Chapter 41
At the words, “I will invest the entire amount myself,” CEO Han Taesung stared blankly at me for a moment before bursting into cheerful laughter.
“Hahaha. You want to invest the entire amount yourself? You really are more generous than I thought.”
“I’m not joking around.
I’m asking whether you are willing to invest in the movie yourself without receiving any outside investment.”
I stared directly at Han Taesung without wavering.
My tone was far too serious for it to be a joke, so Han Taesung soon stopped laughing.
I asked him the same question once again.
“I don’t know how this will sound, but I heard that you are wealthy enough to produce a movie of this scale entirely on your own, without needing outside investment.”
“Rich, huh...
That’s interesting.
Well, it’s true that I’m not someone who gets pushed around when it comes to money.
Haha.”
I was worried that Han Taesung might ask where I had heard such a rumor, but he did not mention it at all.
“But tell me, why should I do that?
What if I produce it with my own money and end up losing everything?
I’m a businessman.
I can’t run a business knowing that I might lose money.”
“Yes, of course.
But before being a businessman, I believe you are also someone in the film industry who can recognize a good work and wants to create good movies...”
“Haha.
A person in the film industry...
Of course, being a cultural artist is more appealing than being a businessman who only cares about money.
But even so, investing everything yourself?
Doesn’t that sound more like gambling?”
There was still a smile on the corner of Han Taesung’s lips.
“I told you before that this movie would be much more successful than you expected.
Do you remember?”
“Of course I do.
That’s why I asked you how much you thought it would make.
But why are you bringing that up all of a sudden?”
“How successful do you think this movie will be?”
Perhaps my question sounded a little provocative, because CEO Han Taesung’s eyes lit up with interest.
“I don’t know...
How much do you expect?”
“To be honest, I don’t know.”
Han Taesung tilted his head as if he was disappointed by my answer.
“You clearly said back then that this movie would do much better than I expected.
And now you’re saying you don’t know?”
“No.
Actually, I had a rough estimate back then.
But...
Now I don’t know how many more people this almost perfect casting will attract.”
Just like when I first mentioned investing the entire amount myself, Han Taesung stared blankly at me for a moment before bursting into cheerful laughter again.
“You don’t think there’s any chance we’ll fail because of this casting, do you?”
“Yes.
I already told you that this movie would satisfy the desires of audiences who want to consume high-quality culture in this changing era.
So even with the movie itself, I was expecting at least eight million viewers.”
At the words ‘eight million,’ Han Taesung’s eyes shook in surprise.
“Eight million...
Of course, I expected this movie to do fairly well too, but...
That is definitely much higher than what I expected...”
The record of eight million viewers was actually the movie’s real box-office result before I returned to the past, when actor Park Jeongho had originally been cast.
That was why I had predicted eight million.
“But now that the truth about actor Min Seongjae will eventually be revealed, I can’t even begin to predict how much synergy that will create.
That’s why I said I no longer know how successful the movie will become.”
Han Taesung slowly crossed his arms.
Unlike before, there was no trace of laughter in his eyes as he looked at my face.
“According to what you’re saying, we should easily make at least ten times the investment.”
“If you produce it with your own money.
High risk, high return.
That’s one of the basic principles of investment.”
I reminded him of the condition once again.
“But to me, what you’re saying sounds like you’re simply telling me to gamble.”
As this frustrating situation continued, I almost blurted out that I had returned from the future and already knew this movie would become a huge hit, so he should just stop talking and invest everything.
But I held back as much as I could and continued speaking.
“No.
If the probability of winning a bet is more than 50 percent, then it becomes an investment rather than gambling.
So this is clearly an investment.
Don’t you agree?”
For a moment, Han Taesung’s gaze narrowed as he looked at me.
He remained silent for a while, apparently deep in thought.
Then he spoke again.
“If things turn out the way you say they will, would you be willing to give back the 0.1 percent stake I gave you?”
‘?!’
For a moment, I wondered if I had heard him correctly.
But when I saw Han Taesung looking at me with a completely serious expression and not a trace of laughter, I had no idea how to react.
I could only blink.
Then Han Taesung suddenly smiled cheerfully at me.
“Hahahaha.
I’m joking.
Just a joke.”
‘Huh...
Damn...’
I felt annoyed that I had gotten nervous for nothing.
“CEO, even if it was a joke, that was too much.
Do you even know how much that 0.1 percent stake could be worth to me before making a joke like that?!”
The cheerful laughter disappeared from Han Taesung’s face at once.
“Ha...
Do you know something?
Sometimes when I look at you, you really seem like some kind of monster...
You are completely convinced that everything you say will actually come true.
Where does that kind of confidence come from?
Do you perhaps have some kind of supernatural ability?”
His words were completely unexpected.
More importantly, Han Taesung sounded much more serious than I had expected, leaving me flustered.
“What?
S-Supernatural ability...?”
“I’m joking.
It’s just because you act with such absolute confidence in everything you do.
That made me think that way.
Anyway, when I look at you, you sometimes remind me of myself in the past.
An excellent eye for seeing trends before anyone else, along with strong analytical skills.
And that momentum...
That incredible momentum that makes it seem as if you could really turn all those ridiculous things you talk about into reality...
That isn’t something you can create simply by imitating someone else.
Fine.
Whether this is an investment or gambling, let’s give it a try.
I’ll invest one hundred percent of the money in this movie.”
“Actor Min’s condition is more serious than I expected.”
“Yeah...
Things became even worse because, in my desperation, I suggested telling Sojeong that she wasn’t his biological daughter.”
A tired look had settled over Baek Seonghan’s face as he took a cup of coffee from the break room.
“Ha...
What should we do?
This casting absolutely has to go to actor Min Seongjae...
The CEO went through so much trouble before finally deciding to invest the entire amount himself...”
