Chapter 165. The Artist Who Refuses to Step Down
Before going up onstage.
I wrote a few lines of endorsement for Sam Jason.
I'd been nervous that I might have to read the whole book first, but apparently the Korean edition hadn't even been published yet.
They were still working on the cover design, and they wanted to include recommendation quotes on it.
That was why he'd asked me.
I wasn't really sure what to write.
Apparently, the book analyzed the entertainment industry's bad traditions, customs, and absurdities from a social perspective.
So I pulled from my own experiences and wrote a few lines that seemed to fit.
With the interpreter's help, Sam Jason slowly read my words aloud.
Then he immediately applied them to the design using a book editor.
Seeing my sentence printed as an endorsement on the back cover made me feel like some internationally renowned scholar.
Sam seemed fairly positive about my request regarding Michael Jason too.
When I first said I wanted to recruit Michael, he had looked visibly flustered.
But after hearing that ZJ and WF Media's hologram and voice-synthesis technology could perfectly recreate Michael as he had appeared in life, he seemed to understand what I meant.
That's right.
For the Super Bowl stage, I intended to bring in none other than Michael Jason as a featured artist.
Using Lee Jae-gwan and ZJ's technology.
Lee Jae-gwan and Jung Tae-geon of ZJ had welcomed the idea.
Lee Jae-gwan said that if the artist was Michael Jason, it could show the world the true potential of hologram technology.
And naturally, that would bring investment.
Both of them agreed that commercializing holograms would require enormous amounts of money.
The problem was that in order to make the idea happen, we needed the Jason family's consent.
"I think it's a wonderful idea. But I need some time to think."
"Ah, I suppose it's too sudden to ask you to trust ZJ and WF's technology. If you give us some time, we can show you the WF laboratory and the 3D projectors too..."
"No. That's not what I mean."
Sam cut me off.
"I need time to ask myself whether I'm ready to see Michael again."
Sam said he would contact me soon.
With that, I left his temporary office.
I had no idea how long he would need.
All I could do was hope he reached a decision before it became too late to use the technology for the Super Bowl.
After finishing the discussion, I drove toward the AMA venue so I could at least show my face there.
That was when Choi Gyu-sik called.
"Ah, yes. CEO Do Jun-hyeok. Are you busy?"
"No, not at all. What's wrong?"
Choi Gyu-sik spoke.
"I was just notified by the disciplinary committee, and... I've been expelled."
"What?"
The hearing date was still a long way off.
Choi explained that even though the scheduled review hadn't happened yet, he'd suddenly been informed that the decision had already been made.
They had held the disciplinary committee without even inviting the person being disciplined.
"What happens if you're expelled from there?"
"Well... First of all, I definitely won't be invited to the Grand Bell Awards that they host. Thankfully, we've already submitted to the Academy, and other film festivals allow individual submissions, so I suppose I should consider that fortunate."
Choi Gyu-sik spoke calmly.
How was that fortunate?
There was nothing fortunate about it.
So they were willing to go this far.
I knew exactly what people like Hong Sang-hyeok were like.
People like Yoo-won from BombBomb.
Idiots who broke the rules, destroyed other people's careers for their own benefit, and somehow thought that made them cool.
I couldn't just keep watching anymore.
I'd already secured WF before him.
And even if he came after me directly, it wouldn't even itch, so I'd originally planned to simply ignore him.
But apparently, punishment was necessary.
That was why I was standing here now.
The moment I reached the AMA venue, I deliberately changed into spare clothes from the trunk.
I wanted to look as much like a busy manager as possible.
By the time I fully entered the venue, they happened to be announcing Blue Moon as the winner.
So I immediately ran up like this.
"Nice to meet you. I'm Do Jun-hyeok. We informed you in advance that we couldn't attend because the concert is currently underway, but I thought I should at least come here personally to thank President Jung Tae-jin, who has always believed in Universe and given us his full support."
People nodded with warm expressions.
