The Sacred Manager Life - Chapter 96

Satan, now awake, carefully examines every part of Geum Taesang's body.

The more resistance there is, the harder it is to seep in, but as expected, this human was easy.

"Took longer than I thought. Why struggle so much with such a worthless human?"

Lilith, sitting across from him, spoke with a bored expression.

"It's been a while since I’ve seen such high-quality material. Took time to savor it."

"High-quality material?"

"Aren’t you curious why I entered such an unremarkable human?"

"Well, I am curious why you, who even hated that blonde American president, would hole up in a place like this."

"That guy reeked of Mammon’s disgusting stench—no good. Even among evils, leaning too far in one direction ruins the flavor."

"That body was delicious, though. Didn’t get sick of it even after six servings."

Lilith licked her lips and stroked her lower belly.

With every movement of her hand, an intricate tattoo of a womb appeared and disappeared.

"Like you said, it’s a delicious gem. A feast among feasts, perfectly blended with the Seven Deadly Sins."

"The Seven Deadly Sins?"

"Exactly. This human gorged himself without a care for health, was lustful to the point of obsession, couldn’t resist money while being stingy to others, reveled in others’ suffering, made anger a daily habit, was lazy in everything but his own gain, and was so arrogant he always had to be the best. A feast like this comes once in centuries."

"Hmm, no wonder you got greedy. Almost like a human chosen by God."

"Easy to watch and devour from the sidelines. Wonder what face he’ll make when he finds out later, kekeke."

He picked up the clothes scattered on the floor and dressed himself.

"Guess I’ll have to wear this uncomfortable thing for a while longer."

Album, music video, next—the showcase.

A term originally meaning "display case," it transforms into an event to announce a new album when it comes to girl groups.

An essential "gateway" no group can skip when debuting or making a comeback.

"Split it into a media showcase and a fan showcase. The media showcase has the company’s name behind it, so if we invite reporters, they’ll come, take photos, and write articles. Reporters are always hungry for content."

They can snap photos, upload them immediately, and even write follow-up articles—no reason for them to refuse.

"The problem is the fan showcase."

"Are there no fans left?"

"Exactly. There were barely a handful to begin with, and after over a year of hiatus, who’d remember?"

Team Leader Park Chan-hyuk sighed as he spoke.

"People still visit the official channel and watch the videos. Love Connect had a reverse run, and even that failed variety show held its own. Isn’t that enough to be hopeful?"

Onyu, sitting next to me, chimed in.

"That’s all stuff you can do from home. A few clicks versus showing up to an event—how are they the same?"

The team leader had a point.

A showcase is free, but it’s an offline event you have to attend in person.

On top of that, you have to apply through fan cafes, event sites, SNS, and wait to be selected.

Only the most dedicated fans would go through that hassle.

"There is a way to combine the media and fan showcases into one. But reporters hate that. It’s called a showcase, but it’s basically a one-hour concert—way too loud. How are they supposed to take photos and write articles in that?"

Neither option is easy.

"Since this ties into the showcase budget, it’s not something we can decide alone. I’ll bring it up at the team leader meeting."

""Understood.""

Fine Enter Chairman’s Office —

"Nothing major stands out. You’ve done your due diligence, right?"

Chairman Park Beom-joon flipped through the acquisition report on Mirinae Enter, prepared by the planning and general affairs teams.

"It won’t deviate from that. Even if it does, the scale isn’t worth worrying over."

Division Head Yoon Sang-ho, who handed over the report, replied.

"Honestly, it’s less than our Actor Team 1’s budget."

"It shrank a lot after losing two lead actors last year."

"Just handle it yourself, Division Head. Don’t bring it to me unless it’s something unusual involving Juwon."

"I did bring it because of something unusual involving him."

"Oh?"

Park Beom-joon, who’d been lacking in dopamine lately, perked up.

"Everything else is fine, but before Honey Pops’ debut, they brought in an investor—Future Investments. They usually specialize in real estate but occasionally collaborate with small agencies to develop idols."

"And?"

"The amount was unusually large, so I looked into it. Turns out it’s not a normal investment firm."

"Oh?"

