Top Management Novel Chapter 112

TM Chapter 112

Chapter 112: To Find a Path within a Fog (3)

TL: emptycube / ED: Isleidir

... What? What would fail?

I felt like I had taken a blow to the back of my head. I flailed in this shock for a few seconds before hastily regaining my senses.

Now was not the ti to do this. Figuring out why Royal Family flopped was the most important thing to do right now. If I knew the reason, I could look for a way to change the future.

Tense, I waited for the woman’s voice. A second was terrifyingly long.

Say it. Right now. Quickly.

“The reason the drama flopped...”

That’s it!

Just as the woman opened her mouth and my ears were perked, my vision went dark again.

“Wow, Mr. Sunwoo! I think the impact of this will be quite large?”

Soone slapped my back.

My static-filled vision abruptly beca clear. A blinding white light was beaming down on . The employees around

were chatting noisily, and Im Seoyoung and LJ were reflected on the TV screen in front of .

When I willed it, my hand rose. I had returned to the present.

What the heck? Was that really the end of the foresight? It ended like that?

“Why do you look so out of it?”

The female PR Team employee shoved her flushed face towards

and asked.

“Is it because netizens will cause a commotion? Uh, wait. Royal Family rose to fifth place in the real-ti search rankings!”

People kept patting my shoulders and back as they talked, but I didn’t have the leisure to reply. I was completely absorbed in my thoughts about the future I had just seen. As I hadn’t been able to listen to it until the end, a question left my mind in a ss.

Why did Royal Family flop?

Just why?

*

I didn’t sleep a wink.

I carefully read Royal Family’s synopsis and script again. I ticulously checked all information regarding the drama, including Well-Made Production.

I still didn’t know why this project would flop.

If Royal Family was a stock, it would be the ‘blue-chippiest’ stock amongst blue-chip stocks. It was a project Well-Made Production, which produced a mountain of hit dramas and movies, worked hard on. Since the Chinese side was providing the capital, their production budget was so big that we would be filming overseas half the ti.

It was also headed by a producer known for his direction and a famous writer.

The script’s polish couldn’t be better.

They were also putting tons of work into casting, especially for the main face of the drama, the male lead. Yoon Taekyung, a world star whose popularity reached the sky in China, was being ntioned a lot, and I heard that discussions were almost over and all they had to do was sign.

On top of all that, the drama was completely produced beforehand.

No matter how closely I examined things, there was no reason for it to flop.

Only one thing remained. Either too many cooks spoiled the broth because of hardcore fans like in rmaid out of Water’s case or an unexpected incident occurred like how the writer and director had an extramarital affair like in Ti Slip’s case.

If that was the case, then there wasn’t anything I could do unless I saw the future again.

However, there was no guarantee that my future foresight ability would help

at an opportune ti. Hindsight was 20/20. Damn it, if I saw the future before we chose Royal Family, no, even if I saw it before we signed the contract...

I was going crazy. Really. What should I do?

I agonized over this while pulling my hair. How could I change the future?

While I was doing this, my na reached first-place on a portal site’s real-ti search ranking.

Morning arrived, yet I hadn’t straightened anything out. It was ti to go to work.

I quickly finished getting ready and took my phone. ssages were pouring in throughout the night because of yesterdays’ broadcast, and yet, it was still vibrating nonstop.

I didn’t have the leisure to go through all of them so I flipped through a few public contacts, but the contents were similar, asking

to contact them back because they would like an interview or discuss making an appearance on their show.

Many were about how the internet was in a commotion after yesterday’s broadcast.

I had completely forgotten about the broadcast because I was preoccupied with thoughts of the stupid hint from the future and Royal Family. After thinking that I will look over them again when I got to work, I put my phone in my pocket.

My odd day began when I t the woman living in the unit next to . We had only greeted each other with nods before, yet she gave

weird glances before asking,

“Excuse , I’m having a hard ti because I haven’t gotten a job for the past few months, I’ll probably get one before sumr, right?”

“Ah... Yes, I hope you get one soon.”

While I wondered where this question suddenly ca from, I didn’t dwell on it long because of the chaos in my head and simply nodded, thinking, ‘I guess she’s really frustrated with job hunting.’

The next incident occurred when I entered a coffee shop so that I could down so caffeine and co to my senses. I was standing in line when I heard a woman and a man talking in front of .

“Hmm, what should I drink? Oppa, what do you think’s tasty here?”

“How would I know that? Am I Chief Jung?”

I was shocked as I initially thought they were talking about .

Thinking that it was one of the countless ‘Chief Jung’s in Korea, the two turned around after ordered. Our gazes t.

“Euaah, what a surprise!”

“Oh my god! What the heck? Speak of the devil.”

I was also freaked out.

Though I forgot to wear my glasses, I shouldn’t be at the point where I cause that sort of reaction. What ‘speak of the devil’? Don’t tell

the ‘Chief Jung’ they were talking about was ?

It wasn’t just them either. From the coffee shop employees to the custors sitting at tables, they were all looking at . I kept hearing ‘Jung Sunwoo’ and ‘Chief Jung’ being ntioned in their murmurs.

Sothing was odd.

While there were people who recognized , they were a minority with sharp eyes. On top of that, an even smaller minority amongst them actually acted familiar and struck a conversation with

even though I wasn’t a celebrity. Yet, it felt like the majority of people were going to co at .

Was ‘Now, We’re’s influence this great?

“Uhhh, hello. Could I ask you sothing?”

I controlled my expression after hearing a woman talk to

with a face flushed with excitent.

“Ah, yes. What is it?”

“We’re going to get married this year. What month do you think would be best to hold the ceremony?”

