The Crazy Mercenary Commander Goes to Work in the Entertainment Industry

Translator: Dreamscribe

Heo Seong-jin, Executive Director of Netflix Korea, was placing a call to Kang Jae-ha. The night before, he had wrapped up a video conference with Netflix headquarters.

In Korea he held the decision-making authority, but for the matter to extend to Netflix in other countries, headquarters' approval was needed.

And so Executive Director Heo Seong-jin had secured a certain confirmation from the Netflix headquarters in the United States.

Naturally it concerned the domestic animated film 'Moonless Village' that Kang Jae-ha had proposed, and the plan was that if the response in Korea was good, they would widen the launch to Netflix in other countries as well.

Executive Director Heo Seong-jin, who had wanted exactly that, considered it a decent outcome.

'No, this much is more than enough.'

And the moment morning came, he placed a call to General Manager Kim Ha-jae of 'MEG'. Which was to say, Kang Jae-ha. The ring didn't last long, and the voice of MEG's General Manager Kim Ha-jae came through the phone. Cold, but courteous.

"Yes, Executive Director-nim. Hello."

Executive Director Heo Seong-jin ran a hand once over his bald head and spoke.

"I'm calling to give you my answer to the proposal you raised yesterday."

"That was quick."

Meanwhile, Kang Jae-ha sat in his car with a smile playing on his lips. It had been only yesterday that he'd met with Executive Director Heo Seong-jin. And yet a call had come again within a single day.

'He must've looked into our MEG and come away with some kind of conviction. And sure, he probably wants 'Moonless Village' badly too. The more of that, the antsier he'd have gotten.'

People tend to believe in fate when coincidences stack up in the direction they want. On top of that, once a possibility starts to glimmer, they go charging blindly after it. Even if they'd been cool-headed at the start. Executive Director Heo Seong-jin right now was exactly that, and since the picture Jae-ha wanted was unfolding, his smile deepened.

"So what answer have you prepared?"

Soon, over the phone, Executive Director Heo Seong-jin spoke in a firm tone.

"The next-installment series of 'House of the Daytime Moon': we, Netflix Korea, will seize the chance to preempt it."

"Are you certain?"

You won't go back on your word, will you? That sort of thing was the underlying meaning. To this, Executive Director Heo Seong-jin answered as if to say there was nothing to worry about.

"As someone in the content industry, I place considerable weight on verbal agreements. Unless there's a serious problem, I don't reverse them."

He added an explanation.

"For your reference, it's already been settled with Netflix headquarters as well."

He handles things briskly, doesn't he? Kang Jae-ha, who'd taken a liking to Executive Director Heo Seong-jin, nodded.

"Understood. Then I'll report to the CEO-nim as quickly as I can on my end and move things forward."

With that, Kang Jae-ha hung up and placed a call to a subordinate. The subordinate picked up at once.

"Yessir."

It was Lee Chan-hoo.

Around this time.

"......"

It was because of her 'ability'.

Choi Ri-na already knew the creative intent behind 'Moonless Village'. A spin-off version of the recently smash-hit domestic animated film 'House of the Daytime Moon': the setting is the Joseon era, the flavor of 'House of the Daytime Moon', with its scholars and specters, is kept intact; only, the occult side is darker in 'Moonless Village' than in 'House of the Daytime Moon'.

Pansori melodies, the sounds of traditional Korean instruments like the gayageum, the soft gestures of Korean dance, explosive music to conjure the occult elements, even rhythms fusing pansori with a modern palette.

It was an animated-film genre different from 'Condensation: Euphoria' or 'Murder Is a Qualification Too', which she'd already worked on, and since 'Moonless Village' was a work coated in a perfectly Korean flavor, Choi Ri-na's interest seemed to boil over all the more.

Soon Choi Ri-na, pausing the welling musical ideas for a moment, recalled what Kang Jae-ha had told her.

''Moonless Village', there's some time on it. Make it however you want, nice and easy, this time too.'

She murmured softly.

"Composing, building the music for a project. I'm swamped, but this feeling is so good."

Chuckling 'hehe' to herself, she caught herself humming without meaning to.

-♬♪

Then she froze.

Choi Ri-na's eyes went wide as she realized she'd just sung, faintly, ever so briefly.

"Huh? It came out, I sang."

