Chapter 111. Cool Deal, President Jung
"Everyone, please stop subscribing! They say it costs 800 billion won to go to the moon. Where am I supposed to get that kind of money?!"
"Yes! I'm going to the moon! Subscribe, subscribe!"
It was a live Nutube broadcast by PD Na Young-hwan titled:
[Send Luna to Luna!]
I'd been looking into whether there was some particular reason Ma Cheol-seong had been scheduled to appear on an MVN program.
Then Aran told me that Na Young-hwan had gained so many subscribers he was now in danger of having to go to the moon.
Apparently, he'd promised that if he reached two million subscribers, he'd send Luna to luna, the moon.
Luna wasn't some monkey you could shoot into space.
It was an absurd pledge.
But looking at the screen now, his subscriber count had already reached 1.99 million.
No wonder everyone was losing their minds.
-ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ No way, we're not letting you change it~
-Go, go, go! Luna's going to the mooooon~!
-Mukbang on the moon ㄱㄱㄱㄱ
-If you can see the Great Wall from there, prove it
People in Jangchung-dong were preparing for war.
Meanwhile, this place was practically a festival.
I couldn't even tell whether Na Young-hwan was genuinely panicking or secretly having the time of his life.
"Everyone, I'll make a new pledge! If you cancel the old pledge, then as my pledge for canceling the pledge, I'll..."
But Na Young-hwan's subscriber count kept rising.
1.993 million.
1.994 million.
1.995 million.
As expected of Na Young-hwan.
The viewers stubbornly insisted they wouldn't accept anything except a trip to the moon.
Na Young-hwan kept apologizing in advance for not being able to keep his promise.
Regardless, the subscriber count eventually hit two million.
"All right, everyone. I don't have 800 billion won, and honestly, the moon isn't even that interesting. Wouldn't it be better if we changed it to something I can actually keep?"
At first, I hadn't thought much of it.
But the longer I watched, the smarter the content seemed.
Promise to go to the moon if you hit two million subscribers.
It attracted all the attention you could possibly want, and nobody would seriously curse you for breaking the promise.
Of course, this only worked because someone as famous as Na Young-hwan was doing it.
And two million subscribers.
That basically meant two million people could see a video the moment you uploaded it.
Having Aran appear there would obviously be good for us.
But how much money would the channel generate too?
Today he gathered two million subscribers through an absurd pledge.
In the next video, whether he sang or danced, the viewers would only increase.
They weren't going to disappear easily.
They had subscribed because they were interested in Na Young-hwan himself.
Once the footage was filmed, it could be reposted across different platforms.
He could choose from all kinds of content.
Fan satisfaction would rise too...
Our members had become popular enough by now.
Maybe it really was time to seriously consider producing our own content.
We needed to earn money if we wanted to keep doing a wide variety of activities.
I should probably thank Na Young-hwan for the idea.
So I sent him a one-million-won donation.
[‘CEO Do’ donated 1,000,000 won! _Even presidents get impeached for breaking campaign promises... If you really can't go to the moon, either make a variety show with Luna as the main MC, or upload a month-long vlog of yourself working as the youngest PD while wearing a swimsuit.]
"Oh, one million won! Thank you. Let's see... A month as the youngest PD in a swimsuit... What kind of swimsuit are we talking about?"
If you were going to make an absurd pledge, you had to carry its weight.
The viewers imagined Na Young-hwan in a swimsuit and immediately erupted in excitement.
I'd planned to ask him about the dog-training show Ma Cheol-seong was supposed to appear on after the stream ended.
But this didn't look like it would finish anytime soon.
Since I was already thinking about original content, should I ask Seo Hoe-dong how his project was going?
I pulled out my phone and called him.
Seo Hoe-dong answered quickly.
"Yes, Mr. Do Jun-hyeok. Seo Hoe-dong speaking."
"You remember that documentary program you mentioned before? I haven't heard anything about it for a while. How's it going?"
At my question, Seo Hoe-dong sounded as though the timing was perfect.
"Planning has been more difficult than expected. We might end up going in a different direction from what I originally proposed, so I was going to contact you again once the format was finalized."
"What kind of direction?"
"Nothing's decided yet, but this is just what I'm thinking right now. I'm considering making it a long-term project featuring only the Blue Moon members."
Apparently, documentaries involved very little direct PD participation compared to ordinary variety shows.
That meant the chemistry between the cast mattered enormously.
Trying to weave several different celebrities into one documentary had turned out to be more difficult than expected.
Even if they managed the first project successfully, planning future installments would still be difficult.
The only thing my ears picked up was:
A program featuring only Blue Moon.
Excellent.
If only Blue Moon appeared, wasn't that practically original content?
Then—
Bzzzzt.
I glanced at the screen.
A spam message.
It had been quite a while since the Denver incident.
It was about time.
"Sorry. Another call just came in. I'll call you back."
"Sure, sure. Take your time."
I ended the call and immediately checked the message.
[Title: 4/10]
[Recorded: 2024.02.25. 12:20]
[Free Opt-Out: 010-xxxx-xxxx]
Once again, there was both a video and a free opt-out number.
I checked the video first.
It was footage from a news program, though I couldn't identify the broadcaster.
"Our next story. Trainees who had been scheduled to appear on the idol competition program 〈Deep-Rooted Girls〉 have begun posting criticism of competition programs on social media. The production was canceled in late January after the Odu-ri set became subject to mandatory ecological-park restoration measures, attracting significant attention. Netizens have now joined the criticism, and the situation appears to be developing into what some are calling a 'competition-program boycott.' "
As the anchor spoke, various clips passed across the screen.
One showed a female student staging a one-person protest in front of Root Entertainment's building.
Another showed construction equipment abandoned at the Odu-ri set in Ganghwa.
