Chapter 128: Recognition (1)

Translator: Dreamscribe

The 'K:FESTA' he'd heard in the Deja Vu was definitely something Kang Jae-ha had come across before. While he was still turning 'K:FESTA' over in his mind, the Deja Vu went on.

『"'K:FESTA', held in LA, sold out every seat for two days and the response response is unreal 'K:FESTA' really dropped a nuke this time."

At Executive Director Heo Seong-jin's words, a female employee near him answered.

"That was three years ago, wasn't it? When 'K:FESTA' regrouped and opened for the first time in LA. The response was pretty lukewarm back then, though."

Another employee cut in.

"Calling it lukewarm is generous. Considering how much money they poured into it, you could pretty much call it a flop."

Executive Director Heo Seong-jin nodded and continued.

"I thought they'd call it quits after that, but the second 'K:FESTA' is a massive hit in LA. The publicity alone is enormous, both days are completely sold out, and......there must have been more than 200,000 people over the two days."

"If you count all the people who couldn't get tickets but still came to check it out, I think it'll be over 300,000."

"Even with a rough calculation, they'll make several times their investment."

"Could it reach tens of billions of won?"

"It should, if you include the marketing effect."』

That was as far as it went.

When the 'Deja Vu' ended, Kang Jae-ha's vision swam for a moment before settling. Back in reality almost at once, Jae-ha found Oh Jong-man, An Ji-hee and the others in front of him.

'Hmm...'

Kang Jae-ha started retracing the 'Deja Vu' he'd just seen. Specifically, it had been about 'K:FESTA'. He had definitely heard the name before. Still, to make sure, he pulled out his phone. To search.

The results came up fast.

'Right, I remembered correctly.'

What surfaced was fairly extensive, running from years back up to the present, but the short version of what 'K:FESTA' was went like this.

'K:FESTA' was a supersized global event, or festival, that fused KPOP with a Korean Wave expo.

By day, the event ran on Korean Wave booths for goods, cosmetics, food and the like, and come afternoon, KPOP performances of every concept unfolded in front of tens of thousands of overseas fans.

An event like a miniature version of the Korean Wave industry itself, where fandoms from all over the world, corporate sponsors and entertainment agencies gathered in one place.

It wasn't just a KPOP concert. 'K:FESTA' was closer to a business venture aimed at the global market. Essentially a showcase introducing the Korean Wave to foreign audiences.

Kang Jae-ha's somewhat hazy memories of 'K:FESTA' were sharpening.

'Right, about three years ago there was all that back-and-forth over whether 'Seriel' would perform at 'K:FESTA' too. It fell through in the end, though.'

It was from before Jae-ha crossed over to the other world, back when he was still soft. The Korean Wave had been weaker then than it was now, and that was when the first 'K:FESTA' was held.

'The domestic idols went nuts over it. It was a festival where an agency could promote its group overseas out in the open.'

It wasn't a solo overseas concert, but it was a chance to take the stage in front of a huge foreign audience. So plenty of idols had flocked to that first 'K:FESTA'.

'Well, like they said in the Deja Vu, the first 'K:FESTA' bombed.'

Next, Kang Jae-ha searched for recent articles on 'K:FESTA'. A few of them caught Jae-ha's eye.

《'K:FESTA', Which Posted Underwhelming Numbers in LA Three Years Ago, To Be Held Again? Rumors Swirling Inside 'HG Group'》

《Odds of a Second 'K:FESTA' Rising↑ HG Group's 'HG ENM' "Seeking an Investment Firm to Come Along as Running Mate"》

《'HG ENM' Confirms Second 'K:FESTA' and Recruits Investors... Industry Investors Respond Coldly》

All of them were quite recent, posted within the last month or two. Kang Jae-ha read through the pieces carefully. The answer came quickly.

First, the company hosting 'K:FESTA', three years ago and now, was 'HG ENM'. A subsidiary under the conglomerate HG Group. With ENM attached to the name, that made it a competitor of Kang Jae-ha's as well.

