The Crazy Mercenary Commander Goes to Work in the Entertainment Industry

An Ji-hee, eyes wide open, stared at Kang Jae-ha where he sat. Shock was written plainly in her gaze.

’He, he was talking to me, right? He had to be, right? Of course, there’s nobody else here.’

The gloom that had been rising just moments ago temporarily subsided. Because bewilderment had taken its place. The reason she’d short-circuited was simple. Jae-ha had just said something that blew past anything she could have expected. His words kept replaying in her head.

’Instead of being an idol, I think you’d be better off as an actress.’

An Ji-hee, still wide-eyed, managed to ask again with difficulty.

”S-sorry. Could you say that one more time?”

Kang Jae-ha repeated himself without hesitation.

”Instead of being an idol, I think you’d be better off as an actress.”

”......”

”What? You’ve never heard that before?”

”...No. Never.”

After hearing her answer, Jae-ha looked at her profile again.

’Six years of total training.’

An Ji-hee was twenty years old, meaning she’d started in middle school. Nobody had told her anything like that in six years? It wasn’t that strange. She’d been scouted as an idol trainee because she had potential, and nobody would’ve brought up side careers before she was promoted to the debut lineup.

’Still, you’d think at least one person would’ve mentioned it, with that face.’

Idols and actors. Good looks were the baseline for both, but the two fields had distinctly different visual types that suited them. For idols, glamour drew attention; for actors, atmosphere scored the most points. The way Jae-ha saw it, An Ji-hee was an actress through and through.

’If she goes the idol route, everything distinctive about that face just dies.’

Had everyone just brushed it off since she was washed-up anyway? Trainees had an expiration date too. The longer the training dragged on, the deeper the washed-up label stuck, the faster they fell out of their managers’ good graces.

Kang Jae-ha thought it was a bit of a waste.

Still, it didn’t weigh on him that heavily. Well, if she wanted to be an idol regardless, there was no real need to say more. That was the extent of how much it mattered to him right now. It was still trivial.

”Just my opinion. If you’re not interested, you’re free to go.”

If she’d taken it as nonsense, she could leave. If all she wanted was to be an idol, the best move was to find another company as fast as possible. An Ji-hee seemed to think it over for a moment, then turned around. Just as he’d expected, she was heading for the door. Then she stopped again. She’d grabbed the door handle, but then...

-Swish.

She sat back down in front of Jae-ha.

”Tell me more. Honestly, that’s... the first time anyone’s ever said something like that to me.”

”For starters, your face blends better with acting than idol work, An Ji-hee ssi.”

”Me?”

”Yeah. As an idol, you’re just okay, but looking at you as an actress, your face catches the eye right away.”

The words just okay as an idol stabbed deep into An Ji-hee’s chest. But Kang Jae-ha didn’t bother with comforting language. Any softness in Jae-ha had faded long ago, and for An Ji-hee, who’d already spent six years, blunt honesty was better than consolation.

”Have you ever tried acting?”

”......Early on, when I first became a trainee. A little. But that was just! Out of curiosity.”

”By yourself?”

”Yes... it was barely enough to even call practice.”

”Can you try it?”

”Right now??!”

”Oh, hold on.”

”I-I’ll do it.”

”Go ahead. Don’t overthink it. It’s not like this is an audition or anything.”

An Ji-hee nodded, let out a small breath, and lowered the phone she’d been looking at. Her expression turned serious. In an instant, the air around her seemed to settle and still. Her sharp eyes met Kang Jae-ha’s.

Her gaze, her emotion, shifted.

”...How much more? How much more do I have to try? A month? A year? I’m really working hard. I am. I could throw up from it. But more......more?”

An Ji-hee’s monologue. It seemed calm on the surface, but she was like a balloon on the verge of bursting. One prick of a needle and it would pop. She expressed that level of instability through her performance. Kang Jae-ha, whose interest had been merely casual at first, was honestly a little surprised.

’Oh, not bad.’

No, considering that An Ji-hee had been running solely on the idol track until now, she deserved higher marks than ”not bad.”

’All those years as a trainee must have given her pronunciation practice, because her diction’s solid too.’

Above all, that damp, raw emotion stood out. The atmosphere unique to her that Jae-ha had sensed the first time he saw An Ji-hee. The valleys of her emotions ran deep and profound, and her distinctive face supported those emotional contours.

That kind of thing couldn’t be gained through practice.

It was something you had to be born with; a talent, if you wanted to call it that. If another acting trainee performed that same scene, the result would have been some overwrought explosion, but An Ji-hee was conveying an exquisitely clinging desperation. A complete beginner, yet she was matching the expressive depth of seasoned mid-career actors.

Jae-ha smirked to himself.

’This girl should’ve been acting all along.’

He was a pushover, so when they told him to jump, he jumped.

And in another world, over eighteen years, he’d experienced things nobody could imagine. Among them were all the varied facets and faces of humanity.

There had been plenty of good people too.

