Kang Ji-Yung glared at Kim Jang-Bi and said the words she had been holding back since the merger. Newest update provided by novel⚑fire.net "From now on, all work by the former Gwanwoo Entertainment talent agents must be reported to me. If you do that, I'll forgive Chief Yoon's rudeness." Although Hoop and Gwanwoo Entertainment had merged into one company, the reporting system from Gwanwoo's side remained separate. The Gwanwoo talent agents only reported to Kim Jang-Bi, and Kim Jang-Bi bypassed Kang Ji-Yung entirely, reporting only to Vice President Kim Gwan-Woo. In other words, it was like two companies existed within one. However, Kang Ji-Yung had decided she would no longer tolerate that and would manage things herself. It was a rightful move as a director, but for the talent agents from Gwanwoo, it was like a bolt from the blue. They now faced severe restrictions on the autonomy they had enjoyed. Caught off guard, Kim Jang-Bi hesitated before he began to speak. "Ms. Kang... that's not something I can decide on my own." Kang Ji-Yung scoffed. "Then who decides?" As Kim Jang-Bi stammered, Kang Ji-Yung began pressing hard. "If the companies have merged, then the work needs to follow the official chain of command. Did I seem like a pushover just because I kept quiet? I only stayed silent to give you time to adjust. Understand?" "S-still, doing this all of a sudden seems too much. I need to discuss it with my hyung-nim too..." "Oh, give it a rest! I'm giving you a legitimate directive. Why are you still talking nonsense? If you don't like it, then quit. I'll convene the disciplinary committee immediately!" Kang Ji-Yung raised the threat of an immediate disciplinary review for Yoon Dong-Gu. Kim Jang-Bi frowned and looked around. However, even the other Gwanwoo talent agents showed faces of resignation. This was not only because Kang Ji-Yung's request was within her rights, but Yoon Dong-Gu had made a serious mistake that now had to be cleaned up. Seeing his own allies shaking their heads, Kim Jang-Bi had no choice but to raise the white flag. If he wanted to protect Yoon Dong-Gu, their top earner, there was no other way. "...Alright. Starting tomorrow, I'll compile the reports myself and deliver them directly," Kim Jang-Bi replied haltingly as if the words were physically painful to speak. "Good. And don't even think about cutting anything out. If I hear something different through another channel, you'll be held responsible. Got it?" Kang Ji-Yung made it clear she was now reining in Kim Jang-Bi as well. In the end, Kim Jang-Bi had to bow his head in front of everyone. 'Classic Kang Ji-Yung.' She turned a single mistake of an enemy into a complete reversal and came out on top. It was the kind of move only someone who had once held Hoop Entertainment together single-handedly before the regression could pull off. However, Kang Ji-Yung's attack wasn't over yet. "Oh, and there's one more thing." Kim Jang-Bi's face fell. "One more?" "Don't worry, it's simple this time. Mr. Yoon Dong-Gu just has to apologize to me directly." Kim Jang-Bi bristled. "But... I already apologized for him. And I said we'd start reporting tomorrow." "Then why are you pushing it?" "That was Director Kang Ji-Yung's condition. This is Kang Ji-Yung, the individual's condition." There was no wonder she had referred to Yoon Dong-Gu without any title. Kang Ji-Yung was the kind of person who could sway the presidents of all three major networks. And now, that skill was shining right here. Kim Jang-Bi couldn't bring himself to respond, as if asking for that apology was harder than apologizing himself. "What's the problem? If an apology's too much, should we just go by the book?" Seeing that Kang Ji-Yung had no intention of backing down, Kim Jang-Bi sighed and replied. "No. I'll step out and make a quick call." Kim Jang-Bi finally dragged his feet out of the meeting room. A moment of silence followed. Nevertheless, Kang Ji-Yung waited calmly and expressionlessly for Kim Jang-Bi to return. A few minutes later, the meeting room door opened again and Kim Jang-Bi came in. "He's on his way right now." With that, Kang Ji-Yung waited for Yoon Dong-Gu to arrive. Everyone in the room could barely breathe, nervously watching her every move. The door slowly opened, and Yoon Dong-Gu entered. His face had been flushed red when he had left, but now it had turned a pale gray. He shuffled over and stopped in front of Kang Ji-Yung. At that moment, with all eyes on him, Yoon Dong-Gu clenched his fists, shut his eyes tight, and bowed deeply. "I... I'm sorry." The words barely escaped his lips, but everyone in the room heard them clearly. Kang Ji-Yung looked at him for a moment, then replied. "You apologized without excuses, so I'll let it go this time. But be careful with your words from now on, alright?" "And I'm not sure if Mr. Kim told you, but make sure to follow the proper reporting chain from now on. Also, since you care so much about Berry Six and I've also been watching them closely, if it's about them, report to me too—not just to Mr. Kim." After replying, Yoon Dong-Gu turned to leave the meeting room. At that moment, Kang Ji-Yung stopped him. "What are you doing? The