Chapter 166 America (8)

Translator: Dreamscribe

The woman's voice that suddenly rang out said:

【Hello, Kang Jae-ha-nim.】

【Kang Jae-ha-nim, you have recruited at least 10 Subordinates and encountered at least 3 Subordinates in other countries.】

【As a reward for your continued recruitment of Subordinates, including those in other countries, Kang Jae-ha-nim will receive an 'Additional Perk'.】

Kang Jae-ha smiled. Of course he did, because the woman's voice had offered him an 'Additional Perk'. Having recently gained English through the 'Language Pack' as well, Jae-ha couldn't help but smile.

'I'm just following my own plans, and it keeps giving me Additional Perks on its own. Sweet.'

When he first checked the system, things like the 'Reality Adaptation Project' and the 'Pension Program' had felt somewhat bothersome, but things were completely different now. To Kang Jae-ha, the system was practically a gold mine.

The woman's voice continued in Jae-ha's ears.

【Please select the 'Additional Perk' you wish to receive.】

【1. Defense (Ability/ Enhancement)】

【2. Additional Pension 70 billion won】

As soon as he heard the listed Additional Perks, Kang Jae-ha rubbed his chin. This time, the choices were similar to the previous ones, yet slightly different.

''Ability' Defense is showing up again? But now it's got Enhancement attached.'

Kang Jae-ha already possessed the 'Ability' Defense. It was an 'Ability' he'd received from a previous Additional Perk. Yet the same thing had appeared again. The only difference was that it came with the condition of 'Enhancement'. Jae-ha quickly figured out what that meant.

'So Additional Perks can offer new 'Abilities', but does this mean they can also enhance duplicate 'Abilities' I already have?'

He'd thought only new 'Abilities' would appear, but apparently that wasn't the case.

''Ability' Enhancement, huh... Interesting, but.'

The prospect of enhancing an 'Ability' was certainly appealing. If the various 'Abilities' Jae-ha currently possessed, including 'Absolute Obedience', were enhanced, Kang Jae-ha's power would grow even greater. At that moment, perhaps finding it strange that the Commander had suddenly stopped, Park Eun-jung tilted his head.

"Commander?"

Kang Jae-ha gestured for him to wait. Then he seemed to think for a moment before murmuring inwardly.

'Enhancement is interesting, but I don't need it right now. I don't even know how it'll be enhanced or by how much.'

If it had been a new 'Ability', he would have chosen it without question. It meant gaining something he didn't have, and if he passed it up once, he might never be able to obtain it again. But enhancing an 'Ability' was closer to a gamble. Besides, Kang Jae-ha believed the unenhanced 'Abilities' he already had were more than enough.

'If it were Absolute Obedience, maybe, but the other Abilities? Why bother?'

Kang Jae-ha was already making good use of his 'Abilities'. He didn't know about the future, but for now, he felt no need for Enhancement. Using his 'Abilities' in the right combinations would probably create far greater synergy than enhancing one of them.

Kang Jae-ha made up his mind.

'Additional Pension, 70 billion won. That's better than Enhancement.'

It was a staggering 70 billion won. An amount so enormous that ordinary people might faint just seeing the number. The money Kang Jae-ha had initially received from the system was around 25 billion won, so this was almost three times as much. For Kang Jae-ha, who had money pouring out left and right these days, the timing couldn't have been better. Jae-ha conveyed his decision to the woman's voice.

'I'll go with the 70 billion won Additional Pension.'

The woman's voice rang out again.

【Confirmed. Kang Jae-ha-nim will receive the Additional Perk 'Additional Pension 70 billion won'.】

【First, we will summarize Kang Jae-ha-nim's existing Pension.】

【Kang Jae-ha-nim's total Pension was 24,781,890,000 won, of which you have received 10,500,000,000 won to date. Your remaining Pension is 14,281,890,000 won.】

Out of roughly 25 billion won, he'd received around 10 billion as Pension, leaving about 15 billion. Hearing it laid out like that made Jae-ha realize all over again that he'd already received quite a lot.

【70 billion won will be added to the remaining Pension of 14,281,890,000 won. Kang Jae-ha-nim's Pension will increase to 84,281,890,000 won.】

In one stroke, roughly 15 billion had become 85 billion.

