The Crazy Mercenary Commander Goes to Work in the Entertainment Industry

Translator: Dreamscribe

Japan's famous 'Weekly Archipelago' was a long-running weekly magazine packed with all kinds of information. It was large enough to fight for the number one or number two spot in Japan.

'Weekly Archipelago' covered countless incidents, the entertainment industry and politics chief among them.

It dug into both relentlessly, churning out plenty of sensational stories.

It was probably much the same in Korea, but in Japan too, tabloid rumors and speculative articles poured out endlessly. Of course, 'Weekly Archipelago' was famous as a place that often tossed out tabloid rumors of its own, yet plenty of its pieces came backed by solid, thorough evidence, so its credibility ran high.

In other words, 'Weekly Archipelago' had no shortage of scoops.

And right now, 'Weekly Archipelago' had set off a piping-hot scoop.

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

It was an affair between famous Japanese comedian Minase Kanata and A-class actress Towase Rino. To make matters worse, the two of them happened to be on the same recording set when they learned of the scoop, and the directing PD who showed them the article muttered gravely.

"Minase-ssi, Towase-ssi. Tell me. Is this for real?"

At the question thrown his way, Minase Kanata, the host of the variety show, froze with his eyes gone wide, while Towase Rino, standing beside him, let her lips tremble faintly all of a sudden.

"......A–ah? Huh?? Huh-huh-huh??"

The look of someone who couldn't believe it even as they saw it. And no wonder. They must have figured they'd kept it perfectly hidden, just the two of them. But who could have guessed their dirty secret would blow up on a variety show set, where one had come as host and the other as a guest?

The directing PD gave the phone in his hand a small shake and asked again.

"You two, give me an answer. What is going on with this article."

The topic, no less, was an affair. Sure, affairs broke out often enough in Japan, but every time this particular subject surfaced, it yanked the attention of the Japanese public sharply into focus. Around this point, the affair's male lead, Minase Kanata, forced a smile and spat out his reply in Japanese.

"......Hahaha, PD-nim. You really think this is true? This is just 'Weekly Archipelago' throwing out another tabloid rumor."

"And yet that's a stretch–"

His words trailing off, the directing PD swiped the phone screen down. The headline vanished and a photo loaded into view. It was the photo attached to the article. Proof of a sort, perhaps. A picture of the affair's two leads smooching in front of a villa. Narrowing his brow, the directing PD pointed at the photo with his index finger.

His expression was the face of a man almost 100% certain.

"Minase-ssi, this is just too clear-cut a piece of evidence. The two of you are rubbing lips right here."

"!!!"

Minase Kanata, who'd been flatly denying it, clearly hadn't counted on a photo coming out, and his eyes hardened with sudden force. Because shock, fear, and the rest had all swelled up inside him at once. And it wasn't just him, beside him stood the affair's female lead, Towase Rino.

"Ngh."

Her legs seemed to buckle, and she swayed. The two of them, their affair blown wide open on a variety show set. Thanks to it, the dozens of people gathered on that set were already in an uproar. Murmuring among themselves was a given; some were even snapping pictures of the affair's stars with their phones.

The Japanese celebrities on set besides Towase Rino, that is, the other guests, reacted in all sorts of ways.

Some let out hollow laughs.

"The host and a guest's affair breaks open mid-recording? This is a first in my whole life. Unbelievable."

Others watched on, crunching popcorn.

"Today's shoot is dead in the water, then."

"Forget the shoot, that's not the issue here. The whole show's about to disintegrate."

"Think it'll get axed?"

"Obviously. This variety show was built around Minase Kanata-ssi as its core and its mascot from the start. But now that an affair...has blown up, who's going to watch it?"

"Haha, wonder if we'll still get our performance fees for today–"

To them, it was nothing short of a rare spectacle. Such a bizarre situation that they'd probably remember it for years to come.

"Minase-ssi, having an affair. Wasn't his whole image super family-man??"

"It was manufactured. You have no idea how rotten his temper is."

"Yeah? And Towase Rino, young as she is, what's she doing shacking up with an old guy like that."

"Must be her type. From the outside she's purity itself, image and all. Just goes to show you can't judge by appearances."

"Agreed. Either way, Towase Rino's acting career is finished now."

The downfall of famous comedian Minase Kanata and A-class actress Towase Rino. This was no idle speculation. In real time, the two of them really were going straight down the toilet.

