Big Life

Chapter 160: Make It Up, If There’s None (4)

Lee Soo-Hee was working on her laptop in a cafe in downtown Taipei, the capital of Taiwan. She was sitting before a glass window, looking at the cityscape. Her gaze fell upon a building with a large billboard. Nextion managed to enter Taiwan and was now advertising itself as a game company.

'There's a second meeting with the Taiwan Computer Association in three days…'

Raindrops finally started falling on the cloudy morning. Lee Soo-Hee had just finished her morning walk, and she had managed to grab a seat in this cafe just in time.

It was her first rest day in Taiwan, but work still filled her mind. Ironically, she had left Ha Jae-Gun for his best interests, and for that, she was determined to return a victor, presenting outstanding performance after six months.

Bzzt!

Her phone rang, and Nam Gyu-Ho's name appeared on the screen.

"Director?" she said.

— I received the email that you've arranged a meeting with the Taiwan Computer Association. Have you had breakfast yet?"

"Yes, I did. How about you, Director?"

— I drank too much last night, so I'm skipping breakfast.

Lee Soo-Hee looked at the time and saw that it was eight in the morning. She smiled; there was an hour of time difference, so it was nine in the morning in Seoul.

She heard from a team member that they had a company dinner last night along with Ha Jae-Gun. She also heard about how happy Nam Gyu-Ho had become as he had drinks with Ha Jae-Gun until late into the night.

— Anyway, how is Taiwan?

"The people here are quite open-minded. I don't think they have the tendency to reject or belittle games from another country."

— I visited Taiwan twice, and I feel the same. They accept quite a variety of games as well.

"Yes, there's a huge active game user base here, and with much lesser resistance to in-game purchases.”

— Don’t push yourself too hard, and don’t work overtime secretly just because I don’t have my eyes there. I know how you work, Team Leader Lee. This is the most important thing I have to say, so don’t just listen. I want you to actually do it.

“I’ll keep that in mind, Director.” Lee Soo-Hee smiled. Both the adviser and receiver were irresponsible. The two of them were quite similar, and they had to see something to the end upon starting it.

— I’ll be hanging up then. Make sure you have your meals regularly, and let’s talk again next week.

“Yes, Director. I’ll be in touch.”

Lee Soo-Hee hung up as well and accessed the internet. The keyword Oscar’s Dungeon had occupied the real-time search ranking since dawn and had never dropped in ranking even once. Lee Soo-Hee looked at the search results with satisfaction until her cursor clicked on one article.

[Best friends Park Do-Joon and Ha Jae-Gun; rejuvenating themselves in a ginseng chicken restaurant.]

A few photos had popped up when she clicked on the article.

There was a photo of Park Do-Joon and Ha Jae-Gun eating their ginseng chicken soup, a photo of Park Do-Joon with his fans, and the final photo was a photo of Ha Jae-Gun and three girls.

‘You must be on cloud nine, huh? Jae-Gun?’ Lee Soo-Hee squinted at her screen.

He hooked arms with two on both sides and the third girl hugged him from behind.

Something in her Lee Soo-Hee started boiling at the sight.

Bzzt!

Her phone rang.

Seeing the name on the screen had Lee Soo-Hee thinking, 'Just in time.’

“Yeah?” Lee Soo-Hee spoke coldly.

Ha Jae-Gun responded with a light groan.

— Uhh… Have you had breakfast?

“Of course. Look at the time.”

— I just woke up. I drank too much with the planning team last night…

“I see.”

— What’s wrong? Why do you sound like that?

“No, I’m just tired,” Lee Soo-Hee responded coldly. However, she soon felt frustrated upon realizing that she was acting like a child.

— How is it there?

“It’s great. I feel comfortable here.”

— Should I just take a plane over right now? I’m already missing you.

“Don’t lie.”

— Why would I lie?

“There’s so many pretty girls in Korea. Why would you miss me at all?”

— No one is as beautiful as you here…

“Lies. All lies.”

Ha Jae-Gun’s chuckle tickled Lee Soo-Hee’s ears. Rika’s cries came through faintly amidst Ha Jae-Gun's chuckle.

The peaceful image of Ha Jae-Gun and Rika together appeared vividly before her.

Lee Soo-Hee suppressed her impulse to take a plane back immediately and be together with them. She said, “Congratulations. Oscar’s Dungeon is a hit.”

— It’s all thanks to you, the director and the planning team.

“You don’t have to say all of this to me.”

— I mean it. Especially you. If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t have been able to stand where I am at the moment. You’re the light in my life. I’m not saying this because I'm drunk.