Of course, it still seemed like singing wasn't working well. The fact that somewhere in her throat was tightly clamped shut hadn't changed much. Only, whereas before no voice had come out at all, now some of her voice leaked through.

"......Something, is something starting to loosen up??"

It was proof that her PTSD was recovering.

Afterward.

As Kang Jae-ha arrived at work at Leon, a woman's voice suddenly rang out to him.

【Hello, Kang Jae-ha-nim.】

【Your eighth month's Pension of 700 million won will be paid out.】

Today was September 15th, the day a new Pension was paid out.

-[Deposit/ 700,000,000 won]

With his wallet now even fatter, Jae-ha let a smile settle on his lips. In that state, he went on to a meeting with Team Leader Jang Hyung-su of Team 4. The purpose was simple. The situations of Yoon Da-yeon and An Ji-hee. And the 'Kisera Rebuilding Project' he'd recently taken on, too.

Only, on the 'Kisera Rebuilding Project' matter, since Kang Jae-ha was the interim team leader.

"I'm planning to head to the training center today, so send some cooperation that way."

With Team Leader Jang Hyung-su, it amounted to little more than appropriate updates and minor tasks. Team Leader Jang Hyung-su, who'd already been briefed by CEO Han Tae-sung, had nothing in particular to say either.

Jae-ha then got through his morning routine without much fuss and, around lunchtime, moved over to Leon's training center. Because he had to fill the two empty seats in 'Kisera' left by the releases.

'Been a while since I came here.'

Back when he'd handled 'Seriel', Kang Jae-ha had come to this training center a few times. It was a training center anchored by Leon's New Talent Development Team, and here they took charge of developing trainees, from idols to actors.

Well, it was generous to call it taking charge, but for the trainees it was an opportunity and a hell all at once.

'Tests run almost every week, and you've got to get picked for the debut team there to even have a shot at debuting.'

Because they had to break through staggering odds.

Whatever the case, Kang Jae-ha exchanged greetings with the training center's staff. There'd been advance word, so things went smoothly, and the staff whispered among themselves as they watched Jae-ha.

"That's that manager Kang Jae-ha, right? The one who's reviving Team 4."

"Yeah. He's super hot at Leon these days."

"They say he's changed a ton, right? From what I hear, he was a hidden gem who just awakened, and now even the CEO-nim dotes on him."

"He's definitely changed, that's for sure. I saw him once back in the day. The air around him is completely different from then."

"Different how??"

"Just his eyes alone, he's already a different person. When I saw him before, he was just kinda... sort of dopey?"

Well, Kang Jae-ha didn't particularly care. Because these days this sort of thing happened wherever he went at Leon. In any case, Jae-ha sat in on the weekly test for the idol-track debut team trainees. Of course, he didn't inform the debut team trainees about the 'Kisera' rebuilding.

Just quietly.

-♬♪

He simply watched the stage the debut team trainees put on. Sure enough, maybe because these debut team kids had survived the competition, their skills were good. But for some reason, they didn't quite measure up in Kang Jae-ha's eyes.

'The form's good, it's good, but it's like there's no one who fits Kisera.'

Having watched the debut team trainees' stages from lunch into the afternoon, Kang Jae-ha didn't make a decision. He'd only put a handful of trainees with at least some potential on a list.

'Hmm. Looks like I'll have to check out all the kids here at the training center, not just the debut team, and if there's no one, I might have to pull someone in from outside.'

Well, there was still time. No need to decide in a hurry. Kang Jae-ha wrapped up his first round of business at the training center and returned to Leon, where some women were waiting for Jae-ha.

They were the three remaining members of 'Kisera'.

Meeting the three remaining members, including the leader with long yellow hair, Kang Jae-ha spoke frankly.

"'Kisera' is being rebuilt. What I mean is, we're going back to square one."

Among the wide-eyed members, the leader spoke up cautiously.

"Th-then...... the two members who were already with us."

She meant the Japanese and Chinese members, and Jae-ha answered at once, with nothing to hide.

"They won't be joining us. It's already been conveyed to those members."

Released. The three 'Kisera' members, the leader included, had caught on to some extent. Because the Japanese and Chinese members had packed their bags at the dorm and vanished. Only, a 'Kisera' rebuilding was something they hadn't anticipated.

'We... we just thought it was getting disbanded.'

Their feelings grew complicated.