《SHOCKING!! 「Minase Kanata and Towase Rino」 Another Affair Couple Surfaces!》

《No Shame Toward His Wife and Kids? 「Minase Kanata」 Spent the Night With Much-Younger 「Towase Rino」》

Because once the famous weekly 'Weekly Archipelago' fired off its scoop, the other outlets latched on right behind it. The speed was staggering. They were no different from hyenas cleaning up scraps.

The fireworks burst one after another, bang, bang.

The Minase Kanata and Towase Rino affair quickly took over every kind of site in Japan and spread all the way to social media. Its firepower was so tremendous that the names of the affair's stars shot up the trending search rankings in no time. Side by side at number one and number two, naturally.

This state of affairs held through the entire morning, and it was around lunchtime when Kang Jae-ha, over in Korea, caught wind of it.

Kang Jae-ha, reading the affair article on his laptop in Leon's Team 4.

He'd originally had his attention on other matters, but once Ha Yeon-ji tipped him off, Jae-ha took an interest in the article. Soon, resting his chin on his hand, Kang Jae-ha gave a faint smile.

'Not bad, all things considered.'

It had all unfolded just as Jae-ha had drawn it up. Even if he hadn't laid a finger on it, the Minase Kanata and Towase Rino affair was, just as his 'Deja Vu' showed, bound to surface someday. Kang Jae-ha had simply moved it up a little out of necessity.

'Blown up to this size, the 'Spring at the Borderline' folks must have caught it too.'

The call to Kang Jae-ha came about an hour later. On the other end was Ogawa Sayaka, the head of production for 'Spring at the Borderline'. She'd called through an app, and the moment she heard Jae-ha's low-toned Japanese,

"Yes, this is Kang Jae-ha."

she expressed her gratitude for the advance warning he'd given about the affair.

"Manager Kang Jae-ha-nim, I'm sure you've already seen it, but Japan is in complete chaos over that affair right now. We very nearly had a disaster on our hands. Thank you for giving us the heads-up ahead of time. Truly. If you hadn't told us, the damage would have been considerable."

"No, it's quite all right. It's a production An Ji-hee-ssi is joining, so of course I'd take an interest."

A few of the staff in Team 4 were startled by Kang Jae-ha's fluent Japanese, and over the phone Sayaka described the current mood of the Japanese entertainment industry. Kang Jae-ha let it go in one ear and out the other. What mattered to him was something else entirely.

"Towase Rino will be dropping out, naturally."

"That's right. All of a sudden, one actress's spot has opened up."

"Looking at the role, there's one actress who comes to mind. I happen to be acquainted with her, as well."

"Oh, is that so? The image needs to carry innocence and purity woven right into it, so which actress do you have in mind?"

The corner of his mouth lifting, Kang Jae-ha answered.

"It's Kamijo Yuu-ssi."

Hoo.

Having finished his call with Ogawa Sayaka, Kang Jae-ha crossed his legs.

'The bait's been cast, so all that's left is to feel out the timing and then push.'

At that, a few of the Team 4 staff hurried over to Jae-ha.

"Whoa! Jae-ha-nim, you're seriously good at Japanese??!"

"Amazing!! I'd heard the rumors, but you're not just decent, you're flat-out dazzling!!"

"I'm seriously stunned. How long did it take you to get that good at Japanese??! I've been studying it too, but I've been stuck in the same place for a year now– ugh, I'm so jealous."

The noisy staff scattered fast, thanks to Kang Jae-ha's cold reply. With the racket gone, Jae-ha crossed his legs and threw his gaze back at the laptop.

About forty minutes after that.

-Swish.

Chin resting on his hand, Kang Jae-ha settled on three songs from Choi Ri-na's treasure chest. Three songs to be used for the 'Kisera Rebuilding Project'. The promotional tracks for the newly renovated 'Kisera', so to speak.

Then, around the afternoon, Jae-ha headed over to Leon's training center.

It was to map out the audition plan with them.

"I'd like to push the promotion out fast and hold it within next week, the audition."

On paper it was a search for Leon trainees, but in reality, it meant getting chosen as a member of 'Kisera' and debuting outright. In a sense, an opportunity dozens of times greater than a trainee slot. Whatever the case, the New Talent Development Team and the training center had no choice but to go along with what Jae-ha said.