Lee Soo-Hee switched hands to hold her phone and chuckled silently.

She didn't feel like sulking anymore. Was it because they’re apart? She knew very well what kind of man Ha Jae-Gun was, but she actually kicked up a fuss about such a thing.

— How’s the weather there? It’s really hot over here.

“It’s been raining—”

Lee Soo-Hee looked ahead as she trailed off. The rain had stopped like it didn’t happen at all. The sun was shining over the passersby who were no longer using their umbrellas.

***

[Mobile game Oscar's Dungeon based on Ha Jae-Gun's original novel ranks 8th on app store sales on the first day of release]

[Oscar's Dungeon ranks 8th, reaching 10th place on the first day of release, a first for Nextion]

[Nextion mobile's ambitious project, Oscar's Dungeon, hits 200,000 sign-ups on the official cafe. Unusual sign right off the start]

[In a past interview with Ha Jae-Gun, Oscar's Dungeon is a light fantasy novel with a story that even women can enjoy]

"It's as Director Nam said," Ha Jae-Gun muttered as he read the headlines. Nam Gyu-Ho was right. Oscar’s Dungeon was mentioned in many articles online.

It was the same on Twitter. Ha Jae-Gun hadn’t accessed it for a while, yet his follower count, which was originally 1.5 million the last time he had seen it, was already two million.

Ha Jae-Gun received messages from his fans, Poongchun-Yoo's fans, as well as from the fans of both Lee Chae-Rin and Park Do-Joon. Moreover, users who had seen the game’s success had sent him messages, too.

Ha Jae-Gun reckoned that he would need more than a reply to every single message.

“I hope it’ll maintain its success,” Ha Jae-Gun muttered as he stroked Rika.

Nextion was a large gaming company and had been providing generous support for the game, so Ha Jae-Gun knew that the game's success wasn't over just yet.

And Ha Jae-Gun was right. The craze for Oscar’s Dungeon didn't die down even after a week from its release. In fact, the people got even more frantic, and its sales ranking had gone up to fourth place.

Even the original novel and webtoon became popular once more.

The paperback copies of Oscar’s Dungeon were being reprinted by Laugh Books, while the webtoon showed a tenfold increase in readership.

“We can't scrimp on marketing.” Nam Gyu-Ho had pushed for a more extensive marketing campaign for Oscar’s Dungeon.

They had poured generous efforts into marketing across various mediums, including but not limited to the Internet, public and cable TV channels, subways, and even buses.

“We can’t use a certain celebrity as the face of the game. It should be much cooler, grander, and cinematic.”

Things were going according to Ha Jae-Gun's plans, but he also became busier.

The mobile game’s success attracted interview requests from all media outlets. There were still dozens of them despite Kwon Tae-Won and Nam Gyu-Ho narrowing them down for Ha Jae-Gun.

After the success of his movie and now the game’s release, the response from the media outlets had become much stronger. Ha Jae-Gun was stuck in an ironic situation where he was busy with interviews instead of working on his novels.

“Thanks to the game’s success, your novel has gone into reprints again. How do you feel about that?” the reporter asked.

“I’m happy to hear that more and more people are reading the novel. Those who have read the novel will naturally be interested in the game, and I'm hoping that those who only know of Oscar's Dungeon as a game will become interested in its novel,” Ha Jae-Gun replied.

“I’ve heard that the next game, Gyeoja Bathhouse, is a more story-centric game. Can you list any examples of how different it is from the original novel?”

“Unlike Oscar’s Dungeon, I’ve left Gyeoja Bathhouse in the hands of Nextion. There will be many crossroads; it will also feature multiple endings since it’s a game. You may not find it boring even after playing it multiple times over.”

Ha Jae-Gun did his best in the interviews, seemingly to live up to the sincerity shown by Nam Gyu-Ho and Lee Soo-Hee. But at times, there were a couple of tough questions that he couldn’t answer.

Those questions were personal questions, unrelated to work.

“I’d like to ask you about the unidentified people who appeared in the photos that have been circulating on the internet recently. There are rumors that the President of the MPC Group groveled for forgiveness. Is it true?”

“I won’t be accepting any questions unrelated to my work.”

“I heard that you also share a close relationship with Nam Gyu-Ho, the director of Nextion. Is there something you’d like to comment on it?”

“I’ve mentioned it to the other reporters before as well. I won’t be answering any questions that are off-topic.”

“You are often seen as friendly with EBC’s announcer, Park Hye-Sang. Can you please share what kind of relationship you guys are in?”