At a glance, they'd dug the place up pretty badly.
In other words, Shin Hyung-geol's new competition program had collapsed before it even began because of the narrow-mouthed frogs.
And viewers who already had complaints about competition shows had apparently become sick of the entire genre.
I still didn't know exactly what kind of complaint could escalate that far.
"Meanwhile, 〈Blue Moon〉, a reality documentary distributed by Watflix Korea, is recording major success. Its first episode aired just yesterday, and analysts suggest that its popularity may reflect audience backlash against competition programs led by major entertainment agencies, thanks to its calm depiction of the girl group's honest, unfiltered lives. Reporter ○○○ has the story."
I almost cried from how convenient it was to receive a future news report.
What an incredibly kind explanation.
A documentary called 〈Blue Moon〉 distributed by Watflix.
That had to be the Blue Moon-only documentary Seo Hoe-dong had just told me he was considering.
And it became a major hit.
I didn't know exactly how big of a hit.
But if it was significant enough to appear on the news, it probably wasn't an exaggeration.
In other words, Blue Moon's documentary succeeded partly because Shin Hyung-geol's show failed.
Normally, I'd simply enjoy the situation.
But not this time.
If the spam was explaining things this clearly, then whoever was sending these messages must also support my dream of producing our own content.
If I left things as they were, I'd just be making Watflix rich.
The message was obvious.
Go pull Na Young-hwan over here before that happens.
The moment Na Young-hwan ended his live broadcast, he ran straight to the president's office.
There was no way he could spend a month living as the youngest staff member while wearing a swimsuit.
If he wanted to escape that humiliation, his only option was to get a program with Luna as the MC approved.
Luna had strong variety sense and was already popular.
It wasn't an unreasonable proposal to begin with.
When Na Young-hwan entered the office, MVN President Jung Tae-jin looked at him from behind his desk and computer monitor.
He was an influential figure even within ZJ Group, the conglomerate that owned MVN.
As though showing off that authority, his waxed hair gleamed sharply under the lights.
Before Na Young-hwan could even begin explaining himself, Jung Tae-jin spoke as if he already knew everything.
"I watched the whole thing. You made quite an entertaining pledge. Tell me your size. I'll order the swimsuit."
"No, that's not what I came here for..."
"Hahaha. I'm joking. Of course we'll make the program. Luna's good, isn't she? She's popular too. I was already checking the schedule."
Na Young-hwan had expected him to agree fairly easily.
But he hadn't expected him to be this easygoing.
"The problem is that this year's schedule is already full, isn't it? We can start filming immediately, but we'd probably have to push the broadcast slot into next year. Let's set it that way for now, then if something changes, we'll move it forward as a priority."
"Ah, next year? Since this was a pledge, I think the program should feel a little more immediate. Isn't next year too far away?"
That was true too.
Jung Tae-jin thought for a moment, then made another suggestion.
"I noticed the person who sent that one-million-won donation used the name 'CEO Do.' That's Luna's agency CEO, right? Do Jun-hyeok."
"Most likely."
"Then how about this? KBC is preparing that Root Entertainment music competition program, so we moved one of our own competition programs forward to ride the trend. What if we give Do Jun-hyeok control of that program instead? Wouldn't he like that?"
His idea was simple.
They could vaguely satisfy the moon pledge by scheduling Luna's show next year.
Then they could toss a benefit to Do Jun-hyeok, the loudest voice in the room, and everything would probably settle down.
Nobody had seriously expected Na Young-hwan to fulfill a two-million-subscriber pledge by literally going to the moon anyway.
It wasn't as though anyone would force him to submit a written apology because he failed to fulfill it perfectly.
"You mean 〈Trainee School〉, the one scheduled for late February?"
"Exactly."
From what he'd seen during 〈Rebooting〉, Do Jun-hyeok had worked incredibly hard to secure authority over the debut group.
If they offered him full control from the beginning, he would probably be delighted.
"All right. I'll talk to him. Should I call him right now?"
"Go ahead."
Na Young-hwan took out his phone and called Do Jun-hyeok.
"Yes, PD Na. I watched the stream! Congratulations on two million."
"Hahaha. Seriously. The moment I put Luna on the channel, it jumped straight to two million. I should've done it without her."
The president was sitting right there, but Na Young-hwan couldn't exactly jump straight into the main subject without any small talk.
He kept the introduction brief, then explained what he and the president had agreed on.
"I checked the broadcast schedule as soon as the stream ended and called you, but there really aren't any slots available this year. The schedule is too packed. So I think we'll have to handle it like this."
"Really? It's not even 2025 yet. Isn't there any chance something changes?"
"Not immediately. So for now, we'll lock in the Luna-MC program for the year after next. In exchange, we're urgently launching an idol competition program in late February. I thought if Luna and you appeared there, people wouldn't complain much about the pledge."
Do Jun-hyeok fell silent.
Even without seeing him, Na Young-hwan could tell from the silence that he wasn't responding positively.
"Ummm... I think that's going to be difficult. Looks like you'll have to wear the swimsuit after all."
"Why?"
Do Jun-hyeok's answer was shocking.
"If you launch an idol competition show around then, you're going to lose money. You might not even be able to air it."
Not be able to air it?
Why?
Even if there was a reason, how could anyone possibly predict something like that?
"Why? What is Do Jun-hyeok saying?"
Jung Tae-jin noticed Na Young-hwan's confusion and asked quietly.
"J-Just a moment... Do you have a reason for thinking that? That's honestly difficult for me to accept..."
"Of course it is. But it's awkward to explain everything over the phone. I'll come speak to you in person. MVN's president is President Jung Tae-jin, right? If I come over, would I be able to meet him?"
Na Young-hwan turned and looked at Jung Tae-jin.
Then said,
"Do Jun-hyeok would like to meet you, President."