'At their current scale, the gap is ridiculous.'

But there was no telling how the future would go. The 'MEG' Kang Jae-ha pictured down the line was, at minimum, bigger than 'HG ENM'.

'For now, though, I need to use everything I can get my hands on.'

In any case, 'HG ENM' was hunting for a main investor to hold the second 'K:FESTA'. That was what they'd labeled a Running Mate. They'd covered the funding themselves the first time around, but after the flop they'd clearly decided to spread the risk.

'HG ENM' also wanted multiple sponsors in addition to the main investor.

In the end, they all wanted the same thing, money.

The Running Mate as main investor was the core piece, and the sponsors would cover the smaller change.

'And of course the sponsors who sign on get what they're after, promotion, marketing, whatever.'

Judging by the articles, though, 'HG ENM' seemed to be having real trouble landing either a main Running Mate or sponsors.

It was only natural after the ambitious first 'K:FESTA' had flopped.

'Still, the scale of the thing is huge and they're a conglomerate, so they'll scrape someone together eventually.'

The 'Deja Vu' he'd seen made no clear mention of when the second 'K:FESTA' would be held. Only that it would be a nuclear-grade hit, and that like the first, the second would take place in LA.

'Two to three hundred thousand foreign attendees, and several times the return on the investment... tens of billions of won sloshing back and forth, easy.'

Guessing it would happen within the year at the latest, Kang Jae-ha ran a hand over his chin. His mind began to spin. A plan was taking shape, and along with the thick smell of money, several figures flickered past him.

Choi Ri-na, 'Kisera', and so on.

Soon, smiling faintly, Kang Jae-ha looked over one of the articles again.

《Odds of a Second 'K:FESTA' Rising↑ HG Group's 'HG ENM' "Seeking an Investment Firm to Come Along as Running Mate"》

And murmured under his breath.

"Investment firm as Running Mate. Looks like that's going to be me."

That same night.

The day wound down and night fell. As the hour grew late, the mercenaries, Lee Chan-hoo, Ha Yeon-ji, Cha Chung-hyeon and the rest, began filtering into the 'MEG' conference room one by one.

It was something like a weekly meeting.

Set up by the Commander, Kang Jae-ha.

As more subordinates joined over time, the arrangement had become gathering once a week like this to report to the Commander. Naturally, sitting around messing about with each other came free with it.

After listening to assorted reports from his various subordinates, Kang Jae-ha called on Ha Yeon-ji.

"Ha Yeon-ji."

"Yes~ Commander."

Legs crossed, Kang Jae-ha gave her his instructions.

"Look into 'K:FESTA'. In detail."

"Mmm?? 'K:FESTA'?"

"Yeah, I know the basics. I want you to dig deeper. Gather everything, from minor rumors to the current situation."

Ha Yeon-ji had already pulled out her planner and was writing down the Commander's instructions. She was currently the CEO and editor-in-chief of News M, MEG's press outlet. On top of that, investigation was Ha Yeon-ji's specialty. With her extensive connections among reporters, looking into 'K:FESTA' would be nothing for her.

"Sure~ I'll get right on it."

"You've heard of 'K:FESTA' too, right?"

"New York, was it? Anyway, some kind of KPOP festival held in the States, right? They ran it a few years back and I hear it tanked."

"Not New York. LA."

"Ah, was it?"

Sure enough, Ha Yeon-ji only knew the rough outline as well. The other subordinates listened quietly to Kang Jae-ha's instructions, and Ha Yeon-ji closed her planner and put a question back to the Commander.

"But Commander, why 'K:FESTA' all of a sudden??"

The answer came not from Kang Jae-ha but from narrow-eyed Lee Chan-hoo.

"Why do you think? If the Commander says look into it, isn't the answer obvious? He's setting up another proper play, that's what."

"Like I don't know that? I just want to know what kind of play......wait, why are you picking a fight again?"

"Picking a fight? Who's picking a fight. I was just telling you."