But he’d also seen and lived through more ugliness than he could count: rock bottom, betrayal, backstabbing, lies, flattery, and the rest. Naturally, Jae-ha had risen to a level where he could analyze people, read them, predict their inner thoughts, and handle them with ease.

And to that Kang Jae-ha, looking at An Ji-hee:

’As an idol, she stays washed-up forever. She needs to pivot to acting if she wants to spread her wings.’

She needed to switch to acting. Shortly after, Jae-ha cut An Ji-hee’s performance short.

”An Ji-hee ssi.”

”Ah! Yes!”

”This isn’t pressure, more like advice, but yeah, you’d definitely be better off as an actress, An Ji-hee ssi.”

”An actress......”

”I mean, if you want to keep going as an idol, that’s your call. But.”

Kang Jae-ha pulled a business card from his wallet and handed it to An Ji-hee.

”If you change your mind, give me a call. If you’re sticking with idol work, just throw the card away.”

About two hours later.

Having finished delivering death sentences to all the washed-up trainees, Kang Jae-ha returned to the Team 4 office. The death sentences had soured his mood, and his expression was surlier than before.

In any case, the office was empty.

He checked the time. Lunch hour. Had everyone gone to eat? Or they’d gone off to do their own things, probably. Kang Jae-ha had no interest in food. He sat down at his desk and crossed his legs. A clear file sitting on top of the desk caught his eye.

That morning, Team Leader Jang Hyung-su, haggard from exhaustion, had tossed off the line:

’The actress you’re assigned to starting tomorrow. You know who she is, right?’

It was the actress profile he’d tossed to Kang Jae-ha. The actress Jae-ha would be assigned to starting tomorrow. Opening the clear file revealed a photo of the actress along with her career history and other details spilling out. Kang Jae-ha twisted his lips into a slightly crooked smile.

”This crazy nutjob. It’s been a while.”

The actress’s name was Yoon Da-yeon. The reason Kang Jae-ha called her a crazy nutjob? Simple. She was famous even within Leon Entertainment.

The nickname ”crazy nutjob” hadn’t been slapped on her for nothing.

Kang Jae-ha recalled Yoon Da-yeon from the past, from long before he’d gone to the Other World, when he’d crossed paths with her briefly. Well, there were reasons everyone whispered about her as a crazy nutjob behind her back.

And Yoon Da-yeon belonged to Team 4. In other words, washed-up.

After looking over washed-up Yoon Da-yeon for a moment, Kang Jae-ha moved on for now.

”Tomorrow’s tomorrow’s problem.”

Something else had come to mind, and he switched on his laptop.

’The title was... ’Condensation’, right.’

What he’d seen that morning through the ’Deja Vu’ triggered by Team Leader Jang Hyung-su.

『......”’Condensation’, this short film won the Grand Prize. That’s huge. How many years has it been since a Grand Prize came out of this festival?”

”That screenplay came to us a while back, and we just tossed it. The new business team’s gonna catch hell for that one.”』

The key point was that a short film called ’Condensation’ would win an exceptionally rare, blockbuster Grand Prize at some event. And that the screenplay for ’Condensation’ had passed through Leon Entertainment. The new business division had been mentioned as well.

They’d said ”a while back”, so it seemed the Grand Prize win for ’Condensation’ was still a good way off. After reviewing the key details in his mind, Jae-ha searched for the film ’Condensation’ on Leon Entertainment’s internal network.

The answer came surprisingly fast.

”It’s here?”

The ’Condensation’ screenplay was registered in the system. Its location was the new business team. Kang Jae-ha clicked around until he found a contest being run by the new business team.

-’Leon Entertainment / Short Story Contest’

-1st Place: Investment funding

.

.

.

The contest had been running for roughly a month. As Jae-ha read through the contest details, he immediately grasped its purpose.

’Boosting the corporate image. A marketing play.’

They’d solicit screenplays from the barren, niche short film market through a contest, select the top entries, and have Leon Entertainment invest in them. The funds involved were far less than for commercial projects, but...

’They get to project the image of a company that cares about even the underserved corners of the market.’

On top of that, building connections with promising screenplays and up-and-coming directors was a bonus. Spin it through the press a bit, get the word out, and the ripple effect would outpace the money spent.

Looking further, the contest results were due in a few days.

The new business team was obviously going to be swamped with this. Before long, Kang Jae-ha was resting his chin on his hand, cross-referencing the ’Deja Vu’ he’d seen with the contest information to reach a conclusion.

’So the ’Condensation’ that Leon throws away ends up being a massive hit somewhere down the line?’

As of right now, Kang Jae-ha was the only one who knew that. His mind started turning. After running some calculations, he downloaded the ’Condensation’ screenplay, synopsis, and related information from the internal network.

He printed out the synopsis and screenplay first.

Soon, Jae-ha returned to his seat and spread open a fairly thick stack of paper. It was the screenplay for the short film ’Condensation’.

-Flip.

It started as idle curiosity, but as time passed, Kang Jae-ha’s face grew more and more serious. Roughly thirty minutes later, Kang Jae-ha, still reading the ’Condensation’ screenplay, let out a faint smile and muttered to himself.