But that was only half true.
I was grateful to Jung Tae-jin.
But I'd really climbed onto this stage because I intended to use it to crush that bastard Hong.
I'll start now.
I hope you're watching this live, Hong Sang-hyeok.
"I've suffered all kinds of slander and persecution! Hngh..."
Do Jun-hyeok, who had been thanking Jung Tae-jin, suddenly burst into tears.
Sam Jason was watching the scene live.
He had also opened Nutube so he could watch it with simultaneous interpretation subtitles.
When Do Jun-hyeok first proposed the hologram, Sam had honestly found the idea absurd.
He wanted to recreate Michael Jason as a hologram for the Super Bowl Halftime Show.
Sam had heard plenty about Do Jun-hyeok.
A man who had never once failed with any project in Korea.
He was doing fairly well in America too.
Sam already knew he'd even been invited to the Super Bowl.
If Do Jun-hyeok said he was going to do something, it would probably succeed.
But Sam was no longer interested in how capable Do Jun-hyeok was.
That ability had already been proven beyond doubt.
Now he had to judge something else.
What kind of person was Do Jun-hyeok?
Was he someone capable of breaking the traditions of popular culture?
Even after repeated victories eventually turned him into part of the establishment, could he remain someone who still argued for diversity?
And ultimately...
Was he someone Sam could allow into the sacred domain that Michael Jason represented to him?
"He looks very different from how he did at the lecture earlier. Is Do Jun-hyeok normally this emotional?"
"No. This speech itself is already becoming a huge topic."
The interpreter who had accompanied him to the hotel glanced at the laptop and answered.
"He's usually extremely blunt and avoids appearing on broadcasts. I didn't even know he was capable of crying like that."
"Really?"
Sam had vaguely heard that there had recently been some kind of conflict in Korea centered around Do Jun-hyeok.
Judging from the speech, Do seemed to be fighting with someone.
After asking the interpreter what had happened, Sam was finally able to understand the full context behind the speech.
"There's a man named Hong Sang-hyeok. He holds enormous influence in Korea's entertainment industry. Recently, it became known that he and Do Jun-hyeok were openly hostile toward each other. Even so, Do Jun-hyeok held up very well, so people started thinking that even Hong Sang-hyeok couldn't really do much against him. But now Do Jun-hyeok has suddenly come out and started talking about how painful Hong Sang-hyeok's persecution has been."
If that was the case, this really was worth talking about.
Wasn't Sam witnessing an incredibly important moment?
He looked at the live viewer count on Nutube.
It was approaching one million.
"At first, I thought it would be enough if I just endured everything properly. But I was wrong. If I endure, then he'll go after the people I love, my colleagues, and if even they aren't enough, he'll dig up every distant relative connected to me and completely destroy them too. I'm terrified that other people will be hurt and suffer because of me."
Tears the size of chicken droppings streamed from Do Jun-hyeok's eyes.
"I consider myself a fairly capable person. But I am being persecuted. The trainees of Universe. My beloved Blue Moon and Heenari members. Even Director Choi Gyu-sik, who unfairly lost his membership in the Korean Motion Picture Association today. As long as people like them exist around me, I have no choice but to keep losing. Please help me, everyone watching. I don't want the people around me to be hurt anymore."
After finishing those words, Do Jun-hyeok revealed the broadcast guidelines currently being circulated among broadcasters, event organizers, and production companies.
They all shared one common instruction.
[Prohibit all appearances by individuals currently or formerly affiliated with Universe.]
Sam looked down at the design draft containing the endorsement Do Jun-hyeok had written for his book.
When the design had been finalized, he'd also received an English translation.
It read:
"The strong cannot defeat the weak. That is not victory, but merely a universal principle. Victory belongs only to the weak. An artist who stands on power may win in everyday life, but an artist who refuses to stand on it wins in history."
Do Jun-hyeok had conviction.
And empathy.
