Become A Music Monster Overnight! [EN]: Chapter 147

One day, a music monster! Episode 138

Chapter 42. Squid

Youngchan was astonished when he heard the news later.

“……Doesn’t Japan already have an emperor?”

Whether they had one in the past was questionable, but anyway, the royal family, whose authority had long collapsed, existed in Japan.

Also, perhaps due to the influence of Japan’s notoriously fabricated history, it was also a somewhat sacred object to some of the people.

For the people of such a country to call ‘Jin’ our king… Even though it’s a country where subculture is amazing, it’s still embarrassing.

“You don’t have to take it too literally. Perhaps the king they are talking about is the ‘Shogun’ [a military dictator of Japan from 1185 to 1868].”

At the words of Ichiro, the president of YC Entertainment in Japan, Youngchan nodded, thinking, ‘Isn’t that even more amazing?’

Shogun is the Japanese pronunciation of general, and is actually used to refer to the Seii Taishogun, the de facto supreme ruler after the Emperor.

In fact, it was an existence that could be seen as having actual royal authority.

Anyway, as these otaku’s [people with obsessive interests, particularly in anime and manga] activities appeared in the news, etc., even those who had distanced themselves from cultural life such as movies were being brought to theaters.

That’s because they were wondering, ‘What is it about that movie that makes them do such crazy things?’

In addition, when they learned that an Asian, YC, who had now established himself as a national singer to the Japanese, was playing the role that created this commotion, they were made to move their heavy steps to the theater.

Of course, ‘King of Arrogance,’ which is a hero movie but has a different class and even tone from the unique Sentai物 [live action Japanese superhero TV show], easily captivated them.

Although it wasn’t as chaotic in the media as it was in Japan, there was a market where the heat was perhaps even greater.

That was China.

Jang Woong’s attempt to ease China’s policy of trying to control it under the name of the Korean Wave ban through ‘King of Arrogance’ had better-than-expected results.

At first, the number of screens for ‘King of Arrogance’ was at a miserable level.

It was because of the Communist Party’s concerns, but even so, the number of screens secured in China reached 1,000.

It was a number that could only be received by works that could be called blockbusters based on Korean standards, which are called anticipated works in Korea.

However, considering that the number of screens in China reaches 70,000, it was actually a very small number.

Was that why?

When all the theaters were sold out even before word-of-mouth spread, the number of screens naturally began to increase rapidly.

In particular, rumors that ‘Jin’ of ‘King of Arrogance’ was based on ancient Chinese emperors or the imperial family fueled its success.

Even so, the media did not participate in this box office success, except for SNS in China that imitated YouTube.

This is because if they rashly come forward without lifting the Korean Wave ban or without any special mention of it, they could see blood [face severe consequences].

Since it was a situation where they could really see blood, everyone was hush-hush, but even so, the success of ‘King of Arrogance’ grew stronger day by day.

When it had been released for a month, it was already in the top 10 of the all-time box office.

It earned about 4 billion yuan, which is equivalent to 560 million dollars when converted into dollars.

“That’s why Hollywood is watching China.”

It looks like it will soon surpass the box office success of ‘King of Arrogance’ in the North American market, which is breaking all records.

Meanwhile, in Korea, it was already on its way to a huge record-breaking box office success.

At this point, one month after its release, it has already exceeded 17 million.

The reason this is possible is because M’s hero movie has been a hit, and the director of this work is the master Bell, but the biggest reason is YC, who played ‘Jin’ in ‘King of Arrogance’.

Even if it is a masterpiece, its light fades when you watch it several times, but in the case of ‘King of Arrogance,’ it was the opposite.

This is because you come to know things you didn’t see because of ‘Jin’s overwhelming presence.

The reason why humans feel fear is because of ignorance.

The reason why you feel fear under the blanket under the bed or in the closet when you are young is because it seems like something will come out from inside.

But when you turn on the light and realize that there is nothing there, that fear disappears.

You realize that it was just your vain delusion.

‘Jin’ was like that. The audience, who felt fear at the existence of something that was human-like but also not, gradually realized that it could not harm them and escaped from fear.

Thanks to this, the time to surpass the number of viewers of the Battle of Myeongnyang, the highest number of viewers in Korea, was just around the corner.

And on the 33rd day of its release.

‘King of Arrogance’ became the most-watched movie in Korean history.

According to film officials, there is even talk that ‘King of Arrogance’ may record 20 million, which was considered an impossible area.

“Even so, wouldn’t that be a little difficult?”

Around that time, Youngchan, who had finished his US All-Star Stadium tour, shook his head.

In the first place, it was a bizarre phenomenon for a country with a population of only 50 million to exceed 10 million viewers.

To have that record doubled.

Youngchan thought that could never be possible.

However, there is no such thing as absolute, and this was also the case with ‘King of Arrogance’.

-The movie ‘King of Arrogance’ takes the top spot in all-time movie sales.-

-Still endless box office power! What great record will ‘King of Arrogance’ set?-

-‘King of Arrogance’ exceeds $3 billion in worldwide revenue!-

-Unbelievable miracle! ‘King of Arrogance’ exceeds 20 million domestic viewers!-

This was the case this time.

After exceeding 17 million, ‘King of Arrogance’ succeeded in exceeding 20 million two weeks later.

The reason for this was that fans of ‘King of Arrogance’ watched it multiple times, but even considering that, it was a huge achievement.