”This deserves a Grand Prize.”

Because the quality was exceptional.

After that.

Having killed time for a while, Kang Jae-ha left work right on the dot. Nobody stopped him. The moment he clocked out, Jae-ha headed for the used car lot he’d looked up earlier.

”Welcome! Oh! You’re the one who called??”

”Yeah.”

”Haha, right this way. I’ll show you the car right away.”

And just like that, Jae-ha bought a used car.

Roughly 10 million won for a sedan.

Mobility was something you had to secure whether you were in the Other World or here. He had no particular attachment to cars, so he picked one casually. Something that looked solid and reliable.

Full cash payment, no installments.

He had the money, so there was no reason to take on debt. Back in his pushover days, 10 million won? Absolutely impossible. But for the current Jae-ha, spending it was no different from dropping a hundred thousand won.

’Another 700 million hits next month, so what’s 10 million?’

Three years meant 25 billion. He figured he’d drive the used car for a while, and once he got used to things, maybe buy one of those absurdly expensive ones. Arriving back at his cramped studio apartment, he began his workout routine, same as he’d done in the Other World.

It didn’t last long, though.

”This is killing me.”

There was no way his current body could handle the routine of someone who’d risen to Mercenary Corps Commander. It would take ages to even come close, but...

”Hff... just push through.”

Kang Jae-ha silently worked on building back his weakened muscles. Before long, his body was screaming. Sprawled flat on his back in the middle of the studio, Jae-ha smirked.

’Tomorrow’s muscle soreness is going to be insane.’

He closed his eyes. Then opened them again.

It was strange. He wasn’t lying down; he was standing. And the place wasn’t his studio. The rising stench of blood, severed heads rolling on the ground, countless corpses strewn across a battlefield.

”......”

It was a familiar sight. The other world where he’d lived for eighteen years. Kang Jae-ha looked down at himself. His entire body was drenched. Soaked in blood. The blood was dripping down the sword in one hand, falling to the ground drop by drop.

That was when.

”Commander.”

A voice. He looked ahead and saw a subordinate from the Mercenary Corps, one arm severed, smiling at him.

”Going on ahead, sir.”

Next was one with his neck half-severed.

”Take your sweet time getting here, Commander.”

There was even one dragging himself forward, lower body cut clean off. Many of his subordinates passed by him. Before he knew it, the severed head of a Demonic Beast was clutched in Kang Jae-ha’s hand. The Demonic Beast’s head jabbered on its own.

”Having fun?”

Then.

”Hk!”

Kang Jae-ha, still sprawled on his back, snapped his eyes open. He checked the time. Around dawn. He’d fallen asleep without realizing it. What he’d just seen, was that a dream? For a dream, it had been far too vivid. Especially the faces of those guys who had passed by him.

Soon, Kang Jae-ha recalled the line the Demonic Beast’s head had spat out.

Then he snorted.

”Fuck, yeah. I’m having a blast.”

Morning, the 18th.

The location, Leon Entertainment’s underground parking garage. Jae-ha, who’d arrived for work, could be found not in the Team 4 office but in the underground parking garage. Same as yesterday, both hands shoved into the pockets of his short puffer jacket. Though he looked a bit more tired.

For good reason.

’Slept like absolute shit, tch.’

It was his first time lying down in that studio in eighteen years, so sleep hadn’t come easy. Nightmares on top of that. His environment had flipped overnight; it was going to take some time to adjust.

Right now, he was walking toward the white van parked up ahead.

-Slide!

As Kang Jae-ha reached the van, the side door suddenly opened and a woman stepped out. She wore a gray long puffer coat, and her long, straight hair and clear skin stood out. The woman’s eyes met Kang Jae-ha’s, and she raised one eyebrow.

”You the new manager they said was coming?”

She was Team 4’s resident crazy nutjob at Leon Entertainment. No, washed-up actress Yoon Da-yeon. Looking at Yoon Da-yeon, Kang Jae-ha thought to himself, same as ever.

At that moment.

’Hm?’

Jae-ha’s vision wavered. A familiar sensation. A ’Deja Vu’ had triggered. Third person, as always.

『A dim space. Glasses of liquor arranged on a table. Two men in suits sitting on a sofa. Across from them sat the actress Yoon Da-yeon. She seemed startled by the proposal she’d just heard, and asked again.

”...An adult film? No, what I was told was a regular movie screenplay.”

One of the two men answered with a smile.

”Da-yeon ssi, let’s be realistic. We thought carefully before making this offer. Things have been tough with no income lately, haven’t they? I heard your younger sibling is in poor health.”

”......”

”We’ll make sure the appearance fee is more than fair.”

The other man chimed in.

”Interest from the erotic film industry? That’s only possible while you’ve still got some clout left, Da-yeon ssi.”

”......”

Yoon Da-yeon’s face was a mixture of shock and anguish.』

The ’Deja Vu’ cut off there.

Kang Jae-ha, having reviewed the ’Deja Vu’ he’d just witnessed, locked eyes with the real Yoon Da-yeon.

’If things keep going like this, her future looks grim.’