10 million won.
That was the amount Head Director Soohyuk Kim approved for Sena Lee's trot debut.
When you factor in the cost of the song, production fees, album manufacturing, and promotions, it's a ridiculously small amount.
Even if they weren't giving her a full push, they needed at least 50 million won just to cover the basics.
Investing a mere 10 million won meant they were throwing in the bare minimum, completely unfazed if it flopped.
To be fair, a trot singer making it big really is like threading a needle.
Well, those were just excuses.
The biggest reason was that Sena belonged to Team 5.
Team 5 isn't part of the head director's faction. Supporting her brings him zero political gain, so this is what we get.
The head director was a thoroughly calculating man.
Except those calculations weren't for the good of the company, but for his own political leverage within it.
…He's just a salaryman at the end of the day. Why live such a petty, cutthroat life?
Now that I was a building owner, it all looked meaningless. But looking back, I was chained to the company, forced to be Ina's bitch for three long years.
Anyway, I didn't care what kind of underhanded moves the head director made, but I had to take responsibility for Sena's debut.
Hmm… It would be so much easier if she just transferred to another team.
I had subtly suggested it a few more times, but Sena refused to budge.
Thanks to her stubbornness, I ended up working overtime.
A building owner doing overtime! Overtime?! Star Entertainment calls itself a major agency, but it runs like a typical textbook sweatshop. There isn't even any overtime pay!
I stayed behind for one reason.
[Forced Smile]
Type: Semi-Trot
Rank: C
Compatibility With Singer (Sena Lee): B
Verdict: Small Hit
[The Words You Left Behind]
Type: Semi-Trot
Rank: C
Compatibility With Singer (Sena Lee): A
Verdict: Small ⇨ Moderate Hit
To find a good song for Sena.
Since the company library didn't have any decent trot tracks, I was scouring online composer communities.
Has an hour passed already?
When I checked the clock, it was 6:30 PM.
Thanks to my flexible hours, I usually clocked out right on the dot at 5:30 PM—thirty minutes early. But today, I'd already put in an extra hour of overtime.
I'll make sure she transfers to another team the moment she debuts. Even if I don't do it, corporate will force her to move anyway once she hits it big.
Just then—
"?"
As I scrolled through a composers' community forum, a post on the bulletin board suddenly started glowing.
It was the same glow that appeared over the targets of my inspection.
[I'm an amateur and this is just a practice track. I'd love some feedback from the trot experts out there.]
When I clicked, I found a demo track that didn't even have a title.
↳Sounds mid.
↳Sigh, do people think trot is easy? Now that it makes money, every Tom, Dick, and Harry is poking their nose into it.
↳Did you even study music theory? Looks like you need to go back to the basics.
A string of malicious comments flooded the thread.
But then—
[Untitled Practice Track]
Type: Semi-Trot
Rank: A ⇨ S (depending on arrangement)
Compatibility With Singer (Sena Lee): S
Verdict: Moderate ⇨ Mega-Hit (depending on arrangement results)
This is the one!
I played the track again.
It was good!
It sounded much better than the garbage tunes I had been listening to all evening.
However, proving that the uploader truly was an amateur, there were some rough, unpolished parts that grated on the ears.
We can just fix stuff like that. But why are there so many nasty comments? They look like a bunch of toxic gatekeepers.
I hovered my mouse over the high-level users who had left the nasty comments.
Instantly, the inspection windows popped up.
[ID: CompositionGeniusMaster]
Type: Unemployed
[Special Note: A troll who frequents the composing community pretending to be an expert.]
[ID: HitProducer]
Type: Former Producer
[Special Note: A washed-up producer whose hobby is lecturing and nitpicking people on online communities.]
Just as I thought.
Online communities like this are always crawling with all kinds of trash.
However, there was a real gem among them.
↳Petit Prince: The song is pretty decent, but I think it needs some editing. If you're interested, could you contact me?
[Petit Prince]
Type: Idol
[Special Note: Secretly studying arrangement behind his agency's back and possesses remarkable talent.]