"You might not know this, but there’s an international crime syndicate called Gukjepa. They’re big enough to have taken over Gangnam’s nightlife."

"I know that much. Rumor has it SN’s Geum Taesang uses their members like his own limbs."

"Geum Taesang’s involved in all sorts of dirty work, so he’d need people like that."

"So what about Gukjepa?"

"Seems one of their smarter executives runs several legitimate businesses alongside the bars. One of them is Future Investments."

"That’s dangerous. They’re using mob money."

"That’s why I was about to drop it. Even if Juwon recommended it, this didn’t seem right."

"Juwon recommended Mirinae Enter?"

"Yes."

"Hmm, go on."

"In the meantime, a manager embezzled company funds and vanished. Turns out that manager was handling all the company’s money."

"What? And you still want to acquire this?"

"Hear me out. The embezzlement left a 4 billion won hole. But Future Investments offered to absorb the loss, even revising the contract. They renewed it as a joint investment but didn’t demand shares from the CEO."

A question mark floated above Park Beom-joon’s head.

"Aren’t they mobsters? Even charity work isn’t this generous."

"That’s why I dug deeper. Turns out that investment firm—no, Gukjepa—might be connected to Juwon."

Park Beom-joon tapped his desk with a finger, looking incredulous.

"Now he’s mixed up with mobsters?"

"I couldn’t dig too deep without connections, but Future Investments apparently revised the contract out of trust in Juwon. They said they’d just take the profit share stated in the contract."

"...I don’t know how to interpret this."

"Mirinae’s CEO said the investment firm’s CEO calls Juwon sunbae, but the current CEO isn’t the real owner. Probably a front. How would someone like that defer to Juwon?"

"Good point."

"Knowing mobsters isn’t a flaw, but we should talk to him before he gets tangled in something bad."

"You’re really looking out for Juwon. Any other employee, and you’d have found an excuse to send them packing."

"Can’t let him leave now. Cha So-yeon, Min A-young, Red Blossom… Do you know how many women are linked to him?"

"What, is he some Casanova? Next thing you know, he’ll be involved with that girl group too."

"Ah, no way."

Famous last words.

I visited Mirinae Enter to meet CEO Lee Dae-hwan.

"Thanks for helping with the acquisition. Heard it was your recommendation?"

"Out of the agencies we reviewed, Mirinae Enter stood out the most. The company vetted everything and made the offer, so no need to thank me."

Lee Dae-hwan just stared at me silently.

"What?"

"Just amazed. Are you really a four-month rookie manager?"

"Ten more days until four months."

"Honestly, if a four-month rookie manager isn’t bumbling around on set, that’s a win. But you pulled Red Blossom this far and saved a company you had no ties to."

"Did I do it alone? The company has a team, and you’re here too."

"I know I’m not a good CEO. Should’ve stuck to managing actors instead of playing around with a girl group and burning out my staff. Almost ran the company into the ground spending recklessly."

"You poured your own money into raising the girls until you got investors. Would a CEO who didn’t care about money do that?"

"Thanks for saying that. Anyway, this acquisition gave me some breathing room."

Fine Enter agreed to acquire 85% of the company’s shares.

CEO Lee Dae-hwan’s stake dropped to 15%, but it was enough to settle the company’s and his personal debts.

"Delaying Honey Pops’ single was a good call. We rushed it because of finances, but now we have time to prepare. Worked out in the end."

Red Blossom and Honey Pops, now under the same label, had their single release schedules adjusted.

Originally close to the comeback date, it was pushed back by at least a month—or even targeting the summer season.

"We’ll announce the new label before the comeback. It’s Fine Enter’s first label launch, so it’ll draw attention. Red Blossom will be its first girl group."

From the company’s problem child to the flagship group of a new label.

That’s why the comeback was rebranded as Reverse to differentiate the promotion.

"We’ll do the media showcase in the morning and the fan showcase in the evening. Reporters are too busy taking photos and writing articles to react anyway. You’ll be shocked by the response after the performance."

Too busy snapping pics and typing to even clap, apparently.

"Evening’s the main event, but for good photos, we’ll need to start at dawn. Take good care of Onyu and Juwon’s team."

""Understood.""

Red Blossom’s comeback project is entering its final stages.