Chapter 174
Seven in the evening.
Han Taesung and I had dinner with the Quantum and CAI teams at the hotel restaurant while discussing the schedule for the following day.
“At ten tomorrow morning, we’ll visit Mega Cinema headquarters.”
“You’ll be able to see the theater operation system and data-analysis system firsthand.”
I smiled.
“Ah, and we’ll show you one of the more popular Korean films these days too.”
“Oh, that sounds great.”
Frank brightened immediately.
“I really enjoy Korean films. Hahaha.”
“And after that, you’ll visit our VFX division and see some of the projects currently in production.”
“For reference, Big Picture is currently participating in VFX work for several Hollywood productions, including projects from Marbling Comics.”
Richard looked genuinely interested.
“I was actually considering asking about that personally, so it’s excellent that you already included it in the schedule.”
“We’re planning to expand into the gaming business as well, so I’m especially looking forward to it.”
“In that case, the timing is even better.”
Han Taesung answered leisurely.
“We’ve been investing heavily in motion capture since last year.”
Just then, Catherine from CAI cut in with obvious curiosity.
“Personally, I’d love to visit a Korean drama or film set.”
“Would that be possible?”
“Of course.”
I nodded.
“It’s already included in the second day’s schedule.”
After finishing the explanation, I looked at the group, who seemed as excited as children the night before a school trip.
Then I deliberately put on an apologetic expression.
“And lastly...”
“I’m sorry to bring this up under these circumstances, but there’s one matter I need to ask your understanding on.”
Richard tilted his head for a moment before smiling.
“Please.”
“Speak freely.”
I kept my voice as calm as possible.
“We would like to complete the final price negotiations by December 23rd, before Christmas.”
The moment I said it, everyone’s eyes moved quickly toward one another.
Frank frowned deeply.
“Christmas is less than two weeks away.”
“Isn’t that much too fast?”
Ha Sangdo glanced at Frank as if telling him to calm down, then turned to me.
“Director Min, why are you suddenly rushing the negotiations?”
I hesitated briefly before answering with a troubled expression.
“To be completely honest...”
“There’s another party interested in acquiring Mega Cinema.”
Once again, startled gazes crossed through the air.
Han Taesung gave me a subtle look, clearly wondering what I was thinking.
Without letting anyone else notice, I raised the corner of my mouth slightly toward him.
Then I continued.
“Of course, Quantum remains our first priority.”
“But our company’s position is that we also can’t keep another interested party waiting indefinitely while negotiations continue without an end.”
Richard gave me a bitter smile.
“So what you’re saying is...”
“Either buy it, or hurry up and get out of the way.”
I answered with as much courtesy as possible.
“Again, Quantum is our highest priority.”
“I thought it would be better to be transparent about the situation rather than play both sides behind your back.”
“If my words offended you, I sincerely apologize.”
Richard had spent years surviving in the ruthless business world while helping build Quantum into a global IT giant.
He clearly understood situations like this.
And because he could also understand the logic behind my belief that blunt honesty was better than quietly betraying the other party, his irritation gradually eased.
“Even so, asking us to finish negotiations by the twenty-third puts considerable time pressure on us.”
“But after six months of negotiations, I believe both sides already understand each other quite thoroughly.”
Richard fell silent at my unwavering gaze.
Because I wasn’t wrong.
Just as the atmosphere began to grow heavy, Ha Sangdo quickly stepped in.
“Of course, Hanshin’s position is understandable.”
“Business exists to pursue profit, after all.”
“And what matters most is how the deal is concluded, isn’t it?”
“Exactly.”
I nodded.
“The reason I’m telling you this at all is because I want to approach Quantum with complete transparency.”
“I hope you’ll understand.”
I apologized once again.
Fortunately, Richard silently nodded, apparently accepting it.
Han Taesung then raised his wineglass to change the subject.
“All right.”
“You’ve all traveled a long way.”
“So once again, welcome to Korea.”
“And let’s toast to a successful negotiation.”
Everyone wore different expressions, but they still raised their glasses together in response to Han Taesung’s effort to ease the mood.
After dinner, Han Taesung and I left the hotel.
The moment the tension finally loosened, he let out a short sigh and looked at me.
“So this is what you meant when you said we could use Atlas?”
“You wanted to provoke Quantum by using Atlas as competition?”
“Yes.”
I answered calmly.
“I think one reason Quantum has been dragging its feet is that there hasn’t been any real competitor.”
Han Taesung frowned.
“Even so...”
“Didn’t you see their reaction earlier?”