…An idol?
Unfortunately, the inspection didn't reveal exactly which idol group he belonged to.
Let's go with this song.
Depending on the arrangement, it could be upgraded to S-rank. And its S-rank compatibility with Sena Lee was a huge plus too.
No matter how great a song was, it meant absolutely nothing if it didn't suit the singer.
I was about to send a KaTalk message telling Sena to listen to the song, but I paused.
It was Friday evening.
If I messaged her now, work would bleed into her weekend.
The post is already buried twenty pages back on the board, so it's not like the song will get picked up over the weekend.
Not many people know this, but KaTalk has a scheduled message feature.
I set it to send right at Monday morning's clock-in time and decided to head out.
Checking my watch, it was already 6:45 PM.
I had worked a whopping one hour and fifteen minutes of overtime!
My mood instantly soured.
Why is this elevator taking forever?
As I stood there waiting for an elevator going down, the one going up opened instead.
"?"
Of all people, the head director was inside.
Our eyes met for a brief second, and his eyebrows twitched at the sight of me.
On the flip side, seeing him actually brightened my mood.
He's heading up to work overtime! Meanwhile, I'm going home!
I found myself hating the head director just a little bit less.
No matter how ruthless or powerful he was within the company, wasn't he ultimately just a miserable soul stuck working late on a Friday night?
As a building owner, I decided to look upon him with a magnanimous heart.
Work hard and contribute to the rent you're paying me this month.
"You—"
"You're working late, sir. I'm heading home now, so keep up the good work."
The head director looked like he wanted to say something, but luckily, my elevator arrived right then, and I slipped away.
* * *
I spent a luxurious weekend binge-watching NetFlicks from my penthouse with a Han River view that commanded 20 million won in monthly rent.
Ah, I really don't want to go back to work.
But as long as I was still employed at the company, showing up was a must.
Thanks to the flexible hours, I decided to clock in at 10:00 AM today.
When I arrived at the Team 5 office, Sena was already there waiting.
"Sena?"
"What took you so long?"
"I… went to bed late because I stayed up all night."
I had basically fused with my bed, binge-watching NetFlicks until the sun came up.
However…
"...Did you stay up all weekend trying to choose a song for me?"
"???"
"You sent me the track first thing this morning after sorting through them all night."
I just sent that as a scheduled message, though?
Of course, it wasn't like I hadn't worked hard at all.
After all, I did pull an hour and fifteen minutes of overtime on Friday night.
"I'm so sorry, especially when you must be exhausted. But after I listened to the song, I just couldn't help myself and rushed straight here."
"Do you like it?"
"It's the absolute best! It fits me perfectly! Honestly, I was a bit skeptical about whether trot would suit me, but this song completely sold me on it."
"Does it clash with the artistic vision you were pursuing?"
"Thanks to you, manager, I snapped out of it and threw that nonsense right out the window. I really appreciate that you knocked some sense into me."
"???"
…Well, as long as she was grateful, that was a relief.
"In that case, let's get down to business."
The very first step was securing the composer.
Getting in touch with one wasn't difficult.
"Hello, I'm Chief Manager Chanwoo Lim from Star Entertainment. Nice to meet you."
"Hello… I'm… Janggu Player."
Janggu Player was an aspiring amateur composer.
He looked like he was in his early to mid-twenties.
Apparently, he was trying his hand at composing after finishing his mandatory military service.
Signing him shouldn't be too hard.
But I was dead wrong.
An unexpected obstacle stood in my way.
"If you don't mind me asking… is Star Entertainment looking to sign an exclusive contract with me?"
His voice was filled with suspicion.
"Company policy dictates that we try to sign exclusive contracts with talented composers whenever possible, but is there a problem?"
"I heard a lot of rumors about your company being predatory… I was told that rookie composers, in particular, should avoid it no matter what."
Ah.
Suddenly, it all clicked.
To be perfectly honest, Star Entertainment was indeed predatory, and it looked like word had already spread far and wide among promising rookies.
Is Star Entertainment going to be okay at this rate?
