Before the meeting began, Sion Prime’s vice president gathered the executives separately and spoke with them first.
For them, the most important objective was maintaining the status quo.
Maybe because of that, President Yang Jingyeom kept trying to do something, and it kept bothering them.
“President Yang keeps crossing the line.”
At the vice president’s words, one of the executives nodded.
“If he inherited the business, he should just keep his head down and live quietly. Why does he keep saying he’s going to do something…”
“Bloodline, seriously. Making a guy like that the president… the vice president should have taken the president’s seat. Just looking at ability…”
At the executives’ grumbling, the vice president smiled meanly.
“Only we worry about the company. We have to protect it ourselves. We have to stop this contract no matter what.”
“That’s right, Vice President. Haha. What can a guy whose blood hasn’t even dried do anyway? Haha.”
At one executive’s words, the vice president frowned slightly and said,
“Still, we should be careful. He’s still at an age full of youthful recklessness, but he seems like a guy with ability, at least…”
“As expected of you, Vice President. Haha. A mindset that won’t miss even the smallest exception. I learned one more thing today. Haha.”
At the flattery pouring in from the executives around him, the vice president showed a faint smile.
Sion Prime, in practice, was run mostly according to the vice president’s opinion.
Yang Jingyeom’s proposals, and the fierce opposition from the executives including the vice president…
Up until now, every proposal by President Yang Jingyeom had been opposed and dismissed.
But seeing that Yang Jingyeom’s pushback was not normal, this time the feeling was not good.
“Hm.”
Gyeong Chanhyeon’s presentation.
It had to be completely crushed.
Only then would Yang Jingyeom go back to crawling on his own.
Knock, knock.
“Yes.”
“President, Seonghyeon Production’s CEO Lee Junseong and Director Gyeong Chanhyeon have arrived.”
“I’ll go out soon.”
Yang Jingyeom straightened his clothes once.
A gamble that might shake the foundation of the company.
But if it succeeded properly, it could become the power to overwhelm competitors.
“Hoo…….”
The plastic models Sion Prime sold were well reviewed, but they had no mass appeal.
Military plastic models like tanks and planes had good quality and were exported, but compared to competitors, they were endlessly lacking.
Even with good quality, they lacked mass appeal.
A plan to grab mass appeal through this chance.
But that mass appeal depended on whether Gyeong Chanhyeon’s new work could succeed.
Yang Jingyeom left the office and headed for the conference room.
And as he stepped into the conference room where the executives were gathered, he saw Director Gyeong Chanhyeon, someone he had only seen on TV, standing there.
Maybe he had prepared thoroughly, because confidence leaking from his expression made Yang Jingyeom curious. As he approached him, Gyeong Chanhyeon lowered his head to Yang Jingyeom as if surprised.
“Hello, President. I’m Gyeong Chanhyeon.”
At his firm voice, Yang Jingyeom smiled and responded.
“Yes. Nice to meet you. I can look forward to today, right?”
“Of course. Haha.”
Seeing him up close, his confidence looked even clearer.
He looked tired, but at his gaze, Yang Jingyeom nodded and returned to his seat.
“Hm…”
Yang Jingyeom swept his eyes over the executives around him once.
They were smiling brightly among themselves, but in the gaps between them, there was a visible venom.
At that venom, the intent to attack Gyeong Chanhyeon’s presentation maliciously no matter what, Yang Jingyeom grew tense and his hands became sweaty.
“Hoo…”
Click.
At the sound of the microphone on the podium turning on, the executives’ eyes armed themselves with even stronger venom.
“Yes. Hello. I am Gyeong Chanhyeon, director of <Space Vagabond>.”
Gyeong Chanhyeon’s first words.
At his appearance, as if he had no tension at all, Yang Jingyeom’s heart thrashed.
‘Please… do well.’
While Yang Jingyeom prayed inwardly, the other executives beside him did not even move, only glaring at Gyeong Chanhyeon.
“First, I would appreciate it if you could look at the printed materials that were distributed.”
At Gyeong Chanhyeon’s request, Yang Jingyeom moved first and skimmed the printouts. But some executives did not move at all, as if openly opposing it.
“A figure business. It’s a product completely different from Sion Prime’s current main products. Because Sion Prime makes most of its profits only from products used in schools. Even that is losing market share to others.”