"You're smirking?"

"Not my fault your face is funny."

"You into me or something? Why do you keep looking at my face? Am I that pretty?"

"Bullshit. Have you lost your mind, auntie?"

"Go screw yourself, uncle."

As always, war broke out between Lee Chan-hoo and Ha Yeon-ji. Their colleagues, long since used to it, barely reacted. Choi Ri-na cheered them both on, while Go Chun-seok and Jang Tae-san watched in silence like a pair of ancient trees. Ryu Hyuk sighed, apparently thinking, here we go again.

Kamijo Yuu and Sato Shota weren't there, but if they had been, the room would have been even noisier.

Paying them no mind, Kang Jae-ha, chin propped on his hand as he watched the two of them, turned to Cha Chung-hyeon on his right, who had been yawning for a while now, and asked quietly.

"We've got money to spare, right? Assuming we move somewhere around 10 billion won."

Eyes heavy with boredom, Cha Chung-hyeon answered as though 10 billion were nothing.

"10 billion's easy. Uh, more than that is perfectly doable too."

The 'MEG' Safe-keeper's voice was full of confidence. He spoke of 10 billion won like it was 100 won. And with good reason. They had already made 10 billion, no, tens of billions of won from 'House of the Daytime Moon' alone. On top of that were the stocks Jae-ha had handed him from the Domestic Stock Market and US Stock Market, Choi Ri-na's music revenue, and so on.

Commander Kang Jae-ha's pockets were bulging right now.

Cha Chung-hyeon soon tossed out a question.

"I don't really know the details, but that 'K:FESTA'? Does it need a full 10 billion?"

"No, I don't know yet. I just set that as the maximum based on the scale of the project."

Having murmured that, Kang Jae-ha called again to Ha Yeon-ji, who had Lee Chan-hoo by the hair.

"I'll fill you in on the specifics later, so Ha Yeon-ji, the second your research on 'K:FESTA' is in order, report it."

It was the moment Ha Yeon-ji flung Lee Chan-hoo aside and answered. Kang Jae-ha's vision rippled. The familiar sensation followed. It was 'Deja Vu'. Jae-ha's brow tightened for an instant.

'Again, right after this morning?'

The 'Deja Vu' he'd seen that morning had come back to back with this one.

Before he could even work out who the subject of the 'Deja Vu' was, Kang Jae-ha's field of vision shifted.

『He was inside a car. Someone was driving with music blasting. A smiling man sat in the driver's seat. His long hair reached the nape of his neck and was tied back, and he wore a brown short padded jacket. He was thin overall, and there was something strangely unsettling about his eyes.

The car driven by the man with the tied-back hair was filthy.

It looked packed with all kinds of trash and clutter. The man stopped the car in front of an abandoned building in a secluded area. When he turned off the engine, his phone rang. The man with the tied-back hair put the phone to his ear. Soon, a rather gentle male voice came through the phone.

"Jin Jong-hoon, where are you right now?"

The man with the tied-back hair, who had been called Jin Jong-hoon, smiled brightly.

"Me? Came to make some meat. Where else?"

"Call me when you're finished with the job."

"Yeah, yeah, I know-"

The moment the call ended, the man with the tied-back hair got out of the car and began humming. He slowly climbed the stairs. The place he entered had been set up like a makeshift operating room. What immediately stood out was a man lying on an operating table. He had been stripped of everything except his underwear and looked to be in his thirties.

The man with the tied-back hair smiled as he looked at him.

"This today's material?"

Wearing gloves, he placed his right hand on the stomach of the man lying down. Then he closed his eyes. It was as though he were checking the organs inside the man's abdomen. The man with the tied-back hair opened his eyes again and grinned.

"The meat's nice and fresh. Grade A, definitely Grade A."

Murmuring it with delight, he picked up a scalpel.』

The 'Deja Vu' Kang Jae-ha was seeing now belonged to a new subordinate.

The trouble was, the state he was in didn't look good at all.

*****

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