The Crazy Mercenary Commander Goes to Work in the Entertainment Industry

The van carrying Kang Jae-ha, now wearing the face labeled A, was speeding down the road. But given the hour, the traffic was clogged in stretches, forcing them to stop and go, over and over.

Jae-ha clicked his tongue as he pressed the brake.

”Tsk.”

Kang Jae-ha already knew Moon Ji-a’s location.

’Something’s definitely going down at that event venue.’

Of course, it was a location confirmed through Lee Chan-hoo’s ’Search’, so it was one hundred percent certain. For reference, according to what Lee Chan-hoo had said a moment ago, Moon Ji-a was currently waiting inside her car. Then Lee Chan-hoo, still gripping the overhead handle with narrowed eyes, glanced sideways at the commander in the driver’s seat.

”......”

There was a mountain of things he was curious about, both then and now, but Lee Chan-hoo didn’t ask. It was a line he maintained back in the Mercenary Corps and here too.

’There’s stuff I need to know, and stuff I don’t. Either way, if I just follow the commander, I’ll find out naturally.’

Lee Chan-hoo kept his mouth shut and held his silence, and thanks to that, Kang Jae-ha could focus on his thoughts even while driving.

’It all kicks off around eight.’

The ’it’ Kang Jae-ha referred to was the attack on Moon Ji-a he’d seen through ’Deja Vu’. At the event venue, Moon Ji-a would be injured by a knife swung by a sasaeng fan.

That incident, he’d seen, would happen around eight.

It was just past seven now. There was still about an hour left, but that wasn’t much time. If anything, it was tight. He needed to be there ahead of time to make stopping the incident easier. The venue wasn’t that far, but the traffic was the problem.

’Would it be faster to run?’

Kang Jae-ha glanced at the time again. Then he clicked his tongue once more. Each time he did, Lee Chan-hoo studied the mood of the commander, who was masked as General Manager Kim Ha-jae.

In any case, Jae-ha called to mind Moon Ji-a, the top actress about to be attacked.

’The weapon isn’t clear, and even in Deja Vu it was only described as a knife.’

The extent of Moon Ji-a’s injuries wasn’t certain either. All he knew was that she’d been hurt and rushed to the hospital. Meaning the injury could be light or it could be severe. On top of that, he couldn’t tell which part of her body was hurt.

’If it’s life-threatening, that’s a big problem, and even if it’s not, a wound anywhere on her body makes the situation bad.’

Celebrities, actors included, were essentially products to the public. If that product had a scratch on it, being overlooked was only natural. Who would buy a product whose packaging was already torn before the purchase?

And if the place Moon Ji-a was attacked happened to be her face.

’Then her acting career’s as good as over.’

It was the kind of matter that could cut off all her future work.

’Well, life’s the most important thing, but since I already know about it, stopping the incident is the best move.’

Kang Jae-ha wasn’t racing over just to protect Moon Ji-a. For one, Moon Ji-a was the female lead of ’Condensation: Euphoria’, something Jae-ha cared deeply about. ’Condensation: Euphoria’ was flowing along smoothly right now, and if something happened to Moon Ji-a, things would get complicated.

Besides, Moon Ji-a was practically hand-picked by Kang Jae-ha himself.

By Deja Vu, ’Condensation: Euphoria’ was already guaranteed to draw over five million viewers. And with Moon Ji-a added to it, the momentum grew even heavier. In short, Moon Ji-a meant quite a lot to Kang Jae-ha.

Still, this situation was naturally a nuisance to Kang Jae-ha.

From earlier on, Jae-ha kept cursing that faceless sasaeng fan.

’This fucking bastard’s really being a pain.’

Unforeseen variables always existed, but to Kang Jae-ha, who plotted out his designs, variables still put him in a foul mood.

’Yeah, running would be faster.’

Just as Kang Jae-ha was about to unbuckle his belt, the stopped cars mercifully began to move.

Slamming the accelerator hard again, Jae-ha added a bit more to his deliberations.

Anyway, how was he supposed to find that sasaeng fan bastard?

Unfortunately, Deja Vu offered almost no information on the sasaeng fan who would attack Moon Ji-a. All he knew was that the fan was arrested on the scene. The venue Kang Jae-ha was heading to now was probably packed with an enormous crowd.

