raknovel Chapter 63 is just looking down on us.
Chapter 63 is just looking down on us.
Aside from having Ding Wulang keep an eye on things at home, Li Zhengyi was quite free.
Or rather, it's back to the daily routine of pretending to be a real convenience store clerk.
If I had to say there's something different about it...
That means there's a new girl in Kakao's friend list.
Ryu Jimin.
He said at the time that he would pay back the money.
After all, a drop of kindness deserves a spring of gratitude in return.
So he added a note for himself: Chris borrowing a cell phone on the subway.
Friend request accepted.
He did not add the words "foreigner".
To maintain a lie, you need countless lies to sustain it.
Rather than doing that, it's better to forget about it.
In his previous life, Lee Jung-il's understanding of girl groups was limited to watching videos of long legs and sexy dances.
On the contrary, I watch more Korean dramas and films about the Korean Peninsula.
If an idol doesn't show up, he really won't recognize them.
Even so, he knew of Liu Zhimin's name.
That female idol who filmed GG with Faker.
That's a name that even streamers and content creators mention as a meme.
The classic question is whether Jang Won-young or Yoo Ji-min is the "first among the five women".
At the time, he didn't know what "Five Women and One" meant.
It's just that I don't understand it, but it sounds impressive.
Now that I'm familiar with news from the peninsula and have people around me in the entertainment industry, I understand the meaning of this term.
However, it's only 2014 now, and the fourth generation of girl groups has just begun. The main girl groups are still in the era of a chaotic battle of sexy styles from the third generation.
Speaking of this, it was during this period that the generational division of girl groups in China and the Korean Peninsula began.
Take Bae Joo-hyun's group for example; it's a third-generation group on the peninsula.
But in China, Bae Joo-hyun, who debuted this year, is already a fourth-generation newcomer.
For the sake of convenience, Lee Jung-il decided to treat Bae Joo-hyun as a member of the fourth generation of the group.
That way, we can watch it together with TWICE, who will debut next year, and Jisoo, who will debut the year after.
Suddenly, Li Zhengyi vaguely saw a scene from many years later.
Bae Joo-hyun on the left.
Kim Jisoo on the right.
Both of them held his hands and asked him, "Who do you think is the 'first among the four women'?"
Ding ding ding ding~
A phone call interrupted Li Zhengyi's reverie.
He is Jeon Shian, the president of Galaxy Games.
That is, X Galaxy Game.
For convenience, Li Zhengyi still prefers to call it the Galaxy Game.
"What's wrong, President Quan?"
"Director-nim, I'm sorry to bother you so late, it's about the game's theme song. The collaboration offers from the three girl groups have all run into problems..."
The next day, after Li Zhengyi and Cui Yena finished their shift handover, Li Zhengyi slept for three hours before returning to the Galaxy Game.
The atmosphere in the meeting room was a little awkward.
Quan Zhian sat on the left side of the conference table, with a stack of printed emails spread out in front of him.
His forehead was sweating again, even though the air conditioning was on full blast.
Ahn Joon-hyuk sat opposite him with a wry smile on his face that said, "I knew this would happen."
Li Zhengyi sat in the main seat, twirling a pen in his hand.
Kim Soo-ho sat next to him, dressed smartly in a suit, with a brand-new name tag on his chest that read "Supervisory Director".
On his first day at the company, he was still feeling a sense of novelty.
However, this initial novelty is slowly being worn away by the oppressive atmosphere in the meeting room.
"So, all three companies rejected it?"
Kim Soo-ho looked around and broke the silence first.
Quan Zhian wiped the sweat from his forehead and opened the first email.
"FNC, the company behind AOA, was very polite. They thanked us for our support of AOA, but said their schedules for next year are already full, and they simply can't spare the time. It's like... how should I put it..."
"Politely decline."
Ahn Joon-hyuk summarized for him.
"right."
Quan Zhian opened the second copy.
"EXID's Yedang Entertainment didn't refuse. They made a offer."
He forwarded the email to everyone present.
Kim Soo-ho leaned over and glanced at it, then raised an eyebrow.
"This price... is twice the normal quote?"
"almost."
Quan Zhian gave a wry smile.
"The underlying message is clear: cooperation is fine, but we have to pay more. To put it bluntly, they think our company isn't famous and our games aren't successful, so cooperating with their top girl group is like us climbing the social ladder. If we're going to climb the social ladder, we have to pay more."
"What about SM?"
Kim Soo-ho asked.
Quan Zhian didn't say anything, but opened the third email and turned his laptop around.
The email on the screen was extremely brief.
"Thank you for your interest in Red Velvet. After comprehensive evaluation, we believe that the conditions for cooperation between the two parties are not yet ripe at this stage. We wish your game project a smooth progress."
Below is an official attribution from SM Entertainment.
There isn't even a person's name.
The meaning of this email can be translated into plain language.
Who are you?
Have not heard.
What's the name of your game?
Have not heard.
Do you want our new girl group to sing the theme song for you?
Sorry, this lowers the standard.
Ahn Joon-hyuk adjusted his glasses.
"That's the worst. A template rejection; they don't even have the interest to talk to you."
Kim Soo-ho leaned back in his chair and whistled softly.
"So the current situation is that one politely tells the other to get lost, another says they'll consider it if you pay more, and the third simply doesn't respond at all."
He looked at Li Zhengyi.
"Director-nim, why don't you use your connections or money to take over Girls' Generation directly?"
Li Zhengyi ignored him.
He hasn't said a word since he came in; he's just sat there listening, twirling the pen in his hand again and again.
Quan Zhi'an cleared his throat and steered the conversation back on track.
"Director-nim, there are two paths now."
"The first option is to match EXID's quote. Although it's a bit expensive, at least we can secure the collaboration. They're currently very popular, so the promotional effect will definitely be good."
"Secondly, as a second-best option, we can find a second-tier girl group or even a has-been singer. The cost is lower, but the publicity effect will definitely be much worse."
An Junhe responded.
"I lean towards the second option. Our game itself is of high quality, and word-of-mouth can build up gradually. A weaker marketing effort will just mean a slower start. Investing the saved budget into game development is more worthwhile in the long run."
Quan Zhian shook his head.
"Even the best wine needs advertising. If the initial launch doesn't make a splash, it'll be difficult to catch up later."
The president and producer disagreed.
One perspective is from a business standpoint.
One perspective is from a product standpoint.
Neither of them is wrong.
Both of them looked at Kim Soo-ho.
Kim Soo-ho spread his hands.
"Don't look at me. I'm the board member in charge, not the game producer or the marketing director. My job is to make sure the money isn't wasted; you decide how to spend it."
Jeon Ji-an and Ahn Joon-hyuk exchanged a glance.
To be honest, they were initially a bit wary of this new board member.
What if the person parachuted in from the parent company is just here to boss people around?
Anyone who has done this knows that the worst thing is for an outsider to instruct an expert.
As a result, Kim Soo-ho immediately stated that he would not be involved in business, which actually relieved them.
Finally, everyone looked at Li Zhengyi.
Li Zhengyi finally put down the pen.
He leaned back in his chair, his gaze sweeping across the three people's faces.
"Three companies: one thought we weren't famous enough, one thought we weren't famous enough but was willing to pay more, and one thought we weren't famous enough and didn't even bother to negotiate."
His voice was flat.
"To put it bluntly, they just look down on our little-known workshop."