Chapter 51: Get Lost! GET LOST!

Time passed swiftly like flowing water.

For Sua, everything was new, so it felt even more so.

And now, Sua was facing the draft of her profile.

Kim Yi-seo handed a pad to Sua.

On it was a preview of the information that would appear if someone searched for the name “Lee Sua” on an internet portal.

“Take a look. Based on the first day of the Special Operations Unit 808 airing, if you search for Sua, this is what will appear.”

Sua swallowed nervously and examined it.

[Lee Sua]
Actor, Talent
(Sua’s cross-dressing face)
Affiliation
Family
Awards
Sites
Activities

“It’s a male name, so using Lee Sua as it is feels a bit strange, right? That’s why we changed it temporarily. We’re hiding the fact that you’re from Mystic for now to prevent your identity from leaking.”

“Yes.”

Most of the fields were empty, and even if they were filled in, it would only include the name, photo, and affiliation information.

Still, Sua felt a tingling sensation in her heart.

The name of the feeling rising within her was definitely one of excitement.

For Sua, her empty profile felt like a display case.

A space where she could record her achievements.

This made her incredibly happy and emotional.

The reason was that until now, there had been nothing in her life to proudly record.

But now, she had a public display case.

A display case that she could show to anyone at any time.

For now, this precious feeling alone was enough.

She was confident that one day she would fill her filmography.

Meanwhile, while Sua was too busy to check, the group chat was quite active these days.

It was very active, in fact.

[Deer: @Monkeying Hey, game kkk]

[Monkeying: Busy managing the gallery]

[Deer: Managing? Why are you managing?]

[Deer: What kind of management are you doing when you’ve been trolling all day?]

[Monkeying: I made one]

[Deer: What gallery?]

[Monkeying: Lee Sua gallery kkkkkk]

[Monkeying: I made it to tease you since you’ve been messing around lately]

[Deer: Hilarious kkkkkkkkkkk]

[Deer: kkkkkkkkkkkkkkk]

[Deer: Hey, give me admin rights]

[Deer: We need to put a polar bear picture as the banner]

[Monkeying: What’s with the V-Tuber Shikarin promo post?]

[Deer: It’s a dead gallery anyway, I just wrote whatever came to mind]

And so, a community was created.

[Lee Sua Gallery]

“This is a community where we hit back whenever Lee Sua gets cocky with baseless confidence. Feel free to discuss anything related.”

Title: From now on, Shikarin rules here.

[Title: How to Make Aglio Olio Pasta]

[Title: The First Gallery That Was Created and Immediately Failed kkk]

…Anyway, it was the first creation of the Lee Sua Gallery.

Meanwhile, Sae-ji Kim Sun-a was busy with work.

Every day, countless articles poured in, but among them, some were particularly newsworthy.

The staff who were taking a break with coffee started talking.

“The Special Operations Unit 808 article, it’s pouring in.”

“If you write it roughly, you’ll still get a decent amount of views. This is like a honey pot right now.”

“After the airing, who knows how much more it will blow up?”

“But that’s only if the drama is well-made. If it fails, that’s when the interest will completely drop.”

[Is Special Operations Unit 808 testing the waters too much?]

[Kim Yuhan hiding too much, there’s a lot of concern about this…]

[Is Kim Yuhan actually all about high-level arrogance?]

In that situation, Kim Sun-a approached her team leader, holding an article she wrote about Kim Yuhan’s identity being Lee Sua.

“Team leader, I want to post this article.”

“This? You mentioned it before, right? Who the hell is Lee Sua? Is she Kim Yuhan? I can’t find anything when I search.”

“But I still want to post it. Otherwise, I’ll quit.”

“Alright. Well, do what you want…”

The team leader accepted it without much thought. In his mind, he was only thinking, “Looks like Kim Sun-a is quitting too.”

It’s common for journalists to leave and leave behind silly articles like doodles on the internet.

In this industry, it was a very common occurrence. After all, the views wouldn’t even be significant, so whether they posted it or not didn’t matter.

Kim Sun-a’s feelings weren’t much different either.

She just thought of it as submitting an unusual resignation.

‘Since I was going to quit anyway, if it works out, great.’

Honestly, she didn’t have much expectation. Sua had played a lot of pranks.

There was even a time when she had said she was going to star as the lead in Special Operations Unit 808.

Was Lee Sua Kim Yuhan from Special Operations Unit 808?