’Moving freely in that hellish chaos won’t be easy.’

For a moment, Kang Jae-ha thought of the battlefield. Whatever the case, knowing that sasaeng fan in advance and acting on it, versus reacting without knowing, was the difference between heaven and earth.

That difference was the key to snatching victory from a razor’s edge.

Even just a few seconds was enough to change a human’s fate.

Jae-ha’s own end over in the Other World had been like that too. A mere few seconds had decided life and death, and what had bought him those few seconds was Deja Vu.

It was at this moment that the woman’s voice came.

【Hello, Kang Jae-ha-nim.】

【Your tenth month’s pension of 700 million won is now being paid.】

November’s salary, or pension, was paid out to Jae-ha. Soon the phone in his pocket let out a short buzz. Surely the 700 million had been deposited. But Kang Jae-ha didn’t pay it much mind.

Right now, 700 million wasn’t what mattered.

Yet the woman’s voice didn’t stop.

【You have received the tenth pension of the second phase you’ve entered.】

【You are passionately maintaining the ’Reality Adaptation Project’ and the ’Pension Program’, and an ’Additional Perk’ is hereby granted to Kang Jae-ha-nim.】

Out of nowhere, the woman’s voice held out an ’Additional Perk’. Following the ’Ability’ defense last time, it had been quite a while. And passionately? Well, Kang Jae-ha had been moving around pretty busily these days.

At any rate, Jae-ha focused on the woman’s voice while driving.

【Please select the ’Additional Perk’ you wish to receive.】

【1. Sensing (Ability)】

【2. Additional pension of 30 billion】

Compared to last time, the additional pension had gone up again. When the defense had come up it was around 20 billion, and this time it was 30 billion. But Kang Jae-ha threw away the 30 billion without a second’s hesitation.

’Obviously I’m going with the ’Ability’.’

Kang Jae-ha’s choice was ’Sensing (Ability)’.

Several dozen minutes later, at a luxury brand’s event venue.

It was just before eight o’clock. The front of the large building was already a sea of people. Around the short, temporarily laid-out red carpet.

-Pabababababak!!

Well over fifty reporters were mashing their shutters like maniacs. And it wasn’t only reporters who had gathered. Surrounding the reporters, over a hundred onlookers and fans had crowded in, pouring out ear-splitting screams.

”Whoaaaaah!!”

”Kyaaaaaaah!!!”

Anyone standing there would surely have their head spinning. The event was already underway, and one after another, celebrities and famous figures were appearing on the red carpet. Some were already strolling among the reporters, and others had just arrived.

They passed through the reporters and onlookers and finally struck poses at the photo zone stamped with the luxury brand’s logo.

There were plenty of reporters at the photo zone too.

Right about then.

”Oh!! It’s Moon Ji-a, it’s Moon Ji-a!!!”

The shouts among the onlookers grew louder. And no wonder.

”No way! It’s really Moon Ji-a!!”

Because the top of the top actresses, Moon Ji-a, had just appeared at the mouth of the red carpet. Deep, dark, long hair, and that beauty mark beneath her eye that stood out especially today. Sure enough, the aura of a top actress overflowed from her once again today.

The instant she appeared, the countless onlookers, and the cannon-like cameras of the reporters, all swung toward Moon Ji-a.

”Ji-a! Moon Ji-a! Over here! Over here!!”

”A cheek heart! Just one cheek heart, Ji-a!!!”

”Hello, Moon Ji-a!!”

Reporters bellowing at the top of their lungs. Flashes raining down on Moon Ji-a like a storm. Moon Ji-a smiling and waving her hand. She wore a beige-toned, suit-style outfit sponsored by the luxury brand.

Around Moon Ji-a, standing at the mouth of the red carpet, there were quite a few managers and team members.

”Okay, Ji-a, you can head out now.”

”Mm.”

The one strolling the red carpet was Moon Ji-a alone. There were guards, of course. But they were spread out at the mouth of the red carpet and at the photo zone; no guards were positioned on the carpet itself.

Then.

-Step.

Waving her hand lightly, Moon Ji-a set foot on the red carpet. The time was around five past eight. The closer Moon Ji-a came, the fiercer the reporters’ shouts and shutter sounds grew.

-Pabababak!

