The room fell dead silent.
The Ebony girls stared at me with wide eyes.
"M-Manager?"
"You don't have to go that far for us!!!"
I'm not doing it for you guys, though?
But… was that actually true?
I thought back to how the girls used to be.
How broken and disheartened they'd looked at first.
How they were completely overwhelmed with gratitude over even the smallest helping hand.
How they'd squealed with excitement, chanting "Lim-bony!"
Harin, who used to be such a timid coward, poured her heart into composing just because she chose to trust me.
Hena, who practiced until she bled late into the night, burned with a competitive spirit against me.
And even Lia and Sarah did their best.
I'm only human. It's impossible not to grow attached.
Asking if I could take responsibility for Ebony?
Why the hell couldn't I?
I'm rich!
…Of course, the biggest reason was still my greed for money.
[Ebony]
Type: Idol Group
Rank: A+ (Close to S-rank!)
Potential: S ⇨ S+ (upon awakening trigger)
Their stats had gone up even higher than before!
Up to S+ rank if there's an awakening trigger? What is this, a shitty webnovel?
Even if they just reached A-rank, they could make an astronomical amount of money.
But it felt a bit unsatisfactory to just make money and leave it at that.
Besides, as I've mentioned multiple times, I don't exactly have a good temper.
I needed to give that bastard of a head director a little taste of his own medicine.
"If Ebony succeeds, how are you going to take responsibility, head director?"
"…What?"
"If Ebony fails, I'm going to lose my job and my money, so shouldn't you take responsibility for something too? After all, a group destined for success almost got locked away in the dungeon because of your poor judgment."
"…"
A suffocating silence settled over the room.
The head director's eyebrows twitched before he spoke.
"Do you think company business is a joke? I do not make personal bets over official matters."
As expected of a viper! Never one to take a loss, the head director smoothly slithered out of the confrontation.
Well, I expected as much.
"Are you scared?"
"!!!"
"Well, if you have eyes, you can obviously see the girls have plenty of potential to succeed. Yet the only reason you keep trying to hold them down is because of your damn politics. Aren't you tired of living like that?"
As the head director's face turned beet red, Team Leader 2 standing next to him quickly cut in.
For the record, Team Leader 2 was a core loyalist of the head director's faction and my former boss.
"Y-You…! Chanwoo Lim!!! There are lines you just don't cross! Are you going to keep running your mouth?!"
Hmm. Did I go a bit too far? I guess I did.
Since I already went too far, I decided to go all the way.
"The one crossing the line is the head director. He did something he never should have done."
"!!!"
"Whatever. If making a personal bet bothers you so much, let's make it official. If the Ebony girls succeed, you will take responsibility and make sure they get treated properly, head director."
I visited the Ebony girls' dorm once, and man, it was a total shithole.
Without exaggeration, they were crammed together like refugees into a villa smaller than a single room in my penthouse.
Their vehicle was a Starex, the oldest van in Star Entertainment.
Old enough that it was practically ready for the scrapyard.
On top of that, the company barely supported their food and living expenses, and they didn't even have dedicated staff for promotions.
I can't keep funding things like this out of my own pocket.
"Give them at least A-tier treatment… no, even better. Consider it an apology for everything you've put Ebony through until now."
* * *
The head director left, leaving only me and the Ebony members in the practice room.
All the girls were staring at me in silence.
Ah. Did I snap too hard in front of the kids?
It might have been scary from their perspective. Grown-up fights shouldn't happen in front of kids.
"You don't need to worry too much. Even if the head director seems like that, he's like a bloodhound when it comes to sniffing out his own profit. Once the comeback succeeds, he'll treat you well as if nothing ever happened."
But the Ebony girls asked.
"Are you okay, manager…?"
"I'm perfectly fine."
There was no reason not to be.
In fact, it was the best-case scenario.
Hehe. I managed to secure a massive cut.
Since Star Entertainment insisted they couldn't chip in more than 100 million won, BH decided to cover 900 million won of Ebony's 1 billion won comeback budget.
It was a staggering 9:1 investment ratio!
Of course, this didn't mean I could take 90% of the profits, since Star Entertainment handles the actual administrative work and promotional support.
Even so, I ended up with a share that far exceeded Star Entertainment's cut.
"W-What if we fail?!"
What if they fail?
I didn't think it would ever come to that, but it was natural for the girls to worry.
"It's fine even if you fail."
"!!!"
The girls' eyes shook.
"Y-You'll have to quit the company!"
"Then I'll just quit."
"A-And won't you lose all that money too?"
"So what?"
In reality, quitting the company was no big deal, and I'd recoup that 900 million won in two months anyway.
I spoke lightly so the girls wouldn't feel burdened.
"Don't worry about useless things. Just work hard and have fun, like you are now."
* * *
After Chanwoo Lim left, the girls' faces stayed dark for a long while.
Even Lia, the sunshine member with the brightest personality, was heavily downcast.
"Why on earth… is the manager doing this?"
Every single member pictured Chanwoo in their minds.
Their manager had always cared for them—to such an extent that they couldn't fathom why he would go so far for a failed idol group like them.
Chanwoo claimed it was because he believed in Ebony's success, but looking at it objectively, they knew better than anyone that the chances of making a comeback were incredibly slim.
Especially after today—not only had he stood up against the head director for Ebony's sake, but he also agreed to shoulder a massive responsibility.
Why on earth…?
The girls kept asking themselves the same question, over and over, until Sarah finally spoke up.
She was the visual member known for being a bit quirky and eccentric, and she was also the one who had first come up with the cute name Lim-bony.
"Do you think… the manager is an angel?"
