Chapter 30: Condensation (4)

Translator: Dreamscribe

Oh Jong-man, a supporting role actor who had once been pretty decent. His thuggish, rough-looking face was a flaw everyone pointed out before his debut, but as he racked up credits afterward, it evolved into a distinctive asset.

Yet when he got caught up in the sexual harassment and assault scandal, it reverted to a glaring liability once again.

But the one who always supported him and told him not to worry about his looks was Oh Jong-man's wife. And what she recommended to him was writing.

Journaling, to be precise.

'Honey, try keeping a journal. Wouldn't it help to pour all those bottled-up emotions out on paper and let them go?'

From then on, Oh Jong-man wrote. It wasn't anything structured, really. Some days the pages were filled with nothing but profanity, and other days they were packed with delusions and daydreams. Still, the journal was one of the things that kept Oh Jong-man going.

He wrote however he pleased, vented to his heart's content, and reflected on it the next day.

And then.

"Oh Jong-man ssi, did you know you have writing flair?"

A single remark from the blunt man on the other end of the phone, a simple comment from Kang Jae-ha, the Team 4 manager he'd met for the first time just yesterday.

'Huh???'

It shook the very core of Oh Jong-man's mind as he floundered in the depths of despair.

"...What?"

His already menacing face turned several times more severe. Bewilderment, or no small amount of shock. Because he couldn't fathom what this was supposed to mean. The first thought that crossed Oh Jong-man's mind was, 'Is he messing with me?' Or a joke? A prank? Wide-eyed, Oh Jong-man managed to ask back into the phone.

"I have... writing flair? Me? Uh, are you messing with me?"

But the indifferent voice of Kang Jae-ha coming through the phone held not a trace of playfulness.

"I'm not really the type to joke around. I read what you sent me, and you seem to have a good instinct for writing, Oh Jong-man ssi."

"Oh, uh? Sorry. It's just so unexpected that my brain is kind of freezing up."

Contrary to his rough image, Oh Jong-man sputtered with pure, broken-robot-like innocence. Meanwhile, Jae-ha on the other end of the phone was unfazed.

"......Huh."

"You don't believe me?"

"Honestly, no. It's the first time anyone's ever said that to me."

"Have you ever shown your writing to anyone?"

"I understand."

Soon, the sound of pages flipping came through the phone.

"I printed out your writing and read it again, Oh Jong-man ssi. But my opinion hasn't changed. You have writing flair, Oh Jong-man ssi. You have the instinct and the talent."

"...Th-thank you? Man, I don't even know how to react."

"I'm not very good at beating around the bush."

"Right."

"Oh Jong-man ssi, consider the path of a writer."

Oh Jong-man's jaw dropped.

"A writer? Me??"

"Yes. To be blunt, a comeback as an actor isn't going to be easy for you right now, Oh Jong-man ssi. The possibility isn't zero, but the odds will keep shrinking. Even if you do manage to make a comeback against all odds, you won't get the same momentum as before."

It was a brutally realistic perspective. A comeback itself might be impossible, and even if he managed one, despite the not-guilty verdict, the stigma of the incident would follow Oh Jong-man for the rest of his life. This was something Oh Jong-man knew too.

Then Jae-ha spoke again.

"If anything, pivoting toward writing actually puts you in a better position. That won't be easy either, though."

"!!!"

It was a path he'd never even imagined, so Oh Jong-man's mind tangled into an even bigger mess. Kang Jae-ha, well aware of this, calmly delivered his next words.

"It's your choice, of course, Oh Jong-man ssi. Changing direction at this point is close to a gamble. You're perfectly free to just ignore what I've said."

"......"

"I'll send you the audition information I've put together for now."

"Oh, right."

"If you ever want to talk, come see me when you have the time."

"Thank... you."

"Then."

-Click.

The call with Kang Jae-ha ended. Oh Jong-man slowly lowered his phone, his expression still full of question marks. But the texture was slightly different from before. A strange mix of anticipation and fear had crept in. Because he'd caught the scent of an unknown world.

Well, the overwhelming feeling was still that it was absurd. Above all, Kang Jae-ha's tone during the call had been bone-dry. It was absolutely not the voice of someone offering hope or giving advice.

Even so, a great many things were swirling inside Oh Jong-man's head.

"...Me, a writer?"

Same time. A news outlet.

In the office of what appeared to be a mid-to-large-sized media company, the section labeled 'Entertainment' was bustling with noise. Phone ringtones going off everywhere, reporters on calls, the murmur of overlapping conversations, and so on. Amid it all sat a familiar woman.

Brown hair rolled up in a round bun. Big eyes.

It was Ha Yeon-ji, who had met Kang Jae-ha the day before.

She was silently staring at her laptop screen, but.

"......"

Her thoughts were somewhere else entirely.

'The Commander is... a Leon Entertainment manager? Those two don't compute!'

Her mind was filled with the Commander, Kang Jae-ha. It was astonishing enough to suddenly encounter the Commander from that other world, but for him to be working as an entertainment manager? Ha Yeon-ji let out an incredulous laugh and recalled Kang Jae-ha as he'd been, leading the Mercenary Corps in that world.