-Pababababababak!!

And the screams and cheers of the fans and onlookers.

Ordinarily it would be a moment dizzying enough to blow one’s mind away, but the top actress Moon Ji-a struck her poses before the reporters with ease. She even took the hands of fans who were reaching out.

She refrained, however, from giving autographs or accepting gifts.

Because order could collapse.

Moon Ji-a, having paused briefly, moved again. When she reached about the middle of the makeshift red carpet, she stopped once more to wave at the fans. On top of that, this time there seemed to be a reporter she knew, and she exchanged a few brief words.

”Reporter Kim, you came too?”

”Yes, please say a quick hello to your fans.”

It was at this moment.

There was a faint movement a little way off from where Moon Ji-a stood. It was where the reporters were gathered, and someone was shoving through them, pressing forward toward Moon Ji-a. The reporters snapping away at Moon Ji-a quickly frowned.

”Ah, dammit, who is this!”

”Don’t push! Hold your spot!”

”Ugh, take it easy, would you! People are gonna get hurt!”

That someone was a man, and he looked like a reporter. He’d been wedged in among the reporters and had a large camera hanging from his neck. But taken as a whole, it wasn’t glaringly obvious yet. The shouts and screams were so loud that it got buried.

But the man plowing through the crowd quickly drew close to Moon Ji-a. The reporter who’d been talking with Moon Ji-a a moment ago turned around in irritation.

”H-hey, hey, what the, who are you!!”

Moon Ji-a tilted her head. The reporter who had turned shouted at the man standing behind him, who looked like a fellow reporter.

”You’re supposed to stay in your spot, that’s the rule, isn’t it? What the hell.”

”......”

But the man merely stared, fixedly, at Moon Ji-a a few steps away, giving no answer to the reporter’s irritation. It was a strange gaze. As if drained of all emotion.

At this instant.

-Fwak!!

The man who’d been staring blankly at Moon Ji-a suddenly bolted forward with a lunge! The shock made a few reporters drop even their cameras. Moon Ji-a flinched for a moment.

”Huh?”

Because the man who looked like a reporter was charging furiously at her. No, was he really a reporter? All at once, everything appeared to Moon Ji-a in slow motion. The reporters picking up the cameras they’d dropped to the ground, the flashes still going off, the fans pointing and shouting.

The reporter lunging at her. No, the assailant.

Even as the assailant lunged from two steps away, Moon Ji-a couldn’t do a thing. Because her body had frozen. At least her eyes still moved. In the assailant’s right hand, having flung away the camera around his neck, something silver was gripped.

A knife the size of a paring knife.

The moment she saw the knife, Moon Ji-a’s body went stiffer still. Her thoughts stopped too. What is this? What is happening right now? She had filmed all kinds of scenes across countless works, films and dramas and more, yet against an attack unfolding in reality, she couldn’t take any action at all.

This was the normal reaction. Anyone in this situation would be exactly like Moon Ji-a.

Soon the assailant, having closed to just a single step from Moon Ji-a, raised the knife. By the flow of it, the knife’s destination was Moon Ji-a’s face. Gradually the knife the assailant thrust out drew closer to Moon Ji-a’s face, and though she was watching the knife, she was still frozen.

Only.

”......ah.”

Letting out a short whimper, nothing more.

That was when.

-Snatch!

Just before the knife could slash Moon Ji-a’s face, the assailant’s knife-wielding arm abruptly bent. Someone had grabbed the assailant’s wrist and dragged it downward. Then the assailant’s arm twisted in a bizarre direction, and he even let out a grotesque scream.

”Gwaaaah! Aaaagh!!”

Someone, using the very force the assailant had thrust out,

-Pow!!

spun him lightly around and threw him over the shoulder. The sound of the assailant slamming into the ground was tremendously loud. Roughly a crunch! kind of noise. Having just watched a scene straight out of a movie unfold before her eyes, the dazed Moon Ji-a slowly lowered her gaze and confirmed the someone who had thrown the assailant.

Rather cold eyes, a dry and expressionless air. It was, without a doubt, a face she knew. The instant she saw him, Moon Ji-a’s eyes grew several times wider.

”Huh? G-General Manager Kim Ha-jae?”

It was Kang Jae-ha, wearing his mask.

*****

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