Novelist Running Through Time - Chapter 202



Only Noblemtl

The Novelist Who Leapt Through Time Episode 202

Celebrities know a lot about high-end restaurants. This is because you need a place to eat comfortably, avoiding the attention of paparazzi and fans.

That was my prejudice against celebrities.

It is a prejudice that arose because of Kim Byul.

Byul Kim is an expert in finding private restaurants. High-end restaurants in Seoul, especially near Baekhak Entertainment, have a thorough knowledge of everything from chefs to operations.

I asked him if he was a muk-sun, and he got the answer after being hit with honey chestnuts. Because I had to eat only grass to control my diet, I became a gourmet because I wanted to eat out properly even if only occasionally.

Thanks to that, when Kim Byeol asks to eat, just follow along and everything will be resolved. Because he is a wealthy veteran actor, he pays for his own meals, but the cost of each meal exceeds 100,000 won, which sometimes feels a bit burdensome.

However, the restaurant we arrived at following Rapid Boys leader Lee Soo was a typical 24-hour soup restaurant.

“if. Are you okay here? “I took my kids there all the time, so it was natural, but now that I think about it, it’s a bit difficult to treat guests well…”

“it’s okay.”

After giving a short answer, I followed Lee Soo into the soup restaurant, but he kept staring at me, so I proved that I was ‘okay’ with my actions.

“For me, it’s intestine soup.”

“Oh, are you eating that?”

I can’t eat it because I don’t have it.

We finished the meal neatly, chatting.

Talking to someone I met for the first time was a bit stressful and burdensome to me, but since Lee Soo’s job is dealing with people, the conversation was comfortable in its own way.

But after finishing the meal, that comfort disappeared little by little.

Because it was time for the main topic to come out.

“so…”

“……”

“What do you mean hopeless?”

I looked closely at Isu’s face.

He looked confused and relieved at the same time.

It was as if I was letting go of something I had held deep in my heart, with the thought, ‘What is coming has come.’

I could immediately see what was weighing him down.

“The person who betrayed CEO Baek Seung-won was not only the first manager who left the company.”

“……”

“I betrayed myself too.”

“……”

“The boss… knows that.”

On the table of a warm soup restaurant, where the red soup has dried,

A young man’s tears fell.

EP 12-Marionette

In the entertainment industry, where all kinds of schemes are rampant, the weak cannot survive.

Although I am not a celebrity, I have at least one foot in the entertainment industry, so I knew this very well.

And in my opinion, betrayal is not something to criticize in this world.

That should be called ‘independence’, not ‘betrayal’.

It’s a kind of custom.

Mid-level managers or producers who worked at large entertainment companies leave the company and start their own company. This is called independence.

And since celebrities are human beings with emotions, not assets of a company, they follow people who are emotionally close to them.

Therefore, it is no exaggeration to say that if a well-known middle manager leaves an entertainment agency, an entire department disappears.

Because the celebrities in that department also disappear.

In this way, a new entertainment agency is born, equipped with talented working staff and entertainers.

And either fail or become a legend.

That’s how the entertainment industry works.

Of course, there are many times when feelings between the CEO and independent people become bitter, but in the larger view, this is also part of the physiology of the industry.

There is absolutely nothing to add. It’s just the way it is.

– No, fuck, does this make sense?!

However, President Baek Seung-won, who was not from this industry, could not understand this.

Employees and celebrities are not the only assets of the company.

system.

Invisible know-how and systems are also company assets.

To correct this, it is the nature of large corporations to burn billions of dollars in annual salary and hire experts from overseas.

But on this floor, they say they just let the bastards who steal the whole thing go free.

Regardless of whether others said it or not, Baek Seung-won could not tolerate such behavior at his company.

This is because it is a custom that one does not understand or understand.

So, ‘independence’ was banned at Baekhak Entertainment. This was considered a ‘betrayal’.

However, those in the entertainment industry could not accept this.

It’s a difference of perspective.

Baek Seung-won is a subsidiary, but he is from a large conglomerate.

And conglomerates, especially Baekhak Group, control the market through monopolies and make profits beyond what is set.

At this time, any means or methods are used to achieve monopoly.

A closed kingdom built with guns and swords.

It is a criminal gang style operation.

Therefore, this is commonly called a ‘cartel’.

The cartel does not forgive traitors. This is because one traitor can be a fatal blow that destroys a solid kingdom made up of monopolies.

Therefore, betrayal means death.

It must be prevented by punishing it as a punishment.

That is President Baek Seung-won’s ‘common sense.’

But other people’s common sense was a little different.

Those who belong to entertainment agencies are not ‘employees’ of the company.

Whether you are a producer, composer, or even a manager, you have an ideal of what you want to achieve in the entertainment industry.

Whether it is the most beautiful song, dance, or person, it is the realm of art, not business.

Therefore, everyone in the entertainment industry is an artist.

Art exists in the mind, not reality, and therefore belongs to humans, not companies.

Therefore, the system is not the company’s internal regulations, but lies latent in the network.