The memory of him pounding Demonic Beasts into pulp was the most vivid.

'He was a combat type, but his intelligence was high too. He was good at handling people as well.'

In that moment, the memories of the other world she'd tried so hard to forget came flooding back. When she'd first awakened in that world, she'd wanted to return to her original one. But once she actually came back, it was far more boring than she'd expected.

Over a decade spent in the other world had done that to her.

'Well, life over there was nothing but dopamine, to be fair.'

Ha Yeon-ji's main duties in the Mercenary Corps were disguise, infiltration, reconnaissance, intelligence gathering, and the like. Killing targets wasn't her primary job, but her work served that purpose, and having seen what she'd seen over more than a decade, she too had grown accustomed to the smell of blood.

'I knew it. I wasn't the only one who came back.'

From the moment she first Returned to this world, she'd suspected it. That there were others besides her. That suspicion had turned to near-certainty with the recent Kim Ho-yeon incident.

Wasn't it far too strange?

People had died, yet there was no evidence, and every CCTV camera had been rendered useless. Ha Yeon-ji had concluded that Kim Ho-yeon was a Mercenary Corps comrade. He must have used some kind of 'ability' to neutralize the police. Of course, Ha Yeon-ji had an 'ability' of her own. In any case, she'd been quietly digging into the case.

But then Kim Ho-yeon had died in the middle of it all.

At the time, she'd wondered why he suddenly dropped dead, but meeting Kang Jae-ha had given her a degree of understanding. Perhaps the Commander had dealt with him. She then recalled the woman's voice she'd heard when she met Jae-ha.

The gist of it was that Kang Jae-ha had accomplished some monumental objective in the other world, and Ha Yeon-ji felt she had awakened thanks to that.

Furthermore.

【'Absolute Obedience' is now applied to the comrade (subordinate) who has encountered the Commander, toward Kang Jae-ha.】

Violating 'Absolute Obedience' meant death. Betrayal or rebellion also meant death. Harming the Commander also meant death. She'd been tense, but Ha Yeon-ji had smiled at Kang Jae-ha. Because the joy of seeing him outweighed the fear. With boredom having filled her days to the brim, perhaps the dopamine was flowing again.

But she couldn't yet place 100% trust in the Commander, Kang Jae-ha.

'I'm not sure what kind of mindset he's in right now.'

What if he'd gone mad like Kim Ho-yeon? What if he was hungry for slaughter and was systematically eliminating the Mercenary Corps subordinates who'd crossed over to this world? On the surface, all she'd seen was his impassive expression, but even for Ha Yeon-ji of the Scout Unit, reading Kang Jae-ha's true intentions was no easy task.

Soon, Ha Yeon-ji pulled out the business card she'd received from Jae-ha while also picking up her phone. She dialed someone. Not Kang Jae-ha, but an acquaintance in Leon Entertainment's PR team.

"Oh my, Assistant Manager Park-nim, you sound half-dead??"

"What now. What are you trying to squeeze out of me?"

"Oh come on, squeeze? Who, me?"

"Like Reporter Ha would ever call me without an ulterior motive?"

"Well, you've got me there."

Ha Yeon-ji smiled slyly and lobbed a question.

"Leon Management Team 4. Leon's so-called exile, I hear."

"Team 4? Why Team 4 all of a sudden?"

"Do you know a manager there named Kang Jae-ha?"

"Kang Jae-ha?"

The person called Assistant Manager Park went silent for a moment, then answered as if the memory had clicked.

"Oh yeah, Kang Jae-ha! The guy with zero presence!"

"Zero... presence?"

"Yeah, I talked to him a few times a while back, and he was this really meek, spineless type. I heard he caused some big incident recently, but anyway, that's the kind of guy he is."

"Meek and spineless? No way."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"Nothing. Anyway, how's Team 4 doing these days?"

"Hmm? Why would I tell you something like that, Reporter Ha?"

"Oh come on, I'll buy you samgyeopsal and soju next time. Can't you just tell me the basics? It's nothing important."

"......You promise, right? Samgyeopsal and soju?"

Assistant Manager Park cleared his throat on the other end and briefly recited.

"Team 4 is, well, same as always. But it does seem like things are changing a bit lately."

"How so?"

"Only slightly, but I heard they've been put on life support. That there's been a shift."

Ha Yeon-ji stroked her chin and thought.

'Is the Commander doing something?'

Even if she squeezed Assistant Manager Park further, he didn't seem like the type to freely spill company internals. He'd have already filtered things to some degree. After wrapping up the call at an appropriate point, a male reporter colleague sidled up next to Ha Yeon-ji.

"Hey, hey, Reporter Ha."

"What."

The male reporter lowered his voice.

"You're seriously going to do that undercover investigation on the cult? Think it over carefully, yeah? You're gonna get screwed poking around in there."

"Screwed, my ass. I'm just going to look into the internal situation and pull out."

"Is that No Backing Down disease of yours ever gonna get cured?"

"More importantly, do you know anything about Leon Management Team 4?"

The male reporter furrowed his brow and laughed in disbelief.