"…An angel?"
"It makes no sense for him to go this far for a total flop like us. The manager must be an angel…!"
An angel, of all things—an expression so cringeworthy it was almost embarrassing to say out loud. And yet, all the other members looked as though they agreed.
Because there was no word more accurate than that to describe Chanwoo.
Soon, Harin spoke up quietly.
"W-What if something goes wrong for the manager because of us…?"
"Why would anything go wrong?"
Hena, the oldest member known for her cool, charismatic image, spoke in a firm tone.
"Nothing will happen to the manager. I won't let anything happen to him."
I don't like this.
Hena—or rather, Hye-na Lee—was an heiress to a fourth-generation conglomerate family.
Until now, she had always been raised to set an example and take the lead, fitting for a girl of her status.
Being showered with devotion and protected like a baby bird was a completely new experience for her.
That was exactly why she didn't like it—because it made her heart well up with unfamiliar emotion.
If anything happens to the manager, I will absolutely not let it slide. Even if I have to flip Star Entertainment upside down, I will protect him.
Lia, the group's most popular member, forced herself to speak up brightly.
"That's right, we just have to do well!"
"Can we really do well…?"
"Harin, stop being negative! We absolutely have to pull it off! It's for the manager!!!"
Chanwoo was doing so much for them, so they absolutely could not fail.
"Who are we?"
"Chanwoo Lim and Ebony, Lim-bony!!!"
"The manager and Ebony are one forever!"
They vowed never to forget Chanwoo Lim's devotion, and the gratitude they owed him.
No matter what it took, they would repay him for everything he'd done.
And just like that…
On that day, Ebony completely changed.
All thanks to Chief Manager Chanwoo Lim.
* * *
I tilted my head in confusion.
[Ebony has awakened!]
[Potential: S+ (⇧ from S)!!!]
"???"
* * *
Chungmuro was buzzing.
The release date for Crime Society had finally arrived.
Following the preview screening, high praise from reporters poured in.
[Signs of a New Ten-Million-Viewer Movie!]
[Excellent Script, Passionate Acting, Outstanding Directing, Perfect Ensemble!]
↳isn't this getting overhyped?
↳trashporters hyping it this hard = guaranteed flop
↳It's same old stuff every time, I don't even watch Korean movies anymore!
↳it's Director Hansung Lee tho, shouldn't it at least be decent?
↳lol don't you know that big-name directors have been flopping one after another lately?
The Korean film industry was going through a severe drought.
The public's reaction was lukewarm.
↳Tickets are expensive sure, but honestly the real problem is they're just not fun
↳Fr. Putting everything else aside, they're just boring.
↳heard from a friend who got preview tix, said it's actually fire?!
↳Paid shill spotted.
And so came the highly anticipated release day.
↳Why is it so fking good?
↳fr tho who said this was cooked? movie of the year idc idc
↳Wait who IS Hyunah Lim?? Ina Kim's acting goes without saying but Hyunah's villainess performance was insane
↳The twist at the end was fking insane. Honestly, the movie's just so-so without it.
↳100%. Seeing Director Hansung Lee in a new light. Always thought his scripts were mediocre but this one actually impressed me.
↳I heard the twist at the climax wasn't Director Hansung Lee's idea?
↳Was there another writer?
↳Not a writer, a manager.
↳???
As the movie showed signs of becoming a mega-hit, statements made by industry insiders across various media outlets before the release were brought back into the spotlight.
↳wait… you're saying the guy who pitched that insane twist is Manager Chanwoo Lim? The one Ina Kim called her savior?
↳Isn't that fake news?
↳No, no, it's literally on the credits. go check it yourself
↳And he's also the one who cast the washed-up actress Hyunah Lim as the villainess to relaunch her career?
↳AND he's the one who found investors when they were about to go under??
↳ok be serious for a second 💀
↳bruh if a webnovel author wrote a character like this they'd get flamed for giving him insane plot armor lmao
↳No, but they're saying it's real. ( ;ᯅ; )
↳if this is real he literally hard-carried the entire movie
↳pretty much yeah lol
The momentum was extraordinary.
300,000 viewers on the first day. Exceeding 2 million on the fifth day.
As the numbers climbed, mentions of Chanwoo Lim's name exploded—briefly even trending on real-time social media search charts.
Just like that, his name spread like wildfire.
* * *
At that moment, I was—
Holy crap!!! If it hits ten million viewers, exactly how much money am I going to get?!
I was gloating with joy, thinking about the money rolling in.
With this much cash, shouldn't I be able to buy another small building? Hehe, let me think about it.
Just as I was grinning from ear to ear.
"Hey, Chanwoo. Come over here for a second. Let's talk."
"???"
It was Team Leader 2.
Normally I would have ignored him, but since I was in a great mood, I followed him.
"I'm telling you this for your own good, so cut it out."
"???"
"You seem to think you're untouchable just because you're doing well right now, huh? Don't you know it only takes one wrong move to hit rock bottom?"
"???"
Whether he had gotten chewed out by the head director or was just looking for trouble, Team Leader 2 was spouting some bullshit disguised as concern.
It wasn't even worth listening to, so right when I was about to stand up—
"I'm letting you in on a secret, but our Team 2 is going to hit the jackpot soon. There's a high chance Ina will go to Cannes with her next project."
Cannes?
I recalled the details of the appraisal I ran on Ina last time.
Depending on her next project, her path would diverge into either a career-ending downward spiral or winning the Cannes Best Actress Award.
And—
[Dongmin Lee]
Type: Team Leader 2
[Special Note: Heavily pushing for the next project that will completely ruin Ina Kim's acting career.]
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