The Crazy Mercenary Commander Goes to Work in the Entertainment Industry

Translator: Dreamscribe

Kang Jae-ha's remark, brief yet firm.

"It's fine. A spot will open up soon."

A spot would open up? Kamijo Yuu's eyes went wide; she couldn't quite follow. The casting was already finished, so how could a spot possibly open up? She didn't know the details of 'Spring at the Borderline', but she had a rough idea of it.

Word got around in the industry, after all.

"A role's going to open up? Really?"

Jae-ha, for his part, answered in an utterly even tone.

"Yeah. It will."

What Kang Jae-ha had in mind was, of course, the affair between the famous Japanese comedian Minase Kanata and the A-class actress Towase Rino. Once that broke, Towase Rino would naturally have to step down from the project, and a spot in 'Spring at the Borderline' would open up on its own.

'And Kamijo Yuu just slots into that spot.'

Of course, there was no particular need to spell this whole process out to Yuu. Sure, 'Shiori Production', the company making 'Spring at the Borderline', wouldn't accept Kamijo Yuu right away. But Kang Jae-ha had already leaked the affair to the Head of Production, Ogawa Sayaka.

'By now Ogawa Sayaka has probably told the company's key people about Towase Rino's affair.'

On top of that, she was likely digging into Towase Rino even more meticulously, while putting off the media play for 'Spring at the Borderline', the actor interviews, and the overall production process.

An affair involving a cast member was big enough to bring the entire production to a halt.

And if Towase Rino's affair broke around then? It would be as good as Shiori Production and Sayaka owing Kang Jae-ha a debt.

'Of course, I'll have to make a show of taking the credit too.'

Winning them over fell to Kang Jae-ha. In any case, once things rolled that way, slotting Kamijo Yuu into the project wouldn't be hard.

"You just keep practicing. You started a little late, so put in twice the effort, at least."

"......"

Kamijo Yuu blinked, swept her gaze from Kang Jae-ha across the others, and then broke into a laugh. She couldn't quite grasp it for now, but if it was these people, if it was that Commander, they would surely pull it off.

Then Kamijo Yuu's smile faded a little.

"But I... like I told you, I can't act well."

Resting his chin on his hand, Kang Jae-ha gave the order.

"Give it a shot. Acting. You've got a free acting piece or two stashed away, right?"

"Ah, um, yes."

Kamijo Yuu nodded and let out a long breath. She'd made up her mind. She knew the acting wouldn't go well. As always, the lines would catch in her throat. And after that, the anxiety and dread would close in.

'Still, here, maybe it'll be a little different.'

Closing her eyes, Kamijo Yuu called up one of the free acting pieces she had. Many of her colleagues were watching, but she felt no embarrassment. She was an actress, and putting herself on display was the basic discipline of the craft.

For some reason, Choi Ri-na watched Yuu with sharp focus.

That was the moment.

-Swish.

Kamijo Yuu opened her eyes and parted her lips.

"That road is the wrong one. This way is right. But if you insist on going there anyway, I won't stop... huh?"

Delivering lines that seemed to blend agitation and calm, Yuu faltered. Unlike the times she'd struggled, the acting, the lines, came out with ease. Marveling at it, Kamijo Yuu ran through the performance a few more times, then looked at Kang Jae-ha.

"The acting... it works. The lines come out fine."

In an instant she felt a surge well up inside her. How to put it, like a drain clogged for ages suddenly bursting clear. That kind of feeling, or emotion. Crossing his legs, Jae-ha replied.

"Keep going. The acting."

"Yes!"

Kamijo Yuu began to act as if she'd sprouted wings. Kang Jae-ha measured her performance.

'She's good. Her control of the lines and the emotional pacing is solid too. Her expressions especially are good.'

She had a different grain from Yoon Da-yeon, but their skill wasn't far apart.

'No wonder she felt stifled, losing the ability to do something like this.'

After watching Yuu for a moment, Kang Jae-ha's gaze landed on Choi Ri-na. Envy and impatience hung over her face. Kang Jae-ha settled her down.

"It's fine. You'll get there soon too."

Only after he saw Choi Ri-na nod with spirit did Kang Jae-ha stop Kamijo Yuu's performance.