meeting isn't over yet. Take your seat." Forgiveness was one thing and business was another. Kang Ji-Yung made sure to completely break down the shaken Yoon Dong-Gu. Seeing Kang Ji-Yung's true self for the first time, the Gwanwoo Entertainment talent agents were stiff as stone. Some even looked rattled by how relentless she was in seizing her moment. Once Yoon Dong-Gu returned to his seat, Kang Ji-Yung firmly declared, "Let's continue the meeting." Thanks to Kang Ji-Yung taking control, Hoop Entertainment, long divided since the merger, had finally become one company. Some Gwanwoo talent agents had silently supported Yoon Dong-Gu when he pushed back, but now they sat upright and disciplined. They were probably all thinking something different inside, but at the very least, the foundation for a unified company had been laid. This meant I would have to start removing the senior talent agents from Gwanwoo one by one to truly make this one united company. After the meeting ended, Lee Dong-Min took the singer team's talent agents to Jangchung Gymnasium for the second day of Project I.O.A auditions. Meanwhile, I returned to the meeting room to coordinate work with the actor team. Soon, Team Leads Park In-Ki, Nam Pan-Gyu, and Yeon So-Hee, along with Lee Yung-Jin, rushed in. Since Jung Sang-Bong and I would be focusing on Project I.O.A for now, I delegated some of Jung Sang-Bong's tasks to Lee Yung-Jin. "Yung-Jin, Sang-Bong's going to be in charge of Project I.O.A for a while, so you'll need to cover his duties in the meantime." "First, let's start with Yoo-Jin. Since Hwaranjeon is averaging over 26% in viewership ratings and still climbing, there's going to be a flood of ad and casting offers for her. Even if it's hard to decline, be polite. PDs are pretty sensitive these days." "Oh, and Haru's going through growing pains lately. Even if he has schedules, make sure he takes his meds." "Don't worry. I'll personally look after him until he hits 180 cm." "Okay. Tae-Poong and Mr. Jae-Soo are sold out through Wednesday, so coordinate well with the PR team. Track ticket sales by five hundred thousand intervals starting from 2.5 million. Once we hit three million, we'll launch events for every additional one million. Get the proposal ready. Also, check the sales figures for THE Best, since the two are its ad models. Jinseong Foods will assist." As I fired off instructions without a pause, Lee Yung-Jin let out a dry laugh. "M-Mr. Jung... are you trying to kill me?" "Why would I want to kill you?" 'Do you know how hard it is to find a well-trained talent agent? Don't say scary things like that.' Even if Lee Yung-Jin were to die, I would bring him back because I need him to work. Maybe reading the determination on my face, Park In-Ki burst into hearty laughter. "At this rate, our Assistant Manager Lee's back is going to break. Don't overwork him and delegate some to the rest of us. A task that would take one person all day gets done quickly with more hands." Yeon So-Hee nodded. "To be honest, he hasn't been in the spotlight because of you, Mr. Jung, but Assistant Manager Lee could easily function as a team lead at any company. Even without piling work on him, he's already operating at team lead level." Nam Pan-Gyu also nodded. "I agree. Since he's been learning alongside you, he's getting praised all over the place for how well he handles things on-site, especially from PDs and CPs." Without realizing it, Lee Yung-Jin had built a strong reputation among his peers. Truthfully, one reason I had been overloading him with work was to avoid gossip during his promotion. Since I had been promoted at lightning speed, people would definitely talk if my friend and peer, Lee Yung-Jin, rose just as fast. However, given how things looked, it seemed fair to promote him to team lead and bring in a new junior under him. I nodded. "Alright. Then no later than June, we'll give Yung-Jin the title of team lead. Please split the tasks I just assigned accordingly." Yeon So-Hee beamed and nodded. "Got it, Mr. Jung." Right then, Park In-Ki, who had known Yung-Jin the longest, looked genuinely happy as if it were his own achievement. "Hey~ Assistant Manager Lee. Congrats. Looks like you're headed for a fast-track promotion." Just then, the man himself frantically waved his hands. "I object!" Lee Yung-Jin, now pale, shouted, "I just... I want to get promoted a little... a little slower!" "What do you mean? The team leads are all saying you're more than capable. What's there to wait for?" I asked. Lee Yung-Jin looked at me pleadingly. 'Nope, not a chance.' Seeing the firmness in my eyes, Lee Yung-Jin shut his eyes tightly and gave me a condition. "Th-then I won't do it unless Ran-Hee gets promoted with me! I mean, I can't!" Lee Yung-Jin made it sound like he was standing up for his girlfriend, but it felt off for some reason. 