are you okay? Haha. If you knew what I went through back then, you wouldn’t be able to say that.”

Hong Min-jung said, dripping arsenic and repeatedly inhaling the smoke from his cigarette and exhaling long exhales.

“At that time, I was arrested by the police and taken away. I found out that his father was a member of the party leadership. He had been waiting for me when he knew I was coming. Then, when I raised my voice, he came and took me away.”

Heeseong asked with a bewildered expression.

“How is that possible? They didn’t even use violence, they were just talking, and you dragged them away? Even if they’re communists… … .”

“It’s not a place that we can understand with our common sense. I was taken there and stayed for three whole days. I even wore a prison uniform and stayed in that dirty, shit-smelling place for three days.”

“… … Yes? You even ended up being imprisoned in a detention center? Then that’s considered an arrest?”

“I don’t know about that, but anyway, they let me go after three days. They even took me to the airport to make sure I didn’t go somewhere else. That’s how I came to Korea. But… … Ha.”

Hong Min-jung’s face darkened as if something else was behind it.

“As soon as I arrived in Korea, I turned on my cell phone and there were hundreds of calls. From family, relatives, acquaintances, all kinds of people.”

“I guess you couldn’t help but be worried because contact was suddenly cut off.”

“No. My father passed away. He had been sick for a long time, but he passed away while I was in China. Since I can’t contact him, there’s bound to be chaos. I can only be the chief mourner for a day… .”

I never thought there would be a story like this.

At first I thought maybe I had some kind of anger management disorder.

Now I think I finally understand a little why Hong Min-jung had no choice but to act so emotionally, even without reason.

‘If things were like this, I would have done the same thing, since I couldn’t even watch my father die.’

Because I know better than anyone how it feels to send off a father, I felt a sense of empathy for him, even if only for a moment.

At the same time, he opened his lips toward Hong Min-jung, thinking that he had to solve this case first.

“I don’t think we can rule out the possibility that there was an internal spy. No matter how much I think about it, it doesn’t seem like hacking.”

“An inside spy… … ? What is that… … .”

“Think about it. If it was a hack, was it really necessary to delete only emails from a certain period? Wouldn’t that be more troublesome? Wouldn’t it have been much easier for the hacker to delete the account itself or empty the entire mailbox?”

“That’s… … .”

“And, one more thing. It’s also quite suspicious that Producer Hong’s email was deleted. In the first place, wouldn’t it only be possible for someone who knows well that Producer Hong is away and that he rarely checks his phone while he’s overseas? If not, then it could have been restored during the withdrawal period.”

Hong Min-jung rolled his eyes and frowned at Hee-sung’s story.

I hadn’t thought about it that deeply, but after hearing it, it made a lot of sense.

What that means is that you have to be suspicious of your own teammates.

Hee-sung looked at his left wrist and said, thinking that the call was probably over by the emergency exit.

“Please gather the team members right now, to that conference room.”

Genius Manager Who Hears Voices