Therefore, humans with connections can function as companies in themselves.

Everyone wants ‘something special just for them’.

Therefore, we must be merciful to those who leave for something special.

That’s how this industry has survived, and it’s how we’ve raised adventurers who will make this industry great.

The custom achieved through this sympathy was ‘independence’.

Therefore, to those with this mindset, President Baek Seung-won’s method was the oppression of a tyrant, comparable to that of a gangster.

As can be seen just by looking at Rapid Boys’ last album, when it comes to the desire for ‘something special of one’s own’, the one person who never left out was the one who left the company.

Naturally, he had been dreaming of independence long before the headquarters attacked Baekhak Group.

And he was a person who heard people call him an ‘asshole’ but never a ‘bastard’, and everyone around him liked the first director who was full of artistic temperament.

The leader of Rapid Boys, Lee Soo, also trusted the producer who seemed to risk everything in his life to make his group successful.

So much so that he pledged that one day, if the first manager becomes independent and starts a company, he wants to follow in his footsteps.

However, even if the first director became independent and founded the company, Lee Soo himself was tied to a contract and could not leave the company, let alone whether he could endure retaliation from President Baek Seung-won.

To them, the head office’s proposal was too perfect.

– We are planning to reorganize Management Office 1 into an independent affiliate.

– then…! Can I go with the kids now?!

– of course. Only the name changes. The manager will be changed to CEO, and the company will need a new name. The name will probably be decided by the CEO, right? haha.

This was a more attractive offer to Lee Soo than to Director 1.

So Lee Soo encouraged the director.

– Director, please accept this offer.

– Hey, Lee Soo…

– We will follow the director until the end. Where else can you get an opportunity like this?

– ……okay. Take heart and give it a go!

That day, Li Su felt like Zhuge Liang recommending the path of defeat to Liu Bei, a virtuous general.

In reality, he was just an asshole.

The Rapid Boys are abandoned, and Manager 1 is frying chicken.

So it happened.

That’s how it happened…

* * *

It’s dull.

After learning the full story of the incident, I felt very strange every time I went to Baekhak Entertainment.

Of course, just because Lee Soo said this was all my fault, I didn’t say, ‘Oh, I see, then I’ll stop helping you.’

The reason I help Rapid Boys in the first place is not for Lee Soo, but to support Min Hyo-chan.

And actually, I didn’t think that the group would be able to make a comeback just because I created a good world view.

So, in a way, I am behaving very rudely.

If you don’t help Min Hyo-chan, it will remain a burden on your mind, so even though you know it won’t work, you are trying in vain.

I just use this whole experience as a unique field trip activity and as fertilizer for writing my next work.

“Ah, is Inseop here?”

“hello.”

“You’re having a hard time. “Rest in peace!”

On the way to the office, I ran into the second child of Rapid Boys. My whole body was drenched in sweat. Sweat is dripping from her bangs.

And Min Hyo-chan, who was behind him, was no different. Min Hyo-chan was lying on the floor panting like the youngest child.

“Hyo-chan, I can’t use this because I’m running low on stamina.”

“Oh my, Hyochan, this is not the bed. Wake up sometime…”

The brothers, who have recovered their stamina, are giggling around Min Hyo-chan.

Even in the midst of receiving affectionate bullying, Min Hyo-chan glanced at me and smiled and waved his hand.

I smiled slightly and waved, but that smile was quickly erased the moment I made eye contact with Lee Soo in the corner of the practice room.

Lee Soo was looking at me and smiling bitterly.

As if all of this was in vain.

“hmm……”

As I headed to the office, I couldn’t stop thinking.

What is popularity, what is success, what is art?

Popularity is the interest of an unspecified number of people, and success is wealth and fame.

So what is art?

Is art a means to gain popularity and success?

Or is it a beauty that transcends all of this?

Baekhak Entertainment follows the former, but I follow the latter.

But I also used art as a means at one time.

Because I wanted to make a living.

In a way, I still use art as a means.

In order to suppress the fear of living in a world that can disappear like an illusion at any time, I am strengthening my ego by building an anchor called literature that I can keep only in my heart.

If so, I am pursuing survival, not beauty.

Is this version of myself any different from those boys who struggle for the success of Rapid Boys and for survival as celebrities?

Is it really okay for me to take a step back and watch them like a tourist?

At that time, when I was sinking into a swamp of deeper thoughts,

Knock knock-

Someone tapped my shoulder.

I reflexively turned my head –

Kook-

– And his fingers dug into my cheek.

“Hi-Hi.”

Staring at me like that is Kim Byeol, who is smiling playfully.

While I was concentrating, it seems like he sneaked into the office.

I felt a little displeased because he was puffing himself up and saying, ‘You are now under me’ just because you got stabbed once in the cheek.

And Kim Byeol’s fingernails were so long and sharp that it hurt her cheek a little.

“It hurts.”

“That is the price you pay for being careless. Take it sweetly…”

Byeol Kim changed her tone of voice needlessly and resolutely and sentenced me to pain.

The tone of voice was so unique that I asked just in case.

