Chapter 163
By March 2014, the impatient magnolias had already begun to bloom.
“How is Writer Yoon Jisoo’s project coming along?”
“Well... Director Jeon Jihyuk said he wanted to work with her directly on revising the script, so we arranged a separate workspace where the two of them can work together.”
The drama-team meeting had started early that morning and continued until nearly lunchtime.
“All right. Don’t hold back on anything they need for the workspace.”
“We’re already taking care of it.”
Her Memory Method, the grand-prize winner of the New Big Competition, had entered the script-revision stage in preparation for full production.
“And if they can deliver at least four episodes by June, I think we might be able to secure an MBS slot for next year.”
“So for now, we need those scripts as quickly as possible.”
“Understood?”
“Yes.”
Big Picture and New Wave were already overflowing with the money they had earned from Kingdom of Crime the previous year.
On top of that, proven writers, directors, and prominent actors were practically lining up to work with us.
Like a ship with the wind filling its sails, we were charging through 2014 without anything blocking our path.
“All right, moving on...”
I paused.
“Ah, right. What happened with the shared workspace for the writers?”
I had been pushing to create a communal workspace near the company where the competition winners could work comfortably and communicate with one another.
“We looked at officetels, but they’re a little too small.”
“And regular offices have several inconveniences if we use them as creative workspaces.”
“So we’re still looking for something suitable.”
“What about renting a detached house and remodeling it?”
“Yes, we’ll look into that too.”
“Anyway, try to get it done as quickly as...”
Grrrrrr.
Someone’s stomach growled loudly, almost as if protesting the endless meeting.
Lee Hyunwoo grabbed his stomach in embarrassment and laughed awkwardly.
“Ah, sorry.”
“This thing has no sense of timing. Hahaha.”
Only then did I check the time on my phone.
We were already well past lunchtime.
“Team Leader, we’re hungry.”
“Yes, and we haven’t even gone to the bathroom once in three hours.”
“This is practically abuse.”
Complaints erupted from around the room.
“All right, all right.”
“Let’s stop the meeting here for today.”
I smiled.
“But I’ll buy everyone something good for lunch.”
“Happy now?”
The same team members who had been booing me a moment earlier immediately cheered.
We had just started cleaning up the conference room when my phone vibrated briefly and the screen lit up.
A message from Woo Seungcheol.
[Hyung, please call me when you have time!]
Something about the exclamation mark at the end made my heart lift.
Don’t tell me... finally?
I immediately called him.
After a few rings, Woo Seungcheol’s booming voice burst through the receiver.
“Hyung! We passed!”
“Really?”
“Yes! We finally passed every beta test!”
“We can actually launch now!”
It had taken more than a year and a half.
This wasn’t something as simple as redesigning a website.
They had built a complete web novel platform capable of handling tens of thousands of simultaneous users, processing payments in real time, and transparently settling revenue with writers.
The process had been anything but smooth.
Three server crashes.
Payment-module conflicts.
Even an attempted external hack.
The scheduled launch date had been postponed three times.
And every time, Woo Seungcheol and the web novel team had gone through another nerve-racking stretch.
“Sorry, but you’ll have to eat lunch without me.”
I pulled a card from my wallet and handed it to Kang Jooyoung.
“Use this.”
“Go eat something good and pay with it.”
“Huh? Team Leader, where are you going?”
“Something urgent came up.”
“And I might just go home after I’m done outside, so everyone can leave on your own later.”
I quickly left the company.
Third floor of a shabby building in Hapjeong-dong.
The moment I opened the door to New Moon’s office, stale air and the smell of cup noodles hit me.
Compared to the Big Picture office I had just left, the place looked like an actual battlefield.
“Kibaek hyung!”
Woo Seungcheol shot to his feet the moment he saw me.
His eyes were hollow, dark stubble covered his face, and he looked like he hadn’t washed properly in days.
And he wasn’t alone.
Director Park Moonsik, the former publishing editor.
Team Leader Lee Kangsoo, the genius developer.
Choi Yujin from marketing.
Yoon Taewoo from design.
Every founding member of the New Moon web novel platform looked like a zombie.
“Seungcheol, you worked hard.”
I looked around the office.
“Seriously, all of you did.”
At those few words, Woo Seungcheol’s eyes reddened.
“No, hyung.”
“It’s because I wasn’t capable enough.”
“We just burned through the money you invested...”
“And we’re six months behind schedule...”
“Come on, not this again.”
I patted his shoulder.
“I told you already.”
“You weren’t falling behind.”
“You were making it stronger.”
Then I walked over to the monitor.
On Lee Kangsoo’s server-monitoring dashboard, a green light reading [NORMAL] glowed brightly.
“Server load testing, payment integration, security patches.”
Lee Kangsoo spoke with exhausted pride.
“Everything is finished.”
“All we have to do now is press the button.”
“Then of course we should launch.”
I looked around.
“When do you think would be best?”
“Do we really need to overthink it?”
“Let’s just launch tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow?”
Someone objected.
“Instead of immediately, shouldn’t we choose a more meaningful date?”
“White Day is coming up in a few days.”
“What about launching on White Day?”
“White Day? If we’re going that far, why don’t we just visit a famous fortune-teller and ask them to choose an auspicious date?”
Opinions started flying from every direction.