“... Why would you ask ...?”

I was so dumbfounded that my concerns floated away.

With the soon-to-be newlyweds as the start, people who seed to have waited for this mont crowded around . They began jokingly asking

strange questions as though they had co across a fun event.

Almost fleeing, I ran to my van. I imdiately went online.

I doubted my eyes for a mont. My na was spread like cockroach eggs on social dia, portal, and community sites.

My na was inserted in posts and comnts completely unrelated to Neptune and ‘Now, We’re’.

For example, like these...

-If you’re curious, ask Jung Sunwoo/

-Do you think I’m Chief Jung?

-Even my daughter-in-law doesn’t know. Even Jung Sunwoo doesn’t know.

Oh my god. What was this? Was this a dream?

What was happening right now?

I was blankly staring at my phone screen when my phone range. It was Team Leader Park. I heard her voice before I even placed my phone on my ear after accepting the call.

-You’re on your way to work, right? Co quick! Quick!

*

“Ohh, Chief Jung!”

When I put my hand out for a handshake, a woman I was seeing for the first ti massaged my hand as though it was made of gold. It felt like she would soon hug

and pat

on my butt.

“She’s in charge of marketing over at Well-Made Production.”

Team Leader Park smiled happily as she introduced the woman.

When I sat at the table in a dazed state, Team Leader Park said,

“You have a good idea of what’s going on online, right?”

“I did see it on my way here.”

“A fan in Neptune’s official fan café made this and posted it on there. Other people began posting it elsewhere and it spread throughout the night.”

Team Leader Park turned on her tablet and showed

what the fan had made.

The title was [Sorted Facts Regarding Neptune’s Manager, Chief Jung. Warning: You may wet your pants].

From Next K-Star, the person neatly organized all the projects I partook in and enclosed a description. The clip of yesterday’s ‘Now, We’re’ broadcast couldn’t compare to this. This was almost a research paper.

It even included about how Im Seoyoung’s mother went to a shaman, the shaman’s declaration that a snake biting good luck would arrive and to not let go of it, as well as the fact that I was born on the Year of the Snake. We had only ntioned it once in a magazine interview in the past.

At the end of the post was the information that I was promoted to a chief position.

“Look at the comnts below.”

Team Leader Park scrolled down.

-What the heck is this? I wet and changed my pants twice while reading this.

-These are all true? Really? I want him to predict the results of the World Cup.

-This is real. I heard from soone I know that, because everything he touches turns out well, W&U promoted him so that he wouldn’t go sowhere else.

-Is he just unbelievably lucky? Or is he that talented? This could be the mystery of the year?

-While his talent must have played a part, most of it should have been luck. If he had the skill to pick out successful projects and songs, why would he be a chief? He should just found his own company and be CEO.

-But if his luck is that good, isn’t that itself amazing?

-I want to ask him various questions. I feel like he’ll guess the right answer.

-I also want to ask him questions.

“Your na spread like this and the situation has beco like this. You saw how people began using your na like so sort of buzzword, right?”

Team Leader Park looked like she had won the lottery.

“It isn’t just the entertainnt industry, your na is popping up in cultural, societal, and even political discussions. I don’t think will fade in a day or two. I think it’ll spread like a trend.”

“And we’ll be fanning the flas so that it does.”

The woman in charge of Well-Made Production’s marketing joined in.

“Would you like to have a look at this as well?”

She flipped to another page on the tablet. It was pasted with excerpt comnts from another website.

-What’s the new drama Chief Jung Sunwoo chose? Will that also be a success?

-It’s Royal Family. If that’s a success too, then it’ll really send shivers down my spine.

-During Cat Guardian Ghost, they made up curious about the broadcast because of Lee Songha’s acting controversy, now they’re making us curious whether this drama will be a success or not.

“Since the project you selected after Cat Guardian Ghost was Royal Family, our project is trending as much as you.”

At her words, Team Leader Park nodded as she added,

“People are curious about the drama before it’s even started, doesn’t how much anticipation they have remind you of Cat Guardian Ghost? That’s why we’re planning on using the sa strategy for Royal Family.”

“... The sa strategy?”

“Raising the stakes like then.”

I felt like I was going crazy.

I almost spat the words that had crawled their way up my throat. The situation this ti was different from before. Royal Family was going to flop. Thinking about how to raise the stakes wasn’t the issue, it was figuring out a way to get off this sinking ship.

The woman in charge of marketing said,

“We didn’t expect this situation at all so there’s a fuss at our company as well, talking about how we hit jackpot by just sending out a single press release. This really seems like the heavens are helping Royal Family beco a hit.”

“Well-Made saved marketing expenses because of Mr. Sunwoo and it looks like promoting this will be a breeze. Will nothing co his way if things go well?”

“Of course, there will. We get tons of inquiries from potential investors when promotions are good. We might even be stacked with product placents. If Mr. Sunwoo can keep helping out like now, how can we take it all for ourselves?”

“For your reference, Mr. Sunwoo already has a car.”

Team Leader Park said jokingly as she winked at . Damn it, it felt like soone jump roping using my windpipe.

Team Leader Park tapped her tablet as she said,

“Also, getting to the main point. The press is making a fuss, asking for a few comnts from you. It’s about ti for us to start sending additional press releases anyways. We are planning on adding one or two comnts from you. It’s okay if they are simple, what do you think?”

The woman in charge of marketing held my hand as she requested,

“If it’s okay, I want to ask you sothing. What made you choose Royal Family as a project that will succeed, and how successful you think this project will be?”

I really felt like I was going hopping mad.

... How would I resolve this situation?