“Are you entering a new project this time?”

“how did you know?!”

“It’s my first time hearing your voice…”

“Wow, isn’t it worth going to voice acting academy after so many years?”

Sure enough, Kim Byeol was proud and smiled happily.

“This time I became an independence activist again?”

“Isn’t the role of communist hunter a bit like an independence activist?”

“If you shot and killed a large number of Japanese soldiers in Manchuria, you were an independence activist.”

As is the case every time the story of ‘Manchuria’ comes up, Kim Byeol once again put the back of her hand to her forehead and made a stern comment.

“Ah, I had a really, really hard time in Manchuria. I don’t know how you can live in a place like that. So, were the nomads a fighting people?”

“You’re not going to Manchuria this time?”

“what. Aren’t you going? And even if I ask you to go, you won’t go?!”

Kim Byeol placed one hand on her side and proudly placed her hand on her chest.

“It’s not ‘action’ this time, it’s ‘romance’!”

“Oh… maybe the female protagonist?”

“then!”

After listening closely, I found out that it was a large-scale drama created separately from the general programming network.

Kim Byul could have been flattered that she had won the female lead role in such a drama.

I asked Kim Byeol, a veteran actor at the level of a space star.

“Senior Kim, what is art?”

“……huh? suddenly?”

“Yes, suddenly.”

Hearing the unexpected question, Kim Byeol rolled her eyes and immediately gave an answer.

“To me, art… is the work of embodying fictional characters through acting, right? So, if you really have to ask, it would be closer to an art than a creation, a physical work that is accomplished by training the body and mind?”

“That’s a good answer, but that’s not what I asked.”

“You’re really picky as hell.”

Since I was criticized, I decided to be a little more picky.

“So, the reality is that art… is just a means to gain wealth and fame, right?”

“There is no need to decide on one side. I think everyone has reached a compromise.”

“There are people who just look ahead and run without any room for compromise. Like the Rapid Boys.”

“ah.”

Only then did Kim Byeol realize that the current question had a rather serious meaning, so she adjusted her posture and sat down.

“Well, I guess so. And actually, so did I. “I struggled for 10 years to regain my lost popularity…”

“Actually, that’s why I asked. This may be a bit of a sensitive question…”

“Is there anything sensitive between us? “Just ask.”

Despite Kim Byeol’s willing permission, I asked in a rather cautious tone.

“When the life of an entertainer is in danger, when the need to achieve the most beautiful art is so desperate…”

“……”

“How much could Senior Kim sacrifice?”

Kim Byul was silent.

And after a long period of contemplation,

I finally opened my mouth.

“anything.”

* * *

Although he said he would sacrifice anything, I didn’t have much trust in him because he cried because his mother looked ugly at the omakase house.

I made a decision after hearing Kim Byeol’s answer.

And the Rapid Boys members were called together.

I asked the same question.

How much can you sacrifice?

“Uh… um…”

Everyone was puzzled by the appearance of the word ‘sacrifice’.

This is because it is a word that is difficult to use in everyday life.

But just one person.

He believes that his choices have led everyone to destruction, and he is throwing his whole body into trying to correct this, but he is confident that in the end, all his efforts will be in vain without any hope.

-At least one person.

I answered without hesitation.

“anything.”

“Hyung Lee Soo!”

“I can do anything.”

Before I knew it, he stood up and looked directly at me with eyes full of black flame.

He proved himself worthy.

I gave him the position of ‘main character’.

“Then Lee Soo is the protagonist of the worldview.”

“what?”

“I was asked to set up the worldview of Rapid Boys, and Mr. Lee Soo is the main character.”

Gu Yu-bin, who died biting her tongue out of shame, left behind this world, her last legacy.

In ‘Idol Worldview Research’, the ultimate goal of ‘worldview’ is referred to as this.

– ‘Worldview’ helps with marketing by giving characteristics to even colorless idols, and gives unreality to idols, elevating them to the realm of myth. It literally turns them into idols, like someone who is below the stage looking up at the stage.

– However, the ultimate purpose of the worldview exists to align fandom and idols. A worldview is literally a perspective from which to view the world. There is power in stories. Organizations that share a common narrative and move toward the same goal gain organizational strength.

– The existence of a worldview creates an organization. Just as a political party organizes a platform to achieve its goals, an idol organizes a worldview to achieve its goals. Fandoms that look at the same things as idols are willing to spend money, time, and heart.

– The existence of the worldview makes the existence beyond the screen, which only dances and sings, into an object of loyalty.

“There is power in stories.”

According to Gu Yubin’s analysis, stories have power.

A strong worldview can elevate an idol to the heavens.

Fortunately, I know what stories have the most power.

“And the most powerful stories are the truth.”

* * *

“All people, characters, descriptions, companies, organizations, place names, events, and all words that appear in this work are fictitious, and even if there is any similarity to reality, it is stated that this is coincidental.”

“One day, the Baekhak Group headquarters attacked Baekhak Entertainment.”

“It was a surprise attack that no one expected.”