'Why does it feel like a drowning man is dragging another down?' Still, getting two new team leads was an absolute win for me. Do Ran-Hee had also been praised for her ability, managing most of the work for Kang Ha-Na, Sae-Ri, and Cherry Blossom. I had already planned to promote her around the same time anyway. "Sigh..." Lee Yung-Jin let out a long sigh. I would definitely have to tell Do Ran-Hee later that her boyfriend personally asked for them to be promoted together as team leads so they could both work more. Today was the second day of Project I.O.A auditions. Unlike the bright mood yesterday, the atmosphere at Jangchung Gymnasium today was tense. This was because many of the kids scheduled to audition didn't show up. "Why are there so few participants today?" When AD Lee Tae-Eun shouted, a passing staff member replied, "We're calling around now, but most are just hanging up saying they won't make it." "They don't want to say." "This is insane. It's only the second day and 30% have already dropped out?" Flustered, the inexperienced Lee Tae-Eun started pacing before running off saying he had to report to the PD and CP. At that moment, Jung Sang-Bong checked the list of today's auditionees on his tablet and turned to me. "Mr. Jung. Why would they pass the second round and then not show up?" "Because yesterday, five hundred kids came and only fifteen passed. That got out." Even in regular audition shows, about 10% didn't show up after passing the second round. Reasons varied—some due to parental disapproval, and others out of fear. But news of the low pass rate at Project I.O.A had spread, which sharply reduced the turnout. "Aren't acceptance rates supposed to be confidential? How did the kids find out?" I showed him an Instargem account that only posted tabloid-style entertainment rumors. [Posts 1,232 | Followers 510K | Following 0] -Project I.O.A Day 1 Seoul audition pass count. Only 15 out of 500 passed. Pass rate continues to be low. Warning. Better brace yourselves. (Attached photo: Skull emoji) -Wow, that's insane. 15 out of 500 means almost everyone gets cut. -How strict are their standards...? -My friend gave up on auditioning. I didn't know who ran the account, but the results from yesterday's auditions had leaked. And since the account had over half a million followers, the information had spread fast. It was even reported in portal entertainment news articles. Audition programs usually tried to keep things tight, but with people involved, leaks were inevitable. It often came from staff, assistants, or even participants. Go Eun-Seo, who had a personal Instargem account, was one of those. [Posts 122 | Followers 112K | Following 1] -Prelim challenge for Project I.O.A. (Attached photo: my most cherished stuffed toy.) -Eun-Seo, did you pass? -That's not the pass doll though? -No way Eun-Seo would post something if she didn't pass. It's her stuffed animal. Pretty sure it's a hint. We told regional qualifiers not to post the pass doll on social media, but Go Eun-Seo had uploaded a different one as a hint. Jung Sang-Bong nodded. "This is why the main prelims are done in isolation." "Yeah. Otherwise, it'd all be in the news before it even airs." At that moment, Ji Yung-Sik appeared at the audition site. "Alright, alright~~ Focus!" Ji Yung-Sik drew everyone's attention and announced the start of the auditions. "Think of it as 70% attendance. And we only have so many spots for the main prelims anyway. Don't worry about kids who don't even have that level of confidence! Let's start right away~" There would be auditions in other regions, and even in Japan and China. Just as Ji Yung-Sik said, only 30% were no-shows. With Ji Yung-Sik's energy resetting the tone, the second day of auditions was finally underway. With fewer applicants, the auditions progressed quickly. "Okay. Number 599. Jo Ye-Seo. You've passed. Congratulations. Please take your doll." "Thank you! Thank you so much!" A petite teenage girl about 160 cm tall bowed as she received the pass doll. She would go on to debut in the girl group Esper Girl three years later. However, Jung Sang-Bong tilted his head as he watched her. "Mr. Jung. Don't you think she'll have trouble making it to the final lineup?" "Why do you say that?" "After watching so many here, I've started to get a feel for it. She just... doesn't shine." "Yes. There's always someone with a unique look, or a voice, or a frame that sets them apart." Jung Sang-Bong was spot on. Those who become stars have a certain natural spark. No matter the group they were in, they radiated presence. It was what people often call "standing out." To become a real star, looks, dancing, and singing were basic. On top of that, they needed that extra spark to rise to the top. Jung Sang-Bong had picked up on exactly that. What had taken me years to understand before the regression, he had caught onto just by working with me for a while. Seeing that Lee Yung-Jin, Do Ran-Hee, and Jung Sang-Bong were all growing rapidly made me proud. And just as he said, Jo Ye-Seo wouldn't gain much popularity and would quit idol activities just six months after debuting. "Yeah. That's exactly what spark is." "And our job as talent agents is to spot that spark and help it grow..." At that moment, I momentarily lost my words—Because someone with that spark had just stepped onto the stage. "I'm Number 600, Han So-Won!" Before the regression, Han So-Won was my painful regret. She was full of potential but discarded because of Go Eun-Seo. And now, she had reappeared here.