【The 'Reality Adaptation Project' has a total of 19 months remaining. Accordingly, the Pension amount of 84,281,890,000 won will be recalculated.】

【Starting next month, Kang Jae-ha-nim will receive 4.5 billion won per month as Pension.】

【That concludes the information. Good luck.】

After finishing its precise calculations, the woman's voice cut off. Hearing the result, Jae-ha couldn't keep the corners of his mouth from rising.

How could he?

'A monthly paycheck of 700 million was already pretty damn impressive, but 4.5 billion?'

Starting next month, a staggering 4.5 billion won would land in Jae-ha's account every month. That worked out to roughly 150 million won a day. Over a period of less than two years, he was set to receive around 85 billion won in total.

It was an amount that could never be ignored, whether for Kang Jae-ha's own life or MEG's future.

Of course, Kang Jae-ha's pockets were already deep, and MEG's businesses were booming one after another.

Still, the more money, the better. There was no such thing as too much.

'Even when I use Deja Vu to play the U.S. or Korean stock market, tripling 25 billion and tripling 85 billion are worlds apart.'

On top of that, for some reason, the 'Additional Perks' kept increasing the size of his Pension. This time it was 70 billion, but next time it might be 90 billion or even 100 billion. Kang Jae-ha liked 'Abilities', of course, but he decided that when the numbers made sense, massively increasing his Pension wasn't a bad option either.

Maybe one day his monthly paycheck would reach 10 billion won.

At this rate, he could spend the rest of his life doing nothing but breathing and living off the money. Not that Kang Jae-ha ever would.

Park Eun-jung, having noticed the strange smile on the Commander's face, asked.

"Commander? What's wrong? Your expression is kind of- scary."

Still smiling, Kang Jae-ha shrugged.

"I got a raise."

Later.

After leaving the hotel, Kang Jae-ha climbed into the passenger seat of the van they'd arranged in advance. As soon as he got in, Jae-ha changed his face to that of Director Kim Ha-jae. For reference, he planned to have breakfast tomorrow morning with the Leon employees who had come to LA with him and go over what they'd done.

Park Eun-jung climbed into the driver's seat next. The moment he saw Jae-ha with the Mask on, he flinched slightly.

"I'm still not used to you changing faces, Commander. For a second, I wondered who you were."

"Get used to it, punk."

"...I'll get going."

"Yeah."

Park Eun-jung, now MEG's exclusive lawyer, looked impeccably groomed, without a trace of the homeless man he'd been just a few days ago. As the car pulled away, Kang Jae-ha laughed.

"Did you take a picture of yourself when you looked like a bum? Whenever you start forgetting where you came from, it'd be good to look at that shitty mug of yours."

"Why are you like this, haha. But I did take a picture."

"Keep it safe. Anyway, I booked you a room at the hotel I'm staying at, so stay there. When it's time to go back to Korea, travel with Go Chun-seok and Ha Yeon-ji."

"Yes, thank you."

"I've already told the other comrades about you."

Anticipation appeared on Park Eun-jung's face. Then, turning the steering wheel, he asked.

"But where are Go Chun-seok and Ha Yeon-ji?"

"I sent them out to look into something."

Kang Jae-ha turned his gaze out the window and continued.

"Now that I've come to America, I'm starting to think it's about time we set up a branch here too."

"You mean a U.S. branch for 'MEG'?"

"Yeah. We already have the Japan branch. According to my plans, it won't be right away, but we need to start laying the groundwork here too."

Jae-ha ran through MEG's future blueprint in his mind, then recalled the things already in motion.

"I've already fired the opening shot for expanding into this market, so we need to have a U.S. branch ready when the timing is right."

"All the way to America just one year after starting 'MEG'...... That's incredible. Even in America, you rarely see companies grow that fast."

Having worked at a law firm in America, Park Eun-jung knew better than most just how extraordinary MEG's growth rate was. Kang Jae-ha, however, considered it nothing special.

"By then, you'll have a lot more work to do. Keep that in mind."

About an hour later, Kang Jae-ha arrived at a place called the 'LA Convention Center'. The 'LA Convention Center' had a massive glass-fronted building along with an extremely spacious outdoor plaza.

Its sheer grandeur made the scale jaw-dropping even at a glance.

It was Kang Jae-ha's first time there, so he was fairly impressed.