Because he was the interim team leader of the 'Kisera Rebuilding Project', and there were orders from CEO Han Tae-sung on top of that.

"Understood. We'll arrange to hold the audition on the 18th, then."

"The 18th, that works."

Today was October 6th. The 18th was roughly two weeks out. Kang Jae-ha then followed up with another request.

"Forward me the first-round applications that have come in, too. I'll take a look myself."

In other words, what he meant was that only the kids he'd handpicked were to be invited to the audition.

Next, the following morning, the 7th.

Bright and early, Netflix Korea officially announced something.

《[Official] Netflix Korea Says "The House of the Daytime Moon series animated film is set to premiere on Netflix. The title is 'Moonless Village'."》

It concerned director Hong Man-seop's next work, 'Moonless Village'. 'House of the Daytime Moon' had already rocked the film world by smashing record after record and had built up a huge fan base, so Netflix Korea's announcement reached the public's ears in no time.

《'House of the Daytime Moon', Which Wrote a Legend for Korean Animation, Looks to Have Its Sequel Series Exclusively on Netflix/ Photo》

《[MoviePick] Director Hong Man-seop, Who Hit 7 Million With 'House of the Daytime Moon', Premieres His Next Work 'Moonless Village' Exclusively on Netflix》

The title 'Moonless Village', still deep in production, spread fast through both the press and public opinion, and the news that 'Moonless Village' would open as a Netflix Original series came as enough of a shock to set the public buzzing.

-No waaaaaay House of the Daytime Moon's sequel is dropping exclusively on Netflix???

-Just the title Moonless Village is already juicy lmaooo a Netflix Original series, hype hype hype

-Netflix 100% threw a fuckton of money at them lmaooooo

-Ugh.......so when does Moonless Village actually come out???

-Fuck, I cancelled Netflix, but when Moonless Village drops I'll just resubscribe for that one month

And that night, Ryu Hyuk.

《LN Entertainment CEO Seo Hyun-su's Hidden Safe, Found by Gangseo Police Station!/ Photo》

set off the finale.

Two days later, afternoon.

The setting was a conference room at 'FilmMEG', which was producing 'Condensation: Euphoria'. The first thing to catch the eye was Kang Jae-ha, who'd switched into his A face. Lee Chan-hoo sat beside him, and across the way sat director Kwon Sung-min, CEO Jeong Tae-woo, and the others.

A gathering to report on the progress made since the low-budget production budget of 1.5 billion won had been settled last time.

No, it was less a report than a sharing of information.

In any case, director Kwon Sung-min, pushing his glasses up, looked rather gaunt, as if he'd been short on sleep.

"The crew is fully assembled, and the storyboard and treatment for the screenplay are done as well. Next up– it's about the actor casting."

The moment casting came up, director Kwon Sung-min's face darkened a little. The one who picked up the thread was the broad-faced CEO Jeong Tae-woo.

"We sent everything out, including the actor list CEO Lee Chan-hoo-nim sent over, and we're getting nibbles at the supporting-role and bit-part level, but......the lead and main supporting tier is quiet."

Director Kwon Sung-min let out a small sigh and cut in.

"A budget of 1.5 billion...maybe pushing it on running guarantee alone, on screenplay quality alone, really was too much of a stretch."

Tilting his head slightly, the face-swapped Kang Jae-ha asked in a cool tone.

"And An Ji-hee-ssi?"

"Ah! Of course we reached out, and Manager Kang Jae-ha-nim gave us a positive answer."

Apparently finding it oddly funny that Kang Jae-ha had asked and Kang Jae-ha had answered, Lee Chan-hoo held back a laugh, and he spoke to Jae-ha with his eyes.

'That list of eccentric actors you handed over. Guess they weren't such eccentrics after all?? Seeing as there's not a single nibble.'

It was at that moment.

-Knock knock.

A knock spread through the conference room. A female employee of 'FilmMEG' poked her face in.

"Um, someone's here to see you."

"Who?"

At CEO Jeong Tae-woo's question, the employee answered with a face full of fluster.

"I, I think it'd be better if you saw for yourself."

As she stepped aside, a woman walked into the conference room. Long black hair down to her chest, skin clean as white jade, and even a teardrop mole beneath her eye that radiated a decadent allure.

"Hello. Was this too sudden of a visit?"

It was Moon Ji-a, the top of the top actresses.

*****

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