“One wrong move and we could’ve destroyed not only our corporate ethics but all the trust we spent months building.”
“That was a reckless gamble.”
I smiled leisurely.
“Vice President Richard is a veteran who’s been in this world for decades.”
“During Quantum’s rise into a global IT company, he handled countless acquisitions and mergers.”
“And in many of those, he prioritized cold business logic over loyalty or sentiment.”
I had heard plenty about Richard from Ha Sangdo.
He wasn’t the kind of man who would blow up a deal because his feelings were hurt.
If anything, he preferred partners who presented their options clearly.
“To you, it may have looked like a dangerous gamble.”
“But I think this situation made Quantum understand two things very clearly.”
“Two things?”
“Yes.”
“First, that if they keep delaying, they could genuinely lose Mega Cinema to a competitor after all the effort they’ve already invested.”
“And second...”
I looked ahead.
“That we aren’t cowardly double-dealers hiding another negotiation behind their backs.”
“It’s much easier to calculate around a partner who lays their cards on the table.”
Han Taesung let out a short exclamation of admiration.
“Really...”
“I can’t keep up with you. Hahaha.”
The next day, Richard and the others seemed to have moved past the previous night’s tension.
Their expressions were relaxed as I led the Quantum and CAI teams to Mega Cinema headquarters.
On a massive screen, real-time reservation data from Mega Cinema theaters across the country was being displayed.
“This is Mega Cinema’s integrated data system.”
The head of Mega Cinema’s operations team explained.
“Data from all 130 theaters and nine hundred screens nationwide is collected in real time.”
“We can analyze reservation rates, customer movement, even concession-stand purchasing patterns.”
James’s eyes lit up.
“Interesting.”
“With this data, you could analyze audience preferences too.”
“Of course.”
“Mega Cinema already uses it to optimize screening schedules.”
Ha Sangdo turned toward me.
“Then this could also be actively used in content planning, couldn’t it?”
I smiled.
“In fact, Big Picture has recently started referencing Mega Cinema’s audience data during the development stage.”
“Which genres perform better in which regions.”
“Which actors appeal to which age groups.”
Frank exchanged a satisfied look with James.
“Data-driven content creation.”
“That’s exactly what we’re looking for.”
After watching a film at Mega Cinema, we moved to Big Picture’s motion-capture studio.
“The VFX division itself is based at Big Picture headquarters.”
“But some of the technical VFX teams and our motion-capture studio are located separately here in Paju.”
The studio interior resembled an enormous empty warehouse.
But dozens of infrared cameras covered the walls and ceiling, blinking red like watchful eyes toward the center.
There, an actor wore a skin-tight black suit covered with ping-pong-ball-sized markers at each joint.
“Resetting.”
“Please take a T-pose.”
At the engineer’s instruction, the actor stretched both arms out to the sides.
On the monitor, a skeletal 3D model instantly copied the exact pose in real time.
The actor’s physical movement transformed into waves of digital data before our eyes.
Catherine stared at the special-effects footage on the giant screen in amazement.
On the third day, after completing the two-day site inspection, tension filled the reception room of the hotel VIP suite where the Quantum delegation was staying.
This was the final coordination meeting before Quantum returned home.
Nothing would be officially decided here.
But everyone knew that the outcome of this meeting would strongly influence the final agreement.
Richard finally spoke.
“I don’t think we can go above 680 billion won.”
We had already lowered our original asking price of 750 billion by thirty billion, down to 720 billion.
Yet Quantum still refused to close the gap to seven hundred billion.
At Richard’s proposal, Han Taesung glanced toward me.
I lowered my gaze and gave him a slight shake of the head.
“I’m sorry, but we have already lowered the price by thirty billion won from our original 750-billion-won target.”
“CEO Han, 680 billion is already an aggressive valuation.”
“No.”
Han Taesung remained firm.
“Considering the value of this package, I believe seven hundred billion is appropriate.”
“This isn’t merely the value of theater real estate.”
“It includes the network, content-production capability, IP library, VFX technology...”
“And above all, audience data from twenty-three million people every year.”
“That has a value that can’t be measured by ordinary numbers.”
As the gap refused to close, Ha Sangdo, who had been watching silently, suddenly intervened.
“Director Min.”
“From CAI’s position, I’d like to suggest a compromise.”
Everyone turned toward him.
“What if we set the acquisition price at 680 billion won...”
“And add a performance-based earn-out clause?”
Performance-based earn-out?
So they would pay additional acquisition consideration depending on future performance?