Or was Kim Yuhan the person Lee Sua had mentioned?

Kim Sun-a imagined both possibilities, and at least for the first one, she hoped it was just a prank.

‘There’s no way the drama will fail…’

Six directors gathered at a bar.

On the table were expensive liquors arranged at regular intervals, and various fruits that looked sweet and colorful, all peeled and revealing their flesh.

It was a luxurious gathering. No guests other than them were allowed.

It was a difficult meeting to get into, and at the same time, it was an important one. They were all directors with well-established reputations.

Crunch—

However, the sound echoing from inside wasn’t the clinking of glasses. Instead, it was the sound of something being written hurriedly.

They weren’t enjoying drinks; they were having a voting session.

“This voting feels like it’s been ages.”

“Yeah, it’s been almost 5 years, right?”

The six directors’ group, ‘The Right Path,’

The Right Path had one special rule: Anyone who failed to be a role model would be kicked out through a vote.

The rules here are so radical that you couldn’t even imagine them in any other group, but in ‘The Right Path,’ this was considered quite normal.

After all, from the very beginning, it wasn’t an ordinary group.

“Speaking of which, this group has been around for a long time.”

“Yeah. It’s been here since our unknown days.”

“There were so many of us back then. Nearly twenty?”

‘The Right Path’ wasn’t a social group created by successful people coming together. It was a group formed by unknown directors who wanted to support each other, and only those who succeeded remained in the group.

The first person to put down their pen was Director Kim Jun-ki.

“Finally getting rid of the thorn in my side, Park Jun.”

It was Kim Jun-ki who suggested today’s vote, and he planned to expel Park Jun, the director of ‘Geum.’

This was influenced by factional issues within The Right Path.

Kim Jun-ki’s side had three members, while Go Tae-min’s side had three as well. However, since they couldn’t expel Go Tae-min, the leader, they decided to expel Park Jun, who was at the bottom of the hierarchy.

Park Jun, who had been on a downward spiral recently, made a good excuse for this, and it would benefit Kim Jun-ki’s faction as well. Losing one member from Go Tae-min’s side would give Kim Jun-ki’s faction a numerical advantage.

“Um, Director Kim Jun-ki.”

Another director spoke cautiously, as if sensing Kim Jun-ki’s intentions.

“It’s true that Director Park Jun has been on a decline lately.”

“Mm?”

“But the important thing is his effort, right? At least Director Park always does his best. That alone can serve as a role model for someone else.”

“Well, I suppose so.”

Kim Jun-ki deliberately put down his pen loudly.

He then looked around at the gathered directors.

“However…”

He emphasized his words with great force.

“If the best effort still leads to those kinds of results, isn’t that a bigger problem?”

Everyone fell silent.

“Effort is important, sure. But if failure keeps repeating despite giving it your all, that means your abilities are just at that level. At that point, you can’t be a role model for others. In fact, it’s easy to create the impression that even effort won’t be enough.”

Kim Jun-ki glared at Park Jun with fierce eyes. He didn’t even try to hide his gaze, as if it didn’t matter who knew who he was aiming at.

“Don’t use ‘I did my best’ as an excuse. Doesn’t it just mean you made what you wanted to make, even though you knew you’d fail? That’s not effort. That’s stubbornness and regret.”

The room fell silent for a moment.

At that point, Director Go Tae-min spoke for the first time.

“It sounds like you’re saying nothing is more important than results.”

“What, is my statement wrong?”

“No. No, you’re right. Results are definitely an important factor.”

Go Tae-min nodded, though his expression was difficult to read.

“But…”

“But?”

“We can’t ignore the possibility that Director Park might achieve good results later on. I’m just wondering if we really had to hold this vote.”

“Ha!”

Kim Jun-ki scoffed.

“This is a gathering of directors who have proven themselves, not a place to embrace aspiring directors. You want me to trust someone who’s been tumbling downhill? You’d be better off buying a lottery ticket!”

Go Tae-min, who had been pondering something for a moment, smiled.

“Director Kim Jun-ki, I wasn’t really keen on this.”

“Mm?”

“I had a lot of doubts about whether we should even hold this vote.”

“What?”

Kim Jun-ki frowned at Go Tae-min’s frustrating attitude, but his expression returned to normal when Go Tae-min spoke again.

“But now I understand. I don’t care about the effort, and I’m not concerned about any possibility of rehabilitation. It’s clear that in this group, we just need to cut off the dead weight decisively.”