"Team 4? That graveyard at Leon? Who the hell would pay attention to a place like that?"

Moving on.

Though new figures like Ha Yeon-ji and Oh Jong-man had appeared, Kang Jae-ha's daily routine was still largely the same.

"Action!"

Watching Yoon Da-yeon and An Ji-hee on the set of 'Condensation', where filming was picking up speed. For reference, 'Condensation' had already completed one week of its total three-week shooting schedule. In other words, filming was over 30% done, and from Director Kwon Sung-min to the actors and staff, everyone had gotten quite close.

"Cut! That was great! Ji-hee ssi, that was really nice, but could you try smiling a bit more maniacally?"

"Yes! Director-nim!"

"Director-nim, any direction for me?"

"Oh, Da-yeon ssi, what you're doing right now is really good."

"If there is, feel free to tell me. I don't mind acting uglier."

Kang Jae-ha watched the set with an impassive gaze. At a glance, he seemed to be thinking about nothing, but Jae-ha was looking at the two actresses and running through his next moves.

'Until 'Condensation' makes it to the Busan International Film Festival, those two are still washed-up. But sending them around to auditions would be a waste.'

Stroking his chin, he murmured softly.

"Maybe it's time to start a channel."

He meant a YouTube channel. Since it would feature the two actresses together, the main content would obviously be acting.

The weekend passed, and the weekdays arrived once again.

In between, Kang Jae-ha had been receiving progress reports from Lee Chan-hoo on 'House of the Daytime Moon' while also issuing orders on matters beyond 'Condensation'.

"You don't need to go often, but stop by from time to time and butter up Director Hong Man-seop. Treat the whole production crew to a dinner outing too. And set up a YouTube channel."

"A YouTube channel? Out of nowhere?"

"It's not out of nowhere, I've been thinking about it. Just set one up for now. We can always change the channel name later."

No word had come from Oh Jong-man. Either he was too preoccupied with making ends meet to give it serious thought, or he simply wasn't interested. Either way, Kang Jae-ha decided to wait and see for now.

Then March ended and April began.

April 1st. Before he knew it, the 700-million-won monthly salary, the third 'Pension', was right around the corner. Kang Jae-ha's current assets were roughly 2 billion won. Add another 700 million to that, and it would approach 3 billion.

'I should start thinking about taxes soon.'

He judged it would be prudent to find a decent tax accountant in advance. If he waited until Deja Vu's lucrative intel and MEG's investment funds had grown even larger, it would be too late.

Around that time, Lee Chan-hoo informed Kang Jae-ha.

"Commander, I think I've dug up enough on Ha Yeon-ji."

That night, Kang Jae-ha and Lee Chan-hoo met at the 'MEG' office. After reporting on the 'House of the Daytime Moon' situation first, Lee Chan-hoo recounted what he'd found on Ha Yeon-ji.

"Age 29. Been grinding as a reporter for about five years, and her reputation's pretty solid. Seeing as the reporters around her call her No Backing Down or a nutcase, she seems to have real chops too. Her outlet is 'Prime Patch', you know it, right? Big place."

"I know it."

"She's an entertainment reporter, but since the entertainment industry's tangled up in all kinds of issues, it's kind of a mixed bag? Lately it seems like she's been poking at some cult."

"A cult, huh. Religion and shamanism have plenty of ties to the entertainment industry. Probably the same everywhere."

"Right? I've heard there are celebrities who've fallen into cults too."

"Yeah."

After briefing Kang Jae-ha on this and that about Ha Yeon-ji, Lee Chan-hoo smacked his lips in frustration.

"I can't figure out her 'ability'. Whether she's keeping it hidden or just doesn't have one."

"......"

After gauging for a moment, Jae-ha spoke.

"It's probably an 'ability' that doesn't show externally. Like yours."

"Fair point. Flaunting it openly would be moronic."

Afterward, Kang Jae-ha summoned Ha Yeon-ji.

She showed up at the 'MEG' office on the night of the 2nd, a day later. Wearing a casual zip-up hoodie with her hair rolled up, Ha Yeon-ji grinned the moment she walked into the 'MEG' office.

"What is this place? 'MEG'? Some kind of hideout for the Mercenary Corps guys who crossed over?"

Kang Jae-ha, already settled in, gestured to her.

"Sit."

Ha Yeon-ji stared at Jae-ha for a long moment, then let out a sharp exhale.

"I'm nervous. Commander, that terrifying aura of yours is exactly the same here as it was over there. Honestly, it's a little intimidating?"

"Then you can just leave."

"I don't want that. But are you alone?"

That was when a heavy male voice cut in from behind Ha Yeon-ji.

"She's here."

"Yikes!"

Ha Yeon-ji flinched and whipped around to find Lee Chan-hoo standing there, eyes narrowed. In a full suit. Why a suit? The moment she saw him, Kang Jae-ha opened his mouth.

"Hey, your suit..."

Before he could finish asking whether he'd bought it new, Lee Chan-hoo flattened his voice.

"I already had it."

"......"

Kang Jae-ha silently regarded his subordinate with considerable pity.

'Take the tag off the back first before you say that, you idiot.'

*****

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