"It's big. Really big."

Park Eun-jung, who had stepped out of the car, seemed familiar with the place.

"This is the 'LA Convention Center'. All kinds of large-scale international events are held here. The 'Arena Concert Hall' is connected around the back. That's why major performances are often held here too."

Kang Jae-ha slowly nodded and murmured.

"So this is the place CEO Seok Ji-yeon is eyeing as the venue for 'K:FESTA'."

In other words, the 'LA Convention Center' was the leading venue candidate for 'K:FESTA', for which Kang Jae-ha was now officially the main investor. At that moment, someone approached the masked Kang Jae-ha. It was a fairly handsome man. Jae-ha had seen him before.

'Wasn't he CEO Seok Ji-yeon's secretary?'

The secretary gave Kang Jae-ha a slight bow.

"Hello, Director Kim Ha-jae-nim. CEO Seok Ji-yeon-nim is waiting for you. Please come this way."

The secretary walked ahead and guided Jae-ha. Before long, he spotted a woman with her hair neatly tied back in the middle of the vast plaza. It was CEO Seok Ji-yeon. When she spotted Jae-ha, she approached and greeted him.

"Director Kim Ha-jae-nim, you made it?"

"Yes. Hello."

"Seeing you in LA feels a little different."

"Does it?"

CEO Seok Ji-yeon looked toward Park Eun-jung, who was standing a short distance away, and asked.

"And the gentleman behind you?"

"He's MEG's CLO (Chief Legal Officer). He came with me."

CEO Seok Ji-yeon seemed slightly surprised, but quickly composed herself.

"I see."

At the same time, she murmured inwardly.

'He came with his CLO? What does that mean? More importantly, they already have a CLO...... Then again, 'MEG' can't be considered a small company anymore. Looking at the projects and businesses they've taken on, they're practically on par with a mid-sized company.'

CEO Seok Ji-yeon's expression turned serious as she continued.

"Shall we talk inside."

Kang Jae-ha looked around and shook his head.

"No, the weather's nice, so let's take a walk."

"Shall we?"

Kang Jae-ha and Seok Ji-yeon began walking slowly across the vast plaza. CEO Seok Ji-yeon was the first to speak.

"We're planning to hold the second 'K:FESTA' here at the 'LA Convention Center'. Have you been here before?"

"No. It's spacious."

"Right. We'll set up booths across this plaza, and if things go well, more than a hundred thousand people could gather here."

The booths would probably be filled with advertisements and promotions from sponsoring companies, along with Hallyu-related food, cosmetics, merchandise, clothing, and all kinds of content. While Kang Jae-ha pictured it in his mind, Seok Ji-yeon spoke again.

"Regardless of whether the project succeeds or fails, just looking at this place already makes my heart race"

"It'll go well."

"You make it sound very simple."

"It will go well, and we have to make sure it does."

CEO Seok Ji-yeon smiled faintly.

"We do."

"And the performances will be held at the 'Arena Concert Hall' back there."

"Yes. That's right. It can accommodate up to 30,000 people, and if we include the outdoor performance area, it'll be over 50,000."

"What about the KPOP artists who'll perform?"

"We're putting together a list. Once the venue is confirmed, we'll start booking them."

CEO Seok Ji-yeon stopped walking and met Kang Jae-ha's eyes.

"Is there a reason you're asking about the artists we're planning to book?"

Kang Jae-ha smiled faintly and revealed one piece of his plan.

"When the time comes, we at 'MEG' may recommend an artist to perform on the 'K:FESTA' stage."

At that moment.

-♬♪

Kang Jae-ha's phone rang. A call had come in. After excusing himself to CEO Seok Ji-yeon, Jae-ha walked a few steps away and checked the caller.

It was one of the A&R team employees who had come to LA with him. They were probably at the hotel with the others right now.

Tilting his head slightly, Kang Jae-ha moved farther away from CEO Seok Ji-yeon and put the phone to his ear.

"Yes, speaking."

The A&R team employee on the other end sounded extremely excited.

"Manager Kang Jae-ha-nim!! Have you seen it?!! Kisera just went from 188th to 98th on 'Spotimy'! They've made it into the top 100 of the global chart!! This is completely insane!!"

Kisera had jumped a whopping 90 places in just a few days.

*****

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