Simply being able to defeat the powerful wasn't enough for Sam to entrust Michael's hologram to him.
Sam needed to be convinced that Do truly understood the suffering of persecuted artists.
And from those tears, from those experiences, Sam finally became certain.
Because Sam himself had once gone through the experience of watching people around him suffer.
Did you think I wasn't firing because I had no bullets?
Hong Sang-hyeok, you have a family too.
You probably have elderly parents you need to look after.
That's why I was planning to let this end moderately.
If I gave you enough chances to come to your senses, you should've understood and stopped.
But forcing a disciplinary committee wasn't enough?
You even pushed through the decision without due process?
I revealed every verified wrongdoing of Hong Sang-hyeok that I'd collected for defensive purposes.
Every single one had been checked.
The reporters would dig deeper into the details from now on and explain everything to the public.
Serin's acting in 〈The Stranger〉 had helped me produce the tears.
In other words, I thought about a sad movie and squeezed them out.
Now I understood why people used crying tactics so often in everyday life.
Because when the tears belonged to the victim, they were especially effective.
[Do Jun-hyeok: "Universe Is Not a Major Corporation but a Small Business" Reveals Company Scale, Public Surprised]
[Why Is the Ministry of Culture Shaking Down an Innocent Entertainment Company?]
[Ministry of Culture Responds to Do Jun-hyeok's Speech: "Reviewing Possibility of Unofficial Power Broker Within Organization. Severe Punishment If Confirmed."]
[Could Hong Sang-hyeok Face Legal Punishment?]
[Joint Performance Committee for Peace Between North and South Criticizes Do Jun-hyeok's Revelations as "Crocodile Tears"]
Articles poured out almost immediately after the live broadcast ended.
Until the speech, the only people who really knew who Hong Sang-hyeok was were entertainment workers and reporters.
But the moment the broadcast aired, news of Hong Sang-hyeok's behavior spread everywhere.
[Hong Sang-hyeok? Who even is that old guy?]
[No idea. That beard makes him look shady though.]
[Why is everyone in entertainment so desperate to bully Do Jun-hyeok? Didn't he already suffer enough during the Pantheon days?]
[┗ Exactly. They're all terrible.]
[Looks like this Hong Sang-hyeok guy is screwed.]
Since his influence came more from connections than his official position, I'd wondered whether public opinion alone would have much effect.
Apparently, it was working better than expected.
Even the Ministry of Culture didn't seem to have fully understood what Hong Sang-hyeok had been doing.
Once they investigated, everything would come out.
At the very least, he would probably lose the ministry as his backing soon.
Since I'd started with the victim concept, I decided to push it all the way.
I actually was the victim, wasn't I?
[I just finished my acceptance speech and picked up a pen immediately. A moment ago, I asked everyone to help me, but I'd appreciate it if you pretended you didn't hear that. I honestly don't know how much more suffering today's speech will bring me. If the day ever comes when I have to step away from the front lines, please protect Universe and Blue Moon. Thank you so much for everything.]
[┗ Nooo ㅜㅜㅜ Do hyung where are you going ㅠㅠ]
[┗ We absolutely must protect Do Jun-hyeok ㅜㅜ Apollo, god of the sun, lend me your strength!]
[┗ Recruiting people to tear Hong Sang-hyeok apart 1/10]
[┗ 2/10]
[┗ 3/10]
That was the night of Day Four of Blue Moon's concert.
By the time another day passed and the final performance was about to begin, the situation had settled down to some extent.
In truth, I'd already prevented every scummy thing Hong Sang-hyeok had done in the future-spam videos.
I'd stopped him from selling WF to a major corporation.
And I'd prevented him from stealing the Kim Gwang-yeon hologram idea originally created by the 〈Candyman〉 PD.
But there was no way those were the only things he'd ever done.
Besides the times he'd abused his influence to exclude me, there had to be more.
Public pressure had finally pushed the police into action too.
It was about time to prepare the popcorn.