“Exactly! That’s the point!”

Kim Jun-ki finally smiled brightly.

“There’s a limit to how much we can cover for people. No matter how much you try to support them, if they end up causing trouble for others, the damage is huge. That’s why cutting them off is necessary. Even if…”

Kim Jun-ki gave a sinister smile.

“…It’s someone you’ve known for a long time.”

Go Tae-min nodded, as if he understood.

“I got it. I’ll participate in the vote.”

“Finally, we’re on the same page. I was about to lose patience.”

Kim Jun-ki looked at Go Tae-min with a relaxed expression. Go Tae-min, too, felt that he had finally given up on Park Jun. After all, even he thought the justification for kicking Park Jun out was flawless.

Eventually, the vote of the ‘Right Path’ group began.

After a while, all the directors had completed their votes.

Kim Jun-ki looked at the two directors who had previously agreed to support him, but he sensed something unusual. The two were subtly avoiding eye contact with him.

“…?”

But soon, he understood.

“Well, there’s no benefit in showing factionalism. I like this thoroughness.”

Everything seemed to be going smoothly when Go Tae-min spoke up.

“As expected, everyone wrote the same name, except for one.”

“Hahaha! Hahaha—!”

Kim Jun-ki burst into laughter without realizing it.

“I don’t know who it is, but they’re really shameless to the end!”

He even clapped his hands, feeling joyful.

It was obvious who the excluded person was. Cornered, Park Jun must have been too embarrassed to write his own name and wrote someone else’s instead.

As Kim Jun-ki proudly looked at Park Jun’s face, he heard Go Tae-min’s voice.

“Kim Jun-ki, five of us voted for you. You’re out.”

The whole room fell silent for a while.

“…?”

It was only after a long while that Kim Jun-ki’s expression turned blank.

He couldn’t believe what he had just heard.

“What? What, what did you say?”

It was an outcome that defied all logic.

First, he had voted for Park Jun, and the two directors he had brought in should have voted for Park Jun as well. That would make it three votes for Park Jun, meaning there was no way Park Jun shouldn’t be kicked out.

“Why? Why?”

Had Park Jun done something? Did he bribe someone with money? Or had Go Tae-min manipulated the results?

As various possibilities ran through his mind, Go Tae-min spoke again.

“Kim Jun-ki, your words had a lot of merit. And as we listened, we thought of you. That’s all.”

“What…! What nonsense are you talking about…!”

Unable to contain his frustration, Kim Jun-ki stormed out of his seat. At the same time, the neatly arranged bottles of alcohol fell to the floor with a crash.

“You bastards, are you all planning to screw me over? You want to protect trash like Park Jun when someone as capable as me is here? Fine, just wait and see. I’ll show you all what happens.”

“Actually, I was considering giving you a chance.”

However, Go Tae-min’s voice remained calm.

“As a director, I may not be able to work with you, but I was thinking of keeping our friendship. But you’re right. It’s hard to trust someone tumbling downhill. The public would think the same.”

“Are you drunk? Why bring up the public all of a sudden? You’re such an idiot!”

It was then.

Park Jun, who had been silent the entire time, suddenly held up his phone.

On the screen was a political program. The exact content was unclear, but Park Jun quietly pressed the side of his phone, turning the volume up to the maximum.

“Well, without any consultation, they changed the rating to adults-only and then naturally requested to share a bed. Isn’t that the situation here? Can this even happen?”

“Yes. At first glance, it seems like nonsense, but it’s possible because of the director’s stature. Could the victims just refuse? Of course not.”

A sense of foreboding suddenly hit Kim Jun-ki, and he listened carefully. The name that should never have been heard next struck his eardrums.

“Kim Jun-ki. Because of his name, at first, the victims’ acquaintances thought, ‘Oh, if the director asks, there must be a reason. If he earns a lot of money later, it’ll be fine.’ That’s what they said.”

“With pressure from all sides and even threats from the director, what else could they do? Kim Jun-ki, you’re garbage. A disgrace of the highest order.”

“What, what is this… What’s going on…?”

Kim Jun-ki unconsciously grabbed his phone, nearly crushing it in his hand, his mind going blank.

“Kim Jun-ki.”

Go Tae-min spoke again.

“Whatever efforts you make from now on, whatever potential you have, we don’t care. This is advice from someone I once considered a friend. You know him well.”

Go Tae-min spoke in a chilling tone.

“Get out of my sight. Now.”