'It's good, but is it okay to be happy about it?'

Surviving was good, but with members having been released, they were torn over whether they should honestly rejoice. To these 'Kisera' members, Kang Jae-ha...

'This isn't the time to be swept up in emotions, at a time like this it's better to just let them practice like crazy.'

tossed out his own brand of encouragement.

"Just like in your trainee days, be glad you survived and stay true to what you feel right now. The 'Kisera' rebuilding isn't finalized yet, it's ongoing, and at any moment bad news could be delivered to the three of you here as well."

"Ah."

"So it'd be best to pour everything in, no regrets."

It was a message to grit it out and go at it like their lives depended on it, the way they had as trainees. To the 'Kisera' members, who still didn't know much about the world, it might sound a bit harsh, but for them right now, it was better to have a character like Kang Jae-ha spell out reality.

And besides, the surviving 'Kisera' members were in no position to be tilting toward other emotions.

"I've taken on the role of interim team leader for the 'Kisera' rebuilding, and going forward you'll be talking with me a great deal."

Having introduced himself, Kang Jae-ha went on.

"For now, I plan to fill the two empty spots, and you all just need to keep up with your various training, vocals, choreography, language, and so on, for the time being."

Fighting spirit welled up in the 'Kisera' members' faces, but their fear grew as well. Kang Jae-ha, who was not unaware of this, smiled faintly.

"Just so you know, if you debut as the new 'Kisera', it'll be very different from the old 'Kisera', all of it. I promise you that."

It was a message that the sheer impact would be on an entirely different level.

The next night, an empty lot.

A small park located near the 'MEG' office. It was sparsely peopled to begin with, and maybe because it was night, not a soul was passing through. The streetlamp lighting the park was in poor shape and flickered on and off.

Thanks to that, an eerie atmosphere was set.

Just then.

-Swish.

A man in a khaki jacket, with broadly rugged features, stepped into the small park. It was Ryu Hyuk. He wore a jacket, but his solid build was hard to miss. Even as he set foot in the park, he didn't let his guard down. Part of that came from his being a detective by trade, but that wasn't the whole of it.

'......That flickering streetlamp, it's really grating on me.'

The bleak, desolate mood of this park lent a hand. In any case, Ryu Hyuk, with one hand jammed into the pocket of his jeans, stood before a bench set up near the center of the park. He scanned his surroundings again.

For now, there was no one.

Furrowing his brow, Ryu Hyuk muttered to himself.

"Where the hell is that bastard."

What he'd called to mind was the cold-eyed man who'd come to the police station a few days earlier. A guy who'd claimed to be from the same Mercenary Corps, but whose face he had no memory of whatsoever. It was because he'd gotten a message from that man telling him to come here that Ryu Hyuk was standing in this spot.

It wasn't full-on preparation, but he had at least brought a weapon.

"......"

It was then that Ryu Hyuk, checking the time on his phone, sensed someone's presence. Ryu Hyuk whipped around. From the direction of the flickering streetlamp, a man was walking toward him. Was it that guy? he wondered, but.

"...Hm?"

As the man gradually drew closer, Ryu Hyuk realized his guess was wrong. The funny thing was that as the man who'd appeared slowly approached, Ryu Hyuk's thoughts tangled of their own accord.

Before he knew it, the man stood in front of Ryu Hyuk.

Meeting the man's eyes, Ryu Hyuk gaped like a goldfish before finally, with great effort, getting his voice out.

"Comman... der??"

Because the man who'd appeared was not that guy from before, but Kang Jae-ha, the Commander who'd led the Mercenary Corps. At the Commander's utterly unexpected appearance, Ryu Hyuk took a short step back without realizing it. Because it was an entrance so far beyond anything he'd anticipated. There was fear in it, too.

"C-Commander, how are you here."

Looking at Ryu Hyuk, Kang Jae-ha gave a faint smile. That was when it happened.

【Comrade encounter confirmed.】

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

A woman's voice, familiar to both Jae-ha and Ryu Hyuk, began to spread, and to Ryu Hyuk, who stood mouth agape, riddled with panic as he listened to the announcement, Kang Jae-ha asked simply.

"Did you catch that jeonse-fraud bastard?" [TL Note: jeonse is Korea's lump-sum rental deposit system; a jeonse fraudster cons tenants out of these large deposits.]

*****

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