A clear presentation of the current situation.
His words were correct.
Sion Prime’s profits were dropping, and a way to break through this situation was needed.
Yang Jingyeom nodded, but the other executives frowned.
“Hm. And in the past, you made profits with Japanese pirate goods.”
A word that, within Sion Prime, was a mood where it should never be spoken.
Pirated goods.
When copyright awareness was faint, most companies created profits by making Japanese animation toys.
But Gyeong Chanhyeon, as if it were nothing, brought out that taboo word not even long after beginning his presentation.
At that, one executive said,
“Did you come here to talk business, or to dig up dirty laundry?”
“Well, I don’t really think of it as dirty laundry. At the time, all other companies did it too. Thanks to that, there was also major advancement in Sion Prime’s technology. Thanks to that technology, isn’t it true you were able to extend your hand into military plastic models?”
“…”
Seeing an executive far older than himself get suppressed so easily with a single sentence, Yang Jingyeom admired it inside.
“However, the military plastic model business is also stagnant. This is not my personal opinion. I read it exactly as it was written in the articles.”
Fact hitting was still hitting.
At the unpleasant story, deep wrinkles formed on Yang Jingyeom’s forehead too.
“What is the problem with these products? The quality of the completed plastic models is really good. Details, finishing. There doesn’t seem to be a problem with product quality.”
At Gyeong Chanhyeon’s question, a man spoke.
“I’m Kim Suhyeon, head of production management at Sion Prime. It’s a marketing problem. No matter how good a thing you make, what’s the point, in the end the problem is whether people know it.”
“What? Do you think that’s something worth saying right now?”
A suddenly flaring mood.
At a situation he had seen often, Yang Jingyeom crossed his arms and watched them, looking not especially surprised.
“I’m Park Jihyeon, head of marketing at Sion Prime. I’m sorry. I got too heated and the words just came out.”
He drank the water in front of him once, then turned on the microphone again and said,
“Advertising models of war weapons. Do you think that makes sense? From the beginning, I opposed the military plastic models themselves. Who buys this kind of thing. It’s something only a specific maniac layer would buy.”
“What? Where are there kids who don’t like war play?”
“Then don’t make it so difficult! You made the assembly damn hard, and you think kids will buy that?”
Sighs rang out here and there at their fight.
In that situation, Gyeong Chanhyeon calmly drew the audience’s focus back to himself.
“Ah, haha. Geez, everyone has overflowing passion. Could I speak for a moment?”
“…”
At Gyeong Chanhyeon’s words, no one said anything, and Yang Jingyeom spoke in a weak voice.
“Yes. Please continue.”
“Thank you. I’ll tell you my thoughts first.”
When Gyeong Chanhyeon pressed a button, on the screen was the word Yang Jingyeom had dreamed of so much.
[Mass appeal]
“Sion Prime’s problem is a lack of mass appeal.”
At Gyeong Chanhyeon’s words, a few executives sneered.
“As if anyone doesn’t know that.”
“Seriously. Like it’s something innovative. Isn’t that what the president always said?”
As if to be heard.
At the not small voices, Yang Jingyeom gritted his teeth.
“What is mass appeal?”
“It’s something many people like.”
“That’s half right and half wrong.”
When Gyeong Chanhyeon said it with a smile, the employee who answered made a disappointed expression.
“The basic principle of mass appeal is that demand needs to be evenly distributed across generations.”
“…”
It was correct, but at the same time, it was an idealistic statement.
Each generation tends to want different things.
For demand to be evenly distributed across generations, that meant there had to be something enormous.
With that thought, Yang Jingyeom looked at Gyeong Chanhyeon with expectant eyes, and Gyeong Chanhyeon spoke with a relaxed smile.
“Most of Sion Prime’s products were made targeting only children.”
“Isn’t that natural? Are adults going to play with dolls?”
The vice president opened his mouth with a sneer.
Then the executives nodded, and as if advertising that they were on the vice president’s side, they even showed bright smiles that had not been seen until now.
“Haha. That’s funny.”
Gyeong Chanhyeon joined the laughter.
At that, the vice president who had been laughing until just now deeply furrowed his brow.