I couldn't care less whether the company succeeded or failed, but it would be a real headache if they went completely bankrupt.
The sixth through tenth floors would end up completely vacant. Of course, the location is so prime that finding new tenants would be a breeze, but still.
I caught myself and reined in the thought.
Realistically, the odds of Star Entertainment actually going under were slim—the company was too skilled at playing power dynamics for that.
They showed zero mercy to amateurs and struggling artists, but bent over backward to pamper their top stars.
"I've heard so many bad rumors… Are they actually true?"
"Oh yes. They're absolutely true. Honestly, it's even worse than the rumors. If you don't want to ruin your career as a composer, never sign an exclusive contract with Star Entertainment. If you really want to sign with us, wait until after you hit it big."
"Are you really allowed to say that as a manager…?"
"It's just the truth."
I ripped the contract I had brought right down the middle.
It was Star Entertainment's standard exclusive contract.
"Normally, Star Entertainment's policy is to tie down promising rookies to exclusive contracts. But in good conscience, I simply can't recommend an exclusive contract with a place like this to you. It's just a ploy to slap a leash on you and hoard talent on the cheap."
Stunned by my words, Janggu Player stared at me with his mouth wide open.
Ignoring his shock, I pulled out a different contract.
A single-track purchase agreement.
To be precise, it was an intellectual property assignment agreement that only bought the rights to that single track.
"It's a one-off deal. This contract won't leave any room for you to get tied down or tangled up with Star Entertainment in the future."
Janggu Player's eyes widened as he scanned the document.
"The terms… are great."
"Because the song is great."
10,000,000 won.
I offered him a flat fee of 10 million won, plus a cut of the revenue once sales passed a certain threshold.
Considering that most rookies were lucky to even get 1.5 million won, this was an incredibly generous amount.
"I'll… sign."
"Perfect. And you don't have to worry about getting dragged into any company politics either."
"Is there any way… I could sign an exclusive contract instead?"
"Eh…?"
"Oh, no, it's just… I feel like I could trust someone like you."
"…"
[Janggu Player]
Type: Composer
Rank: B
Potential: A
[Special Note: Naturally anxious and paranoid, but remains fiercely loyal to someone once trust is established.]
I smiled and gave a firm reply.
"Absolutely not. Don't even dream about it. You shouldn't trust people so easily."
* * *
Fortunately (?), Janggu Player took my advice and didn't push any further.
All thanks to Star Entertainment's terrible reputation (?).
Upon returning to the company, I skipped Team 5's office entirely and went straight up to the tenth floor instead.
"I'm here to see the head director. Is he available?"
Seeing how I usually ignored him completely but had now shown up on my own two feet, the secretary looked utterly panicked as she rushed to call him out.
Even if I hate dealing with him, business is business.
"You punk… What nerve do you have coming to see me?"
Head Director Soohyuk Kim growled under his breath.
In the past, my heart would have dropped if he so much as scowled, but now, he didn't scare me in the slightest.
The head director is probably working late again today, isn't he? Meanwhile, I'm about to clock out.
"I'm here regarding the budget for Sena Lee's debut. 10 million won is nowhere near enough. We need at least 50 million won."
"50 million won? If that goes down the drain, are you going to take responsibility?"
"Is that a no?"
"…What?"
"I mean, you're rejecting the request, right?"
Although I came for work, I had no desire to draw out the conversation.
I glanced down at my phone to check a text message.
「Deposit: 100,000,000 won」
The company leasing the fourth and fifth floors had deposited its rent today.
A whole 100 million won!
And that was just a portion of the total rent. The day after tomorrow, the company occupying the third floor would deposit another 60 million won, and Star Entertainment alone had to transfer 200 million won into my account every single month.
That financial cushion was precisely why I could speak my mind without a single care in the world.
"If the company is refusing to invest, may I bring in outside funding? We can frame it as a joint venture and split the profits."
Since it was bound to be a mega-hit anyway, there was no reason to line someone else's pockets—
I might as well secure a piece of the pie for myself.
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