"That's enough. Keep practicing your role. More to the point, what's your 'Ability'?"

"Ah! 'Ability'!"

Yuu answered right away.

"Whenever I want, to whoever I want, I can feed them any kind of dish I've cooked myself and... destroy their mind."

It was a surprisingly aggressive 'Ability'.

The next morning. Leon Entertainment.

Kang Jae-ha was in the CEO's office. With a dry, blank expression, he was watching CEO Han Tae-sung, seated at the head of the five-seater sofa. Dripping with his usual stately gravitas, CEO Han Tae-sung asked Kang Jae-ha in a gentle tone.

"How was the trip to Japan?"

He was asking about the An Ji-hee matter. Jae-ha answered plainly.

"There were no major problems."

In truth, he'd seen a 'Deja Vu', and there was the matter of the affair among the actors, but Kang Jae-ha kept it to himself. The plan was already in place, after all. With no way of knowing this, CEO Han Tae-sung crossed his legs.

"In 'Spring at the Borderline', An Ji-hee is the only Korean actor, isn't she? I'd imagine the Japanese actors didn't look on her too kindly."

"Half were like that, and the other half found An Ji-hee ssi a curiosity."

"That's not bad, then. Once An Ji-hee starts filming 'Spring at the Borderline', what about you?"

"I plan to go back and forth to Japan as the situation calls for it."

"Right. When 'Spring at the Borderline' drops on 'Amapre (Amazon Frame Video)', the ripples will be pretty big. Casting a rookie Korean actress in a lead, even a sub-lead, is just about a first."

On top of that, there was the fact that 'Amapre' held the overwhelming number-one position among OTT platforms in Japan. Then CEO Han Tae-sung folded his arms and deepened his smile.

"I hear your Japanese is top-notch."

It seemed he'd received a report on Jae-ha's Japanese, and Kang Jae-ha, who'd already anticipated it, nodded evenly.

"So it seems."

Hearing the answer, CEO Han Tae-sung suddenly switched to Japanese.

"You never mentioned this. Did you teach yourself Japanese?"

As expected of the head of Leon, his Japanese was fluent. His English and Chinese were probably the same. To this, Kang Jae-ha replied in Japanese without making anything of it.

"I never had much occasion to use Japanese, and yes, I taught myself, one way or another."

"Seems you're even better than me."

"Is that so."

"Hm."

CEO Han Tae-sung was a little surprised, watching Jae-ha rattle off Japanese. The man's Japanese far exceeded his expectations.

'Impressive. That's not just at the "can roughly get by" level. A sharp eye, a keen ear, quick instincts, and now language on top of it. He's a masterpiece. At this level he's past exceptional, practically a monster.'

Kang Jae-ha was already putting monster-tier ability on display, but CEO Han Tae-sung sensed it. Perhaps. No, surely, this cold-blooded bastard sitting across from him was in better form than he himself had been in his prime.

'He's got more in him, he just has no real interest in showing it off. Hard to believe a guy like this was dragging his feet a few years back.'

Wearing a curious smile, CEO Han Tae-sung changed the subject.

"I hear you proposed a trainee audition over at the training center?"

"Yes. I heard there wouldn't be a trainee audition for a while, but it's necessary for rebuilding 'Kisera'."

"The Debut Team or the other kids don't measure up?"

"It's not so much that they fall short, more that their color clashes."

"All right, do it then. 'Kisera', can you actually salvage them? You kept three of the existing members, I see. Scrap them all if you want."

"Those three still have potential."

CEO Han Tae-sung nodded, unfolded his arms, and abruptly brought up LN Entertainment.

"About LN, it's in complete upheaval now, but I'd met CEO Seo Hyun-su before all that."

"......"

"He told me he'd made you a recruitment offer."

Was he curious about the recruitment offer? Apparently with nothing to hide, Kang Jae-ha responded at once.

"That's correct."

"And what did you tell him?"

"The numbers didn't add up, so I declined."

"The numbers?"

Lifting the corner of his mouth, CEO Han Tae-sung asked back.

"If the numbers don't add up, then you'd think about leaving Leon too."

There was a lot riding on it, the pension and the additional perks and the rest, but.