But the really amazing thing was the profit.

Even though it had not yet been taken down from theaters, it had set a new record for all-time movie revenue, and thanks to this, Youngchan, who supported 30% of the production costs for this movie, hit the jackpot.

In addition, as a condition for joining the movie, he was able to take 10% of the profits from character merchandise for ‘Jin,’ so he was literally having a huge money party.

“It’s no wonder investors are flocking to movies.”

Once you hit a jackpot like this, money pours in, so if you have the right eye, there is no better investment.

‘King of Arrogance’ was taken down from theaters in Korea ten days later.

The final score was 21.25 million.

It was a great record that may never happen again in Korean film history.

* * *

The Squid, which was released by N Corporation in 2018 in the original history, was produced one year earlier due to my intervention.

“Squid? Squid? What kind of title is that?”

Lee Na-eun, who had recently returned from an Asian tour beyond Korea, received the script I handed her with sleepy eyes, as if she was still tired.

“It’s exactly Squid Game. Ah! I wonder if you know it because of your age?”

I thought she might not know because she was 10 years younger than me, but unexpectedly, Lee Na-eun shook her head.

“I know. I’ve done it a few times in my neighborhood.”

“As a Kkakdugi [an extra player in a game]?”

“Ugh~ No, I did well!”

Kkakdugi.

It seems to be a word that has disappeared these days, but it was a commonly used word when I was young.

Later, I wondered if it was only used in our region, but I was surprised to learn that it was commonly used throughout the country, including Seoul.

Kkakdugi refers to a friend who plays along as a bonus without being properly included in the game.

It was a rule created to play with those who were too young or lacking to enjoy the game together to the extent that it did not greatly affect the game.

“By the way, you understand Kkakdugi? Ah! You said there is a big age difference with your siblings.”

“Yes. My youngest brother is 5 years older than me.”

“That’s why you know it well. Anyway, Squid refers to the Squid Game.”

Then I gave her a general explanation of this drama.

It is about a story that takes place when nearly 500 people are invited to a mysterious death game with a prize of 50 billion won.

Perhaps because there are quite a few movies, dramas, or cartoons of this genre, Na-eun showed no great resistance and accepted it.

“The role you will play is Ri Ha-jeong.”

“Ri Ha-jeong? Is she North Korean?”

“Yes. To be exact, she is a North Korean woman who has been naturalized in Korea. She participates in this death game to bring her family, especially her younger sibling, whom she left behind in North Korea.”

I told her about Ri Ha-jeong’s general story.

Although the plot was different from the Squid Game I had originally seen, Ri Ha-jeong’s story and the main framework of the Squid Game did not change.

“I’ll take a look.”

“Okay. Take your time.”

At first, she had difficulty coming to the CEO’s office, but now she comes so often that she was looking at the script in a comfortable manner, as if it were her own room.

Looking at her eyes sparkling and focusing on the script, I could tell that she would appear in this Squid.

‘It will take up a big part of her career.’

Perhaps after this work, she will be able to gain global recognition as an actress. That’s how much this Squid work will cause a huge box office success all over the world, which is not enough to be called a jackpot.

‘YC Film will be able to take a new leap forward through Squid.’

If the ‘King of Arrogance’ works are produced smoothly here, we might be able to aim for N Corporation’s castle.

In the end, no matter what the ranking is, the most important thing is how many of these super hit works you have.

For this reason, I am providing more support to the Squid project.

I raised the level of the foreign actors behind the blackout, whose awkward acting was a problem in the past, and also improved the quality of the productions, including CG.

That wasn’t all.

I was planning to franchise the Squid project altogether.

I was thinking of releasing it by season like ‘King of Arrogance,’ and I was also planning to create prequel dramas overseas.

Of course, I haven’t told Director Woo, who is filming Squid, about the franchise yet.

Even now, Director Woo is grateful for my support, but he also seems burdened.

However, at my words that I wanted to release at least up to season 3, he was preparing for the production of season 1, but he had also set the framework for the script for season 2.

‘From season 2, there will be a flood of people who want to appear in this Squid Game.’

Of course, if possible, I plan to push as many YC actors as possible, just like in season 1.

It was Na-eun who awakened me from thinking about such a bright future.

“It’s so much fun! I really want to do this.”

I was worried about her, as she said, clenching her fists tightly, as if she really wanted to do it.

“You’ll probably have to do a lot of exercise, both physically and mentally. As you can see, Ri Ha-jeong is a friend with excellent athletic ability.”

“Yes. I’m planning to cut off action school anyway.”

“Okay. You’ll do well.”

Although she is timid, she had a clear side to her when it came to things she liked or wanted to do.

You can see that from the fact that she, who was timid and lacked confidence when we first met, came to me and got my autograph.

‘The problem is Kang A-young?’

There was a lot of talk about Kang A-young becoming the lead in YC Film’s collaboration ‘Returning to Spring Days’.

I know A-young will do well, but there is so much talk that it is still difficult to bring up this story.

In fact, Director Woo seems to be worried in many ways.

Anyway, as it is Squid, which can be said to be his life’s work, Director Woo seems to want to eliminate as many 불안 [unease] elements as possible.

However, fortunately, Director Woo’s concerns disappeared the following week.

This happened as soon as the ‘Returning to Spring Days’ drama, which had been talked about so much, was released, and the media and 악플 [malicious comments] that had been tearing it apart so harshly disappeared.