But Yang Jingyeom, seeing the vice president flustered, let a faint smile spread at the corner of his mouth.
“A figure, isn’t it basically no different from a doll?”
“The appearance is similar, but the most important thing is different.”
As if he did not like the laughter in Gyeong Chanhyeon’s voice, the vice president asked in an even more sneering tone.
“What is that?”
“Use.”
“Use…?”
“Yes. What kind of use it has?”
At Gyeong Chanhyeon’s words, the vice president, as if venom had risen in him, said with irritation,
“I know that much too.”
“Ah, if that was rude, I apologize. Then may I speak again about that use?”
Appropriate courtesy and appropriate rudeness.
As Gyeong Chanhyeon moved quickly, matching an ambiguous line that cut between the two, the vice president nodded with an expression that looked like he half understood and half did not.
“First is interior decor. There’s no need to explain this, right? If you look at the printed materials, the appearances of the Eagles spaceship, Kor 2138, Ryu Seongmin, and Nix Road characters all came out well. A visual that anyone would want, whether children or fully grown adults.”
A few executives flipped through the printouts and looked over the characters.
Soon, their murmuring reached the ears.
“The look is definitely decent…….”
“Right. Feels like it could work on people in their twenties and thirties too…”
“It definitely doesn’t feel like tokusatsu.”
As he heard a decent reaction, the vice president kept his mouth shut, arms crossed, and glared at the executives.
Then the executives who had been admiring shut their mouths and quietly put the prints down.
“I’ll tell you the other reason after you watch the <Space Vagabond> footage.”
The lights turned off, and only the important portions for persuasion were cut and screened on the huge screen behind.
From drifting through vast space to Andrew’s acting with motion capture completed, while the video played, the expressions of some executives changed clearly compared to before.
“Th-that was made in our country?”
“They didn’t waste 20 billion won…”
“It can’t even be compared to the movie from two years ago that cost over 10 billion won…?”
“Compared to this movie, that was complete trash.”
Yang Jingyeom also could not help but be shocked. Had CG technology advanced this much?
But compared to the scene that would come next, this was nothing.
<Space Vagabond>’s highlight. When the scene of Ryu Seongmin dogfighting a Planet Selene guardsman in spaceships appeared, sighs came out from immersion.
“Oh!”
“Ah, no.”
“Hoo…”
A thrilling scene and directing that went on for over five minutes.
Even without knowing the overall story of the movie, it was so vivid that immersion formed.
“It’s an incredible movie.”
As if bewitched by the movie, Yang Jingyeom let out one sentence in a low voice, eyes unfocused.
“So, are you all immersed?”
Unlike the beginning, the mood had flipped. The executives, like Yang Jingyeom, only nodded as if bewitched by the movie.
But the vice president, as if he disliked the situation even more, asked Gyeong Chanhyeon,
“What is the second one?”
“Content.”
“What, what?”
At the unexpected answer, the vice president blinked.
Yang Jingyeom also, as if anticipating what Gyeong Chanhyeon would say, folded his hands neatly and waited for his words.
“The biggest difference between plastic models and <Space Vagabond> figures.”
When Gyeong Chanhyeon pressed a button, on the screen, a plain military plastic model tank and <Space Vagabond>’s Eagles ship appeared side by side.
“The plastic models Sion Prime has made so far. Yes, of course they’re cool and good. But there is no story inside them. There is only dry information about what weapon it was and when it was used.”
At his words, President Yang Jingyeom even lifted his hand to clap, then barely held it back.
“But figures infused with the story of <Space Vagabond>. Inside them are all kinds of emotions. In emotion, age is not important. Just because someone is a fully grown adult does not mean they have no emotions.”
“But…”
It was obvious to the eye that the vice president was gritting his teeth and trying to forcibly belittle again.
“That’s enough, Vice President.”
At Yang Jingyeom’s words.
The atmosphere in the conference room froze in an instant.
The vice president’s fist could be seen trembling, but it was not something to pay attention to.
Right now, Gyeong Chanhyeon, who would share a miracle together, was far more important.
“I watched well, and I listened well. Director Gyeong Chanhyeon.”
“Thank you.”
President Yang Jingyeom, smiling brightly, asked Gyeong Chanhyeon,
“May I ask one question as well?”
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