'Asking something this damn obvious.'

When the gains and losses were weighed, if it came up short, Kang Jae-ha was the kind of man who'd ditch Leon without a second thought.

"Well, I suppose I would."

"For starters, how about triple your salary?"

Only a moron turns it down when they're offering to bump it up. Kang Jae-ha nodded matter-of-factly.

"I think that's not bad."

"And, say, did you have a hand in this whole LN situation?"

CEO Han Tae-sung was referring to the 'LN Entertainment Gate' affair. Naturally, Kang Jae-ha played dumb.

"Hardly."

"Is that so. The timing lined up so well, I had to ask."

"Something that was bound to blow just blew, I'd say. Scandals are like wildfire in the entertainment world, and I think the fire jumped from the 'New Light Truth Church' over to LN Entertainment."

Bringing up the 'New Light Truth Church', which had been the hot issue, was Jae-ha's deliberate move. He immediately read CEO Han Tae-sung's face. But CEO Han Tae-sung gave no reaction worth noting and merely murmured something brief.

"All right, you can go."

"Yes, sir."

Once Kang Jae-ha left, CEO Han Tae-sung crossed his legs and rested his chin on his hand.

"......"

There was no real change in that curious expression.

Meanwhile, in Japan.

Roughly a week and then some had passed since Kang Jae-ha crossed back from Japan to Korea. But the 'Spring at the Borderline' camp, which had even wrapped the actors' preliminary meetings, stayed quiet. The production company, 'Shiori Production', ran no media play, nor did they shoot the actor interview clips meant to be dropped on social media, YouTube, and the like.

By rights, 'Shiori Production' should have fired off its first round of promotion by now, media play of course, but also through online communities, YouTube, and so on. And on social media, the proper picture would be them showing off the confirmed cast and running various events.

But for now it was simply quiet. Late or not, they had to be building momentum, yet there wasn't a single move.

It was completely at odds with the plan they'd originally laid out.

The reason was simple.

At present, 'Shiori Production' was being extremely cautious and careful. The starting point was the Head of Production, Ogawa Sayaka.

"Are you certain?"

"I'm not certain, but with something like this, it's better to verify it clearly."

"Towase Rino, having an affair. And the source is Manager Kang Jae-ha?"

"That's right. If it came out of some ordinary manager's mouth, we could ignore it, but... if the one who brought it up is that Manager Kang Jae-ha, it's hard to just brush off. You saw it, didn't you? His clout in Korea, his outstanding capability, and that fluent Japanese on top of it."

"Hm. True, he's hardly a run-of-the-mill figure."

"A man like that wouldn't have thrown out a claim with no basis. Japan may not be his main stage, but he definitely has some connections over here."

"So, after looking into it for about a week, did anything turn up??"

"...No. No matter how many times I check, Towase Rino comes up clean. Still, I'll dig around here and there a bit more."

And it was the very next morning that Ogawa Sayaka got the shock of her life. Staring at her laptop, she let her mouth fall wide open.

"My god, it was true. And the other party, of all people, is Minase Kanata??"

Meanwhile, the A-class actress Towase Rino could be found at a recording studio. Perhaps because she was filming a popular Japanese variety show, Towase Rino was in full makeup. It made her pure, innocent aura all the more pronounced.

"Hahaha, Towase ssi, shall we try a little role-play, then? Slap my cheek and turn away."

"Eh? How could I do that!"

The funny thing was that the main host of this variety show was the famous Japanese comedian Minase Kanata. Towase Rino's affair partner, that is. Of course, there were dozens of people at this recording studio, but no one knew.

That was the moment.

In the middle of recording, the directing PD suddenly came running into the filming zone. He had a face like he'd swallowed something foul. Breathing roughly, he looked back and forth between the host, Minase Kanata, and the guest, Towase Rino.

"Towase ssi. C-come over here, please."

When Towase Rino came close, the directing PD showed the two of them his phone.

"Is this... is this real??"

On his phone, the scoop broken by Japan's famous tabloid weekly, 'Weekly Archipelago', was splashed across the screen in giant letters.

《【MEGA SCOOP】Minase Kanata and Towase Rino, the「Forbidden Love」They Share at a Villa》

*****

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