“Isn’t it normal to be friendly when you meet someone nice?”

“I’m asking if you have other feelings for her outside of work.”

“You have been asking questions off-topic since earlier. I’m not sure why you’re asking them when you’re not from the entertainment department.”

Amidst the series of questions, Ha Jae-Gun was relieved that he could still control his emotions. Ha Jae-Gun believed that his capability to work under pressure had come from his father, and he felt the most grateful for it today.

Ha Jae-Gun's face and the answers to the questions created a ruckus on the Internet that lasted for quite a while.

***

Knock! Knock! Knock!

Nam Gyu-Ho frowned at the disturbance.

‘Who is it?’

Everyone in the office knew that Nam Gyu-Ho hated any unwanted disturbance.

However, his irritation soon vanished.

“Huh? Father? No, Chairman.”

Nam Gyu-Ho hurriedly stood up.

A half-gray-haired old man in his sixties stepped in with a serious look.

He was Nam Gyu-Ho’s father, Nam Gyu-Baek.

“Why are you here without notice?”

“Can’t I come here to see my own son?”

“I was just surprised. You've never come here to see me before. Please have a seat.”

Nam Gyu-Ho assisted Nam Gyu-Baek to the sofa and quickly made a cup of coffee for his father. It was the first time he had made a cup of coffee for anyone else in this company.

“You seem to be doing quite well. The stock prices have been rising, too.”

“It’s going better than I expected.”

“I heard it’s starting next week in China? You seem to have put in a lot of effort.”

“Please look at the sales for the last quarter. Japan is at 10%, and Europe at 5%, but China and Korea are on par at 40%. I can’t help but put in effort. Everything will work out, so please wait and see, Chairman Nam.”

Nam Gyu-Ho smirked as he brought the coffee to his father.

It was a lighthearted smile that could only be seen when his father was around.

His father had taken care of him his entire life. At times, he was a strict teacher; at times, he was a best friend. He grew up well even without a mother figure, and it was all thanks to his father's upbringing.

“What brought you here, Chairman?” Nam Gyu-Ho asked as he put the coffee down on the table.

Nam Gyu-Baek’s looked stiff.

Nam Gyu-Baek looked up and asked casually, “Why did you do that to Woo-Hyuk?”

“…” Nam Gyu-Ho avoided eye contact and remained silent.

It was because he treated a family member of a favorite writer whom he was working closely with unfairly. But there was no way his father would accept a reason like this.

“Are you not going to tell me?!”

“You scared me, Father, please…!”

“What? You punk! You just made me look bad in front of others! I heard he’s stepping down from his position after selling the stocks. Everyone in the world knows that you’re my son, so what have you been doing?”

“The pizza is going to become more delicious.”

“What?!”

“U-uh, Father! There was a reason for it. And frankly speaking, it was his fault in the first place. It’s an act of tyranny, is it not?”

“Do you really think that you did a great job?”

Nam Gyu-Baek jumped up and raised a palm. Nam Gyu-Ho flinched and dropped his head immediately. Nam Gyu-Baek clicked his tongue as he saw Nam Gyu-Ho acting obedient all of a sudden.

“I had just met Chairman Han from Hwangyoung Pharmaceuticals.”

“…?!” Nam Gyu-Ho looked up immediately at the news. There was only one reason his father would meet that man. It was to arrange a marriage with his second daughter, who had just returned from overseas studies.

“We’ve arranged to meet next Sunday, so take note of it.”

“F-Father.”

“I’m here just to tell you that. I’ll be going now.”

“Wait, Father. You have the coffee before you go.”

“The coffee you make isn’t delicious at all, so I’m not going to drink it.”

“No, f-father! Wait. Chairman, my respectable Chairman!” Nam Gyu-Ho hurriedly stood in his father’s way. Their eyes met. Taking the genes of his father, Nam Gyu-Ho was relatively tall as well.

“I have something to tell you!” Nam Gyu-Ho suddenly knelt down.

Nam Gyu-Baek was taken aback. “Hey, you…you! Get up!”

“Father, I must tell you this.” Nam Gyu-Ho grabbed the hem of his father’s pants.

Nam Gyu-Baek turned a shade paler and quickly shook his son off.

“There’s always nonsense coming from you whenever you kneel! I don’t want to suffer from insomnia at night anymore. Hey, forget it. I’m going.”

“I found a girl I like!”

Nam Gyu-Baek froze and instantly came to a halt. He turned around, and his gaze fell on Nam Gyu-Ho.

“I found a girl I like, Father…”